TotodileStars
Member
What's your favourite game/series that you'd describe as niche, or obscure? I'd like to learn about some hidden gems!
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Favourite niche game?
- Thread starter TotodileStars
- Start date
Fortune Street on the Wii. It's like Monopoly, but it has a stock market in it, where stocks play a big role in how much wealth you accumulate. 
It has Mario and Dragon Quest characters, music and boards in it and you get to play as your Mii whom you get to customize with many different outfits and animations. 
It's very charming and has many chance cards and some mini games thrown in to make it exciting. I occasionally play it through Parsec with other people online, because nobody really plays the Online mode on it anymore. 
If you like competitive board games and Mario or Dragon Quest, definitely give it a look! 
It has Mario and Dragon Quest characters, music and boards in it and you get to play as your Mii whom you get to customize with many different outfits and animations. It's very charming and has many chance cards and some mini games thrown in to make it exciting. I occasionally play it through Parsec with other people online, because nobody really plays the Online mode on it anymore. If you like competitive board games and Mario or Dragon Quest, definitely give it a look! 
My favorite game people sleep on in The Dog Island for the Wii. Who knew a game primarily made up of side quests would be so much fun? It's a tearjerker for sure and I personally find the soundtrack amazing. The title screen song is adorable. You can play as a dog and customize them to your liking. It has a decent amount of customization and you can even choose your specific dog breed. I'd recommend looking into it if you enjoy games that allow you to play as animals.
TotodileStars
Member
Ooh, I've heard of this one! It sounds kind of similar another Wii game I liked as a kid - I'll absolutely give it a look at some point.
Captain Jigglypuff
*On Vacation. Now Go Away!*
The two Touch Detective games that were released in the US for the DS. They were published by Atlus which means that it is hard to find copies of the games. The series has rather witty dialogue and inner thoughts for Mackenzie, the character you play as, and has a quirky thing for giving you seemingly random items in every case to keep that end up being used at some point to solve puzzles.
(is this niche???) i loved viva pinata pocket paradise on the ds 
i didn't know it was based off of the tv show until years later, i just liked the cute animals LOL u had to attract diff species depending on the conditions in ur garden/plot of land, they all had their own lil houses and it was so fun to decorate and grow ur mini paradise
again, not sure if this is that niche but I LOVED / STILL LOVE the sims 2 castaway on wii LOL - I recently watched a replay and as an adult, i do not remember the graphics being that bad or the story being so straightforward, obviously when ur a kid things seem so much cooler than what they rly are
i didn't know it was based off of the tv show until years later, i just liked the cute animals LOL u had to attract diff species depending on the conditions in ur garden/plot of land, they all had their own lil houses and it was so fun to decorate and grow ur mini paradiseagain, not sure if this is that niche but I LOVED / STILL LOVE the sims 2 castaway on wii LOL - I recently watched a replay and as an adult, i do not remember the graphics being that bad or the story being so straightforward, obviously when ur a kid things seem so much cooler than what they rly are
Probably Calico. It's kind of a glitchy game and is not perfectly made but it has so much charm that I just let it slide. Its a wonderful game with a super diverse set of characters, and expansive customisation and if you're a fan of pastel cutesy games then you should know Calico is the epitome of those games. You are the owner of a cat cafe in a small village full of people who are super kind and magic that is super fun! Theres a GIANT GIANT cat, several different sections of the map that have very different vibes and animals with a good number of quests. 99% of those animals can also be invited to stay at your cafe, or you can ride the animals you befriend by using a potion to make them giant! All this is without mentioning the cooking update they did I think... last year... that totally changed how cooking worked in the game. Its now a minigame where you shrink down to the size of roughly an apple and have to run around your kitchen counter cooking food for your cafe. (This video shows the cooking update) he customisation is what drew me in but its been 3 years since I bought the game and I still go back to it even though the content is somewhat limited.
It has always been so underrated and while I have seen small peaks in players, I dont think a big break for it is coming anytime soon. Reviewers were very harsh on the game, but I kind of think they were just the wrong audience. Its no Mario or Minecraft but its great in itself.
It has always been so underrated and while I have seen small peaks in players, I dont think a big break for it is coming anytime soon. Reviewers were very harsh on the game, but I kind of think they were just the wrong audience. Its no Mario or Minecraft but its great in itself.
SkyKnight03
elegy
I had a plug n play spongebob game as a kid. It was based off the episode "The Fry Cook Games'. I loved that thing and played it each morning before school.
Many people describe it as a fever dream memory, and I concur. But it's absolutely real.
Many people describe it as a fever dream memory, and I concur. But it's absolutely real.
ShinyDungeoneer
Egg Maestro
epic mickey 2: the power of two. I loved playing the multiplayer with my dad (I think I was mainly mickey, he was mainly oswald, but we swapped from time to time), but we never beat it due to me being dumb and deleting the save file whenever we got close.
Uhh I'll pick out 3!
Chibi-Robo is already a niche series, but let's talk about Clean Sweep, which is a Japan-exclusive DS game. But there is an English translation patch available, and that's how I played it. This is the only other game that plays like the original game on Gamecube. The first game is still the best but this one is interesting too! 3D models in DS games look just as cursed here as they usually do, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner Parts 1&2. I love typing out that title lmao. Anyways this is a set of games on the PS2! This was in the era where longer games had to be on multiple disks, but Atlus sold each disk as a separate game because money so if you want to play 1, you need to play 2 as well afterwards because playing 1 alone is going to leave you incredibly confused. But something that is nice that comes out of this is that each part is a relatively short jrpg! It took me 25 hours for each part, or 50 hours for the whole thing. And that's including some side content. Persona gets most of the attention, but I feel like this is a nice game to bridge you into mainline SMT since it's sorta a halfway point between the two. You have set party members instead of recruiting monsters, and there is more of a focus on story (with full voice acting!)
Dance Centrals 1-3. I guess these aren't that niche since they've at least had some people that have heard about or maybe played them, but I don't think there's many that'll stick with them for an extended period of time. And who would be crazy enough to be using a Kinect in 2024??? ....it's me. Anyways it's fun exercise and people have figured out how to make modded dance routines and some of them look better than the official ones. It's a good time :]
Honestly, I'm gonna go with the Katamari series. They're more popular now but as a kid, our Dad gave us Katamari Damacy for PS2 and it was so unlike anything we ever played. So funny! I love the series and am happy it's getting more popularity with all the rereleases!
Before BOTW I've really only played one other Zelda game, which was TLOZ: The Minish Cap on GBA. I rarely see people mention it when they talk about Zelda games (probably due to the lore? idk I don't know much about Zelda). I think it's a super cute and fun game, the artstyle is right up my alley and it feels refreshing, I guess it's a little more upbeat that other TLOZ games? Idk. I've tried other older Zelda titles before and they never really stuck with me so I never made it past mostly an hour of gameplay, I dunno why The Minish Cap was the only one I thoroughly enjoyed.
another game I really like is Melon Journey, it's a pretty short but very sweet and silly game. From the developer's page, "Full of inside jokes, Melon Journey sometimes doesn't make much sense but it was made with a lot of love for all our friends and the people we admire." It has so many silly characters and dialogues that, even though they don't make much sense, for some reason you can feel the love and effort put into it, even if the game was just developed in a week's time. It's pretty obscure that when I tried searching for screenshots of the game, what pops up is it's more recent 'sequel' (idk if it's a sequel or a remaster), Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories. Regardless, I highly recommend to play the original one, it's free c:
another game I really like is Melon Journey, it's a pretty short but very sweet and silly game. From the developer's page, "Full of inside jokes, Melon Journey sometimes doesn't make much sense but it was made with a lot of love for all our friends and the people we admire." It has so many silly characters and dialogues that, even though they don't make much sense, for some reason you can feel the love and effort put into it, even if the game was just developed in a week's time. It's pretty obscure that when I tried searching for screenshots of the game, what pops up is it's more recent 'sequel' (idk if it's a sequel or a remaster), Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories. Regardless, I highly recommend to play the original one, it's free c:
both from the same game studio, detention and devotion are two particularly unique horror games that i wished had received more attention. they're very atmospheric and both have really great storylines. devotion did get in trouble for making fun of the chinese communist leader so it got attention in a way but not really in a good way lol.
another niche series that i enjoy is by the game studio rusty lakes. it's a series of short puzzle games with varying characters and plots but their artstyles is pretty iconic throughout them. the games are all very fun and the puzzles are engaging and unique. i highly recommend them if u enjoy solving puzzles :>
another niche series that i enjoy is by the game studio rusty lakes. it's a series of short puzzle games with varying characters and plots but their artstyles is pretty iconic throughout them. the games are all very fun and the puzzles are engaging and unique. i highly recommend them if u enjoy solving puzzles :>
not sure how niche these two are but freeways and gridroads. they're both kind of the same game but with different complications. they're both traffic management sims and freeways gives you the opportunity to use overpasses while gridroad gives you access to signals and lane striping. they're both really fun lil games you can pick up for a bit and put back down. i love them both sm. gridroad is giving me a big headache at the moment, who knew signal timing could be so involved...
(is this niche???) i loved viva pinata pocket paradise on the ds
It's not based on the TV show! Viva Piñata started out as an Xbox game, Pocket Paradise is a sequel/DS version. The TV show was based on the games, I'm guessing on the firsr one.
Viva Piñata - Wikipedia
So no worries, you weren't missing out by not watching the TV show. I've never watched it and only heard about it a few years ago
BogusMeatFactory
Member
There are way too many games for me to list here so I'm gonna relegate myself to just one for now.
Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times for the Nintendo DS. This is a game in the Animal Crossing style with a town that runs on a 7 day a week, 24 hour day cycle with various villagers and items to collect, but with a major twist.
You are a student of a magic school, so every day you go to the academy and learn a variety of magic spells which you can use to interact with the world and the villagers in weird and interesting ways. The game features a huge swathe of pictograms that you use to communicate with other players as well as for casting spells. Add to it, "Mystery Time," which is special moments where the world changes dramatically into a strange and alien place. The fish and bugs you catch are ephemeral and odd and there are unique activities to engage in.
The day after Mystery Time happens, there is a story event involving a character that needs your help and you must use your spells to help them with their problems. It does a great job of being a major change to the formula of Animal Crossing and is surprisingly very fun.
The villagers themselves are very unusual, ranging from every day animals to mythical monsters and robots. There is a relationship system where you can date your characters which is kind of weird, but they can follow you around the town and you can play a variety of games with them.
It was one of the last Nintendo DS games to release on the system so it really was relegated to obscurity, but I find it to be incredibly engaging and interesting. A ton of fun if anyone is looking for something like Animal Crossing, but with a major twist.
Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times for the Nintendo DS. This is a game in the Animal Crossing style with a town that runs on a 7 day a week, 24 hour day cycle with various villagers and items to collect, but with a major twist.
You are a student of a magic school, so every day you go to the academy and learn a variety of magic spells which you can use to interact with the world and the villagers in weird and interesting ways. The game features a huge swathe of pictograms that you use to communicate with other players as well as for casting spells. Add to it, "Mystery Time," which is special moments where the world changes dramatically into a strange and alien place. The fish and bugs you catch are ephemeral and odd and there are unique activities to engage in.
The day after Mystery Time happens, there is a story event involving a character that needs your help and you must use your spells to help them with their problems. It does a great job of being a major change to the formula of Animal Crossing and is surprisingly very fun.
The villagers themselves are very unusual, ranging from every day animals to mythical monsters and robots. There is a relationship system where you can date your characters which is kind of weird, but they can follow you around the town and you can play a variety of games with them.
It was one of the last Nintendo DS games to release on the system so it really was relegated to obscurity, but I find it to be incredibly engaging and interesting. A ton of fun if anyone is looking for something like Animal Crossing, but with a major twist.
