The overs and unders.

Heh, I had to make a stupid title name just once.

Just post what you think is the most overrated, underrated, overhyped and underhyped game(s).

Most overrated:Final Fantasy VII(PS/PC)-I've never, ever understood what was so good about this game, even when I firsted played it when it first came out after someone highly recommended it, I still didn't see it.
All I really say was a boring story with a crappy battle system along with the same type of plot we've still in almost every FF starting with the second one, but, yet, people worship this game like it's God's gift to gamers, I'll never understand why.

Overhyped:Fable(Xbox)-Fable was a pretty fun and solid RPG with some very innovative features, but I don't think it could live up to the hype it gathered through it's long development and it wasn't all from the developers and publishers, the media built the game up way too much and I think, in the end, it drowned in it's own hype, despite huge sells.

Underhyped:Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes(GCN)-What's, IMO, the second best GCN game out there, yet, I say a total of one magazine ad in Gamepro and a grand total of Zero TV commericals, I didn't even know of this game was in development until X-Play showed a trailer of it.
MGS is a huge franchise and with publicity it's other installments got, I figured Konami would have done much more advertising then what they did, I'm actually surprised Twin Snakes did as well as it did.

Underrated:Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem(GCN)-I don't know if this falls uner the underrated section, since it was loved by most critics, but it just didn't sell, I fell it's one the best survival horror games of all time and should be up there right along with franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

Maybe you could have another category, "undersold". I can't really agree with Eternal Darkness being underrated as most people who played it think it's great.

The most...

Overrated: Halo for the Xbox. I simply can't think of any other game that has both gathered such positive remarks as "revolutionary," and "the best FPS ever made" while failing to deliver in every single aspect for what is praised. The multiplayer is as fun as any other multiplayer of any FPS ever made, without the varied, cool level designs of other shooters. As for the single player, it's extremely disappointing and generic, offering little of the drama found in games like Half-Life, the interactive environments from Red Faction, or the depth of Perfect Dark. It is truly beyond me why so many people like this game so much, when it is just another solid shooter.

Runner-Up: Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)


Underrated: The Dig, for the PC, received mostly disappointing reviews when it came out, but I wouldn't know why. At the time, The Dig did several things right for the point-and-click adventure genre, like many Lucas Arts games of the time. It had an interesting story, a mystery begging to be investigated, and memorable characters that continually clashed together as the game progressed. The ending may have been a little too happy-go-lucky, but the quest was well worth it. Like many games of its style, it was incredibly straight forward, but its linearity wasn't an issue for adventure games back in the day. It was the norm, and The Dig at least managed to deliver the best of the same.

Runner-Up: Street Fighter: The Movie (Arcade)


Overhyped: Fable, for the Xbox. You easily win the "Overhyped award" when you announce that your upcoming game will be "the best RPG ever made." Those were Peter Molyneux's words on Fable, and when such a respected figure in the gaming industry utters such a statement, people listen. Magazines and websites would spill any little pointless details they managed to get out of Lionhead Studios and make it front-page news. Sadly, the game hardly lived up to the task, and that's not accounting for the scrapped online play. While Fable was certainly a fun Action RPG, with a few unique elements to keep a player hooked, it didn't have the cohesive feel of a deep, emotionally gripping epic, such as Final Fantasy X and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Its moral system was excruciatingly flawed, and most of its unique features were superficial gimmicks that didn't necessarily affect gameplay.

Runner-Up: Daikatana (PC)


Underhyped: Eternal Darkness, for the GameCube. Nintendo was the publisher of Silicon Knights' master creation, but they did little in the way of advertising the survival horror to the masses. ED is arguably the best survival horror game ever made, thanks to its innovative insanity meter, intricate story and storytelling, and superb production values, from the clean environments to the excellent voice overs. This is the game Nintendo should've marketed to death, as I believe it would've been the leading factor in stripping Nintendo's still-standing "kiddy" image forever in the minds of gamers. Sadly, it was not to be, and now that Nintendo and SK have parted ways, and with Nintendo owning the rights to ED, we'll likely never see a sequel that would do the game justice.

Runner-Up: Beyond Good & Evil (Xbox, PS2, GCN)

Overrated-HALO. Big Boss has seemed to cover this.

Runner up: Eternal Darkness. When some calls it "arguably the best survival horror game ever made".

Ovehyped-FABLE for reasons that have also been stated

Runner up:Halo 2. Crappy sequel to a crappy sucessfful game. Failed to improve but instead focused on graphics. Disgusting.

Underrated-ETERNAL DARKNESS. True it is underrated and darn good, but when people call it "arguably the best survival horror game ever made" it makes seem overrated. It's a great game nonetheless.

Runner up: Animal Crossing. Despite it selling extremely well many fail to see past the dated graphics and 'crazy' notion of animals in a game.

Underhyped-Super Smash Bros Melee. WHERE was the advertising?

Runner up:Viewtiful Joe. Fantastic game but despite a year ahead exclusive deal ninty failed to advertise at all. the ony ads I saw where posters in NINTENDO magazines.

Overrated- Halo 1, stated by Big Boss

Overhyped- Halo 2, near enough the same thing as Halo, just shorter, yet it still sold stupidly well, .... X-Box owning morons


Underrated- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Arm, awesome storyline, great NPC's, and a brilliant atmosphere, yet it undersold massivly

Underhyped- Super Smash Bros Melee, see below

I highly agree with Eternal Darkness being underrated. Sure, the combat aspect of the game could've used some work but the magic system, the storyline and the characters were top notch. How many games out there have you playing as normal people (albeit in different periods in history) that were simply forced into extraordinary situations? I especially liked Maximillion. :)

Big Boss, kudos for mentioning a point-and-click game. :D Have you read the novel The Dig by Alan Dean Foster? It explains a few things the game leaves out, and it's a pretty good read all in all.

I think Star Fox Adventures is terribly underrated. I personally enjoyed it more than Wind Waker. I think it has the best cast of characters I have seen since this generation started up. Krystal, General Scales, and The Lightfoot Tribe were all splendid characters, especially Krystal. The game had a nice length, and the levels weren't too long were I would get tired of them halfway through. The scenery kept changing and the action and perplexing situations just made this game very pleasant to play through. I wasn't expecting much from it when I first got it due to the lack of attention it received.

Why is Eternal Darnkess counted as underrated? Last I checked, the game got great reviews, everywhere. Just cause a game doesn't get hype like Metroid Prime or Halo 2 or GTA doesn't mean that it's underrated. Now, Barbies Beach House was underrated. Had great replay value and you can customize your own pony.

Dex:

Look dude, Starfox deserved what it got, and if not that, then lower. I was surprised that the game got an 8. The game was hyped and delayed to showcase the cubes graphical power. Yes, the game was all pretty, but that's not what the basis of games should be. When I began playing, it was cool, mainly cause I was hyped about it and I had been waiting so long to play it. Here I thought, finally, something new and fresh, a non arwing starfox game, let's see what would happen.

First: It's battle system was boring and repetative. You just hack and slash your way and fox does some cool moves. It was way, way too boring.

Second: Lack of originality. The game tried way too hard to emulate a zelda game. The way he picks up items, a similar (yet worse) battle system, etc.

Third: Lack of any good possible arwing stages made this game horrible. "Fly through 'x' amount of rings" got old fast.

Fourth: Random story which really made no sense towards the end. No where in the game is Andross mentioned nor does he play a role until he's the last boss. Real creative guys.

Overrated: Halo

No need to explain this one- another overrated first person shooter.So many people seem to love this game. Why? To me its another FPS- which means another game to never play again.

Underrated: Starfox Adventures

I wholeheartedly agree with Dexter on this one, Starfox Adventures is a beautiful game- Both graphically and in terms of gameplay. Most people who complain and say how 'Crap' It is and how it is 'The worst game ever' have probably never played the game. It may have tried to emulate a Zelda game and come off worse for it- But it did a bloody good job of it, in my opinion the closest any adventure game not directly made by nintendo has got to challenging Zelda.

Over Hyped: GTA: San Andreas

Forgive me- I know many people will get angry with me but- What do you people see in this series???? All people seem to talk about just before this game comes out is "GTA this, GTA that" and it really gets on my nerves. I dont see it as more than a good game. It isnt the best game ever. I'll stop ranting now.

Under Hyped: Metroid Prime 2

Excuse me. NO ADVERTS!!!! Worst decision ever nintendo. You failed to advertise a potentially chart topping game.

Underselling: Beyond good and evil

Up there with the best adventure games ever- yet so little people bought it. further proof that many gamers wouldn't know a decent game if it started dancing in front of them wearing nothing but dobby's tea cosy.