These 3 Underrated Games Make You Doubt The AAA Experience

From the infinity to Risk of Rain 2, to the perfect story of Outer Wilds, these games will leave an everlasting impression.

Story Highlights

  • Unlike smaller indie titles, Risk Of Rain 2, provides some of the best roguelike action the genre offers.
  • In terms of story and scale, The Outer Wilds is a thrilling experience based on exploration.
  • With mystery as its epitome, Inscryption offers a “devilish” world unlike any other.

The current gaming world is saturated by FPS shooters, intense monetization, and a general mix of mediocre games that just don’t stick with player bases. Well lucky for you, I’m here to tell you about the 3 most underrated games that you should sink your teeth into. From a dying universe to cards that govern the fate of the world, here are some underrated games you definitely need to try.

Risk Of Rain 2 – The Descent Into Infinity

I have watched you for ages, from my dead rock, and every century, you disgust me with vanity.” – Mythrix, King Of Nothing

Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike survival game built on a time mechanic that advises players to play in a more agile manner and try not to move around and not stick around in one place too much. Although it’s usually a bad idea for players to go against this, the title is open-minded regarding experimentation. Half the game’s fun comes from trying out things that weren’t initially intended.

Arguably, the most significant factor is its experimental and non-linear gameplay and the many playable characters at your disposal. It does an amazing job when it comes to juggling dozens of little things and balancing new mechanics so that they can synergize with others effortlessly. Whenever I start a run, I begin strategizing for potential builds almost immediately, and since there are dozens of items in the game, the match-ups are pretty extensive and refreshing.

Risk Of Rain 2
Risk Of Rain 2 | Source: Steam

After gathering some items that grant multiple buffs and debuffs, the game starts to catch up with its enemies and their spawn amount. In the first 10 minutes, the pace of the game is pretty slow and casual, but after a few stages and more importantly, as more time passes, the game will get progressively harder, forcing players to stay on the move. This is honestly my favorite part where we use 7 nukes every second against an enemy equivalent to a squirrel.

Regarding overall performance, Risk of Rain 2 holds up surprisingly well, even when about 200 hundred entities do their own specific attacks or moves on one stage. Another thing to note is the amazing music incorporated into the levels. One of the best soundtracks that I have heard originates from here, and they represent the different intensities of every stage, truly adding to its overall feel. His music truly was electric.

YouTube video

Risk of Rain 2 is a painfully underrated game, and with how expertly it is able to juggle so many aspects at the same time, it makes you think how much thought the devs put into its gameplay. One single item can change the way a 40-minute run is going, one boss can destroy an entire run, and a few friends make its dreadful world seem less daunting. For all your action needs, this game stands at the top.

Inscryption – The Devil Is In The Cards

All that remains is the OLD_DATA, it is recomended you to not access it. You will not heed the advice.” – The Woodcarver

Inscryption’s plot is simple yet captivating; four scribes carve cards out of physical entities, including magic, beasts, objects, and themselves. These cards have wills of their own and battle with each other. The game is divided into 3 acts, the first one is the battle with beast scribe, Leshy, a great introduction to its world. The second is in a pixelated roleplaying style. The third is against po3, the robot scribe aiming for world domination, it’s intense.

Each of these acts has its own unique gameplay systems and eerie elements. It always feels like this game is alive, and the scribes within them fight to gain power over the “Karnoffel Code.” The gameplay consists of a simple card game, a delicate dance of cycle and rebirth, it’s tantalizing, to say the least. But it’s not just the cards that make up the excitement, it’s the acts and their unique obstacles that make the player switch his style frequently.

Inscryprion
The Beast Scribe Leshy | Source: Steam

Mostly during the acts, the game dives into the pits of hell and pure insanity. These bits of code show us life-like emotions and converse with the player like it’s all peachy. If a person wants to experience their computer quite literally working against them, they should really try out this underrated game, it’s one hell of an experience.

Inscryption has a great sense of leaving the player truly thinking about the existence of these digital beings. However, have we seen anything go beyond the fourth wall? Well in Act 3, Inscryption quite literally etches itself onto the player in the physical aspect. Po3 takes over our library, then our Steam, and even our personal computer files.

I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but the Act 3 finale is truly something else.

Outer Wilds – What Lies Beyond The Veil?

A concious observer has entered the Eye, I wonder what happens now?” – Solanum

The stars are fading, the sun grows brighter, and the planet’s orbit speeds up, what’s going on? I’ll tell you what, it’s the heat death of the universe, and there’s nothing you can do. Except, you can explore, you can find answers, you can look for “The Eye Of The Universe” and hope that there lies some answer, some future for all of existence. That’s the plot of Outer Wilds, pretty cool right?

The entire gameplay loop of Outer Wilds involves, well a time loop. You see every 22 minutes, the entire universe undergoes the end of its lifecycle, the end of everything. Occurring every 22 minutes, your own solar system comes to the end of its cycle, vaporizing everything, absolutely everything.

YouTube video

The Outer Wilds is an open-world exploration game, where you hop in and out of miniature planets, discover remnants of old civilization, find secrets hidden beneath the surface, and gaze in the harmonious awe of the universe. The game is beautiful, and with an end goal of finding the center of the universe, players are always keen on looking out for the next piece of the puzzle.

These Underrated Games And Their Scores

These underrated games are not to be slept on. As for the reviews, The Outer Wilds stands at 85 on the Metascore, The action-filled Risk Of Rain 2 maintains another strong 85 on the Metascore, and Inscryption, yet again scores an 85. This is not to mention the even higher user scores.

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Ahmed Shayan is a News Writer on eXputer with decent experience writing about games. He’s a machine learning enthusiast with a passion for a plethora of gaming genres. Ahmed is fond of Soulsborne games in which he has invested more than 3,000 hours! You can follow Ahmed's gaming activity on his PSN Profile.

Experience: 1.5+ Years || Mainly Covers News Stories on eXputer || Education: Bachelors in Data Science.

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