There are plenty of acclaimed games that are recognized by critics and players alike for their brilliance. Titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2, Breath of the Wild, and God of War have been released to praise from all over the gaming industry. Often though, great games can be overlooked, not being recognized for their excellence by the majority, leading to them being forgotten by the mainstream.

Games like this can be anything from platformers to first-person shooters. And most of them have garnered a following of players who continue to praise them, despite their lack of general recognition. The following ones are some of the best examples in recent memory.

Updated February 24, 2024 By Ben Jessey: Sometimes, games don't get the praise they deserve. However, this list highlights a bunch of fantastic 21st-century titles that were overlooked. In this update, we've added several more to the collection.

16 As Dusk Falls

Some narrative adventure games have been really popular in the 21st century, such as The Walking Dead and Life Is Strange. Unfortunately, As Dusk Falls didn't receive the same level of attention, and it slightly fell under the radar.

However, the game is every bit as compelling as others in the genre. It revolves around two families crossing paths on one fateful day that significantly impacts their lives. You also impact it because the title is filled with choices for you to make that heavily alter the story.

15 Spec Ops: The Line

On the surface, Spec Ops: The Line seems like a serviceable third-person cover shooter, but nothing special. However, there is much more to the Yager Development game than meets the eye. It has one of the most compelling and engrossing stories in action game history. In fact, it's one of the few military titles that try not to glamorize war too much.

The protagonist, Captain Walker, is not just some burly action hero. He's a soldier who gets increasingly affected by what he sees on the battlefield. And the game cleverly simulates the warping of his mind by playing tricks on you while you play.

14 Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments

While there have been plenty of entries in Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes series, the games still don't get a lot of attention. And it's a shame because titles like Crimes and Punishments provide excellent detective experiences.

In the 2014 entry, you're tasked with solving several separate cases. Each one follows a similar pattern: you look for clues, question suspects, and try to piece the whole thing together. The game doesn't directly lead you toward a single solution, so there's a real sense of pride for making the right call. But the game continues whatever decision you make.

13 Enslaved: Odyssey To The West

Ninja Theory is an underrated development studio, but at least titles like DmC: Devil May Cry and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice received significant attention. The same can't be said for their other action-adventure title, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West.

Its story is loosely based on the Journey to the West novel. You play as a man named Monkey who has to help a woman called Trip to traverse the post-apocalyptic wasteland, once known as New York City. The story has plenty of interesting elements, especially regarding the relationship between the two main characters. Plus, the beat 'em up style combat is fun and surprisingly tactical.

12 Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge is a parkour game unlike any other, being arguably the best example of this relatively unexplored genre ever seen. The whole premise revolves around you playing as a character called Faith, who is on the run after her sister is falsely accused of a crime she didn't commit. All of this takes place in a gorgeous utopian city, which, despite being over ten years old at this point, still looks great today.

It's fairly short, but every minute of its playtime is packed with intensity and challenge, as you try to negotiate your way across a city skyscape, all whilst being chased by an ever-present force determined to take you down. Somehow Mirror's Edge was heavily overlooked when it first came out, but no other game has managed to replicate its unique feeling to this day.

11 VVVVVV

VVVVVV is a brilliant platformer, although it is ridiculously tricky at points. It's heavily inspired by the 8-bit platformers of old but introduces a unique flipping mechanic by allowing you to control gravity in order to flip the protagonist, Captain Viridian, from the floor to the ceiling and back again.

After you complete the main game, there's another set of levels developed by other game developers too, adding a few extra hours of gameplay on top. VVVVVV might just be Terry Cavanagh's best work, and it is well worth the time investment.

10 Bioshock 2

Bioshock is regarded as one of the best shooters of the 2000s, but its sequel is heavily overlooked despite being just as good, if not better in some places. You play as one of the Big Daddy's and are tasked with solving the mystery behind the disappearance of little girls along the Atlantic coastline, with the answers being hidden within Rapture.

Its gameplay is leaps and bounds ahead of the original, and the return to Rapture is every bit as good as you'd expect it to be. Bioshock 2's version of the city is the best setting in the series, and aside from a messy first few hours is a fantastic experience.

9 Marvel’s Midnight Suns

As Marvel is such a big company, it's rare for one of its games to be overlooked. However, that is exactly what happened to Marvel's Midnight Suns, as shown by the title's poor sales. Perhaps the game was too different for its own good, as there are few superhero titles like it.

Instead of being an open-world or action-adventure game, it's a tactical turn-based RPG with plenty of similarities to XCOM. So, you strategically use the heroes' powers to get the better of the opposition. Plus, the story isn't typically a mainstream superhero affair, either. After all, it revolves around dark magic and witches. Overall, Midnight Suns is a superb and unique experience.

8 Sleeping Dogs

Few games are called underrated as often as Sleeping Dogs. Based on that, you could argue it isn't underrated. Yet, in terms of sales, it was clearly overlooked by too many people since Square Enix considered it a commercial failure. This is despite the open-world title being incredible.

It tells a compelling tale about Hong Kong police officer Wei Shen, who has gone undercover to infiltrate the Triads. Throughout the game, he struggles to manage his two lives. He also beats a lot of people up, as unlike many other open-world crime games, guns are scarce. You spend much of your time using your martial arts on your enemies, and the fighting mechanics are fluid and fun.

7 Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 is one of the best FPS games you've probably never played having been sandwiched between Call of Duty and Battlefield release dates. The campaign is one of the best the genre has ever seen, but the real star of the show is multiplayer, which is fantastic, especially because of the added titans that bring a great deal more variety to combat encounters.

There's also the fact that all DLC aside from cosmetics is completely free, a move that most other developers have followed in recent years. It may have been overshadowed by titles like Apex Legends, but Titanfall 2 deserves more attention.

6 Sunset Overdrive

One of the most underrated games of the last generation, Sunset Overdrive was a rare step away from the PlayStation platform for Insomniac Games. It's an open-world near-future game set in a city overrun by mutant creatures with you being given the job of taking care of the mutant threat using over-the-top weapons and abilities.

You can wall-run, grind rails, and use zip lines to parkour around Sunset City, with the game encouraging you to commit to a quick playstyle and rewarding you for taking enemies down quickly. It isn't too hard either, buying into the idea that sometimes a game can just make you feel cool and powerful without reminding you that you suck.

5 Psychonauts

Psychonauts is a pretty weird game. The main protagonist, Raz, goes on an adventure after learning that a mysterious figure is stealing psychic children in order to use their brains for his own nefarious means.

Your adventure will take you into the minds of a slew of different characters, each with their own nightmares and internal demons to fight. It's an incredibly creative title and brings ideas right to the forefront that other games would be too afraid to even consider.

4 Risk Of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2 is a third-person rogue-lite with a minimalist art style, although the gameplay is anything but with bombastic setpieces and synergies being ever-present in each and every run. It can be a bit overwhelming when you first dive in, but eventually, everything comes together to make perfect sense, and by that point, you'll be addicted.

It even has cooperative play, meaning you and up to three friends (or foes) can join up and play together. The gameplay loop is immensely satisfying, and the level of content to discover and unlock is unprecedented, even for a rogue-lite game.

3 Astral Chain

From the great minds at Platinum Games, Astral Chain is an action-adventure game set in a near-future city on the verge of invasion by a strange set of creatures. Your character joins a police force called Neuron, with each member being assigned a 'Legion' who acts as your partner in both the detective and combat sections of the game.

It's a highly ambitious game, which both looks and runs surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch, especially because of how wild combat can get in the later parts of the game. It also has a great balance between humourous moments and a more serious considered plot.

2 Star Wars Battlefront 2

Star Wars Battlefront 2 has had one of the greatest redemption arcs in gaming history, having launched amongst massive controversy surrounding both its lack of content and deeply embedded microtransaction system. After years of updates and content releases, all for free, the current game is a modern-day love letter to the Star Wars franchise and is a fantastic shooter for both fans of the movies as well as general shooter fans.

It's a great class shooter, and the majority of the maps are fun to play, even if some modes can go on for a bit too long. Of course, having the Star Wars license gives Battlefront 2 an edge in some areas as well; nothing can emulate the feeling of descending into battle wielding the iconic green lightsaber of Luke Skywalker or using Slave One's seismic charge.

1 Okami

Okami definitely suffered a lot due to the close launch date it shared with Twilight Princess, releasing on the exact same day, especially because of the similarities it has to the Zelda series. The game mixes fantasy and action-adventure to produce a stunning watercolor adventure, all taking place in Feudal Japan.

Your main weapon is a magic brush, which allows Amaterasu, the wolf goddess you play as to interact with the world around her. So, you can solve puzzles and take down enemies. If anyone ever questions the idea that video games are art, simply show them Okami.