VGC Day 13: What is your favorite hidden gem?
Picture a world with limited internet access, no game magazine subscriptions, just a ride to GameStop every month or so with your birthday money, and friends who didn’t mind lending/trading their games with you. This was my life as a middle school gamer and what ended up being some of the best years of gaming with my friends.
My childhood best friend was into gaming just as much as I was. He had a weird collection of games that later on in life I would realize were precious gems that you can’t find anymore. They were one of a kind, and we had played them together. One of those games became a rare gem for me in my adult life.
Rule of Rose became a bit of an obsession because I couldn’t find it again after playing it all those years ago. It was a game out of its time. It was weird. It was rare. If it didn’t have a cult following, it should have. I never got to finish it because my childhood best friend’s mom read about Rule of Rose in a magazine. According to the magazine it was a “deranged game about lesbians” so back to GameStop it went. And out of my reach.
I thought about it years later, yearning to know just what the hell it was about and how the ending would come about. I searched for it on amazon and found a copy for $500. There was no way in hell I’d pay for that. Within a month I saw Rule of Rose again like a twist of fate, but this time it was in a local used game store. Sitting in the case with a $400 price tag, I asked the guy working the counter how much he’d be willing to negotiate. He said not at all. So I left empty handed.
Thanks to a simulator which I won’t get detailed about as it’s not something I do often personally, I was able to play Rule of Rose without spending $100s. It was exactly as I had remembered it: a hidden gem.
Want to see more of the 30 Day Video Game Challenge? Want to try the challenge yourself? Read this post here!
What is your favorite hidden gem? Let me know in the comments!
That game sounds fascinating. Since I didn’t really become a gamer until college, my hidden gem game would be Armello, because no one I play games with knows it exists except from me. It is such a good game!
I’ve never heard of Armello either! I just looked it up, and it definitely seems like a game I’d play. Just added it to my Steam list!
Well that image is terrifying.
The Fatal Frame games were always one of my faves. I can’t actually *play* them because they scare me too much XD. The one time I did try to play I screamed and threw the controller across the room. But I did backseat game for my BFF in high school. I just love the world building and interconnected stories of the series.
Fatal Frame was actually the subject of Day 14! It’s definitely a hidden gem (and one that should be played with a friend because it gets hella scary).
Overshadowed by Square’s other games on the SNES, like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, and even Super Mario RPG, I still don’t think Chrono Trigger gets the respect it deserves. I definitely consider it the best RPG I’ve ever played, and it’s in the running for one of my favorite games ever made. If you want to love it, just get on YouTube and listen to its incredible soundtrack.
I have heard so many positive things about Chrono Trigger. I should have figured it’d be one of your favorites!
I’ve never heard of Rule of Rose before but after reading a bit more about it, I’m intrigued – I’ve got a gameplay video lined up to watch! Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it! It’s a very… strange and unique game.
Reading this made me think: were there games like this one in my life where I just thought holy damn. But I cant remember any unfortunately.
Luckily you were able to play it again!
I definitely count myself as lucky as I truly think this is one of those “unicorn” games!