10 Underrated Video Games That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time

6. Dark Chronicle

There's something about developers Level-5 that makes them the 'fan's choice' of RPG developer. From Ni no Kuni to Dragon Quest, Yo-Kai Watch to Dark Cloud, their ideas, characters and worlds are exemplary, but you'd never catch someone mention them before Square Enix or Bethesda when asked out of the blue.

Dark Chronicle was the kitchen sink-throwing sequel to PS2 launch title Dark Cloud, a stunning little game that adopted the zeitgeist of cel-shading to colour its gorgeous Studio Ghibli-esque world. Level-5 included a smorgasbord of game mechanics ranging from camera mode to procedurally-generated dungeons, fishing to tactile real-time combat - something Final Fantasy has still not perfected.

Almost a decade prior to Minecraft and 14 years before Dragon Quest Builders, Dark Chronicle also let you assemble a number of parts to custom-build a series of villages and townships, further adding to the seemingly endless list of things to see and do.

When later RPGs would adopt this "Just keep adding minigames!" approach to progression, it's worth remembering that Dark Chronicle did so with the utmost purpose, routing it all through a story and set of main characters that made everything make perfect sense.