What are some niche franchises you wish got more attention?

[Sheikah_Witch]

Some of us might have that franchise. That one franchise that makes us feel like we're the only one in the world liking it or rooting for it. The one that seems to have that niche audience that are vocal, but whose words fall on deaf ears, both casual and corporate ones.

Do you recognize this feeling?
What are some franchises, dead or alive, that you would wish got more attention, and by extension, more games/sequels?

(You're free to define 'niche' however you like.)

 

[Dizzi]

Dragon quest builders....

 

[thePlinko]

Miitopia was such a fun time, it really deserved more than it got.

Sid Meiers pirates was released in 1987, had a remake in 1993, and another remake in 2004. We haven’t gotten anything like it since. Pirates 2004 is one of my favorite games of all time, but was always in the shadow of Sid’s more popular series, Civilization.

 

[twilitfalchion]

Tomodachi Life. It did pretty well, from what I understand, but I'd like to see the idea go further.

Trails in the Sky. The older games are excellent JRPGs. Falcom's getting more attention now (for modern Trails and Ys), but their older games are really where it's at, so to speak. At least when it comes to Trails.

 

[Gorozoron]

Denpa men and yo-kai watch specifically in the west

 

[Spirit]

This mostly applies to the west but the Tales series could do with more recognition.

It's one of the top three JRPGs in Japan alongside Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but of those three it struggles like hell in the west because it has never had the budget or advertisement clout of the other two.

Hopefully Tales of Arise changes that. But yeah, Tales in the west. I feel like I'm the only one.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I was going to mention stuff like Jak & Daxter or Ape Escape, but they weren't niche when they came out, they're only not as well known now b/c they're not being USED anymore

Pikmin, F-Zero, and Star Fox, amazing franchises w/ stellar games when they were in their prime, but not enough people paid attention to them so they fell by the wayside [16 years since the last F-Zero], really hopeful Pikmin 3 deluxe sells well so that we're guaranteed a Pikmin 4 in the near future, Star Fox I'm just plain hoping for the best

Dark Cloud and Gravity Rush, games that had a great first game, but then the 2nd came out and not as many people paid attention, Dark Cloud fell to the same fate as F-Zero and I guess we'll see what happens w/ Gravity Rush

also can we get Viewtiful Joe HD rereleases

 

[Spirit]

I was going to mention stuff like Jak & Daxter or Ape Escape, but they weren't niche when they came out, they're only not as well known now b/c they're not being USED anymore

Pikmin, F-Zero, and Star Fox, amazing franchises w/ stellar games when they were in their prime, but not enough people paid attention to them so they fell by the wayside [16 years since the last F-Zero], really hopeful Pikmin 3 deluxe sells well so that we're guaranteed a Pikmin 4 in the near future, Star Fox I'm just plain hoping for the best

Dark Cloud and Gravity Rush, games that had a great first game, but then the 2nd came out and not as many people paid attention, Dark Cloud fell to the same fate as F-Zero and I guess we'll see what happens w/ Gravity Rush

Them giving up on Gravity Rush half way through still stings. I was ready to put a lot of love into that IP.

 

[Azure Sage]

Definitely Ys. Most people I talk to about it have never even heard of Falcom, much less Ys. Hell, I was in the same boat two years ago. But it's quickly become one of my favorite franchises ever, right behind Zelda and Monster Hunter. Ys deserves more love.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Them giving up on Gravity Rush half way through still stings. I was ready to put a lot of love into that IP.

I guess sony was ready to pull out of that IP, I never got to see the online

 

[Spirit]

I guess sony was ready to pull out of that IP, I never got to see the online

Ah the only was amazing. It was probably my favourite online mode. It was super cool to find a chest, take a photo and send it out into the world. It was really cool using the ones other people sent too. I wasted hours doing that. It was so much fun.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Ah the only was amazing. It was probably my favourite online mode. It was super cool to find a chest, take a photo and send it out into the world. It was really cool using the ones other people sent too. I wasted hours doing that. It was so much fun.

they got rid of it fast, huh? was it like only a year when it was active?

 

[Spirit]

they got rid of it fast, huh? was it like only a year when it was active?

Yeah, I think it was active for a year but the fans got it extended for three months and then I got taken down.

 

[the8thark]

Captain Rainbow - Nintendo's forgotten but pretty good game. You are Captain Rainbow and need to grant wishes for Nintendo's B-Tier characters who are now fat, lazy and no longer care about life.

Master of Orion - it has a small core following but I wish it was more popular. The IP has had 4 games released so far.
Original game - 1993 - Pretty good for it's time and brought in most of the 4X concepts.
MOO2 Battle At Antaries - 1996 - Absolute masterpiece. Some people still consider it to be the best 4X game of all time.
MOO3 - 2003 - Pure garbage. It tries to be a better original game but misses all the charm of the original game. It also has zero of what made the 2nd game so great.
MOO4 Conquer the Stars - 2016 - I have bought this and will play it soon. From what I've read and heard/seen about this game, it plays like MOO2 mostly but with a few major changes. It looks pretty good.
The 4X genre is pretty niche to begin with though also.

Sid Meiers pirates was released in 1987, had a remake in 1993, and another remake in 2004. We haven’t gotten anything like it since. Pirates 2004 is one of my favorite games of all time, but was always in the shadow of Sid’s more popular series, Civilization.

Pirates back in the day was super popular. It was the best open world game ever made at the time. However since then I agree it's just been slowly forgotten. I have to say the 1987 original and Live the Life were pretty good. I played a lot of the PC original and NES port back in the day also. Pirates Gold on the other hand was really garbage.
I do wish this IP got a resurgance in popularity.

Good point and click adventure games
The never sold amazingly well from day one. Even in their Monkey Island 2 / Myst heyday they never broke sales records. This always disappointed me as there's some really good story telling and humour in many of these games. Telltale kicking the bucket is further proof of this in modern times. Sure Telltale was internally corrupt but the other contributing factor is they don't sell enough anymore to break even if the production costs are high.

 

[Chevywolf30]

The Inheiritance book series. They're an epic fantasy adventure full of dragons and elves and all the things you would expect if you like that sort of thing. But they're pretty unheard of. There was a movie made, but it was cinematic garbage.