The one that always jumps to mind for me: Pikmin. I have sought far and wide for a game to scratch that "Pikmin-itch", but none exist. What is it about Pikmin that just makes it so unique? So unlike anything I've ever played or seen before? In fact, if anybody does have some recommendations, play do share. I have been searching for the longest time for something.

I would say Pikmin is like a colourful family friendly variant of the game Syndicate from 1993 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndicate_(1993_video_game)

Now there are some big differences between the games but there are aspects that feel similar (but there is none of the coziness of Pikmin). Now the hard part is how to play Syndicate in this day and age, I’ve not played that game since the late 90’s. Only true sequel is Syndicate Wars from 1996 (and it’s OK) any other ”sequel” bearing the Syndicate name is crap.

LSD Dream Emulator for PS1. It's weird, it's random it's creepy and it's unique. I won't say it's a good game, it's just interesting.

VanQuish. It's not a cover shooter. No TPS has movement like VanQuish. It's still the best playing TPS ever made.

Blast Corps on the N64. Starts with the unique premise of quickly clearing the way in each level by learning how to use the different vehicles and opens up with the completion factor of going back and demolishing everything, earning medals, finding secrets (like all of the scientists) and finally going to the moon. Using the mech to fly up into the air and crash down, pummeling buildings made me feel like a kid again. Loved finding the A-Team van too.

There's still nothing quite like it and I would kill for another entry that's on the same level as the original with modern enhancements. This and Banjo are the two IP's that I would love for Nintendo to buy back from Microsoft/Rare.

Death Stranding 2. My goodness. I don't even know where to begin lol

Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem. Playing as like 12 different characters through the story and of course the sanity meter that messes with the actual player is so memorable.

There are a few sandbox games that fit the bill:

SimEarth.
Another (less popular) 35 year old Will Wright sandbox game based on James Lovelock’s (1919-2022… that’s right, he lived to 103) Gaia Theory, it encourages players to terraform a planet by adjusting various foundational variables that impact other variables like atmospheric composition, air pressure, sea levels, population of organisms, biomes, and so-on. It’s largely based on a highly simplistic take on earth life, breaking it down into different Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes, Radiates, Arthropods, mollusks, insects, fish, etc… with everything above mollusks being capable of civilization… which then goes through Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age,, all the way up to Nanotechnological age. Civilization can be treated as both a treat and a disaster since there is a fairly good chance they will create the largest mass extinction event on the planet… or they may and/or head to another planet and leave the world back to the surviving life.

Dwarf Fortress.
For a game with so many clones and vertical slices, there sure is nothing quite like this sandbox. Most people who are even aware of this game are familiar with “Fortress Mode” and how you control a series of dwarves, give them orders, and they build stuff. But it goes quite a bit deeper than that:

1. You have a world map, all the weather patterns, life, and civilizations are procedurally generated.
2. You don’t just stop with one fortress, you move on, build another. You can do this when your old one breaks (more on that) and things go insane and crash it… or you can simply move onto somewhere else when your fortress is sufficiently good… building a civilization.
3. The age system brings on different features, for example, in the first age there are still many hidden divine beasts in the world, they haven’t been killed off yet. Age of Legends are when these mega beasts still shape the world. Age of Myth when hidden ones still exist, but they are no longer shaping the world as much as the rest of the wildlife and civilization. Then when they are mostly dead (or all dead) the “racial” ages begin, and those focus on which breed of civilized creature dominates. There are other events that create unique ages, and also an “age of emptiness” which occurs if undead wipe the populations of the world out.
4. There is also adventure mode, where you can play a character and explore your world on foot with a party and resources… kinda like Wizardry.
5. In fortress mode, you can wage war, expand your civilization… or be the point that breaks your civilization, the opportunity for another dwarven civ, or a different breed of creature to take your territory.
6. Create great people, works of art, great crafts… and even play with pantheons of gods, and run an army of vampires to take out your enemies (you’re playing with fire… effective fire).
7. Every very character has psychology, they react to stresses, annoyances, social situations.. and much like more recent psychological climate/spectrum models like OCEAN and HEXACO, these psychologies can move, and psychological disorders can develop. You can put them to work in ways to benefit them and the people, but conflict in your city can happen… ideologies can spread…. This can even lead to the demise of your city.
8. If it is not clear, unlike RTS games, the characters are autonomous, you give them directions, but they are not necessarily going to follow them right away, and maybe not in the exact way you planned out for them. Psychology plays a role in that.
9. Emergent storytelling is this game’s claim to fame. Lots and lots of text heavy events string together to form a bit of a novel… with side branches and such. You can read every character’s profiles, histories, and so on giving you a wealth of knowledge as deep or shallow as you wish to go. Players often intersperse this with their narration to form YouTube videos on the history of their dwarves.
10. The game was in pre-release for two decades… and then the devs gave it official graphics.

As a note, there are some games with similarities:

Pikmin → Little King’s Story (a game where you gather character types and fire your characters at tasks using a main character).
Eternal Darkness → Amnesia (sanity system that causes hallucinations and such). Sanity is also a very effective stat trait in Don’t Starve Together, hallucinations can really mess with your game (again, sanity system, and this can really piss off your friends… if you trick them into doing things that make them insane). Dragon Quest 4 (an RPG where you play different characters through the course of the game), Dragon Quest 5 and Terranigma are more about playing a game (RPGs in this case across a span of history).

Well the thing about Eternal Darkness is that it messes with you. Like turning down the volume of the game, telling you its deleting your saves, ending the game saying it will continue in the sequel, making it seem like your game is glitching out etc...