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Comic: https://www.deathbulge.com/comics/441
Alt text: Yeah yeah, there's always exceptions, I mean look no further than the game in the 2nd panel, not the most thrilling gameplay, is it?
There's definitely amazing indie games, but there's also hundreds of shitty and terrible indie games for every decent one.
And thats the natural way of the world. Without shitty artists there would be no good artists, because every good artist was once a shitty artist.
I can respect a shitty indie game that has passion. You can tell a lot of people are ALMOST there on itch.io sometimes. And its just so close. Or just something that doesnt click with you. But thats ok.
"Or just something that doesn't click with you. But that's ok." You're going to rile up the rage addicts with this calm logic.
I don't think the intended message is that all indie games are great. The message is that if you're frustrated with AAA-games and haven't considered indie games, you should.
thereβs also hundreds of shitty and terrible indie games for every decent one.
I would skip those and play the good ones
Yes.
Ratings systems and reviews aren't perfect, but they are a good starting point.
That's why the Indie side is a full ecosystem.
Shitty games die and fertilize the ground so that all the good ones can grow.
If a AAA game dies, it takes another 6 years for investors and executives to gain the balls to maybe risk spending the money to make another game, so it fertilizes nothing, just sits and rots on sand.
I mean⦠if you only have a console (or even worse: only a Smartphone) I get why it looks like that to people. Some people apparently don't even have a PC or laptop anymore.
I'm genuinely upset at how miserable the mobile scene is compared to the rest.
I've got a phone that's orders of magnitude above a TurboGrafx or a Game Gear, but 95% of the games are GACHA crap or so ad bloated as to be unplayable.
Yeah, it's abysmal. I still rock a OnePlus 7 Pro from 2019 with /e/OS, that damn thing can run Crysis (I tried, works with Winlator - lots of compatibility bugs though). The SoCs are so powerful Valve designs a whole stand-alone VR system around it able to play full-blown PC titles. Modern phones got crazy performance.
Good games without all the extorsion money simply can't compete in the attention game though and people won't pay money for something worthwhile if there's a storm of crap "for free". The internet and digital spaces in general got utterly broken by surveillanve capitalism. But, you seeβ¦ it's for β¨the economyβ¨.
people wonβt pay money for something worthwhile if thereβs a storm of crap βfor freeβ.
I've got the first six FFs, which were remastered and released on Mobile. Got me through lockdown, when I was just trapped in a socially distanced office with nothing to do.
Like, it's definitely possible to make - and sell - a good game that works well on a phone.
The internet and digital spaces in general got utterly broken by surveillanve capitalism.
Ain't that the fucking truth.
Unfortunately a large percentage of the population (subconsciously) believe that if a product isn't marketed to them, they shouldn't touch it.
To put it more accurately, they don't look. They don't seek. They wait for it to get served to them via an algorithmic feed.
I think this is a core issue with all of civilization, right now.
We will mock this, but we all use Product X in industry Y, which is the more well-known brand of that industry. We donβt know that if we explore Z Niche Store, we can find excellent replacements for Product X that can take a little more effort to use and appreciate but are valued more for it.
You can fill in that mad lib in several ways; itβs very much down to which industries you pay close attention to.
Same thing for movies, music, etc. The people that piss and moan about their media being terrible are the ones that can't be bothered to lift a finger to seek out something better. They only bother with media that falls into their lap, and that's petty much all determined by studios that care more about profits than quality.
Ultrakill, Deltarune and Celeste are my favorite video games, all indie I think.
I love deltarune and I enjoyed the ultrakill demo, never tried Celeste though
Most games I play are indie ones cause those are the best imo
never tried Celeste though
How solid is your relationship to your gender?
Games that I have enjoyed that are indie:
Its a wild ride I recommend!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1296610/Peglin/
If you like peggle its a fun little game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1218210/Coromon/
Its like pokemon and amazing pixel art.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082710/Bug_Fables_The_Everlasting_Sapling/
If you liked Mario RPG titles this is a fun one.
What are your picks?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
A fun puzzle game with lots of layers to it. There's the original, stated goal. But as you work towards it, you discover lore that points you towards other puzzles.
This game is genius until you're determined to truly finish it... Then the next level of the puzzles border on insanity.
Jazzpunk https://store.steampowered.com/app/250260/Jazzpunk_Directors_Cut/ - Everyone should play Jazzpunk. Watch the trailer, and read no other reviews, just play it.
Far: Lone Sails https://store.steampowered.com/app/609320/FAR_Lone_Sails/ - a gorgeous art piece, a good story that develops through the gameplay, worth your time.
Void War https://store.steampowered.com/app/2853590/Void_War/ - Void War is FTL crossed with Warhammer 40k, but it's not just a reskin. If you ever wanted more FTL gameplay, Void War is it.
The Red Strings Club https://store.steampowered.com/app/589780/The_Red_Strings_Club/ - a great story with beautifully written characters, everything that digital storytelling should be.
Songs of Syx https://store.steampowered.com/app/1162750/Songs_of_Syx/ - this has been eating my brain recently. If you enjoy colony builders like Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress, Songs of Syx is potentially dangerous in that where did the last eight hours go kind of way. It's still got some rough spots, but the developer is actively working on it.
*Bonus - Fatum Betula https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281270/Fatum_Betula/ - a strange experience, like nothing else that I know of. I also recommend going into this one blind, just watch the developer's trailer.
So true! If you ignore big corpo and their slop, we actually live in a golden age of gaming.
We always have and I've often ignored big corp.
Cozy Pixel Dating Exposition Building Pastel Farming Dog Quirky Fishing Rogue-lite Crafter
Yeah, indie and AA-gaming are doing fine, its the AAA that is suffering. And I think they deserve it for sure: predatory practices, lack of innovation, everything looking and feeling the same... Indie and AA-games are the ones I look forward to.
For real, there's so much more variety these days than there was ten or fifteen years ago. I feel like these are the golden days of gaming where everyone can find the exact niche game that they are looking for
Played Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora recently, and it struck me almost immediately:
This is, without a hint of doubt, a Ubisoft game. The setting may change, the characters are swapped, but it is always the same gameplay. Like if they figured something that works with Assassin's Creed and decided to never change it, ever.
Whatever Ubisoft action RPG you start, you always play Assassin's Creed with extra decorations. Again. And again. And again. Zero creative vision, just new textures on top of the same mechanics.
Me playing Noita (the only game I will ever need) while everyone complains about gta6 which isn't even out yet.
(actually send help, I cannot make myself play other games)
Noita is great value if you can get around the unforgiving nature of the game.
Now share your secrets with us, give us your go-to wand configuration.
I will happily pay full price for an indie or solo dev/small team game even if I end up not loving it. I will always wait for a sale for the big AAA games.
I have all of the big studios blocked on Steam. So any new dog shit they pump out that is inevitably built around nothing but extracting wealth, is never shown to me.
I kinda get it tbh, sometimes you just want the lore and gameplay of the indie title with the fidelity and scope of a AAA studio.
The games I always remember/return to the most are the ones that had an amazing storyline.
That doesn't require a huge budget. But it does require the developer to love the game too.
So many companies are run from an excel spreadsheet. No true leadership or vision.