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[JMY86]

You're missing out if you like RPGs and you haven't played Divinity, Pillars of Eternity, Age of Decadence, Underrail, Tyranny, STALKER, Crusader Kings 2, or Mount & Blade

I actually have Divinity: Original Sin which is fantastic and I bought Pillars of Eternity during a Steam sale but it is currently buried in my bottomless pit of a backlog. I will look into the others and see if any interest me. Thanks for the info...

 

[Micael]

I actually have Divinity: Original Sin which is fantastic and I bought Pillars of Eternity during a Steam sale but it is currently buried in my bottomless pit of a backlog. I will look into the others and see if any interest me. Thanks for the info...

Oh god you haven't played Mount & Blade? Grab Warband, I mean it isn't a story based RPG if that is your thing, but its damn entertaining, basically its https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjMQbzBhTb4 this in game form.

 

[Tigress]

You're missing out if you like RPGs and you haven't played Divinity, Pillars of Eternity, Age of Decadence, Underrail, Tyranny, STALKER, Crusader Kings 2, or Mount & Blade

Is Obsidian really considered an indie developer (Pillars of Eternity). And I'd love to play PoE but no PC . Least Wastelands 2 came over to PS4 .

 

[Poketune]

Indie games shouldn't be overlooked IMO, there are a number of fantastic indie games on every platform.

 

[More_Badass]

Is Obsidian really considered an indie developer (Pillars of Eternity). And I'd love to play PoE but no PC . Least Wastelands 2 came over to PS4 .

It was kickstarted, funded, and developed by them. Paradox only handled distribution and marketing, much like how Devolver and Adult Swim handle their roster

 

[Inspectah_Deck]

It's funny how most of the posts in here that describe what they don't like about indie games only apply to a small amount of indie games. I can confidently say that there's seriously an indie game for everybody, no matter their personal tastes. There's a lot of everything in the indie scene. There are long-ass games, low-poly games, graphically-intensive games, action games, puzzle games, polished games, rough games, carefully-crafted games, procedurally-generated games, etc. etc. etc. I play more indie games than "traditional" games these days.

The fantastic thing about indie games, which is what's so sad when people don't see it, is that indie games have the luxury of appealing to very specific tastes. They aren't by and large focus-tested, safe experiences. You can find something that more intimately aligns with your tastes than the AAA flavor of the month.

This should have been first post. <3

 

[Unicorn]

Most of the games I look forward to these days are indie.

 

[Freshmaker]

Reading a Switch thread, I noticed something which is slightly troubling; some gamers simply don't count indie games as "real games". They only view AAA games or known franchises as "real games".

I noticed this also with Playstation and PC as well. My question is why are indie games seen as "lesser" by the more mainstream gaming community? Is it simply conditioning to believe that a real game HAS to come from a big studio or have a big budget? Is it the graphics (some PC indies are simply stunning btw) or something else?

Mainly because you can get them anywhere as it is. Usually far cheaper on Steam or as free PS+ titles.

I mean, if you wanted to play Shovel Knight, why would you wait until getting a Switch?

For a new platform, people tend to look for unique offerings to justify the purchase. A three year old game's not going to generate much excitement. Especially if you could've gotten the same game for a nickel in a Humble Bundle or something, how excited can you be by the prospect of paying $20 for it now?

 

[NathanS]

A lot of self-identified gamers are really just guys who subsist off a boom/bust hype cycle, culminating in games that are, for the most part, relatively easy to play, complete and move on from.

And, as you can see on GAF quite often, they openly resent the games that exist outside of this bubble. Both because of the lack of the hype cycle part, and because the gameplay in many indie games is often intentionally unlike the biggest releases.

The narrow view of the hobby by this type of gamer even extends to other massively popular games that don't operate on the hype/release cycle. Look at takes by the average GAF user on games like CS:GO, Dota 2, PUBG, Civ, etc. They're often deeply disconnected from the reality of what those games are, and almost always written from a condescending perspective.

Fan communities will always be susceptible to hype in a way that leans negative, but I think it's particularly egregious in video games. To the point that the history of the medium is largely a subject of complete disinterest, games that released six months ago essentially irrelevant. Always on to the next thing. Perhaps it's because video games established themselves at a time when marketing evolved into a particularly potent beast, cutting off many from the roots of the more intimate communities that sprouted up around music, literature, comics, etc. early on. There are smaller communities that work more like those other fanbases -- some on this forum, even -- but the ur-text of video games is Nintendo Power.

People who are openly aggressive about their gamer "identity," and protecting it from outsiders, often demonstrate a dim knowledge of the medium as a whole that would mark you as a neophyte or dilettante in any other fan community. The mark of a member of the gamer "ingroup" is not really about interest in the hobby or the medium, but the ability to fiercely engage in the buildup for whatever comes next. Don't spoil announcements bro!

You can even see in how fad driven even seemingly deeper conversations about gaming topics are. Like in the early 2010's you couldn't take two steps without running into a "Japanese games are linear Western games are non-linear" talking point, including on this site. from what I can tell it was driven by Fallout 3 and Skyrim coming out and being big hits and FF13 coming out and being fairly linear and people just sort of generalized from there. Never mind that FF13 "you are literally in corridor" for most of the game being a rather rare move a JRPG. Never mind this was also the same time Uncharted start coming out and forming the new face of Naughty Dogs, never mind all the complaints about FPS level design becoming too linear cropping up at the time. Never mind that in Japan the Yakuza games were doing well for themselves, and defiantly never mind all the more open some-what metriodvina like platfomers with free roaming level design that came out in the 8 and 16 bit eras in Japan.

 

[pa22word]

A lot of self-identified gamers are really just guys who subsist off a boom/bust hype cycle, culminating in games that are, for the most part, relatively easy to play, complete and move on from.

And, as you can see on GAF quite often, they openly resent the games that exist outside of this bubble. Both because of the lack of the hype cycle part, and because the gameplay in many indie games is often intentionally unlike the biggest releases.

The narrow view of the hobby by this type of gamer even extends to other massively popular games that don't operate on the hype/release cycle. Look at takes by the average GAF user on games like CS:GO, Dota 2, PUBG, Civ, etc. They're often deeply disconnected from the reality of what those games are, and almost always written from a condescending perspective.

Fan communities will always be susceptible to hype in a way that leans negative, but I think it's particularly egregious in video games. To the point that the history of the medium is largely a subject of complete disinterest, games that released six months ago essentially irrelevant. Always on to the next thing. Perhaps it's because video games established themselves at a time when marketing evolved into a particularly potent beast, cutting off many from the roots of the more intimate communities that sprouted up around music, literature, comics, etc. early on. There are smaller communities that work more like those other fanbases -- some on this forum, even -- but the ur-text of video games is Nintendo Power.

People who are openly aggressive about their gamer "identity," and protecting it from outsiders, often demonstrate a dim knowledge of the medium as a whole that would mark you as a neophyte or dilettante in any other fan community. The mark of a member of the gamer "ingroup" is not really about interest in the hobby or the medium, but the ability to fiercely engage in the buildup for whatever comes next. Don't spoil announcements bro!

Spot on.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Indie games are often the icing on the cake. It got really weird with how Microsoft tried to position Ori as a legitimate system seller.

 

[kunonabi]

Most of them are multiplats or have pc versions. Outside of a few exceptions they arent really system defining titles.

As for the switch old games i already own just aren't going to sell me on the thing and this isnt just an indie thing i have no interest in the wii u ports either.

 

[Vamphuntr]

I think it has to do with perceptions. People tend to go with the safest options and not only for games but with books, clothes, food and music as well. The biggest and most powerful brands often end up selling way more than smaller brands. People seems to prefer to play something they already know they've enjoyed than something more experimental. Since people have limited time and money, the games that have more advertising or that are more popular/well known get more attention. Big publishers also know how to bloat their games with "tons of content" to increase perceived value. Some indie games manage to get in the spotlight but it's really challenging for them.

It has nothing to do with Switch only. People are like this on other hardware too. Discussion here always end up the same though. There's the "ignorant" side that hates all indies games and the "elitist" side that hates all AAA games and they fight it out through a list war. Every Single Time.

 

[Kureransu]

Most of them are multiplats or have pc versions. Outside of a few exceptions they arent really system defining titles.

As for the switch old games i already own just aren't going to sell me on the thing and this isnt just an indie thing i have no interest in the wii u ports either.

Are you considering BotW a port even though it's a simultaneous release? Is destiny considered a Port since it was on the previous gen as well?

In terms of indies, there are 12 titles on switch that received a simultaneous release with other consoles/PC (i included VOEZ, since it's mobile only, but you can dismiss it if you want to) or debuted. Of those, 6 (4 if you don't want to count specter of tomrent and VOEZ) were or are timed exclusives for switch. I also didn't put Afterbirth+ in this mix because people consider it just BoI anyway.

I'm not saying that all the games are stellar and are system sellers by any means (vroom in the sky lol), But it seems like you were implying that all the indies on the switch were just old games you already owned, and that's just not true.

I'm just saying there is also a nice mix on fresh content on there as well.

 

[Khrno]

When they say they don't like indie games, the only explanation is that they want the shiniest graphics possible in any given year.

I actually don't like indie games because I only like Japanese games of any budget and made by either 1 or 1000 people, yeah you know those doujin games before "indie" was even a thing in the game industry.

Aside from those I actually only like hugh budget AAA western games from very small selection of series or developers. But that's just because I don't like the vasy majority of western games.

 

[Crankshaft]

It's quite weird how your excitement for a game is based on its monetary value.
You must REALLY love Train Simulator.

I don't understand the point you are trying to make. Would I rather spend 20 dollars and buy Mortal Kombat XL or 20 dollars on Axiom Verge? Mortal Kombat.
Axiom will have to wait until its on sale for 5 bucks. I don't get the Train Sim joke.

 

[InsaneFandom]

They're lower profile & are often things people haven't heard of - to some people this must mean they're bad or not worthy of their time

Idk really, I think a lot of people don't consider the sheer variety of indie games in genre, scope & budget. The line between AAA, AA & indie can be pretty blurred

I admit I haven't played as many indie games as I'd like, part of the issue is I don't really like playing on my laptop so I'm glad more are coming to console.
Another issue is finding out about them in the first place, due to lack of advertising or people talking about them.
For example I just found out about a game called Adr1ft which looks great & something I'll really enjoy, but if I hadn't stumbled upon a random youtube video of it I'd probably never know it exists

 

[Naked Snake]

grafix

 

[Rathorial]

There is always gonna be that large audience of people that only consume the blockbuster content, and almost nothing else. Those games look expensive just based on their production values, and if it's already a popular thing people feel safer to toss themselves on the bandwagon.

 

[Micael]

Wrong thread