Let’s talk about indie games. As AAA games are getting more and more bloated, and more and more expensive, indie games are holding the line as far as scope and cost. And yet, they are still innovating and creating experiences that are thrilling, charming, chill AF, engrossing, etc. They continue to delight me even as there are many indie games that are, to put it politely, hot garbage.
I think one of the reasons I have such a good time with indies is because I am much more open when I try an indie game than a triple A. Or rather, I go in with less preconceived notions than I do when I play a triple A game. In addition, I have different expectations when I’m buying a triple A versus an indie game.
Side note: I rarely buy triple A games. I mentioned this in the post yesterday how the last one I reviewed was Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions) in December of 2024. Again, we are not talking about FromSoft as they are in their own category. The last game I reviewed from them was–well, it was Elden Ring Nightreign, but that doesn’t count. The last real FromSoft game I reviewed was Shadow of the Erdtree, which was released in June of 2024. Wait a minute. I did review Nightreign, and it came out in May of last year. So that’s the last AAA game I reviewed. I’ll be honst with you. If it wasn’t a From game, I wouldn’t have bought it.
(Restrains from going down the FromSoft path.)
I don’t do multiplayer games, either. I don’t do shooters, sci-fi, or strategy games. I do do RPGs, adventure games, action-adventure games, and cozy games. Within the cozy genre, I like story-driven games, games about death, and cooking sims. Cooking sims and other kinds of sims.
We have to talk about price point as well. I rarely pay more than twenty dollars for an indie game. There are a few that were twenty-five or so, and even that made me hesitate. But, I still forked over the money, and I was glad I did. I don’t usually do the money per hour conversion, but one particular game I’m thinking of that was twenty-five bucks, I put over 250 hours into it. That’s 10 cents an hour.
When I say I don’t expect the same things from AAA games versus indie games, I don’t mean that I expect less from one or the other–I just mean I expect different things. With a non-From AAA game, I expect great graphics, sweeping narratives, thrilling action, and just everything to be epic. I swear to god, I am not being snide or snarky when I say that this is a good thing.
Sometimes, you want the comfort food. You want the popcorn flick. But for me, I find them dissatisfying for the most part*. I feel the same way about popcorn movies, by the way. There are very few that I actually like. In fact, the last blockbuster movie I liked was Guardians of the Galaxy, and what a pleasant surpsie that was.
Indie games are like indie movies (duh). They’re smaller, more contained, and able to be more creative. I’m watching a video right now by content creator, Jason Schreier (a joke he’s made since he’s blown up on YouTube) entitled, Making Indie Games Is Like Buying A Lottery Ticket. In the intro, he mentions many of the reasons I love indie games, and then he tackles the question that devs get asked a lot, “Why don’t you go indie?” (especially after being laid off).
What I love about indie games is that I never know exactly what I’m getting when I play one. I mean, if there’s a demo, I can get a taste, but oftentimes, the demos don’t show off the full scope of what the game is going to be. I love that, by the way. I like that I get a look into a game, a slice of what it’s like, and then I buy the game based on what I played.
I will admit that I mostly go by vibes. Did the game feel good to play? Was I grooving with the themes and the story? Did I like the characers and critters in the game? And, further down the list, but still important: do I like the graphics/environments/art style? I know some people don’t consider this important, but I do. Not that I won’t play a game with so-so graphics, but that good graphics give me a better feel about a game than a mediocre art design.
On the other hand, graphics aren’t everything. If a game is gorgeous, but the gameplay is frustrating or doesn’t feel good, I won’t play the game for very long. Of course, the ideal is to have a perfect blend of both, which some games manage to do. I have included above the trailer for Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games), which is my second favorite non-From game of all time.
It’s hand-drawn and the art design is lovely. I don’t love some of the mini-games, but I can tolerate them. What almost made me quit the game, though, was the platforming. It was so bad and so frustrating. In reading the forums, I found I wasn’t the only one who had the same issue. And this was near the very end of the game, too. It also featured in the DLC.
This game made me cry. So did my favorite non-From game (Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall). So have other indie games. I don’t cry when I play AAA games. I may tear up briefly, but full-out ugly sob? Nope. Nor do I get the other big emotions that many people seem to get from them. For example, in Ghost of Tsushima, there’s an event in the third act (third? End of second? Something like that) that is clearly supposed to be very emotional. And many people have talked about how emotional it was. And how they still thought about it da;ys after. So many people. So much emotion. So much bonding over this significant event.
I, on the other hand, was angry. Not that I am against tragic events happening in a game because obviously I’m not. But because it was so manipulative and did not feel earned at all. There’s a trope about icing a girlfriend/wife as a way to give the protagonist a purpose (in a game, movie, book, etc.), and this felt very much in the same vein.
Also, I had an ex who used to talk about the idea of ‘moving my face to hit your fist’ as a way to explain the crutch that many directors/writers take in writing a scene backwards. Meaning, they take what they want the outcome to be, and they backfit it, no matter how much or little sense it makes.
That’s how I felt about this situation. There was a moment that they so clearly wanted to be impactful, and to be fair to them, it worked on a lot of people. It just left me cold, though, and furious. I felt betrayed by the game that they actually did such a cheap and senseless thing. In addition, their logic for the events leading up to it were flawed as well.
I’m done for now. More tomorrow.
*We always have to keep in mind that FromSoft is the exception.