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Do you avoid indie games? Even though they are critically acclaimed and have won many awards?
- Thread starter Kaivan
- Start date
Much the opposite for me, I avoid AAA games to a big extent because they're often just not as good as many indie games today. Indie games has brought life back to gaming for me.
I havnt played all of those mentioned by you OP, only because there's so much good stuff out there and time wont allow me :P
I havnt played all of those mentioned by you OP, only because there's so much good stuff out there and time wont allow me :P
Why would I avoid critically acclaimed games?
I'm not sure where to draw the line for what is an indie game, but No Man's Sky, The Witness, Hollow Knight, Cuphead, Ori, are all among the best games of the generation. AAA is usually boring and samey in comparison since many big devs don't dare to be different, it's all about making the biggest blockbuster title that the mainstream gamers flock around but aren't different enough to get anyone annoyed, it's like pop music, high quality and spectacular but no soul.
I'm not sure where to draw the line for what is an indie game, but No Man's Sky, The Witness, Hollow Knight, Cuphead, Ori, are all among the best games of the generation. AAA is usually boring and samey in comparison since many big devs don't dare to be different, it's all about making the biggest blockbuster title that the mainstream gamers flock around but aren't different enough to get anyone annoyed, it's like pop music, high quality and spectacular but no soul.
I avoid roguelikes, not a fan of their repetitive nature. Maybe if they had better level design, but I've found procedural algorithms don't really know what makes a good level.
Indies are so important. Sometimes I wish a few select ones had greater production values since the ideas behind them are so great and original, they deserve to elevate them. Then again, so many AAA games are all about tired mechanics and playing it safe with pretty graphics, they often become unoriginal and I lose interest quickly - less can be more. Indies just take risks and the payoffs end up being amazing.
Was Demon's Souls originally an indie-like game? It spawned a great genre.
Was Demon's Souls originally an indie-like game? It spawned a great genre.
Hollow Knight - played a lot, but never finished.
Celeste - own it, played a little didn't like it much.
Axiom Verge - as above.
Undertale - Again, didn't like it all that much.
Cuphead - played a lot, never finished.
Night in the Woods - Want it, but never got round to it.
Spelunky - not my kind of game.
Ori - finished the first, need to complete 2.
Stardew Valley - played loads, love it.
Disco Elysium - Not my kind of game.
Hades - Bought in EA, only started playing recently. Currently my most played non-GaaS game.
Other stuff:
It depends, I used to grab games at release and either play them a lot or not play much at all. I'm pickier now, if it's a genre I'm not 100% on I wont bother, regardless of how many awards it has won. Indie games can be amazing and well worth the asking price (The Witness, HK, Stardew, Hades, Baba is You, Stephen's Sausage Roll).
If it's good it's good, doesn't matter if it's an Indie or AAA release. Don't like to jump on the "don't like it" = bad bandwagon. Games can be good and not for me, that's fine.
Celeste - own it, played a little didn't like it much.
Axiom Verge - as above.
Undertale - Again, didn't like it all that much.
Cuphead - played a lot, never finished.
Night in the Woods - Want it, but never got round to it.
Spelunky - not my kind of game.
Ori - finished the first, need to complete 2.
Stardew Valley - played loads, love it.
Disco Elysium - Not my kind of game.
Hades - Bought in EA, only started playing recently. Currently my most played non-GaaS game.
Other stuff:
It depends, I used to grab games at release and either play them a lot or not play much at all. I'm pickier now, if it's a genre I'm not 100% on I wont bother, regardless of how many awards it has won. Indie games can be amazing and well worth the asking price (The Witness, HK, Stardew, Hades, Baba is You, Stephen's Sausage Roll).
If it's good it's good, doesn't matter if it's an Indie or AAA release. Don't like to jump on the "don't like it" = bad bandwagon. Games can be good and not for me, that's fine.
That's a weird way to describe it. It's more of a story-driven action semi-platformer with light base building and minor upkeep elements. Hard to describe really but "management sim" would definitely not be my wording.
It's also one of the best games of the year.
I don't avoid them, but I don't seek them out either. Most are gameplay-only with little to no driving story that's interesting to me. If they do have a story it's often just a 1 person deal. I'm waiting for an indie to tackle a FFVI level game with an interesting set of characters, interesting relationships between them, tied together with an epic story.
That said, I played and enjoyed stardew since my wife was playing at the time. Tried Celeste since it was free for me and dropped that in less than an hour. Haven't felt any desire to try out the other ones. If it's just puzzles or platforming I most likely wouldn't even try it even if free.
That said, I played and enjoyed stardew since my wife was playing at the time. Tried Celeste since it was free for me and dropped that in less than an hour. Haven't felt any desire to try out the other ones. If it's just puzzles or platforming I most likely wouldn't even try it even if free.
I don't avoid indie games for the sake of them being indies. However, I do avoid certain trends that they sometimes fall into like procedurally generated levels, I almost never enjoy those.
Without indies there's no way I'd be into this hobby as much as I am. They fill niche areas that AAA studios just wouldn't touch. Don't put much stock in the idea of something being "critically acclaimed" though, that's never a guarantee I'll like anything indie or AAA.
I play plenty of indies and AAA games.
Lately I've been mostly playing indies, but that's just cause there's nothing really big that interests me right now.
Lately I've been mostly playing indies, but that's just cause there's nothing really big that interests me right now.
Transistor, Rime, Night in the Woods, Journey, The Witness, Guacamelee, What Remains of Edith Finch, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, Cuphead, Hollow Knight.
I don't buy any indies, I might try it if it's on ps plus. To be honest I can't remember the last indie I enjoyed so I just generally avoid them.
Hades, Huntdown, Paradise Killer and A Short Hike are among my favorite games of the year, e.g. Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Celeste, Shovel Knight, Subnautica, Cuphead, Ori, Dead Cells, Just Shapes and Beats, Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, The Messenger, Katana Zero, Hyper Light Drifter, Steamworld Dig 2, Firewatch, Rogue Legacy...are some of my favorite games of the generation. Can't comprehend how someone would outright disregard (all of) them just because they're not AAA.
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No? I buy and play whatever looks fun. I don't care about budget or AAA visuals. Art and style are more important overall to a games aesthetics I feel.
I don't purposely avoid them, I just choose to play games I have an interest in. Which means I mostly play RPG, beat 'em up, racing games and metroidvania so a well received point & click indie game won't interest me at all. Not enough money & not enough time to buy everything and play everything.
When I was younger I tried to buy all the games that were critically acclaimed but I've discovered that I didn't any real interest in most of them. So today, I have a huge backlog of games that I don't want to play, that's why now I choose to buy less. Because I want to play more.
When I was younger I tried to buy all the games that were critically acclaimed but I've discovered that I didn't any real interest in most of them. So today, I have a huge backlog of games that I don't want to play, that's why now I choose to buy less. Because I want to play more.
I think Shovel Knight was my favourite new IP this/last gen, but yeah, most of the ones you've listed are recent faves of mine too.
Avoiding indies because of their visual presentation is to me like not watching TV that doesn't have cinema visual effects of cinematography. "Hey what's your opinion on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia vs What we do in the Shadows?" "Oh sorry, never watched either. I don't think they look expensive enough for my taste".
I would say 85 % of the games I play are indie games. Over the years, AAA have started to become way too predictable and boring. I don't know if it's me or the games industry that has changed. But I love indie games because there is so much cool, innovative and weird stuff happening in that space.
Most people who don`t care about/avoid indies on this forum also don`t care about/avoid this thread, I guess.
I don't actively avoid them but I dunno, I feel like a lot of them do nothing for me, even if I appreciate the work. I especially have 0 intetest in the ones latching on to nostalgia of much better games.
I don't go out of my way to avoid them on purpose, they just usually aren't my cup of tea, especially the 2D retro ultra challenging kind, so I never play them.
Out of all the games mentioned in the OP, Cuphead was the only one I played but only for about 5 minutes. I appreciated the animation of the game, but it was too hard for me.
Out of all the games mentioned in the OP, Cuphead was the only one I played but only for about 5 minutes. I appreciated the animation of the game, but it was too hard for me.
Loads of people here love them. Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley among others get raised here all the time in game recommendations etc. There just aren't much in the way of specific threads about them.
The last 4 games I bought were Huntdown, Moonlighter, Remothered and Ghost of a Tale.
The budget of the game has zero relevance on whether i would play it or not.
Indie stuff and big AAA also touches completely different genres 99% of the time. It's kind of silly to compare because blockbusters are like the same most of the time while low budget games have bizarre gameplay variation in comparison, to the point it's hard to not get bored playing only big stuff.
I feel like people still treats "Indie" as a genre no matter if we're talking about Metroidvanias, Point and Click Adventures or some spot the suspect multiplayet party game. Like, the term doesn't even means anything anymore at this point.
Indie stuff and big AAA also touches completely different genres 99% of the time. It's kind of silly to compare because blockbusters are like the same most of the time while low budget games have bizarre gameplay variation in comparison, to the point it's hard to not get bored playing only big stuff.
I feel like people still treats "Indie" as a genre no matter if we're talking about Metroidvanias, Point and Click Adventures or some spot the suspect multiplayet party game. Like, the term doesn't even means anything anymore at this point.
It's not a sim, it's super chill/relaxing. Not sure why it's described this way.
I'll play the three or four really good indie games released each year, but most indies I just have to ignore. Tried and was disappointed by so many due to their lack of substance of any kind.
I feel that people tend to hype indie games way too much. I often hear "masterpiece", "perfection", "nothing like it!" and then I never hear about it again after 2 weeks.
That's usually to do with gaming coverage focusing on titles that bring in more clicks, so big titles and GaaSs are going to dominate post release more than other games. I also don't think there's any more hype for indie games than AAA, especially here