Though we all enjoy mainstream titles, there's something about indie games that stands out. Here are some thoughts on why they're sometimes better.
From AAA to Indie: The Changing Landscape of Gaming. Indie Games Take Center Stage Amidst AAA Fatigue. But, has the market become too crowded?
Eh, It would be better if we talked about specific genres instead of treating the indie market as a singular entity
Personally I'm kinda done with roguelikes and I feel that there's too many of them
I could agree with that but there's still some good ones out there. The more games the better. The way I see it not every game is tailored to me. If it was the latest summer blockbuster would've hit right with me. Seriously though. Almost every game has a fan.
I agree, I don't wish for the demise of the genre or anything. Different strokes
While I get being done with a genre, the thing about roguelikes/roguelites is the concept simply increases replayability at very little cost.
For example, take Pepper Grinder. Charming game, like 25 levels, has collectibles, etc. Once you get all the collectibles, and beat it, the only content left is beating stages faster/more proficiently. Procedurally generated games don't have that negative, as they're always somewhat different. I can do five runs of Enter the Gungeon, and have different obstacles to overcome.
When you don't have a massive budget to add a ton of content (I made a full run with collectibles video for Pepper Grinder and it was 90 minutes), it's a cost effective way to achieve that goal.
Very true about cost, roguelikes are probably also a nice way for beginner developers to learn and gain experience. I disagree with procedurally content never feeling samey tho, even the best examples of the genre ( skull, gungeon, brotato, dead cells, wizard of legend...) eventually run out of things to show and become a chore to me.
I'd rather spend 10 hours in a memorable hand crafted metroidvania than 100 in a roguelike, there's too many competent games to experience and the time investment just doesn't feel worth it for me personally
Naw. We definitely need more turn based jrpgs. Never ever to many of those. Yes I'm serious.
Not by a long shot, you still have to sift through a lot of mediocre titles, but there are plenty of gems there, and room for even more now that people are buying less AAA games.
It's kinda always been like that though. From nes to present. There's always been sifting.
“Another month has passed us by and during it, many incredible indie games released so let's celebrate the 12 best from March 2024.” - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums.
“2023 was so full of excellent indie games that I had to upgrade my consoles' storage capacity so let's explore the year's very best indies.” - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums.
The casual games tag doesn't fit. The mainstream AAA games are usually the ones which appeal to casuals the most.
Because most of indies are not buggy or bland empty like most of AAA
Its the focus on gameplay/game mechanics instead of graphics/presentation.
Compare modern day Warframe to Destiny 2. Now look at how ome of the is F2P with a model that actually allows you to enjoy everything the game has to offer without paying a dime and the other is a full retail game with micro transactions.
I believe that is all that needs to be said on the matter...
The Firewatch image makes the article title seem laughable.