Opinion Indie generation?

[suiko]

So I was thinking after this year GOTY results on the web, how usually top lists are still dominated by AAA games, oh, there are some token beloved indie or two, but if you check people individual lists you can count lists mostly consisting of indie games on the fingers of your one hand. While we all agree that indies are better than ever and there are plain insane amount of indie games.
I find it strange, don't you? Why people keep spending $60 on a blockbuster game when they can get 2-3 amazing indies for the same price, sometimes even more.
Are we really all about graphics primarily?

I remember on old boards (we don't mention) people often saying they went full indie, where are those people? Don't vote for GOTY?

what is your rate of big publisher/indie games bought in a year? played? Do you tend to vote for a popular AAA game, even if you think that an indie game you liked was better?

 

[Chairmanchuck]

I still think that a lot of AAA games have higher production values and are interesting because of that.

A RE2 Remake imo has still a better presentation than lets say Layers of Fear, though both go for something different.
A Nier Automata thanks to a bigger budget has a better soundtrack and presentation than some Indie hack and slash.

Its not just graphics, but the whole presentation. I still remember parts of Nier, AC Origin, MH Worlds and not so much from Tacoma or other Indie games.

 

[launch]

I still think that a lot of AAA games have higher production values and are interesting because of that.

A RE2 Remake imo has still a better presentation than lets say Layers of Fear, though both go for something different.
A Nier Automata thanks to a bigger budget has a better soundtrack and presentation than some Indie hack and slash.

Its not just graphics, but the whole presentation. I still remember parts of Nier, AC Origin, MH Worlds and not so much from Tacoma or other Indie games.

You say that but Celeste will stick with me for a long time because of how fantastic that game was and how much it absolutely perfected nearly every aspect of the game. The presentation, music, gameplay and even the story are all incredible.

Celeste was my number 2 GOTY and only lost to Yakuza 0 which is technically a 2017 game. I definitely find myself gravitating to indies a lot more now because they have improved so much. I recently picked up Thumper for £5(!) and it was an incredible ride that I also found to be more fun than most AAA games I've played in the last couple of years.

 

[Blizniak]

I think because of sheer amount and variety of indie games people play different ones while we all come together for the tent-pole AAA releases. I played a whole bunch of indie games last year but while games like Gris, Celeste, DUSK, Return of the Obra Dinn, Dead Cells seem to be the most popular ones I haven't touched any of those.

 

[suiko]

what did you play Blizniak , I'm really curious

I'm not interested in Celeste at all, no matter how other people like it, cuz I have no patience for such games anymore, I am kinda interested in Dusk, but I have too many such games to buy it, I very likely will buy and play Obra, Dead Cells are basically Celeste situation, but I did play GRIS and it was on my GOTY list.

The best thing about GOTY threads usually are games that I haven't heard about and overlooked, this year was no different, but it was honestly way too little indie games on people's lists, that's why we having this conversation at all. I wonder why is it happening, when there are more good indie games than ever... people play less of them?

 

[Blizniak]

Chuchel was my game of the year but Amanita Design is an established studio at this point. some highlights include Paratopic, Donut County,
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game, #WarGames

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I find myself being less and less interested in AAA games as time goes on. These days, I get much more enjoyment out of games that try new ideas or fill specific niches. Which is one of the reasons why I built a PC instead of buying a PS4 or XBO. I didn't vote in the GOTY thread since I played very few 2018 games last year, but my pick would go to *looks at avatar* La Mulana 2. A game that has me writing down notes in a physical journal just to solve some puzzles is an A+ in my book.

 

[Guilty of Being]

I think a few years ago, many jumped into the "I like indie games, bro!" because they were what was in. Hotline Miami, Super Meat Boy, Bastian, etc. Now, I feel the term "indie" is so embedded in mainstream gaming culture and media that it's a throwaway term. AAA companies have all sunk their teeth into the "indie style" to where we often wonder what "indie" is. The same can be said for all forms of entertainment and media. Me? I like it all... as long as it's good.

 

[SpectrumWarrior]

Most of the indie games I bought and played in 2018 were or are still in EA, so they didn't made my GOTY list. (Dead Cells -got it since june 2017-, SYNTHETIK, X-Morph: Defense, Them's Fighting Herds, Fantasy Strike...)
One of my favourite indie editor is Devolver but I didn't get any of their new games last year.
Then there were many AAA games that I really enjoyed and I'm still playing (HITMAN 2, SOULCALIBUR VI, DragonBall FighterZ, Blazblue Cross Tag Battle...).
I may have been owned by AAA GaaS last year (I bought every fighting games' season passes -Tekken7, StreetFighterV weren't last year's games but I still played them a lot-) and that had consequences on indie games but also on other AAA games I knew I hadn't time to play (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed Odyssey...).

 

[Ascheroth]

Personally I play a lot of indies, but very rarely in the year they release.

 

[TheVectronic]

Why people keep spending $60 on a blockbuster game when they can get 2-3 amazing indies for the same price, sometimes even more.

I always have this same question each time I see a new AAA game up in the air & everytime I find the same cycle each time.

• Buy new game
• Play said game
• Beat the game
• New game is on the horizon
• New Game comes out
• Sell games for money
• Repeat

Once I noticed this, I just decided to just wait for the new games to be around an affordable price point of $15 - $30 & get them like that instead of giving into a $60 crapshoot that may or may not be worth my time. Hence I resided with the small developer teams instead that show promise & genuine interest with the gaming scene. A good example of this is a new upcoming game called Horrorvale, a cute RPG game made by Halloween enthusiasts that want to create a loving RPG that is themed around it without being part of the horror genre. (You can try the free demo right by clicking this link)

what is your rate of big publisher/indie games bought in a year? played? Do you tend to vote for a popular AAA game, even if you think that an indie game you liked was better?

• I tend to buy more indie games than actual AAA published games. Not only are they a cheaper alternative for people with tight budgets & low leveled PC specs, but some games tend to be very short & very experimental which can lead to creative titles that break new ground of what gaming can do.
• Thanks to the diet-sized length of indie games, I tend to beat them more often than longer AAA titles that boast about large expansive sandboxes with high quality graphics that my computer may not even run as intended.
• Lastly no. If I find a game to be fun, interesting or unique, I will vote for that one, which tends to be in the favor of indie games. On the rare occassion AAA games do reach it, but it's so few & far between that I will just continue with the indie scene & not look the other way.

 

[MegaApple]

(all this is based on single player games)

Firstly, AAA (or games with huge marketing budget) will continue to dominate the mainstream, ie casual or mid-core gamers. The kind of people who play maybe 5 games an year. See the reply on the tweets or comments of popular games site like IGN or TheGameAwards, and you'll see people parroting the same "Red Dead 2", "God of War", "Assassin's Creed".
And since they have much less games, most won't make personal top 10s.

Enthusiasts are more "hungry" for content. Most will have played at least 10 games an year. Indies are a good and economic way to get newer types of experiences. These people will also be likely to make top 10 lists (and I bet you have looked up at the list of the enthusiasts).

So it largely depends on who you ask.

AAA are hear to stay, esp with studios like CDPR and Capcom making quality stuff.
And yeah there are people who have went full indie. Check out Kimchica's YT channel : Kimchica

 

[Anteater]

I personally don't really pay attention to indies unless someone recommends it, and even then my priority is still probably with well known (or the ones I know) devs/publishers, there was a time when I try a lot of different indies for myself, mostly from bundles, etc, but now I rarely even buy bundles. I added hundreds of them to my wishlist and I noticed I don't even look at it anymore, lol.

I've only bought Guacamelee 2 and blade fury in the sale because there aren't many like them on Steam, but I still haven't finished them. I don't vote for GOTY, I don't play enough.

 

[beep boop]

Yeah, this year has been an indie heavy one for me. The indie to AAA ratio was probably something like 8:1 and my personal GOTY list was also indie heavy. I have also just gravitated more to more concise experiences as of late. It's difficult to commit to a single long game when you can get a lot more diversity in the same time span.

 

[texhnolyze]

Almost half of my 2018 GOTY list are indie games. I do appreciate them, but I think it's impossible to go 'full indies'.

 

[TheVectronic]

And yeah there are people who have went full indie. Check out Kimchica's YT channel : Kimchica

Thanks for the small channel plug. I'll take a look at their back catalogue of videos when I can.