Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Xeogred]

Tanooki makes me wanna say something...

I don't like indie games. 8bit runs in my blood, but I just can't get into 99% of the "indie" stuff released out there. Cave Story I didn't care for after an hour or two, VVVVVVV didn't hold my attention, Fez sucked, etc. I'm all about Metroidvania's, but I'm worried the slew of some coming out just won't click with me. Which is why I haven't checked out Xeodrifter yet.

Shovel Knight is literally like one of the only exceptions I can really think of, because it felt really authentic and was a legit love letter to the NES. Half of that other stuff out there lacks that unexplainable authenticness to me, or feels like it was cheaply made from old Flash or something, or has this slightly offputting polish to it... I don't know.

I'm like this with sidescrollers too. The Donkey Kong Country Returns games are probably some of the only few I've truly loved and enjoyed since the 8-32bit days.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I like most of what IndieBox has put out.

I can't say one way or another if indie games are "good" or "bad"? I mean, are games in general good? Some are, some aren't. Probably a similar ratio among the indies.

On the topic of indie platformers though, I do not like this trend of making them super "hardcore" and nearly impossible to complete.

[Exhuminator]

Cave Story I didn't care for after an hour or two

I can't speak for all indies, but it's nice to see someone besides myself feel that way about Cave Story. It's an entirely overrated game often namechecked by people who want to seem hip to "indie games". As evidenced by all the people who say they lllooovvveee Cave Story yet don't even know Kero Blaster exists.

[AppleQueso]

Yeah "I don't like indie games" feels like a weird statement. Don't like them compared to... ???

I totally get not being into the batch of popular neo-retro indie titles though.

also if there's one thing that peeves me it's people who seem to think that indie begins and ends at what's available on steam, eshop, psn, etc.

Indie is *way* older than that, and there's a lot of neat stuff out there, even freeware, if you want to really dig in.

[Exhuminator]

Indie is *way* older than that

Yep. Remember downloading Hugo's House of Horrors off Rusty n Edie's?

[Xeogred]

Guess you guys have a point. The humor is that dev teams back on the NES were probably even smaller than some of the "indie" devs out there nowadays. I always love this going back to NES games or beating news ones, watching the credits and being amazed the thing was made by 10 dudes or something, if even.

So yeah, nothing against indie in a broader sense, or small dev teams... but this influx of the newer wave of indie/hip throwback stuff I'm not too into. Even if I do think kickstarter is cool and all, there's just a lot out there that doesn't click with me. I guess it's just weird to see 2D is more prominent again nowadays (compared to say the N64-PS2 era, a bit before the internet ruled the human race), but most of the modern 2D stuff looks like shovelware to me. lol

Hopefully Mighty No.9 hits the right notes for me.

[irixith]

Cave Story I didn't care for after an hour or two

I can't speak for all indies, but it's nice to see someone besides myself feel that way about Cave Story. It's an entirely overrated game often namechecked by people who want to seem hip to "indie games". As evidenced by all the people who say they lllooovvveee Cave Story yet don't even know Kero Blaster exists.

It would be interesting for someone to do a correlation between beloved "indie" games that began their life as free games and their popularity later on down the line. Cave Story is like the hipster cred of indie games, because if you had played it prior to its appearance in the console market, you literally knew about it before it was cool. It was a janky thing to get working too, finding the right files and the translation patch 'n all that. Off the top of my head, Super Meat Boy is a game people go crazy over, and it started out as a free flash game called Meat Boy.

I'm genuinely curious if the free origins directly relate to a more positive outlook later on. Kind of like how traditionally the consoles that are "easier to pirate software for" tend to "win" the console war and are more highly regarded than they deserve to be/were at at the time as time marches on.

[AppleQueso]

I like Cave Story fine, but zomg people in the scene need to quit lifting from it so much. There are other things! Do other things!

Also the idea of namedropping Cave Story to get hipster indie cred is hilarious.

Fucking everybody knows that game come on.

Also I think it's worth noting that most indie games really aren't made for prestige or to sell well, but simply folks making the kinds of games they like. I think that's worth supporting.

[BogusMeatFactory]

It would be interesting for someone to do a correlation between beloved "indie" games that began their life as free games and their popularity later on down the line. Cave Story is like the hipster cred of indie games, because if you had played it prior to its appearance in the console market, you literally knew about it before it was cool. It was a janky thing to get working too, finding the right files and the translation patch 'n all that. Off the top of my head, Super Meat Boy is a game people go crazy over, and it started out as a free flash game called Meat Boy.

I'm genuinely curious if the free origins directly relate to a more positive outlook later on. Kind of like how traditionally the consoles that are "easier to pirate software for" tend to "win" the console war and are more highly regarded than they deserve to be/were at at the time as time marches on.

A lot of people's response to a game relates to public perception. We place a much larger magnifying glass to games from EA and Ubisoft, because our perception is that these big budget titles lack the attention to detail in stamping out bugs. As if their intricacies create more issues and thus are result of laziness.

With Indie games, there tends to be a lot more communication between the developer and the consumer. There tends to be more transparency with what is happening and the overall vision of the product is conveyed maturely to the audience in a way that makes people prepared for what to expect in the title. Add to it, many of these games have been seen in a free version at some point in time. Games like Alien Hominid, Meat Boy and even Minecraft were done in a simplified free to play version to give people a taste of the possibilities of said title.

Kickstarter has even further entrenched the idea of transparency, but with it has come some backlash. Some developers close their doors and curtains to the consumer and backer and leave people scratching their heads as to if what they backed will ever be finished, or if it is finished, will reflect what was promised in the pitch. I think that the indie scene is going through just as much change as the big budget developer and hopefully the result we see will be for the better.

[AppleQueso]

I think there's also been a shift over the past generation or so from indie games being developed by hobbyists to being developed by teams of developers who've left larger companies to form smaller, independent ones.

I feel like there's definitely a different vibe to the ones made entirely by hobbyists.