Indie games are overrated.

[hippy dave]

Hollow Knight was a great game. I'm just sad I won't have the free time for Silksong when it comes out in 2300.

Fixed

 

[Robert Newbie]

There have been great replies in this thread. I guess it comes down to staying realistic.

Some indies become runaway hits and make the scene look good, others get overhyped and bring the scene down. Similarly, AAA games may get overhyped (like Ubisoft making AAAA games), but they usually come with Triple-A Troubles, like a lack of inspiration, safe gameplay, botched launch, divisive subject matter/controversies, and so on.

The reality is that modern video games are made different than the sixth gen and before. Indies are closer in composition to the NES-PS2 games of old, but not every indie is cut out to make a decent or trascendent game. Neither is the champion of the space, so word of mouth is extremely important.

TL;DR: Your next favorite game may be a AAA or an indie game. It depends on how well it's made and if it's fun for you.

 

[CoolMe]

can indie games be overrated? yes, just like AAA can be, alot of the times it's something simplistic in both the visual and gameplay side, but that's up to you if it's something you think you'll enjoy or not. but when indie devs care enough they can make some of the finest pieces of art in both the visual side (with unique artstyles) and the gameplay side. and those devs are usually not into any monetization tactics, to siphon more money from their users thru battle/season passes, loot boxes, dlcs cosmetic or else etc etc a single player experience and sometime an online mode as well and that's it, you know just like old times?

 

[Jayro]

Well this thread is certainly a shit-take. I've played plenty of indie games that are bad-ass, and way better than what a AAA studio could pump out because the smaller teams focus on what's important and there's typically less "crunch" to get the game out, so quality and content doesn't suffer nearly as much. They also don't murder your wallet with microtransaction bullshit for the most-part.

 

[Skv0ra]

People who say stuff like "iNdIe GAyMeS >>> aAa" are either lying to themselves or the type that won't buy a game unless it's under a fixed $/h threshold.

Very few indie games have fleshed out gameplay mechanics or a well written story, instead opting to sell copies purely based on "vibes" or looks. Most indie games are indistinguishable from one another, just like most AAA games, but at least AAA games don't pretend to be better than they are.

A great example of this is Hollow Knight. It is all hype and no substance; like most indie games that get popular these days, it values Atmosphère and hype over actual gameplay and it shows.

Gotta REALLY define what is and isn't indie bud. Dev team size, lack of a big publisher, etc - what is it in your eye?

Doom was indie. Terraria was and is indie. Minecraft too, was indie. Stardew is also indie with a huge success and depth to it. Expedition 33 IS an indie game and you'd be hard pressed to tell it from Final Fektasy more often than not. Entirety of itch is indie as well. Baldur's Gate 3 is also an indie game.

So in terms of quality and experience, what's the line? Everything being voice acted? 4k realistic gfx? Appearing on consoles? Game length, girth, depth?

I'd phrase the entire sentiment as shovelware and majority of single-person-made coding jam games are overrated over A+ games, and that is largely true. Good art is integral and most of the time, coders are NOT visual artists nor DnD GMs to write a deep and coherent story.

 

[Vixi]

A bad indie game doesn't make me feel like I wasted $60.

 

[sexually_inactive]

Thinking about this a bit more, there are some ROM hacks which turns the original game into a fan sequel and in some cases the results are incredible. Technically these don't classify as indie games but they are produced by an independent group of people motivated by passion to produce the best quality game they can. I'm still not a big fan of indie games but they can be good and if you find a good one then enjoy it.

 

[Skv0ra]

Thinking about this a bit more, there are some ROM hacks which turns the original game into a fan sequel and in some cases the results are incredible. Technically these don't classify as indie games but they are produced by an independent group of people motivated by passion to produce the best quality game they can. I'm still not a big fan of indie games but they can be good and if you find a good one then enjoy it.

Rom hacks use the already ready retail game, so it's not completely from scratch.

 

[Reploid]

Generalizations aren't very accurate in general.

 

[LoggerMan]

Some indie games are AAA quality. Sperlunky feel like it was made by a large developer with focus groups and dedicated artists and stuff. Some games from independent developers are very good.

 

[hippy dave]

Generalizations aren't very accurate in general.

Hey, sometimes they are though!

 

[Gyles]

Some indie games are AAA quality. Sperlunky feel like it was made by a large developer with focus groups and dedicated artists and stuff. Some games from independent developers are very good.

It's a sad truth. That now many AAA projects are chasing only profit, not quality. But it doesn't change the fact that many indie games are made not very clear for whom and for what. As for me, now AA games in percentage terms are turning out pretty good.

 

[OilFreak]

I don't think people who enjoy indie games are biased because of lower prices. To me that's just a bonus. Hollow Knight isn't marketing, it's genuinley one of the best videogames I've ever played. Same goes for Undertale, Omori, Deltarune, Inscryption
It's not bias, it's just a different flavor of game. And I personally would rather play indie games most of the time over the same AAA open world cinematic RPG unfinished shitshow we've been getting for the past 10 years

 

[UltraHurricane]

I don't think people who enjoy indie games are biased because of lower prices. To me that's just a bonus. Hollow Knight isn't marketing, it's genuinley one of the best videogames I've ever played. Same goes for Undertale, Omori, Deltarune, Inscryption
It's not bias, it's just a different flavor of game. And I personally would rather play indie games most of the time over the same AAA open world cinematic RPG unfinished shitshow we've been getting for the past 10 years

ikr? more often then not, indie games are more likely to leave an impact on you cause they have more of a freedom to experiment and take risks with storytelling and gameplay in ways AAA games could never just because of the sheer amount of money and production values pumped into these things. If anything, some gamers prefer to not sift through all the shiny RTX graphics and over-stuffed production values to get to a good experience