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Indie Games Discussion and Recommendations


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I couldn't find a thread specifically for indie games, so I thought it would be fun to start a recommendations/review thread specifically for smaller or independent games that aren't discussed as much.  There are lots of interesting indie games that have caught my eye recently:

 

 

 

 

 

Lonely Mountains and Ion Fury have both been out for a while, but I've been waiting for the Switch versions.  Anything else of note that people have played or are interested in?

 

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My friend linked me to a ResetERA thread earlier that points out that the console versions of Ion Fury are messed up right now. Something with the framerate is wonky and apparently it somehow doesn't support inverting the Y-axis. I personally can't play first person games without inverting so that's a deal breaker for me until that's patched.

 

@ShreddieMercuryRising Btw, great thread and I actually appreciate it. I always forget about all these 'little' games despite thinking they look cool. Huntdown looks great and I put it on my list.

 

My recommendation:

 

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Available on Steam, PS4 and ???. I subsequently made a thread here about Point & Click recommendations and maybe I haven't played enough of those to have anything to compare to but as huge fan of old-fashioned Gothic Horror, I fucking loved this game. The art direction is really beautiful, if you don't mind heavily pixelated graphics, and the atmosphere and music is just great.

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Hey so not an indie game technically...but Star Control II was remade in HD a few years ago and is free online under the name The Ur-Quan Masters: https://sourceforge.net/projects/urquanmastershd/

 

Fantastic game and really is the peak of Exploration/RPG games, a genre which is sadly now dead. Still 100% controlled by keyboard (though I think gamepads may work with the HD version), and I love it. Just got back into it myself recently.

 

Here is a trailer. I love the voice acting and character each alien race has:

 

 

 

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I wanted to add Shinsekai: Into the Depths.

 

 

This originally released on Apple Arcade, but came to Switch a couple of months ago.  I picked it up and am really enjoying it.  It's a very atmospheric exploration/metroidvania game with light survival elements and an awesome soundtrack.  If you like these kinds of games, I can't recommend it enough.

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46 minutes ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

I wanted to add Shinsekai: Into the Depths.

 

 

This originally released on Apple Arcade, but came to Switch a couple of months ago.  I picked it up and am really enjoying it.  It's a very atmospheric exploration/metroidvania game with light survival elements and an awesome soundtrack.  If you like these kinds of games, I can't recommend it enough.

I had put this on my list a few weeks ago not realizing it was Switch only unfortunately.

 

Looks really cool based on the trailer.

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1 hour ago, Bloodporne said:

I had put this on my list a few weeks ago not realizing it was Switch only unfortunately.

 

Looks really cool based on the trailer.

Do you have any Apple products?  I would recommend playing it however you can if you're interested, because I'm pretty blown away so far.  The game's mobile origins are sometimes apparent in the graphics, but otherwise it's a fully-fledged console-quality 2D game.  Capcom released a real-deal metroidvania and nobody noticed!

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Monster Train just came out today on Steam, 10% off launch sale, 20% off if you own Slay the Spire. It's like a mashup of Slay the Spire and Heathstone with a cool train dynamic where you have multiple levels of your train to defend. Looks to have a lot of content already, and I can feel that I'll be putting a good amount of time into this one.

 

 

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1 hour ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

Do you have any Apple products?  I would recommend playing it however you can if you're interested, because I'm pretty blown away so far.  The game's mobile origins are sometimes apparent in the graphics, but otherwise it's a fully-fledged console-quality 2D game.  Capcom released a real-deal metroidvania and nobody noticed!

I actually don't have an Apple stuff either, no.

 

I think I'm gonna eventually get a Switch down the line so I'll snag it then for sure.

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18 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Is it by the same developer, or just the same publisher?

 

Different for both, it says they know the devs of Slay the Spire and wanted to reward supporters of their game.  They will have a live roundtable at 5pm PST with the co-founder of MegaCrit (Slay the Spire).

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14 hours ago, Bloodporne said:

I actually don't have an Apple stuff either, no.

 

I think I'm gonna eventually get a Switch down the line so I'll snag it then for sure.

 

I have an iPad Mini that is my favorite portable gaming device so far (especially now with the controller support). I will check out Shinsekai while I have my free Apple Arcade trial going! As for my recommendation it is old but I just started playing Book of Demons and I'm really enjoying it.

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Not For Broadcast

You helm the broadcasting booth for a FOX news like channel. You control the video feed of 4 cameras, a censor button,music intros,commercials, and signal strength.While that seems rather mundane sounding it gets very hectic very fast because there is a viewer meter that is constantly changing. One of the interesting ideas of the game is how you control how the viewers might feel about a topic. Do you run a promo about a possible cheating celebrity with a picture that show him and his family in a "family friendly pose" or a photo from one of his movies where hes laying in bed with a young 20's something girl.

 

 

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5 hours ago, Chris- said:

Is Void Bastards any good? I noticed the other week it was released on the Switch. I’m really intrigued by the concept/art, but $30 seems a little steep depending on how much content it actually has. 

 

You can play it on Game Pass. I've heard good things.

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Cultist Simulator

I really can not explain this game other then its a card game thats a build your own adventure with Old Gods, human sacrifice , while not getting fired from your day job as janitor and avoiding police while deciphering mystical artifacts and then dying and starting the game over as detective investigating the death of the last character you played. There are sanity mechanics, sleep and dream mechanics,imagination mechanics and an ever present time mechanic for preasure. The game is so far out and there really isnt a tutorial on how the mechanics work or what and how cards function, you can figure it thru trial and error but there will be times when you fail or succeed but your not sure how. Really the game revolves around figuring out the all these mechanics and making them work.

 

 

 

Mandalore does a good job of describing the game with minimal spoilers

 

 

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On 5/22/2020 at 7:36 AM, Amazatron said:

Monster Train just came out today on Steam, 10% off launch sale, 20% off if you own Slay the Spire. It's like a mashup of Slay the Spire and Heathstone with a cool train dynamic where you have multiple levels of your train to defend. Looks to have a lot of content already, and I can feel that I'll be putting a good amount of time into this one.

 

 

This game rules. I like how you can mix it up by playing as different faction combos. Pretty cool game, thanks for making me aware of it!

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On 5/22/2020 at 1:17 PM, Chris- said:

Is Void Bastards any good? I noticed the other week it was released on the Switch. I’m really intrigued by the concept/art, but $30 seems a little steep depending on how much content it actually has. 

I really enjoyed it for maybe 8-10 hours, then I hit a point where it felt like I was running through the same ships constantly, new items/upgrades were coming too slow, and the increased difficulty (throwing unfair combinations of negative effects at you) was just unpleasant. 

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2 hours ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

I see there's a console patch for Ion Fury now, has anybody played that?  I've very tempted @Bloodporne

 

1 hour ago, Bloodporne said:

I'm probably gonna pick it up on Steam, it does look fucking awesome. 

Just an FYI 

The Devs seem to be real shit bags

 

https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/news/69580/ion-fury-devs-walk-back-on-apology-for-homophobic-content-following-steam-review-bomb/

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I mostly am not a huge fan of roguelike or roguelite games, honestly I don't even know the difference between those two variations.

However, I play a lot of the co-op ones because its one of my buddies favorite genres and I'd be lying if I said I'm not having a blast with Gunfire Reborn.

 

The best description I've seen is that its Borderlands meets Risk of Rain 2.

 

You have a handful of guns with different abilities. The different guns cause different types of damage that match with enemies shields. Blue = Lightning, Yellow = Corrosive, Red = Fire. There is also just normal guns that don't have elements attached to them. Some guns have secondary fire like the lightning blast rifle will shoot a static circle in front of you and any bullets you shoot through it have increased damage. Unfortunately most of the guns I've unlocked so far aren't super fun to use, but the few that are fun like the prism are extremely satisfying to use.

 

Levels don't vary a ton, but each room has multiple doors that will unlock different pathways so that you don't retread over the same ground through each run. Each level also has a theme, first is a tomb, second is a desert, third is rain. I haven't made it to the last 2 levels. The 2 characters that are in the game right now have different abilities, the cat has an orb that can initially freeze enemies for a few seconds and cause a little bit of damage as well. The dog can dual wield specific weapons for a quite a bit of time.

 

You also gather scrolls and perks while you advance through each play through. For instance you can get a perk that the orb the cat uses doesn't freeze anymore but increases 200% every time you upgrade it. You can cause the orb to have an AOE perk and even have it hit multiple times. There is also increased elemental perks and a ton others. Scrolls are a little more specific and sometimes have trade offs. Like you cause 25% more damage while full health.

 

You lose weapons, scrolls, perks, etc after each run death (roguelite). The only thing you maintain are soul gems, which you can spend in game to revive yourself after being downed or just die and use the gems to level up your character. Each character has a skill tree that you can upgrade after each run. The usual things like increase health, shields, or gain increased inscriptions on weapons (perks on the weapons). Its in early access, but I'm having a ton of fun.

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  • 4 weeks later...

 

I'd like to throw Blasphemous in the mix here. I'm replaying it after it received a major patch and while the game was already really good but with some irksome control and platforming issues, these have basically been ironed out. I booted this up in the morning on Saturday and ended up playing nonstop for like five hours or more and it feels noticeably improved. 

 

It's a great game and feels like a real labor of love. There's much more going on than the 2D Dark Souls it looks like at face-value. Especially the entire lore and story being based on Spanish Catholicism makes for some incredibly grotesque visuals and a unique, eccentric atmosphere.

 

Edit: Also, can't leave out how fantastic the soundtrack is.

 

 

 

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