2016's hyped indies in review

People who sit there and treat indie like its under threat, or being held back as a stigma, are kidding themselves. Sure people hold it to different standards, but its often fitting to their own world of tropes, trends, habits, and values, and to say anything less of it is robbing it a part of its identity. To tell me I can't point out "another rogue-lite retro-inspired indie" is like telling me I'm not allowed to call a AAA game "long and grindy". But I'm not just talking about the bad obviously, I'm talking about the general traits and habits. Indies are so well developed, established, and known that they're filled with their own world full of it. Looking at AAA or indie is almost a bigger part of identifying it than the genre its in by this point. People get hyped, and discuss about their favorite indies of this year, looking at which is coming up that look great, which missed the mark, and which stunned them or did something powerful. Sure at the end of the day they're all games, but that doesn't stop us from debating about western and JRPGs, so why do we have to pretend indies are above being called indies?

I say we celebrate their development, and I've really been wanting to do this article for a while now. Ever since I wrote up this article, I decided I would come back to some of my most hyped indie games once I've let them sink in. Figure out which ones work the best, why, my hype previous to grabbing it, and a 1-5 rating on fulfillment (not a review score, just its impact and how it compares to expectations. A 2 game could still be better than a 4 in pure quality). Now just to be clear, these are games I've played or was hyped about to some extent. I'm not naming off every single game, nor even all the ones I've played. Just the ones that got me excited in some way, and willing to talk about. There's a ton out there, and I'm just not dashing out to jump on Slain, Mighty Number 9, and Hyperdrifter just lost my attention.

Now for code here...

1 = Its not so good, or was a total disappointment

2 = Its a little disappointing.

3 = Hit the mark, but did little else.

4 = Surprising and good

5 = Amazing! Left a big impact, and went beyond.

Firewatch

Why I was excited: Its a game with a great theme to it, and looked fun enough to be worth a trip. Seriously, why hasn't anyone else thought of the gameplay and story potential of being a park ranger? Its actually got a lot going for it. Well someone took it up, turned it into a suspenseful plot, and gave you some great dialogue options to have with a buddy. I wasn't super hyped about it, but I loved its idea, and when the time came around I found myself with the cash to burn on it. Probably the most I've ever put down willingly knowing this was probably a walking simulator (including Journey).

Result: Its a walking simulator with nice voice acting (without having played the later updates). That's really it, and I could move on from there. However I'll be more sincere and offer up the best and worst bits about it without discussing the much disliked ending. I still think its theme was still awesome, and its existence and how easily the voice acting reels you in is part of my point on why it stands up well for what it is. Its a great trip to take, and the visuals delivered beautifully. However it was bugged as hell, and with its massive patching and file-size for a story I went through, I found myself deleting it and not returning. I'd say its got a much higher return probability than something like Gone Home, but its a game I'm not going to play nearly as much as Journey, nor does it hit on those same amazing notes. Firewatch is a fun, suspenseful drama through a nice setting, pretty graphics, and a good moral theme, with some very sloppy handling.

3/5

Stories: Path of Destinies

Why I was excited: This game sparked the damn article that I linked to, read all about that there. I was absurdly excited to play this multi-branching story all about magic, air-ships, and a swashbuckling fox rogue as a protagonist. I adored everything about its premise, and the action RPG look to its gameplay was reassuring. I was a bit patient, and somewhat skeptical that something would go wrong, but I was all giddy about the game thanks to its tone.

Result: Eh, this is why you don't go crazy over the premise. and while that was what kept me super excited, like I did say I held some skepticism back, so don't go accusing me of hypocrisy. Still it was ironcially the premise that held the gameplay back. You see, the full story that I didn't hear until later, was there was some time travel and a groundhog day sort of effect of "do it again, and better!" type of content. That sounded kind of fun, and extended the gameplay, but... this is where short length comes in to screw with repetition. This is another indie game that is about an hour long (no surprise), but wants you to replay it a lot. Each session and story is about five levels of play, based on your direction. What ends up happening is you wind up repeating the same 8 or so levels over and over and over and over again, with little to no changes. Your upgrades just don't linger around well enough to keep things interesting with the repetition, and eventually you find yourself only replaying to see new story snippets. Oh but the story repeats from the same three starting points, and so you'll be even repeating story scenes. Everything else about the game is pretty great, except for the lack of camera controls. The combat gets surprisingly crazy fun, the writing is still amazing, the graphics are exactly how I wanted them to be, and the characters are all lovable. I just really, really, really don't want to be stuck playing the same damn levels that much. I got my victorious ending, enjoyed all my trips to get there, but was exhausted of the repetition and haven't touched the game since then.

2/5

Enter The Gungeon

Why I was excited: See that guy in the picture? That monster, who is obviously a knock-off of several other monsters? That's the Beholster, a ridiculous boss, in this ridiculous game. My eyes gravitated as smooth as butter to both the name and monster this game was advertised with. This thing came out of nowhere, shouldn't have been appealing to me as I hate its genre, and yet it was just so amazing looking. I... I... I suddenly needed this game. The art, the energy, the stupidity, it all bubbled into a little game that had torn my full attention away from anything else.

Result: The most addictive rogue-lite I've probably played. I spent a good week mostly playing it, and even played it through when I had and still hadn't finished Ratchet and Clank. A rogue-lite that does that is doing something incredible. Not to say the game was spectacular, because it still has issues I hate the genre for. Its still absurdly difficult, hates the idea of letting you progress levels unless you do it all in a single run, and it has a fairly poor character cast with just a lacking sense of interest in who I'm going to pick. Still the art, the energy, and the stupidity all held through, and the game oozes so much charm and fun that I just loved it and played it way more than I should have. I've since put it down and haven't been back into the same loop, but sometimes I'm just sitting there thinking of what to play, and I remember that giant smiling bullet face and go "lets do a round of Gungeon..." and simply lose an hour to that before figuring out the real game I was supposed to be playing. Oh and what little I've done of Co-op was fairly interesting and crazy, so there's that to.

4/5

Moon Hunters

Why I was excited: Moon Hunters is one of those games where as you see the trailer, you feel like the ghost of an excited christmas kid has possessed you. The music, the premise, what I saw as gameplay, it all folded into an emotion that was just sheer raw excitement and I just wanted to watch it over and over again until I was able to find the secret "insert money, get game" button. It sadly wasn't in the trailer, and wouldn't be an option at all until years later. The first warning sign should have been the fact they talked like a beta would be coming up, then kind of went "uh, yeah... totally happening the NEXT summer... maybe... we think". For reference, this game was around my view at the same time as No Man Sky's reveal trailer, and it only released a few months ago on the PS4, and as you can see looking between the two... its a bit weird that it took so long compared to a massive 3D space game (which itself had to be rebuilt at one point due to flooding wrecking everything). Moon Hunters seemed to get somewhat disappointing every time I heard from it along that long trip here. They had reached well into stretch goals with their kickstarters, yet scrapped ambitious features shown off, had various delays, had buggy releases on both of their platforms, got poor reviews even from their own backers, and the vita port just isn't happening even if it looks made for the device. I wound up hesitant about the game upon launch, rather than thrilled. It was once a dream come true to see an RPG all built up around a mythology story, where you became a myth hero in a world full of that magic and religion at the fore-front, yet by launch what I was looking at essentially conflicted the myth RPG with the tag-line "co-op personality test game" because... well that's how far it kind of fell. It somehow went from myth based amazement where you became a legendary hero of your own making, to just asking you what kind of hero you were in a game that had some mythology. Which is like every other RPG ever, just with this one playing up the mythology more because that's what it used to be. Can I cry? I kind of want to cry about this happening.

Result: By this point, I just don't know anymore. I was forgiving of some things not making it, but this just isn't what I really would have wanted much. Its... okay, I think. The final boss feels horribly balanced almost NEEDING co-op (and going way too long even if it was well-balanced), the unlockable trait chain (like getting to talk to animals) doesn't make a lot of sense and is counter-intuitive to fast repeating plays, and it's generally kinda shallow. Oh and there's a bad optimization bug. That being said, it still manages to be fun, and hold a good atmosphere, but it does so little even if you decided to go in setting expectations low. But they weren't too low, at one time this game looked like a dream come true, now it's barely passable as just another RPG with random elements. Considering the competition, I honestly haven't even bothered to play it much, so I guess that speaks for it falling pretty far from what I wanted, and even from some of my middle-of-the-road optimism. It's not terrible, but it's far from the dream game I once saw and looked on in constant excitement and even had an email subscription to.
1/5

No Man's Sky

Why I was excited: This is your fault, and an example on how powerful hype is. I was closer to the de-hype train than I was hype. I wrote articles complaining on its price, calling out the ridiculous and contradicting nature of the over-hyped fans, pointed out how some were expecting the wrong stuff out of this, and how un-vague the game was since we've seen it a hundred times before. However the game once upon a time had my total interest in the same way... all on its reveal actually. It was this big bold mysterious game that showed up out of nowhere. First-person space travel, full ship fleets pulling in, pew-pew laser battles in space, big alien wildlife and beautiful exotic vistas, and the promise of an endless universe. It was like FPS Space Rangers 2, but I waited to hear more details before going crazy over it. Then words like "procedurally generated" cropped up, crafting, survival, how your main threat was these little dumb drone things that fuss at you for mining too much, etc. Everyone else was still on this super space adventure high, or pretended the developers told them of nothing and whined about information, but really it was so obvious this was just another indie survival crafting game. I was still somewhat curious and interested, but was totally against the AAA price.

However as it released I was really in the mood for some good space adventures, I wanted something with a nice flow open rhythmic adventure to it, it was confirmed the game had a sense of spaceman spiff type wonder, and then I was out in town on a day when I got some money back and was noticing several major stores had this game out of stock already. I found the last copy at the closing 10 minutes of bestbuy, and grabbed it.

Result: Meh. Its not a bad game at all, but its just not a great one by any stretch either. Its buggy, impractical, and by its very nature tedious, and oh yeah the vocal part of the developer have proven to be total frauds who should be sued, so that's all not adding up so well in favor of this ambitious indie game. However you know it speaks volumes for the value of the medium and basic gameplay loops when it still manages to prevail as somewhat fun and exciting at times. Its still nice to see new creatures, find that one planet that is full of wonders, and just kind of enjoy a chilled out game with a podcast. As the patches hopefully come to stabilize the game and bring more substance and balance out of it, maybe it'll be worth keeping, but for now I actually found myself actually selling it after a while of not returning to it. Still not a bad game.
2/5

Abzu

Hype: Games deserve to stand on their own more than we make them out to be, but sometimes you just have to compare them to others and with good reason. Bloodborne for example almost needs to be considered in with Dark Souls, as Dark Souls to Demon Souls. Abzu is another, because the one and only Journey was fucking incredible and one of the best games to ever be made, and this one clearly goes for a similar approach underwater. I held back on it though, not as instantly compelled, and with less money to spend during its release. Also Journey's theme really hit me, this one didn't up until I started thinking "maybe this is Ecco for people who don't hate themselves", so I didn't expect the theme to be as good. However as time went on, I grabbed it in a sale recently. Oh and as a result, it's worth noting this game has no long-term investment comparisons on whether or not it's worth replaying.

Result: Games deserve to stand on their own more than we make them out to be, or in this case, more than they made Abzu out to be. When I was hyped and thinking of this with Journey, I thought of the two together in the same way one thinks of  Ketchup and BBQ sauce; both serve the purpose of flavored condiments, but you need to still use them with the right stuff rather than carelessly mix them. Abzu doesn't have the same fluid grace, seamless immersion, nor impact of Journey, but you can see it trying so hard to strike lighting twice with even shameless repeats of some elements. There are collectible sea shells for.... no reason, it's just there to be a collectible quota whereas Journey gave you the benefit of added movement or thematic story bits on the walls. There's a scene where you zip through and the camera pans sideways weirdly to show you something... kinda nice, but just feels there to match Journey's weird camera fixed slide into blissful beauty. Meanwhile it takes some liberties that aren't so welcome, like having scripted moments you have no control over just so they can show you something they thought was "cool". At one point I entered an awesome glowing cave, and wanted to look around, but the camera magically stuck in place so that it was fixed to show me a shark moving when I got closer.... and then that was it. Think of every useless FPS script where a squad member has to open a door for you, combine them, and then imagine I was even more pissed in that single instance. The game is more intrusive like this in various areas, not letting you appreciate what was free and flowing art from Journey, but rather constructed just to be a cheap imitation like Journey.

Well okay "cheap imitation" isn't doing it justice. Look, Abzu is still incredible, and clearly made with a lot of heart and care, just not the same stuff that went into Journey... even if it's trying so hard to think it is another one. It still manages to provide lots of cool moment, and was still given a lot of clear awesome quality stuff. Actually I'll flat out say the music is just better. Some of the scenes are very unique. Interacting with nature, is far more present than it was in Journey. Oh and the first moment you enter the strange celestial weird thing, is just amazing... even if it becomes a super-predictable formula for the next 2 hours. The meditation feature is also awesome... even if there's an intrusive "PRESS THIS BUTTON TO DO STUFF!" that never goes away from the HUD. Yeah I'm sure you get the point I'm making, this game is one step forward, and two steps backward... and no you didn't misread that. It's a great game, worth your time, but not worth more than Journey and I can't say it was the same great experience at all even if it tries to. The fact I've played it a bit in 4 sittings, and it's only slightly longer, is telling that it's not as good as Journey where I locked myself in, brewed some fancy tea, turned off the lights, and played until the credits had my eyes flooding the room with emotion. Still it's a damn good game and I'm trying to say that, still voice my complaints, without sounding like an ungrateful jerk about it. This is arguably the best "disappointment" on the list.

Conclusion?

I'm sure if I were actually a normal site with standard traffic and audience, people would think I'm bashing a lot of these games or even indies in general, but I'm not really. A lot of this is truly in the wording, and about the hype and execution, rather than a full review. I think each of these games have their share of issues, but the only one I'd argue is bad is maybe Moon Hunters (with others up to more of your preference). However this does conclude kind of a creeping suspicion... as much as I can be hyped for these indie games, the fact is I didn't entirely predict them to deliver. Moon Hunters, Stories, and Yooka-Laylee (which isn't out yet), and heck even No Man's Sky all stand a chance to be the best game ever from a concept stand-point. But I constantly preach that we aren't to judge things by that, because then you'll have your imagination plant the expectations rather than sane reasoning. Truth is they all have their limits, and that's especially the case in an indie atmosphere. These are small teams looking for easy ways to both build and also work a good loop into play. Every game on this list has a massive structural compromise (either big length cuts, or computer generated design), and one that's not present among entries like Doom, Witcher 3, or Uncharted 4. Sometimes that's part of what actually makes these indie games fun, but... just fun isn't exactly spectacular on it's own.

In the end, what I find myself truly coming back to, are the indie games that found some way (intentionally or not) to make the best of themselves, or to even circumvent the usual restrictions. I come back a lot to games like Armello, Hoard, Journey, Serious Sam, and Garry's Mod. Perhaps I might add Dust to the list as well. These are all games that have either a far more impactful or significant adventures that works alongside it's mechanics rather than pure artsy-ness (like Journey and Dust) and it wont matter much if it's shorter than a AAA adventure. Others don't use the normal nonsense of cutting things at all. Armello and Hoard are built from the ground up to be multiplayer-like in replay and structure, but so grounded in their themes that they make up their own campaign and solo function without another player. Then there's games like G-mod which takes the unconventional approach of using other games and open-ended anarchy type function to run off of endless sandbox fun, or Serious Sam that just throws a middle-finger to compromise and gives you a real full-blown shooter that is just fun. In the end I'm much more likely to come back to Armello because of it's amazing lore and uncompromising structure, than I am to revisit a slightly pretty and well performed camping adventure. I'm more likely to remember how awesome Serious Sam is and get a kick out of that than I am to play another round of Stories and bore myself with how much it re-uses the same levels and forces the same intro cut-scene on me when SS has more levels than I could usually finish.

While this indie industry is needed and should continue for wacky successes like Gungeon, and the fact that the compromising games are still fun and refreshing, they're not taking over like some people pretend they are. Don't sit there and pretend like HyperRoguePixel is your new GOTY when you look at what we're actually getting all across the year. I guarantee you if No Man's Sky was a AAA game, you'd have that vocal hipster crowd that would use it as an example of "AAA gaming is dying, and all of it's a disappointing failure! Go indie!", but the truth is those games exist on both sides. You know what else does? Serious Sam, and Witcher 3, though there's a justified reason you'll hear way more about Witcher 3. Now that being said, I do believe we're still getting to a point where more of these bigger indie games can happen, and more appealing ones can exist alongside them. Serious Sam was around since the freakin' late 90's after all, and it hasn't gone anywhere now. Then there's stuff like Strafe, and... well look at Yooka-Laylee, how the hell is that game compromising when it's a full 3D platformer!? Meanwhile new themes are also getting explored, and whether they're compromising smaller efforts like Virginia's detective theme, or something much more crazy like Shyness, new things are happening thanks to this industry. There's also still a strange trend of occasional fox-centric fantasy adventure games coming out, which suits me fine and will compliment Stories. Meanwhile though, I do hope to figure out more of the indie games that don't compromise so much, because as this year comes to a close I keep finding myself thinking Armello is still so damn cool. I want more games to leave me walking away saying that, and feeling like I just bought them this year, when it was in fact... the last.