Indie games

First a question.... was Styx Master of Shadows an indie game?

If so what are some more indie games like it, and when I say like it I don't necessarily mean they're the same genre, but instead, indie games that feel like .... more traditional games, like you might have bought on 6th or 7th gen systems as opposed to retro throwback games or artsy fartsy non games which is currently what I think most indie games are. (Ofcourse I could be wrong)

Most AAA games don't seem terribly interesting to me these days, and I'm looking for something a bit different.

Thanks

Let's not get into the whole what's indie debate but as for lower budget interesting titles off the top of my head I recommend Bastion and Transistor. They are RPGs by the same company. Not very long but both very enjoyable. Bastion is more of an action RPG while Transistor has a really deep tactical combat system. Both also look and sound great. Transistor is the better of the two for me.

Another great RPG that has come out for both PC and consoles is Divinity: Original Sin. Very deep and fun battle system, large world with very high interactivity and quests with multiple solutions. It's also pretty long.

Indie is short for Independent. In gaming and movie terms it means self published, usually self-funded or Kickstarter.

If a game meets these terms it's an Indie game.

#noexceptions

No, it is published by Focus Home Interactive, a major publisher (especially in Europe iirc) of "generic" or "budget" titles.

With that said, I believe Cyanide Studios (the developer) is a pretty small team, and the game certainly has it's charms and quirks.

But it is far from being an independent game.

Don't get sucker into the honey word that Indie games devs try to use. I am sick of the false comment about how Indie games are the only source of innovation in game. You will find many game that are not as well rounded or polish but get praised because of one aspect to the game. THere are even more games that are not that good.

@AsadMahdi59:

Styx: Master of Shadows was mid tier game. Mid tier market these days is a lot more interesting than most AAA games IMO. You should play Divinity: Original Sin. It's very addicting and deep RPG.

If you are looking for older games then play Thief trilogy (not reboot). Get them from Gog.com and download TFix for first Thief by googling it, second one already has update along with its setup. TFix for first and Update for Thief 2 allow you to play in 32 bit colors and 1080p.

Styx was inspired by Thief trilogy which is better Stealth series. It was AAA series for its time but unlike modern AAA games, it required intelligence to play. So grab it.

While I agree that there are a lot of people that use the term "indie" to market their product and to take advantage of people, there is some truth to "indie" games being innovative. Generally, Indie developers are starting out and need to make an impact; they can't compete with the established "AAA" developers, so they go for the different, the new, and the risky.

You'll generally find more non-traditional and interesting games coming from independent studios than you will from big-name publishers.

Just be wary of indie developers that promise big things; generally they fail to deliver, and the most successful (and most entertaining) indie games tend to the simpler ones.

Some indie games I've loved:

Hotline Miami 1 and 2 (1 is better but 2 is still great)

LISA: The Painful

Cry of Fear (free to download on Steam, no micro transactions)

Lone Survivor

Breath of Death VII

Cthulhu Saves the World

Just to name a few.

The problem is people are giving them too much slack and then them have an unfair contest with AAA games.

For me non-traditional and interesting is not always innovation and can get in the way of it. While you can claim that innovation is coming from "indie" games, the same claim cna easily be made about AAA games but people refuse to see it.

What we need and lost was the AA games.

your point about people giving indie games more slack is valid; I think they need to be held to similar (if not the same) standards as any other game. While a small team of developers might not have the quality control measures of a larger studio, it does not excuse them to release and charge money for a broken or unstable game.

Likewise, I've played many "AAA" (what a pointless abbreviation these days...does not mean what it used to) that were broken, and there is really no excuse for that.

I would not call it "unfair" though; AAA games are generally made by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people with budgets approaching the millions. I believe holding them to a stricter, if not higher, standard is completely appropriate. Conversely, many indie games are made by handfuls of people doing work on their free time while they are holding down their "day jobs" at various places. We should have standards for them as well, but looser ones.

Just need to be careful; don't believe the hype about AAA games, and don't buy into the trend and charm of indie titles. Good games are good games, period, and will ideally sell themselves because they are fun or interesting to play.

Rocket League is probably my favourite indie game of all time

I loved Binding of Isaac also

A lot of people complain that PS Plus only gives out indie games, but I love it. It gives me a chance to try new things out I normally wouldn't consider.

Like the "innovative" Telltale Games? I love their games, but they basically just pick up the tradition from when they worked for LucasArts.

Why are indie developers "starting out". Like the mentioned Telltale Games. So far they have 20+ game series under their belt. They are hardly "starting out".

I think some people have a romantisized view of "indie" and doesn't really consider what it means. Technically "Star Wars - Episode 1" was an indie film.

Rovio is an indie-games company, but their Angry Birds series is a huge franchise with many games, merchandise and movie and tv-shows.

Bloodstained is going to be my favorite Indie game of all time based on the demo.

But right now, it's probably The Binding of Isaac, Guacamelee and BroForce.

I'm also hopeful for Mother Russia Bleeds and ToeJam n' Earl.

But for the most case I don't like many Indie games that have come my way. They tend to have poor level design, and rely on gimmicks.

ignoring your preconceptions about what makes a game "decent" (i.e., disdain for "artsy fartsy throwback crap") - you could check out The Solus Project. Other "full" feeling titles with high production value include The Talos Principle - but that's probably getting back into artsy fartsy territory :-P

@RSM-HQ: Thanks for that that description. :D

You're right. You can not hold them to the same stander which is a point I was making. You need to be reasonable about it. Sure AAA game can have more problem but they have a larger scope. There is a different complaining about Homefront Revolution error and how some take even the harmless error in a AAA game as proof it is not good.

I love indie survival and roguelike games as well as some retro platformers. My favorite indie games are Terraria, Don't Starve, Enter the Gungeon, Nuclear Throne, Reus, Risk of Rain, etc. I just got Shovel Knight and Darkest Dungeon in the Steam sale so hopefully they'll join the list.

I have no problems with indie games. I play most of the major ones and many of the smaller ones. I play more indie games than AAA games these days because I find most AAA games to be boring rehashes of previous ideas. I just played Uncharted 4, for example, and found it to be a really boring and generic experience. It had good visuals but that's not enough. It had horrible gameplay and way too much story.