Hi! I'm Phorm, and I'm a Vixdjinn!
I'm a genie girl, who really likes being a genie, and really likes everything about genies (really)! I'm a bit confused, lost, and trying to find my way, but I always enjoy interacting with folks here. (Trans🏳️⚧️, occasionally NSFW, Be 18+ or please be gone.)
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I'm hardly an expert on the subject, but...
I think it's quite telling that, at a time when Sony, Microsoft, and even Nintendo are continuously making dogshit decisions, that suddenly my queue of unreasonably good and high quality games made by much smaller developers is positively overflowing.
Like, honestly, let the big studios step on rakes. I'd rather play Cobalt Core than Call of Duty.
Cobalt Core, Abiotic Factor, Crow Country...
More and more, it kinda feels like the big studios are trying to cash in on past successes again and... just... failing to do anything worthwhile otherwise. Don't think folks are gonna get overly hyped over Call of Duty: War Crime Simulator or stuff like that.
Even when the games in question are trying to lean towards a certain gamefeel, or the inspiration is blatantly obvious, often time, indie studios seem to actually Get what makes games good. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo... They've gotten too big, too... corporate. Back in the era of, like, the SNES, the PS1, the N64, the PS2, they were so much more willing to let folks try stuff. Now... You want 'quirky' games similar to Earthbound? Hit the indies.
I think the demand for safety and sameness (and the overwhelming push toward Games as a Service) is really stifling any kind of development among the big publishers. At the same time that they're injecting weird modern monetization and mechanics into games that don't need it, they're also refusing to stray from the "AAA formula".
The indies aren't scared to either take a chance, or really lock in to what makes the core of a game feel right. There's a reason that one of my most anticipated games of the year is running on the freaking Doom Engine! It's just nuts!
That's not to say that every big studio game is a bust (I see you, HiFi Rush!), but overwhelmingly it's becoming more and more disappointing in that realm, while the smaller devs continue to knock my socks off.
Selaco is a retro FPS game that's releasing to Early Access next week. It's a game heavily inspired by F.E.A.R. and other fast paced retro shooters that's being built in GZDoom.
I'm not lying when I say the things they are doing with the engine seem downright impossible.
Oh god, Selaco. I've been keeping tabs on that one. Looks insane as heck. I mean, I've seen some impressive things done in the engine, Total Chaos comes to mind, but this is kinda blowing that out of the water. Hell, they're blowing AAA games out of the water.
YESSS! I'm really bad at playing games due to lack of time and feeling like I have to "be productive" at all times, but during the last two years the only games I've thought were worth purchasing, to HOPEFULLY PLAY, were indies. I would like to play FF7: Remake and Rebirth someday but I have no system that can support them currently so I don't count them.
More indies that come at things from unusual angles and take risks please!!! >u<
Yeah!! I know that feeling entirely. It's exactly why I'm still grinding on FFVII: Rebirth at the moment. I need to finish it and I can only do so when it's safe to not be "productive".
Indies just continually make me remember why I love to play games. Even if they aren't technically dazzling, they can still be engaging and well executed.
