Favourite Indie Games of this Generation:

Andrei79

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Jan 25, 2013
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Dead Cells
Hades
Undermine (so insanely underrated imho)
Rogue Legacy 2
Hollow Knight
Cuphead

Yes, I like my roguelikes/metroidvania games

Haven'T tried Rogue Legacy 2 yet, how is it compared to the rest of your list ? Great list by the way.
 

That Habs Fan

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Nov 29, 2008
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Haven'T tried Rogue Legacy 2 yet, how is it compared to the rest of your list ? Great list by the way.
It's great, doesn't necessarily do anything new but takes all the best elements from the top tier of roguelikes. Only knock against it is the story (as much as there is one) is very poorly presented and you're not made to care about it. Luckily most people don't play roguelikes for story line, and few aside from Hades do it very well at all.
 
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That Habs Fan

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Started Cult of the Lamb this past weekend and it might join the top tier of roguelikes (IMHO).

Really interesting combination of resource management and roguelike...and I personally love every part of the aesthetics (music, art, general theme etc...). The roguelike action was a bit easy at the start but it's reasonably nuanced and is already getting harder.

Next games I expect to join the greats are Have a Nice Death and potentially Ember Knights if it finally delivers on a multiplayer roguelike.
 
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Ceremony

blahem
Jun 8, 2012
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I will be posting a review of Gorogoa later today, but it's a game which fits this thread well.

(Since posting this I've discovered it's just gone on sale on the PS Store. Get cracking lads.)
 
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robertmac43

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I will be posting a review of Gorogoa later today, but it's a game which fits this thread well.

(Since posting this I've discovered it's just gone on sale on the PS Store. Get cracking lads.)
Just checked it out. Looks super interesting and I love the concept.
 

stan the caddy

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Sep 27, 2011
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I avoided the indie games for years until I caved and played Cuphead and now it's hard to get back into AAA games. There's a degree of addiction to them that I haven't felt since the 360 era nhl games. A lot of the big studio games just feel like a grind these days.

I really like The Messenger and Celeste. Loved the sound and atmosphere of Hollow Knight but hated all the backtracking after you die. Picked up Hades and Stardew after reading all the positive reviews but haven't started them yet.

Hotline was a little too repetitive for me. Have had Undertale in the backlog for a while now.

Sea of Stars might be my most anticipated upcoming game.
 

Andrei79

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Jan 25, 2013
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I avoided the indie games for years until I caved and played Cuphead and now it's hard to get back into AAA games. There's a degree of addiction to them that I haven't felt since the 360 era nhl games. A lot of the big studio games just feel like a grind these days.

I really like The Messenger and Celeste. Loved the sound and atmosphere of Hollow Knight but hated all the backtracking after you die. Picked up Hades and Stardew after reading all the positive reviews but haven't started them yet.

Hotline was a little too repetitive for me. Have had Undertale in the backlog for a while now.

Sea of Stars might be my most anticipated upcoming game.

I can barely play most AAA games these days. I like Fromsoftware mostly, outside of Nintendo. There are some good AA companies like Larian, but the vast majority of my gaming consists of indie games. My wishlist is basically all indies and Baldur's Gate 3. I was even iffy on roguelites, but now I think it's one of my favorite genres.
 

Shareefruck

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Apr 2, 2005
28,953
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Vancouver, BC
I avoided the indie games for years until I caved and played Cuphead and now it's hard to get back into AAA games. There's a degree of addiction to them that I haven't felt since the 360 era nhl games. A lot of the big studio games just feel like a grind these days.

I really like The Messenger and Celeste. Loved the sound and atmosphere of Hollow Knight but hated all the backtracking after you die. Picked up Hades and Stardew after reading all the positive reviews but haven't started them yet.

Hotline was a little too repetitive for me. Have had Undertale in the backlog for a while now.

Sea of Stars might be my most anticipated upcoming game.
Totally relate to that. My experience with videogames is that I loved them growing up, then completely stopped playing them for like a decade after 2D started to be entirely phased out, but now that Indie Games have become a thing, I'm all in on them again (with a few exceptions like FromSoft, Portal, the Shadow of the Colossus guys, and stuff like that).

I'd recommend checking out Into the Breach, Downwell (I've yet to find anything more purely addicting), and Cyber Shadow.

Also, there's a part of me that feels like the boss rush modes of Hollow Knight are better than the actual game. It does the Soulsborne stuff much better than it does the Metroidvania stuff, IMO.
 
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JaegerDice

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Dec 26, 2014
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Inscryption is not merely one of the best indie games Ive ever played, its one of the best games period.
 

Andrei79

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Jan 25, 2013
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Totally relate to that. My experience with videogames is that I loved them growing up, then completely stopped playing them for like a decade after 2D started to be entirely phased out, but now that Indie Games have become a thing, I'm all in on them again (with a few exceptions like FromSoft, Portal, the Shadow of the Colossus guys, and stuff like that).

I'd recommend checking out Into the Breach, Downwell (I've yet to find anything more purely addicting), and Cyber Shadow.

Also, there's a part of me that feels like the boss rush modes of Hollow Knight are better than the actual game. It does the Soulsborne stuff much better than it does the Metroidvania stuff, IMO.

This is my experience too. I think a big part of my love for indie games is they give me the same experience I had during my favorite period of gaming (SNES/NES). Only, they're like a premium version of those games.
 

The Mars Volchenkov

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Mar 31, 2002
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Gamepass has introduced me to a ton of indies, and just found Tinykin this week. It’s awesome. Hoping that Cult of the Lamb finds its way there after a few months like Haded and Deaths Door did.
 
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Andrei79

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Jan 25, 2013
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I'm playing Disco Elysium and it is shaping up to me one of my favorite games in recent years. I'm blown away by it.
 
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JaegerDice

The mark of my dignity shall scar thy DNA
Dec 26, 2014
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I keep hearing incredible things about this game. If I'm someone who generally detests card games do you think I should still give it a shot?

I've never been a huge fan of card games, but I've never really outright DETESTED them either.

Personally, I found the card mechanics enjoyable enough, but it was really the mood (particularly the sound design), the throwback visuals that pay homage to the early days of 3D, and the story (which has layers and meta layers you'll peel away) that makes it one of the most memorable games I've ever played.

To be safe, I'd probably just wait for it to go on sale on Steam or the Playstation store, or wait for it to hit one of the PSPlus or Gamepass. That way you haven't lost anything if it's not your thing.
 
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JaegerDice

The mark of my dignity shall scar thy DNA
Dec 26, 2014
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I recently played Outer Wilds and loved it, any indie games similar?

Subnautica is closest by a WIDE margin. It takes place underwater rather than in space, but its a lot of the same beats as far as exploration, time pressure, solving a mystery, etc.
 

blue425

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Apr 14, 2007
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NYC
www.streetwars.net
I avoided the indie games for years until I caved and played Cuphead and now it's hard to get back into AAA games. There's a degree of addiction to them that I haven't felt since the 360 era nhl games. A lot of the big studio games just feel like a grind these days.

I really like The Messenger and Celeste. Loved the sound and atmosphere of Hollow Knight but hated all the backtracking after you die. Picked up Hades and Stardew after reading all the positive reviews but haven't started them yet.

Hotline was a little too repetitive for me. Have had Undertale in the backlog for a while now.

Sea of Stars might be my most anticipated upcoming game.
Here are some of my indie favorites, all genres:
Noita
Rain World
Katana Zero
Akane
Prodeus
Zero Ranger
Steel Assault

Probably forgetting a few.
 

Andrei79

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Jan 25, 2013
15,290
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Here are some of my indie favorites, all genres:
Noita
Rain World
Katana Zero
Akane
Prodeus
Zero Ranger
Steel Assault

Probably forgetting a few.

How good is Noita? I've been eyeing that game for a while and it's on discount on steam. I was thinking of playing it after I finish Disco Elysium.
 

blue425

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Apr 14, 2007
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NYC
www.streetwars.net
How good is Noita? I've been eyeing that game for a while and it's on discount on steam. I was thinking of playing it after I finish Disco Elysium.
It's honestly incredible and going in blind is encouraged.

That said it is huge. Like HUGE, and I would bet when the devs made it they knew the community sharing info was the only way everything would be uncovered. Areas don't scale (enemy level are fixed) and you can wind up in some unfriendly places underpowered. The amount of things you can do is pretty incredible.

When I first started it felt like a late night gaming session on the C64 - where I knew nothing and everything was a surprise. It also has an active mod community - which at some point you'll want to take advantage of. After 80 hours or so I went with Dead isn't Dead (respawns you at the last check point) and another one that lets you make god wands. I still play legit from time to time.

The every pixel simulated isn't a lie. Dirt, coal, oil, gases, liquids - they all behave realistically. However it is the only game I own that I have to crank my laptop into performance mode to run at 60 fps. It is very graphically demanding even though at first glance it doesn't look it. It is legit a GPU killer.

There are hundreds of enemies, wands, spells, and spell modifiers. Experimentation is required but..well..I won't say anymore.

You will learn what it means to be Noita'd. There isn't anything else quite like it.
 
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mouser

Business of Hockey
Jul 13, 2006
29,358
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South Mountain
Favorite Indie games I've played in the past 24 months:

Valheim
Raft
Satisfactory
Terraria
The Long Dark
Gunfire Reborn
Outer Wilds
Rogue Legacy
Dead Cells
The Forest
Keplerth


All time favorites from 24+ months back:

Subnautica
The Talos Principle
Stardew Valley
 

Andrei79

Registered User
Jan 25, 2013
15,290
27,323
It's honestly incredible and going in blind is encouraged.

That said it is huge. Like HUGE, and I would bet when the devs made it they knew the community sharing info was the only way everything would be uncovered. Areas don't scale (enemy level are fixed) and you can wind up in some unfriendly places underpowered. The amount of things you can do is pretty incredible.

When I first started it felt like a late night gaming session on the C64 - where I knew nothing and everything was a surprise. It also has an active mod community - which at some point you'll want to take advantage of. After 80 hours or so I went with Dead isn't Dead (respawns you at the last check point) and another one that lets you make god wands. I still play legit from time to time.

The every pixel simulated isn't a lie. Dirt, coal, oil, gases, liquids - they all behave realistically. However it is the only game I own that I have to crank my laptop into performance mode to run at 60 fps. It is very graphically demanding even though at first glance it doesn't look it. It is legit a GPU killer.

There are hundreds of enemies, wands, spells, and spell modifiers. Experimentation is required but..well..I won't say anymore.

You will learn what it means to be Noita'd. There isn't anything else quite like it.

Sounds honestly awesome.
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,953
3,686
Vancouver, BC
I started playing Tunic, and so far it's fantastic. Sort of what I've wanted out of Zelda franchise. Understands old game design elegance/minimalism/restraint even better than old games do, but without the jankiness. Great music, great art style, great sense of exploration/discovery, challenging. Kind of gives me part of the feeling that Hyper Light Drifter did, only more fully realized. I'm not far enough to get a sense of the story yet, but the way everything's being handled/delivered seems promising. Also love its instruction manual gimmick.
 

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