Indie titles that make for good stand-ins for bigger, more famous releases?

[RageBurner]

Let me preface this by saying that yes, indie games work with limited resources, smaller teams and other constraints when it comes to game development, and while a lot of wonderful gems did (and do) reach us from indie studios, the wider industry will always have the advantage when it comes to raw resources.

Still, it is hard to deny the beauty, the heart and the ingenuity of indie titles, even when they thread roads well traveled, when these games are made with love, it feels like a familiar but new journey, a delightful rediscovery that nonetheless touches home, to those that know the source.

My example here is The Last Faith:


It self describes as a gothic metroidvania soulslike, which it is, and I'm sure the most astute among us immediately could pick up the major influence here. Yes, Bloodborne.

As such, is it groundbreakingly original, astonishingly innovative? no, but oh does it do these influences proud in gameplay, setting and feel. Everything is appropriately somber, dreary and lavishly animated and the game builds upon a lore much its own, with similar trappings and storytelling to the one Fromsoft wizards employ.

Does it reach the same pinnacles of greatness, of GOTYness? depends on who you ask, but the point is, to many (myself included) this is the closest they could get to a quality Bloodborne-esque experience because Sony won't unjail their baby, and in that role, I feel it succeeds brilliantly.

So that's my (admittedly passionate) answer to my own question, and I'd love to hear if from those that have had similar experiences (or if they haven't, all the same).

 

[DunkeyKong]

There's a lot but here's a few

 

[RageBurner]

There's a lot but here's a few
View attachment 38779

A lot of picks! would you compare any of those directly to a similar AAA offering on some level that these might stand in for?

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Shovel Knight
A Hat in Time
Akimbot
Yooka-Laylee
Alisa
Signalis
Biomorph
Bloodstained
Blasphemus
Many More! When it comes to Indie each genre has a great game!

 

[RageBurner]

Shovel Knight
A Hat in Time
Akimbot
Yooka-Laylee
Alisa
Signalis
Many More! When it comes to Indie each genre has a great game!

Excellent picks! I think I know the games most of these are inspired by except Alisa.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Excellent picks! I think I know the games most of these are inspired by except Alisa.

Alisa was inspired by oldschool PS1 RE games much like Tormented Souls which is also a good one!

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Lies of P. Nuff said.

 

[DunkeyKong]

A lot of picks! would you compare any of those directly to a similar AAA offering on some level that these might stand in for?

I don't know, what I do know though is that I'd love to see Castle Crashers again

But I guess yes?

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Prodeus - Modern Doom.
Easy Red 2 - Battlefield.
Nightmare of Decay - Resident Evil.
Crow Country - Silent Hill/Resident Evil.
Lunacid - King's Field.
Lone Survivor - Silent Hill.
Xenonauts - XCOM.

 

[Deleted member 884]

Ender Lillies
Ender Magnolia
Dead Cells

 

[RustySK]

Sonar Shock - System Shock (and by extension Bioshock and so forth), specifically the first one though.
Really fun, overlooked ImSim. System Shock on a Soviet Submarine, pretty much.

Iron Meat - Contra.
One of the best (and best looking) 2D Run-n-Gun games I've seen in years. Not that that's a particularly flooded genre.

FlyKnight - King's Field.
A very short, mechanically simplified take on King's Field that has a super charming presentation and, given that it's like 5 bucks, is more than worth the price of entry. Real gem.

Dread Delusion - Elder Scrolls.
This one is often referred to as a compact Elder Scrolls game and while I personally think it has much more going on than just that, it's not like people are entirely wrong there and I'll take any excuse to recommend it to people!

ANTONBLAST, Pizza Tower - Wario Land.
I mean, come on.

Songs of Conquest - Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
Just... straight-up HoMM, but new.

SKALD: Against the Black Priory - Ultima.
Or any oldschool cRPG of the era, really. It's kind of an amalgamation of several Origin Systems and Sierra Entertainment greats. Mostly Ultima though. Genuinely a fantastic game.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Oceanhorn, this game is released on multiple platforms such as PS4, mobile, Switch and others. It’s a Zelda clone.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Oceanhorn, this game is released on multiple platforms such as PS4, mobile, Switch and others. It’s a Zelda clone.View attachment 38784View attachment 38785View attachment 38786

Oh I remember that, my jam. Even the studio is goated (FDG Entertainment), really unfortunate to not get the sequel on many platforms

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Oh I remember that, my jam. Even the studio is goated (FDG Entertainment), really unfortunate to not get the sequel on many platforms
View attachment 38793View attachment 38794

Badass thing about it is the music was composed by Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Badass thing about it is the music was composed by Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu.

No wonder it sounds so good

 

[E0N]

Hollow Knight. It's the best 2D souls-like hands down. I haven't seen any other non-FromSoft game nailing the formula this well.

There's also Stardew Valley. The creator himself said that he didn't liked what Harvest Moon had become and took matters into his own hands and it has now become bigger than HM.

 

[Kamako]

TUNIC is a fantastic Zelda-like with some really rewarding mechanics that only reveal themselves to players with a keen eye on their surroundings and a creative flair. It hides some fiendishly difficult puzzles behind its cutesy art style. Cannot recommend highly enough.

 

[RageBurner]

Gee guys, thank you, so many gems you have unearthed!
I've come to know a few of those through friends (he swears by Tunic left, right and center), but a lot of those were never on my radar!

 

[Dr_Nimbos]

Ultrakill personally is one indie game that i'd consider an indie game that has more quality than like 99% of AAA games, even surpassing it's inspirations (Devil May Cry, Quake, Doom Eternal). It's an frenetic FPS game where the core gameplay is to do combos with an incredible variety of weapons, it has likeable characters and AMAZING music.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Ultrakill personally is one indie game that i'd consider an indie game that has more quality than like 99% of AAA games, even surpassing it's inspirations (Devil May Cry, Quake, Doom Eternal). It's an frenetic FPS game where the core gameplay is to do combos with an incredible variety of weapons, it has likeable characters and AMAZING music.

ULTRAKILL MENTIONED

 

[Tonberry]

Lunacid - Heavily inspired by King’s Field.
Shovel Knight - Inspired by a bunch of 8-bit games.
Pizza Tower - Sort of inspired by Wario Land.

All of these are excellent. I’d even go as far as to claim that Shovel Knight is one of the best games ever made, in my opinion.

 

[cola?]

i'm surprised i haven't seen spark the electric jester on here, shit is so much like sonic it even has
a rough transition to 3D

they're all pheonomal though

 

[Nidstang]

Hollow Knight, Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, Shantae (series), Dusk, Amid Evil, Payday (especially 2), Killing Floor

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

i'm surprised i haven't seen spark the electric jester on here, shit is so much like sonic it even has
a rough transition to 3D

they're all pheonomal though

Excuse me but where was it rough?

 

[cola?]

Excuse me but where was it rough?

the second game has a lot of stank to it, i didn't mind it too much but the quality gap between 2 and 3 is just huge

2 has the better ending theme though