Board 8 > Johnbobb ranks every indie game he's ever played

(+) Yeah! (+)

azuarc posted...

On that note, control-F "Cassette Beasts"

Was Cassette Beasts actually good? I heard a lot of hype about it prior to release and then nothing after it came out

Kenri posted...

The biggest issue is that the writing is awful (and yet very, very prominent).

This really. And the gameplay itself isn't great outside a couple cool bosses. Cave Story is ridiculously more fun and good.

Johnbobb posted...

Was Cassette Beasts actually good? I heard a lot of hype about it prior to release and then nothing after it came out

I haven't played a Pokemon game since 1999.

I played and enjoyed Cassette Beasts. Not as much as someone who likes Pokemon, but the more 2-D Zelda-esque parts of the game were good. There were a few things that frustrated me, but that was mostly on me and not the game.

Also, no hype?
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8c9ddcee.png

Oh I dunno how I forgot about Cassette Beasts on my list, but yea it's super awesome

I don't get Cassette Beasts but I feel like I'd be the only one to anti-recommend it

Cassette Beasts is A+++, would listen to the soundtrack on repeat and cry again

CrossCode is great.

I played most of Cassete Beasts then just got tired of it. I was enjoyed it, but I didn't feel like playing it all.

Dunno if I'll come back or not.

Something about the characters just didn't appeal to me much. Especially the silent/generic protagonist. It didn't help that I played it after Trails in the Sky so going from a protagonist who has all the personality in the world to one that has no personality so the player can imagine themselves dating NPCs or something felt like a downgrade.

I was put in purgatory for criticism of Gaza immediately after they attacked Israel.

Going to close my account as the changes to the website have been really off putting. It certainly isnt the b8 of 20 years ago, but thought I would let you know when I saw I was pinged. Glad you liked your gift.

Seconding Soma, I didn't know that was an indie but it's got some great writing. And Cave Story, a classic!

Johnbobb posted...

Wandersong - There's a guy on YouTube I like a lot called Snoman Gaming who talks a lot about indie games (particularly platformers) and is a big fan of this one; that's really the only reason I've heard of it

Wandersong is made by the guy who went on to make Chicory. It's much less... gamey, but well written and a worthwhile experience.

The Messenger - I've heard this is one of the go-to indie Metroidvanias, a friend of mine has recommended it a lot

Others have anti-rec'd this but I really liked it. Depends what you think of the genre though, it's better to think of it as a Ninja Gaiden-like rather than a Metroidvania. Also a game that is best to go into knowing little about it imo.

The Talos Principle - I've heard of this talked about a lot and still feel like I know nothing about it

It's a laser puzzle game with a heavy philosophical bent to the writing and world.

Yoku's Island Express - I've heard of this loosely and 100% assumed it was a Yoshi's Island spiritual successor

Yoku is a cutesy pinball-based Metroidvania

Shovel Knight - Shovel Knight is a weird one because it's obviously one of the biggest indie games, but is such a big deal that I think that's made it hard to get into at this point

It's easy to get into and really good value for money, there's four main campaigns that each play differently and none of them are super long. I wouldn't go in expecting a transcendental experience, but if you are at all interested in modernised old school platformers then I can pretty much guarantee you'll have fun.

andylt posted...

Yoku is a cutesy pinball-based Metroidvania

It's cute, but I also ultimately found it frustrating to navigate. There was a period where I was like "oh, this is fun. The idea of playing pinball tables everywhere is kinda awesome." And then I got tired of it and just wanted to be able to walk/jump where I was going instead of remembering the exact trails I needed to go somewhere and execute the timing needed to make that happen. So many times I would see something and have absolutely no idea how to reach it. Also, I'm aware everyone dubs it a "pinballvania," but calling it a metroidvania is extremely dubious given how little you actually get in the way of upgrades.

ZeldaTPLink posted...

I played most of Cassete Beasts then just got tired of it. I was enjoyed it, but I didn't feel like playing it all.

TBF, this was my reaction, but I chalked that up to not really appreciating the pokemon formula. The overworld stuff, when it wasn't deliberately frustrating, was really good. Though I guess if you want just that half of it and could swap out Pokemon battles for regular JRPG battles, you should give Crystal Project a look.

Nah I like pokemon battles, I was a huge pokemon nerd at some point.

Hard to put my finger on what bothered me other than the game's lowkey harem format. I think another issue is that I got roped into trying to use every single mon I caught and grind to evolve them. Instead of picking 6 that I like and sticking to them. Something that has made me drop pokwmon games before from the exhaustion. Then I told myself next time I picked the game up I'd choose a main team. But then I started playing the next Trails and never did.

Maybe I'll come back to it eventually.

azuarc posted...

So many times I would see something and have absolutely no idea how to reach it.

This should be the biggest advertisement of the game. So few metroidlike game have the guts to do this and handhold you everywhere instead. It's why Yoku is easily in the top echelon.

I used to be very into Pokmon but I do feel like I've gotten a little tired of the formula of it.

Legend Arceus bored me to tears and I never ended up picking up Scarlet/Violet

foolm0r0n posted...

This should be the biggest advertisement of the game. So few metroidlike game have the guts to do this and handhold you everywhere instead. It's why Yoku is easily in the top echelon.

Normally, yes. But given that all the paths in Yoku's twist and wind in ways that don't always make sense, it just ends up being frustrating for no reason. Especially when you're backtracking and have to navigate through a whole bunch of nonsense just to get from A to B.

Nah it's fun af

It really isn't.

The game is otherwise fun. Not that.

Fun list! Real surprised at #1 being Octodad: Dadliest Catch, but it's a neat game so what-ev.

HaRRicH posted...

Fun list! Real surprised at #1 being Octodad: Dadliest Catch, but it's a neat game so what-ev.

I always like getting the chance to talk about it! Meanwhile 2-6 are all games I could easily see near the top of other people's lists, and for good reason

How do you feel about FPSs? Turbo Overkill is my favorite recent indie.

MacArrowny posted...

How do you feel about FPSs? Turbo Overkill is my favorite recent indie.

I generally like FPSs! Bioshock is my favorite game of all time (the whole series really). I also got really hooked on Overwatch for a while, and was a big fan of the Fallout and Borderlands games

I think with FPSs I usually go for the ones that combine exploration with shooting over straight combat (Overwatch being the exception I guess). Like I surprisingly never got all that into the Doom reboot.

That being said I don't think I've ever played an indie FPS since they lend themselves to big budgets so often

Good opportunity for me to recommend the amazing indie FPS Dusk!

The Doom reboot has a good amount of exploring for secrets though

Oops, am very late in saying that I've really enjoyed reading your write-ups and all the other discussion in this topic.

There's been quite a few games that I've enjoyed and/or that are on my radar now, of which I'm especially pleasantly surprised to see there's quite a few Sayonara Wild Hearts fans here!

Since this countdown ended I've played:

A Short Hike - very short, extremely cute, and a very pleasant time

Slay the Spire - This one was interesting, but didn't quite click with me, which is surprising as I'm a big fan of deck builders. I've done about 4 runs so far, but any time I've gone back to the beginning I haven't really felt all that compelled to start up again. Meanwhile one of my closest friends said she put like 200+ hours in this year, which just feels wild to me

This gave me an idea of doing a ranking of free games that I've played. Except I'd probably limit it to some arbitrary amount rather than every game ever. The hard part would be figuring out what I've played, like random stuff that I played one time 15 years ago. I'll probably never actually do it but I'll throw it on my pile of "unstarted ranking topic ideas".

Have you unlocked Ascension for Slay the Spire? I also have about 200+ hours in Slay the Spire and Ascension plays a big part of it.

Any time after you beat a run with a character, you unlock Ascension, which is difficulty that builds on itself. There's 20 ascension levels for each character, which is effectively about 80 difficulties in the game. My highest is Ironclad at Ascension 18 and my lowest is Defect at Ascension 5.

Johnbobb posted...

Since this countdown ended I've played:

A Short Hike - very short, extremely cute, and a very pleasant time

Slay the Spire - This one was interesting, but didn't quite click with me, which is surprising as I'm a big fan of deck builders. I've done about 4 runs so far, but any time I've gone back to the beginning I haven't really felt all that compelled to start up again. Meanwhile one of my closest friends said she put like 200+ hours in this year, which just feels wild to me

I put like 150 hours into Slay the Spire and I feel like I still don't really understand the mechanics of most of the characters lol

Bitto posted...

Have you unlocked Ascension for Slay the Spire? I also have about 200+ hours in Slay the Spire and Ascension plays a big part of it.

Any time after you beat a run with a character, you unlock Ascension, which is difficulty that builds on itself. There's 20 ascension levels for each character, which is effectively about 80 difficulties in the game. My highest is Ironclad at Ascension 18 and my lowest is Defect at Ascension 5.

Nah, I haven't gotten all that far. I've gotten to the 3 area boss a couple times (which I believe is what's necessary to finish a run?) but haven't beaten it yet.

But unlike roguelikes like Hades or even Inscryption, I just haven't felt inspired to keep going back and trying again

Bitto posted...

Any time after you beat a run with a character, you unlock Ascension, which is difficulty that builds on itself. There's 20 ascension levels for each character, which is effectively about 80 difficulties in the game. My highest is Ironclad at Ascension 18 and my lowest is Defect at Ascension 5.

What does it do exactly?

I only beat 1 run with each character (1st try for all chars except Ironclad and the poison one) but I don't remember anything special being revealed. Or is it only after you slay the spire not just complete a run? Like Kirb I def never felt compelled to really play more times.

I have 1200 hours in Spire lol. I still feel like I'm terrible at it

Had a much longer lifespan than Hades or Inscryption did for me - couldn't enjoy Inscryption's roguelike mode at all

foolm0r0n posted...

What does it do exactly?

I only beat 1 run with each character (1st try for all chars except Ironclad and the poison one) but I don't remember anything special being revealed. Or is it only after you slay the spire not just complete a run? Like Kirb I def never felt compelled to really play more times.

Ascension gets added whenever you beat the 3rd boss and you're playing on the highest ascension.

It's difficulty modifiers. Each ascension stacks on the last. A few of them are gimmes, but some of them change my strategies completely (potions being brought down from 3 to 2, an un-removable curse is automatically part of your starting deck, changes to enemy/boss patterns). It's not a massive deal, but it does give me incentive to continue playing, because I'd like to hit A20 with one of my characters some day.

Even without ascension, though, I really enjoy the loop of Slay the Spire. Each run feels so different and there's so many enemies that challenge your deck in different ways. Easily the deepest roguelike I've played.