Indie Game Recommendations

[spiffleh]

So I'm not a big gamer (lack the time but more importantly, the skill) but I'd like to explore some lesser known titles. I just realized that my Xmas 11 game shopping list is full of big long standing franchises and I wanted to check out something different that I've never really done before.

Important to know:
I suck.. I mean royally get pwned .. when playing first person (or third person) shooter. Probably not a good idea to recommend those.
I generally prefer RPGS and action games... but strategy is good and I'm willing to try new stuff... that's kind of the point.

I have tried some lesser known (or at least less commercially successful) titles lately. These include:
-Radiant Historia
-Might & Magic (dunno which one)
-3D Dot Game Heroes
-Okami

I have a PS3, DS and Wii.

Oh and yes.. I want to try a newer game. I know there are OODLES of older games that are great that I've probably never played, but getting them sometimes proves difficult. I may be willing to try them if they are on the virtual console or PSN.

So.. is anyone willing to share some awesome but overlooked games?

 

[alwaysrockon]

On PSN you should get "Linger in the Shadows" and "The Last Guy".

 

[NerfedFalcon]

PSN+Steam: Gundemonium Collection. Three games, all basically the same, and all in that weird indie game tradition of being hard-as-hell examples of genres that don't really exist any more.

PC (general): Cave Story. A Metroidvania platformer, and while somewhat more linear than most Metroidvanias, the plot is much better.

Steam: VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy, cheap platformers with great music, an interesting art style and both of them understand 'good' difficulty. And they both have level editors.

 

[Valagetti]

From Dust and Bastion, Yahtzee reviewed them and actually kind of liked it!

 

[spiffleh]

Excellent. That should make a good start.

I've tried googling.. but I find you kind of get the same 20 or so games when you do that.. half of which aren't all that indie.

 

[Tanakh]

I have a PS3, DS and Wii.

Do you have a computer? Can you watch a DVD or a high res vid there? Then you have an indie game computer.

Games? You need:

Amnesia - Horror survival first person PoV, might not run in a low end computer

Braid - plataformer puzzle

Breath of Death VII - JRPG

Crayon Physics Deluxe - Physical puzzle

Cthulhu Saves the World - JRPG

Jamestown - SHMUP

Machinarium - Adventure

Super meat boy - Plataformer, you will probably hate it, kinda hard

World of Goo - Puzzle

Battle of Wesnot - Tunr Based Strategy

Beat Hazard Ultra - Asteroids clone

Bloodline Champions - Arena PvP, might not run in a low end computer, free

GundeadliGne - SHMUP

Heroes of Newerth - DotA, might not run in a low end computer, free

Magicka - Kinda like Golden axe if you could do combos and 3/4 PoV, might not run in a low end computer

Puzzle Pirates - Puzzle MMO, free

Terraria - Who knows, i have it, but same as minecraft bores me to tears.

VVVVVV - Plataformer, have some tricky parts

BIT.TRIP - Comes in various flavours, good stuff.

Bastion - A simplified Diablo clone that offers an amazing gaming experience.

Limbo - Plataformer, good atmosphere



Those are the essentials, as for some more stuff:

And yet it moves

Atom Zombie Smasher

Brainpipe

Capsized

Cogs

Osmos

Shatter

Cortex Command

Greed Corp

Hitogata Happa

Gundemonium

Monday Night Combat

Revange of the Titans

Hard Reset

Steel Storm

Tidalis

Vertex Dispenser

All of those are interesting. Also, most of them can be bought for cheap in Steam. Also desktop dungeons seems worth of my time, will check it out later. If you want to go indie, i definitely say PC (even a cheap one) is the way to go.

 

[Tanakh]

PSN+Steam: Gundemonium Collection. Three games, all basically the same, and all in that weird indie game tradition of being hard-as-hell examples of genres that don't really exist any more.

Get Jamestown mate, you wont regret it.

Also, have you managed to play GundeadliGne online? I seem to lag out and bug every time.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Get Jamestown mate, you wont regret it.

Also, have you managed to play GundeadliGne online? I seem to lag out and bug every time.

Haven't tried, but it's good to know that I'm not the only person in the world who bought that game. Got the other two in the series?

And I've heard about Jamestown...Might get it sometime. About how hard is it?

 

[Tanakh]

Haven't tried, but it's good to know that I'm not the only person in the world who bought that game. Got the other two in the series?

And I've heard about Jamestown...Might get it sometime. About how hard is it?

No freaking idea, i have beaten both games in normal and GundeadliGne feels harder, but at the very top? Who knows, GundeadliGne seems to give you less error space because in Jamestown you can start from the last stage you cleared, but Jamestown is faster and the patters are harder to follow.

Also, Jamestown doesn't make me feel like a Otaku neet, which is always a plus.

 

[Comando96]

but strategy is good

... if you get a computer then try any and all of the Total War titles... well not all...

Preferably:
Rome Total War
Napoleon Total War
Shogun 2 Total War
In that order as Rome is cheap as fuck (in the UK at least) and should run reasonably well on any computer bought in the past 4 years (preferably 2).

A great balance between a turn based strategic campaign with RTS battles of the armies. Not too heavily slanted in favour of one or the other and both are important. If you pwn on the battle field though... you can make up for bad management and you can make up for lack of pwning by being good at managing an empire. If your good at both... and are enjoying it, buy the other titles. Rome is the best game to settle into and then you go from there on with changing interfaces. Oh and Rome has cheats so that you can learn how to win battles and then do the empire managing later on.

I left out Medieval 2 Total War because its very complicated compared to Rome and to do "well" as opposed to piss everyone off and steamroller requires you to basically know how to play already. Also the battles are broken compared to Rome xD

I left out Empire because... its considered that Napoleon Total War is what Empire should have been. Its considered a bug ridden game that is a failure for all but the most dedicated fans who know how to un-break it (I'm one of those fans though >.>).

I left out Shogun 1 and Medieval 1 because they won't work on any computer XP+ ... I tried... they didn't like it.

 

[Tanakh]

... if you get a computer then try any and all of the Total War titles... well not all...

Preferably:
Rome Total War
Napoleon Total War
Shogun 2 Total War
In that order as Rome is cheap as fuck (in the UK at least) and should run reasonably well on any computer bought in the past 4 years (preferably 2).

Those are good, but quite sure they aren't indies and they won't run on a crappy PC, they are also a pain in the ass to play IMO.

For deep interesting indie RTS, i would choose Cossacks II, though it's borderline commercial.

 

[Phlakes]

Crayon Physics Deluxe is sooooooooooo much fun if you're artistically inclined. I had more fun with it than any other game in the HIB, and those were some damn fine games.

 

[Comando96]

Those are good, but quite sure they aren't indies and they won't run on a crappy PC, they are also a pain in the ass to play IMO.

For deep interesting indie RTS, i would choose Cossacks II, though it's borderline commercial.

Rome would cope fine on a low PC. Did with mine when I was... 9? Yeah.
Duel Core, any some form of graphical memory will be able to run it.

If he likes Rome... maybe its time for an upgrade and to join the master race of gamers as Yahtzee mocked :/

 

[Mid-Boss]

Space Pirates and Zombies! An arcade style, 2d space game where you design each ship in your little fleet and guide them as you make your way across the galaxy buying (or stealing) technologies from various factions until a space zombiepocalypse forces you to team up with your once prey for the survival of the human race.

 

[Bob_Dobb]

If you like puzzles try Spacechem(Google it), it is fun and challenging, although the story while good enough, is told entirely in writing so it suffers a bit like Braid's story.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

*Snip*

While you might suck at FPS games, may I recommend the interesting game that Extra Credits recommended a little while back.

The Stanley Parable. [http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable]

It's short, has a dark sense of humour, there's no shooting, and does a great job of examining games and our choices within them.

Also the narrator is boss.

Just make sure you don't read any spoilers on it, also play it more than once. There's 6 endings.

 

[StrangerQ]

I suggest Aquaria since most of indie titles i thought of have been said.

Aquaria (pc-steam 19.99? dunno 'bout $ cost but i guess its same)
Metroidvania style game with great underwater setting.
I suggest watching trailer because it shows 2 important things that make this game for me one of best experiences ever. The soundtrack and great voice acting of main character. These two things created a magical journey and if the do not convince you to invest quite hefty sum for this great indie title i dont know what can.

And as general shout out. Anyone who likes metroidvanias... GET THIS GAME!