Although apocalex’s question isn’t really answered till the end, the conversation that follows does resemble many of the more academic ones that take place.
apocalex: How come there’s no indie RPGs?
soroboruo: Hm.
apocalex: Everything’s very flash or quickystyles, nothing immersive. I mean, great art style, but honestly art style seems more important to indie than gameplay.
soroboruo: I think that’s because they need to draw the audience in somehow, otherwise no one is going to take a look at the game. I actually got into a discussion about this in class. I was showing people Gratuitous Space Battles, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Shattered Horizon, and NeoTokyo.
soroboruo: One guy actually said after GSB and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, “Do you seriously just choose games based on the most ridiculous titles or something?” And that’s my point. The ridiculous titles fit the game, they make it interesting, outside of art style. If not, no one will know what your game is.
apocalex: They could just be trying to be catchy.
soroboruo: Well, there’s that too. Indie developers need recognition and money. Advertisement is expensive, so you get the word out how? By word of mouth.
apocalex: A good game though, bonus!
soroboruo: Haha, yeah.
apocalex: Honestly, the market (even indie market) seems flooded with similar games. Basic mouse moving old school avoidance games.
soroboruo: Yeah but that game looks fun, in no small part due to the art style of course. That’s also the thing though. I have more faith in the indie developers innovating rather than the big name companies. Bigger companies have to worry about audience, and publisher demands, budget. Indie developers are usually a small team of people, funding it themselves, trying to get their name out there. They’re more likely to want to break away from the pack.
apocalex: True, but they’re also more artistic because of that.
soroboruo: They have less to lose, yeah.
apocalex: And also concentrate more on art style. I mean Braid was fun, but damn short, told a great story, but played a gimmick.
soroboruo: Braid was very old school platformer with a new age twist, the time thing.
apocalex: Yeah, but that was it. Art and plot were a bonus, but, again, it was damn short. Good but short.
soroboruo: That’s one of those games where I wouldn’t complain about the length.
apocalex: With a top down rpg and level algorithm, you could bypass a lot of that. I’m talking RPG specifically.
soroboruo: Indie RPGs?
apocalex: RPG players are traditionally (of course now we’re in the STOOPID age), accepting of rougher graphics.
soroboruo: There are indie RPGs, but once again, they’re few and far between. I think that’s primarily because they take a lot more effort to push out. Take Aquaria for example. Veeeery pretty.
apocalex: Thinking about buying Torchlight.
Image Credits: Dokutsu Monogatari (Cave Story)
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