With all the great games coming out to your console and PC and the trolls crunching their way to change and irritate your mind, you can’t help but overlook potential gems. And if you don’t realize this, you may be missing out  on a lot.
Most people eagerly wait for the next incarnations of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Call of Duty or whatever ‘numbered game’ coming their way, rave and rant over them like it’s the Second Coming. You just can’t help but notice that the types of commercial games being released nowadays are cut-and-paste versions of previous games in an attempt to keep their companies afloat. Sometimes you feel you’re tired of seeing the same crap over and over again so you put out your old consoles and games or download an emulator to relive your so-called Glorious Days of Gaming, which actually doesn’t exist.
If you’re tired of most of today’s commercial games, the next step for you to take is to look for something new, if not something else.
This is where independently-developed games kick in.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, indie games exist. And yes, you’re missing a lot.
It’s self-explanatory. Indie games are games developed by an individual or group of individuals who are not associated to any major game developer. As such, they have full control over the type of game, the market it caters and its development pace. These lead to enjoyable games despite having a small budget and limited manpower. The price to pay though is the fact that we never know when these games are coming out, if not at all! Indie games have a wide library of game genres – from bullet hell, to 2D fighting, to platformer, to visual novel – you name it, there’s an indie game for you!
Indie games have been around for a long time, however, it is only this past decade when they broke through. 2000s was the time where information was spread like wildfire over the internet, and riding this is the wave of creative content from millions of internet users worldwide. Programmers began coding their own games while free game development software became accessible to those who are not well versed in programming. Amateur writers began writing compelling and exciting stories while artists create colourful and interesting characters to bring these stories to life. Add in blogs, Youtube and NicoNicoDouga (the Japanese equivalent of Youtube) to showcase what these games can do. Put the aforementioned together and what you have is a scene that is inexperienced yet creative, familiar yet fresh.
As of late, the most notable indie games are produced by Japanese game developers, and here’s some of what they have to offer:
One of the most popular indie games is the Touhou Project by Shanghai Alice, a series of shoot ‘em up games with a wide array of female characters and a very involving in-game universe. What sets Touhou from other shoot ‘em ups aside from the wide cast of female characters is the notoriously high difficulty of the games (even on Easy Mode) and the amazing sequence of bullets madly hurling at the player.
This is how you play a shmup.
Almost anyone who has been playing video games and using the internet has at least heard of Touhou. It has spawned a lot of internet memes, music remixes, cosplay, fan-made games, and comics and dance videos. It even has a fan-made anime. Made popular by the fans themselves, Touhou is the testament of the power of new media and how creative content can go from a small spark to a humungous blast.
Vanguard Princess is a 2D fighter game developed by Suge9 and is created through Fighter Maker 2nd. A lot of fighter games have been developed using Fighter Maker look and play amateurish, but this game looks so polished and has engaging gameplay that it makes you think whether this game was developed using the said software. Striking visuals, cute girls, balanced characters and a non-broken assist system makes this too good for its own right.
Cable’s got nothing on this cutie.
The game has a diverse roster of characters for every type of player. These girls may not look they can kick ass but their move sets appease the needs of the players – from melee for those who want to go all out in close combat, shooters for those who involve patience and strategy in their games, to grapplers for those who just want to deal massive damage for a quick win. With all the fuss around 3D-looking fighters and broken 2D fighters, Vanguard Princess is a breath of fresh air. The technical aspect of this game is highly commendable, proving that indie games can be at par with commercial games.
If you’re into RPGs, you can try Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale, developed by EasyGameStation. You play as the cute Recette, who recently started running an item shop because her father left her with a huge debt and she must pay it off before the due date or else she will have to live her life in a box. Helping her is Tear, a fairy originally assigned to collect Recette’s payment.
Uhm, yes, Recette. I don’t think a little girl running an errand can afford something like that.
The game has two elements: The merchant part and the adventurer part. Playing the merchant part, you have to buy and sell items among the townsfolk so you can raise money to pay off your debt before the due date. You can also manage your shop and liven it up with décor and stuff to attract customers. Haggle your way to the top and be a millionaire!
The adventurer part is where you go out of out to collect rare items obtained from dead monsters. The game provides lots of dungeons for you to grind through. However you can’t do that alone, so you’ll be needing the help of your adventurer-friends. You get them to do all the dirty work, for a price of course. Neat, right?
Capitalism has never been this fun! Visit its page on Steam and try it out.
These are some of the games the indie gaming community has to offer. They may not look stunningly awesome or have the blockbuster budget of today’s commercial games, but we’re pretty sure these games will take hours of your time and you’ll have no regrets playing them. Great way to pass the time waiting for the next console hit, don’t you think?
