Indie Games - Doing gaming right

I really like Indie games. I don't know whats about them that draws me to them. I spent more time playing games like Aquaria, Dungeons of Dredmore, Recettear, Dungeon Defenders or World of Goo than any of the recent AAA titles minus a few. I had more fun playing a 5 to 15 dollar game than a 60 dollar AAA title. What is it about these games that make them so freaking fun? Maybe because they have a niche audience and can cater specifically to them? Maybe they're a little old school but manage to make it new? Maybe because they listen to their fans? Who knows really. All I know is more developers need to start paying more attention to their fans, because it pays off in the end.

With the recent increase of digital distribution, more and more indie games are popping up. Some of you may be asking what are these mysterious "indie games" that are getting more and more popular.

"There is no exact widely-accepted definition of what constitutes an "indie game". However, generally indie games share certain commonalities. Indie games are developed by individuals, small teams, or small independent companies. And, typically, indie games are smaller than mainstream titles. Indie game developers are not financially backed by publishers and usually have little to no budget available."

What this means is, they are in control of everything. They can change everything on a whim, granted that the whole team agrees, if they wish to. Instead of having to appeal to a broad audience and dumbing down games or mechanics they can make their games as unforgiving as they want. There is an audience for that. They're called roguelikes where the gameplay is so frustrating and unforgiving but just the right amount that make masochists crawl back to play over and over again.

The only problem is that there is almost no marketing for these games. Most travel from person to person on forums and gaming sites. I read around on a gaming forum quite a bit always on the lookout for new games and information. What I noticed is how many indie developers hang around there. They post about their games show a little and then constantly change or update things based on feedback. That is where I find most of my games. I've already talked about Carpe Fulgur and their successes and they are just one of many. A recent one caught my attention as I was reading about an upcoming old school dungeon crawler game called Legend of Grimrock.

What exactly happened was a fan asked why there weren't any clickable arrow icons for movement like many of the old school games. When asked why, he replied that he was disabled. The developers upon hearing that spent a couple hours and added optional clickable arrow icons into the game. Just for one person. When this happened, a random guy on the forums decided to send this story to reddit and various gaming sites and soon it exploded out of proportion. Their website went down from massive traffic overload and their email were flooded.

To quote one of the developers

"It's a bit sad to find out that even such a small gesture toward fans gets so much attention, because it says that there's a huge gap between the game creators and the audience in general, and people just aren't used to this kind of interaction,"

What he says is true. Its sad how many companies don't give a shit about their customers. Hell even some indie developers start drifting away from the community. Trendy Entertainment of Dungeon Defenders for one started going on a downhill slope. For one they decided that alienating their console players is a good idea. They stopped updating for consoles entirely. Next they started drifting away from their playerbase. They used to talk to their players often and update often. Now everyone is left in the dark then a patch comes out of nowhere with nerfs and bugs. People's characters get deleted, items are lost, and other things happen. When people sent emails for help it came back with a reply more than 3 weeks later saying they'll give them 10 million mana (not even worth 1 item) so they can start over. Really? Wait 3 weeks just for that?

I think what really attracts me to indie games is how approachable and human they are. I think thats what it comes down to. Love for their work, their fans, and their own game and it shows in the end product.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/indie-studio-almost-human-is-more-human-than-most/

Katawa Shoujo - What is a Visual Novel?

What is Katawa Shoujo you ask? Well it basically means Disability Girl or something of that sort. Its what people call a Visual Novel. Now what in the fuck is that you ask? Well, its like reading a book, but with stupid pictures moving around. Don't get me wrong, I love to read. But why is this categorized into a game? Seems like theres not much difference than those pick your own adventure books you read as a kid in the library, with assholes writing down the answers at the side or having to keep your finger on like 5 different sections in case you miss something or need to do backtrack and its a huge pain in the ass. Then eventually you go fuck this and skip to the end since losers already written down the page where you go for the ending read it and close it and go finally. But really, its nothing like that.

I first found this game, story, novel, whatever the shit you wanna call it while reading about Fortune Summoners and Carpe Fulgur. I have mentioned them before, they brought over games like Recettear and Chantelise by Easy Game Station for the western market. Now they are translating their latest game, Fortune Summoners by Lizsoft. But this isn't about that so we'll skip to the end. There were some mention about a game called Katawa Shoujo on the discussion about Fortune Summoners while I was looking for information about that game. Links were passed around and it was highly recommended. I checked it out downloaded and forgotten about it. Its a completely free game and you can download however you want. What interested me though was that it was made by a group of 20-22 individuals from all walks of life working on a visual novel on their free time. Some were adults, some were married, some were as young as 14. The only thing is common was that they went to the same forums and hung out around there. I love these stories, it was the reason I even paid attention to Carpe Fulgur as they were nothing but two individuals who couldn't find jobs and decide to make one for themselves.

The game took five years to make. Yes, five years. However they have said that the development took longer than that, more to a decade before finally starting it five years ago. They released the game free to download on their 5th anniversary just recently. Its a sorta westernized Visual Novel that takes place in Japan. Yes I know you're going, "well fuck that sounds retarded as shit! I hate anime! I hate Anime that take place in the west because they don't know shit and always fuck it up so horrifyingly because its a Japanized west." Exactly my thoughts. I hate anime but I used to watch it as a kid. It was fine back then when we were immature as shit. I ask my friends for recommendations and I get retarded shit like some dumb fuck loser guy with a harem of girls. Everything in anime has their own type of characters which pissed me off immensely. You get the dumb people who talk like they're lifeless, super cheerful airheads, super shy retarded assholes and the worst of all, tsundere. Holy fuck do I wanna choke anyone who mentions anything tsundere. I know you're reading this Cent and I know you're going to open your MSN and bitch at me but fuck you and read on first.

At first I thought it was going to be like that but I was strangely surprised. Its not my first Visual Novel, I've read/played/whatevered Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and Utawarerumono(fucking mouthful) all on recommendation by Cent. Sure its wasn't bad but it taught me a few things. I understand Utawarerumono is played like a tactics game, but why the fuck are the other two considered games? And why the fuck is it all high school bullshit like anime? Fate/Stay Night could have been adults going around blasting people with servants like a real game but instead its just dumb kids running around being all whiny and annoying. And if Tsukihime taught me anything is save before a choice because vampire girls will kill you out of love, and if you piss her off she'll kill you out of anger. Its a lose-lose situation. Thankfully Katawa Shoujo doesn't have vampire girls killing you. But it does have "bad endings." I like to think of Visual Novels as, writers that are too good for games, but not good enough for actual novels so they're stuck in some kind of limbo writing this shit. Of course thats not true because after reading this it changed my mind but I still like to consider these Visual Novels as a story other than a game.

I've been talking a lot and none of it has been about this game/novel. So after reading about this and leaving it somewhere at the back of my mind I found it again sitting on my desktop waiting to be installed. I was bored as shit so I gave it a go. I installed it and started playing. I gotta say the music and the art were kinda nice but what I enjoyed most was the writing. Its very well written, something you wouldn't expect from people on a forum known for their immaturity and trolling. The story focuses on a kid named Hisao who had an attack of arrhythmia when being confessed to by a girl he liked. Afterwards he was hospitalized and then had to enroll in a school for the disabled. There he meets the five main characters and how the story unfolds is up to the path you take. Each main character is written by a different writer. The novel itself is split into one main act where it can split into five different acts. Each act focuses on one character by one writer and that character has three acts of their own which equals to four acts per character. Its fairly long and I know I'm a fast reader. It still took me awhile to finish a character. Maybe because I didn't want it to end so fast. Maybe I was dreading it as I made it closer to the end and subconsciously slowed down.

The characters are as follows.

Emi - She's the always cheerful girl with amputated legs below the knee. She loves to run and will continue to run dispite her disability. She is considered the first path to take because its almost impossible to not be guided towards her path.

Hanako - Shes a disfigured girl who is suffering from extreme anxiety and shyness. She has almost no friends and has problems talking to anyone so she is ignored by everyone.

Lilly - Shes a blind Scottish girl. Shes sophisticated, calm and very friendly. She is the only one who talks to Hanako.

Rin - Shes a girl born with no arms. She is eccentric and talks in circles or asks very weird questions from time to time. Other than that shes an artist and is best friends with Emi

Shizune - She is a deaf and mute girl. Shes the class representitive and also head of the student council. She's strong and determined.

The first time I read through it I accidentally landed in Emi's route. I was going "Oh god not those super cheerful annoying cliches in anime." It wasn't as bad as I expected. One thing I noticed is Hisao changed between each route probably because of different writers. The reasoning for that was because if one person were to leave the team (common) then they wouldn't need to scrap the whole thing just scrap the route they worked on. Emi is cheerful and she's friendly with everyone but she has a secret. You first meet her because the nurse orders you to get exercise for your heart. If you wanna slowly kill yourself you don't do it but if you do you are locked onto her route. She runs with you every morning and you slowly see her more than just a friend. She's stubborn as hell and she refuses any help. I particularly like the banter between the two, its very realistic and cute. However as you get to know her more and more she pushes herself away further. The story focuses on your health and your relationship with Emi. You fight, you get together, you fight again, and you get back together again. She is stubborn, but so are you and you keep pushing forward when she pushes you back until you realize she has PTSD from her accident and cannot get close to people for fear of losing them. Even the bad endings are realistic, it brings back memories. Two people talking together normally, having fun dreading the inevitability that is coming. Then at the end, neither can look at each other in the eye and said goodbye for the last time. Just like that. Painless but painful all at once.

Its an emotional roller coaster from when she tells you to "Get the fuck out" of her house to the confession scene where she tells you every tiny little thing about her before breaking down. I like to point out that not every problem is solvable. Unlike Bioware writers, these people don't write stories where everyone has emotional baggage that gets magically fixed by a penis or someone with a penis. They have problems and you cannot solve them, but you can stand by them as they work through it. The endings are just the beginning of a story for our protagonists. Its bittersweet and I like it that way. Its even more evident in Hanako's route where you are protecting her and trying to fix her. If you do that then you fail and get the bad ending. I did the first time, I fell into the trap and I tried to help her but instead I failed to realize that she herself is strong and doesn't need you to help her. Shes quiet, and she avoids people because because her scars have traumatized her. She enjoys games like pool and chess, she enjoys reading in the library and she doesn't need you to watch her everywhere she goes. Hanako's route is written by a far superior writer in my opinion.

In Hanako's route it focuses more about the disabilities. Your weaknesses and your disabilities and also Hanako's. If you stop being her protector and worry about your own future, your own life, Hanako starts approaching you more and more. You share your disabilities, your hardships and then you make love. I like to point out it was probably one of the most disturbing scenes for obvious reasons you find out at the end of the route. She made love to you because she wanted you to see her as more than an object to be protected. She doesn't want a knight in shining armor, she wanted a friend, a lover who would see her as an equal. Thats why she liked to play chess with you, because when the two of you are playing you are equal. Even the title for the act, Castling, is a move in chess where the king (one to be protected) and the rook (a powerful piece in chess) moves so they stand beside each other. Its symbolism for Hisao and Hanako moving together standing side by side and Hisao becoming even more protective. At the climax you realized everything and stop being her knight. The route ends there but the story is just beginning. You sit there tears streaming down your cheeks with a pile of tissue paper on your desk as the credits slowly roll. You then realize, "fuck this shit is good."

In high school, I had a few perverted friends who would talk about Japanese porn games where you click buttons endlessly though stories for porn to appear. They go "its so boring you just click click click then you jack off." Yeah, maybe thats what made me want to avoid this like a plague. But I was wrong. Its not porn. If anyone can masturbate to it they should chop off their dicks.

I haven't read the other stories but I finished two of the five and I can say its good already. Just don't finish it all at once like a sad drama. Its a love-hate thing for me. I love watching sad dramas and reading sad stories but I also hate it because once its over and I see the bittersweet ending, you know your week is ruined. You'll lie in bed thinking about it, it'll ruin your day as your in class. It'll fuck you over but you're glad you watched it. Thats what this visual novel is. I know its not a game, and I know I'm not bitching about how terrible a game is but I'm just talking about mostly what a Visual Novel is. It shouldn't be labeled as a game as theres no game play, yet it shouldn't be overlooked because its not a real novel. Give it a chance it might change your mind. It sure changed mine.

The Binding of Issac - One big dead baby joke

You're probably asking why I'm bitching about an indie game. An indie game may have niche audiences but it doesn't mean it can't suck shit. The Binding of Issac is made by the same people who made Super Meat Boy. I have never played that game but I've heard praises of people who have played it. Having no idea what that is and no idea what this is I gave this a try. All I could say after all this was what the fuck. The story consists of you, Issac a 8 year old boy with a crazy religious mother. One day your mother hears the voice of God telling her to shelter you from the outside evils. You are then locked away naked in your room. Then she hears the voice of God telling her to kill you and you escape through the basement. That is the whole story. Inside the basement you meet a bunch of different creatures such as eyeless bleeding babies, babies with head filled with flies, headless babies, floating dead baby heads, zombie babies, maggots, giant vaginas, and more.

Edgy huh? I think the game focused too much on being edgy than to make the game better. The game isn't entirely bad. Its a rogue-like inspired Zeldaesque game. Basically you go around the dungeon shooting everything with tears and you find upgrades and you slowly mutate into some fucked up shit. The amount of blood puts Dragon Age to shame. Its grotesque but the replayability is there. The only problem is, why is this 5 bucks? Seems like this game is no different than those flash games you can play for free. A couple of years ago without steam and all these digital distribution sites it would be just another flash game forgotten somewhere. The game is made in flash and when the screen is filled with a bunch of shit (literally sometimes), it slows down and you start sliding around making the game difficult and impossible to play. Its more annoying than Odin Sphere's massive slowdown. The game is all about luck. Its like solitaire, you don't play to win instead you play for a chance to win.

When people wanted joystick support, what did these guys do? They make you google another program of course! There are more and more shit like if you leave the game on for long periods of time it automatically assumes you aren't playing and closes the game for you. The only reason they could get away with this kind of shit is because its an indie game. For 5 bucks you can get something better, something like Dungeons of Dredmor another rogue-like. Even Dungeon Defenders is cheap as shit and worth way more than this piece of shit. It has a few levels and the game doesn't last very long. The only reason replayability is high is the first few tries you'll end up dying a few minutes into the game. Its not bad becuase its hard, its bad because of how unoptimized it is and how its just a game where they shove as many dead babies and internet memes they can into it.