Indie Four Horsemen of Incline - Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC

[luj1]

Realistically speaking, in the KS and post-KS era, there has only been a very few neoclassics.

This is something I briefly discussed with NecroLord, but in my opinion only Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC (especially KotC 2 and the Hearkenwold module) are worthy of being called truly exceptional. Games remarkable in gameplay and design.

Nothing else comes close. But what I personally consider as honorary mentions are Escape from the Pit, Brigand: Oaxaca, Neoscavenger and Legend of Grimrock.

However, it is an incredible fact that all of these were made by small, passionate, indie teams. Including my selection of "honorary mentions."

What has AAA and AA produced? Trash and mediocrities.




Dorateen JarlFrank agris Gregz Tom Baker's Arse markec Dreed Cleveland Mark Blakemore Styg Infinitron

 

[JarlFrank]

However, it is an incredible fact that all of these were made by small, passionate, indie teams.

Large, corporate teams inevitably cave to "market research" and too many cooks spoil the broth.

A dozen or fewer devs is the ideal.

 

[Snafkin]

underrail and kotc2 are good to play at night, aaa games and multiplayer stuff you play at daytime because rpgs are too boring to play at daytime

 

[Butter]

underrail and kotc2 are good to play at night, aaa games and multiplayer stuff you play at daytime because rpgs are too boring to play at daytime

First thing in the morning with a cup of tea is high time to play some KotC.

 

[Arvennios]

I take it you don't like story-rich, narrative-driven RPGs very much ?

 

[Gandalf]

Yeah, they're all cool passion projects (with Escape from the Pit being a remake of a remake of a game from 1995).

Yeah, AAA and AA maybe made trash games, but perhaps those games sold better than passion projects.

 

[Bastardchops]

Realistically speaking, in the KS and post-KS era, there has only been a very few neoclassics.

This is something I briefly discussed with NecroLord, but in my opinion only Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC (especially KotC 2 and the Hearkenwold module) are worthy of being called truly exceptional. Games remarkable in gameplay and design.

Nothing else comes close. But what I personally consider as honorary mentions are Escape from the Pit, Brigand: Oaxaca, Neoscavenger and Legend of Grimrock.

However, it is an incredible fact that all of these were made by small, passionate, indie teams. Including my selection of "honorary mentions."

What has AAA and AA produced? Trash and mediocrities.




Dorateen JarlFrank agris Gregz Tom Baker's Arse markec Dreed Cleveland Mark Blakemore Styg Infinitron

You say small indie teams but weren't at least three of them just one guy?

 

[Dorateen]

I take it you don't like story-rich, narrative-driven RPGs very much ?

The purpose of an RPG is not to tell a story, but to have an adventure.

Having said that, Grimoire and many of the classics it was inspired by, do rest on a rich underlying narrative. It's just in the background and not something forced on the player.

 

[luj1]

... too many cooks spoil the broth.

A dozen or fewer devs is the ideal.

Yes, but having centrally authored content is more important. 30 people can work too. However you MUST have one or two educated leads who established a firm vision.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

kenshi is the best one out of those imo

 

[luj1]

I take it you don't like story-rich, narrative-driven RPGs very much ?

Marketing buzzwords. Useless.

 

[luj1]

AAA and AA maybe made trash games, but perhaps those games sold better

Sure but not important for us gamers. How many copies a game has sold literally carries no implications on my enjoyment. Unless you are an industry whore like Roguey or Infinitron to whom that is important.

 

[Falksi]

Downloading Kenshi as I type (although prob won't play it until my Kotor and possibly PoE revisits are done with)

 

[Infinitron]

Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC

One of these games, impressive though it may be, doesn't belong with the others.

 

[Fedora Master]

Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC

One of these games, impressive though it may be, doesn't belong with the others.

Lol you of all people criticizing someone's definition of RPGs?
The absolute nerve of this kike.

 

[Infinitron]

I didn't say it's not an RPG.

 

[BlackPlate]

I must have missed the Infinitron-Cleve war saga, my lore check is failing.

 

[Fedora Master]

I didn't say it's not an RPG.

Don't care, didn't ask plus you're Jewish

 

[Gandalf]

Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC

One of these games, impressive though it may be, doesn't belong with the others.

What do you mean by that? Is it about Kenshi?

 

[OSK]

What is Kenshi? It looks like a single-player MMO.

 

[Tyranicon]

I take it you don't like story-rich, narrative-driven RPGs very much ?

There hasn't been a good one of these made in the last twenty years, with maybe only 1 or two exceptions.

 

[Gregz]

Realistically speaking, in the KS and post-KS era, there has only been a very few neoclassics.

This is something I briefly discussed with NecroLord, but in my opinion only Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC (especially KotC 2 and the Hearkenwold module) are worthy of being called truly exceptional. Games remarkable in gameplay and design.

Nothing else comes close. But what I personally consider as honorary mentions are Escape from the Pit, Brigand: Oaxaca, Neoscavenger and Legend of Grimrock.

However, it is an incredible fact that all of these were made by small, passionate, indie teams. Including my selection of "honorary mentions."

What has AAA and AA produced? Trash and mediocrities.




Dorateen JarlFrank agris Gregz Tom Baker's Arse markec Dreed Cleveland Mark Blakemore Styg Infinitron

I agree with most of your post, and your games list. I do think KoTC 1 > KoTC2, however. I would also add Jupiter Hell to the list.

 

[Gandalf]

AAA and AA maybe made trash games, but perhaps those games sold better

Sure but not important for us gamers. How many copies a game has sold literally carries no implications on my enjoyment. Unless you are an industry whore like Roguey or Infinitron to whom that is important.

Yes, it's not important to me as well. I bet it is somehow important to the indie devs, because of game making being costly and time consuming. My point is expecting anything interesting from AAA and AA is nowdays a fantasy.

 

[JarlFrank]

Underrail, Grimoire, Kenshi and KotC

One of these games, impressive though it may be, doesn't belong with the others.

Which one? They're all made by small teams or even solo devs, and each is a different subgenre of RPG.

Underrail - Fallout-like
Grimoire - blobber
Kenshi - open world explorefag RPG
KotC - tactical dungeon crawler

 

[Sigourn]

Sure but not important for us gamers.

It is to the devs, and it is to the people who bought those games en masse.

It's like you don't even understand what's the point of AAA games. Big budget = lots of sales are needed.