Indie games using retro graphics

Two examples of this are :

Penny's big breakaway and DUSK from the top of my head.

I'm not sure about you but I think the rise of indie games going with the PS1 aesthetic and other low gfx easy to run games is that the past, despite its flaws, was much better.

I also think there's a charm with low polygon games and spritework ones, it's your imagination that fills in the gaps.

And lastly, I think of the simpler times when you play modern indie "retro" games, no bullshit, you pay the devs, you get your game, everyone is happy.

What are your thoughts on indie games going for that nostalgia feel? Any examples to cite?

Motorheadbanger ,

Out of the new stuff, Dread Delusion comes to mind. Kinda comparable to Morrowind, it's a quirky first-person RPG. And in terms of graphics, it even has an option to enable-disable wiggly pixels at the edges of textures!

ArmoredThirteen ,

I see it has big mushrooms, I'm sold downloading now

ArmoredThirteen ,

New update: I'm like 4 hours in and so far loving this game. It is clearly early elder scrolls inspired but it stands on its own. Very happy to be playing it

Motorheadbanger ,

Oh nice, glad you like it! I myself don't have the patience for such games nowadays, but cool beans

confusedpuppy , (edited )

I've found myself lately a lot more interested in games that don't focus heavily on graphics but instead allow other parts of the game to speak for itself. This allows for the imagination to fill in the gaps, as you mentioned.

I've been playing a lot or Caves of Qud recently. It's a rogue-like game with tile graphics and colourful text. Somehow this menu simulator game has drawn me into it's harsh and unforgiving world. The tile based graphics actually allows for an amazing amount of creative freedom both from the developer and player point of views. The developer has created this futuristic planet with mutants and cybernetics roaming the planet trying to survive. The player has the freedom to play as they like and create the most unique characters they can imagine. My current character has two hearts, a scorpion tail, a fanged beak, two dagger wielding claws and a habit for stabbing.

I think the rise of constantly better technology has inadvertently encouraged a focus on better graphics over other aspects of video games. While there are some absolutely beautiful games with higher hardware demand, I think as of late, I'm yearning for games that focus more on story or gameplay. Games where you can feel the developer's passion. Games with polish and attention to details in the most unexpected ways. Games that attempt to push boundaries within certain limitations (think hardware or graphic styles for example).

I think what I want is a game that feels like I'm reading a fiction book in a way. What I mean is that when you read a work of fiction, your imagination is filling in all that visual information. A game can provide you more than just text, but if it can balance graphics, gameplay and story, it can really transport and immerse your imagination into that world.

Zerfallen ,

It also means more people can play on more hardware, it typically focuses the experience, it makes the interactive elements more visually distinguishable from the background graphics, it's cheaper/faster to produce so less incentive to bloat with MTX to recoup massive investments, the scope is smaller so can be better aligned with a singular cohesive artistic vision, and the limited graphics encourages stylisation and artistic decisions when 'photo real' becomes not an option to target.

Also you don't need to wait 10+ years for a game, just to receive a bloated mess where you only engage with 20% of the content yet had to wait for 100% of the development time, since at that point the investment demands it has to appeal to every possible consumer, only to still get a buggy unfinished release due to the massive scope. /rant. Anyway, indies are great and i love short games too.

Ritsu4Life ,

Signalis. you can get the game from humble store and steam.

Penta ,

Signalis is awesome

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