As much as I love AAA titles, you can’t go to them for games that have their own distinct identities. Because of capitalism, a AAA title can’t take the risk of not making a profit. So any good ideas in AAA games have to be diluted with a bunch of stuff they know people will enjoy because they’ve played games like it before. The Last of Us Part II has one of the best narratives I’ve seen in a game before, but it’s also just another paintball shooter with crafting and stealth mechanics. Elden Ring is vast in its lore with some of the most interesting concepts in gaming, but it’s just Dark Souls with a jump button.
A triple-A title needs something they know will make money: an established IP, a beloved developer, a franchise, overused game mechanics. I’m not saying they’re bad games, they just lack their own soul because it has to be woven inextricably to whatever avenue they’re using to make it profitable. So where do we go to get wholly unique games? A realm with less money and expectations, the indie realm. Here are three amazing indie games you all have to play.
Three Indie Games You Must Play – Lonely Mountains
Lonely Mountains: Downhill
This one’s a few years old but I’ve only discovered it recently. Lonely Mountains does such a perfect job of marrying both chill and challenging together. The overall vibe is that of a nice calm bike ride down a cosy mountain. But then when you want more engagement, it gives you fun stuff like looking for hard shortcuts and finishing tracks without bailing. The level design is fantastic. It’s so rewarding finding shortcuts that cut out whole sections but are far more difficult to maneuver. So you have to decide what the best options are depending on if you’re going for a better time or less bails. What’s refreshing is that the rewarding feeling you get isn’t superficial. There isn’t any loot or skill trees or stat leveling. The reward is that you got better at the game and learned more about the levels, so you feel more prepared to tackle harder challenges. It’s old-school arcade-type stuff.
There’re shortcuts everywhere
Gameplay
You ride a bike down a hill. It’s simple but with room for complexity. The loop is: you start a new track and take it slow as you search around for any shortcuts. You map out every checkpoint, finding the quickest routes. Then you use all the information you’ve gathered to complete the challenge runs. Finish in a certain time and/or with a set amount of bails. Then you try to do it again without a single bail. This is my favorite part as it is the culmination of everything you’ve just learned. You have to ask questions like ‘Am I confident enough to take this shortcut without bailing?’ Then by this time, a new track has been unlocked so you do it all again.
The bikes handle perfectly. It’s all physics-based so it’s satisfying to get some solid momentum going. You unlock different bikes as you progress but no bike is better than any other, they’re more different to cater to different level types and play styles. Do you prefer going super fast or doing big drops? There’s a bike for both.
There’s some beautiful looking levels
The Lonely Soul
Lonely Mountains is an indie game you just gotta play to truly understand its appeal. It has hints of games like Trials where there’s a set number of levels that are challenges that you either pass or fail and try again. But there’s so much more to it. There’s a lot more planning involved than straight execution. I find myself thinking about sections of levels and how to do them better long after I’ve played them. You get a true feel for every mountain and their nuances, immersing you in every track. You end up learning the tracks so well that you become one with the mountains. And that seems to be the true intent of Lonely Mountains. From the music to the art style to the gameplay, Lonely Mountains is made to help you savor the nature of it all. It’s a humble game for hippies, which is probably why it’s so fun to play high. It does such a good job of being chill that it’s never frustrating no matter how challenging it gets.
Bailing can also be pretty funny
Sifu
Sifu is on the short list of games that I would call perfect. Every element in Sifu works towards creating the experience that the game intends: that of being a badass martial artist like in all the kickass martial arts movies. It even references a lot of well-known movies. I can maybe count on one hand the number of games that have battle mechanics as good as Sifu. The follow-up to Slocap’s first game, Absolver, which is fantastic in its own right especially if you’re looking for a fun coop game. Sifu takes the ambitious fighting from Absolver and refines it to a point that makes it infinitely satisfying. And it’s free! It’s one of the free monthly PSN Essential games. So PlayStation players have until the end of March. Hurry up!
Three Indie Games You Must Play: Sifu
Gameplay
In terms of structure, Sifu plays like a hack ‘n’ slash/brawler. Run through levels fighting waves of enemies that differ in difficulty. Saying this, though, feels too derivative. Sifu is so much more than your everyday hack ‘n’ slash. It strikes a perfect middle-ground between Devil May Cry and Sekiro. You have a combo list that seems a little daunting at first but is quite accessible as you get used to it. I find Devil May Cry 5’s attack list harder to grasp. But Sifu shows its genius not with what you can do aggressively, but what you can do defensively.
This is where the Sekiro influence comes in. It has something similar to Sekiro’s Posture guage where if you do enough damage to your opponent’s defenses, you can stagger them and hit them with a killing blow. You can also block and parry like in Sekiro but Sifu takes it a step further with its avoid mechanic. If you hold block and move the joystick, you can dodge in each direction. This means you can dodge any attack as long you dodge in the direction that the attack is coming from. Dodge back for high attacks and forward for low attacks. I love this. Essentially, it’s no different to any other dodge mechanic except in most games, you can kinda turn your brain off. See an attack, press dodge. Sifu doesn’t let you do that, you have to zone in and keep your attention on what’s happening. By far, the most effective way to play Sifu is by playing defensively. Which brings me to the point of Sifu.
A successful perfect parry
The Soul of Wude
Before I said that the intended experience of Sifu is to become a badass martial artist like the movies. Some might think this means that it’s all about beating people up. While that’s certainly a big part, it’s not the point. Wude is the Chinese concept of ‘martial morality’. To find harmony within both your emotional mind and wisdom mind. The story of Sifu is about exacting revenge. A group of high-powered assassins have killed your master and it’s up to you to go through and defeat them all one level at a time. But if you just go through and kill them all, you unlock the bad ending. Wude is not about winning against your opponents, it’s about defeating them before the battle has even begun. In your mind and in your soul. And Sifu gives you everything you need to understand this concept.
This game is so gorgeous
When you first start out, you have all these combos you can do to devastate your opponents. And it’s so satisfying to go around kicking everyone’s ass. But as you progress, you discover how much more effective it is to play defensively and you grow. The final boss is incredibly aggressive and one of the hardest things I’ve fought in a game when you play aggressively. But once you learn how to parry, you can destroy him. It shows a perfect contrast between the type of player the game expects you to be and the type of player it intends for you to be. To achieve the good ending you have to beat every boss by breaking their stagger guage twice. And the only way to do that without killing them is by playing defense. It’s genius. You just gotta play this indie game.
Remember this scene from Old Boy?
Pizza Tower
Pizza Tower is complete insanity. I grew up with Earthworm Jim and Ren ‘n’ Stimpy, earning me a comfy heated seat right in the heart of Pizza Tower’s target audience. From the screenshots alone, you can tell this game is unique. There have been kooky weird games before, but they can’t hold a candle to Pizza Tower. Every aspect of the game is saturated in charm while it gushes with hilarity. But it takes more than a good sense of humor to make a game as great as Pizza Tower. It’s also Tour De Pizza’s first Steam release and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, so I predict good games in their future.
Three Indie Games You Must Play: Pizza Tower
Gameplay
Pizza Tower has to be one of the best 2D platformers I’ve ever played. It’s so heavily stylized and fast-paced. You’re rewarded for speed and combo-killing enemies. The enemies can’t even kill you. It’s less about defeating dudes/finishing levels and more about how you move and play. How optimized can you be with you’re movement? How fast are your reflexes? There’s also a parry mechanic which is weird for a platformer but makes complete sense when you’re using it to keep your combo alive.
You have so much control over your movement. There’s a dash that you can keep constant and that gets faster the longer you hold it. You can wall jump, super jump, dive, roll, belly flop. That’s not even mentioning all the weird upgrades you get that spice your movement up. And they’re all optimized with speed in mind. There’s nothing more satisfying than pulling off a perfect run of a level. There are a lot of great fast-paced style-specific games out there, but very few of them reach the levels of hectic excitement that’s on offer with Pizza Tower.
A parry in a platformer?!
A Delicious Soul of Pepperoni and Mozzarella
What sets Pizza Tower apart is how it blends its overpowering ingredients. The art style is completely bonkers but all the nuts animations help to accentuate the playing experience rather than get in the way of it. The gameplay is fast-paced and hectic but there’s never too much information that you get lost in what is happening. It’s extremely easy to get into the mindset of a perfectionist wanting to ace every level. You’re never held back, the game gives you more than enough tools that become integral once you wrap your head around them. Eventually, it becomes so satisfying to glide through every level with your mad skills. I also cannot truly express how hilarious this game is. Tour De Pizza have a very passionate grasp on the media that has inspired Pizza Tower. It’s weird feeling child-like nostalgia for a game that only came out a year ago.
These drawings are fantastic
