By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Indie VS AAA: What are your experiences?

kitler53 said:

in general i've been digging the indie scene moreso than AAA lately.

i've just grown tired of games that take control away from me to show me a cut-scene too frequently.  i think jonathan blow put it best when he made this:

An occasional game that uses this design is great.  ..but now that just about every fucking AAA game uses this design i've just lost all of my interest in these games.

We'll see with the witness if he puts his money where his mouth is. Braid was extremely linear...

It depends on the game ofcourse, Remember me has very linear level design, Bioshock infinite has a few open areas, The last of us gives a bit more freedom, Tombraider's hub levels have plenty to explore, KZ SF has huge complicated levels. Definitely not every AAA game. Then you have GTA5 and AC4 fully open apart from some of the story missions.
Now I can't really think of any story based indie games that doesn't use linear level design.

Not having the budget to make a cutscene and instead having to click through text doesn't mean it's better game design.



Around the Network

Difficult to say atm, but i dont think i have bought a single indie game this last gen. I did play a few enjoyable demo's but the games just feel too much like they are stuck in the 8-16 bit eras, wich is alright. But, i already lived that era, so for me, this is not any kind of innovation. Its more of the same i have moved on from.

With that said, i am looking forward to the mid-sized indie games. Those look better.



SvennoJ said:
kitler53 said:

in general i've been digging the indie scene moreso than AAA lately.

i've just grown tired of games that take control away from me to show me a cut-scene too frequently.  i think jonathan blow put it best when he made this:

An occasional game that uses this design is great.  ..but now that just about every fucking AAA game uses this design i've just lost all of my interest in these games.

We'll see with the witness if he puts his money where his mouth is. Braid was extremely linear...

It depends on the game ofcourse, Remember me has very linear level design, Bioshock infinite has a few open areas, The last of us gives a bit more freedom, Tombraider's hub levels have plenty to explore, KZ SF has huge complicated levels. Definitely not every AAA game. Then you have GTA5 and AC4 fully open apart from some of the story missions.
Now I can't really think of any story based indie games that doesn't use linear level design.

Not having the budget to make a cutscene and instead having to click through text doesn't mean it's better game design.


the linear part actually doesn't really bother me so much.  last gen (ps2 era) games often had the design of 20 mintues of gameplay followed by 2 minutes of cut scence.  what i'm not liking is the new approach of 2 mintues of gameplay followed by 20 seconds of cut scene.  it's that persistant taking control away from me that's getting to me.  i'm exaggeration a bit but that's the feeling i'm left with. 

i don't see that in indies, at least not the ones i've been playing.  you're probably right, budget is the primary reason why but eh.  i don't much care the reason so long as it's fun.



Not the same experience.

I could play only AAA games, not only indies tough.

I'm still in love with japanese AA.



Indie games are overrated, there are some great games, but with the small budgets most indie games aren't even a fraction of the quality that larger budget games are. You get what you pay for couldn't be any truer.

Cave Story is one of the few indie games that the quality of gameplay is alongside the quality of larger budget releases and if it was released at $30-40 MSRP for a portable game(before the 3DS version,) then it would have been worth it.

Hotline Miami, as much as I enjoyed it, is like I said above. You get what you pay for. $15 for a cheap indie compared to $60 for a retail title, yeah, it's worth it. But even an decent $60 retail title is better than even Hotline Miami.

There's a rare few indie games that can actually compare to the quality of the better retail titles that they should actually be released $40 - $60.  Most indie titles aren't worth the $10-$15 they are released as.

The shmups, like Jamestown, are worth it over the $60 console releases.  Shmups are a dime a dozen and Jamestown is just as good as any that's been on consoles last gen.



Around the Network
kitler53 said:

the linear part actually doesn't really bother me so much.  last gen (ps2 era) games often had the design of 20 mintues of gameplay followed by 2 minutes of cut scence.  what i'm not liking is the new approach of 2 mintues of gameplay followed by 20 seconds of cut scene.  it's that persistant taking control away from me that's getting to me.  i'm exaggeration a bit but that's the feeling i'm left with. 

i don't see that in indies, at least not the ones i've been playing.  you're probably right, budget is the primary reason why but eh.  i don't much care the reason so long as it's fun.

Yes the start of most AAA games are terrible that way. Long cutscene, walk 2 steps, another mini cutscene, button prompts, or worse qte cut scene that starts over if you happen to be caught unaware. For every HL2 or Bioshock infinite opening, you have 10 that make you want to quit before the game actually begins.

Indies have their downsided too though. Far too many rely on simply killing the player and making you start over for replayability.



To be honest each year I find myself playing more and more indies over AAA titles. It's not that having a big budget is a bad thing, it's just that AAA titles seem to cover fewer and fewer genres every year while indie games cover more and more genres every year. The horror genre for example is now almost completely indie. I'm hoping Aliens Isolation can bring AAA horror back in vogue though.



Indie are short and AAA's are long experiences. The problem with Indies is that it has many games which users can't decide by themself which is good but the prices makes them to take a change. AAA game are better for full immersion mostly which lasts long..



GAMING is not about spending hours to pass/waste our time just for fun,

its a Feeling/Experience about a VIRTUAL WORLD we can never be in real, and realizing some of our dreams (also creating new ones).

So, Feel Emotions, Experience Adventure/Action, Challenge Game, Solve puzzles and Have fun.

PlayStation is about all-round "New experiences" using new IP's to provide great diversity for everyone.

Xbox is always about Online and Shooting.

Nintendo is always about Fun games and milking IP's.

I never understood the hype behind indie games. Most are gimmicky and the low budget really shows XD Imo pretty overrated as the majority seem to be glorified app games you'd see on iOS. Not all, and some deserve praise, but most are just really short and ehhhh.
Triple A all day for me



Depends solely on the game IMO.
AAA can be rushed crap but also can be heaven. Indie games have to survive for themselves so they can't be a generic game at all - they won't get any attention. That's why Indie games are generally more "unique" alternatives when compared to AAA games, which will most likely be generic one way or another.

The Binding Of Isaac was one of the best games I've played in my life. Gameplay was fun as hell (A little buggy sometimes but oh well FLASH) and music was brilliant and really fitting... And it's just an indie game.
Sometimes passion can surpass budgets, I guess.