I have to agree with you for the most part. Still, I can't help but fall in that category of critics who see how much the dev's have put into their games despite having a miniscule budget. That appreciation really does affect my bias (and I am sure many others), but I see how you feel that indies are getting a pass despite offering so little in terms of production values when compared to big company games.
I will disagree with you on one point...Cave Story was awesome (not boring). Some might see it as a metroidvania effort that didn't do much more than the source it was inspired from, but I don't see that as a bad thing. It was smart, fun and well executed. And for 1 person (again my bias rears its ugly head) to do all that is impressive. As an aspiring game designer, while playing it the game is an inspiration for what I want to achieve. Yes, there will be games that offer more in terms of graphics, gameplay and replay, but Cave Story beats out some of my favorite SNES experiences because it offers all of the afortementioned with style.
I get the indie game generalization banter, but I can't help but refute the idea that Cave Story is an example of this. I'm sure there are more deserving titles.
