Given the big swathe of posts about bad behavior from big companies, I figure we could counterbalance that with some positivity about stuff the smaller guys made that often costs us less too.

  • missingno@fedia.io
    23·
    2 months ago

    • Skullgirls - Still the best damn fighting game ever made. I’ve been grinding for a full decade now, and I’ll be entering Combo Breaker 2025 once again this year.

    • Slay the Spire - The game that ruined all other roguelikes for me. What I love about StS is that it never lets you get complacent, never lets you lean on just one good synergy that will carry you the entire run. You always have to keep adapting, and you have to have a well-rounded deck to deal with enemies that are designed to counter players who try to rely on only one thing. And when I eventually got to the point where I’d had my fill of vanilla, there’s so much fun stuff from the modding community to play around with. Packmaster is incredible.

    • CrossCode - It’s been years since I finished this RPG and its colorful cast still lives rent-free in my head. This is a game that is perfect in every way and adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Fantastic combat, tons of side content, endearing characters, emotionally powerful story, beautiful visuals, amazing soundtrack.

    • H1jAcK@lemm.eeEnglish
      10·
      2 months ago

      I just beat StS Ascension 20 for the first time this week 💀

    • Elevator7009@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      CrossCode is all about how it plays! That’s why there is a free Steam demo! Go give it a try! Take the best out of two popular genres, find a good balance between them and make a great game. That’s what CrossCode does. You get the puzzles of Zelda-esque dungeons and are rewarded with the great variety of equipment you know and love from RPGs. During the fast-paced battles you will use the tools you find on your journey to reveal and exploit the enemies’ weaknesses and at the same time will be able to choose equipment and skills for a more in-depth approach in fighting your enemies.

      Yeah, I took a look because of your comment. Sounds like something I should try. The art is certainly appealing to me. Appreciative that more games are putting out demos lately.

    • Charzard4261@programming.devEnglish
      1·
      1 month ago

      I’m so glad someone’s mentioned CrossCode! Such a wonderful experience from beginning to end. The world really feels alive with every inch of a mal being used to either enhance the story or hide a puzzle! I loved seeing chests and figuring out how to get to them across several maps.

      I’m really looking forward to their next project, Alabaster Dawn. I hope it’s just as good!

  • Ashtear@lemm.eeEnglish
    22·
    2 months ago

    For me, FTL: Faster than Light still hasn’t been topped. Hades II might get there, though. Disco Elysium, Ikaruga, and Papers, Please are also high on the list.

  • NONE@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    2 months ago

    Hollow Knight

    I love it so much that I can’t finish it, I always stop when I’m about to fight the final boss. I just don’t want it to end.

    Maybe when Silksong came out I finish it once and for all.

    • Deconceptualist@lemm.eeEnglish
      6·
      1 month ago

      Hollow Knight isn’t exactly over when you finish the story. There are more fights, especially Godhome. If you can beat all that you’re an incredible player.

      You probably know this but just wanted to make sure you’re not unintentionally missing out.

    • Maestro@fedia.io
      7·
      2 months ago

      I loved Obra Dinn. If you like that you will probably also like “Case of the Golden Idol” and it’s successor.

  • hades@lemm.eeEnglish
    11·
    2 months ago

    Factorio.

    Honourable mentions:

    • Chants of Sennaar
    • Blue Prince
    • Animal Well
    • Raft
    • Citizen Sleeper
  • Durandal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    11·
    2 months ago

    Pushing the definition but I started when it was still in beta… Minecraft has gotten hundreds and hundreds of hours put into it.

    Terarria and Starbound are both really good and scratch that same itch as Minecraft. Core Keeper is another one that has some of that feel and I ended up really enjoying.

    Surprised I haven’t seen it mentioned but Cave Story was made by one guy doing everything… and everything in it is immaculate. It’s still free for the original version as well.

    Stardew Valley is awesome and restarted a genre.

    Crypt of the Necrodancer is awesome, and well worth checking out… also goes on sale really cheap.

    Pacific Drive is a fun one to check out. If you’re from the PNW, it will hit even more.

    Really enjoyed Stray. Worth grabbing on a sale.

    OwlBoy was a delightful game with a lot of character.

    Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a really nice return to form if you like IgaVanias.

    If you like roguelites then you owe it to yourself to check out Enter the Gungeon (isometric) as well as RoboQuest (fps).

    If you want a game that’s beautiful, with emergent story and is hard af… definitely check out Rain World.

    Is Black Mesa still considered indie? It’s how I would recommend anyone play Half-Life 1 these days.

    Rusty’s Retirement… isn’t so much a game… sorta… but yeah… check that out.

  • Lightsong@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    Valheim. Bought it late January and already got almost 400 hours on it. Play it vanilla first then modded. I played it with friends, beat final boss on Day 997, we took our times, building and all along the way. Then I started over solo with x3 resources, no raid, and move metals through portal. I just wanted to see if I could solo all game and today I just finished basically everything. So right now, I’m just collecting resources for gears and buildings. Going to make few houses across the map.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    I urge anyone who has not played CrossCode to give it a try. I randomly played it during the pandemic, and I’ve since not been able to enjoy gaming the way I did it before. For me, it was very close to being a 10/10.

  • Prox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    N++

    Undoubtedly the best, most complete 2D platformer I’ve ever played. Super tight controls and incredible level design, coupled with an episode-long timer mechanic that you can influence makes this one absolutely unmatched. Sure, games like Celeste are flashier, but nothing is a better game than N++. I think I put something like 120 hours into this to get the platinum on PS4. I would happily start over and play the whole thing from scratch again.

    • Flagstaff@programming.devEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      Too bad the developer duo basically disappeared… I had an idea for a 2-player sequel but they never responded.

    • embed_me@programming.devEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Same but with spelunky 2

      In my thirst for difficult games, I 100%'d it. Took more than a 100 hours but still the most fun I’ve had mastering a game to that level of expertise

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    Here are a few, hopefully they aren’t mentioned yet:

    • walking simulator/light puzzle game - Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, INSIDE, A Juggler’s Tale, Abzu, Nuts
    • puzzle - Manifold Garden, The Case of the Golden Idol, GNOG, Gorogoa
    • misc - Inscryption, Pony Island
    • 3d platformer/adventure - Yooka Laylee
    • metroidvania/platformer - Blue Fire
    • programming - Human Resource Machine, TIS-100
    • souls-like/boss rush - Furi, Titan Souls

    Some of these might be AA, it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. I have plenty more where that came from. :)