Your favorite indie gems.

[moxie]

You've got this amazing game on your mind, it's one of your favorites. Yet, every time you try to talk to someone about it, they're like, "What? That sounds weird. I've never even heard of it. LET'S GO PLAY FINAL FANTASY!"

Basically, what are some of your favorite, unappreciated games? Why do you enjoy them?

These are mine, what are some of yours?


The Path

Clunky controls, hideous glitches and awkward system requirements (Despite having the graphics of an early PS2 game, this game is pretty hefty on resoures.) keep it from being one of my all-time favorites, but the fact is, this is one of the most intense gaming experiences for me ever.

Disguised as a simple "dark take on the Little Red Robin Hood fairy tale", but making heavy use of metaphor and symbolism, this is much more than another retread of a fairy tale. The sequences where your character limps her way through 'Grandmother's House' after a catastrophic, life-changing event emulate the vague, confusing terror of a nightmare better than anything I've seen in any other medium.

There's a Let's Play of it up on youtube if you want to see how it looks in action.


Pathologic

You control one of these fine folks here, on a mission to cure a poor early 1900's Russian town from a deadly plague. It's an absolutely brutal FPS/Adventure game, and to this day I've never managed to get past Day 5 on any character. Yeah. No hand-holding here.

The full experience is hard to convey in a few paragraphs, but it's a very emotionally draining game. Unfortunately, the infamous and, at times laughable translation makes it lose quite a bit of the impact it would have otherwise.

There's some misinformation in this article, but it conveys the overall mood of the game very well.


The Void

From the same developers of Pathologic comes The Void, their newet creation, and my favorite of this list. An imaginative take on the afterlife, it creates a unique and evocative experience where color is everything in the spirit world, and you must utilize it well if you wish to continue living. Er... existing. w/e

It's hard, it's grindy, but goddamn, it's beautiful to watch in action. Despite many of the environments having dull palettes, they more than make of for it in terms of sheer fantastical, creative design. Watching the trees burst to life after you feed them your color (which amounts to giving them your own blood and life, essentially) is a very rich experience.

You really have to see this one in action to appreciate it. This is a Let's Play that's still in progress.

Ultimately I recommend all of these because they're each a very, very unique experience in gaming, but they're definitely not for everybody.

 

[united washcloth express]

Pathologic is amazing. The translation actually isn't that bad. You will find yourself quickly learning and speaking the broken English used in the game. The black market economy aspect is great.

I made the mistake of choosing the Haruspicus for my first play through. You're tossed in to the game hated by the populous. You are also severely injured. The only people that will not attempt to kill you are children not affiliated with a hardcore street gang, women, and plot important NPCs. I have been spending my time sleuthing around the town carefully through alleyways and gaps, rummaging through garbage cans and other containers. Items you find can be traded to others for goods, such as food, bandages, and weapons.

I already had to kill two men I could not escape from. Hand-to-hand combat is difficult at first, as the movement is very clunky. You also cannot control your punches, so recognizing a pattern of how your character is throwing punches is a must. I harvested these men's organs and traded them for medical goods in the swamp.

 

[moxie]

I made the mistake of choosing the Haruspicus for my first play through.

I feel no shame in admitting that I couldn't even make it through Day 1 as Artemiy. :blush:

It's one of the most immersive games I've ever played. Despite it being "just a game", you find yourself struggling with many "simple" decisions, and not just because you're worried about how it'll affect gameplay, but because of the implied morality and the way the atmosphere sucks you in.

For example, you're going to get the majority of your supplies from the unique trading system. Different types of people have their own inventory, and they want certain things. Children typically have medicine, I believe... and the only way they'll give it to you is if you trade them shit like razors and needles.

My first time through I refused to trade with any of the children because I didn't want to supply CHILDREN with goddamn RAZORS, and I didn't make it past Day 3. The next time through, the option was looking... more appealing, though equally repulsive as before.

The game forces you to go to terrible, gut-wrenching lengths just to survive. It's not a "fun" game by any means but damned if it's not intense.

 

[Venetia]

soph started playing it. some of the npc's creep me out :x

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Pathologic looks pretty badass. I can't seem to find a place to download/buy it, anywhere know where I should go?

 

[moxie]

I have no idea, I got it as a gift last year. :I

Is it not on Steam? That's where I got The Void not too long ago.

 

[bashful crobat]

I saw Brainpipe mentioned somewhere and got it and it's pretty good.

The aim seems to be to navigate your mind's eye through 10 levels of various obstacles in order to achieve various states of mind (by acquiring a collection of glyphs representing different types of thoughts and processes), ultimately reaching a state of "inhumanity" and transcending humanity to become...well idk I can't anwhere near lv10 lol

also the graphics are pretty trippy and the music is cool as balls (if you listen carefully (or route through the soundbytes in the install directory) you might hear tardis noises which is a very good reason to love this game to pieces)

Spoiler: screens

 

[moog]

ahaha that looks fucking ace holly