Insomniac ranting about Indie games

If it wasn't for the fact I despise artistic pursuits and androgynous appearances, I could almost pass for a gaming hipster based on the contents of my Steam account. Let's assume for a moment Dawn of War 1 and 2 are a single game and tacitly ignore their respective expansions, and we'd reach the conclusion that the vast majority of my purchases are games made by small studios without the throat hold of major publishers and the funding thereby provided. These so-called "indie" games have wormed their way into my heart and designated sleeping time, on occasion degradating my health by sleep deprivation more than the sudden temperature drop of the last few days as of the writing of this message. This was not a deliberate act by my part to feel "superior" to my fellow nerds by avoiding "mainstream" titles... Though I do tend to do it. "Indie" games have retained an element that has been neglected for the most part somewhere along the aging of video games; the focus on exploring new styles and formulas.

Let's take for example Mount & Blade. At its core it's a rather simple game with simple mechanics. Where it shines is how it handles these simple elements and weaves them into a sandbox RPG with a rich ambiance where you truly feel as though you're taking part in an epic tale, even though the narrative devices are scarce and subject to the functional needs of the game. This would make for a lackluster storytelling mechanism, if it wasn't for the fact that you're allowed complete reign over the actions of your avatar. You can go from bandit wrangler, to mercenary captain, to nobleman through the course of one game, and indeed this is a very typical progression. You can also remain as a bandit wrangler, then become a bandit yourself, and establish your rogue kingdom by capturing the strongholds of a nation weakened by the perpetual state of war, although you'll have to deal with the backlash of such an action as the royalty will not take kindly to a mere peasant outlaw founding his kingdom. You can even avoid becoming embroiled in the game of thrones, and live your life as a merchant fighting off bandits throughout his/her mercantile journeys across the gameworld (this last one being chiefly a matter of personal taste, as the trade mechanics are somewhat underwhelming). This kind of freeform structure allows you to establish your own goals within the boundaries of the game with minimal intrusion by the game, beside the annoying bandit parties that show up at the worst of times to rub salt in your open wounds. My most cherished memory of the game is the time I rode out deep into enemy territory, and sneaked on their capital city at night, when a tourney was being held, to meet secretly with the lady I was courting. Her father had betrayed my liege and joined the enemy, so I convinced her to elope. Soon I was riding away from the city with my recently wedded wife, and half the nations' army on my heels as I fled the scene. Thankfully I employed a large amount of cavalry and we outrunned them... Said liege got pissy about it, so eventually I decided to forge my own kingdom some time later. Interestingly, my traitorous father in law, who probably would have attacked me on sight in any other context, was the very first noble to join my new court. The production values of this "story" were minimal, yet I felt incredibly engaged in it.

This is not to say Indie games are always bastions of freeform gameplay. Some extremely linear games, such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, can still be extremely.. atmospheric games. This one game has gained prominence as a result of free publicity via youtubers broadcasting their spooks and respective reactions. Funny how a game that can chill you to the bone can be so funny when you watch people overreacting to it.. The game does make an excellent job at making you feel like, well, someone who's being hunted down by monstrosities and cosmic horrors in a castle falling apart where sickening experiments on human beings and animals have been done for the sake of the main antagonist. Immersion is the key in the game, and it's been stated very accurately that the true difficulty bar in Amnesia is how far you're willing to immerse yourself. The game advises playing in an unlit room with headphones. Having experimented that on a day when the light bulb went out, I can assure you, the <1% of the world population reading this, that I felt like I'd leave that game session with a heart condition. The developers have stated they're going to explore other sensations than "primal fear", or however they worded it. Knowing their expertise in making good horror games, as in games that leave you pondering for some time whether or not you -really- want to play it right then, I'm sure they won't disappoint, but I believe they're selling "fear" short. Certainly fear is one of the most primary sensations, but overcoming fear and fighting to achieve a goal despite it is a primary struggle from whence all great advancements of mankind have been born. Maybe my lyrical vein is throbbing out of place here, but I do feel the game does a good job at inspiring such a feeling. At least it did for me. Oh, and counter to a trend that's been unceremoniously adopted by developers, Frictional Games have made the developing tools they used to make the game available to the community, which in turn has produced an impressive body of community works that in no way shame the original product. Same for Mount&Blade actually, forgot to mention.

It's almost 3AM as of the time I'm typing these words, so I'll stop my rant for now and enjoy my short beauty sleep now that my caffeine levels have dropped sufficiently. Because I'm not a bearded, shaggy-haired, hopeless case, no sir.

Hello World

Hello, and welcome to the corner where I rant and rage helplessly whenever I get butthurt about something that a videogame has done to me and my family. I'll also be posting random diatribes about the many ways the world is not to my liking, which may very well become the main purpose of this blog if I don't keep myself in check. Which is to say, troll the hapless forumites across the interwebs.