Okami_No_Rei
joined 1 year ago
I really like how the web serial Sideways in Hyperspace handles this problem.
In short, the faster ships catch up with the slower generation ships, facilitating trade, arranging transport for those who want to leave, and allowing them to become extrasolar cities and stepping stones to the wider galaxy.
So far I've picked up:
- Dead Cells
- Signalis
- Owlboy
- Starship Titanic
- Balatro
- BORE BLASTERS
- Melvor Idle
- Night in the Woods
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Ultimate Edition
- Dome Keeper
- Pentiment
- Blackshift
- Ouroboros
Having a blast with Balatro to the exclusion of all else.
Abzu fell kinda flat for me after Journey, but The Pathless more than makes up for it. It seems to be set in the same world as both prior games and has several references to each, so playing the first two does make it more rewarding to play.
I definitely recommend it since you liked Journey. The movement and combat feels great. It's refreshingly short and focused for an open world exploration game, so it respects your time, and it also has some excellent storytelling with plenty of nice emotional highs and lows. It's a worthy successor.
Agreed. The art looks straight out of an anime, and Dust's combat animations are really smooth and satisfying. I think the cutscenes looked really good, too, but it's been long enough that I don't remember.
Outer Wilds certainly was. It was started as a college project and the devs stayed together to finish it after they graduated.
Journey I'm not so sure. I don't think it's indie? If it is indie, then I'd put The Pathless up for consideration. That game finished what Journey and Abzu started, and it has some of the best feeling overworld movement of any open world exploration game I've ever played. Flawless.
Dust is great, but it's deeply flawed.
The art is phenomenal, but the writing is cringeworthy. I loved it as a teenager but I have a hard time taking it seriously now. I wish I never replayed it so I could have kept my nostalgia.
The combat mechanics are fun and feel amazing when played as intended, but they're massively unbalanced. IIRC with two exceptions (enemies that require a parry to enter a vulnerable state) every single fight can be won flawlessly by spamming Dust Storm even on the highest difficulty.
It's a remarkable game, all the more so since it was only one dev. I 100%'ed it, and it sits in a place of honor in my collection, but it's not one I'll ever return to.
Outer Wilds and Hollow Knight share the spotlight for greatest games of all time. Both are as close to perfect as it gets.
Bastion gets an honorable mention. Not sure if SuperGiant Games is considered indie anymore, especially now that Hades hit big, but I love their early work.
I find Subnautica has less replayability than other survival games since the map and questline is static. Once you know where everything is and you've seen all the plot beats there's not much reason to play the game again unless you want to challenge yourself with a speedrun or, as you said, one of the harder difficulties.
I wouldn't consider creative mode or sandbox mode to be a core part of the game. They're great for fucking around or as an extended tutorial, but I see them more as external tools than as part of the game experience proper.
Bastion's story doesn't necessitate multiple plays. Sure, it's fun to play through again and try different builds. I've also 100%'ed the game.
The important thing, I think, for OP's question is that it can be finished in one play. It has a satisfying ending from which the player can set down the game and move on.
NG+ is optional since it's not required to finish the game or appreciate the story. It's there for the challenge.
CHLOE YES!