Indie games tend to not be everyone’s cup of tea. The graphics are not what they could be, the controls are either unnatural and confusing, or overly simple. Perhaps they don’t offer enough diversity in their enemies or quests that keep you coming back for more. However not all indie games should be written off for the sins of others. There are a few on the horizon that actually look promising enough to keep an eye on.
Forgotton Anne is first, bringing you to a land of forgotten things that range from single socks, childhood teddy bears, lamps, you name it. You play as Anne, a human girl who just wants to get back to her own world but is tasked with keeping control of this one. There is a rebellion of sorts that must be squashed for order to be restored. Visually the game looks very nice with a depressing anime feel and the gameplay looks interesting. There does not appear to be a high focus on combat, or any combat at all for that matter. Instead there will be a lot of puzzles and some platforming to get you to the next piece of the story. And story is where the emphasis truly lies in this game. This is a 2-D game but more like 2.5-D. It has a similar feel to Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate in that respect, but significantly more simplistic.
If you liked Shadow of the Colossus, then Praey to the Gods might be right up your alley. You play as hero out on their own in the middle of an unending winter who will have to kill a whole manner of giant creatures who are presumably the gods. So picture Shadow of the Colossus meets Frozen and you have a pretty decent idea about what this game is. The environment looks nice as you trudge though knee high snow and the movement of the fur or feathers on the aforementioned giant beasties as they move or you climb them is quite realistic. At this point all that is really known of the story is that the gods that your character believes in must be killed. This is probably because they caused the never ending winter but we don’t know that just yet. Perhaps at the end we will wind up thrusting a sword through the top of Elsa’s head. Only time will tell.
Next is a game called Dolmen which is very much like Dark Souls and Dead Space had a horrifying and intense baby. The combat is supposedly very difficult and enemies can definitely push you right off of anything on which you are standing, and send you hurtling to your doom. The look is much like Dead Space, from spider like legs coming out of things they ought not, down to they suit the protagonist wears. The story thus far is a relatively simple one. You are a human that wakes up in a terrible place where a huge space murder had occurred and everything that is still alive wants you not to be. This could be a sign that the story will not be an overly detailed one but it is important to keep in mind that this game is still in an early stage of development and might not have really gotten a solid, meaty plot just yet. Either way the graphics are amazing. I mean they are absolutely horrifying (did i mention the creepy spider legs?), but the level of detail is outstanding.
The Bioshock series was incredible one and there came a time where we all had to accept that there would be no more to the series. Well there is a game that seems to have captured the feeling of the original game very well but has taken out all that pesky shooting. Close to the Sun is a straight up first person horror game. So far there has been no mention nor sightings of weapons, so at this point, expecting to stealth your way around is logical. The story is one that immediately appeals to the science side of me. Instead of a man named Jack unda da sea, you are a woman named Rose up in space. You are up on a spaceship built by Nikola Tesla looking for your sister when mysterious and spooky, all together ooky things begin to occur. If you liked Bioshock, this may be something to keep in the back of your mind.
No matter what your genre of choice may be, there seems to be an indie game for everyone in development. I only mentioned four above but there are many others that look equally amazing. As of right now, none of these games have actually release dates yet so it will probably be awhile before we will actually be playing them. Forgotton Anne and Praey For the Gods are possible for 2018 but Close to the Sun and Dolmen have made no mention of an actual release just yet. Dolmen has very recently started a Kickstarter Campaign so it will probably quite some time before that game in particular nears completion. Until then though, we can keep an eye on these, and see what indie games are really capable of.
All games mentioned are intending to be available on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.