What's the best Indie game you've played recently?

@AcidWorkz

22 күн бұрын

Cry of fear for sure

@AcidWorkz

22 күн бұрын

and Dave the Diver

@ChazMcRich1

22 күн бұрын

Orbo’s Odyssey and Cavern of Dreams are amazing platformers I’ve enjoyed recently.

@Bosshands

22 күн бұрын

Check out withering rooms, looks Jank, but its incredible

@RyanJohnson09

22 күн бұрын

Chained Echoes was incredible and the whole game made by 1 man with another as composer and it blows my mind 🥲

As a game design teacher, I'm constantly looking for new indie examples to share with my students. I really appreciated this video; I'd played a few of these, but most of them are new to me and you really sold them without spoiling them. Thanks very much and I'll keep watching!

Graphics-wise Crow Country somehow reminds me of original Final Fantasy VII, while of course having real time 3D graphics instead of pre-rendered. Really interesting art style!

@Leigh_Bailey

22 күн бұрын

Totally agree! I understand people reference resident evil because of the genre, but the character models have that same style as FFVII. It looks like they are made of individual shapes that intersect instead of a single model.

@flipdiesel9652

22 күн бұрын

I was thinking the exact same thing about FF7

I started getting bored with video games around 2011 when I had my Wii and just couldn't find anything that really gripped me anymore. My dad bought me a refurbished PC and I had bought a PC copy of Darksiders which needed Steam to run. When I downloaded Steam I wasn't even interested in playing Darksiders because I was just having fun searching the Steam store page for cheap games. About a year later in 2012 a little gem called Hotline Miami came out and changed the way I viewed video games forever!

@thatguy5391

11 күн бұрын

You will love a game called "heat signature" it's hotline Miami in space

@lightningmonky7674

5 күн бұрын

That sounds badass, I've never even played HM but that still sounds cool

A reality bending mask that let's you change the map. Ngl that's an awesome feature that only comes once every decade. Insta buy

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Such a fantastic game

The indie scene has been killing it all year! So many good games out right now

This needs to be a series, really love how you described and analyzed the games and it genuinely made me put most in my wishlist.

wanna talk about insane 1 man passion projects? take a quick look at spacebourne 2. It's super jank but constantly being updated. It's honestly what starfield wanted to be.

If you don’t mind a text heavy game, I recommend Road Warden. It’s my top five favorite game of this year

@AC-hj9tv

20 күн бұрын

Nice

I think the best indie game i have ever played has to be Lethal Company, just 2 or 3 people developed a mass hit that started out as an indie game

I love all video games but indie games are always the ones that just hit different. I’ve been playing Binding of Isaac for like 5 years. Can’t say the same for most games.

Quickly becoming one of my favourites to watch

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Glad you're enjoying the content!

you did good guy. I added several to my wish list, some I had ignored. The way you described them had me reconsider my initial, knee jerk reaction. I tend to glance at videos while hovering over the ignore button, I've become the consoomer I always hated. Anyway thanks for the video.

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

What type of (indie) games do you usually go for, if it's alright to ask? I may be able to give other suggestions as well.

Really loved this video would love if it was a regular series, keep up the great work

Mullet Mad Jack was so peak I grew a mullet while playing the game.

@AC-hj9tv

20 күн бұрын

Did you keep it

@holisticreviews

15 күн бұрын

It wasn’t his, he just grew it.

On a surface level, I absolutely agree. There are a lot of great indie games coming out. Though, it's easy to see some of the AAA rot seeping into the indie space, too. How many more "action-packed rogue-lite deck-builders" are we going to see? And we're constantly seeing a flood of cheap streamerbait, hoping to be the next flavor of the month. There are plenty of good indie games, but man it's hard to find them when they're covered in trash. Anyway, the best indie game I've played in the last few months was easily Void Stranger. It's not for everyone, but... Boy, if it's for you it's for you.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

I agree, there's always going to be a level of that. Because trends/market dictates what gets made the most. But there's certainly a lot more worthy projects in the indie space than in AAA imo. (Also Void Stranger looks great, I'll check it out)

@Netist_

22 күн бұрын

@@YourFavoriteSon1 Agreed. I'll add: that's why I appreciate videos like these. It's nice to see a spotlight put on some good games I might have missed.

@Synthpopper

22 күн бұрын

Getting good at Void Strangers is the closest I feel to being on ritalin without taking it

@Netist_

21 күн бұрын

@@Synthpopper Then you spend 100 hours getting the true ending and have 15 pages of hand-written notes on graph paper

@user-ow1bc4sx2r

21 күн бұрын

That’s sort of the key issue isn’t it? Indie games aren’t on average way better than AAA, but the sheer number of projects means that even if 1/100 is great, the indie space produces a lot of them. It’s also why stuff like nextfest is so good. If you check it out and watch some KZread vids covering it from people with diverse taste, you can find some real gems

Man, I'm too depressed to even play games I KNOW I love anymore. I haven't picked up a controller in over a year, and every time I think about it, it feels like a waste of time.

@si3ge

22 күн бұрын

I know this feeling. First of all, take care of yourself bro, you are worth it. 2nd, it might help to try games that are very short and don't require a lot of commitment. One of my favorite games of all time which has a fantastic story is Titanfall2. It's only like 5 hours long. It's also on sale right now for like 6$

@SimielBlack

22 күн бұрын

Maybe look at causes other than depression, if you can. If it doesn't have an obvious cause and lasts more than a few weeks, it's unlikely to be depression, hope you feel better soon either way.

@degenrips

22 күн бұрын

Felt that. I haven't been able to play videogames for years. I want to return but its like my brain forces me to deflect like the same sides of a magnet.

@versebuchanan512

22 күн бұрын

@@SimielBlack I'm using that as a shorthand term, yeah. It's a whole bunch of stuff; it's been a rough few years and I'm just kinda wallowing in a burnout. Not trying to whine, lol, just lack motivation to do anything besides work and like... put KZread on auto play and re-read old books and sleep anymore. I am a few weeks into taking a break from drinking though, I reckon that'll help!

@SimielBlack

22 күн бұрын

@@versebuchanan512 I hope taking a break helps, fingers crossed for you my dude.

Great video! I myself got a whole new set of games to play. Keep up the great work. I’ll definitely be trying out knuckle sandwich!!

Crow Country is truly an INCREDIBLE game, was what i had been looking for for YEARS

already beat mullet mad jack, shoutout gmanlives. loved this game

First time I'd heard of Escape from Lavender Island, immediately on the wishlist.

AA and indie games are the backbone of the gaming industry. I play a lot of games and about 75% of all games i play are AA/indies. Everybody that says ''gaming is dead'' or ''there are no games'' never played or even searched for a good indie game.

Youre killing it, man. I started watching with your Mass Effect series and you have fast become my favorite gaming youtuber

Can I recommend the game "Little Goody Two Shoes" by AstralShift? it's essentially a fairy tale story with a horror twist. Everything in the game aside from the sprites for the characters has been hand painted / crafted and then digitized. The game aims to emulate 90s anime and does so perfectly. It's absolutely a work of art and has an interesting story as well.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Looks pretty cool, I'll have to check it out

Gotta be honest, from all the AAA games only Jedi Survivor was mind blowing in execution to me. All other games where indie games. And ETS2 has stuck around since its initial launch.

amazing recommendations, and well made video cant wait to watch more of you!

Pleaseeee keep these videoc coming. I'm always looking for great games with different mechanics and difficulty. I don't play AAA games anymore. Would be really cool to see these videos coming out frequently. Gret work.

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

Mind if I give a list of what for me are the most interesting non-AAA games to check out?

@AlbertoMonroy-lq2vw

17 күн бұрын

@@jurtheorc8117 please... I really appreciate it. 😀

Good stuff and just in time for the steam sale lol. You should do another one like this again sometime.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

I had like at least 10 other games I wanted to talk about in this video, so I'd definitely like to do it again

i firmly believe the main casual audience will just get so fed up with AAA that they will look to indie games out of desperation. Usually they complain about graphics but they will learn a breaking point that ultra realism will hit a wall soon

@ulthanesmorkums

19 күн бұрын

Graphics appeal to humanity's base instinct of desiring beauty. Graphics will always be important.

@duardoCOB

17 күн бұрын

​@@ulthanesmorkumsyes, but graphics does not necessarily mean photorealism, which is what we've been seeing diminishing results in for a couple console generations now. There really hasn't been a jump in 3D visual fidelity like that of the PS2 era. Good art direction > graphic fidelity in every way

@ulthanesmorkums

17 күн бұрын

@duardoCOB Good art direction is important sure, but graphical fidelity is just nice to look at. Red Dead is a good example. It's just that a lot of photorealistic games blow ass.

The indie game I'm the most excited for right now has got to be Blue Prince. It's a puzzle exploration game with roguelike elements that is unlike anything I've ever played. The free demo had me replaying it again and again while obsessively taking notes on every detail I could (something I haven't done since playing classic puzzle games like Fez and The Watcher)

I always love indie RPG Maker horror games. They have their own charm at making stories

You really didn't guess the direction Crow Country was going in?

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

I'm pretty easy to fool to be honest

I think my biggest complaint with Knuckle Sandwich is that the story is all over the place. It never seems to have a focus on which of its narrative threads it wants to tug on. The combat is really fun and unique, but it let me down in that department. Eastward had similar flaws, and they both left me wanting more.

There’s only really one indie game I want, and it’s for someone to make an indie Splinter Cell. Ubisoft can suck a fart for how much they seem to care about the IP, so I just want some big fans of the franchise to make their own version of a high tech, turn of the century warfare, stealthy spy game

Glad you found all these so i didnt have to dig through the chasm of asset-flips that the Steam indie section can be.

I still do nothing in my free time except play video games just fine. Even if I suddenly didn't need a full-time job or sleep, I'd never run out of new, let alone old, stuff to play. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

True, there's always something to play. My backlog is a mile long.

Thank you for sharing some more hidden gems son, keep up the good work you are making all of us proud ❤

Valheim, V-Rising and played a technical test a few weeks ago for a game coming out on July 2nd The First Descent.

@ledumpsterfire6474

21 күн бұрын

Avoid The First Descent. It's a Nexon game, which means when it releases, it's going to be filled to the brim with particularly egregious predatory monetization. They release demos like that with little to no monetization to get people hooked, and then bait and switch that audience when they try to make the move to playing the full release. It's kinda their whole thing.

@Nathan_Coley

21 күн бұрын

@@ledumpsterfire6474 I've already finished the pre-load they launched over the weekend. Thank you for the heads-up so I can be on the lookout tomorrow going forward. I have a low tolerance for in your face monetization so if it steps over the line there's a possibility I'll uninstall by the end of the week. My ends of the spectrum when it comes to monetization are Plarium(Raid) being the absolute worst and Warframe being "better end".

@darkentity1000

18 күн бұрын

V Rising is great, but I'm too scared to play PVP as the raids are always on the weekends in the evening when I'm at work

@Nathan_Coley

18 күн бұрын

@@darkentity1000 Nothing wrong with that, I've also mostly played the PVE only barely dabbling into PvP.

Bought Mortal Sinn, Helskate, and Mullet Mad Jack after watching this, they all looked super good. I had mortal sin on my wishlist for a while but steam summer sale may as well buy it now.

Crow Countrys been on my list to play for a while. Just waiting on that spare (HA) income to grab it. But so looking forward to it.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

It's definitely worth your time. It's one of the few games that has come incredibly close to the horror classics.

@Reject101Personal

21 күн бұрын

@@YourFavoriteSon1 I cracked and bought it today! (Still gotta finish another game first thouH)

If anyone has some mecha itch, I can wholeheartedly recommend Gearbits. Real fun if a bit simplistic. Gives off old Armored Core and EDF vibes.

Some great choices here thank you! A few are also on Switch as well.

23:38 sick lines? Winners don't use drugs 😂

Defineitly checking some of these out. Great video!

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Thanks so much!

Lunacid should’ve 100% been on this list. The game was developed by one guy and is one of the best indie games I’ve ever played

@MarauderXXX

20 күн бұрын

Second this. LUNACID is great stuff.

You should totally try Timy and Big: Grandpas Leftovers. Super unique, fun and short game

I would like to recommend Hyper Demon. The game is a masterpiece and just gets better as your skill grows.

I think the real problem is that most people play video games on console and indie games available on console is really nothing compared to what's available on PC. Thoughts?

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Although it doesn't seem like it, I believe there are actually more people who play games on PC than consoles. Or at least a similar amount.

@Shift_Salt

21 күн бұрын

I play on console and I can still find great games I enjoy that are not necessarily big triple a experiences. Yes steam certainly has a HUUUGE catalogue by comparison but there's also TOOOONS of PC steam slop I need to sort through by comparison.

@LutraLovegood

21 күн бұрын

My thoughts are, that's an excellent pun of a name.

What's that second game you showed at the beginning

Because I didn’t already have enough games on my steam wishlist…

Wow thanks for the vid, there a are few games here that I might pick up.

Hey, have you heard of BABBDI? As soon as you mentioned Excape From Lavender Island, I checked if this one actually was from the same developer, because its style strongly reminded me of it and I was almost baffled that it isn't.

so we have the exact opposite of "10 worst steam games" now 👍 i would love to see this one become a series as well as long as indie games exist, gaming would never die

I've been watching for awhile, great content by the way I'm much enjoying it, but I'm super curious about why "Dad" is addressed in each video. I kind of have a headcanon going with a tragic backstory where either Dad walked out or died early in life and this is a way to try and express that grief through a productive job or Dad said he'd never amount to anything and this is like an FU with each successful and well thought out video.

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

The channel's called YourFavouriteSon, so i think it's just a joke on the channel's name.

@medea27

5 күн бұрын

That's some bleak headcanon! I've taken it as light-hearted, as I know a fair few people who say it as a joke with their own or very close friend's parents... one of my friends jokingly calls himself "the favourite son" because he only has sisters, and another friend's family calls all three of their son's "the favourite" as a joking term of endearment.

I love all my children equally but you are the most helpful son.

I fear Knuckle Sandwich mini game combat could become exhausting after a while, similar to YIIK (even though that game has a whole bunch of other issues)

Can u do retrospectives on the newer Yakuza games?

Never been this early before, keen for the video

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Hope you enjoy it!

Should check out Bears in Space. It's an indie game that is a bit of Ratchet and Clank, Serious Sam and Jazz punk.

Epic Charls clip

What is the artwork on the thumbnail?

You can't tell me what you do you're not my real dad... o-or son!

Hi son, you’re my favorite one.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

thanks

Escape From Lavender Island mentioned LETS FUCKING GOOO!

I like indie games and got q steam deck i installed chef battle brigade wdich looks like Delicious and dungeon, but an indie game form . Stil i'm really excited for metaphor refantazio , i loved persona 3 relaod is my favorite . persona 4 and five are second favorites. Keep up the good work i always like learning about small new games and i like backing small team art projects on Kickstarter

escape from lavender island just makes me think this is how Tyler the Creator views the world lol

Well I played Them and Us recently, let's play posting on my channel shameless plug I know. I need to play 'Signalis and Tormented Souls, bought them both but hard to find time to play them. So yeah I agree there are some nice indie games out there. I'm h oping we eventually get a decent indie God of War clone since that franchise has gone in a... Different direction.

These games have something that modern AAA (or if you are Ubisoft AAAA) games dont have Decent story and gameplay, not just fancy graphics

I’ve been playing Tunic recently and if you like the top-down 2D Zelda games you will love this game! The graphics are adorable, it’s got some solid puzzles and really fun combat with some challenging bosses, the whole game is just 🤌

I've been loving Buckshot Roulette

I heavily recommend caves of qud, it is kind of like playing a single character in dwarf fortress but in a post apocalyptic sci fi world. It is one of those roguelikes that does not have permanent upgrades and any improvements you get are your game knowledge. It is brutally difficult but also incredibly fun to get better at. Other than that i loved dread delusion and lunacid which are both heavily inspired by old fromsoft games like kingsfield. Your suggestions look dope I'll have to try those whenever i get the time!

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Been meaning to check out Qud for a while. Maybe for the next video.

@bideoVames

22 күн бұрын

@@YourFavoriteSon1 it's very much worth it! It recently got a complete ui overhaul including controller support and it's at its best! I think the 1.0 is launching later this year which will complete the story of the game but to even get there will be very difficult so starting now in order to be able to get to the end when it's out is probably smart!

@ledumpsterfire6474

21 күн бұрын

"Like playing a single character in dwarf fortress" So you must have forgotten Adventurer mode is a thing. Still have yet to find another game that allows me to put a wolf in a chokehold and bite its tongue out.

@bideoVames

21 күн бұрын

@@ledumpsterfire6474 I know adventure mode is a thing but it's the closest comparison I could come up with. Cud allows you to become a mutant and grow an extra limb every couple of levels which you can then use to quadruple wield axes, it allows you to swap bodies with someone and then kill your old body in a Ginyu type maneuver and so much more! Definitely try it out!

100-manslayer is DEFINITELY not a berserk reference xDDDD

Infinite Wealth retrospective when? I'm not quite sold on dropping $70+, despite having played the whole series thanks to *y*ou and another KZreadr

I am pretty sure everyone and their mothers played Buckshot roulette

Forcing my girlfriend to watch this with me while we eat bro cheers!! Lol

I'm playing Lorelei, it's great!

I mostly only explore indie games now. Big AAA games dont get me hyped and im never looking forward to any of them. And theres always some interesting indie games to find and enjoy

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

Here's a list of non-triple-A and Indie games that can carry interesting stuff to check out. Personal favourites: No Straight Roads Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (Zeno Clash prequel from 2023) Soulstice (despite what the name may imply, it's NOT a Soulslike. More of a DMC, Bayonetta or Darksiders-type game) Cookie Cutter Others: Blud Harold Halibut The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Charlie Murder Fight'n Rage Yet to come out: Immortal: And the Death that Follows, My Familiair, Bad Boro, Loco Motive, The Mermaid Mask, whatever Moonhood Studio and Amanita Design are crafting, Near-Mage, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, Kings of Hell, Genokids, Judero, Gori: Cuddly Carnage, Enenra Demon Core, The Dungeon Experience Resistor Yasuke: A Lost Descendant and that's all I can think of for now.

I dunno. To me a lot of indie games are just rehashes of old games I played in the Snes, PS1 or PS2 gen.

Problem is indies dont always go to console and even rarer go physical. I want physical of everything, which is why I still havent played baldurs gate 3

I’m sure all of these are on PC, but which ones have console ports? I know Animal Well does. I feel like you usually bring it up in your videos.

How is the lavender game not inspired by destroy all humans?

Nightmare Kart is pretty great and it's free!

SFB mention‼️ everybody PLEASE play detective grimoire and tangle tower! it started on new grounds and they’re very very fun mystery games

Sea of Stars is reallly great indie jrpg.

27:57 oh from anime [and manga] Berserk :)

Wow, great picks

Hellskate looks so fucking sick!

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

It's so damn good

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

The somewhat recently released Rakugaki or RKGK reminds me a bit of it.

dear mr. son, hello. roses are red, violets are blue. some indie games are good. i hope you are too. best regards,

@yourhorseyepona7309

22 күн бұрын

How touching😂

Neat.

I bought half the list.

Are you excited for the S.H. 2 remake?

I see Knucle sandwich 🎉

Mortal Sin looks like THE game for someone on drugs. But don't do drugs, son.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

no drugs

Dusk, Prodeus, Signalis, Anno Mutationem, Sea of Stars, Wizard of Legend, Lost in Vivo, Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion, need I go on? Hell even Honkai Star Rail a Gacha space fantasy RPG has fun interesting ideas and satisfying turn based combat that puts Triple A to shame like WTF is going on? A GACHA GAME! Is better than Triple A games. HUUUH!!!? Oh also old games shouldn’t be ignored, Quake 1 and 2 remastered and the Serious Sam HD collection are awesome.

The framing of how AAA sucks and indies are great is strange. Like most indies are also creatively bankrupt (how many games do we need that are SOTN clones or “Mario 3 but worse”). I’m begging for a scrap of nuance and critical thinking here.

@SharkSandwich-115

16 күн бұрын

No one is denying that but the problem is this, the CEOs and developers at these Triple A companies are bathing in cash they have the funds they’re just to lazy to make a good game and if you think I’m wrong then answer me this, why did the developers try to say Baldur’s Gate 3 shouldn’t be the new standard? And why did Ubisoft developers get salty about From Software’s success with Elden Ring? There are a lot of shitty indie games yes, but there are also plenty of good ones too. Its more about the lack of diversity than anything else for me personally if you want Survival Horror, Boomer Shooters, Side Scrollers, Point and Click, Roguelikes, and JRPGs the indie has got you covered. All you will find in the Triple A industry is generic third person action adventure and scripted first person shooters that don’t trust the player to figure things out. That reminds me IGN had to make a video defending Baldur’s Gate 3 basically saying this should absolutely be the standard like IGN of all companies, was defending Larian Studios. If that isn’t a sign of how bad the aaa market has become then I don’t know what is.

I just released my first game earlier this week, and it was all thanks to Indies like these *cough cough* self promotion *cough cough* trailer and link are in my channel

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

Congratulations! that's awesome

@jurtheorc8117

17 күн бұрын

Hope your game will get good reception and sales, and that people may provide good feedback!

Street Uni X!

Was really hoping turbo kid was on this list. Good list none the less.

@YourFavoriteSon1

22 күн бұрын

I still have to check that out, shocked they made a game for that movie almost a decade later.

I don’t love the footage you chose for animal well, it spoils some of the fun “oh shit” moments from the game Spoiler break The first time you take the disk and see the coyote monster or the first time you go underground to avoid the dog and realize that this dog is not the same as the others

@YourFavoriteSon1

21 күн бұрын

Personally, I think there was way larger moments that surprised me. Specifically some of the uses for the toys. So I tried really not to include those. It's honestly a hard game to talk about without giving anything away, but also being convincing enough to persuade people to play it haha

missing peaks of yore