this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Like, I appreciate the effort that goes into big AAA releases. I really do. I get wrapped up in the stories a lot easier when the game is nice to look at and the voice actors are really good.
But if a game isn’t fun, it isn’t fun. A lot of indie games are fun first, and that makes all the difference in the world.
"AA" games can look fantastic though, with incredible voice acting.
See: Expedition 33.
I think "too much budget" is a thing. There's just a point where it hurts more than helps, and now AAAAs (as I dub them) are smacking into it.
I'm still waiting for a decent sale on Expedition 33 before I buy it.
It’s discounted on GoG!
https://www.gog.com/en/game/clair_obscur_expedition_33
Which is where it should be bought anyway, as it will be DRM free and the lightest to run.
Good to know! I will get it from there. Except that isn't a decent sale yet
Large game studios have different inherent strengths than smaller game studios, unfortuntately I think much of the gaming world has forgotten this in the excitement about the collapse of competency in and enshittification of traditional video game companies "clearing the way" for indie game companies.
I love indie games but some types of games can only be made by large predictable sort of boring game companies, I am mostly uninterested in those games but even I can recognize that they fulfill an essential role in making big production approachable, eye-catching experiences that play like interactive movies with all the production muscle that entails. Also sports games that evolve to remain relevant to the sports they represent are another big example of games best made by large boring game companies, which isn't to say that indie sports games aren't cool too that isn't the point.
An indie game company can't make Red Dead Redemption 2, they can make a narrower more focused game like Read Dead 2, but the scope of a game like that requires a huge company of artists working in parallel rather than in individual competition with one another.
A perfect example is comparing recent Zelda games to similar indie games like TUNIC, Gedonia 1 and 2, Anodyne 1 and 2 or Oceanhorn 1 and 2.
All of these games have a unique style and individuality that only comes from smaller indie studios, but none of them can compare to the breadth, muscle and expansiveness of a Nintendo open world game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2566340/Gedonia_2/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/234900/Anodyne/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/877810/Anodyne_2_Return_to_Dust/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/339200/Oceanhorn_Monster_of_Uncharted_Seas/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1622710/Oceanhorn_2_Knights_of_the_Lost_Realm