Indie Gamer

Maybe. Possibly

Dear Esther.

Looks like I know what I’m doing on Valentine’s Day.

And wouldn’t you know it… I somehow got to go to CES. But it wasn’t the gadgets or the “new” tech that excited me.

Whilst roaming around the Sony area, in the middle of the PS3 area with many blockbuster titles set up, there stood: Journey. I’ve been looking forward to this title for a while, ever since I played Flow and Flower, and so I naturally gravitated towards it. While the other games seemed occupied by a couple of people, there was just one lady playing the game.

I was with a friend of mine who wasn’t as well-versed in the indie gamescape, and so I started to go off on how amazing thatgamecompany was and how I was looking forward to this title.

The lady hears this, turns around, and asks me if I want to play.

She starts introducing herself: “Hi, I’m…”

I finish her sentence. “Kellee. I’m Josh.”

The entire time I’m playing, I try to keep my cool, trying to seem nonchalant as I ask her more and more about the game, realizing later that, duh, I should just shut up and let the game teach me how to play, like all of TGC’s games…

I totally geeked out. None of the gadgets or tech crap compared to seeing her and hearing her speak on her little masterpiece.

What seemed like hours went by as I took in the landscape, the controls… But in the end, I politely smiled, handed her the controller, and ran away giggling like a schoolgirl.

At some point, I’m going to have to start taking photos with my indie idols. Like seeing Fish at PAX East last year…

My focus is definitely elsewhere these days. Even when another insane Steam sale occurred during the holidays, I didn’t go too hard into games, except for some coal hunting.

Not too many games I’m looking forward to this year from what I recall, other than Fez and if somehow The Witness gets finished this year.

What, Diablo III? Pfft.

Fez took 5 years to make.

Wow. And it seems as though Fish really really struggled through all those five years.

Been meaning to read this for a while, but just haven’t had time to devote to my Kindle until today. Definitely worth the read, for any indie dev, games or not.

It wasn’t clear in the beginning if I had to select a certain tech tree to climb, and if I would need to get an ability in the first tier to get the next, and if this wasn’t the case, if I could save up my shards for the next upgrade.

Turns out: Yes, previous tiers are required, but… you can change you upgrade, free and easily.

More games need to do this. This encourages different styles of gameplay. And it’s less douchey to the gamers.

Ever since Mario RPG, I’ve loved timing attacks. Made all the combat that much more active.

But even in a non-turn based game like Bastion, I still love it. It’s like the reload mechanic in Gears of War: Just makes the action that much more frenetic and skill-based.

And I wonder… is the full health bonus from Zelda? Was there a game that did that before Zelda? Pew pew pew.

Hooray… I already own all the games I want out of this pack. :-)

Try Flywrench.