Indie RPGs make strong showing in RPGWatch poll
This is interesting: general-purpose RPG news site RPGWatch has posted the results of a poll in which they asked people to rank this year’s upcoming crop of RPGs according to which look the most promising. Indie RPGs made quite a strong showing in the poll, taking second (Frayed Knights) and fourth place (Avadon) in the editor’s choice section.
The reader’s choice section was a little less indie-friendly, featuring one indie RPG at third place (Age of Decadence) and two others at ninth and tenth (Frayed Knights and Avadon, respectively).
While it wasn’t quite the indie-centric sweep that some may have wanted, I think this definitely vindicates the view that indie RPGs have a real place in the market. It says something powerful that RPGs produced independently by small teams can compete for fan enthusiasm against games sporting multi-million-dollar budgets.
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So sadly true. I usually stick to SNES/PSX commercial games nowadays, since the new ones focus all their budget into making shiny, “breathtaking”, and realistic graphics, and then have little left over to make an actual, you know, GAME. (Final Fantasy XII and XIII, anyone?) I hate how companies are so shallow that they pour all their budget into such a superficial supporting element in a game, instead of focusing on actual game design.
Many indie RPGs are definitely worthy competitors. I don’t know about Western RPGs since I don’t play that genre much, but in terms of Eastern RPGs I haven’t seen a single recent release that can compete with things like Last Scenario, Alter AILA Genesis, and MARDEK in terms of story and gameplay.