What's an indie game you played that felt like an AAA game?

[Knight Barida]

There are a couple of indie games that have the qualities of an AAA game. For example, playing Rollercoaster tycoon and Hades really felt like they were top AAA games. Have you played any indie game that made you feel that way?

[Shagger]

It's difficult to respond to this thread without determining the difference between a "AAA" game and an "Indie" game actually is to you @Knight Barida.  It's also very important to do so because, from a technical standpoint, the difference is very clear and very simple. 

 

People who have been on VGR for while will likely have seen this from me at least once, so I'll keep it brief.  An Indie game is a game that has been independently published.  In other words, it's a game that has been published by the same company (even if that company is one solo developer) that developed the game. That's whare the term "Indie" comes from, that's what it means.  So technically a list of "Indie" games can include the likes of Skyrim, The Assassin's Creed series, The Witcher series, Devil May Cry, Cyberpunk 2077, every GTA before 4, Unreal Tournament and Fortnite.  On the flip side, there are games like Ori and the Blind Forest and Child of Light that have that small scale "artsy" feel but are actually backed by big time publishers.  The scale, popularity and cost of a project has nothing to with the definition between "Indie" and "AAA".

 

That is what makes this thread difficult to answer for me.  The term "Indie" has become a buzz word for marketers.  When most people think of an "Indie" game, they think of a passion project with barely a handful of developers working a shed when that is so rarely the case.  And don't even get me started on business practices.  AAA publisher's may be bad, and I mean really bad in this regard, but with the amount of scams, false betas, DMCA abuses, assets flips and other rancid behaviour that so-often happens within the "Indie" space, if anything it's even worse.

 

That's why I simply don't care if a game is "Indie" or "AAA" and judge it on its own merit.  Is it worth the money they are charging for it? Yes or no.  I'm not souless, if I know that I'm buying a game in support of a genuinely passionate independent developer that is a nice feeling, but I don't let that distort my principles.

Edited June 16 by Shagger

[Scorpion]

Absolutely! Hollow Knight and Celeste both felt like AAA titles. Their depth, storytelling, and design left a lasting impression on me.

[GameOn]

Hyper Light Drifter is one of the examples. It has a wonderful graphics, good music and perfect controls. It is as good as in any modern AAA games.

 

[killamch89]

For me, Hollow Knight is a big one. The level of detail in the world, the fluid combat, and the atmospheric soundtrack all gave me the same feeling as playing a high-budget AAA game. It's crazy how much effort went into every little detail.