People getting a hard on for horror indie games - A Tattletail, Bendy and the Ink Machine,Hello Neighbor or (insert flavor of the month here)

[Anti Fanta]

I like Bendy and the Ink Machine. Mostly because I can't do hardcore horror games (aside from re7; I managed to beat it on easy ) and the concept just seems interesting to me.

People are sperging out on Tumblr about it though, and there are already fictionkin popping up. Shit is gross.

The irony is that the tumblr fandoms for these games are infinitely more terrifying than the games themselves.

For me personally the best horror games are those that manage to create a creeping sense of dread that stays with you even after you've stopped playing. Obvious choices but Silent Hill 1+2 are probably my favourites in this regard, though the Resident Evil Remake managed it as well with it's excellent atmosphere and the tragic Lisa Trevor storyline they added in. Those games had me feeling out of sorts during the time period I was playing them; they really got under my skin. I'd be thinking about them during the day and while lying in bed trying to sleep. I still get an uncomfortable feeling when I listen to the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack, a testament to the excellent sound design in that game.

It seems that games now are all too happy to show their hands way too quickly. Developers have lost that respect for the audience where they understood that people like mystery and putting things together themselves using scraps of information and subtle clues. Of course, jump scares are easier to design than a slow-drip of existential dread.

 

[Loxiozzz]

I'm looking forward to hello neighbor. It looks fun, but the only reason I pay attention to the other indie games is because my favorite youtubers play them. They make it funny. It's especially funny when you see them visibly getting bored with the jumpscares. "I enjoyed it." Yeah, for the first hour.

 

[DancinTim]

I'm looking forward to hello neighbor. It looks fun, but the only reason I pay attention to the other indie games is because my favorite youtubers play them. They make it funny. It's especially funny when you see them visibly getting bored with the jumpscares. "I enjoyed it." Yeah, for the first hour.

Nothing is more telling about a game is when Lets Players get obviously bored in the first episode. They still play the game for another few episodes though because people will get mad they didn't finish the game or find all the easter eggs.

 

[Quijibo69]

It begins...

 

[SnowBall]

Indie games in general are starting to stagnate. It is not just horror games either. Most indie developers are obsessed with making retro game throwbacks to recapture childhood nostalgia. Most of these games do it to the point where they have no identity of their own outside of being a homage to the retro series they are based on.

Also when an indie game becomes popular they start a fad. Ever since Stardew Valley became popular there has been a flood of indie farming sims coming out. Most of them are cut from the same "throwback to classic old school Harvest Moon" cloth as SDV. My Time at Portia is the only indie farm sim that actually feels fresh and original.

Instead of taking a genre and adding fresh ideas indie devs play it safe and use the same cookie cutter template as each other.

 

[knightlautrec]

I saw a ton of Bendy and the Ink Machine toys when I was shopping for toys. Which confirms my suspicions that the only reason they made this game was to sell merch to dumb pre-teens.

Cuz I think about Cuphead and I don't see any toys of Cuphead being sold in the kids section. I mean, granted I don't see any swag of theirs in mainstream stores at all. But it's clear the cartoon choice was a gameplay and stylistic choice. Same can't be said for Bendy.

 

[Adolf Von Merkel]

I liked when the trend was just short (and free) RPGmaker games and it was more about surprising you with wacky plot twist (like The witch's house).And even if it didn't surprise you, it would make you laught how edgy it was the game.

Also when an indie game becomes popular they start a fad. Ever since Stardew Valley became popular there has been a flood of indie farming sims coming out.

This isn't something new, that's why we have a genre called Rogue-like ,FPS were called doom-clone in the 90s, and JRPG in the 8bits era were filled of Dragon quest clones.

 

[Neet Tokusatsu Hero]

This trend really needs to stop soon because I think this might be one of the many reasons why AAA video games have been sucking the last few years.

Hardly, you see, last October i played some horror games, Resident Evil 0, REmake, Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill etc. it was the first time in years i played those games, and that made realize why that kind of horror games are no longer that popular nowadays, older horror games used to be mostly about item management and puzzle solving, they usually don't focus on action and barely have any jumpscares, they're too slow-paced for kids with low attention span, most kids would probably get bored after 20 minutes of playing REmake because of the lack of jumpscares, and many new gamers, you know the "I'm such a nerd XD" kind are too stupid to manage an inventory or solve puzzles, this kind of cheap "youtuber bait" horror games are here to stay

 

[Crocketron]

I saw a ton of Bendy and the Ink Machine toys when I was shopping for toys. Which confirms my suspicions that the only reason they made this game was to sell merch to dumb pre-teens.

Cuz I think about Cuphead and I don't see any toys of Cuphead being sold in the kids section. I mean, granted I don't see any swag of theirs in mainstream stores at all. But it's clear the cartoon choice was a gameplay and stylistic choice. Same can't be said for Bendy.

Cuphead was targeting people who remember the old 1930's era of cartoons, you know when cartoons was aimed towards adults (Most of them, anyways) Bendy was riding on the coattails of other horror indie-games that became stagnant due to their popularity with youtubers like Mark, Jack and Pewdiepie. There is Cuphead merch but it's extremely rare.