Indie Recommendations: Hades and Griftlands
So, with everything going on in the world, a lot of high-profile games have been pushed back and delayed. So, as we wait for those big-name titles, I’ve been playing some indie games that I would highly recommend to anyone that is a fan of these genre of games. I’ve been playing two early access games that have really promising starts to them and I am excited to see where they go.
The two games are Hades, the Roguelike action role-playing game made by Supergiant games, where you play as the son of Hades as he tries to escape the underworld in search of his actual mother Persephone. The whole game is based on Greek mythology which is always a good start because that era is so rich in history and really interesting stories and characters. The art is all hand drawn, which makes the game look very aesthetically pleasing, the characters are all fully fleshed out with motives and funny character quirks as well as all fully voiced acted. The gameplay itself is a very unforgiving top down hack n slash style that is very fast paced and at first, but eventually you’ll get the hang of it as you dash constantly over the map and dispatch hundreds of different enemies. There are boss battles, hidden secrets, items to level up and new weapons to unlock that completely change how you fight in the game. It’s all really well put together that it doesn’t even feel like an early access game. Granted it started out in 2018 and it is scheduled to release sometime this year which makes sense. It’s a 20 dollar game that is well worth the price as you will spend countless hours trying to unlock all the neat trinkets and new upgrades for the weapons and once you actually beat it, it unlocks a new harder mode where you decide how to make the levels harder and how difficult you want to make them. All in all it is a really fun experience where it easily earns it’s buying price and I can’t wait to see how they finish the story and any other DLC they add to this game, because I will surely be picking it up, not only because I like the game but also because I want to support this company and their awesome titles like this one to keep being made.
The second game that I have been playing is Griftlands, another Roguelike game but instead of action game it is a deck-builder where you first play as a grifter on the hunt for the person that sold her off as a slave. The game is very story driven and it an incredibly unique sci-fi setting where there are new races and cool gadgets to collect. Every action you take in the game has a consequence, from someone hating you to you being confronted and attacked by an angry mob. You have multiple ways to approach different dilemmas in the game but it normally comes down to talking people down in a unique argument based card game where you have to damage to the person’s core argument in order to win, or you can just flat out fight them with different abilities and status ailments depending on what kind of deck you are building. The game again has a really neat hand drawn art style with interesting characters and a whole lot of lore for you to read to help you understand the world you are playing through. It is a very unique game with nothing else really like it and it is extremely fun and addicting. I find myself playing it to the wee hours of the night before I realize I need to go to bed. There are new characters to unlock, new cards and new story elements you open as you play through the game and it definitely has a lot going for it especially since it is also in early access. The game is scheduled to release later this year as well and I am excited to see how the story and the game play develops as time goes on.
Those are my two indie game recommendations and I really hope you at least check out one of them if you’re a fan of those style games, or even if you’re not a fan they are worth a try. I hope you enjoyed the read and I hope to hear from you if you liked or disliked the games! Have a good day guys! PEACE