Two examples of this are :
Penny’s big breakaway and DUSK from the top of my head.
I’m not sure about you but I think the rise of indie games going with the PS1 aesthetic and other low gfx easy to run games is that the past, despite its flaws, was much better.
I also think there’s a charm with low polygon games and spritework ones, it’s your imagination that fills in the gaps.
And lastly, I think of the simpler times when you play modern indie “retro” games, no bullshit, you pay the devs, you get your game, everyone is happy.
What are your thoughts on indie games going for that nostalgia feel? Any examples to cite?
Personally, I consider “retro graphics” to specifically mean the graphics evoke the look of an old game system, as opposed to just having “lo-fi” art. So I’d say that Celeste has great pixel art, but it’s not retro graphics, since it doesn’t remind me of any old console’s look. In addition to the games others have mentioned, I’ll point out these ones.
- Nintendo 64 — Corn Kidz 64
- Game Boy Color — Mina the Hollower
- Game Boy Advance — Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo
- Commodore 64 — VVVVVV
- Mid-late 90s PC — Hypnospace Outlaw
Indie games using retro graphics is nothing new. The ratio of effort vs looks is pretty good. The solo dev of Cave Story (released 2004) said that was why he went for that aesthetic.
Not sure if it fits your description but the first one that pops up in my mind is Starbound
It also means more people can play on more hardware, it typically focuses the experience, it makes the interactive elements more visually distinguishable from the background graphics, it’s cheaper/faster to produce so less incentive to bloat with MTX to recoup massive investments, the scope is smaller so can be better aligned with a singular cohesive artistic vision, and the limited graphics encourages stylisation and artistic decisions when ‘photo real’ becomes not an option to target.
Also you don’t need to wait 10+ years for a game, just to receive a bloated mess where you only engage with 20% of the content yet had to wait for 100% of the development time, since at that point the investment demands it has to appeal to every possible consumer, only to still get a buggy unfinished release due to the massive scope. /rant. Anyway, indies are great and i love short games too.
I enjoy games that go for retro graphics, because with today’s technology they can do so much more with less.
As far as suggestions: any boomer shooter (Selaco, Supplice, Incision), others people have already mentioned in this thread like Signalis and Dread Delusion, and more like Tenebris Somnia which mixes 8-bit pixel graphics with live-action cutscenes.
Out of the new stuff, Dread Delusion comes to mind. Kinda comparable to Morrowind, it’s a quirky first-person RPG. And in terms of graphics, it even has an option to enable-disable wiggly pixels at the edges of textures!
Pseudoregalia is a PS1-eta low-poly aesthetic 3D metroidvania with really, really slick movement mechanics. It’s the kind of game that really could’ve existed back then, had developers just known all the little quality of life design choices we have these days.
It is also nortorious for blessing us with goat cheeks.
