Video Games – Page 19 – Ms. Bella's World

5–7 minutes

In the world of gaming, the AAA title dominates the market and, frequently, the news cycles. But just beyond them exists a small corner inhabited with gems shining with creativity and passion – the indie games. Created by small studios or solo developers with small budgets, they’re often overshadowed by big budget productions. Despite the odds, they’ve managed to carve out a space for themselves.

However, some people have misconceptions about what indie games are and aren’t. Common ones include:

They must be low quality
They’re all pixel art trash
They’re quick and easy to make
They aren’t profitable
They’re created by hobbyists

While any of these statements can be true, it’s usually not all at the same time and sometimes not at all. Yes, there are low quality indie games. I’ve run into my share of them. There are pixel art games, getting their inspiration from old-school games of the 80s and 90s. And, while some developers are hobbyists, it doesn’t diminish the love they put into their projects.

As for them being profitable, this can be the case for any game. Some may not make a lot of money but determining their financial success would require seeing their profits and loss statements. However, it’s safe to say that some have become quite successful.

And point 3? That’s highly debatable. Just because a game is small and has a singular game play loop doesn’t make it easy to design, code, or come up with graphics and sound for. I know for certain it would take me months, if not years, to do the same thing!

All this to say that I’m quite the fan of indie games. Out of the numerous titles I own, many of them are indie. Some were free, some I got at huge discounts thanks to places like Humble, Fanatical, and GOG, and others were Christmas and/or birthday gifts. So, let’s take a look at a few of my favorites.

Bulletheaven Games – These games will challenge you, your reflexes, and your creative vocabulary.

Vampire Survivors, 2022 – considered the game that really made the genre take off, Vampire Survivors is a bulletheaven game featuring lots of different characters, various weapons, increasingly challenging levels, and a couple of DLC to expand the game further. The base game is $4.99 on Steam, and the 3 DLC add another $6.47. A small price for hours of challenging fun! I personally have almost 120 hours in the game and am no where near completing everything.
Brotato, 2023 – Another fun bulletheaven, Brotato features a wide variety of strange characters, each with strengths and weaknesses that will help determine what build you go for in a run. Unlike Vampire Survivors, this game doesn’t have any permanent stat unlocks, giving it a more old-school game feel. While it doesn’t have any DLC, there is mod support and modders have already created more unique characters to try out. Coming in at $4.99 on Steam, but on sale for $3.99 until January 12th, 2024, this one is definitely worth a try.
HoloCure – Save the Fans! , 2023 – This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning HoloCure. Created by a solo developer, this game features popular Vtubers from the company Hololive. Each character has her own unique weapon sets and, aside from being incredibly fun, it’s also very cute. Bonus, this one is FREE on Steam! Run, don’t walk, to your computer and grab this gem.

Relaxing Games – These games are great to chill out and unwind after a long day.

Dorfromantik, 2022 – This lovely little game is a relaxed strategy where you place tiles down, organizing them to get the maximum points and unlock more tiles. It ends when you’ve placed your last tile. With colorful graphics, peaceful music and sound effects, and no timer, this no pressure game is perfect for those moments when you just want a bit of peace. Going for $13.99 on Steam, it’s worth the price, or wait for a sale and get it a bit cheaper.
Cloud Gardens, 2021 – This has to be the chillest little game with a post-apocalyptic theme ever. Decorate dioramas with plants and other items and get enough points to advance to the next diorama. The graphics are lovely, the music relaxing, and the theme thought provoking. On Steam for $17.99 , it’s not the cheapest on the list but definitely worth a try if you find it on sale.
Plant Therapy, 2023 – A game about collecting and caring for plants & decorating your apartments. This features lovely graphics, instrumental music and plants. Lots of plants. Plants that don’t die if you don’t open the game for a while. The base game is free on Steam, and there are 4 DLC packs, two of them being an optional soundtrack and coloring book. Altogether, they’ll set you back $9.96, or $5.98 if you just want the items that directly affect the game. If you like plants and just want to decorate and grow some, this game is perfect.

RPG Games – The indie market has a wealth of fun RPG games to try out.

Cat Quest, 2017 – One of the older games on the list, nonetheless this game is worth mentioning. You play as a cat going on adventures to save your catnapped sister from sinister claws. Great graphics, funny characters and enough challenge to keep it interesting while still being somewhat casual. Steam lists it at $12.99, a fair price for this little gem. And, if you really love it, it has a sequel too.
Torchlight 2, 2012 – Another older game, this RPG was created by Runic Games, a studio created by several developers, including one of the co-founders of Blizzard North. A fun dungeon crawl, this game features colorful characters and graphics, and a game play loop that is both simply yet can be challenging. Unfortunately, Runic Games has long since closed so if you choose to play this one multiplayer it will require jumping through a few hoops. It’s $19.99 on Steam, so wait for a sale or look and see if you can find it cheaper elsewhere. However, I do recommend trying it out.
Grim Dawn, 2016 – This aRPG is now my favorite, beating out even Diablo II. Set in an apocalyptic fantasy world, you create your hero by choosing 2 of a selection of classes, to create new ones, then go out and face the darkness crawling its way across the lands. The base game comes in at $24.99 on Steam and there are multiple DLC packs available bringing the price up by another $58 if you don’t buy the soundtrack. Pricey indeed, so keep an eye out for sales and bundles featuring the game with DLC included. I got mine from one such bundle and am glad I did!

These are but a small fraction of the indie games I’ve played and really enjoyed over the years. Next week, we’ll look at a few more.

Do you enjoy indie games and what are some of your favorites? Drop a comment below and let everyone know!

Until next time, bye for now!

4–6 minutes

It’s New Year’s Eve and as I look back on the year, I find myself humbled and grateful for all of you who have visited my channel. You, who have taken the time out of your day to watch videos, and to like & dislike are rock stars. And, while it may take me a couple of days to get back to comments sometimes, know that I do read them, and I appreciate them all.

In the past 12 months, the channel has almost doubled in size, going from 270 subscribers at the end of 2022 to 487 today. When I started uploading videos in 2021, to share New World with a couple of friends, I didn’t imagine where it would lead. But here we are.

We’ll certainly make it past 500 subscribers this year, and march our way towards 1000 next!

2024 will bring a few changes to the channel as I work behind the scenes on new channel art, some with the help of my friend and fellow streamer, Fat Steven.

I’ll also be starting livestreaming soon, with all of the hiccups and technical bloopers entailed in learning that! I’ll be choosing from a few core games, such as LOTRO, Brotato, Oblivion, and The Planet Crafter. I’m also open to requests, depending on if I own the game and am interested in playing it.

The channel’s heart will remain consistent – me sharing different games I find interesting with everyone.

LOTRO, my favorite MMO, will remain. Medrielle will permanently be joined by Marcellene the Mariner, as I learn the ins and outs of the newest class created by Standing Stone Games.

Grim Dawn, which replaced Diablo IV, has rapidly become my favorite aRPG, overtaking even Diablo II for the throne. A hard feat, considering I absolutely loved Diablo II when it came out.

I’m still enjoying Guild Wars 2 and having a blast with my new Asura character. I will likely be alternating between her and my Sylvari in the future, as I rather miss playing the Sylvari.

Valheim is definitely not going away, especially not after I’ve finally managed to defeat Yagluth! I hope I’ll be able to find some mistlands soon.

I’ve also discovered a small team working on a whole Valheim world with quests and NPCs and cities. I’ll watch for its release so we can all look at it.

The Baldur’s Gate series is progressing slowly. I’ll be trying to move it along a bit faster next year, I also plan on revisiting the first Baldur’s Gate, as well as try out Baldur’s Gate 2. I’ve never even played that one at all. Shocker, I know!

Currently, the Let’s Play is focusing on The Elder Scrolls Online and I’ve been enjoying playing it with my friend, Chrys. When I move on to the next game in the second quarter of 2024, I’ll then decide whether to make the series permanent or not.

Of course, playing ESO got me interested in Oblivion again, and I’ve installed it on Steam, complete with some extensive modding thanks to a guide I found in the forums. I plan on working on that but it may take a while, if anyone is curious. Expect Oblivion to pop up from time to time.

And, of course, I’ll be featuring other games as they come up. Everything from little bullet hell/heaven games, to games that I’ve received via Keymailer and LurkIt to try out and review. I’ll always give my honest opinion of these games, even the ones I’m excited to try out.

Finally, some games I’m looking forward to in 2024 (hopefully)

Return to Moria (should it appear on Steam)
Return to Nangrim (another dwarven game, but no release date yet)
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (supposed to be coming out in Quarter 1)
Aloft (no release date yet, just 2024)
Smalland (the full release is set for Quarter 1 and I’ll start a fresh playthrough to experience any changes)
Subnautica (I may continue the playthrough I left off or start a new one, I haven’t decided which yet)
Enshrouded (if my poor little graphics card will be able to handle it!)
Nightingale (I hope … depends on the minimum specs)
No Man’s Sky (I really want to find time and space in the schedule to continue exploring this game)
The Planet Crafter (there have been several updates since I last did this series, so 2024 is a great time to jump back into it)
Dwarf Fortress (I’ve heard this one is a lot of fun to play and can be rather humorous)

These aren’t the only games but the ones memorable enough for me to remember their names. I’d add Light No Fire from Hello Games, the makers of No Man’s Sky, to the list. However, there is no release date set at all and, as it was recently announced, I don’t expect to see it show up for at least a full year, if longer.

Gus also gave me RPG Stories for Christmas. This isn’t a game, but a TTRPG creation tool that allows for the creation of scenes and campaigns for virtual tabletop gaming sessions. I’m having fun tinkering with it and learning the ins and outs. Once I’ve figured a few things out, I’ll likely do some videos on it as I believe it has the potential to be a very useful tool in a gamemaster’s arsenal. The team behind it are also pretty responsive to the community and working to add more content and squash any bugs that come up.

To close out the year, let me once again say thank you to everyone who’s helped make this channel what it is today. I wish everyone a Happy New Year and let’s make 2024 awesome!

Until next year, bye for now!