New Year Update! Top Games of the Year + New Posts Coming Soon!

It's a new year, meaning that this blog is active once again. To start up the new year, I would first like to state what I consider to be the top three indie games to come out this year. These are games that I already made a recommendation post for so you can check those out if you want to know more about the game.

Top #3: 

-#3: Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt

"Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (by Ludosity developers) is a fun, challenging RPG (role-playing game), and guess what? It's free! You can find it on Steam for free, and you can get a prequel expansion pack (Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble) for $2.99 (I have yet to finish the game so I haven't seen the expansion pack yet)."-Recommendation Post #2 
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I feel that Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt deserves to be number 3 in the Top Games of the Year because it has the best value of all the games shown on this blog, being free of course. For that price, it packs plenty of content, characters, and gameplay.

-#2: Stardew Valley

"Stardew Valley (published by Chuckle Fish and developed by Concerned Ape) is one of the most addictingly fun games out there. It uses the elements of Animal Crossing, Facebook games, and phone games, adds depth and complex gameplay, and then creates something new." -Recommendation Post #3
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Stardew Valley is given the number 2 spot here because it is the game that has taken up the most time in my life. It's highly addicting atmosphere and ambiance makes it a fun way to spend the time, developing your farm and feeling like you're accomplishing something. It was all developed by ONE person, so it's existence is a plea of passion on its own, nevermind all the options and beautiful design that it has. 

-#1: Undertale 

"Now here's one you've probably all have heard about by now. Undertale, developed and published by independent creator toby fox, is one of the most popular indie games in recent years. It gained popularity as YouTubers everywhere began to play it. It's not that hard to understand, though, it has a complex story that changes depending on how you play it, interesting characters and settings, a new take on RPG gameplay, and it was all made by only a handful of people. " -Recommendation Post #4
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Undertale achieves the number one spot here because it was worth its price and has all of the characteristics that a good game should have. It's a story told through battle and quirky characters, and a lot of heart and passion was put into this. Its popularity has already reached its peak, but it's still a worthy game to check out. 

Now that that's settled, I would like to move on to talking about some of the games that I will be making Recommendation Posts later throughout the year.

Recommendation Posts

Hyper Light Drifter

-Hyper Light Drifter is a new indie game that came out last November. It is highly puzzling and addicting and uses a unique fighting RPG style with beautiful graphics.

OxenFree

-OxenFree is a very interactive game with well-developed characters and well made 3-D graphics.

Psychonauts

-Psychonauts is a well made 3-D game with a complex story and characters that has been around for many years now. 

Papers, please

-Papers, please is a simple puzzle game with simple graphics, but its story and atmosphere add to its core gameplay.

Game Recommendation #4: Undertale

Now here's one you've probably all have heard about by now. Undertale, developed and published by independent creator toby fox, is one of the most popular indie games in recent years. It gained popularity as YouTubers everywhere began to play it. It's not that hard to understand, though, it has a complex story that changes depending on how you play it, interesting characters and settings, a new take on RPG gameplay, and it was all made by only a handful of people. 

Graphics/Design

The beginning of the first town, Snowdin

More of Snowdin

The art in this game isn't next level, but for the few people who made it, it's impressive. Each setting is unique and captivating. All the characters look entirely different, and all are memorable. Even the basic enemies have fun, quirky lines that give them personalities. There are multiple ways to interact with them, making it more fun to run into random encounters. All of the music is memorable and worth listening to even outside of the game.

Story Lines

The story in the game is what really makes it unique and dynamic. You are a human child, but one day you fall into the pit where monsters live. The monsters and humans lived in peace, until one day a monster killed a human, so all the monsters were banished to the underground (hence where the name Undertale comes from). You have to survive to be able to get out. A monster named Toriel finds you and helps you learn the basics of the game until you run away so you can get back home. 

The hole to the underground world of monsters

Gameplay 

The gameplay isn't too difficult to grab on to until you get near the end. The way you fight enemies alters the story. There are random encounters, and you have a choice. You can either fight the monster, interact with it, use an item, or spare them. Some players choose to not hurt the monster since it's discouraged in the game, others hurt it until the monster is almost out of health, or some actually kill the monster. Each option changes the story of the game and how other characters interact with you. It's traditional to start with a Pacifist run, then go through a Genocide run to see how it dramatically changes the story. 

Who would I recommend this to? 

Undertale is a game that takes the RPG genre and turns it on its heel. Most RPG's involve merciless beating of other characters, but this game asks, what if those monsters had lives too? If you want to check out the game because for whatever reason you haven't already, it can be found here for $9.99 on Steam.  Undertale is a great game to check out, for its complex story lines, gameplay, characters, jokes, and its twist on the RPG genre. So if you love RPG's, you are going to adore this game. 

So what are your thoughts on Undertale?  What game should I recommend/review next? Comment down below!