Limbo and Minecraft were the games that, back in 2012, made me aware that a whole indie thing was going on in videogames. A friend of mine at the time showed them to me. Those were not heavy-gaming days for me at all, but i was familiarized with the many implications of the term “indie” in both music and cinema. And of course, indie gaming development has always been a thing, but for some reason many of us became aware of it only on those early 2010’s days. I guess the reasons on how Limbo, Minecraft and the whole indie gaming thing became so succesfull were simply two: first, a better marketing strategy. Second, and most important, the need to capitalize an ever-growing distaste for the state of videogames throughout 2000’s, where the exagerated attention to the technical aspects of a game led to a culture that was becoming more and more exclusive and hard to access. You couln’t be a gamer in those days if you didn’t have the best PC or the newest gaming consoles. That’s what kept me away from videogames for many years, and i guess many people dealt with the same issue during that period.
Minecraft was interesting at the time i guess, but what really stuck in my mind in a whole different level was Limbo. I’ve never played a game with such a unique art direction in my whole life. Creating such an impressive atmosphere with so little technical elements was a new thing. Seriously? A game that almost looks like german expressionism? I was blown away. I didn’t thought that was possible as an artistic direction in video-games. In my mind at that time, videogames were always going in two directions: Hollywood or anime.
I finally got to play Limbo by myself after many years and i have to say that, sadly, i’m abandoning it again. At some point at the second half it just gets too frustrating. It’s really tiring starting over and over during the same checkpoint. It’s also way too frustrating to rely so much on a walkthrough. In other games i wouldn’t mind checking some walkthrough, but in a platform game, relying so much at them, it just doesn’t feel right.
Nevertheless, i totally enjoy what i could enjoy of Limbo. It’s just that, at some point, it’s stop being a game for me. But it’s impossible to deny how much of a masterwork this game is. Truly a landmark of indie gaming.
Minecraft was interesting at the time i guess, but what really stuck in my mind in a whole different level was Limbo. I’ve never played a game with such a unique art direction in my whole life. Creating such an impressive atmosphere with so little technical elements was a new thing. Seriously? A game that almost looks like german expressionism? I was blown away. I didn’t thought that was possible as an artistic direction in video-games. In my mind at that time, videogames were always going in two directions: Hollywood or anime.
I finally got to play Limbo by myself after many years and i have to say that, sadly, i’m abandoning it again. At some point at the second half it just gets too frustrating. It’s really tiring starting over and over during the same checkpoint. It’s also way too frustrating to rely so much on a walkthrough. In other games i wouldn’t mind checking some walkthrough, but in a platform game, relying so much at them, it just doesn’t feel right.
Nevertheless, i totally enjoy what i could enjoy of Limbo. It’s just that, at some point, it’s stop being a game for me. But it’s impossible to deny how much of a masterwork this game is. Truly a landmark of indie gaming.