November 2023 Channel Update – I Need Indie Games……
Added 2023-11-22 22:31:01 +0000 UTCHi!!!
Time flies… Hope you’ve been doing well! We’re almost at the end of the year... again! I feel like I say this every year lol.
Lately, I’ve figured out a nice rhythm for working on the channel so things have been pretty OK, workload-wise! Is it at all related to my day job boss being away on vacation? N-no, of course not..... (You’d think I have this figured out to a T by how long I’ve been doing this lol, but it truly is constant chaos in the back here 😂)
We’re on the cusp of wrapping up the mega hitter Dragon Age Inquisition (last entry in the DA series for now) - been a good ride, but I’m also very excited to have time to check out other stuff again!
TL;DR
- Finished: CP2077: Phantom Liberty, Alan Wake 2
- Ongoing: DAI
- Upcoming: Spider-Man 2, INDIE GAMES...
Finished Stuff
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty: I checked out all the endings and as usual with CP2077, that meant like an extra 10 hours lol. Fantastic in every way: runs stable on PC, looks amazing, gameplay systems are now more cohesive, and the narrative (both main + side quests) is engaging and heart-wrenching. Along with the 2.0 update this is truly Cyberpunk’s redemption story, and I very much look forward to whatever else they do with Night City in the future.
Alan Wake 2: I managed to start & finish this before it even got put into an update! A phenomenal follow-up to Alan’s story. It does lots of Weird Remedy Stuff that other AAA studios would shy from and is just such a unique breath of fresh air. Makes me super excited for Control 2 and whatever else Remedy is cooking. I did have lots of little bugs with the mechanical side of the game (map, inventory, combat) - none I’d consider super experience-affecting, but it clearly could use more technical polish. (It’s also the first game that made me feel like I needed an upgrade from my RTX 3080 already – super graphically demanding!)
Current Stuff
Dragon Age: Inquisition: I'm on the VEEERY last DLC before the entire thing wraps up...! We've come so far since starting Origins last September 🥹
As of this post, I *just* wrapped up Alan Wake 2 so haven’t started another thing yet, but next up should be The Invincible, a short sci-fi story that we checked out the demo of a few months ago.
Upcoming Stuff
The AAAs on the channel have been fun but I’ve been REEAAALLY missing indie games... I’ll start Spider-Man 2 after DAI wraps up in about a week, but other than that I feel like I really need to recuperate from the massive 100 part commitments with short things for a bit. Some stuff I’ve noted down for first looks:
- Slay the Princess (a good few people recommended this)
- Jusant (new game from DONTNOD)
- COCOON (from the lead gameplay designer of LIMBO/INSIDE, published by Annapurna)
- Thirsty Suitors (more Annapurna)
I’ll continue these as series probably based off my & your interest levels. I also wanna just dig through my Steam library to do random first looks, but I feel like I'm imagining I'll have way more time than I actually will lol - let's start from here and see where it goes. I’m really looking forward to checking these out!
Miscellaneous Social Media Stuff
We all know there’s been lots of turbulence with Twitter in the past year. Despite the hellishness I’m still there, but I remember somebody asked a while back if I’m anywhere else – FYI I’m now crossposting games stuff over at Mastodon and Bluesky:
(For all the other weird/weeb garbage, that’s still Twitter atm 🗿)
That’s all I’ve got for now! Thank you for your support as always, and feel free to let me know your thoughts/comments/non-1000-hour-AAA game suggestions in the comments below as well! Happy holidays in advance and happy gaming 🎮
Cheers,
Welonz
Comments
I haven't heard of In Stars and Time - does look interesting, thanks for the rec!!
Materwelonz
2023-12-20 22:55:47 +0000 UTCMaking my own comment here... new patron! Love your content Welonz. I commented occassionally on the AiNi series and once or twice on SIGNALIS, so it's pretty easy to tell I'm a Weeblonz fan haha. Your knowledge in other languages is a big draw for me in those games, it's always a fun and insightful time. Anyways, for a suggestion, have you seen "In Stars and Time" floating around? It just released and it was created by an artist I like. I haven't played it myself yet, but I've heard some rave reviews! It is their first full length game and I can at least vouch for their storytelling ability through comics-- it's incredible. The game is a timeloop rpg and probably as indie as it gets. It has a prequel, so maybe give that a look! Also I heard Pentiment is great, so here's another vote for that. Thanks for all of your hard work and happy holidays!
gamjabyte
2023-12-18 07:44:05 +0000 UTCHi, just joined the Patreon, but the first post I read referencing one of my favorite games has to be something magical :) I absolutely second TF|2 if you want to play an fps with a surprisingly good story. I finished its campaign in ~6 hours for what it's worth, so I consider it a short game! (...I also have an additional ~90 hours in multiplayer, but that's just to emphasize how good the gameplay feels LOL) I actually think you can play on the lower difficulty if you aren't that into fps games, it definitely took me a bit of getting used to compared to trudging through CoD campaigns ^^; after a bit of multiplayer Normal difficulty is a cakewalk though! PS sorry for the long reply Puulis, didn't mean to hijack your comment!
gamjabyte
2023-12-18 06:24:55 +0000 UTCHi Fideriti! I remember your username and thanks for checking in! I do check YouTube comments (where I replied to you as well just in case!) Loved Undertale and it's hard to believe it's been 8 years since the playthrough already :') Re: Patreon - things definitely seem to be changing and not necessarily for the best - I am keeping an eye on it, but don't have plans to move anywhere yet. I have YouTube memberships enabled so that's another thing available esp. if you like the channel badge benefits, but Patreon is still my main support platform at the moment. Appreciate your support after all this time! Have a great one and feel free to visit whenever :)
Materwelonz
2023-12-15 04:29:10 +0000 UTCHello Welonz! I have to admit I’m double posting this from YouTube comments. I’m sorry!! I didn’t know how often you checked YouTube comments.. and maybe decided to finally reset my password.. Anyway, I think this is my first time engaging on Patreon? Well here’s a hello from a grateful viewer and a bit of a blast to the past. It’s so cool seeing you still active on here! You always put a lot of work into Patreon!! Welonz!! It’s been a couple of years since I’ve watched a video but I need to say hi! I first discovered you during your Undertale play through and damn what a gem that was! I’m so glad to see you’re still just as lively as you were back then, hopefully that means YouTube is still a passion and we’re treating you well. I am still subbed to your Patreon because of all the entertainment you provided me, giving you a nice cup of coffee a month is worth it. Especially at the pace you’d upload content sometimes, it was sometimes unbelievable. I just don’t have the time for Let’s Plays anymore post covid and more responsibilities, but you were easily one of the best. On the note of Patreon I’ve heard rumblings every now and then of it being potentially questionable? If it’s still a great platform for you then awesome! If not, is there a preference of platform you have on supporting you? I hope all is well and that you’re healthy! Thank the Fridge for MaterWelonz!! Sorry for the cringe.. But it’s very cool you embraced the shorter nickname. Don’t burn yourself out!
Fideriti
2023-12-14 16:38:16 +0000 UTCjust finished In Sound Mind myself. if you haven’t heard of it, i’d recommend! it’s a psychological horror game with puzzles and definitely has interesting mechanics and storyline. i felt like the developers put a lot of love into the game with the original music as well. not super scary and the game is around 10–15hrs to finish depending on if you want to 100%. i hope you’ll check it out!
dee
2023-12-10 05:32:45 +0000 UTC"Little Goody Two Shoes" is a slow burn horror game I really enjoyed recently that I think you might like. It's published by Square Enix, though, so maybe not strictly "indie" even if it was made by a small indie team. I haven't seen it get that much buzz, but it's really good.
Ange
2023-12-04 20:04:08 +0000 UTCI realized this week that I stopped watching you for a month 😮 I'm gonna play Cyberpunk DLC so I'm avoiding spoilers, furthermore Alan Wake and Dragons Age weren't my cup of tea. But when you play new games, I always watch the first episode, so I'm happy you're back to checking new titles.
WallHammer
2023-12-03 07:42:22 +0000 UTCCeleste for sure! It's my favorite game of all time and I even speed run it!
GameFuror
2023-12-01 15:36:34 +0000 UTCIf you can please try Chicory: A Colorful Tale. Main Story + Sides is 13-14 hr but worth it!
Shweta Philip
2023-11-30 03:37:31 +0000 UTCI recommend the remake of Space Control II, called Ur-Quan Masters. It is free and howlongtobeat.com puts it at 13 - 23 hours. It has some simple 2d space fligth simulation gameplay, but honestly it is mostly voiced dialogs with funny alien creatures.
Jannik Gröger
2023-11-29 14:00:00 +0000 UTCyeah I've decided to just watch the LP for now and I can tell it has some minor issues. I'll probably still get it at some point when I forgot about it a bit lol the story, visuals and settings are really cool!
naoxmon
2023-11-28 00:59:38 +0000 UTCfor what it's worth: I haven't finished The Invincible yet, but I made it far enough that I think I can see why the reviews are mixed. There are cool moments and the atmosphere is great, but it can get too wordy and sometimes the characters' dialogue & reactions just feel a little off.
Materwelonz
2023-11-25 10:27:32 +0000 UTCI'm watching the playthrough of The Invincible right now (good stuff!), and it occurred to me that you never played The Medium by Bloober Team, a Polish developer that's been chosen by Konami to handle the remake of Silent Hill 2. The Medium is an amazing narrative game, it would be nice to play it in preparation for SH2, which I'm sure you'll play because it'll be a major release.
Gianluca Aicardi
2023-11-25 04:53:46 +0000 UTCPicking and choosing what to catch up with first indeed.
Amar
2023-11-24 18:24:18 +0000 UTCPicking and choosing is the spice of life!
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:24:47 +0000 UTCStrategy card games *sweats profusely*
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:21:39 +0000 UTCIt was fun but I think I'm happy to leave it at the first look!
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:20:29 +0000 UTCI played Mark of the Ninja before I really got into the channel thing before - really fun game!
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:19:45 +0000 UTCI didn't put it here but Ghost Trick was on my mind too :') thanks for all the recs!
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:19:16 +0000 UTCDAI - There's some good stuff packed in the narrative, but also tons of filler fetch questy stuff. Not quite like a Witcher 3 with the millions of interesting side quests. Cyberpunk - FYI my opinion hasn't vastly changed since 1.0 since bugs never bothered me, so YMMV if you didn't enjoy 1.0!
Materwelonz
2023-11-24 17:15:52 +0000 UTC> I remember somebody asked a while back if I’m anywhere else Yes, thank you! It does seem that Nitter is back up, so I'm mostly checking there. It's such an enormous amount of content you're putting out. I have been back home for a month after a month in Japan and I still am not close to catching up.
Amar
2023-11-24 15:27:54 +0000 UTC"Artist Life Simulator" is a roguelite strategy card game. A run takes maybe 1-5 hours-ish. Very engaging.
Ann Reinke
2023-11-24 14:12:36 +0000 UTCAnd it turns out you tried it months ago, but I just missed it. It sounds like you enjoyed it. So the question is, do you want to continue Dave the Diver?
E. P. Haury
2023-11-23 23:44:16 +0000 UTCSanabi is a great little indie that came out of early access shortly ago. 6-7 hours and has a very moving story. Might be worth a first look!
dezereks
2023-11-23 22:32:59 +0000 UTCI'll suggest Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, which is currently 60% off on Steam.
Christopher Davis
2023-11-23 20:02:12 +0000 UTCHey Welonz, I really hoped to see you starting your new big AAA-(RPG)-journey, after DA , sooner then later. I'm happy for all who are enjoying your DA-Series. Personally, DA is not really my thing, so I've been waiting since you started the first DA, that you will play some other big AAA, like BG3 or Elden Ring. But I can wait and I also understand your desire to play other things first, I mean there are indeed a lot of great indies out there, which should be enjoyed by more people. So, have fun and clear your head from the big games with 100+ hours. :-). I'll keep my fingers crossed, that it doesn't take to long for you to feel like playing the next big game again. :-) PS: Not really have a suggestion for indie-games for you, sorry.
Zischrot
2023-11-23 18:32:24 +0000 UTCI recommended this a bit ago but Yuppie Psycho is a great short indie psychological horror game that you'd probably like because it's not about jump scares. Another older one that's a linear RPG you might like is Masquerada: Songs and Shadows.
Teyhr
2023-11-23 18:20:43 +0000 UTCGlad that you really enjoyed Phantom Liberty and Alan Wake 2! And for once I've heard of all the indies you mentioned here lol looking forward to the LPs :D I so wanted to play The Invincible from the look of the demo but then the average reviews kind of put me off, still can't decide if I should try to play it first or watch your playthrough lol And curious about how you feel about Jusant, I only played the demo (for now) but really liked it a lot, it's very chill to play and good looking, with the narrative mostly being told through the environment and the documents you manage to find by exploring.
naoxmon
2023-11-23 18:16:56 +0000 UTCHello! Just to let you know, Baldur's Gate 3 is, technically, an indie game... i know you mean smaller games though, i dont want to make you feel any pressure, i will just wait patiently (you are going to love it, im 100% sure). Love your playthroughs
Luis Muratet
2023-11-23 18:05:34 +0000 UTCSomehow I missed that you had a bluesky account. Following you there now! Also, I highly recommend Laika: Aged Through Blood. It's a really good narrative-heavy Metroidvania where you're almost always on a dirtbike and you reload your weapons by doing a backflip
MayuZane
2023-11-23 12:37:17 +0000 UTCI Was a Teenage Exocolonist https://store.steampowered.com/app/1148760/I_Was_a_Teenage_Exocolonist/ I found it quite an engaging narrative-driven game with time-travel
Sula
2023-11-23 12:20:57 +0000 UTCMaybe give Cobalt Core a try. It's a deckbuilding roguelike, a bit similar to Slay the Spire and such but it space and a bit cuter ;) Could be nice as a first look video as you can just do a couple of runs, maybe unlock a character or two. One of my personal indie favorites lately.
Erik Nilsson
2023-11-23 11:51:42 +0000 UTCI'm still out there campaigning for The Longest Journey (which is, I admit, a bit on the longer side, but compared to your usual AAA game it's short lmao). For shorter indie games, I'd recommend 1bitHeart, which is a really cute games about making friends with a lot of different characters!
Reiemye
2023-11-23 10:45:38 +0000 UTCIt's not indie and it might be stretching the channel's niche a bit, but maybe you could check out Titanfall 2's campaign? It's fairly short at around 8-10 hours if you really take your time. It's a sci-fi FPS, but the campaign is structured more like an adventure game than a typical shooter campaign, with a surprising amount of (puzzle)-platforming, exploration and general downtime. The game's story gets its strength from the relationship you build with your 40 ton killing machine/robot best friend. You have selectable dialog and get to forge a bond as you rip through a colorful rogues' gallery of bosses, platform through & discover the mystery of the outpost, and stop the big bad. There's also a decent amount of ambient and environmental story if you stop to listen to enemies, radio broadcasts, audio logs, and look around the environment. Pair it with excellent level design and some of the slickest first person shooting and platforming you'll probably ever play, and it's a short, fun package that's surprisingly good at getting you emotionally invested in a tank with legs. Aside from the obligatory masochist difficulty, the difficulty options skew easy. I'd start on Hard and dial it back to Normal if you aren't feeling it. Also worth noting there are a few sections where your buddy titan picks you up to put you in a new area, it's possible to accidentally skip dialog during these sections if you get too close to his hand.
Puulis
2023-11-23 10:05:52 +0000 UTCIf you are happy with Indie recommendations then can I suggest Unpacking, it is a short game with a story told in a unique way
Bookwyrm
2023-11-23 08:35:15 +0000 UTCAs long as we're talking about indie games, Venba's an interesting one you might want to look at. Not a terribly complex game but I had a good time with it, and it's quite short.
Jeffrey Hardy Quah
2023-11-23 08:04:01 +0000 UTCYou definitely deserve some indie games. 😁 Really happy you're doing The Invincible. Stanislaw Lem, who wrote the book it's based on, is my favorite author. That being said, I'm very much hoping to see BG3 in the new year! I keep telling myself you'd never skip a story game of this magnitude 😉 It is long, but there's zero grinding and minimal fetch quests, no respawns either.
Sharrow
2023-11-23 07:36:02 +0000 UTCDave the Diver might be enjoyable.
E. P. Haury
2023-11-23 05:25:22 +0000 UTCWould like to recommend There is no game: wrong dimension again. Really cool puzzle game, feel like not many people know about it. Also Mark of the Ninja. One of the best 2D stealth games out there. Came out in 2012 and got a remaster in 2018. Still great.
Dragonhunter
2023-11-23 03:22:59 +0000 UTCI'm playing thru Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time and it is fantastic (I usually only play games like Pokemon and Stardew). The characters and story, sidequests too, are so memorable. Welonz's playthrough is also great, I often refer back to her playthrough since she almost always gets the better story outcomes lol
Suaffle
2023-11-23 03:03:24 +0000 UTCI didn't know you were planning to go back to The Invincible. Very cool! I started it a little while ago based on your first look. I just love it's aesthetic so much. I'll be very curious to see if your choices make the game play out any differently.
Blue72
2023-11-23 01:31:37 +0000 UTCIt's not an indie game or anything but Ghost Trick is a nice shorter game (10-ish hours) that I think you would really like. I can think of a couple other random indie games you may or may not be interested in: Know By Heart: https://store.steampowered.com/app/685670/Know_by_heart/ Came out last year, a really interesting small game about a group of childhood friends reconnecting and a town experiencing an epidemic of forgetting (5-6ish hours long) Wildermyth: https://store.steampowered.com/app/763890/Wildermyth/ This is a bit different from what you usually do on your channel but might be worth a first look, it's an interesting tactical RPG thing built around dynamically generating stories. The main storylines themselves are all pre-written though and some of them are actually really good (the length varies depending on which campaign you run and all of them together are fairly long but the introductory campaign is shorter and only about 4ish hours) Hypnospace Outlaw: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw/ This is one I'm surprised you haven't played already. Conceptually similar to Videoverse although Hypnospace came out earlier and is focused more on the Geocities era of the internet rather than BBS culture. It's also about 5 or so hours to finish but the length can vary wildly because of how much of the in-game internet that exists purely for the sake of exploring it. Void Stranger: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2121980/Void_Stranger/ This came out earlier this year and is a really interesting puzzle game that does a lot of 4th wall breaking stuff like Undertale. It's on the longer side (I have about 40 hours in it which involves completing most of the content) but again could make for an interesting first look since you can get the gist of what it's doing fairly early on.
Alexander McClelland
2023-11-23 01:21:12 +0000 UTCYou're thinking of the Slay the Princess that was released last year. That was just the demo (it seemed long for a demo, so a lot of players thought it was the full game). The complete game came out a few weeks ago, and it's of course much longer.
Gianluca Aicardi
2023-11-23 01:11:53 +0000 UTCThere’s this pretty cool niche indie game called Elden Ring I think you might enjoy, it’s pretty short too - definitely not 100+ hours or anything 🥲 Jokes aside, glad to hear you’re doing well, I think a period of shorter indie titles will definitely be a nice switch up. Especially given the rather large amount of big AAA stuff dropping early next year 🙏
Lord Atrexia
2023-11-23 00:04:58 +0000 UTCStoryteller had a free update with new devil themed puzzles
Balthier The Cat
2023-11-22 23:33:07 +0000 UTCSlay the princess is very short, should fit everywhere. Unless they've added stuff to it the last few months? The length of DAI actually scares me away. Interested in your opinion if that huge amount of time is worth it... Might look into CP again given your glowing review of the 2.0 update.
Frans
2023-11-22 23:21:34 +0000 UTCI can't believe you've been playing Dragon Age non-stop for more than year now, that's insane aha I'm glad you'll be able to breath away from ultra-long games for a bit though. Don't really have any indie to suggest as I don't play a lot of them. You Will Die Here Tonight is a pretty good one that came out recently but the issue is that the entire game is a reference to the first Resident Evil, and I doubt it would be as enjoyeable for someone who hasn't played it. But definitely keep it on your list for later though !
Captain Kashup
2023-11-22 22:54:54 +0000 UTCI noticed they released a new episode of Not For Broadcast last week!
eramocort
2023-11-22 22:54:46 +0000 UTC"The AAAs on the channel have been fun but I’ve been REEAAALLY missing indie games" I'm so glad to read this, because I've been missing your indie playthroughs SO MUCH. On one hand, I was like, "She has to do what she has to do / wants to do / is happy to do". But on the other hand, I couldn't help but be a bit sad to see the channel monopolized by AAA productions that don't really need the publicity. I'd also like to see something like a "look-back month" (or week or what-have-you), where you go back and see what inspiring indie games you missed along the way, as opposed to new releases. I personally feel like video games more than anything (and those on Steam in particular) don't really have an expiration date, and stuff like What Remains of Edith Finch or Firewatch or The Stanley Parable are constantly in the conversation and being discovered by new players. (The Steam Awards even have a category about games that weren't new that year).
Gianluca Aicardi
2023-11-22 22:53:54 +0000 UTCI would definitely be interested in you doing Slay the Princess!
Evan!!
2023-11-22 22:48:48 +0000 UTCIf you are looking for indies, I recommend Vampire the Masquerade: Coteries of New York. It's a Visual Novel on the same universe of Bloodlines.
Paulo Victor De Aguiar
2023-11-22 22:34:10 +0000 UTC
