[ SECRET POST #5673 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5673 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 32 secrets from Secret Submission Post #812.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

... released in the past 15 years? Name 3.

[(Anonymous)]

(SA) to be honest, I think a lot of handheld-only/mobile games are like this. But mobile means... you can't play on a keyboard. And not even sure if they still make handheld-only games because Switch.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't really go here but... wouldn't things like Metroidvanias and indie retro platformers and a lot of roguelike platformers be included in OP's specifications? My sense from poking around Steam is that there's been about a zillion of those in the last 15 years.

[(Anonymous)]

(AYRT) I think there have been a lot of these in the indie market, not so much for big commercial games. At least that's the feeling I get. I see a lot of those but nothing that really caught my eye.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, yeah, it's definitely indie stuff. But it's very much out there, it's just more niche.

[(Anonymous)]

Ori and the Blind Forest, Shovel Knight, Terraria, Limbo, Celeste, Spelunky, Hollow Knight, Inside, Little Nightmares, Ibb and Obb, Knytt Underground, NightSky, Nihilumbra, The Swapper.

[(Anonymous)]

A lot of these fell under my radar because they looked too Darker And Edgy/"conceptual" to me but yeah, I have been meaning to play Terraria for ages so thanks for the reminder! Nihilumbra and Celeste look pretty interesting too!

[(Anonymous)]

(SA) the word I was looking for was "atmospheric" instead of conceptual, lol. whatever

[(Anonymous)]

Celeste has some of the best difficulty sliders I've seen in a game.

[feotakahari]

Hollow Knight is definitely 100% dark and edgy, but I think it does the aesthetic well? Like, you’ll never see someone raped or tortured here. You’ll just see a ridiculous amount of body horror.

Nihilumbra is a bit on-the-nose with its message, but it does some legitimately clever stuff I didn’t expect and won’t spoil here. +1 rec.

There’s also a platformer called Double Cross that’s about an enforcer for an organization that keeps dimensions separate. I pretty much agree with the villain, but I still had fun with its goofy worlds and characters. The final bossfight kicks all kinds of ass.

Not sure if Azure Striker Gunvolt is the kind of thing you’re looking for, but I’ll mention it anyway. It’s a bit like Mega Man, but with more of a focus on high scores and getting through entire levels without ever being hit.

The Swapper is both dark and edgy and conceptual. Two of the major characters are named after real-life philosophers and have arguments about the nature of consciousness. The ending is the most satisfying, narratively resonant way a game has ever told me to go fuck myself. Probably not to your taste, TBH.

Limbo is straight, unadulterated edgy, so you’ll probably want to stay away.

If you want to really challenge yourself, try The End is Nigh. It’s dark in a surreal way, but more importantly, it’s bastard hard.

Edit: almost forgot Trine! That one’s more of a puzzle platformer. What techniques will let me get from A to B?

[(Anonymous)]

(AYRT) Aww, thanks a lot!! I don't like body horror, but Nihilumbra looks like the kind of dark and edgy that I appreciate.
Double Cross isn't my style aesthetic-wise but looks cute. Same for Azure Striker in a way, but looks fun.
The End is Nigh looks like Canabalt lol, anyone remembers Canabalt? Weird association.
Trine was super popular in my circles, thanks for reminding - yet another game that I have to play, like Terraria. Thanks a lot, really!!

[(Anonymous)]

In the last 15 years - literally hundreds. Just look through the platformer tag on Steam. It seems people aren't aware of or aren't interested in indie game developers.

[(Anonymous)]

(AYRT) Not interested. More like indie developers of this kind of game don't give me what I expect from them. I was obsessed with Sonic and Kirby as a kid; as a teen, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow was my thing. I don't want a DEEP message, but if you want to give me a complex, adventure/VN/RPG-worthy plot like Castlevania DS that's great, or if you want to give me a cute and fun atmosphere like Kirby that's also great. But "cute and fun" as made by big-name indie devs is often "too childish/CalArts-cartoonish" and "good plot" is often "too DEEP". Because both have big audiences for it, and that's fine but isn't me. As opposed to, say, visual novels - I often like indie VNs better than commercial ones. And I was deep into the RPG Maker 2/3 community when I still created games and loved "art games". It's just that I don't like "art games" that are platformers.