State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
Avsnittet i korthet: State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025! är avsnitt 214 av den svenska spelpodden Spelfarsan med vänner, publicerat 13 mars 2025 och 41 min långt. Det ingår i formatet State of Gaming. Avsnittet är på engelska.
10 of the best indie games on PC in 2025 – from Axiom Verge and Blasphemous to Disco Elysium and Divekick
About the episode: State of Gaming returns with a new format: a few minutes of news, then something new. This time it's Monster Hunter Wilds, pricey graphics cards and an Until Dawn studio with no developers left, followed by ten picks from PCMag's list of the best indie games on PC, most of them retro love letters.
Chapters: State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
- 00:00 – Intro: first show of 2025, and tonight's drinks
- 02:23 – The new format: ten minutes of news, then something new
- 03:21 – Monster Hunter Wilds and expensive graphics cards
- 05:20 – Layoffs: the Until Dawn remake studio lets every developer go
- 09:13 – The list: PCMag's best indie games on PC
- 11:09 – 30XX
- 14:04 – Another Crab's Treasure
- 16:24 – Axiom Verge 1 and 2
- 20:14 – Blasphemous
- 22:09 – Blazing Chrome, and a world record attempt in Malmö
- 25:00 – Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and Curse of the Moon
- 29:26 – Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
- 30:47 – Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
- 33:33 – Divekick
- 35:24 – Freedom Planet, a speedrun mystery, and a plea to wishlist indies
A new format
Until now State of Gaming has recapped the past month, which felt "semi-rude" to the Swedish listeners who already heard it all in the Swedish shows. From now on it's about ten minutes of news and then something brand new.
This month's gaming news in State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
Monster Hunter Wilds is out. For the non-hunter in the panel, the series is still mostly about cute Palico cats doing weird stuff. The games are gorgeous but heavy on graphics cards, and with Nvidia's new 50 series out and expensive, the game plus a card adds up fast. As the panel sees it, the competition has been wiped out, so Nvidia can take what it wants.
Layoffs, again. The strangest case: the studio behind the Until Dawn remake reportedly laid off every single developer, so bug reports from fans go nowhere. The panel won't buy the remake. Get the original instead – it's from a different company, the bugs are already fixed, and it's a game you're supposed to replay. The prequel The Inpatient was not as good.
Games we discuss: State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
The list comes from PCMag.com (not sponsored, sadly). All games are on PC, and most are on Steam.
30XX
The follow-up to the roguelike Mega Man homage 20XX, now in Mega Man X style, with randomized weapons, co-op and a following among speedrunners. Oscar has tried it: a fantastic Mega Man clone, but the roguelike touches aren't quite his cup of tea. Straight onto the presenter's ever-growing wishlist.
Another Crab's Treasure
A cartoony Souls-like under the sea, Little Mermaid style. A crab has his shell taken as some sort of mob collateral, and the rest of the game is about winning his home back. It looks cute and colourful but fights like Dark Souls, and plenty of players turned the difficulty down.
Axiom Verge (1 and 2)
A nonlinear sci-fi Metroidvania that its developer made as his vision of what the original NES Metroid could have been. Oscar has played both and finished the second. Instead of a morph ball you send out a little drone, and you can "glitch" the world with weapons that corrupt its memory to pass through walls. Around 15–25 hours. Both games together go for roughly 30 dollars.
Blasphemous
A brutally punishing but fair 2D platformer with gothic, religious themes and a big world to explore. Breaking through feels great, and the art style is excellent. Blasphemous 2 seems to be more of the same, which here is a good thing – "why have people had 10,000 Big Macs?"
Blazing Chrome
A run-and-gun love letter to Contra, made because Konami stopped making those games. You blast robots, ride hover bikes and can play co-op. It's super tough. We once watched the world record holder play it live in Malmö: he missed his own record by a second and a half, said it was a decent run and walked off stage. For a slightly gentler alternative: Hard Corps: Uprising.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Koji Igarashi, who was there for Symphony of the Night, made this Castlevania successor via Kickstarter: 2D sidescrolling with 3D models and a nod to the upside-down castle. A Kickstarter stretch goal became the NES-style spinoff Curse of the Moon, which one of us has 100%-completed and loved. Two warnings: 100% in Ritual of the Night means grinding for 2% drop chances, and one progress point is badly hurt by the English translation – read a guide. The NES-style sequel, Curse of the Moon 2, can be played in co-op – which actually makes it harder, since one death can sink you both.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
A spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio with early-2000s Dreamcast-style cel shading. You skate, spray graffiti and fight cops to prove your crew is number one. Cel shading doesn't always work, but for this arcade vibe it does.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
A phenomenon, and now even longer than the original. It plays like a hefty crime noir novel built on dialogue and psychology, so the Final Cut's added voice acting helps a lot. It's awesome but a big investment in both time and emotion: not a game for a tired Friday night.
Divekick
A fighting game with exactly two moves: dive and kick. It's well balanced and described as a tense, competitive mind game, a bit like rock-paper-scissors or a Mexican standoff. This is the game for a tired Friday night.
Freedom Planet
An indie game for Sonic fans, called "the Sonic Mania before Sonic Mania": fast, colourful platforming. There are two of them. Neither Oscar nor the presenter has played it, and it looks like a typical speedrun game, yet speedrun.com shows only a handful of runs and records years old. Homework for the panel: find out why.
Wishlist those indies
The closing message: wishlisting on Steam means a lot to indie developers, even if you buy later. And indies are often cheap on sale. You won't find GTA 6 for $1.99.
Quick facts about State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
| Game | Developer | Year | Notes from the episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30XX | Batterystaple Games | 2023 (early access 2021) | Mega Man X-style roguelite, co-op |
| Another Crab's Treasure | Aggro Crab | 2024 | Cartoony Souls-like |
| Axiom Verge | Thomas Happ | 2015 (2: 2021) | Metroid homage |
| Blasphemous | The Game Kitchen | 2019 (2: 2023) | Punishing gothic platformer |
| Blazing Chrome | JoyMasher | 2019 | Contra love letter |
| Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | ArtPlay (Koji Igarashi) | 2019 | Plus NES-style Curse of the Moon (Inti Creates, 2018) |
| Bomb Rush Cyberfunk | Team Reptile | 2023 | Jet Set Radio successor |
| Disco Elysium: The Final Cut | ZA/UM | 2021 | Fully voiced version |
| Divekick | Iron Galaxy / One True Game Studios | 2013 | Two buttons only |
| Freedom Planet | GalaxyTrail | 2014 (2: 2022) | Sonic-inspired |
Avsnittsbeskrivning från podden
State of Gaming returns with a bit of a new twist. There are some news but also a fun list of games! This time we go through 10 of the best indie games available on PC in 2025. Please join us!
Om formatet State of Gaming
State of Gaming är vårt engelskspråkiga nyhetsformat. Here we sum up the gaming news of the past month in English – big releases, industry shake-ups, indie gems and everything in between.
Fler avsnitt i State of GamingSpel vi pratar om
Transkription av State of Gaming - Best Indie Games on PC - 2025!
Hela avsnittet i text · 6 213 ord
Automatiskt transkriberad med Whisper – kan innehålla fel, särskilt i namn och speltitlar.
00:00:00Let's say hello and welcome to State of Gaming. We are back in new fashion, new style and a new concept, I would say. First time 2025, you know what I'm saying? Oh yeah, it is. Wow. Yeah, it actually is. A bit late to the party. No, don't say that. We had a moment where we could have lied them straight to the face. But now we have to face up. I think we said this once before, but a streak always has to start somewhere. And this is the date we picked. And it was a conscious choice, so don't blame us. Don't be haters. Anyway, Oscar was 100% right. And we will get into that in just a little bit. But we have a tradition. Uh-oh. No. Tradition is broken. That streak is broken. That streak is still broken. But...
00:01:01It actually looks like a pretty psychedelic-looking cat. Oh, yeah, it is. Swirly lines. Swirly lines, swirly text. Oh, Jasmine. Yeah, it's a tea flower sour. Oh, it was kind of tasty, actually. It was kind of tasty? Mild sour, but good, yeah. I thought you were going to say mildly tasty, but... mildly tasty no it was tasty these guys know their sours so yeah sour is good okay i am rocking a classic you all know that yeah yeah and oscar well i have something you would call it in swedish a drink pin oh yeah so it's a pogo stick everybody yeah nah It's basically... It looks kind of tasty. Yeah, it's like a sour vodka. Sour is so good. That's the only type of sour that's always good. No, I take it back. Forget everything. That and candy. Sour candy. Okay. Sour candy is actually decent. That kind of works. And with that behind us, we can go to the bombshell of the news that I dropped like five minutes ago. Yeah. So we have had this...
00:02:23series for quite some time and usually it is us recapping what happened in gaming spaceland the last month but at some point we realized that even though that might be interesting or hopefully interesting at least for our international fans it is a recap for everyone else those faithful swedish fans that have been listening in on the shows between our english ones would have a recap once a month and we thought that would be semi-rude Not fully rude, semi-rude. So we have tweaked the concept. So these shows will now have like 10 minutes of general news. So there will still be a little bit of overlap. But everything else will be something brand new. Yeah. And as someone in show business once said, new is always better. But then our thing is that everything was better in the olden days. So, you know, we have a clash going on. Really, yeah.
00:03:21We're a little bit schizo on that topic. Don't quote me on that. Is less still more? More is more when it's not less. But I would say like a true CT fan, you could never have enough of news. True. Because the news is always out there. New news. Yeah. So anyway, the news for this month, I actually only have one. And then it's up to you to fill in if you have anything else. But I think the biggest thing this month. is that Monster Hunter is out. Yeah. That's a thing. And it's a big thing. Actually, we talked about this in other shows. If you want to know and you can understand Swedish, it's out there. But I have to say that for me still, as a non-active Monster World fan, I've looked at the games, but I've never played it. For me, it's still just another cool game with Palicos, the cute cats. And I am 100%
00:04:21behind that truth. For me, those games are cute cats doing weird stuff. Meow. Meow. Meow. And they're very pretty as well. Those are too cute. Oh, I should also say, this is in connection with that, but the Monster Hunter games are always very, very taxing on the graphic cards. They can look drop-dead gorgeous. And this week, we have the new 50 or 5,000 series. I think they're out now. And they are a little expensive. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But if you buy the game and the graphic cards, you will have spent even more money. Yeah? No, there was no, and that was just the truth. Just laying out the truth. If you spend a lot of money, you can have this game looking absolutely awesome. Yeah. It's a bit sad that Nvidia got into this position that they are. Yeah.
00:05:20Take whatever they want, basically. Yeah, I mean, the competition is just wiped out, basically. They can and they will take some of your money away. Anyway, that was my big news. Do you have anything that you want to add aside from that? Because if not, we're moving on, folks. I guess there has been quite some layoffs. Yeah, unfortunately. Unfortunately, that's kind of been the flavor of the month for every month. Like going back one and a half years or something like that. Many months. Some of them have been weird, though. There was, I'm not sure if you saw that, but Until Dawn, the remade, reworked, remastered? Remoneyed? Remoneyed, I think is the word. The remoneyed version. That studio had, without saying anything, laid off 100% of their developers.
00:06:19Every single one. So people reporting bugs did that in good faith, but they have no one, absolutely no one who can fix it. I think it would have been smarter for them to just lay off the guys who are reporting bugs. Yeah, but those are the fans. They can't lay those off. That's like the first time I've ever heard of that. I guess that's what they're doing now. Because if they don't have developers, they won't have any fans at all. No, but isn't it kind of weird? Like, they release a game, and they tell people, like, do get back in touch if you find some weird stuff. And when they do, it's like, yeah, we don't have anyone. It sounds like there is a really classic old movie where they have this phone number present. And for fun, they had a recording box for this phone number. So it's still active, and people, like, 30 years later still is calling this recording machine.
00:07:17I don't know if anyone used to do it. I mean, I can see the charm in that. That's kind of cool. But releasing a game and then firing every developer, not so cool. I guess that's what they do nowadays. It's like they can only spend money on the developers during the actual development of the game. But then when it's released, they just want to take all the money and not pay anyone. Those girls just want to have fun. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. I'm not sure how that fit in there, but I had to go for it. I had to. So anyway, that's kind of shitty. So this is a tough one because I kind of like that game, at least the original version. We talked about that several times, but I don't really want that company to get any money when they behave like this. No. I mean, I'm not going to buy the remoneyed one. No.
00:08:15played the first one, and I thought that was fantastic. But then I also played the Inpatient, the prequel to that game, which was not as good. Not as good. So I would say, if you still want to play Until Dawn, get the original version, because that's a different company. Yeah, and the bugs are already fixed. Le problem es el solvo, as we say. In Spanish, French. Yeah, as we say in European. Oh yeah, European is now a language. It's the new thing. Yeah, so do get the original. And if you do get it, you're in for a great ride. It's a good game, the original. That you can play over and over again, basically. Yeah, it's one of those games where you're actually kind of supposed to. I think that's enough news. Unfortunately, most of them were bad. I mean, half of them were bad. Well, yeah, true. Monster Hunter is good.
00:09:13Graphic cards, very expensive. So, you know, mix. Oh, yeah. Anyway, we have a sizzling list for you all today. Yes. And we like lists. You all know this. So this list has, as we always have, full disclaimer. It's actually put together by PCMag.com, which is a UK-based gaming site. Yeah, and they have not sponsored us in any way. No, they have not. And they should have had. Come on now. Don't be like that. So yes, no sponsorship involved. We wish, though. We wish. And they have put together a list in a genre that we are very... We talked a lot about that and our love for that specific genre, and it's indie games. And we have talked a lot about indie games being kind of the only ones trying new things these days because they don't have to invest $200 million and it's not...
00:10:09It's not just the finances that are in focus on the indie side. Or if your name is Kojima and then you do very, very, very other things that might not be good. They're so out there, they're not even games anymore. No. Just a dude playing a guitar. Yeah. Yes, I'm not making that up. You can actually go and shake that trail. I know it sounds kind of weird, but then it's Kojima. So that's how it is. Anyway, these fellas have put together a list and they call it the best PC. in games. And it is PC. A lot of these are also on other things, but they're all on PC. Which is why I wanted to say that, so you don't try and buy things and you end up doing some weird stuff that I don't even want to think about. But yeah, we have picked 10 of these games. There are a lot on this list. And if you want the rest, then yeah, PCMag.com and the best PC indie games. Search for that and you are probably on the right track.
00:11:09Let's hope that you are. Anyway, I'll start with the top and work our way down, because that's the traditional way of doing things. And this first game I was thinking, almost hoping, that Oscar would be familiar with. It's called 30XX. And that sounds kind of familiar to a lot of you, probably, because there is a game called 20XX that was roguelike and was an homage to the original Mega Man series. And it came out a few years ago, and apparently... I missed this 100%, I have to admit. Last year, 30XX came out, and it is a Mega Man X-style upgrade. And yeah, it has a randomized weapon system and graphical facelifts, and it's popular among speedrunners. So I really should have seen this, but I haven't, I think. Have you seen this? Yes, and I have touched it a bit. I don't know why I didn't, like...
00:12:08because there was no good reason that it was bad or anything like that. The only small... It's personal preference, 100%, but it comes from... They made a game before this. It's 20XX, which was a roguelike game. And then they did this 30XX thingy, which is a fantastic Mega Man clone if you like this type of game. But they have still some flavors of roguelike within it, especially with the weapon systems and so on. So it's a little bit minimized. Yeah, exactly. And that is not completely my cup of tea. So that's why I think I... Because there were so many others like Mega Man projects that were around. At the same time. Yeah, so that's why I have not got fully invested in this. But at some point...
00:13:06Yeah, sure. I think it also had co-op, which is kind of cool. Yeah, it was. It is, as I said, it is a spiritual roads, but they have done a lot for making it more than ish. Yeah. So you would say that it's probably decent at least. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you do like this kind of shovel night, the rogue light touches on like any kind of like traditional. a genre or game then it's perfect i would say yeah cool i will definitely i well you all know me i've added this to my wish list yeah it has a few games on there already though so yeah but at some point i might get it you could randomize it yeah damn it anyway it's on the list now and if you liked everything that we just talked about why not add it to yours good thing about this list is that i think all of them are like available available
00:14:04That's a new word. Available on Steam. Steam is so easy to grab. Or as in my case, add it to your wishlist. Next one is a weird game. But I remember watching a Let's Play of this when it was released. And I liked everything about it. And it's called Another Crab's Treasure. I know. It's not the most usual name. It isn't. It's one man's trash, another crab's treasure. Yeah. So it's actually about a crab. It's one of those weird games that is kind of serious, but at the same time not serious at all. So it's a Souls-like, but in a cartoony style, under the waves, Little Mermaid style. Yeah. And it's about a crab that at the beginning of the game, someone takes his shell. I think he took them for tax reasons as well, which is kind of, you know, like you owe us money, give us your shell. And he's like super traumatized and he gives them his shell. And the moment after he's like, what the hell? I just gave away my house. And the rest of the game is his journey trying to win back his shell, basically. So it's basically a property tax that he didn't pay. Yeah.
00:15:30I think it was like some kind of mob thing where like, you owe us now, we're going to take this as collateral. And it's very much a cartoony, humorous adventure, aside from the battles that are kind of hardcore Dark Souls. Yeah. So I do remember people busting it down to like easier settings because this was... a really challenging game, which looks funny when it's like a little crab with a stick. Yeah, because it looks super cute and super colorful. Oh, yeah. And it was tough. But I think it belongs on this list because it's so different. And everyone thought it was like, it's a good game. It's just much tougher than it looks to be because it's cartoony and crabby. Yeah, because then you're expecting it to be like, I'm going to just breeze through this game.
00:16:24And I guess it's called Another Crab's Treasure because another crab stole his house. Probably, yeah. Yeah. Tough. Anyway, that's an odd one, but it's also kind of a funny one. Next one on the list is one of those games that are, like, widely acclaimed. And I think there's actually two of them these days. Yes, there are. But it's Axiom Verge, which is another one of those retro-styled, retro-title-ish games. It's a throwback. And the developers of these games wanted to put a modern twist on classic games. So it's a nonlinear, sci-fi, side-scrolling, Metroid-inspired thing, kind of. And I think you're also in a vehicle at times and outside of a vehicle at other times. It looks kind of weird. Have you played it? Oh, yes.
00:17:22Two for two, I must say, or two for three? I have Deep Quiet, the big original at least, and I have finished the second one also. Oh, okay. Was it like, are they both good? Yeah, especially the first one is a very classical Metroidvania thingy, but it... It has this thing where you use this bot thingy that you can. So instead of like in classical Metroid game where you roll up to a ball to squeeze through areas, you can use this little sidekick to run around and press buttons and do stuff. Basically, you're hacking into the Matrix and doing stuff. And it has some other cool features because you can hack the environment with weapons that corrupts the memory, basically, of the world you're within in order to be able to pass through certain walls, for example, and so on and so forth. They're quite big, aren't they? Yeah. I would say it's a standard Metroidvania game. It's like 25-ish hours or something like that.
00:18:47Yeah, especially if you want it 100% the first time. But I would say at least 15. Yeah, that's good. I actually have, once again, not a surprise. I have this. I think I have this for the Switch. And it's a physical box with both games, I think. Oh. Yeah. But you haven't opened it. No, of course not. It's there on the shelf collecting your old dust. All right. worth to note that the developer made this as an absolute homage to the original Metroid game to NES. That was his statement that this is what it would look like if I did it. That is why it looks like it does. I have a vision, everybody. He went through and he made these two games. And they are wildly... I don't know. acknowledged as being true to the retro style, I think. And a lot of people have talked very positively about them. So if any of the old-styly gameplay appeals to you, why not check them out? They're out there. And I don't think they're wildly expensive either. No, I think you get two for like 30 bucks. Which is not a bad deal, if I'm saying so myself. And I am saying so myself. So, play it.
00:20:14Do it. Stop listening to this ish and just get those games and start playing. Listen to our thing and then get those games and start playing. Download it now and then start playing. And play it later. Moving on. It's Blasphemous, y'all. Twice. It is Blasphemous. Two times. This is actually a really cool game. Well, the first one. Guessing the second one is more of the same thing. But this one has really, really punishing combat. It's a platformer, 2D scrolling, all that retro goodness. And yeah, it has a weird mix of gothic, religious themes. And also, you have a big world to explore. And it's brutally punishing. But when you do kill something, you kill a lot of things. But when you do kill something,
00:21:13beefier. I don't want to spoil it. You get that feeling of man, that felt good. I love killing things in the game world. And then you can keep going and keep doing that. And then you keep doing that for like 25 more times and then you beat the game. But it's one of those games that is punishingly hard but fair so you feel good when you break through if that makes any sense. And it had a good the graphical style was very good. If you are into the Gothic swirl of things, I think this game, and probably Blasphemous 2 as well, because I think from what I've seen, it's more of the same, which in this case isn't a bad thing. It usually comes off as if it is. It's just more of the same. But sometimes that's exactly why. I mean, why have people had like 10,000 Big Macs? You know what I'm saying? More of the same. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. More of the same doesn't have to be bad.
00:22:09It doesn't. The next game, it's in the same vein. It's an homage. It's Blazing Chrome, which is a cool name. Oh, yes. It's a cool name. And basically, the story behind this was that, as we say, all of these are indie games. So a lot of the people that made these games had older games as their favorite game from the past, something they grew up with, and they wanted to do an homage. or make a new game because the original creators weren't doing that stuff anymore. And that's the case with Blazing Chrome, because Konami didn't do any platforming games for a long, long time. I don't think they do that now either. No. So Konami basically aren't doing this anymore. And they used to do Contra games. There is a new Double Dragon.
00:22:57yeah but we're talking about contra here yeah yeah double dragon that's true that is definitely it's not that old and it's actually pretty good as well but uh aside from that if you're a double dragon fan then hooray if you're a counter then not so much then you're hard out of luck which was uh exactly the case with blazing chrome because this developer loved those games um and thought that If Konami will not do this for me, I will do this for everyone else. And yeah. So you're basically blasting robots, 2D style. And you get to ride some cool, it's not really bikes, but hover bikes. China? Yeah. And it's a run and gun. And you can play with your best bud or someone you hate. It doesn't really matter. You can play with them all the same. It's a super, super...
00:23:50It's a super tough game. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this the game that we watched the current world record holder in Malmö? Yeah. They're slightly better than I am. They have had a little bit more of a practice. I think still it was kind of a show because he was coming up on stage. He was quite nervous. He said this was the first time he's doing something like this live. And then he missed his own world record with one and a half second and say that this was a pretty decent run and just went off stage. He basically said it exactly like that. This was okay. Well, he was expecting to beat it. And especially, I guess it's, I mean, it's fine if you miss it by like 10 minutes, but then if it's like. I think he, weirdly enough, I mean, he almost beat the world record, but I guess he was like, yeah, that's it folks. And then he left. But if I had been up on that stage, I wouldn't have been done at all. I'm going to go again.
00:25:00I'm going to go until we're done here, folks. And 20 days later, they would have still been there. So Blazing Chrome, I can't say enough positives about it, but it is a very, very, very tough game. I don't want to downplay that. But if you're cool with, well, a big challenge, to be fair, then why not? But if you want a slightly less challenge but the same feeling, I would go for Hard Corps Rising. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are other games in the genre, for sure, and other new games in the genre. But Blazing Chrome has a fun style, and you can see that it's a Contra love letter, for sure. You can. Next thing, also a lot of love letters on this list, but we say that. The next one is amazing, and it's a love letter to Castlevania, the old Castlevania. The games that, I don't know, define the genre.
00:25:55Yeah, I guess it did. But it's still Symphony of the Night old. It's not... Because they had the vein-y parts of it. They had some veins, you know what I'm saying? Which they do! I mean, come on, they're vampires. So anyway, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, which is the full game, is done by Koji Igarashi. And he... Well... He didn't create the Castlevania series, even though a lot of people think he did because he's been around for quite a time. But he was there when they did Symphony of the Night. And in my perspective, that's kind of one of the best games ever. He was there 3,000 years ago or something like that. He was there a million years ago and he built the first computer, y'all. Bloodstained is two games or three games or something like that. It's a dozen games by now.
00:26:51They're two games. So it started out like this modernized version of Castlevania or Metroidvania. It's one of those weird mashups. It's a side-scrolling 2D game with 3D models. But then they made this NES-looking thing. Yeah, and that was actually a part of the Kickstarter. It was a goal in the Kickstarter. And then they made that... A standalone game, which in many ways almost beat the other game. I've 100%-ed the NES game. And I loved it every single moment of it. Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, I have not 100%. It's still a really good game. But for me, the NES game was just amazing. But I would say that... the grind for doing 100% was not worth it because it was just grinding luck, luck, luck, luck, luck. And then you still have this kind of Diablo 2-ish moments where you have still 2% drop chance. Nah. I think we're over that. Luck-based grinding is the worst type of grinding. Don't do that. Having said that, if you are just there for the ride, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night is a really good game.
00:28:11And they had these cool throwbacks to this Mode 7 stuff, like that you flip the castle upside down and you have this... Mirror castle. Yeah, stuff. It was good. The only thing they didn't have was the bell mounts. No bell mount. Which is probably good, because you would have been sued straight out of hell. But I think they're making more. But yeah, if you like Castlevania and you had your fill of those games, this one is a good little pick-me-up, I would say. And if you are playing this for the first time, and depending on how you are towards spoilers, I would actually recommend you to... read a bit of a guide about it, at least a bit of a head, because there is a certain moment without spoiling it, which has been totally ruined by the translation, which is that if you play the English version, you will have freaking no clue how to actually progress, but if you play the Japanese or understand Japanese, it's very clear what you're supposed to do. So, just saying. Yeah, you have been warned, but in a good way.
00:29:26Also, we should add, this is those old school NES games you can play in co-op. And no, it's actually more difficult when you do, because if one of you dies, you're screwed. But it's fun. It's one of those games where you know that it's going to be tougher, but when you die, it's like, let's try it again. Yeah, moving on. We have some more fun. The next one I actually... picked out of the list because it seemed just fun. It's called Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. And it's a spoof on Jet Set Radio. Yeah. So you have the early 2000s Sega Dreamcast-like graphics style. So it's cel-shaded, very weak. I think you and me, Oskar, talked about cel shading being a little, you know, sometimes on, sometimes off. But in this case, it works because it's that kind of arcade-y stuff where it's supposed to be. Exactly. But let's talk about Celdon. We'll have a whole other discussion. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's different. So, yeah, this is that fun early 2000s vibe where you're out there skateboarding, you have the graffiti things, and you're fighting cops. Oh, wait.
00:30:47You're actually kind of a thug, but in a fun way. So you're fighting cops trying to prove that your gang is number one. It's GTA 6, everybody. No. But I guess it's like the light kind of thugster life with the skateboarding thing mixed in there. And yeah. I guess if you like the sound of that, then Bomb Rush. I'm not sure why it's called Bomb Rush. I'll be honest. Name kind of threw me off. But cyber-funk, why not? Yeah, cyber-funk is always funky. And this is also not a two-day side-scrolling game. So I just wanted to have some of the games in the list. This is a 3D game, for sure. Next one is a phenomenon, almost. We're talking about Disco Elysium, the final cut. So it's even longer than the original version. And the original version was like 69,000 hours long.
00:31:44Yeah, it's too much. It's too much, man. But it was too much awesomeness for a lot of people. If I would have had the time or feel that I had the time, I would probably love this. But even then, it's like, this is borderlining being a really hefty book rather than a game. I think one of the good things about the Final Cut was that they added audio. to the text. Because this is, as Oscar mentioned, this is like a blockbuster novel when you just read. And in the original game you had to read, read, read, read, and read some more. It was so text heavy. But it is that way because this is a game that lives in the dialogue. Yeah, yeah. And you have like the, I don't want to spoil it, but it has a lot to do with like psychological.
00:32:42patterns, how you think, how you can manipulate people, and it's very, very, very crime noir. Everything kind of sucks in this world, but in a good way. You know what I'm saying. It's like those Telltale games, more or less. Yep, kind of, but like super, super complex. And I want to have this on the list because a lot of people really love this game, but it's a big investment, both in time... And also I would say, like, emotionally, because they dealt with a lot of heavy issues in this game. Oh, yeah. I also think that the main guy was, like, an alcoholic. Yeah, but he's a detective. He must be an alcoholic. Of course. That is a prerequisite to get the job. I guess you can't be tired. Well, this is not a game that you just, like, start playing on a Friday night when you're a little bit tired. No.
00:33:33This is a game you start playing on a Friday night and end two and a half months later on a Friday night. Yeah. At least you'll be tired. A little bit tired. But then you can be tired. That's fine. Yeah, but everything. Yeah. So you have been warned. It's awesome, but it's taxing. So there we go. Next game is weird. That's my main reason for picking it up. It's actually a fighting game, but you only have two moves. That's it. Two moves. That's it. For those of you who are into fighting games like that, that's blasphemous. No, that's a game on the list. I know. Usually you have like two to 300 combinations you can do. No, this one only has two. And it's called dive kick. Okay. You can dive and you can kick. That's it. So what's the thing with it? Is it just like a meme or?
00:34:29No, it's actually considered being a legitimate fun fighting game. Because the balance is so on. So it's a little bit rock-paper-scissor thingy. Yeah, I guess. But people say that there's depth to it. Anyway, I'm not sure how. Yeah, people say so much. It's described as a tense competitive mind game. So I guess it's like... If you dive and I don't, you win. So it's going to be a Mexican standoff all the time. This is the game you turn on on a Friday night when you're super tired. This is one you turn on on a Friday night when you're tired and then you order some Mexican. It's perfect. Yeah. And then you can have it on all night. All weekend even. But yeah, I have this because it's so different from everything else in that genre. And I like the name, Divekick. Yeah.
00:35:24And with that, we are on the last item on our list, or our version of this list, I should say. And I picked this because it has a cool name, and it kind of has an homage to a very classic genre and a very classic series. It's called Freedom Planet, and it's an indie-made game for those that love Sonic the Hedgehog. Yeah. Yeah. They described it as the Sonic Mania before Sonic Mania. So it's fast-paced platforming and with, you know, a lot of colors. I like this. I like it when there is a lot of color. That appeals to me more. Yeah. And also, I guess, seeing as Sonic himself is kind of back. Oh, yeah, he is. It's a thing again, especially with the third movie and everything. So I... I looked at some pictures for this game and it looks kind of colorful and nice, but I haven't played it. Have you seen this game, Oskar? No, I haven't seen it. And I'm just watching. Doesn't it feel like one game we should have seen at like any speed running event? Yeah, it should. But I don't know really why. Yeah, I was thinking like homework for us will be to find out why no one has speed run this game because it looks like a typical speed running game.
00:36:51Maybe they have and be just ignorant. Yeah. And there are two of them. Really? Yeah, Freedom Planet and Freedom Planet 2. Oh, man. But just with a really quick glance, it's not really that popular on speedrun.com. The last record for the Freedom Planet was five years ago. Whoa! I'm sensing a comeback right now. I think so too. It's like nine months since the last record and it's only three on the list. So, yep, it's up for grabs. If we want to break into the scene, this is the game. This is the game. And I want what it catches because it looks freaking good. Yeah, it looks good, right? What are we not getting here? overwhelmingly positive. Which is even more weird. What are we missing? I don't know. And on that little mystery, it's time to wrap up our list. If any of these sounded good, we always say this, but we will do it again. These are indie devs. They thrive on you being a part of their journey. So if it sounded good, head over to Steam.
00:38:12and wishlist these games, even if you don't want to pick them up or want to pick them up later. Wishlisting these games means a lot to indie devs. And they always mention that when they get the chance. So feel free to do that. And the good thing about indie games is that they are often quite affordable, especially during sales. So you have that going for you as well. You won't find these AAA games for $2. No. But these you might. Imagine next Assassin's Creed. $2. GTA 6. $1.99. That's not going to happen. They would still sell for billions. That's the sick part. If you find it for $1.99, it's going to be $199. What was the rumor? $8.89? Or something like that? Yeah. For those of you who are on a bit of a budget but still want some solid entertainment, indie games. It's the way to go. That's the way to go. I just wanted to say, next episode coming up will be back to the old Swedish. And it will probably be a theme of some kind. Yeah. I know. Mystery. And if you want to have some more of us between now and then.
00:39:37We are on SoundCloud, we are on Spotify, and we are on YouTube. And if you want to go check out our YouTube stuff, where mostly me and Linda have played some diverse game within the same genre, mostly. Then it's RC Gaming and Guides. That's right. And we are actually recording stuff right now. So it's definitely a living space, that's for sure. And having said all of that, plugging hard, I know, but you know what? Gotta make that bread, y'all. I'm pushing over this little list to ask you to wrap things up. Yep, and it has been an interesting list. Indie is a warm-hearted thing that we should care about. And with that said, please listen to us next time. So till then, best of luck. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.