We review the nominees for Indie Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2020. These are the highlights of the last 12 months on consoles and PC.
The Game Awards 2020 finalizes its preparations for a night of celebration. The world of video games will remain for a few hours under the lights of a gala where the most outstanding titles of the last (almost) 12 months will be chosen. It will begin next Friday, December 11 at 01:00 CET, and will run until 05:00 in the morning. It will touch to get up early.
Personalities such as Reggie Fils-Aime, Brie Larson and Gal Gadot, among others, will be part of the show, whose nominees we already know. During the event there will also be space for the next projects that will accompany us in the coming years, such as Dragon Age 4, about which we will know news. In any case, in this piece we will review which are the titles nominated for the best independent game of the year, in case any clueless have missed the highlights of the indie scene in 2020.
Carrion, when the monster is you
Devolver Digital is passionate about sheltering proposals that are beyond the average. Carrion is one of those different titles, which does not leave indifferent to those who take charge. For a few hours we will incarnate an alien mass that must make its way as it grows in size … and power. As if it were The Thing in a pixelated version, now it is you who must fight against humans.
In our Reviews, we said that Carrion “is a perfect work to enjoy for an afternoon.” We emphasized the control of the beast, fluid and precise; “It’s nice to move in this indie”, we stressed. Of course, not everything was up to the task: the phases in which we control humans “break the rhythm of the game”, in addition to their scarce variety of enemies and “the repetitiveness of much of the scenario”.
You can find it on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
Fall Guys, the authentic yellow humor of the video game
The Fall Guys colored dolls were the true sensation of summer. With its initial launch on PlayStation Plus (and Steam), millions of users joined this kind of fusion between battle royale and tests in the purest yellow humor style. Ultimate Knockout are guaranteed laughs, a true exercise of cooperation and individuality in the face of his physical system. Hilarious.
While preparing for its third season, the title (again, with the Devolver Digital seal) has been characterized by making its characters an incessant way of tributes to the video game. As you can see in the variety of costumes in the image that accompanies these lines, Gordon Freeman was the beginning of a very long list of winks. The goose from Untitled Goose Game, Godzilla, Sonic, Team Fortress 2… nobody wants to lose their place in it.
It is available on PS4 and PC.
Hades, hell turned into playable pleasure
How many studios are lucky enough to have the Supergiant Games track record? Since its debut in 2011 with Bastion, the bar for quality has never wavered. We saw it in Transistor (2014), in Pyre (2017) and in Hades (2020). The challenge to the god of the dead has left us one of the highest rated roguelikes of the entire generation. The arguments speak for themselves.
After a period of early access, the final version left us “the best game from a studio that had done everything right so far.” In this way we began the conclusions of our Reviews, in which he obtained a score of 9.3 out of 10. To the common features of his previous works, such as visual and sound excellence, there is added “an apparent hunger to give the player a satisfactory experience at the controls ”. What separates him from the honors are “some errors of artificial intelligence” and the desire for a “greater variety” in the routes.
You can get it on PC and Nintendo Switch.
Spiritfarer, devotion to Studio Ghibli
Spiritfarer goes easy on the eyes. Its visual beauty reflects snippets of Japanese anime, Studio Ghibli’s marvelous imagination, and animation from the best Ankama products. Underneath that visual power lies a title that mixes management mechanics with platforms and puzzles.
In this house he achieved an 8.5 out of 10. Sergio Melero explained in the Reviews that it had been “a pleasant surprise.” “The relaxing overall approach has one very important aspect: we are always looking forward to exploring the sea for new surprises,” he said. And it is that in its 30 hours of duration it integrates the story very well “within the mechanics of management, platforms and exploration”.
It is available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia. He also participates in the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
Spelunky 2, a round sequel
The first Spelunky transcended as one of the references of the independent scene. Its devilish difficulty turned the scenarios into interactive puzzles, as if the course of the adventure itself was subject to solving the obstacles in our path. It is one of those games that at a playable level offer the best of the best; Spelunky 2 has not been less.
Rubén Martínez wrote in the Reviews of this house that “it is an outstanding title. “Behind that childish appearance is hidden a true indie gem that knows how to reward players with enough patience and skill to endure the hardships it offers us.” The question was obvious after achieving a 9.5: what was it that kept him from excellence? “Some minor bugs, like some overly busy scenarios,” we said. And with cooperative mode.
You will be able to play it on PS4 and PC.
