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[.Pennywise]

In these last years I've found myself enjoying quite a plethora of games, but also stumbled upon how much AAA gaming does very little for me.
And while some indie games are really good and it's where real innovation is at, most of them just cannot be what they pretend due obviously to their budget limitations.
However, in AA gaming is where I find myself spending most of the time. A good balance between the innovation of the indie scene and a budget more towards the AAA scene but that doesn't reach quite the heights of it.

So, what do you find yourself enjoying more and/or investing most of your time in these days? Why?

 

[brian0057]

As long as the game is good, I don't care.

 

[ReBurn]

I don't care what the budget is. I just like good games.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Indie by far. I find them more innovative and they tend to focus more on gameplay.

 

[tommib]

It's missing the I don't care option.

 

[STARSBarry]

Voted for indie

Honesty with wonderful gems like Deep Rock Galactic, Hotline Miami and of course Crosscode.



More and more titles I play are entering this sphere, although AA seems to be picking up the slack that AAA are failing to evolve at times. Indie titles just consistantly make great titles that offer more value to a player than most of the industry now.

 

[Mr Hyde]

AA and Indie is what gets me off most these days. They seem more creative and flourishing with new ideas and concept. In the AAA space it's basically Sony's and Nintendos exclusives and From Software that gets my juices flowing. Resident Evil is still good. But looking at the AAA space I'd say 90% is pure crap. Broken, unfinished GaaS garbage, Ubisoft checkbox open world, run of the mill shooters and sports games. Weehoo.

 

[Ceadeus]

I must say I need all 3 type. But as it goes for VR, I'm not sure in what category some of these game are.

I can have more fun playing population one a AAA console game.

 

[GametimeUK]

I love them all, but I'd have to say I'm enjoying AAA more at the moment. I often go back and forth between what I like more.

 

[dbilyliker]

strategy game player ,I prefer games from well-known developers, and I hate bugs and the intolerably bad graphics

 

[Fare thee well]

I've always enjoyed midtier games the most. The same companies around today that call themselves 'AAA,' were once the same size and scope as what some call 'AA.' And that was always my favorite period of their growth as a games developer. Take Activision for example. MW2 meant Mechwarrior 2 to me long before it meant Modern Warfare 2

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I'll give anything a try, given it's a genre/storyline I have a passing interest in. That said, AAA RPGs have been my bread and butter for years, with a helping of AAA (Survival) Horror on the side

 

[Aenima]

I can enjoy all kinds of budgets games. But when an AAA game is good, its on another level.

 

[AJUMP23]

I enjoy good games. Sometimes mediocre games.

 

[Plantoid]

I like AAA more, but man, there is some gems on game pass...

Right now I'm playing a game called "nobody saves the world" never heard of it but after a quick trailer i was sold, I'm playing for 5 hours straight, every month i find 2 or 3 games like these, so indies are a close second

 

[WoJ]

All types. But I have a soft spot for AA.

 

[Punished Miku]

I like AAA more, but man, there is some gems on game pass...

Right now I'm playing a game called "nobody saves the world" never heard of it but after a quick trailer i was sold, I'm playing for 5 hours straight, every month i find 2 or 3 games like these, so indies are a close second

Its from the makers of Guacamelee. Those guys are true pros. NStW is great.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

Whatever Souls is.

 

[Kdad]

As long as it is single player its all good.

 

[Guilhermegrg]

I enjoy good games

 

[TheDrunkenMerchant]

Indies have reached a point of oversaturation. Not saying that means any of them are lessened quality because of it, just that I don't have time for so many of them. Many follow trends that were due to unique throwbacks years prior, resulting in 100 new Metroidvanias coming out all at the same time. Most looking, playing, and sounding amazing...but I don't have time for 100 of them.

AAA are incredible experiences that are so finely tuned and appeals to the senses so well. Unfortunately, many of them are plagued with "walking simulator" syndrome, or can never break the mold of "this troubled person must overcome their doubts to save the world" due to how much money is invested in it.

AA is such a gamble. In one hand you have the garbage: Timeshift, Bodycount, Brink, Inversion. On the other hand, you have amazing games that have created several niche communities: Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, The Saboteur, Alpha Protocol.

I'll take the AA gamble any day.

 

[Reave]

Lost a lot of interest in indies over the years.

It’s not all of them, but a lot of them are becoming too goofy or silly, story/premise-wise, for my tastes.

“What if an owl dresses as a leaf blower with a magical sword that can save a small town from hordes of zombie refrigerators?!”

Plus, I don’t know how many more 2D pixel-art games I can really get excited for anymore. Too many.

 

[Gameplaylover]

AA + Indie

 

[Danjin44]

Most my favourite games all time all come from AA rather than AAA.

 

[LazyParrot]

Ditching AAA games almost entirely pretty much saved this hobby for me. I eventually realized that I cared very little about the games themselves and was just buying them because of FOMO.

 

[RPSleon]

I prefer games purley based on the developers having creative freedom and the money to make their vision a reality.

The games ive really hated are ones where you can tell the publishers rubbed its greasy balls all over every single idea.

 

[NahaNago]

Iv'e always been more interested in the AA games. I'm starting also to come around more to indie games as well.

 

[Haggard]

A good game is good game no matter the budget.

 

[Cyborg]

Games with good story no matter the type

 

[Barlow]

Depends but I'd say overall AA games

 

[Deerock71]

I like a good AA game. Those games have a chance to breathe, and don't get focus-grouped to death like a AAA game does, and of course they tend to have more of a budget than an indie title.

 

[Roberts]

It used to be AAA. That is pretty much what I played until Gamepass came out. No so much by preference, but ignorance. Now, I'm game for everything, especially indies. I'm jumping between Nobody Saves the World and Tsushima at the moment and to be honest, I tend to spend more quality time with the former.

 

[Ellery]

We do have the luxury of rating Indie in hindsight whilst we have gigantic expectations for AAA games.

There are many great indie games, but for each Hades, FTL, Hollow Knight there are 100000 games on the indie graveyard. In the AAA gaming space we have fewer games and sadly many of those play it too safe and boring with repetitive formulas to make annual releases (or every two years).
But there are also the AAA games that are considered the greatest games of all time and those games are what makes gaming for me.


I consider myself to play whatever I think is good. The price doesn't really play a role or whether it is from a small or big studio. I am pretty selective when it comes to games with Playstation exclusive games having the highest quality out of any games and those are usually the games (like God of War) that I am looking forward to and I gladly pay full price on day one for those experiences. On the other hand I super love some certain indie games (recently Slay The Spire, Hades, Hollow Knight) which I consider to be extremely good and you can easily put hundreds of hours into those.

But at the end of the day there are just some games and studios that do the right thing with their budget. I don't see myself as a graphics whore, but there is a lot of beauty and immersion to have beautiful AAA games to jump into with top notch animations, voice acting, design etc.

With that being said there are not enough AAA games that reach that level of quality (Zelda, The Last of Us, God of War, Uncharted, FROM Soulsborne, GTA, etc) so I either have to take a gamble on AAA games like Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Hellblade that are usually just not worth your time and the indie space offers some banger games that are just better.

So the combination of the best of both worlds is what makes me happy (with consideration of your personal taste of course). Even though people hate reviews and other people's opinions on game I have found that you can get a good estimate of what games are really damn good based on how people talk about them.

 

[.Pennywise]

With that being said there are not enough AAA games that reach that level of quality (Zelda, The Last of Us, God of War, Uncharted, FROM Soulsborne, GTA, etc) so I either have to take a gamble on AAA games like Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Hellblade that are usually just not worth your time and the indie space offers some banger games that are just better.

Hellblade = AA

Hellblade 2 = AAA

 

[ckaneo]

A good game

 

[Paasei]

I actually don't know what classifies under AA, in terms of games.

 

[mortal]

I enjoy well made games, regardless of their budget.

 

[FeldMonster]

I wouldn't touch an indie game with a ten foot pole.

AAA all the way. Occasionally AA.

 

[Nautilus]

All of them.Because just like there are bad AAA games, there are ban indie games.

 

[Juza]

Most AAA games are actually shit these days, made with monetization in mind, polluted with microtransactions/lotboxes, and the gameplay is baoring and repetitive

While some AA and indie developers are still coming up with good ideas to make their games fresh and fun.

 

[Wildebeest]

What people call Indie would have been huge budget games that get all the magazine covers when I was a kid. What people now call AAA look like a dog's breakfast to me.

 

[Davevil]

Nintendo games.
I'll never touch indie games

 

[MadchesterManc]

B-tier Japanese games like EDF, Onechanbara, Hyperdimension Neptunia etc are my jam. When it comes to Western devs I've always enjoyed games from the likes of Rebellion and Croteam, so it's safe to say I have preference for AA content

 

[brian0057]

I actually don't know what classifies under AA, in terms of games.

Games that are too big to be considered indie but too small to be considered AAA.
The original Mass Effect, the first Witcher, Metro 2033, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Vampyr, Styx: Master of Shadows, Battletech, Underworld: Ascendant, and more, fall into this category.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Skyrim

 

[Fbh]

I don't really have a preference, I like good games and they come in all budget.

I usually like to keep it varied. As fun as indies can be, sometimes I get the itch to play something with awesome production values that you'll only get in AAA games, but stay too long playing those and I start to look for the more unique experiences you can get from AA and indie games

 

[Batiman]

Probably AAA. But I’m very selective with them. Meanwhile I’ll give a shot to a lot of indies and they take most of my time. If you enjoy more gamey games then indies are the way to go sadly. These AAAs want to be movies half the time.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

My gaming preference has been this lately:

AAA
Sports, WRPGs, shooters, racers

AA
I typically never play them anymore. This is probably the tier of games like Just Cause or Dante's Inferno (which I did play)

Indie
Cheap quirky games.... board games, twin stick shooters, rogue. I enjoy these games the older I get

 

[ethomaz]

Good games are good.
I enjoy these.

There are good AAA, AA and Indies games.

 

[amigastar]

Just a question. Is Rise Of The Tomb Raider an AAA Production? Because it surely seems so.