[LarryIronshlo]

I think this year, I've mostly played indie games and older titles. While there are some great AAA games, I feel like many nowadays are just there to look good, but lack soulfulness. Gamedevs used to be quite unhinged and just added stupid stuff that could be considered "risky" but were fun.

Personally, while realistic graphics certainly can look amazing, I do enjoy the quirky feeling of non-realistic graphics in indie games and older titles. For example, I recently played Blood West and Fallen Aces and while the graphics are obviously nowhere near modern AAA titles, they still feel amazing BECAUSE of the "bad" graphics.

On a side note, i feel like modern hardware requirements are like 90% just badly optimized games that still look the same as older AAA games from 2017-2020 (and AI). If not for badly optimized games, there would barely be a reason to even upgrade your PC. A friend of mine recently showed me a side by side comparison of 2 games, one made in 2004 (Vampire the masquerade: Bloodlines) and one from 2023 (Starfield), in which the game that was 20 years older, had much better facial expressions and felt much more soulful than the newer game.


I mean, just look at how beautiful Batman Arkham Knight looks, despite being almost 10 years old.

Or maybe I'm just getting old..

[Aapje]

I don't think that you are getting old, but that AAA developers are now often adding things that are one step forwards, two steps back, like adding graphical changes that usually provide a rather small benefit like raytracing, and then requiring DLSS/FSR to be turned on which then results in lots of artifacts and fuzziness.

It feels like we need a breakthrough to provide some real progress. Meanwhile, a lot of AAA developers seem to have some sort of mindvirus that makes them put their politics in games in an extremely overt way, at the expense of good writing, good story telling and showing a general lack of desire to make what most people actually want.

Part of the issue may be that lots of AAA studios have been bought up by big companies in the past decade, so most of these studios are now owned by Tencent, Sony and MS. The leadership of these companies seem to have no clue, letting the inmates run the asylum.

But the stagnation with AAA means that indie developers can shine.

[miskkie]

Indie devs who just run with an interesting idea do seem to often beat a lot of what most AAA studios come up with. Nature of the industry at this point.

[Hellojello163]

Yeah that's really the reason why I don't really play newer aaa games, I haven't played any indie games as of recently because I don't have anything to run more demanding games but on my phone I played oxenfree idk if it classifies as indie but it definitely left a lasting impression, I have yet to play the sequel.

[Sneakyboi]

You're not getting old. I haven't really played a lot of new AAA games, but I've seen a few and they do have the soulessness you were talking about. Not to mention, another "AAA" game I've seen lots about called "Dragon's Age: Veilguard", it's not that its soulless, but rather that the writing feels like its been done by 8 year olds. It feels like the triple A title means nothing nowadays, since companies regurgitate "AAA" slop with budgets so high yet so poor quality. The number of people who worked on these games is also ridiculous, I mean, Star Wars Outlaws had credits that was 45 minutes long and Dragon Age Veilguard is almost 30 minutes long. These AAA games have become the literal definition of "too many cooks in the kitchen". But anyways, indie games (for the moment) triumph over most AAA games nowadays, since a lot more great indie game devs have the potential to discovered due to the incompetence of large companies, since gamers are a lot more likely to run in into hidden gems while searching for alternatives for entertainment.

[mishavarsanyi]

I totally feel you! It’s such a shame to see how AAA studios are often squandering their developers’ talents and all that investment into making games that look amazing but ultimately feel pretty shallow. With development costs rising every year, these companies seem more focused on delivering photorealistic graphics than actually creating something meaningful or fun. As a result, we’re getting more of the same, with big budgets going into visuals instead of innovative gameplay or unique experiences.

Then you look at indie games like *Blood West* or *Fallen Aces*—their graphics may not be cutting-edge, but there's a certain charm in that simplicity. They feel more "real" in a way that the latest AAA titles just don’t. It’s like these indie devs are given the freedom to get weird, take risks, and build worlds that have character. Meanwhile, AAA studios seem so focused on making everything perfect on the surface that they forget what makes a game truly memorable.


And don’t even get me started on modern hardware requirements. So many games today need massive specs, but it’s not because they’re doing anything that revolutionary—it’s more about poor optimization. I mean, when you compare something like *Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines* to *Starfield*, the older game feels more alive, more soulful, even with the “worse” graphics. It’s almost like the industry’s traded depth and heart for technical power.


It’s frustrating to watch, especially when it feels like so much talent and money is being poured into projects that are safe and formulaic. Maybe we’re just getting older, but I think it’s more that AAA gaming has lost its way a little. They’ve got the resources but have forgotten what really makes a game special.