I remember growing up playing Nintendo games up and other AAA games until I started watching YT. Particular TB and adjacent YouTubers.
Now-a-days, especially watching most of Summer Games Fest, I feel like I really am not excited about AAA games as I used to be and generally prefer indie games
Think it's a combination of time, DLC, gamba bs, same game released 7 thousand times and broken games at launch that have mostly turned me away from AAA games. Nintendo, Ubisoft, Blizzard, SquareEnix and others, have further tainted the appreciation I once had for these companies with the level of abuse to their fanbases and even their own employees.
How you all feel about AAA vs Indie games? Which do you prefer, and has this changed for you over time?
I almost always prefer a quirky game that does its own thing to a bland game with mass market appeal. Most AAA studios, especially as game budgets have exploded, are afraid to experiment with their gameplay or do anything new. Nintendo is probably the largest exception to this rule, but it comes with the caveat that they generally don't release new entries unless they come up with something new, which is sad for, like, Star Fox and F-Zero fans. But ultimately the more a game costs the less room there is for the sort of risk that makes for the truly special games