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Shovel Knight artist says throwback games need 'retro authenticity' but can't coast on nostalgia alone: 'Part of the appeal of the NES era of game making was that everything was a new idea' (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I mean, we can wait for them to clarify, but the way I read it is that... it's bad that they don't sell their game for cheaper?

I profoundly disagree there, too. There's this notion that pixel art games are inherently low-end, cheap stuff and that's just not true. Plus games are too cheap these days anyway. I bought Shovel Knight full price (several times, actually), and while it's not my favorite 2D platformer it always felt like good value. I mean, the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission, and all the expansions are fun and worth playing. Even if they weren't, the franchise now includes more interesting games I am glad their success was able to fund.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I agree with the sentiment. People think that non 3d graphics should be cheap because they don't understand the amount of work that can go behind them.

Take chained echoes or sea of stars, two modern pixel jrpgs with "premium" prices. If someone thinks those games shouldn't cost their full price, they are out of their minds.

Same with shovel knight. I bought the treasure trove and the amount of fun it has give to me puts so many 80€ games to shame.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Shovel Knight is flipping huge. I mean, sure, Treasure Trove includes what? Five full games in there, given their DLC structure. But even if it didn't, I don't think people realize how big these "retro games" are.

Shovel Knight is probably three, four times larger than Duck Tales, both in terms of assets and playtime. If anything, a pet peeve of mine with modern retro games is they all feel this compulsion to give you a five hour playthrough at least and that's often too much for the older mechanics they're leaning on.

Castlevania will last you an hour on a blind run and that's perfectly fine, even if you get to that bar by having more content instead of being obtuse and difficult the way an older game would due to memory and budget constraints.