Summary
Most people who tuned intoNintendo’sIndie World showcase this week were there for one thing -Hollow Knight: Silksong. Previously slated for early 2023, we’re still yet to see anything of the anticipated sequel, and after being rated in Korea and seeinga page momentarily appear on the Xbox store, plusbeing dunked on at Triple-I, many thought this was the moment Silksong would make its debut. But once more,it shirked the spotlight.
Silksong might be the most a game has ever lived bythe rule of ‘it’s ready when it’s ready’, and in a world of tight deadlines and games broken at launch, we should be grateful for it. The game alsofeels like the end of an era, the last game where delays and hype still feel like a big deal in this era of teaser trailers seven years out from launch. I felt this way whenthe Smash Fighters Pass drew to a close- once it’s over, what will we have to care about?
Silksong Hype Can Derail Game Showcases
To be honest though, I wasn’t really there for Silksong. I’ll play Silksong and likely enjoy it, because that was my experience with Hollow Knight, but I never got above ‘enjoy’. My hopes and dreams don’t hinge on the next one. Of course, I’ve been in hype cycles before, and at every showcase I cross everything twice forTomb Raider. I understand craving information on a game and being left empty handed each time. Silksong just doesn’t do it for me.
That makes these showcases a little odd - especially for Indie World, which has typically had very small titles that lack the big capital-g Gamer appeal of the hits shown off at Nintendo Directs, or those put on byPlayStation,Xbox, or Geoff Keighley. You’re not supposed to watch Indie World with any expectations other than the vague hope that you might see something cool.
It’s not Silksong’s fault, of course. It has never teased its imminent arrival and is not responsible for conclusions jumped to from it being rated or whatever error caused it to appear prematurely on the Xbox store. But simply by existing and having created outsized expectations (Team Cherry is not the sort of studio typically associated with this sort of longing), I can’t get over the feeling that Silksong makes things like Indie World a little worse.
Indie World Needs A Bigger Range Of Games
Even judged against past Indie Worlds, I thought the most recent one was fairly poor. There was an overabundance of cutesiness, several games that are already out on mobile, and the most interesting thing there was Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which showed us a trailer we’d already seen. I was hoping for Ete (which I realise is also very cute),Time Flies, Despelote, Henry Halfhead, Tracks of Thought, orHauntii, as well as just the chance to be surprised by something new. Even without caring that Silksong was missing, I didn’t leave Indie World with much excitement.
On the other, it feels overly cynical to look at indie devs earnestly putting forward their games that approach the industry differently to the standard violence and bloodshed and dismiss it as boring. I’d much rather have a wide range of Indie World-style games getting prominence in the industry than the same triple-A tropes being churned over again and again.
Or, on my apparently existent third hand, have I just been conned into thinking I’m being mean by calling cute games boring because of how endlessly wholesomeness is pushed as a necessity for bouncy fun indie games that exist in a different ecosystem to the rest of the industry? Or on the fourth hand (maybe I’m just being helped by a friend), does that way of thinking lead to these games beingsiphoned off into Games for Impact as their own special thingthat is not to be confused with real bang bang you’re dead games?
All this to say Silksong should not be the be all and end all of these showcases, especially since we don’t actually know if it will be any good. That goes double for Indie World, as we’re only supposed to be watching because we’re interested in seeing neat new things, not in the hopes of seeing one of the most anticipated titles in gaming shadowdrop that very instant. But I’d also like to see Nintendo embrace a wider range of indies to promote, and not get so caught up in the cosiness it has cultivated. Now onto the next one, where Tomb Raider is definitely gonna be there.
