Remember when you were growing up, the general feeling of the games industry was one positively bursting with creativity and forward-momentum? Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, GTA III, Gears of War - there were landmark releases left, right and centre, all coming from a group of developers whose artistic visions could be easily realised by the most cutting edge tech of the time. Flash-forward to 2015 and that balance has changed considerably. Gone is the entire middle tier of development (THQ and Midway being two of the biggest casualties) as production on triple A games tends to arrive like a long-delayed bus. Both the PS4 and Xbox One's major exclusivity rollouts have been devoid of any system-sellers, short of Ori & The Blind Forest or Bloodborne - and that's where indie gaming comes in. As a label it can denote everything from a smaller development team to a particularly quirky design ethos, a unique gameplay mechanic or a forward-thinking story progression. To put it another way; it's everything we used to love about the industry in the first place. Sure, there have been a few too many side-scrolling platformers shoved down peoples' throats on a monthly basis as reward for subscribing to PS Plus or Xbox Live, leaving a sour taste that's hard to shift, but to focus on those alone would be to miss the best of what's really on offer. That point is this: Some of the greatest titles you can play in 2015 are sitting comfortably under the indie game banner, and that should be a welcoming red ribbon to cut through and proceed, not a marker to stand clear.
