If there's one gaming trend that's been appreciated in the past few years it's the boom of big name publishers making small scale indie-inspired titles. Fronted by Ubisoft, the Assassin's Creed developer has embraced the decision to break the mould to create more niche and less mainstream games. Through the success of Child of Light and Valiant Hearts, Ubi has kick-started a trend that's quickly being adopted by many other triple A publishers, most recently by Microsoft themselves who released Ori and The Blind forest to great critical and commercial success earlier this year. Developed by Moon Studios, the gorgeous platformer makes for an exciting break away from the fast paced shooters Microsoft is mostly known for. By delivering a well-crafted and emotionally engaging 2D download-only title, the entire release of the game became indicative of the company's new-found willingness to take risks on more experimental and untested games, which from a consumer stand-point meant nothing other than more originality and variety in their exclusive releases.
