I loved INSIDE. I'm not going to describe it at all because what makes it enjoyable is the discovery from moment to moment. Don't read any reviews. You deserve the experience, and I think you'll like it, especially if LIMBO spoke to you.

Someone INSIDE did not speak to was KO Gaming. I'm not going to link to the youtube, but I watched it this weekend after beating the game. He liked the game basically, but toward the end of the review he starts ranting, Angry-Joe-style, about developers not explaining their stories, calling out INSIDE, LIMBO, and Journey for not explaining what the stories were about. Oy vey!

Can you imagine KO Poetry? Hey e.e. cummings, what the hell DOES depend on a red wheelbarrow? Hey Lewis Carroll, I thought you were an English writer. What's with this jibber jabber bullshit?

Sigh.

Kermit

P.S. I do realize that these games are not for everyone, and that's okay.

I, for one, am sick of indie games (or any game regardless of budget) with obscure stories.

I say there's a fine line between obscure and evocative, but I have no quarrel with your opinion. I can name several that I was disappointed with: Everyone's Gone to the Rapture, Pneuma, and maybe Witness (although I should probably finish it before I pass judgement). The games he mentioned really clicked with me, though, and I wouldn't want them to be any different than they are.

Coincidentally, I also don't get any enjoyment out of reading or discussing poetry.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'm not hearing you say that poetry should be something else. I like that the marketplace has room for studios like Playdead and thatgamecompany and the games they make. I also like Naughty Dog--they're advancing storytelling in gaming as much as anyone.

I just wish that these games were better about communicating the kind of experience you can expect out of them, before you put money on the table. When I got to the end of the stories of The Witness or Hyper Light Drifter, I felt betrayed. Personally, when a game uses mysterious imagery or cryptic dialogue to convey it's story, I expect there to be an "Ah-ha!" moment towards the end where everything mentally falls into place and I clearly understand the point the writer was trying to get across. That's just the sort of person I am. So when most games are so similar in their story-related marketing materiel, it's hard to tell if I'll enjoy the game's story or not, for the reasons I just mentioned.

Judging by the early reviews, I don't think I'll ever touch INSIDE.

Black on white I see,
What creeps beneath the branches,
Pierced at last I die.

Using poetry to describe these games.

Or at least my experience with Limbo. :P