Indie game of the week: Iji

September 5, 2008 10:02 PM

It's not often that a freeware game can truly be called a masterpiece but Daniel Remar has finally released Iji, an action platformer with touches of RPG, in which you control a female heroine with a whole lot of engineered superhuman abilities. What makes this game so good is the sheer of polish that has been put into the production and the large amount of choices there are to make. You can choose what abilities to level up with, whether or not to bother killing enemies and the path you take through each sprawling area, which can effect the outcome of the unfolding story.
posted by pancreas (25 comments total)

Sounds cool, but no download for os_x, if you swing that way.
posted by localhuman at 10:26 PM on September 5, 2008

Yeah, I noticed the same thing. No Mac version, no download from me...
posted by MythMaker at 11:08 PM on September 5, 2008

Yeah. I don't mind posts about software I can't use. But at least let us know what systems they run on.
posted by ardgedee at 3:12 AM on September 6, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Wow, does intentionally buying a computer with a notoriously limited software library really give you the right to complain that this poor guy's game won’t run for you? He designed, coded and animated the game on his own and all you can do is complain that he didn’t bother to port it to Mac!

Looks awesome pancreas, I'm downloading it now.
posted by ham at 3:26 AM on September 6, 2008 [15 favorites has favorites]

Runs OK under WINE, but not really worth downloading. The graphics would have been bad 15 years ago, the sound is poor, and the story is hackneyed. This is one of those games by and for Gameplay Nazis, who can ignore every other element as long as there's some complex jumping puzzles. If you want a free game like this that's better in every regard, check out Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story). There's even ports to other platforms, because the author didn't code it in some platform-locked game prefabricator software.
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:42 AM on September 6, 2008 [8 favorites has favorites]

Looks interesting to download, which I am. I'll post some more once I've played some.
posted by robotot at 4:36 AM on September 6, 2008

a notoriously limited software library

Not to ignite any holy wars, but between wine, vmware, and fink, the list of things that won't run on MacOS X is pretty short and uninteresting.
posted by vira at 6:44 AM on September 6, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

He designed, coded and animated the game on his own and all you can do is complain that he didn’t bother to port it to Mac!

If he had used something SDL or pygame it wouldn't have been a bother. In this, the 21st century, I'm fully prepared and willing to fault any programmer who uses platform-specific libraries.
posted by scope the lobe at 9:29 AM on September 6, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

This is one of those games by and for Gameplay Nazis, who can ignore every other element as long as there's some complex jumping puzzles. If you want a free game like this that's better in every regard, check out Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story).

Or seriously? Just buy Portal. I can't believe how cheap that game is.
posted by voltairemodern at 9:29 AM on September 6, 2008

Not to ignite any holy wars, but between wine, vmware, and fink, the list of things that won't run on MacOS X is pretty short and uninteresting.

The very model of efficiency. It's why I sold my macbook.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:32 AM on September 6, 2008

> Wow, does intentionally buying a computer with a notoriously limited software library ...

MeTa.

It sounds like a neat game and I'd just as soon see folks discussing the game here and argue about OSes elsewhere.
posted by ardgedee at 9:46 AM on September 6, 2008

Sell your old PowerPC-based Macs, ditch your creaky desktop PC, and get a current Mac with WinXP via Boot Camp (the way to go for gaming) and/or Parallels.
posted by porn in the woods at 9:57 AM on September 6, 2008

Wine is frequently faster than native. Vmware too. On my linux system, my 3d games (WoW and EVE) get higher framerates in wine.
posted by vira at 10:00 AM on September 6, 2008

It really didn't sound to me like those Mac users were bitching or complaining. Just like they were pointing out for others what the original post didn't : you need windows to download and use it. I went poking around the site too before I read that
posted by mannequito at 10:42 AM on September 6, 2008

This game is really pretty awesome. And it runs on my graphics-impaired laptop, which is even more awesome.
posted by JDHarper at 10:42 AM on September 6, 2008

It sounds like the Mac users were bitching because they do that with literally every computer program that gets posted to the blue that doesn't run on a Mac and doesn't state that up front.

I can see where they're coming from, but I think they're risking a backlash with this kind of stridency, especially, as vira points out, most programs CAN run on a Mac these days, one way or another.
posted by JHarris at 11:27 AM on September 6, 2008

this game is fun. i just stayed up until 7am last night getting to the final boss and beat it this morning (on normal). the physics are satisfying, the weapons are fun to use (perhaps the most important thing), the music is good, it's nice and colorful, and the dialogue is a bit amateurish but effectively conveys a sense of mystery that works well for me; i'm one of those people mentioned upthread for whom a "good enough" story is good enough in an action game. the "economy" of the game art is interesting -- in a good way -- as well, especially cut scenes, which are in the venerable Ninja Gaiden tradition.

a note about cave story: yeah, cave story is good. i beat it like four different ways two years ago. it's an incredible game, but not every single (FREE) software offering on the internet needs to live up to that gold standard to still be entertaining. haters can, you know, suck eggs.
posted by radiosig at 12:39 PM on September 6, 2008

If you're looking for an awesome (physics-based, non-platformer) game, you should check out Hammerfall.
posted by anthill at 12:39 PM on September 6, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

"...the dialogue is a bit amateurish but effectively conveys a sense of mystery that works well for me; i'm one of those people mentioned upthread for whom a "good enough" story is good enough in an action game."

One of the nice things about having games like Portal is that even people who are never going to write a masterpiece of interactive fiction try a little bit harder because they see what's possible.

The game is a lot of fun... it reminds me of playing Blackthorne years ago. Thanks for pointing it out.
posted by selfnoise at 1:52 PM on September 6, 2008

I apologise for not pointing out that it doesn't have a Mac port. I'll try to remember that for next time. I won't ever be posting Mac software simply because I don't own one.
posted by pancreas at 5:15 PM on September 6, 2008

"Could you at least add a Windows tag?"

He did. See up there where it says "game"? That means it runs on Windows machines only.
posted by juv3nal at 5:52 PM on September 6, 2008

Good game, thanks. Works fine for me via vmware. I think the annoyance (which I experienced a bit myself) is that when you go to the author's page, it doesn't even mention platform.

Also, the game was made with, apparently, pretty decent game-making software -- whoever made it didn't code it from the ground up, so it's a little much to expect him port it to other OS's.

I like the pacifist angle -- I haven't finished the game yet, but I've actually found the story far richer when killing less than 5 per sector. On the other hand, there seem to be some places you just can't get to without going on a rampage . . . which makes the game unusually replayable. And I thought the music (99% originally composed for the game) was very, very good.
posted by treepour at 6:36 PM on September 6, 2008

After a few minutes of play, it seems like a 2d version of System Shock in the graphic style of Out of this World. Could use a little more Trilby though - not being able to crawl while crouched or roll, nor have any meaningful interaction with enemies got a little dull.
posted by anthill at 7:03 PM on September 6, 2008

For something created for free by some dude for fun, this game is absolutely fantastic. It runs smooth as butter on my laptop, and despite the amateurish graphics the effects, weapons, animation, physics are all very well-polished. There are a lot of commercial games getting released that are in far, far worse shape than this.
Frankly, if you choose to disparage a game because it doesn't have the latest supershiny omg realistic graphics pushing your card to the very limit, well, you deserve to miss out on great games.
posted by nightchrome at 6:06 PM on September 8, 2008

If you're looking for an awesome (physics-based, non-platformer) game, you should check out Hammerfall.

Ugh, I am gutted. Another night on low sleep, because I thought I could play "a few minutes" of Hammerfall. I was at my desk this morning and couldn't get the little spinning imagery and music out of my head.

Tonight I got two smiley faces away from completing that stupid sword-slashing-basket test (having worked through two acts/worlds to get there). Great fun, though. And frighteningly impressive from the first non-tutorial level there.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:23 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]