The game looks bad. You will not get a foot in the door with a game that looks like this in 2018. It looks like amateur/programmer art. There are some people that aren't bothered by that, but when it comes to media the looks are paramount.
If this game had an appealing art style, it might stand a chance in the already saturated market of Metroidvanias.
I completely agree. Every time I see one of these posts bemoaning their sales stats, the game inevitably looks bad. The genre that this game is in is completely saturated, so nobody is going to spend their money on crap when something that looks 10x better is available. While the indie scene is is definitely now over-saturated, the real problem here is the lack of honest feedback to the developer.
They've since sold about 20M copies at $20 (now $30) apiece. I started playing in 2017 with Factorio 0.14, when the graphics were better but still decidedly retro and they'd sold maybe 4M copies.
The difference is that Factorio has a unique gameplay concept that is both extremely addictive and not really found in any other games. People will overlook shitty graphics if the game has a compelling concept that they can't get elsewhere.
> That's not really true - take a look at the graphics from Factorio 0.1, released in 2012
Yes, that was in 2012, well before the indie explosion. If you saw this game today, you would assume it is one of the hundreds of crappy 2D Minecraft clones.
I think his point is that it was already well known by 2017 and didn't have to struggle to distinguish itself in the current market, because it had built momentum and interest.
Looking at the trailer, personally I think it looks awesome. Nice subtle shading and detail on the environment and enemies that doesn't detract from the overall simplicity, and then you get to light up the whole screen with massive firepower when you start shooting with one of the big weapons. What do you think looks bad about it?
(Not a rhetorical question. I'm not a graphic artist. I'm curious if I am missing something that a professional would spot.)
If it's not immediately obvious to you, then I can't explain it either, or at least I can't be bothered to try. Some people don't see it. It has nothing to do with being a graphic artist. It's not about technicals, it's not something that comes off a checklist.
If this game had an appealing art style, it might stand a chance in the already saturated market of Metroidvanias.