These are all great games with huge art budgets. Nothing remotely indie about them.

yeah, GP kinda made it clear that they weren’t looking for indie games

It's like when people considered "Star Citizen" an indie game

Seconding Nier: Automata. Rarely have I been as blown away by a game as I was with that one.

Thirding (?) this. The integration of gameplay elements into the story and the story itself are simply amazing. It is similar to Undertale, in that the gameplay is relatively shallow, but is paced perfectly with the story.

Fourthing.

I hate fighting games. I especially despise melee action games. I don't love 3rd person perspective. I haven't really played JRPGs.

Nier:Automata jumped at the top of my list and kept getting better. Even my (non-gaming) wife watched me playing because she was curious and the art and story were fantastic.

A unique experience that is difficult to put into a review. FWIW, my other favourites are Mass Effect, Deus Ex, lots of Sierra & Lucasarts point & click games, etc.

Story telling and surprises (and style) in NieR:Automata were just top notch.

Platinum Games is not an indie studio.

Artistism gap between indie and AAA isn't as big in Japan as in USA, AAA gets more polygons but that's about the only difference.

This, weeb games for the win.