"Fan games are lovely and should be encouraged just as much as fan covers, fan art, cosplay, etc. They are all different methods people use to pay homage to the things they love."
100% this! I really wish game companies would learn this instead of defaulting to legal action when it comes to fan games! Hell, as we've seen with Palworld, even being legally distinct doesn't seem to save you from the dreaded Nintendo law ninjas...the world really needs new copyright laws because the ones that exist now are so woefully obsolete.