I'm thinking about how a couple of years ago, sites like Itch.io were flooded with PS1 styled games. Mostly the graphics, but a lot of these games brought back game design choices that were prevalent then (tank controls, fixed perspective cameras, texture dithering.) I know it's not for everyone, but I think it would be cool to see more people run with the idea or maybe even go further back and time and we see a resurgence of stuff like old school point and clicks. Anything you'd guys like to see like that?
Style of game you'd like to see make a comeback?
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Idk why the megacompanies have gotten so afraid of funding mid budget titles. We really need something to fill the price gap between $10-$20 indie games and $60-$70 AAA or "Quadruple A" games.
The ones that would come to mind are Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, inFamous: Festival of Blood, and Spiderman: Miles Morales. They were reasonably priced bite sized standalone games to tide the players over between bigger releases.
Every once in a while I see people calling those types of games rehash or whining that it should've been DLC, but that's a really shit take imo. Especially when we have full-priced yearly Madden & Ubisoft titles that would fare better as DLC.
At 3/4/24 05:19 PM, Chdonga wrote: Idk why the megacompanies have gotten so afraid of funding mid budget titles. We really need something to fill the price gap between $10-$20 indie games and $60-$70 AAA or "Quadruple A" games.
The ones that would come to mind are Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, inFamous: Festival of Blood, and Spiderman: Miles Morales. They were reasonably priced bite sized standalone games to tide the players over between bigger releases.
Every once in a while I see people calling those types of games rehash or whining that it should've been DLC, but that's a really shit take imo. Especially when we have full-priced yearly Madden & Ubisoft titles that would fare better as DLC.
That's something I haven't thought about for awhile now, honestly. I don't do too much shopping for games aside from steam or retro game stores, but from what I've seen the console that has the best selection of these kinds of titles these days is the Switch. Unfortunately, a lot of them get drowned out by indy shovelware, but it is sad to see the lack of "middle class" games on shelves like the days of the Ps2. I think part of the problem comes from smaller companies getting purchases outright when they start to see success, like Psyonix getting bought by Epic.
Response to Style of game you'd like to see make a comeback? 2024-03-04 19:16:55 (edited 2024-03-04 19:17:33)
In terms of games: Mother 3 in the west.
In terms of styles: 2D point and click adventure
I would like to see more quality AA titles that isn't all either compliation titles, or dug up nostalgic franchises that either haven't aged well or bothered with QoL improvements in the last 20 years or so.
I think the biggest problem is that most big publishers rarely bother to advertise AA games and rely largely on word of mouth, or for smaller ones, worry that they'll be viewed as an oddball that people'll simply ignore. Of course there is always the option of going indie, though with a few exceptions, usually means it'll get buried with all of the indie fads.
Back to the specific question, I would like to see arcade-style sports games with the league licenses. (NBA Jam, NFL Street etc.) That way, there is a level of legitimacy in a brand name, but not be constrained by simulation style of gameplay. (Blitz: The League is probably the most successful unlicensed sports game, but I'll be first to admit the contents have NOT aged well)
Just stop worrying, and love the bomb.
I'd like to see more fun platformers again. Like in the late 90s they were everywhere, Croc, Gex, Jersey Devil, Spyro, Crash, Rascal, Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Conker, etc, etc.
Now'a'days good 3D platformers are few and far between.
Also, love to see more fantasy based FPS games similar to Hexen and King's Field.
Lastly, like to see more life sim games that don't have 30+ DLC packs (Sim 2) and instead are content complete on launch and have hearty expansions (Sim 2).
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more max payne style shooters. theres a few games out there like stranglehold and wet but it really is an underused style of combat which is a shame because max paynes gunplay is so addicting and not enough devs took advantage of that when those games came out i guess.
3d Collectathons like
Banjo-Kazooie, DK64 and Super Mario 64
Probability-based, turn-based strategy games, especially the likes of Super Robot Wars where they have hella neat animations playing whenever characters attack. Most games these days just phone them in with a short animation of a sword slash or whatever. It's understandable why they do that since the full animation would not only be a lot of effort, but it'd also get old for many after a while. Even so, I love seeing those animations because stretching it out is hella hype. Especially when you're basically gambling on something like 54% hit rates or something menacingly low.
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Earthbound with all the Psychedelics.
Dumbass
Puzzle Platformers, Combat Platformers, Platformers in general (excluding raw 2D Platformers, we already have a lot of those thankfully).
Take it with a grain of salt, I am slower than a snail.
Response to Style of game you'd like to see make a comeback? 2024-04-08 01:35:03 (edited 2024-04-08 01:35:35)
I wish that we had video games be done in the 16 bit sprites of the SNES and Genesis era again. They were good enough as as, especially since they give a chance to have your own interpretation of the actions. Heck, I wish JRPGs would go back to this entirely, rather than just the Triple A bullshit and microtransactions.
Some time ago i would definitely wrote "Infinity Engine style cRPG", but it actually made a comeback.
3d fighters other than tekken, lol.
There's just this something about the games of PS2 era that's more or less absent nowadays.
Zombie shooter 2 gameplay
Traditional survival horror.
Tank controls, fixed camera, limited resources, the slow burn horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Text based adventure games
Point and Click games
Light railgun shooters.
Don't give two sh*ts about what other people think of you. If you have a high opinion of yourself that's all that matters.
id love to see more casual, easily approachable and yet challenging games like popcap's pre-acquisition catalogue
I want games with NO voice acting and NO cutscenes.
When is that going to make a comeback?
I think it would be awesome for a more mature version of Humongous Entertainment-style games to exist!
Or, just as good kids games.
Response to Style of game you'd like to see make a comeback? 2024-04-15 20:56:18 (edited 2024-04-15 20:59:47)
I want more 3D on the rail shmups like Starfox and Solar Assault.
I also would love to see casual games before micro transactions ruined them. Just bring back classic Popcap.
At 4/8/24 03:43 PM, BronzeHeart92 wrote: There's just this something about the games of PS2 era that's more or less absent nowadays.
I heavily second this, they had this edgy and gloomy vibe, they where badass, but at the same time they didn't take themselves too seriously, and each tried something unique without being too specific.
Not to mention they where really ambitious with their aesthetics.
They had this hexagonal look, but it wasn't exactly sacrificing any visuals unlike ps1/n64 games, not to mention they didn't look really flat.
The closest to getting a ps2-like in modern times was Psychonauts 2.
Although I am thinking about platformers and Kingdom Hearts the most out of them, but this could apply to other games too.
Take it with a grain of salt, I am slower than a snail.
At 3/4/24 02:15 PM, WildflowerBouquette wrote: Anything you'd guys like to see like that?
I don't wish for particular genres to make a comeback, but what I'm really missing are games that tow the line between child-friendly and mature. Games like Majoras Mask that feature a protagonist who is relatable to children, but still tackle serious, mature themes like mortality in a way that doesn't up the age rating.
Some indie games still manage to do that, but I feel like they often have a faint air of cynicism around them and that can make them feel less organic.
Response to Style of game you'd like to see make a comeback? 2024-04-18 08:15:29 (edited 2024-04-18 08:16:46)
At 4/17/24 08:00 AM, kmau wrote:At 3/4/24 02:15 PM, WildflowerBouquette wrote: Anything you'd guys like to see like that?I don't wish for particular genres to make a comeback, but what I'm really missing are games that tow the line between child-friendly and mature. Games like Majoras Mask that feature a protagonist who is relatable to children, but still tackle serious, mature themes like mortality in a way that doesn't up the age rating.
Some indie games still manage to do that, but I feel like they often have a faint air of cynicism around them and that can make them feel less organic.
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos and No Straight Roads may have a bit of that. The characters there aren't exactly children --heck, Pseudo looks like a carrot if it had a sore thumb that went to the Clint Eastwood school of Having Faces, though Mayday and Zuke are around 20 years old from the look of it-- but the violence in Clash never has blood, while the fighting in NSR is very over-the-top and stylized, facing off against foes like vocaloid mermaid robots or a house-sized tree woman protecting her piano-playing daughter hanging on strings from her hand.
There is *very* light swearing and Clash does have a death at the beginning, but it's hardly graphic. Plus, Pseudo helps arrange what little funerary arrangements there are in that land.
Both Zenozoik and Vinyl City are chock-full of style, color and some odd people, and there's parts that hit hard but are hardly outright cynical.
Heck, in both games there's a character that's pretty jaded: The main antagonist of NSR believes that Rock music is a thing of the past, something that cannot work anymore, based on direct personal history with it, while Pseudo from Clash is... well, he's a hermit. He's got nothing to really live for until one day the Boy comes under his care.
Initially, he does not seek to take care of the boy at all, but as the game progresses and circumstances make his initial plans unfeasible, he becomes a lot more open. He has some wisdom to receive, some experiences to share.
And yet, at the end of the game, there is a truth to his relationship with the boy that hits you like a hammer to the ribs. It is sad, a genuine sadness that does not affirm hopelesness, but emboldens the truth of the bonds people can share.
Likewise, in No Straight Roads, there are things that may hit quite hard. Every boss has a part to them that seems to represent the effect the music as an industry has on them as artists.
The very first boss, in fact, a space-themed DJ named Subatomic Supernova, placed his DJ booth in the middle of his club, with artifical planets rotating around him. He's literally making himself the center of the universe.
However, in collectable voice recordings you can collect, you learn that he used to be an astronomy teacher who had very few students, but nonetheless great love for space. He learnt that he was an accomplished artist and made a new career out of this, but... he also knew how big space was. Feared the vastness of space and time alike, feared being forgotten. He wanted to ensure his own legacy, and thus keeps reaffirming his own importance out of fear of being nothing.
If i may ask, what do you think of all this, based on how i described it? I do not know if you know of these games, but i'm curious to hear your thoughts.
