Ben-DutkaAs the next generation of gaming looms large, which is the one genre that needs to be amped up? Which one needs more attention from designers?
A popular answer around here would be "JRPGs" but that's more of a sub-genre. Besides, they still exist aplenty; it's just the quality that has been suffering mightily. It's not so much the lack of titles in the genre, but the fact that such titles aren't getting anywhere near enough TLC from the developers.
So, what genre tops your list? Which one has been getting overlooked this generation? Or is there a genre that just hasn't done well in terms of quality and sales, like JRPGs? There's the always niche flight genre, which enjoyed a bit of a resurgence during the current era, but fans could definitely use more love. It's also interesting that going in to the current generation, the fighting genre was definitely ailing. Many wrote it off entirely. But that particular category has done very well in recent years, hasn't it? Some of the best games ever!
The sports and racing genres need a bit of a boost, I think. We've been seeing a lot of the same ol', same ol' and I'd hope the new consoles would give them new life. And I want to see more in the way of old-school arcade-type sports games. We always get the sims every year, but where'd franchises like MLB Slugfest go? We got the NBA Jam reboot – which was awesome , by the way – but we need others. I miss stuff like NBA Street , and let's not forget those wicked entertaining Hitz sports games from the PS2 generation. Not great but always super fun.
Another popular answer might be adventure or puzzle games, but we're seeing a lot more of those in the digital world. They don't usually have big budgets but at least they exist. Still, I kinda miss the days when pure adventure games were a big part of the market. Myst , anyone?
RPG's most definitely. Having just Square Enix dish out majority of the games isn't gonna cut. Plus the ones they had this generation weren't even that good. RPG's almost feel like a dying breed that needs to be brought back to life. Companies need to collaborate and give us mind blowing experiences. We definitely need a lot more developers dedicated to this genre. Plus, with next-gen on the horizon, they can do amazing things. Hopefully Japan steps up there game as well. They CANNOT let FPS's takeover!
RPGs. And not US RPGs. It makes me sad that the term I used to refer to my favorite genre (rpg) has to change to (jrpg) to mean the same thing. In the 90s RPG meant final fantasy and chrono trigger. Now RPG in many people's minds means FPS with experience points. Oh to get old…
I know how ya feel.
This
My thoughts exactly. Word for word.
Or TPS… heres lookin' at you ME!
you have the correct attitude. If you don't want your favorite RPG's to be called JRPG's, should not call them that way
I agree.
I believe the old term for what we now call "jrpg" is "console rpg". At least that's what PC gamers used to call those games back in the days.
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/18/2013 9:53:57 AM
Crazy PC folks get everything all messed up 🙂
JRPGs from more mainstream devs like Konami, it's not enough to just have the niche of the niche. The reason we can't count good sales for JRPGs this gen is because all of the ones for bigger audiences are gone, went to the wrong console, or stopped being RPGs.
BeatEmUps, why would these ever go away when the technology to make them the most epic exists now?
Survival/Horror, I'm really looking forward to The Evil Within and we need others to enter the field because interactive entertainment is probably the best place to deliver really good thrills, devs just need to stop having a hard on for constant action.
Beat'em ups would be nice. Maybe a "Bouncer" sequel, was disappointed when that was only single player game. Enjoyed it though.
More flight sims and turn-based strat games :). OK, sure I'm a throwback to twenty years ago, but I'm not the only one :P.
I would have to agree with RPGs and in particular, JRPGs. They are my favorite genre and the PS3 just didn't get enough love.
Mr. Dutka, I thank you. Why you ask??
You put the question out there about which genre needs the most attention and you through your picture selection answer it for me.
That of course is the flight category. I long for someone to give me the Gran Turismo of the skies. A game that includes combat aircraft from all eras ranging from a P51D Mustang to a F-35A Lightning.
With that said, I am not asking for just a strict simulator nor am I wanting a pure white knuckle arcade flyer. What I envision is a SIMU-CADE with options a plenty and of course the airplanes themselves being based on real world data.
Yes, War Thunder for the PS4 is around the corner, but to be honest I am unsure if the development team involved can balance things out accordingly.
So in my eyes, this leaves Project Aces as "my only hope" and to be honest, I am not sure they can accomplish this endeavor. I am hopeful though that PA has gotten over the whole "COD of the skies" routine.
So… will the PS4 be the home to the Flight game rebirth? Why not I say as greatness awaits!
You doubt Gaijin Entertainment, the studio behind IL-2 Sturmovik, Apache: Air Assault, and Birds of Steel? Why?
Have you played their games? They are good and all but Gaijin does not have the flight/weapon/damage models correct in Birds of Steel and War Thunder.
I am not willing to write them completely off and will give War Thunder a chance but it is not looking good.
They may not be perfect, but there classes above Ace Combat – the handling of the Apache in AAA was streets above that in the latest Ace Combat, and the jets in AC fly as realistically as martial artists on wires fight ;). Am very much looking forward to WAR THUNDER, and have pumped a good amount of time into all of Gaijin's flight games this gen.
Now, if we could get the DCS games on PS4…..
I disagree. At least with Project Aces, all airplanes are treated with equal care. Even if it is not accurate per se, every plane in the game represents a stable and nibble weapons platform and that's how it should be. Yes, I understand that AC is an arcade flight shooter but PA does get several things right.
With Gaijin, The Russian planes are head and shoulders above everything else while the US planes struggle. The rest of the countries fall in line with some better then others. I can accept that as reality as long it is correct when clearly it is not.
It's not that I mind American planes not being be the best, but what I find issue with is how the planes are not treated accurately as a whole.
For proof, look at the "Cat" series of planes in War Thunder and fly them in a match or two. Now try the other planes such as the Zero, the Spitfire, and any of the Russian planes. You will quickly notice that something is off here. The Hellcat (for example) isn't supposed to the be the best, but friend, this warplane shot down thousands of combatants.
Please keep in mind that I am not discrediting the British, Russian, German, and Japanese airplanes. I am however questioning the lack of American parity when history clearly shows American hardware is at least equal and perhaps superior in multiple categories.
Like I said, the game is still in Beta stages, but as it sits, I will not be investing my time nor money on the PS4 version unless things drastically improve.
Last edited by maxpontiac on 7/20/2013 3:38:55 PM
Its tough because therws probably a few I could mention. The genre that I did have a lot of fun with but definitely could use some help, although I have no idea what, is the racing genre. There were some great racing games, Burnout and Twisted Metal both offered something different for this generation and GT5 went all out making the greatest simulator evwr. But it needs something…
I don't know, man. As a racing fan myself, I thought this was a pretty sweet gen. Looking over at my collection right now, I see fun stuff like, Split/Second, Ridge Racer 6, 7 and Unbounded, nail'd, Driver: San Fransisco, ModNation Racers, The Motorstorm Trilogy, Fuel, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Pure, Mario Kart Wii, Excitebots: Trick Racing, MX vs. ATV: Reflex, Stuntman: Ignition, Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4, and Blur.
Open worlds like Midnight Club Los Angeles, Wheelman, Burnout Paradise, Forza: Horizon, and Test Drive Unlimited 2, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
Sim/arcade like Need for Speed: Shift 1 and 2, Grid 1 and 2, Dirt 1,2, and 3, Sega Rally: Revo, Forza: Motorsport 2,3 and 4.
Pure classy simulation in Gran Turismo 5
And let's not forget the amazing Wipeout HD and Fury.
This is as good and as diverse as racing is ever going to get, in my opinion. Some of these studios behind some of these great titles have been closed or the games didn't perform particularly well, especially on the arcade side of things. I truly and sincerely hope racing continues strong into the 8th gen, though.
I think you are right. I only mentioned a few as opposed tp the many you listed but those alone did enough. I tet the focus should be more on the arcade racer. The latest need for speed was awesome, but scratch the Burnout esque feel and theres not much there. Cant keep copying and pasting.
But thats just being nit picky. You are right this gen had some good racing for sure.
Brawlers like Double Dragon, Final Fight, and The Bouncer need my money. Create the games and they can take my money!
Last edited by Temjin001 on 7/17/2013 11:51:48 PM
NO! You must cast aside your outdated need for fisticuffs and join the shooter brigade: all shooting things, all guns, all the time.
OH YAH. Spaceship shooters need a come back. Lawrence Hollands X-Wing games and Tie-Fighter were the pinnacle of the genre. PSX had a solid one called Colony Wars.
Come to think of it. That Buffy Vampire game on Xbox was a pretty nice brawler for it's time. That would be good too.
Who knows , maybe Dragon crown coming in 2 weeks is gonna help bring those back and show you can make those type of game with depths .
Dragon's Crown is an appreciated love letter, though I still wonder what could be done with a modern AAA game.
I still don't understand how JRPG became a subgenre. I mean, when I was growing up, they WERE the RPG. Outside of tabletop D&D, there was the Final Fantasies, Dragon Warriors, etc. All with turn-based deliciousness. Then people have to call them JRPGs and call all these other games RPGs that sport a lot of non RPG-ness.
And no one even addressed it. No one outright said, "hey, we are calling RPGs JRPGs now, and all these other games are now going to be called RPGs."
Nothing.
I still remember getting excited about what was advertised as the next huge RPG and when I finally saw it, my only thought was, "what the hell is this!?? this is no RPG!!"
It was Fallout 3. And I hated it. I felt lied to…
Different kind of RPG, but I know what you mean, RPG used to mean anime characters leveling up through an epic story by doing turn based battles.
Yeah exactly.
Last edited by SaiyanSenpai on 7/18/2013 12:07:07 AM
Have you played a recent Tales game? It may have action but there's enough strategy in them so that they "feel" right. It isn't just hacking and slashing as has been popular lately. I'm so stoked for Xillia.
So…I guess would like to see more JRPGs with battle systems and production values akin to FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, Dragon Quest VIII, etc. but with next gen graphical goodness.
The Tales-style combat is still a little too active for my taste…
I'll definitely give Xillia a try. I haven't played a Tales game since Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube.
If I recall correctly the combat there was sort of like a fighting game, it isn't like that anymore 🙂
What's crazy is action games got better by adding RPG elements and RPGs got lamer by becoming action games. It's like RPGs got absorbed in hopes of gaining mainstream appeal, and it has never resulted in better sales.
Yeah, I definitely agree with you on that.
hey, i thought Sabin from FFVI was pretty sweet for having Street FIghter moves. Ha DO KEN!
Xenogears is also every action game ever made inside a jrpg's body. It rocks!
Last edited by Temjin001 on 7/18/2013 12:20:10 AM
Xenogears is my number 1 favorite PS1 game.
RPGs co-opt action pretty well when they are fit properly within the framework, hence Xenogears, Legend of Legaia, Star Ocean, Tales of, Rogue Galaxy, but when they lose sight of what they are to begin with they sure have trouble.
Whatever genre the Elite/Privateer type games are. The space trade/rogue/fight games. I'd love to see what can be done now with the next gen power.
I'd like to not only have my ship as my "avatar", but to actually be able to step out of it and into hubs and stations, onto planets and even explore my own ship, but with a focus on the bigger interplanetary business of things.
Man I'd love a game like that.
well said, BB…would love to see this genre properly brought to the console
two other thoughts – as stated earlier, a good "basic" flight sim – nothing newer than WWII – WWI would be great! more sim, less arcade
and – shoot me for saying it – a GOOD WWII fps!
You should keep your eyes on Star Citizen Beam. It looks to be the most ambitious space sim, combat pirate, game ever.
If you haven't heard about it its being made by the guy who created wing commander.
Oh yeah Xenris, there's plenty of guys at my work who are super psyked about Star Citizen.
Personally I think it looks just a tad too much Wing Commander (ergo a focus on space battle). But it looks totally a-m-a-z-ing graphically. it's done on the CryEngine, after all.
Speaking of stuff taking place in space, I am actually more excited about "repopulation", a sci-fi mmorpg that looks to be exactly how I want my mmorpgs.
But none of these will come for the consoles, and I believe Ben is only talking about console releases here.
PS4+PC is the combo come next gen!
Last edited by Beamboom on 7/18/2013 10:04:22 AM
Japanese RPG's and Japanese Hack and Slash
rising the budget of the side-scrolling platformer games ain't a bad idea. hehe where are those cool metroidvania games!
Last edited by Cho_Quin on 7/18/2013 3:02:26 AM
I'd say JRPGs and survival horror games.. well horror games in general actually. look how bad RE6 and Operation Raccoon City were.. and Dead Space 3 was suppose to be scary but i didn't find it scary at all
That s cause it s pretty much all action now ( dead space 3 ).
Me i wish for more srpg , need more then just disgaea ( sadly i m not a fan of those ).At least , there is rainbow moon 2( Rainbow Skies ). coming up .
I would mention turn based jrpg but i just have no more hope left for them .
Last edited by berserk on 7/18/2013 7:22:56 AM