Concepts you'd like to see again

[thesilentman]

Rayman Origins' levels are designed in such a way you can make seamless progression between moving platforms etc if you do everything in fluid motion. There's also a little speedrun award if you choose to play it that way instead of looking for secrets.
So maybe that's a speedrun platformer you want to look into.

Gotta check that out now. Easier as it's on every console that matters (including PC). Thanks!

Some horror games that don't let me kill everything in my way. Developers don't seem to realise that scariness disappears the second they hand me a weapon. Things you have killed are not frightening.

Non-combat based survival horror. Psychological survival horror.

Something like Amnesia the Dark Descent? Yep, wanna see something like that again, but...

Wait. What happened to Machine of Pigs? 2013 maybe? ...

Happiness. Games with a unique non-brooding protagonist character design instead of a grizzled white man. Also some colorful background and settings, enough with the grey-brown realism. I play games to escape from the real world so I like mine to be fantastical. I saw this in another thread and I can't think of any modern games that attempts something similar.

Spoiler: Various locations in the game.

I just picked up the Journey collection for Christmas, and I agree heartily. Mysterious hooded figure heading through the desert who can call upon magic in fabric to fly? Cool. Creature that could have come from Spore being controlled by the Sixaxis controller? Pretty sweet. Freaking flower petals?! You guys seriously have to play the game to believe its awesomeness.

Yep, my favorite out of that collection is Flower. Who knew that adding color to the area by using flower petals to grow flowers was so euphoric?

Also agreed with the OP on Sonic-style platformers. I love the sense of speed that Generations gives, and really, it's nowhere near as much trial-and-error as Unleashed was because the level design has been vastly improved.

In some levels in both games, they were pretty fair (except for Eggmanland, that wasn't fair at all to my fingers), but I personally felt that Generations was a little more trial and error, particularly in the last trio of Modern levels.

Then again, I did play the Wii version of Unleashed, so that may be accounting for my opinion on the level design.

more full 3d platformers. none of that 2.5d bullshit. im talking full on 3d

Wii U needs this. If Nintendo can get this on their system and fully use the Gamepad well, I'm sold. Doesn't have to be a new IP; any of their existing ones (the ones that come to mind are Mario, Metroid and Zelda) can be made into awesome 3D platformers.

I'm looking at you, Metroid!

Seriously, guys, we need to flood these game companies' inboxes with the concepts we want to see again. I'd like to see their reaction to what we'd like to see again that they did well.

 

[shrekfan246]

Also agreed with the OP on Sonic-style platformers. I love the sense of speed that Generations gives, and really, it's nowhere near as much trial-and-error as Unleashed was because the level design has been vastly improved.

In some levels in both games, they were pretty fair (except for Eggmanland, that wasn't fair at all to my fingers), but I personally felt that Generations was a little more trial and error, particularly in the last trio of Modern levels.

Then again, I did play the Wii version of Unleashed, so that may be accounting for my opinion on the level design.

"Crisis City" and "Planet Wisp" embody all of the issues that the modern games have had up to this point, that's true. The Unleashed level in Generations actually isn't all that bad (in my opinion), but yeah, apparently the Wii version of Unleashed actually had better level design than the PS3/Xbox 360 version did. I wouldn't say the PS3 version had bad level design, but it was far more trial-and-error than Generations with unmarked pitfalls and traps that you couldn't see coming unless you had already gone through the level, and poor performance that made some of the 3D turning extremely difficult to pull off. And even if you're taking "Planet Wisp" into consideration but disregarding "Crisis City", Modern Sonic's levels overall are really strong in Generations.

To be honest, "Planet Wisp" from Colors was probably one of my less-favorite levels anyway. It was probably the most boring, aesthetically speaking.

 

[Fuzzed]

I'd like to see more of that "stick money in girls bra's and get a prize" concept from Duke Nukem

 

[Silly Hats]

I wouldn't mind some more RPGs that aren't generic medieval/DnD ripoffs, while fun there's so many of them. Stealthy games that have gives a significant advantage to non lethal play through rather than being slightly better than if you were to just wipe out an entire room.

 

[Saika Renegade]

I miss mech simulators that were willing to move at a slightly slower pace. I've nothing against Armored Core or that Front Mission shooter, but as fun as they are all that frenetic dodging gets disorienting and honestly a little tiring after a while.

To be truthful I kind of miss mech simulators in general. Most are geared more as an action game (re: Front Mission Evolved) and I miss the feeling of 'in the cockpit' immersion that a fair number of older sims had. (Well aware of the new Mechwarrior Online, but as that is strictly PvP at the moment it doesn't carry as much weight for me right now; I miss fighting over the course of a decent storyline, too.)

 

[Xman490]

Rewind/Fast-forward mechanics, like in Braid.

Yes, moviebob said that before in a Game Overthinker Q&A on ScrewAttack, but the mechanic is brilliant. It offers plenty of opportunities to mess around more than ever before in a game. It keeps players from having to reload checkpoints while waiting on loading screens. And above all, it connects with both narrative themes and real things (personal regret and VCRs, respectively).

 

[The Madman]

Small scale rpg. Not every adventure needs to be about saving the world, sometimes I'd just like to play a more personal story focused more heavily on character interaction across a relatively small location rather than these sprawling epics you generally get.

I think this is a big part of why Planescape: Torment is so good. For all it's crazed setting and zany characters, when it comes down to it the whole story is just about one character and their journey of self-discovery. Stories in games where you save the world are a dime a dozen, stories in games where you save yourself are considerably more rare and something I'd like to see more of.

 

[blazearmoru]

Character relations drama based single player (j)rpg games. Damn you final fantasy! D:<

 

[uchytjes]

the idea behind steambot chronicles. Either the one about bi-pedal robots being invented during the industrial revolution or that whatever you do has an effect on the world, but you are never the one who actually does it, you are just the catalyst for change.

 

[Tanis]

Actraiser (series).
-One part of the game is building up and protecting your town.
-The other part is side scrolling dungeon crawling.
Fantastic, seemingly forgotten, series.

I also want a NEW Naval Ops/Warship Gunner game.

 

[Mister K]

Small scale rpg. Not every adventure needs to be about saving the world, sometimes I'd just like to play a more personal story focused more heavily on character interaction across a relatively small location rather than these sprawling epics you generally get.

That was one of the reasons I liked DA II. You don't go saving the world from army of darkness. You just deal with problems of a single city. And it was done well, OK? Sure, it is not the greatest story in the gaming history, but it was enjoyable and, well, I've finally seen some movement away from fantasy cliches (i.e. dwarf, that does not wear the beard and is not axe-wielding warrior, but quite cunning rogue, elves, that are not some immortal hippies, but blood mage and warrior, etc.)

 

[The Madman]

That was one of the reasons I liked DA II. You don't go saving the world from army of darkness. You just deal with problems of a single city. And it was done well, OK? Sure, it is not the greatest story in the gaming history, but it was enjoyable and, well, I've finally seen some movement away from fantasy cliches (i.e. dwarf, that does not wear the beard and is not axe-wielding warrior, but quite cunning rogue, elves, that are not some immortal hippies, but blood mage and warrior, etc.)

I think I said elsewhere on these forums just recently that I did actually quite like the idea of Dragon Age 2... I just also think it's a shame that it was so poorly done. Good idea, terrible execution. I just hope Dragon Age 2's dismal reception hasn't turned other developers from trying a similar concept.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I'd like to see someone take the concept of the Upside Dizzy Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and expand it into an entire game. The concept was great but they just didn't use it to its full potential.

 

[Innegativeion]

Telekinetic powers done WELL.

Now don't shoot me, but Silver's gameplay in Sonic 06 was actually kind of neat. I KNOW I KNOW, but hear me out;

His levels were still poorly designed,
His controls were still clunky as hell,
Thrown objects still aimed themselves,
The contextual psychich-floor-markers were still dumb and plastic as hell,

BUT, the potential for a really engaging game mechanic is there. Catching enemy bullets and firing them back at your enemies, picking up objects from the environment and chucking them, using them for bridges, or elevators etc.

Psychic powers are just about my favorite kind of ability, and I'd love to play an actually GOOD game where the protagonist is a psychic.

 

[LordDPS]

How about the 4th wall trolling that Eternal Darkness pulled off? Only make it a part of the story. Sort of like a single player ARG. Make the player question him/herself. Maybe with some kind of Planescape Torment style introspective story about existence.

 

[Berithil]

How about a Battefront style Lord of the Rings game done right. Conquest was such a disappointment, considering the Battefront games were awesome and LotR is one of my favorite properties.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing such a thing, now that Pandemic is run into the ground (thanks for that, EA....)

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

med-kits used to restore health. Seriously, fuck regenerating health. Whenever I see a game that claims to be "realistic" and boasts regenerating health, i laugh out loud and cry inside. Whoever said "screw med-kits, let's make health regenerate if the player sits in a corner and sucks his thumb for point three seconds." should be shot. Yeah, lets make damage insignificant, that's a great idea. In non-health regen games getting hit or shot means something, it's something to be avoided. In health-regen games getting shot merely means you are running in the right direction.

 

[Squidbulb]

Wall jumping. Haven't seen a lot of that in a while.

 

[Brainwreck]

A fantasy RPG where the problems to be solved (or failed to be solved) are personal, rather than about saving the goddamn world again.

 

[The Thinker]

Rewind/Fast-forward mechanics, like in Braid.

Yes, moviebob said that before in a Game Overthinker Q&A on ScrewAttack, but the mechanic is brilliant. It offers plenty of opportunities to mess around more than ever before in a game. It keeps players from having to reload checkpoints while waiting on loading screens. And above all, it connects with both narrative themes and real things (personal regret and VCRs, respectively).

I agree. The game doesn't even need to have any time-travel shtick, in my opinion; the rewind would just be there instead of a health meter or what-have-you.