What genres do wish would make a comback

[Dr. Thrax]

Supreme Commander was the last RTS I played that I liked. Pacing was important, instead of the absurdly fast and Rock/Paper/Scissor type structure that seems to have plagued the RTS in recent years.

SupCom wasn't perfect, of course, but I liked it. Games lasted for hours, you could recover if one particular battle went badly, instead of just giving up because you knew it was over already, you had options besides 'Ram junk down their throat until you win.'

I really really love SupCom, I usually play Forged Alliance against the AI for hours, since I'm terrible at RTS games. I wish I had a co-op buddy to play versus AI, since FAForever is still a pretty big community. But SupCom is pretty much the perfect RTS, in my opinion. I love being able to zoom all the way out to move my armies, and then zoom back in when I need to throw down a few buildings, then zoom back out and just observe what all was happening on the map.

But I really don't think it's coming back. I'm told Grey Goo was something similar, but the game just seems dull, and I've heard some depressing things about it. Perhaps I'll try it if it goes on sale one day.

Eeehhh.. I found Grey Goo to be a little underwhelming. It looked gorgeous, each of the factions played in unique ways, but it was still just underwhelming. I'd seen it reviewed as "hearkening back to the CnC glory days", but it didn't really feel that way to me. I wanted to like it, I've been wanting something new and fresh in the RTS genre, but it just couldn't keep me. If you're gonna get it, I'd definitely wait until it goes on sale.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

No one has mentioned space flight sims? Like X-Wing and TIE Fighter? Shame on all of you!

You know what? Forget bringing that genre back. Just give me more X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I'll be happy with that. As it stands, Ace Combat is the closest thing to those that comes out now, and while fun, it's not the same.

Quite so! For years I've dreamed of playing some of those games in proper coop with friends, but due to technical difficulties, stubborn laziness (on their part), and a lack of other optimal alternatives that dream has yet to be realized.

Also, just to further the deepen the lament, here's an example of a small Unreal 4 Engine test/project I came across a few months ago:

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Good old-fashioned, PS2-era survival horror.

 

[Poetic Nova]

King's Field.

If you thought Demon Souls is unfair, KF doesn't even bother holding your hand.
And I love it. Really want a new King's Field.

 

[Disco Biscuit]

Real attempts to push the superpowered genre forward. New weapons that work in new ways, not just new skins on the same guns we've all used forever.

But most of all, I feel like we have all of this incredible tech, but no one has tried to outdo Red Faction's basic concept of environmental destruction. All games that have it, have some bland version of "destructibility". Where is the 'Witcher 3' of destructibility? Or FPS spell slinging? Or something to finally unseat Spider Man 2's city traversal? How about Hulk's bounding movement, or sliding on crushed cars?

All of the games that had crazy, fun, and new elements seem to have been replaced by attempts to refine the same handful of accepted formulae. Bullet Storm, Phantom Dust, Prototype (a testament to good ideas executed to meh), all went away. inFamous gets a release every 4 or 5 years at best, along with Crackdown, but Assassin's Creed was there twice a year?!

And finally, and most of all... Freespace. Wing Commander. That at least, seems like it might be on the verge of a comeback.

 

[Bombiz]

King's Field.

If you thought Demon Souls is unfair, KF doesn't even bother holding your hand.
And I love it. Really want a new King's Field.

Dark souls also doesn't hold your hand. no?

 

[Nazulu]

All of the lesser popular ones in a way.

- I would love to see more RTS games like Red Alert.
- I agree with 3rd person plat-formers too.
- I miss the classic arcade machines with the big machine guns attached to them (well I can't them in Australia).
- Would like more games like Lylat Wars or Terminal Velocity.
- More quality metroidvania's. I'll never believe there is enough.
- And I know this one can be hard to understand, but I want another fighting game like SSB Melee, because the others all feel like dumb down slower copy's in comparison.

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

Survival horror in the style of Resident Evil 1-3.
The market got oversaturated in the early 2000's and the genre went away but now there aren't really any games like that anymore.
The good sales numbers of the re-release of the RE remake shows that people still want to play these games.
They also would be relatively cheap to make these days since you wouldn't have to make fully 3D environments.

 

[happyninja42]

Old school stealth games like Thief and Tenchu. I want From Soft to make a new Tenchu game so bad.

I'm with you on that one.

I'd also like to see games like Wing Commander and Freespace make a comeback. I miss those who operatic space battle games with massive fleets, beam lasers flying back and forth. *sighs* good times.

 

[Dizchu]

I'd like the point-and-click adventure to make a comeback, sans the nonsensical puzzles. Games like The Walking Dead and Life is Strange are technically "spiritual successors" to those kinds of games with their explorative moments and focus on characters, but they generally want to be action-packed with QTEs too. Something like the original Broken Sword or The Longest Journey would be great (the recent Broken Sword 5 was alright but there was way too much fanservice with recurring characters and nods to previous games).

I'd also like games similar to those from the golden age of first-person shooters (from Doom to Half-Life 2). Especially those games that pushed the genre to its limits like System Shock 2 and Deus Ex. A System Shock 3 is on the way from an indie dev with good pedigree (former Looking Glass employees) which I am hesitantly looking forward to. Basically FPS/RPG hybrids. I love me some Borderlands but that goes in a more "video-gamey" direction instead of the more survival horror direction of System Shock 2 which I want to see more of.

And yes, some good platformers would be cool too. Platformers have a bad reputation because they were so ubiquitous in the 90s and early 00s, as well as the indie scene. But some of my favourite games recently have been the latest two Rayman games and Ori and the Blind Forest. Platform games are very good at providing fun 2D and 3D spaces for the player to explore and traverse, while RPGs and shooters tend to be far less vertical.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

No one has mentioned space flight sims? Like X-Wing and TIE Fighter? Shame on all of you!

You know what? Forget bringing that genre back. Just give me more X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I'll be happy with that. As it stands, Ace Combat is the closest thing to those that comes out now, and while fun, it's not the same.

Pretty much this. Modern flight games tend to fall into one of two categories; absurdly simple arcade shooter or so complex that you need a doctorate just to get off the ground.

I want a return to flight sims of the late 80's to mid 90's, games like Tie Fighter, Red Baron and Chuck Yeager's Air Combat to name a few. Titles that struck a balance between the extremes of arcade and hardcore sim, with multiple difficulty and realism options to tweak to one's liking. Flight games that didn't hold your hand, but didn't lose sight of the fun factor either.

It's funny, no idea if it's true or not, but I heard that "Freespace 2" was one of the big reasons the space-sim genre died out. Apparently it was so good that other developers were like "yep, no way we can compete with that, not even gonna try".

Anyway, as many have already mentioned, the return of the slower-paced RTS. I like SC2, but it's so fast-paced it feels like an arcade game.

 

[SKBPinkie]

The games that some folks refer to as "character-action" - a la Devil May Cry, God of War, etc.

While not necessarily a "comeback", there have been very few of these types of games in the past few years.

Daraksiders was a fantastic franchise, IMO. And I hope whoever holds the reigns on that actually does something with the license in the relative future, before all interest is lost in the series.

 

[BrawlMan]

Beat 'em ups. Good ol fashioned, Final Fight, Double Dragon, Streets if Rage, The Warriors-esq beat em ups.

I think Rockstar did a supreme job on The Warriors and thus bought the BEU into the 00's from it's coin-op roots. But I've seen very little which has replicated it since.

The wonderful pick-up-and-play for 20-60 min nature of these games is something I love. I dare say there's plenty available online, but I don't play on-line, so maybe a modern day Arcade compliation on disc would be nice.

I love these games too, but I just wonder how much that style of game can evolve or be changed to keep them interesting. I kind of feel like side scrolling beat 'em ups kind of died because there just wasn't anywhere for them to go. That said, I'd be all over a modern reboot of Final Fight with the SFV engine and art style.

Yep, me too!

Personally I think there's quite a bit of scope to do them in The Warriors' style. Conan was another game for the 360 which had enough depth and RPG elements to be classed as a "modern game", but which was also accessible and light enough to retain that Beat Em Up, pick-up & play bubblegum charm.

Would love to see a Final Fight/Doube Dragon/Streets of Rage/etc. reboot done as Rockstars Warriors was.

Escape From New York is a film which I would absolutely LOVE to see done as a Warriors/GTA style game too.

I am glad to meet other fans of the classic brawler genre. Like what Jim Sterling said, it's sad we hardly get any; let alone if they have offline co-op. Which one thing I give Koei-Tecmo, they never will abandoned classic couch co-op. I prefer games by Platinum, because they have spiritual feel of old-school arcade games. Though a majority of their games lack co-op, with Bayonetta 2 being the exception. And even that is online if you want to play with another player (you play with a CPU partner offline). Grasshopper studios games, I usually prefer too.

The last type of classical brawler I played was Double Dragon Neon, Code of Princess (a spiritual successor to Guardian Heroes; another classic beat'em up), and Senran Kagura. The former two were released in 2012, and the latter in 2013. SK does have a sequel on 3DS and a spin-off if you're interested. So we could use more in this day and age.

I don't like God of War or its clones, but I thought the Conan (360/PS3) game was good; especially if you're a fan of the original books by Robert E. Howard (though many hardcore fans decry Conan using magic). Officially it's the best Conan game, but unofficially, that goes to the Golden Axe & Rastan III. The best Conan games ever.

Oh, and Danbo, if you want a modern Final Fight in 3D, the closest you're going to get is God Hand. The title is loaded with Final Fight references. Made by Platinum when they were Clover Studios at the time. If you and Bilious want a recommendation of Beat'em ups or H/K of any variety, feel free to PM me or respond in this thread.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Top view, old school RPGs. Games like Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore - that kinda thing. Co-op optional, programmable companion AI, get to make your own weapons...AND companions...wait, that's Legend of Mana.

Screw it, make more Mana games. Make Mana series games with the ability to make your own ion cannon wielding toaster dog companion.

 

[COMaestro]

No one has mentioned space flight sims? Like X-Wing and TIE Fighter? Shame on all of you!

You know what? Forget bringing that genre back. Just give me more X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I'll be happy with that. As it stands, Ace Combat is the closest thing to those that comes out now, and while fun, it's not the same.

I was coming here to say exactly this. I miss space combat sims so much. It's why I'm so hopeful Star Citizen does work out, even just the Squadron 42 part would be good.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

would love some x-wing/tie fighter games for sure, single player obviously.

also I would kill for an age of empire 4 (the single player especially), or empire earth (but make it good, the first one was great, after that it just...meh.)

not sure how I feel about some 3rd person platformers, they were so much fun back in the day, but I'm not sure if I would go back to it with the same amount of joy I felt as a kid.

 

[Zen Bard]

I'd love to see the return of the "God Game" - like Populous, Dungeon Keeper or even Black and White.

Yes, I realize they're all Peter Molyneaux titles. But to be fair, he had some really great and innovative ideas before he went insane.

 

[Poetic Nova]

King's Field.

If you thought Demon Souls is unfair, KF doesn't even bother holding your hand.
And I love it. Really want a new King's Field.

Dark souls also doesn't hold your hand. no?

Whoops.

Ment tutorial.
Demon's Souls provides a barebones one, King's Field kills you if you take your first step in the wrong direction already.

 

[Ironman126]

also I would kill for an age of empire 4 (the single player especially), or empire earth (but make it good, the first one was great, after that it just...meh.)

Wouldn't that be something? An actual RTS game, not a Zerg-filled, key-spamming contest. Don't get me wrong, I liked Starcraft 2, but Starcraft is too fast paced. A proper Empire Earth game, with shiny modern graphics, no sector-capturing, and a 5 nuclear bomber limit would really hit the spot.

The closest we've had recently has been the Age of Empires 2 expansion that came out of left field.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

Beat 'em ups. Good ol fashioned, Final Fight, Double Dragon, Streets if Rage, The Warriors-esq beat em ups.

I think Rockstar did a supreme job on The Warriors and thus bought the BEU into the 00's from it's coin-op roots. But I've seen very little which has replicated it since.

The wonderful pick-up-and-play for 20-60 min nature of these games is something I love. I dare say there's plenty available online, but I don't play on-line, so maybe a modern day Arcade compliation on disc would be nice.

Yesssssss, this. So much THIS. I just wish they could make 2D beat em ups like they use to, but I doubt we will ever see any modern beat em ups with the quality of Streets of Rage or Final Fight 1 and 3 sadly.

Given how popular retro gaming is with indie devs, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that an indie studio might decide to make a Final Fight/Streets of Rage inspired beat 'em up. I'd back such a Kickstarter project if it came up.