Decline 2019: Which genre has the most integrity left?

[luj1]

2019: Which genre has the most integrity left?

FPS - One of the shittiest genres overall due to CoD and other rubbish, but recently had an influx of quality releases such as: Amid Evil, Dusk, Project Warlock, Ion Maiden, Wrath, Prodeus (TBA), etc.
TPS/Action - Okayish I suppose, the japs (Sekiro, Souls games, etc.) are saving the day, sometimes a good euro release (e.g. Mutant)
RTS - dead/killed by MOBAs
TBS (includes 4X) - Not many franchises remain in classic TBS sense. Some bloat in the "Space 4X" segment
Sports/Racing - Didn't evolve much at all, still occupies a small but stable spectrum of the market
RPG - Severely wrecked by decline, per decade not more than 3-4 worthwhile titles in a sea of mediocrity
Sim/Manager - Constrained to a small niche so not really relevant
Platformer - Small market. There has been some fun platformers (all indies), they tend to be short/small with a strong style>substance thing going on
Beat 'em up / Fighting games - Dead, other than MK (series alternates between a hit and a miss) People still playing old SNK stuff online via Fightcade. I've seen only one Beat 'em up (Mother Russia Bleeds)
Adventure (includes Point & click) - Probably among the few genres with some integrity left. Both indie and commercial are alive and relatively well



I voted Adventure games. They are clearly the least impacted by decline. I think all the bigger genres are FUBAR'd for the most part

 

[BR4ZIL]

Turn Based Strategy, by far IMO

Heck... most Grand Strategy games have not changed much in over 10 to 15 years and they still sell well (even the more casual stuff, like Hearts of Iron or Total War sell very well and are among some of the top sellers for PC exclusive games).

Then i suppose its Adventure games in second place, they mostly also keep to the same formula to varying decrees of success.

 

[Mustawd]

Can you set poll to be able to change vote? I fucked up mine...

 

[Catacombs]

Grand strategy and base building games.

 

[Sjukob]

Beat 'em up / Fighting games - Dead, other than MK (series alternates between a hit and a miss) People still playing old SNK stuff online via Fightcade. I've seen only one Beat 'em up (Mother Russia Bleeds)

It's not as bad as you're describing it. Tekken 7 has been gaining popularity since the day it was released, it is played internationally and there are a lot of events (which are hosted all over the world) for competitive play, I have no idea what's the situation for other fighting games, since I don't care about anything else.

As for beat'em'ups, that's true that there aren't a lot of modern releases, but besides Mother Russia Bleeds there are games like: The TakeOver, Fight'N'Rage, Zeno Clash series, Yakuza series, Kung Fu Strike - Warrior's Rise, some madman even made the game based on Shaq-Fu - Shaq-Fu a Legend Reborn, I don't know all the games in the genre, but I'm sure you can find more if you bother and search for them. There's also Streets of Rage Remake that is a free game and one of the best in the genre, but it got kind of screwed when SEGA tried to ban it from the internet, speaking of SOR series, SOR4 is currently in development and is probably going to be released this year. If you are willing to follow some projects that are in development, there are games like 9 Monkeys of Shaolin which is going to be released this year, there's also Shenmue 3 but I have no clue what's happening to it. There's also Dungeon Fighter Online MMO that is the world's most popular MMO (thanks to China), but it's almost unheard of in the west, although it's F2P and has a global server. And if you say that these are too asian for you or something, well beat'em'up (and fighting games) has always been an asian genre, they invented it, they made something like 95% of all games in genre, you can't separate it from asia, west has always been more on consumer side.

 

[wyes gull]

I've seen only one Beat 'em up (Mother Russia Bleeds)

Fight n Rage is criminally underrated. People tend to go for Mother Russia for the presentation but FnR is a lot better.

Regardless, the answer would be platformers by far. And this coming from someone that got fed up with them during the mascot apocalypse. The assertion that they're short or style over substance doesn't hold ground for the better examples and the genre is only brought down by the fact that there are no AAA budget ones being made anymore. Or is it? It's not like AAA has brought anything to the table for years. Also, unlike most other genres (cough, rpg), they are what it says in the tin.

 

[Jamma]

Visual novels have the most integrity, by far.
In the 90's they had poor pacing, poor editing, an exposition that lasts for hours on end, exclusive focus on japan, exclusive focus on romance, anime characters instead of real characters, mandatory sex scenes, and that awful awful feeling you're reading the prose of a basement dweller,
untouched by neither books nor women.
Non of that has changed.
The 00's brought an opportunity to change it as more big commercial products were made. Was it done? No, because casuals should learn to read for 10 hours before they get to the hook.
Are they any different now that Japanese companies know there's a western audience that's willing to pay for an editor? Nope.

In fact, when there was market pressure from Steam to tone down the sexy elements of visual novels, the developers at large did not cave in, and gave links to 18+ patches in the store. Eventually Valve understood that no amount of money and access to western audience could convince those idiots to change their games, and so Steam allowed Japanese filth to be added to the store as is. And that's integrity - the genre didn't change and the games are still the same shit. Instead the biggest online storefront decided to change. And I can promise you that ten years from now there's still going to be high funded Sperm Storm Maiden Operation games being made.

 

[Seethe]

Voted RTS by mistake, meant to vote TBS

 

[Child of Malkav]

No stealth genre? Really? That's the one I would have voted for.
Splinter Cell 1-4, Thief 1-3, Hitman (Absolution doesn't exist), Styx 1 and 2, Dark (2013), Mark of the Ninja. They tried to smear SC with Conviction and Blacklist but fans didn't want any of that and it reflected in poor sales and abandonment of the franchise. Same thing with Thief 4.
Didn't compromise itself, now dead, but upright dammit.

Another genre would be RTT - also didn't compromise itself: Commandos, Desperados, Robin Hood The Legend of Sherwood, Shadow Tactics, Chicago 1930.

Edit: also forgot to mention the immersive sims. Dark Messiah/Thief/System Shock/Arx Fatalis/Deus Ex/Dishonored/Prey 2017/Divinity Original Sin 2 (partially).

 

[Azalin]

I've seen only one Beat 'em up (Mother Russia Bleeds)

Fight n Rage is criminally underrated. People tend to go for Mother Russia for the presentation but FnR is a lot better.

Fight'N'Rage,

Is this one enjoyable if you aren't a weeabo furry?

 

[CryptRat]

The genres I like (RPGs, TBS, adventure games and 2D plateformers) quickly died after the release of Dune II, Doom and Ultima Underworld but 2D plateformers were revived the best with digital distribution to I guess that'd be my answer.

I voted Adventure games. They are clearly the least impacted by decline.

Adventure games may be the most butchered genre actually, I mean a dev which worked on Myst just released a game where puzzles are "not meant to get in the way of the experience".

 

[Rahdulan]

Another genre would be RTT - also didn't compromise itself: Commandos, Desperados, Robin Hood The Legend of Sherwood, Shadow Tactics, Chicago 1930.

I'd say those were definitely a subgenre of RTT, but when I think of RTT proper I imagine Sudden Strike, Ground Control, Myth, Blitzkrieg, Codename: Panzers, etc.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Another genre would be RTT - also didn't compromise itself: Commandos, Desperados, Robin Hood The Legend of Sherwood, Shadow Tactics, Chicago 1930.

I'd say those were definitely a subgenre of RTT, but when I think of RTT proper I imagine Sudden Strike, Ground Control, Myth, Blitzkrieg, Codename: Panzers, etc.

Well they are considered as such. I haven't seen a subclassification of RTTs, as least to my knowledge.

 

[Tweed]

Is this one enjoyable if you aren't a weeabo furry?

It's a weird kind of brawler, if you go into it expecting something traditional you'll be very disappointed. The game is all about doing perfect combos and air juggling enemies.

I don't think any of these genres have any real integrity left to speak of. It's all either politics, shit games, or nickel and dimeing people to death with DLC.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I would say Action games and Platformers.

 

[Sjukob]

Is this one enjoyable if you aren't a weeabo furry?

No idea I haven't played it, just wanted to mention modern releases. I didn't like the artstyle when I first saw it too. Just play Streets of Rage Remake if want to smash some faces, you can't go wrong with it.

 

[Azalin]

Is this one enjoyable if you aren't a weeabo furry?

No idea I haven't played it, just wanted to mention modern releases. I didn't like the artstyle when I first saw it too. Just play Streets of Rage Remake if want to smash some faces, you can't go wrong with it.

Thanks,already have SORR

 

[Infinitron]

Adventure (includes Point & click) - Probably among the few genres with some integrity left. Both indie and commercial are alive and relatively well

Have you been following WEG's Dave Gilbert recently? Have you noticed what happened to Daedalic Entertainment?

 

[Night Goat]

Beat 'em up / Fighting games - Dead, other than MK

This is factually incorrect, are you ignoring the fact that based Nipponese exist?

 

[Martyr]

I voted for adventure games. not necessarily because of point & click adventures, I can sort of see the decline there.

but because of my beloved Myst-clones and puzzle games in general, they're going as strong as ever.
since Myst: Rhem, Lisssn, Scratches, Haven Moon, Lake Ridden, Gorogoa, The Eyes of Ara, Mind: Path to Thalamus, Opus Magnum, Obduction, Quern, The Guest, The Room, et cetera.

also first person horror games like Penumbra, Amnesia, Outlast if they count.

some really good point & click games as well: Trüberbrook, Lorelai, Downfall, Cat Lady, Goetia, Gray Matter, Kathy Rain, Pillars of the Earth, Memoranda.

and I genuinly like most walking simulators, they're relaxing as fuck.

adventures are pretty much the only games of any genre I can play while don't thinking "I'd rather play (name of old game) right now than continue playing (name of new game)."

 

[DalekFlay]

I voted platformers because there's a shit-ton of old-school style ones that seem pretty popular in that niche. No it's not super mainstream, but the people who want them seem to be getting a good steady supply of both pure ones and Metroidvania style ones. I dabble when feeling nostalgic and there seems to always be a new one with a good rep to play.

Since you allowed two I also voted for turn-based strategy, because unlike what you imply I think there's a ton of good ones still being made. Both higher budget like Xcom and Mutant Year Zero and lower budget like Banner Saga, along with RPG hybrids like Shadowrun.

RPGs there's lots of new stuff to play and enjoy to some degree but most of the incline feels a little bland to me and the big budget stuff still feels too simple and shallow.

FPS I actually think there's some good ones in the "AAA" space, but it's rare. I will defend Bethesda's Doom and Wolfenstein stuff any day, the people screaming decline on those are blinded by nostalgia. Have you played stuff like Return to Castle Wolfenstein lately? It's not any more open or non-linear than the newer ones. Only legitimate gripe is too much story focus, and Doom 4 doesn't have that problem either. That said these are a few examples in a genre otherwise crowded by complete linear CoD shit or multiplayer only games.

Adventure games... I buy them and then never play them, so I dunno.

 

[luj1]

Yeah generally these smaller genres seem to be less compromised

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

I think fighting games are intact - gameplay-wise I mean because they happended to be perfect territory for shady practices like microtransactions, selling popular characters as DLC etc.

 

[Machocruz]

Roguelikes and survival games, which intersect at times. My favorite genres right now. Cataclysm, Caves of Qud, Cogmind, Don't Starve, The Long Dark, Project Zomboid, Dwarf Fortress, Stone Soup, Neo Scavenger. May be cheating as a lot of RLs have been around for a while, so not exactly "now" games.

 

[Machocruz]

I voted for adventure games. not necessarily because of point & click adventures, I can sort of see the decline there.

I had an itch to play Observer. Have you played it? Is it a walking sim or are there actually things to figure out?