Game genres or game themes that you've dropped playing over time. What dropped themes or genres have you picked back up?

[Unofficial Who]

Back when I was a little kid my goal games wise was to play EVERY SINGLE GAME EVER MADE!

 

All the games. Every genre. I was going to become a savant.

 

Playing a lot of old C64 games recently and having access via subscriptions and freebies to more games than I will ever possibly play I've realised that over time I've lost even the curiosity in playing whole genres or being put off by certain themes. That's not because there aren't excellent examples in those areas, it's just that changes in taste or life circumstances or the industry have put me off.

 

The most recent one that came to mind was sports games. I lost interest in most sports games after almost destroying my arm playing Activision's Decathlon on the 2600. My arm still spasms decades later remembering trying to place in the 1500m marathon. My interest was piqued by Summer Games 2 but post that sports games haven't been my thing.

 

I haven't been interested in football games since Sensible World of Soccer. After that they got too complicated.

 

I dropped trying to enjoy most military flight sims around the time of the Amiga and only ever really enjoyed playing Knights of the Sky and Red Baron back then. Otherwise you're just firing at dots on the horizon.

 

I stopped enjoying military FPS games after playing Medal of Honour:Frontline. It seems laughable now but something about it felt vaguely distasteful and my FPS games have to be sci fi or rendered in something that doesn't feel close to real life. The only Far Cry I've played a lot of is Blood Dragon.

 

And I dropped fighting games during the PS2 era. My friends were having kids and weren't coming around near as often, I bought way too many PS2 fighting games that just gathered dust in the end, Tekken 2 and Soul Blade were the last we played a lot of.

 

And I dropped off horror games after Silent Hill on the PSOne. Bought plenty of others later but never played them, for some reason my tolerance for horror has really dropped over time.

 

I can't see myself coming back to any of the above.

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum I'd dropped racing games since arcade racers seemed to die a death post the PS2 era only to get into them recently with the excellent Forza Horizon games which manage to sometimes allow total fail states to become their own adventures. And recently I've come back to puzzle games after leaving them behind when every puzzle game seemed to be designed around monetization and pay to win mechanics. Playing something like Grindstone which is just a one and done purchase has bought back the joy I used to get from playing Bejewelled.

[Qazimod]

I suppose the "obvious" one for me is fighting games. I do still like the odd bit of CvS2 arcade mode to pass the time, but I don't have anywhere near the same enthusiasm I had at the height of SFIV and debut of SFV. I would pour hours into these games... and funds, too; picking up costumes, character passes, and other expansions. For me it wasn't necessarily the pressure of keeping up with the meta (I'm not super-competitive and I often just play for fun now), but my setup wasn't ideal. I had been playing on wifi for years and generally I didn't think it was a big thing for a while, but after more digging I feel like wifi is a bit of a dirty word among the dedicated online warriors. If you care about having the best experience you need a direct connection to your router (or homeplugs) and without these you're just spoiling the experience for everyone else, if the internet hiveminds are to be believed.

 

That's the impression I got anyway. Personally I don't care if my opponent is playing on the best wired connection or an old Commodore baud modem; it's all a bit of fun. Even so, I know that people get kind of pissy about this stuff and so I quietly stepped away from fighters for a bit... unless I was in an environment with more casual play and people who aren't as bothered by that stuff. I will still follow the genre and occasionally dabble, but I won't be as dedicated as I once was. That said, I have recently managed to get a network cable in here so at least I won't feel like I have this wifi stigma hanging over me when I get into VI!

[dataDave]

Vs. fighters also.

 

Used to love the standard gameplay and arcade atmosphere of the early 90s. I’d constantly chase the best home ports (From SNES to AES) culminating in finally being able to play online in the late 90s and realising that I was shit at them, or at least not as good as I wanted to be. I dropped off in the early 00s, around the time everyone was playing 3S on the Xbox.

 

Finally moved out of the country in 2010 to Singapore, where there was a massive fighting game community - and right at the peak of SSF4AE. I started playing casually again in the arcades, made friends (with Xian and co.), started getting better, got a 360 and a MadCatz TE for the house to get even better, spent nearly a full year doing that before yet again plateauing and realising I’d peaked unless I could play for more than eight hours each and every day. Quit again right as SFxT came out.

 

Got a MiSTer last year for my birthday and now I’m back into the classics in a super casual fashion, playing exclusively with my four year old son who absolutely fucking loves everything about fighting games. It’s great. I’m looking at sorting out some joysticks next so we can play properly.

 

I should probably start turning up to watch @Singho’s Virtua Chippy with the kid as well. Although I’m somewhat afraid I get sucked in and then chewed up again.

[teddymeow]

I mainly play third-person, narrative driven action adventure games.

 

I'm Sony's bitch, basically.

[SeanR]

I haven’t played pro evo since 2008 despite playing every Konami football (PAL) release up to that point, including the ISS releases.

 

Ive never been a fifa person

 

now I just don’t play the computer football…

[phillv85]

2 minutes ago, SeanR said:

I haven’t played pro evo since 2008 despite playing every Konami football (PAL) release up to that point, including the ISS releases.

 

Ive never been a fifa person

 

now I just don’t play the computer football…

This is pretty much exactly me as well.

[Gloomy Andy]

RPGs

 

I want to play them, really I do. But who's got the time these days?

I made an exception for FF7R and it took me 8 months to finish it. 

My PSN wishlist is full of RPGs I want to play but know I never will, Ys VIII and IX, various Tales and Neir games, the Mass Effect remaster. 

 

When people say they don't know what they'd do with their time if they won the lottery and could stop working I think of my wishlist and can only dream of what could be. 

 

[Qazimod]

20 minutes ago, Gloomy Andy said:

RPGs

 

I want to play them, really I do. But who's got the time these days?

 

This. I know it's a bit daft coming from me (played all the mainline Personas, a few Final Fantasies, Nier etc) but the desire to start an RPG is always contending with the knowledge that it will be a huge time investment.

 

I think that's why I enjoyed Chrono Trigger when I eventually gave it a chance - the story is broken up into "chapters" and the world has its various time periods with their own miniature story arcs, so the 30something hours I took to complete it  was more like a handful of mini adventures, each a few hours long. I don't own a Switch but I feel like this would be part of the appeal of Live-A-Live and its various scenarios/chapters?

[dataDave]

12 minutes ago, Qazimod said:

I don't own a Switch but I feel like this would be part of the appeal of Live-A-Live and its various scenarios/chapters?

 

Yep. And Octopath Traveler as well, to an extent. I'm 20 hours into that after eight months and can drop back in (and out again) whenever I feel like it.

 

Absolutely not Triangle Strategy, though. 😆

[Captain Kelsten]

Football games, hockey games, fighting games, cod style shooters, sim driving games. 

[Sabreman]

For me it's Video Games. Once in a while a new Video Game comes out and I play it and have a good time, but mostly it's on the deep, deep back burner.

[PikaStu]

In the 90s / 2000s I adored flight sims and RTS games, but I find I don’t have the patience for either genre these days. Proper flight sims have a steep learning curve, while RTS games require a lot of multi-tasking and quick thinking.
 

I much prefer slower turn-based gameplay these days, like the combat in Wasteland 3 or, on a bigger scale, Civilisation. 

I’ve also recently fallen in love with shmups, I mean I always liked them but never gave them much time, while now I actually find them relaxing in a way. I’ll happily fire up Battle Garegga for a few shots, seeing how far I get on one credit. It’s a good way to unwind (whereas a few years ago they were a good way to get angry and stressed!)

[Darwock]

In my case it’s RPGs, driving sims and FPS.

 

The latter probably doesn’t count as I have never really been a fan of FPS, due to typically suffering weird motion sickness. In my history of games I have played Exhumed, Medal of Honor: Frontline, Metroid Prime, Killzone 2 and 3 and Titanfall 2. The most fun I had out of that lot was KZ3 multiplayer, the move/navi controller combo was sublime (single player felt rushed and unfinished).

 

The last driving game I was involved with was GT Sport, and I got the platinum which was no small investment of effort, but the shift to online focus took away all of my confidence in the genre as I typically could not compete - even taking the correct lines would see me getting passed from the moment the race started until I was in last position. In my younger days I would have had a wheel set up but can’t do that now, so when GT7 came out I opted to just be a spectator from now on.

 

RPGs, well, I still love the genre and replayed FFXII last year which is still incredible - but I have zero tolerance for otaku anime shite and generic giant sword bollocks any more. Until we get an RPG that avoids all that crap I doubt I will ever play another one.

[Rayn]

I can’t paly RTS games anymore.  Used to love them back in the 90s but ever since the early 00s I’ve not been able to spend more than

10 minutes on an RTS before getting bored.
 

[womblingfree]

JRPG’s. I just don’t have the time or patience to go through twenty hours of fluff to get to the good bits.

 

Stuff I’ve picked back up, old, old, old arcade games.

[thesnwmn]

Gaming I think. Or at least my alignment with what a large part of "gaming" is.

 

I've never been a fan of FPS or even action games. I hate the reliance on violence and gunplay in games (which has got worse due to increasing detailed and realistic graphics and implementations - push A to punch didn't seem to bad). So I've stuck to platform, puzzle, strategy, 

 

But in recent times the emergence and domination of the From titles has seen an entire phenomenon, a tidal wave that has crashed into the industry and become rapidly become many many people's defacto best games, has increased that feeling.

 

But more reasonably...

 

In general my enjoyment of a real time challenging experience has diminished. I'm a relaxed gamer for the most part these days. I don't mind short moments of skills required (press a few buttons at the right time in the right order) but anything prolonged of this nature isn't good.

 

RTS games have fallen out of favour directly because of this. I love the strategy involved but will always go turn based now because I can stop, think, plan, and execute. No real pressure to click soon. Or actually watch too much. I can take my time to absorb what just happened.

 

Driving games too. Maybe not completely tired of but I don't have the staying power for it any more. I won't race a very good AI because they're not actually good at racing, just good at setting a specific time. And nor am I good at or caring to avoid them either. As a result I turn down the difficulty and blast around. I enjoy the driving still. But as the games have got bigger they've become extremely repetitive without any end. Do this track with this car. Now do another track variation. Or the same track with the a different car. Add to this that the best part of any racing game is low power stuff. Min maxing lines in slow motion almost. And every game gives you a short bit of this before saying you have to drive some super cars constantly progress.

[nakamura]

J-RPGs. I still enjoy the genre a lot but the modern examples are mostly bloated now. Still love the 90s games, 20-40 hours max before side quests. Games like Parasite Eve, Grandia, FF7 or Suikoden are great to play today. But 60 slow hours of Octopath Traveller, no thanks. Content stretched to fill a quota. 

[Ftsthe]

I’ve enjoyed playing previous generation games on the Switch. As an older gamer with less spare time to game, I prefer their simplicity and how they are more geared towards pick up and play. 
 

I find modern games have a steep learning curve or require too much commitment.

 

Mario All Stars has been perfect 

[Wiper]

There aren't many genres that I used to enjoy that I now don't, but I suppose there's the broad genre of "third-person action adventures" that I used to love (in the form of games like Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine), which has largely be subsumed by Sony/Naughty Dog-esque "cinematic experiences" which I can't stand. That's more a genre that's moved away from me, rather than vice-versa, though.

[SMD]

First person shooters. I used to love them in the 90s, you were guaranteed to pick one up and no matter how ropey enjoy some kind of new twist or tech. Bigger maps, bigger guns, stealth, different AI, different settings... now it just feels like other than indie games you're going to play very similar titles that are mostly multiplayer games with some single player campaign tacked on if you're lucky.

 

I enjoyed what I played of Wolfenstein, Titanfall 2 and Doom but the CODs and Battlefields just don't seem like they're made for me. I can't get on with always online shooters either.

[Wiper]

On 13/08/2022 at 14:13, dataDave said:

 

Yep. And Octopath Traveler as well, to an extent. I'm 20 hours into that after eight months and can drop back in (and out again) whenever I feel like it.

 

Absolutely not Triangle Strategy, though. 😆

 

Oddly, I've just had the opposite experience of Triangle Strategy — with the heatwave couldn't face the constant attention needed of Xenoblade, so switched to TS; ended up finishing a playthrough in about 35 hours (padded out by playing on higher difficulty and completing all the side/training levels). Because it's literally split into chapters and acts I was able to pick it up and put it down easily, and I found it the ideal length. So much so I'm planning a second playthrough, to see some of the other branches and a different ending.

 

Basically, it was, for me, exactly what you're describing in Octopath and Live-a-Live! Just, you know, an SRPG rather than JRPG.

[dataDave]

I must be about half-way through my first run, then. The most challenging aspect I’m finding is remembering the story while bouncing between three other RPGs. 🤦‍♂️
 

It’s definitely a great time to be a classic JRPG/SRPG fan, especially if you have a Switch. It’s not quite 1995 again, but it’s very close.

[Darwock]

On 14/08/2022 at 09:19, Darwock said:

In my history of games I have played Exhumed, Medal of Honor: Frontline, Metroid Prime, Killzone 2 and 3 and Titanfall 2. The most fun I had out of that lot was KZ3 multiplayer, the move/navi controller combo was sublime (single player felt rushed and unfinished).

 

Minor correction that nobody cares about but me, I have also played Halo: CE. Just realized the omission when reading the rllmuk’s favourite games of all time thread.

 

(it’s not one of my favourites obviously)