The variety in the gaming industry sucks nowadays with too much of certain genres and few of others

[Segafreak]

This has been a sentiment for the last decade but I feel like it's only become a big issue for me now. I'm not a jaded gamer whose grown out of it, I currently play Overwatch and Lunar 2 daily and then I will move on to Legend of Dragoon. All the industry seems to have regressed to is chasing a few big gaming trends, whether it's Fortnite, Soulsborne games or Metroidvanias. The indies that were supposed to be a breath of fresh air mostly(I said mostly) chase the same trends set by other big indies or trying to cash in on nostalgia by making clones.

If I could categorize what I see with a quick glance in the gaming world it's:
-"Sony Style" big cinematic games
-"e-sporty" / GAAS games
-RPG-lite games EVERYTHING
-Metroidvanias, Souls likes and indie clones
-shitty anime games farted out by Namco

and too few risky or avant garde games which do their own thing without borrowing from others, this doesn't even have to be some experimental game, even a simple SSX like would stand out from the crowd of all the samey games.

Once there were so many genres out there, now so few, and I'm not gonna get my 3D Mario or OoT fix by playing a kickstarted indie ripoff with $5 budget. It's like when people say current gen music sucks and then get told "go listen indie/underground music" to get their fix, but they'll never even come close to the classics.

Also we need more Sega blue skies games.

Discuss.

 

[tenderbrew]

I really think there's never been more variety.

 

[Acquiescence]

Sony needs to stop putting trees in everything. So many trees.

 

[Kenjovani]

Nah imo tons of variety amongst games with indie games filling up a hole with diff styles and types of games at a decent to good quality. What i do miss however are my boxing games like "Fight Night" I really enjoyed those games.

 

[Porygon]

Nowadays?

That has always been the case

Platforms and bear em ups in the 90's

Shooters in the 00s...

 

[Akronis]

need more classic RTSes like Supreme Commander. Where's Chris Taylor?

 

[Rodjer]

I don't agree.

- We still have yearly RTS games
- Plenty of fighting titles
- A lot of different side scrollers games with various styles in both visuals and gameplay
- Racing titles are still alive, we have few of them but still kicking
- Action games are making a comeback
- We have a lot of different RPGs

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Nothing to discuss in here.

The quality and quantity of diverse experiences has never been greater.

You are just too stupid to look around, simple as that.

 

[night814]

I really think there's never been more variety.

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Yeah if all you look at are the big games you're missing out, keep in mind too there's probably tons of games from the last few gens that you completely missed. I still boot up my PS3 to play stuff I didn't have time for.

 

[skeezx]

i mean... you could browse on steam for like 5 minutes and find about any kind of strain of gaming you could possibly imagine. something you couldn't do in "the good ol' days"

if we're talking more mainstream, AAA/AA stuff, i suppose you could argue it's played too safe with market trends. but it's always been that way more or less

 

[kiguel182]

You should visit itch.io

 

[Toumari]

Ubisoft games are somewhat similar so surprised this wasn't mentioned in the OP.

 

[GUNDAM STARDUST]

We need more QUALITY turn based strategy games like XCOM.

 

[Oldmario]

-shitty anime games farted out by Namco

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most anime games are pretty decent and not namco tho?

 

[nightstalker962]

My favorite games this gen are Super Mario Odyssey and Horizon Zero Dawn, games that didn't reinvent the wheel, but still felt fresh, polished, and had great art design. You should play the games the speak to you.

 

[Domcorleone]

Nothing to discuss in here.

The quality and quantity of diverse experiences has never been greater.

You are just too stupid to look around, simple as that.

Click to shrink...

Why so rude?

 

[Igniz12]

Can't agree here, sorry. On the PC at least there is great depth of titles to dabble in if you're willing to look. If you talking strictly AAA then I can see that but you mentioned indies as well and that is not the case as far as I have seen.

 

[tenderbrew]

We need more QUALITY turn based strategy games like XCOM.

Click to shrink...

Mario + rabbids and into the breach both great. Fire Emblems coming out frequently.

 

[Odrion]

It was way worse in the 360 era.

 

[Berto]

Dont agree, we are living in a revival era.

 

[Ant_17]

We have more variety than we had last gen.
But that might end soon with all the Battle Royal in everything.
I swear, if Forza 8 has a mode like that and calls it Battle Royal instead of Destruction Derby, i will lose my mind.

 

[sph3re]

Let me tell you a story of a little website called itch.io...

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Sure if you only look at triple A efforts.

There's probably never been more variety though.

 

[Deleted member 19218]

Nah man.

This gen is a huge improvement over last gen when Japanese games largely shrunk away. This gen has been viewed as the return of Japanese games.

In addition to that we don't have every company trying to emulate COD this gen. And no, battle royale is not on the same level.

Pretty much every game was shoving in class customisation, a level up system and a multiplayer component into their game. Battle royale hasn't been added to every FPS yet.

 

[raketenrolf]

Better than last gen but you are not completely wrong. Feels like 90% of indie game releases are metroidvanias or roguelikes/lites or games with randomized stuff.

AAA open world games feel too samey too.

 

[Dougieflesh]

I enjoy the variety. Also you should probably take a break from gaming.

 

[Deleted member 8408]

I don't agree at all.

You might need to broaden your horizons and stop looking at what seem to be the most popular titles here.

There's a ton of variety out there, especially on the PC.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

...?
There never has been more tbh.
Way better than last gen's shooter craze and love for brown in grey color palettes for sure.

I'm also not a fan of certain trends like Battle Royale or RPG mechanics crammed into games like Assasins Creed or God of War but trends have always been the case and those things come and go.

I dunno man, I'll get my Sekiro, Resident Evil2 and DMC5 fix next year, three entirely different genres. Not even menitoning Nintendo here who always have a wide as hell variety of gameplay offerings out of the necessity to provide most of the mentionable lineup themselves (which also gets better).
This year started off with MonHun World for me which also is something pretty unique, and it will end with RDR2 and Smash Bros, other games in entirely different genres.

I now listed 6 games I have been or will be getting in the near future and they all provide vastly different experiences.
Dunno what to tell you to be honest.
(Hollow Knight also is one of the best games I played in ages, doesn't matter if it's a Metroidvania or not.)

I don't agree at all.

You might need to broaden your horizons and stop looking at what seem to be the most popular titles here.

There's a ton of variety out there, especially on the PC.

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Even if you look a the most popular titles the variety is there imo.
Case in point what I've written above.

 

[Thrill_house]

Nothing to discuss in here.

The quality and quantity of diverse experiences has never been greater.

You are just too stupid to look around, simple as that.

Click to shrink...

Whew thats a bit harsh lol.

On topic though, OP I feel we have more variety than we ever had. I've been gaming since the late 80s and while certain types of games aren't quite as popular(turn based rpgs for example) it seems as if there are just so msny different types of games out its crazy. There is just too much cool shit coming out and seriously not enough time to experience it all!

 

[WestEgg]

There's been a lot more time to figure out what sells well and appeals to the mainstream than there was 20 or more years ago. A lot of creativity was born of limitations that just don't exist to the same degree anymore. It sucks that we don't see as many bold risks by AAA studios, but if they can play it safe with projects that are tested and proven likely to generate a profit, they will. I'd personally love something like Katamari Damaci blow me away with its originality again, and there is some innovation to be found in established genres, like DOOM going back to its arcadey, proactive roots, ironically feeling fresher than ever as a result.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Due to the ability of just about anybody to release a game on some digital platform I'd say variety has never been better.
A lot of genre's seem top be getting rolled into one however, look at the amount of different games classed as rpg's for example.

 

[Rommaz]

Oh boy where were you during the PS3 era.... Those were the truly dark times.

 

[TheBored23]

even a simple SSX like would stand out from the crowd of all the samey games.

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You should play Steep! Despite being almost two years old and having virtually no players, Ubisoft is still supporting it with new content.

 

[Poised Turtoise]

uhhhmmm what? Variety is incredible these days, just seems like you personally don't like some of the things that are a little more popular? Japan has made a steady come back, indies are absolutely killing it in plenty of genres not just arthouse/metroidvanias/roguelikes, games as a service whether you like them or not are new and add a lot of options and support to those who like to deep dive on one or two games and that's it, anime fans are getting love and we even got a good fighter in DBFZ, fighting games in general are getting love, CRPGs getting love, Retro games are getting love, Retro inspired games are getting love, turn based strategy games getting love, 3d platformers even getting love, like...what? I mean I could go on.....So much diversity these days

your little thing about not playing indie games because they "are ripoffs with a 5 dollar budget"....your head is up your ass man doesn't mean those games don't exist.... Hollow Knight had less then 400k funding on kickstarter and many think it is one of the best games of this gen, Hat in Time is a perfectly good 3d platformer, but you do you I guess dude -_-

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Sure if you only look at triple A efforts.

There's probably never been more variety though.

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Even if you look at AAA efforts it's been way better than last gen.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Why so rude?

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Because good, unique games fail while people like him complain that there is no variety.

And when you frontload the thread with "variety sucks", do you really think it calls for the careful evaluation of all the different games released recently compared to the past? The arguments presented in the OP are subjective and narrow, there is nothing to discuss if you think that all anime games are the bad ones made by Namco.

 

[Deleted member 19533]

Definitely the case. Trends shift though and the types of games change. I'm starving for some character action titles, and thank god for DMCV next year. This gen has been much better for me than last at least when we had few fighters, few JRPGs of quality. We did have character action games though.

The Vita I felt was a great handheld because it had a lot of niche unique titles.

 

[SuikerBrood]

The rts genre has somewhat died (But there are plenty of grand strategy, turn based strategy and sim games), there are fewer racing games and sports games have been taken over by license holding juggernauts.

The rest of the genres seem to be doing fine?

 

[Crossing Eden]

I really think there's never been more variety.

Click to shrink...

^^^^

Complaining about variety in this day and age seems genuinely illogical to me, especially compared to last gen.

"Sony Style" big cinematic games
-"e-sporty" / GAAS games
-RPG-lite games EVERYTHING
-Metroidvanias, Souls likes and indie clones
-shitty anime games farted out by Namco

Click to shrink...

This covers SOOO many different types of games.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Definitely the case. Trends shift though and the types of games change. I'm starving for some character action titles, and thank god for DMCV next year. This gen has been much better for me than last at least when we had few fighters, few JRPGs of quality. We did have character action games though.

The Vita I felt was a great handheld because it had a lot of niche unique titles.

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OP didn't evem mention character action games. Or fighting games. Or a plethora of other genres.
Bayo 3 comes out most likely next year as well.
P5, Xenoblade 2, FFXV, DQ XI and Octopath are all perceived by most people to be JRPGs of quality so...

 

[More_Badass]

Have to completely disagree. Gaming has never been more varied or diverse or with such range from weird experimental stuff to huge AAA games

We need more QUALITY turn based strategy games like XCOM.

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Quality in what regard? Graphics, budget?

Frozen Synapse 2, Invisible Inc, Into The Breach, Phantom Doctrine, Banner Saga 3, Divinity OS 2, Battletech, Battle Brothers all released in the last year or so

 

[Poised Turtoise]

Quality in what regard? Graphics, budget?

Frozen Synapse 2, Invisible Inc, Into The Breach, Phantom Doctrine, Banner Saga 3, Divinity OS 2, Battletech, Battle Brothers all released in the last year or so

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just off the top of my head fire emblem and wargroove also look super promising in this regard, can't wait

 

[Wamb0wneD]

We need more QUALITY turn based strategy games like XCOM.

Click to shrink...

Mario + Rabbids was pretty rad. :)

just off the top of my head fire emblem and wargroove also look super promising in this regard

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The last FE titles weren't so hot (especially Conquest) so let's wait up on that one. But sure in general FE always has great potential and delivered more often than not.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Every generation thinks their generation is the best generation.

Looking forward to Q1 of 2019 btw

 

[LowParry]

Plenty of variety. In grass and water puddles.

 

[Decado]

We need more QUALITY turn based strategy games like XCOM.

Click to shrink...

This is probably my favorite genre so I agree...even though there are tons and the genre is arguably stronger than in its heyday.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

If you haven't found enough variety in today's industry then you've clearly either not been looking very hard or have some weirdly selective criteria for what "counts." As others have said, broader trends have always been a thing in not just gaming but any expressive medium, but the platforms we have nowadays for discoverability (and even moreso access to gaming back catalogues for stuff you might've missed) means you really have no excuse if you can't find something that interests you, unless you've just become jaded by video games in general.

 

[SuikerBrood]

Have to completely disagree. Gaming has never been more varied or diverse or with such range from weird experimental stuff to huge AAA games


Quality in what regard? Graphics, budget?

Frozen Synapse 2, Invisible Inc, Into The Breach, Phantom Doctrine, Banner Saga 3, Divinity OS 2, Battletech, Battle Brothers all released in the last year or so

Click to shrink...

Even Microsoft is making a TBS with Gears Tactics. The genre seems to be thriving at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Every gen has had areas where it's lacking. It's important to no idealize any of them, including the current one.

I do think the current retro craze is too focused on certain types of games, especially platform/adventure games. There are so many styles of the past that aren't being utilized. How hard is it to get a few games in the vein of the 2d Shinobi games? There hasn't been anything close enough since the 3DS Shinobi and that's still polygon. The Messenger is really good but that's much more in Ninja Gaiden's style.

This thread will be full of people saying there's more variety than ever. That being true doesn't mean we can't wish for and benefit from even more variety.

 

[HououinKyouma]

That...sounds like a decent variety of games actually lol? Echoing what others have said, itch.io is a must if you're looking for more innovative approaches.

At the very least, mainstream gaming appeals to me so much more than the mainstream film industry currently (e.g. Marvel movie #5635).