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When do you feel your favorite genre peaked?

dreamlongdead

dreamlongdead

Member
Nov 5, 2017
2,636
On a personal level, gaming as a whole peaked during the PS2 era. RE4, ICO, SotC, and MGS3 are GOAT. This gen was a golden age for JRPGs and quirky, experimental games.

Haven't been into console gaming since then.

I know there's been great games in recent years, but I am bound by nostalgia. This gen is far more appealing to me than last gen was, so things are on the upswing.
 
GymWolf86

GymWolf86

Banned
Nov 10, 2018
4,663
Immersive sims dishonored saga and prey.
Superhero games spiderman
Brawler 3d yakuza 0\kiwami 2
Open world horizon\rdr2
Tps max payne 3
Fps story driven wolfenstein saga
Stealth game mgs5
 
Rosenkrantz

Rosenkrantz

Member
Jan 17, 2018
4,914
CRPGs. Obviously late 90s - early 00s. There are plenty of great games that were released in recent years, but nothing can beat glory days of Interplay.
 

Deleted member 8593

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
27,176
The FPS genre had two peaks, one in 2005 with the first F.E.A.R. and one two years later in 2007 with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

To this day the most engaging AI in games.
 
Qikz

Qikz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,459
RTS games with StarCraft: Broodwar (or now StarCraft: Remastered). It's the perfect RTS and no game since has beaten it for me.
 
Rivenblade

Rivenblade

Member
Nov 1, 2017
37,114
Metroidvanias definitely peaked with Symphony of the Night. It's been retreads since then.That said, I haven't played Hollow Knight, so maybe my opinion will change.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,569
Deus Ex 1 still hasn't been surpassed overall for its genre. Shinobi III is still number one for ninja action.

Rivenblade said:
Metroidvanias definitely peaked with Symphony of the Night. It's been retreads since then.That said, I haven't played Hollow Knight, so maybe my opinion will change.
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Hollow Knight is good (but overstays its welcome). Monster Boy is the modern one I would place up with SotN; it's both a love letter to classic Wonder Boy/Monster World games and feels very fresh in its puzzles and world design.
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
Stiltzkin said:
Open world peaked with Witcher 3, and that released 4 years ago which boggles my mind.
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I think the degree to which Red Dead Redemption 2 enables player interaction with their open world is something that is a clear step above what the Witcher 3 was doing.

Open World games haven't "peaked". They're the -it- genre right now in the AAA space so they're iterating and improving at a gradual rate and are arguably on the path to peaking in the future.
 
OP
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justiceiro

justiceiro

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
6,664
Leo said:
I think you're confused, Yoshi's Island came out after that.
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You mean this game?
cardboardboxer said:
Peaks are hard to nail, because is it when the best game of that genre came out, or is it when that genre is most popular
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It's all about how you feel. Ask yourself this: would you rather have the games that you already have now at the expense of noone ever making a game in that genre again, or would you give them up because you believe that someone will surpass it, just a matter of time?
Pancracio17 said:
RTS games with Starcraft 2 with the dinosaurs?
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I don't think anyone consider SC2 RTS peak.
 
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AppleKid

AppleKid

Member
Feb 21, 2018
2,476
Super Mario 64 remains my favorite 3D Platformer of all time. So technically that genre peaked for me in 1996 ;)
 
DarkFlame92

DarkFlame92

Member
Nov 10, 2017
5,641
2015 saw the release of Witcher 3(best game this gen),Bloodborne(one of the best), Fallout 4( I still liked it despite being inferior to 3 and New Vegas) and Phantom Pain

I'm a lover for open world rpgs. Technically Bloodborne was not open world,but w/e. Awesome year
 
Ensoul

Ensoul

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,348
Going to list a few here:

Fighting games: Ultimate MK 3 and Super Street fighter 2 Turbo. Never really loved any of the SF or MK games that came out after those two games.

FPS: Black ops. My all time favorite FPS and I never enjoyed another COD as much as I did that one.

JRPG: Final Fantasy VII: Not many turned based RPS these days and that was the peak for me.
 
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Dogui

Dogui

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,771
Brazil
1997-2000 was pretty crazy for JRPGs, obviously on PS1. There's a lot of great stuff before and after that anyway, it's a pretty timeless genre.
 
cardboardboxer

cardboardboxer

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,727
justiceiro said:
It's all about how you feel. It doesn't need to be accurate, just listen to your heart.
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Oh.

In that case my personal gaming peak was with first person shooters and Counter Strike 1.3ish. I will never have more fun with an online game, not even CS: Go because of the lack of certain maps (747) and the fact that the community was so different then. Dust, Office, Prodigy, Italy are all words with certain meanings for me.

Early Counter Strike had a depth to it that I felt Team Fortress or straight Unreal or Quake deathmatches didn't have, yet didn't have the overwhelming depth that Medal of Honor and eventually Call of Duty had to them. I can remember debating intensely with gaming friends in 2004 the merits of a first person shooter where what mattered more was your skills rather than how much you leveled up in the game. I thought that was a more "pure" gameplay experience.

What is funny is as an adult I find myself coming around again to that argument for different reasons. Nowadays the online online shooters I play are CS Go and Splatoon 2 because I don't feel like I am a disadvantage only playing those games occasionally. Any online game where you can put in time to level up to be better than me, and therefore I have to spend time to level up (or even worse just pay-to-win) just to be competitive isn't a game I am even considering playing for a second.
 
Merkunt

Merkunt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
721
The RTS Genre peaked around the late 90's and early 00's with games like Starcraft, Age of Empires 2 and Rise of Nations, luckily for me, Paradox picked the mantle and was able to make something even better with their Grand Strategy Games which fulfill my micromanagement needs in a way no other genre can.
 
KillLaCam

KillLaCam

Prophet of Truth
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Oct 25, 2017
15,380
Seoul
Not my favorite anymore because there hasn't been one I loved in forever but JRPGS peaked in the early 2000s when huge turn based ones where still common.
 
BDGAME

BDGAME

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,090
Brasília
2D platforms on 16 bits era. Maybe now they are having a revive. The best one is the first yoshi for snes and now is DK for switch.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
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Oct 25, 2017
115,322
The JRPG genre is pretty much dead after it peaked near the end of the PS1 and had a few sparks of life during the PS2 generation.

Stylish action peaked with DMC3 and is probably never going to return.
 
Kawngi

Kawngi

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Oct 30, 2017
3,218
FPS in around 2007-2009, haven't enjoyed them nearly as much since then. Though we've still had a few standout great games in the genre, it
just hasn't been the same.
 
Chopchop

Chopchop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,171
Space sims peaked with Freespace 2. I'm glad the genre is kinda sorta coming back, but so far nothing looks as fun to me as FS2 did.
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,474
point & clicks peaked in 93 with the Fate of Atlantis talkie release
JRPGs peaked in 97/8 with Breath Of Fire 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Grandia, Vandal Hearts and Shining Force 3 S1-3
 
DarthBuzzard

DarthBuzzard

Banned
Jul 17, 2018
5,122
Big G said:
Survival horror peaked in the early 2000s. Primarily with REmake, but also Silent Hill 2/3, the first few Fatal Frame games, Eternal Darkness, etc.

It's never been the same since the shift to action.
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What about recents like Alien Isolation, SOMA, RE7 VR? Surely these are among the best horror games ever made? I feel like the horror genre can only get much better as time goes on.
 
DrHercouet

DrHercouet

Member
May 25, 2018
1,679
France
I think plateformers have been peaking since 2007 (starting with Mario Galaxy and Rayman Origins) and have never stopped since.
 
elenarie

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,776
Blade Wolf said:
Like what? A Destiny clone from DICE?

Please tell me my joke is just a joke and you guys are working on the next modern Battlefield...
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Of course that I'm not going to announce a new game via a random forum post! :D

Destiny smoothness mixed with Titanfall and Battlefield weapons and vehicles diversity and battle scale and Planetside player numbers and what not, all in one game. Seamless transition between storied experience and full blown PvP battles.

This genre has sooooooooooooo much potential. However, we have definitely not reached the peak at all.
 
Blade Wolf

Blade Wolf

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,512
Taiwan
elenarie said:
Destiny smoothness mixed with Titanfall and Battlefield weapons and vehicles diversity and battle scale and Planetside player numbers and what not, all in one game. Seamless transition between storied experience and full blown PvP battles.
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Okay, that sounds awesome.

I agree with you, the genre is still very young and has yet to peak. It's merely a toddler at this stage.
 
Mbolibombo

Mbolibombo

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,043
RTS... while good games have been released since.. nothing really tops the mid 90s to 2003-ish regarding RTS.

I'm hoping WC3 reforged is a massive success.
 
Euron

Euron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,771
elenarie said:
Of course that I'm not going to announce a new game via a random forum post! :D

Destiny smoothness mixed with Titanfall and Battlefield weapons and vehicles diversity and battle scale and Planetside player numbers and what not, all in one game. Seamless transition between storied experience and full blown PvP battles.

This genre has sooooooooooooo much potential. However, we have definitely not reached the peak at all.
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Wow. My biggest issue with shooters this gen has been although each one has brought excellent ideas to the table, I'd prefer that the ideas be combined as I feel the games are missing something with the individual ideas alone. Like Destiny's shooting feels so smooth but the game lacks the story and well, fun factor of Titanfall 2 or the scale of Battlefield. Titanfall has amazing mobility and the campaign's level design and storytelling were amazing but the shooting doesn't feel as good as Destiny and the encounters are rather small. And Battlefield is great with scale and vehicle additions but it doesn't have the aforementioned combat features of Destiny and Titanfall.

The FPS genre is always in my top 3 but never reaches 1 just because I feel that it has much more growing to do and hasn't truly realized its potential which is why I agree with your point and I'm very excited by the game you've described. It obviously takes a ton of work and time to realize this vision and I commend you for getting as far as you have already but I'm really happy to see this vision at play. Next gen sounds like it'll be something extraordinary.
 
Ensoul

Ensoul

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,348
JusDoIt said:
UMK3 I understand. Mortal Kombat struggled for years after that.

But SLOW ASS SUPER Street Fighter II??? Like legit the most disappointing version of SFII, sandwiched between the two best versions of SFII.
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Whoops should have added Turbo to the end of that. Super Street Fighter 2 turbo.
 

Deleted member 48813

Banned
Oct 20, 2018
1,281
Brazil
- Life simulators peaked with The Sims 2 and it will probably never be topped considering what EA has been doing to the franchise.
- 3D platformers peaked with Super Mario Galaxy. Really hoping Psychonauts 2 will be able to top it, looks amazing.
- 3D Zelda peaked with Skyward Sword before becoming a dead genre (Yes, I consider it its own genre since there's nothing else like it out there, and I see BotW as its own completely different thing).

Edit: Puzzle games peaked with The Talos Principle. And sandbox games with Minecraft.
 
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Grapezard

Grapezard

Member
Nov 16, 2017
7,778
Is there such a thing as a 3D Metroidvania? If there is, I'd give that to Metroid Prime. Amazing game, not that there's a lot of competition.
 
Sgt. Demblant

Sgt. Demblant

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Oct 25, 2017
7,030
France
2D action games and jrpgs are my favorite genres.

While nothing has topped Contra: Hard Corps or various entries in the Castlevania series for me, we still get some amazing masterpieces in that first category every year. I don't think we've hit the peak yet.

When it comes to jrpgs, maybe their heyday is long gone, but I have spent more than 300 hours playing Xenoblade 2, so I can't complain. I'd say the genre peaked in the PS1 era in terms of variety and popularity but so many of these games I can't go back to. I'm more than happy with Xenoblade, Dragon Quest XI and FF14.
 
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