Gaming Switching Genres

[Magus]

If you can come up with a better name please do so I can have someone change the title.

I got the idea from an article I was reading on IGN. They were talking about why most superhero/movie based games never work. The writer went on about what he/she'd think could work in those type of games and then I went on to read some of the comments... (I really need to stop reading them since most of them just ##### a lot) One person mentioned they'd like to see an X-Men game that has a similar style of play to Mass Effect (I'd like to see that as well) What are some games you wish would be tried in a different genre/style?

For instance; I'd like to see a Final Fantasy game play like a Metal Gear Solid game. I don't know how that would work but I'd like to see anyway lol. Let Kojima get his hands on that game I bet he'd work some magic.

[CaNz]

err...maybe Bridging Genres? I dunno.. I am horrible with the titles as well. :/
I would like to see Gundam game take on a Star Wars Battlefront (2) kinda game play. Battlefront was missing a real storyline in there campaign... It was nice to see the star wars planets and the 501 were pretty cool, but the objectives lacked any real depth. Gundam games traditionally went really well with the animes, but they lacked in actual gameplay (excluding Federation Vs Zeon, Encounter in Space, and possibly the Dynasty Warrior titles if you really liked the DW gameplay.) so I think the mix would be fun. Throw in a Zaku II Vs GM online multiplayer and I think you have a golden ticket.

[Dragon Warrior]

Though The Legend of Zelda series is definitely fun for being an action-adventure type deal (save Legend of Zelda 2 with its side-scrolling/RPG style), I think I wouldn't mind seeing a Zelda shooter. This is amusing because I'm godawful at shooters... like, I die in two seconds entering Halo. But I think it'd be a bit amusing to have you running around from Link's perspective hacking and chopping the baddies, using the bow, tossing the boomerang, and all his other fun weapons as if you were really him. They could still insert a [i]few[/i] puzzles, but for those of you who don't want to deal with the brain-stumpers and just want to slice and dice, this would be the Zelda for you. I know it sounds blasphemous to remove those elements from Zelda, but isn't that the point of this thread? Haha.

All I'm saying is, I would play it if it ever came out, and it'd probably be the first first-person-shooter I'd take to heart and actually attempt to get better at.

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='Dragon Warrior' timestamp='1295973237' post='704315']
Though The Legend of Zelda series is definitely fun for being an action-adventure type deal (save Legend of Zelda 2 with its side-scrolling/RPG style), I think I wouldn't mind seeing a Zelda shooter. This is amusing because I'm godawful at shooters... like, I die in two seconds entering Halo. But I think it'd be a bit amusing to have you running around from Link's perspective hacking and chopping the baddies, using the bow, tossing the boomerang, and all his other fun weapons as if you were really him. They could still insert a [i]few[/i] puzzles, but for those of you who don't want to deal with the brain-stumpers and just want to slice and dice, this would be the Zelda for you. I know it sounds blasphemous to remove those elements from Zelda, but isn't that the point of this thread? Haha.

All I'm saying is, I would play it if it ever came out, and it'd probably be the first first-person-shooter I'd take to heart and actually attempt to get better at.
[/quote]
[color="#006400"]I think I remember reading somewhere (probably here on this forum) that Zelda was actually imagined as a first-person game. I think it was in a thread about Metroid: a game that was taken from a 2-D side-view to 3-D FPS, but still maintaining plenty of platforming, secrets, and adventurous exploration that one would come to expect from the franchise. In the same vein, I think it would be interesting to see Castlevania take that route, as the style of the game is fairly similar to Metroid. As bent as I tend to get about the Metroid Prime series (though the Wii controls in the Trilogy collection make the experience a lot more tolerable), it stood out in showing that it's possible to take a platforming adventure and put it into First Person without ruining the key elements of the game (aside from the lack of ability to break sequence in the later games for those that enjoyed that). However, it still had the advantage of being a shooter. I can't help but sort of roll my eyes at imagining the limited range of a sword as the primary weapon in a First Person environment. I just think of what it would be like if people ran around in a game like Half Life with a crowbar all the time instead of guns, lol.

I think there are a lot of technical aspects that would need to be considered in order for an adventure/platforming game to sit perfectly in a First Person view, but with motion sensory equipment becoming more popular in gaming these days I don't doubt that we'll start to see more and more seamless performances in that regard.[/color]

[Dragon Warrior]

That does sound good... I mean, I vaguely remember Castlevania for N64 (I never owned it... but I saw my friends play) and they gave it more of a Metroid/Zelda feel rather than side-scrolling. But at the same time, Metroid is a perfect example of what I mean they should do with Zelda. Because you're seeing everything from Samus's perspective through her helmet. I dunno how well it'd sell, and I can imagine hardcore fans being pissed they butchered the series, but I say if they did it right, it could be a really epic edition to the Zelda franchise, even if it was only for one game.

[James]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I actually think Metal Gear Solid could work well as a JRPG, if done well. MGS has been getting heavier and heavier with plot in recent iterations and I think you could do a lot with turn-based combat in an MGS title. [/font]

[Pioneer]

problem with crossing already existing franchises (superheros from comic etc) with a gaming genre (or changing the genre once that franchise was a succes or not on another) is that it is a waaaaaaaaaay smaller target audience.
i dont know the exact name but they got a marvel or whatever comic brand type mmorpg coming up. fun and all but first of all you're targeting mmorpg players and WITHIN that group the few that like characters that wear shorts over their normal pants (ok a bit of an exaggeration).
But realize that those superhero comcis where only populair in the US, not that the US is a small place but youre simply alienating (also a bit of an exaggeration) the rest of the world.

le part 2 of my comment:

mix cowboys with sci fi, end of story.
if thats properly done you wil conquer the world. or at least I will buy the game so it will conquer my world which would be nice enough eh?

[PiroMunkie]

[quote name='Pioneer' timestamp='1296939867' post='704715']mix cowboys with sci fi, end of story.
if thats properly done you wil conquer the world. or at least I will buy the game so it will conquer my world which would be nice enough eh?
[/quote]
[color="#006400"]I hate to burst your bubble, but the tragic fall of Firefly/Serenity contradicts your theory. It supposedly even had an MMO in development that never took off, as awesome as it would have been.[/color]

[James]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Piro's comments about Zelda made me think about how else the Zelda design could be changed. I'm actually very much in favour of Zelda being fairly radically changed in terms of gameplay design - the series, for me, is starting to feel quite stale (I'm really hoping Skyward Sword will help to alleviate that).

I am thinking that it would be cool to keep Zelda in the third person, but perhaps to change the perspective slightly. In my mind's eye, I am thinking about a slightly over-the-shoulder perspective (think, say...Mass Effect 2, but perhaps with the camera pulled back a little further).

And, as with Skyward Sword, the game would feature 1:1 sword control.

At present, 3D Zelda games tend to have a very similar format whereby you have an overworld dotted with exploratory areas (i.e. towns/outposts) and combat/puzzle-solving areas (i.e. dungeons). There can be some blurriness between these two distinctions, but generally speaking, Zelda games clearly define these two realms as being separate (and the overworld itself is sort of something in between, with the token sprinkling of enemies here and there).

What I would like to see is a world that is far more seamless than that, where the dividing line between "outpost" and "dungeon" is largely non-existent.

The kind of world I'm thinking about is actually a lot closer to something like Grand Theft Auto. If you strip away the actual content and just look at the world itself, what you have is a large world where the "levels" (i.e. "dungeons") are directly integrated into the "overworld" itself. So you don't tend to have all of these very separate elements that are joined together by a vast and relatively-uneventful space - instead, many kinds of events are dotted throughout the world itself. The overworld is not just a transit hub - it is actually the space where the puzzle solving and combat occurs.

Another game to reference from is Half-Life 2. In H-L2, you are definitely being funneled through a fairly linear experience. However, all of your individual challenges are occurring within the same consistent game world at all times - you aren't in a central "hub" from which there are distinct branches to beat. It's not that two dimensional (or at least it doesn't appear to be, thanks to great design).

To add to that, I don't like the idea that you need to be limited to very specific dungeons and occasional side-quests (which, generally, aren't all that consequential). I'd rather a system closer to western RPGs like Guild Wars or Mass Effect, where you can follow a single thread of "missions" but where you can also take on assignments of varying scope - some of which can have quite a big impact but are still optional.

It would also be interesting to add some deeper roleplaying elements to the experience, too. I'm not talking about leveling up or anything, but more about some simulation elements - for example, it might be fun to breed improved horses at Lon Lon Ranch or to take part in deeper conversations with NPCs.

And that's not to mention added plot depth and perhaps even some excellent scripted moments (I think scripting would work really well in Zelda, in particular).[/font]

[Magus]

[quote name='James' timestamp='1299562689' post='705545']
[font="Palatino Linotype"]I am thinking that it would be cool to keep Zelda in the third person, but perhaps to change the perspective slightly. In my mind's eye, I am thinking about a slightly over-the-shoulder perspective (think, say...Mass Effect 2, but perhaps with the camera pulled back a little further).[/font]
[/quote]
At first I was gonna say every game could use the over-the-shoulder treatment but thinking about it, no, God of War and Devil May Cry (which probably could use it) seem like it wouldn't be that great since the games can get pretty hectic. But Zelda could definately use the over-the-shoulder look. That'll at least get me interested in the series again (Couldn't finish Twilight Princess or Wind Waker because of the tired feel and formula)

Anyway, you mentioned Mass Effect and. while it's not a genre thing, it's more like a general want (I think I even mentioned this in the ME thread), but I'd like to see some JRPGs play like Mass Effect. Like Zelda, turn-based RPGs and the action rpgs are tiring and I just can't get into them anymore, no matter how good the story or intriguing the characters are. You can only get so far with just the X button. I understand you have the S/TRPGs but those were never my cup of tea, but I may have to play those just to get a different feel of variety from the JRPGs. Let Bioware handle the gameplay and interaction department and let some JRPG developer do the characters and you'd probably have a big hit.