Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Ack]

I've seen the "all of X genre are the same" complaint before. It typically comes from folks who either want to avoid some of the unsavory aspects surrounding a genre, who don't like the gameplay style or are unable to play a genre, or who are simply ignorant of what all a particular genre has to offer. FPS is one that I've seen thrown out a lot in this way, though I've also seen the accusation thrown at sports and racing games, fighting games, some survival horror, JRPGs, and so on.

[Jmustang1968]

I know Pokémon is the flag-bearer but I've never cared for the "trainer" subgenre of RPGs in general. I generally find these games to be dull and repetitive whilst also requiring an obsessive attention to detail I just don't possess.

I am with you here. Never could get the pokemans craze.

[Exhuminator]

I think my problem is I was just too old when Pokemon first released. (I was 19 years old when the first games came out in USA.) Even I had been a kid though I don't think I would have been able to get into it. It's just too formulaic, twee, and repetitive.

On the other hand, later on I found Shin Megami Tensei which is Pokemon for grown ups and I love it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I think my problem is I was just too old when Pokemon first released. (I was 19 years old when the first games came out in USA.) Even I had been a kid though I don't think I would have been able to get into it. It's just too formulaic, twee, and repetitive.

On the other hand, later on I found Shin Megami Tensei which is Pokemon for grown ups and I love it.

It's still popular. My daughter and many of her friends at school are way into Pokemon right now...My only knowledge of the franchise comes from paying through Pokemon Blue some years ago. To her, however, I am like an all-knowing Pokemon guru.

[Snatch1414]

I've seen the "all of X genre are the same" complaint before. It typically comes from folks who either want to avoid some of the unsavory aspects surrounding a genre, who don't like the gameplay style or are unable to play a genre, or who are simply ignorant of what all a particular genre has to offer. FPS is one that I've seen thrown out a lot in this way, though I've also seen the accusation thrown at sports and racing games, fighting games, some survival horror, JRPGs, and so on.

Well of course they're not literally all the same. Stale is probably a better word.

[Sarge]

I was the same age as Exhuminator, but I quite enjoyed Pokemon Blue. It's also the last game in the series I've given any serious time to. The metagame is actually very strong, but the competitive play aspects aren't that appealing to me, and it's obvious the story isn't going to drag it along.

Also, I was looking for anything RPG-related I could get my hands on, and this definitely fit the bill. Heck, I wasn't even aware of the marketing push or the cartoon when I picked it up, I'd just seen the special coverage in NP and thought it looked pretty slick.

Long story short: Good hooks for those that can stomach the grind.

[Ack]

I've seen the "all of X genre are the same" complaint before. It typically comes from folks who either want to avoid some of the unsavory aspects surrounding a genre, who don't like the gameplay style or are unable to play a genre, or who are simply ignorant of what all a particular genre has to offer. FPS is one that I've seen thrown out a lot in this way, though I've also seen the accusation thrown at sports and racing games, fighting games, some survival horror, JRPGs, and so on.

Well of course they're not literally all the same. Stale is probably a better word.

Where have you been looking?

There are Tactical FPS, Stealth-based FPS, Puzzle FPS, FPS/RPG hybrids, Horror FPS, Arena based FPS, Class based FPS, Twitch FPS, etc. You have FPS set in a variety of time periods or genre settings, such as Fantasy, WWII, Modern War, Near Future, Cyberpunk, Sci Fi, or Horror. You have some that are based on major properties, some that are multiplayer-only, some that are based on running a squad of AI or potentially other players.

For instance, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide is very similar to Left 4 Dead 2, but set entirely in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Levels usually feature the party getting from one area to another while fighting off hordes of Scaven. Another game with some similarities would be the Payday series, though these instead require the group of 1-4 players to perform criminal operations, such as bank heists, drug runs, assassinations, voter fraud, etc. Conversely, a game like Killing Floor features monsters that some folks might think are similar to the L4D style, only the game instead makes the players survive in a locked-in area as opposed to running through some kind of mission. If L4D makes you move, KF makes you sit and wait against waves of oncoming foes.

All of these are radically different from, say, the latest Battlefield or Call of Duty games, or the new WAD that John Romero just put out for Doom, or the latest Far Cry(set in the Stone Age), or any of the variety of puzzle FPS we're seeing these days, such as The Ball, Portal 2, Antichamber, or Magrunner: Dark Pulse. If you want a hyperealistic form of gunplay while still in a cyberpunk universe, there is extreme control of Receiver. If instead you want some fast-paced and ridiculous fun fighting invisible opponents, there is the questionable tactics of Screencheat. If you want to have an old fashioned Wild West shootout, there's always Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. And then there is the likes of The Ship, which requires you assassinate one of the other players in the game before whichever player may be hunting for you finds you and does you in. Or maybe the dark magics of Lichdom: Battlemage is more what you're into, or the sword play of Shadow Warrior? Or the roguelike gameplay of Tower of Guns, Ziggurat, or Rogue Shooter? Or the Descent-inspired six degrees of freedom gameplay found in Talon, Retrovirus, or Miner Wars?

And then there are all of the first person perspective games, like Among the Sleep, A Story About My Uncle, Amnesia, Dishonored, Stanley Parable, and so forth. Got zombies on the mind? Contagion, No More Room in Hell, or 7 Days to Die. Voxels? Ace of Spades, Starforge, Iceball, Guncraft, Voxelstein. Hell, do you want to be a janitor? Viscera Cleanup Detail is for you!

There is actually quite a bit of variety to be found among FPS games, even moreso as the indy scene has exploded. And with so much access to older FPS titles thanks to the likes of GOG, we're actually looking at one of the most diverse periods in the genre's history. Heck, one of the most diverse periods in video game history. So much is accessible that there simply is no reason to claim something is stale. Don't like the new? There's hundreds of old ones to still check out. I've been playing the genre for decades, and I'm still finding stuff that I missed out on.

[Exhuminator]

All video games are pretty much the same.

All you do is look at blinky lights and push some buttons.

Stale.

[ElkinFencer10]

I'll agree that gritty, military shooters have gotten really stale for the most part (since a great number of them try to be Call of Duty clones), but FPS as a whole is definitely not, especially when it blends multiple genres. Portal blended FPS and puzzle. Bioshock blended FPS and horror. Borderlands blended FPS and RPG. Metroid Prime blended FPS and action/adventure. Red Steel 2 blended FPS and hack and slash. Even with traditional FPS games, there are some that feel really fresh. Half-life 2 is, for the most part, a fairly traditional FPS, but its storytelling has made it a classic. Dino D-Day, what should be an unimpressive run-of-the-mill arena FPS, has become one of my favorites because of the sheer absurdity of having Nazi dinosaurs.

A lot of FPS games feel stale because they're trying to play "me too" with Call of Duty, but when you look at the ones that aren't trying to be that, it's got just as much life and variety as any other genre.

[Gunstar Green]

All video games are repetitive. You're just more likely to notice if you're playing something you're not enjoying because that's when the repetitive nature leads to irritation.