Game series you feel started to lose their roots?

[sabrage]

A more interesting topic would be series that haven't lost their roots, as pretty much all of them have.

yeah.. I like this question. I'm gonna dwell on this for a bit. Hmm.

Took me all of twelve seconds. Pokemon. 15 years and they still stick to their core gameplay.

Honestly, I hate the new Pokemon. The emphasis on breeding, stat-boosting, traits... Bullshit layered upon bullshit as far as I'm concerned. It ruins all the fun of min/maxing an RPG.

[YoshiEgg25]

Honestly, I hate the new Pokemon. The emphasis on breeding, stat-boosting, traits... Bullshit layered upon bullshit as far as I'm concerned. It ruins all the fun of min/maxing an RPG.

...Emphasis? Under no circumstance are you EVER forced to do anything like that. You can power through the game with your starter at level 90 and some HM slaves.

The only reason you'd need to use those things are if you'll battle competitively, like I do.

[GameMasterGuy]

Battling competitively may be fun, but getting there's a bain in the ass. Trying to breed a dragon egg group poke with 3+ perfect IVs? I'd rather die.

[sabrage]

Honestly, I hate the new Pokemon. The emphasis on breeding, stat-boosting, traits... Bullshit layered upon bullshit as far as I'm concerned. It ruins all the fun of min/maxing an RPG.

...Emphasis? Under no circumstance are you EVER forced to do anything like that. You can power through the game with your starter at level 90 and some HM slaves.

The only reason you'd need to use those things are if you'll battle competitively, like I do.

Like I said, I'm an obsessive min/maxer when it comes to RPGs.

[AznKhmerBoi]

Tekken series to me feels like its losing its roots. I think they perfected the formula in Tekken 5, but now it seems they making it more and more noob friendly which is just annoying ( giving more opportunity to do damage after you are taking down because of the body being bounced in the air).

[isiolia]

A more interesting topic would be series that haven't lost their roots, as pretty much all of them have.

I think it depends some on how you look at it.

To me, it's almost take a change in genre - like the announced X-Com FPS versus the strategy game roots of the series. Guilty Gear 2: Overture as another example.

The vast majority of franchises likely had the exact style and mechanics they did due to when they were made. A modern example of whatever genre will understandably be different, even if the goal is effectively the same.

In that sense, it'd be kind of hard for certain series to really lose their roots. Final Fantasy, the online entries aside (to a point), has always been basically a modern (for the time) party-based JRPG with a pool of thematic elements included in some way. That's pretty much it. Whether or not the particular themes, characters, combat system, etc resonated with any one individual or group is still a valid point, but I'd call it a separate issue.
If SE had handed us a thinly disguised Mass Effect or Demon's Souls as FFXIII, I'd agree, that'd be a departure from the roots of the series. As it was though, the game elements were still pretty consistent with previous FF games. Linear, yes, but so was X until right before the end.

[YoshiEgg25]

Battling competitively may be fun, but getting there's a bain in the ass. Trying to breed a dragon egg group poke with 3+ perfect IVs? I'd rather die.

Or, you know, you could just battle on an emulator with the rest of us. Like Pokémon Online. Or Pokémon Showdown, which is browser-based (no download!) but is still a bit buggy.

[GameMasterGuy]

Read the name of this thread. You can hardly consider fan programs contributions to the status of a series. GF's Pokemon is way too overly complicated without any in game tutorial for EV/IV/nature bullcrap.

[Michi]

No one has mentioned Resident Evil yet? I'ma shocked.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

(Really.. Nobody's gonna say it...? Fine. I will, then.)

Zelda. Yes. I said it! The Legend of freakin' Zelda has lost it's roots!

Ocarina was fun, we all showered it with ooh's and ahh's, and marveled at how the series could be done well in 3D.. It was a really good game that stayed the 3D critics and proved Nintendo can make a Zelda game relevant amidst advancing technology.

The year is 2012, roughly 14 years after the release of OoT. Nintendo is STILL making that game over and over again..

Okay, Nintendo - you proved your point! Zelda can be done in 3D.. Now can we please go back to the classic, top-down view that made the series classic and (*ahem*) legendary??
And don't try to tease me with that cel-shaded Windwaker portable nonsense. It's pseudo 2D/3D and it doesn't count! I want A Link to the Past on fucking STEROIDS!! I know it can be done! I'm sick of every new Zelda experience being just a graphical update of Ocarina of Time..