Any settings you find underutilized in games?

[Forlorn Drifter]

I've been thinking about this lately. There's certain settings that seem really uncommonly used in gaming and I'd like to see more of.

First, western settings. By that, I mean gunslingers and cowboys, not western in any other sense. We have some great games in that setting, but they are few and far between. It's something I'd like to see more of, especially in indie gaming. The fact that there isn't a cowboy dating VN is disappointing. I'd also like to see a strategy RPG in a western setting ala Final Fantasy Tactics.

For the second, I'd argue maybe not underused as much as not used to its full potential, are the Sengoku/Edo period ( hopefully that's right, I'm going for active Samurai). My big thing for this would be an open world Ronin RPG, 2D or 3D. Overall, I feel like Samurai games are lacking outside of the RTS genre.

Another would be Conan the Barbarian or other pulp style fantasy, where they are willing to pull away from "traditional" fantasy and fantasy races, such as Tolkien inspired stuff. Where are my games where I fight interdimensional space elephants, invisible tigers, lizard men, people raised by gorillas, were lions and such?

[Xeogred]

My post BGM:

I'm waiting for more neo-gothic. At least, that's what I like to call Thief / Quake 1's settings. Dark ages era with very strange blends of both fantasy and sci-fi. It's another world that doesn't feel right in a logical sense and that's why it's amazing.

Dishonored and the Bioshock games kind of fit this mold too. But these are both a bit more late 1800's early 1900's Victorian London steampunk in ways. There's something that's a bit more evil and metallic with Thief and Quake. Maybe it's the fact that Thief either has no Sun, or the levels are always at night in darkness and Quake is more interior sections so you never really see the outside. But I could easily go for more Dishonored and Bioshock kind of stuff. I love the old Victorian thing. This stuff is incredibly fascinating and oppressively haunting.

[Tanooki]

Not a large amount of games have taken on the aspects of like the later 1800s England (like NIghtmare Creatures) nor have there been much with WW1 done either as everyone always thinks boring trench warfare but there was much more to it than that (or early dogfights like in Red Baron.)

[Segata]

Natives. Native focused game that isn't white washed and/or focused on bows and arrows warriors and all that.Never Alone wasn't a good game but the idea of the game is awesome. Through the journey you get actual narration of that culture from an actual native of that culture. I'd love to see someone take something like that on again but make it fun to play. Maybe team the people behind Never Alone with the people who made Journey/Abzu.

[Xeogred]

Not a large amount of games have taken on the aspects of like the later 1800s England (like NIghtmare Creatures) nor have there been much with WW1 done either as everyone always thinks boring trench warfare but there was much more to it than that (or early dogfights like in Red Baron.)

Yeah I'll be curious if anyone has any suggestions.

Probably not surprising I like this about the Wolfenstein series as well (but honestly just The New Order for the most part). An older time but with more fantasized tech and retro sci-fi, I love weird alternate takes like this.

WW2 and on definitely starts to feel too contemporary and loses this mystique. Wolfenstein is kind of the exception since it leans into the superficial elements a lot.

[ElkinFencer10]

I'm gonna echo Tanooki on WWI (part of the reason I love Battlefield 1 so much), but I'd also love to see more games set in Africa - both 19th Century and 1990s - as well as pre-Alexandrian Mesopotamia. The Babylonian and Akkadian empires would be super cool settings for a musou game or action RPG.

[marurun]

Imagine leading an Arab force of riflemen on horseback against a small contingent of German tanks. That could be kind of awesome.

[ElkinFencer10]

While it would never get made these days, I'd love to play a strategy game that had you play the role of Muhammad while building and expanding the 7th Century Rashidun Caliphate.

[marurun]

Hell, what about a game about trading goods as a Muslim trader, traversing southern Europe, the coast of Africa, and the Middle East. It could be a little Pirates-y

[Segata]

A game that explores people with Schizoid Personality Disorder & Asperger's. What's like to be inside that persons mind and it explores their perception of the world and how the world sees them.