No to a genre?

[The Blackangel]

Is there a genre of video games that you absolutely refuse to play? What is your reasoning for not playing? Of what is available today, I can think of only one that I would flat our say "no" to. There's genres that aren't my thing, but I don't just absolutely refuse to have anything to do with them. In recent years, my taste in games has actually expanded dramatically. I'm not the biggest fan of first person games, but I do play a couple. The only thing absolutely I refuse to play is online games. I absolutely hate them and quite often just want to puke at the mere thought of them. I'm not condemning anyone if they like them. Have at it. But I still can't stand online gaming, and I've given it many tries, from many games, on many platforms. I absolutely hated it every time I tried, and actually DID puke after a couple due to the experience.

[Shagger]

I'm not sure if this counts as a genre, but I do avoid the "Soulsborne" type games as much as possible. The closest thing I've played to such a game that I've actually liked is Jedi: Fallen Order. I've long since accepted that, despite loving RPG's and 3rd person action/adventure games, the "Soulborne" just aren't made for me. I hate thier gameplay tropes, like no pausing (And that really is ridiculous in a single play game) and the sluggish combat. I hate the way they look, it the same dreary, demon underworld cliché every time. But most of all, I hate the trial and error philosophy behind the so-called "challenge". There're not hard games, merely cryptic ones loaded with beginners traps and cheap enemy AI that prays on one's natural instincts as a gamer rather than combat your techniques and strategies in a natural way.

[Akun]

Seconded on "Soulsborne" type games. I'm just not the kind of hardcore gamer who seek challenges and complete them. I'm more of someone who yearns for a good story or an emotional experience in games, which is thankfully very common in modern indie games and even certain AAA games (off the top of my head though, the Mass Effect trilogy and Persona 5 Royal were the only AAA games that really provided the kind of emotional experience I'm satisfied with, and maybe Detroit: Become Human too to a certain extent).

I also refuse to play battle royale games like Fortnite. Even though I might give MMORPGs a shot with the right franchises (like SWTOR), battle royales are where I draw the line, since their main focus seem to be on gameplay and PvP, not story-focused experiences. Plus, there's also the fact that I'm just not a very skilled gamer, a sore loser, and get triggered easily by online insults.

Other than those two though, I wouldn't mind giving other genres a try if I'm in the right mood. I've even played 4X Civilization games even though I get bored playing them easily. I don't really mind giving any game a try as long as they don't cause me stress while I'm playing it.

[The Blackangel]

I don't know your thoughts on it, but RDR2 is an emotional game and a half. So much is going on in it that you can't help but get emotionally involved.

[Reality vs Adventure]

Is there really a standard for a genre these days? I actually think we are heading towards a blend of genres. Only a decade from now can they define the new genres. Today, I’d say pointless shooters are a no to me. Sports too have no substance or does it? Sports with a story should be the future of sports genre. Human intervention and emotion will always change genre. We always want something more. Classic gamers stand strong with classics and I always go back to it because it holds up forever. But games and genres will evolve. And when that happens, the classic gamers always make a come back too. It’s like we drift so far as we possibly can, only to wonder back home to the classics. Let the genres evolve. Combine what you love in games no matter if you want GTA mixed with RDR in one game. It will probably be something badass. If you look it up, GTA and RDR actually do fall under similar genres. But how can that be? It’s worlds apart. Throw in 1 elf and you have fantasy. Shit, imagine driving through los santos and see a dragon hovering over the streets. Now that is what I want. Fuck the genres. 

[killamch89]

If live-service games are a genre then that's a definite yes. I have also grown the dislike most modern looter shooter games and games with battle passes. Most modern sports games are also a hard pass for me just because of how buggy and generic they are (Fifa/Madden/Nba 2k etc. I'm looking at you).

[The Blackangel]

Classic gaming is more than just nostalgia. I'm a classic gamer for the simple fact that in my opinion, games back then were far superior to what's coming out nowadays. Everything is a damn sequel, with little to no difference between it and the previous entry in it's respective franchise. And also, so many games are carbon copies of each other. But with classic games, I defy you to find anything today that even resembles A Boy And His Blob. There was originality and uniqueness. There was always something to keep you on your toes, because games were so different. It even happened in some of the big franchises like SMB and Zelda. Can you tell me how SMB2 was in any way a true Mario game? And don't even get me started on Zelda, despite it being a long time favorite of mine. While there are good games coming out now, they don't and even CAN'T hold a candle to the classics.

Edited June 14, 2023 by The Blackangel

[Kyng]

Not really... I'm not a big fan of horror games or FPS games, but even then I'm open to trying them!

(Although, if a game is both an FPS and a horror game, it'll have to work *really* hard in order to please me 😛 )

[LeoGrun]

I don't like FNAF-style games. Jumpscares don't really scare me so much as annoy me-- I already live with hypersensitivity to audio so the microwave basically jumpscares me daily lol-- and I don't find animatronics creepy. Actually, they are one of my pet interests and for a while my ambition in life was to be the live manual override actor for one at places where they use them for birthday parties and stuff. Sadly, most places just use a pimpley teenager in a costume now. I digress. I did try the first game, and found Five Nights at Wario's to be sort-of interesting for the short length of it but it isn't something I've ever wanted to go back to.

On 6/13/2023 at 1:02 AM, Reality vs Adventure said:

Is there really a standard for a genre these days? I actually think we are heading towards a blend of genres. 

I think genres always were very blended-- Resident Evil is just a clunky third-person shooter, isn't it? So that's why they said no, no let's market it as a survival horror game. Go look up Simulation games and you get everything from Animal Crossing which is about collecting furniture, The Sims which is either a domestic economic simulation / resource management game (or, in the case of sims 4 a roguelike glitch simulator where if you can even play the game at all may as well be procedurally generated). Also you have your Civic Planning games like the Sim City entries and Cities Skylines. And of course there's things like Goat Simulator in there, too. It's a huge mess.

Then you have Pikmin, which is a single-player RTS, but it's marketed as more of an action and time management game-- although I've played enough Starcraft 2 to know you have to manage your time and resources in that, plenty. Why does one game call itself an RTS and another not?

Marketing. Game genres are all up to marketing. They're helpful because when marketing is in touch with the team and accurate it helps you identify what the strong point of the game is. Peggle actually has a (somewhat silly) but charming story in it-- but if you don't enjoy arcade puzzle games the story won't carry the game for you. I think now marketing people just want to use whatever is popular, meaning they are just useless tag now.

[Shagger]

On 7/4/2023 at 12:38 AM, LeoGrun said:

Go look up Simulation games and you get everything from Animal Crossing which is about collecting furniture, The Sims which is either a domestic economic simulation / resource management game (or, in the case of sims 4 a roguelike glitch simulator where if you can even play the game at all may as well be procedurally generated). Also you have your Civic Planning games like the Sim City entries and Cities Skylines. And of course there's things like Goat Simulator in there, too. It's a huge mess.

Then you have Pikmin, which is a single-player RTS, but it's marketed as more of an action and time management game-- although I've played enough Starcraft 2 to know you have to manage your time and resources in that, plenty. Why does one game call itself an RTS and another not?

 

Most of what you spesific games you describe there fall under strategy games to me Appart from goat simulator of course, that's a game from the I-fart-proudly-at-parties-and-think-it's-funny genre. It's what I call the "Happy Madison" crowd.

 

Back to the point, and maybe my scope for counts as a strategy game might be a little broad, but whenever you are attempting to achieve your goal through inputs that are meant to direct the actions of others and not a direct input of your own skill, only your ideas, then I'd probably count it as a strategy game. Doesn't matter what that goal actually is. It could be advancing a civilation, winning wars or just getting some lazy asshole to get up and take a shower, either way it's a strategy game to me. The RTS thing to me only defines the difference between wether the game is controlled in real time or if it's some other interface, like turn based on with cards ow whatever. It only stops being a strategy game to me when there are skill elements added to how it controlls. You're not going to impress anyone at a chess tournament by juggling the pawns.

 

On 7/4/2023 at 12:38 AM, LeoGrun said:

I think genres always were very blended-- Resident Evil is just a clunky third-person shooter, isn't it? So that's why they said no, no let's market it as a survival horror game.

 

I actually disagree there. I'm not going to deny that the curse of early 3D gaming and developers not quite having figured it out yet was a part of what made those early Resident Evil games what they were, but I feel like Capcom designed the contols and UI to induce panic in the player. And wether you like those games or not, that's exactly what they did. Compare those early RE games to the likes of Metal Gear Solid or Tomb Raider (on the same console) and you'll see it was those games that expose the limitations of the hardware, controllers and dev's still learning how to make these kinds of games. Even if MGS and TR didn't control brilliantly, you could tell they were trying to make them intuitive and offer the player options and that is clearly not what Capcom were trying to do with Resident Evil.

[LeoGrun]

39 minutes ago, Shagger said:

Compare those early RE games to the likes of Metal Gear Solid or Tomb Raider (on the same console) and you'll see it was those games that expose the limitations of the hardware, controllers and dev's still learning how to make these kinds of games. Even if MGS and TR didn't control brilliantly, you could tell they were trying to make them intuitive and offer the player options and that is clearly not what Capcom were trying to do with Resident Evil.

To tell the truth I actually think those sort of 'tank-style' controls make a lot of sense for a free-roaming third-person shooter. I don't really think they're that bad, particularly since the only example I can think of doing it better before twin stick controllers became the norm is actually Jet Force Gemini, which controls a bit awkwardly for different reasons-- so six of one, half dozen of the other. 

And regardless what genres you want to organize games into personally... and even if I personally agree with most of what you said about what genre games should be considered... it's not really for us to decide what label a game's studio puts on it and tries to tell us it is. ┐(;￣ヘ￣)┌

[Reality vs Adventure]

On 7/3/2023 at 6:38 PM, LeoGrun said:

Marketing. Game genres are all up to marketing. They're helpful because when marketing is in touch with the team and accurate it helps you identify what the strong point of the game is. Peggle actually has a (somewhat silly) but charming story in it-- but if you don't enjoy arcade puzzle games the story won't carry the game for you. I think now marketing people just want to use whatever is popular, meaning they are just useless tag now.

I think you are spot on about how it's marketing. I guess it would be a mess for sales if they were all over the place not really giving people a 'strong point' to look for as consumers. 🤙

[Shortie]

When I think of all the game genres that there are, I can't say that there is one particular genre I would not play at all. I like to play almost all genres but there are usually some games from a certain genre that I will never play. 

Games for example like FIFA or even really scary horror games are a no go for me. 

[The Blackangel]

Starting about this time last year, I really got into horror games and have found a whole new genre that I absolutely love. The best so far that I've played is Layers Of Fear. That one is absolutely amazing.

[CoryAR]

I refuse to play hard strategy games because they just frustrate me, and games of sexual nature are a big no for me too because most of them are just nasty.