Games with under-utilised gimmicks

[Pladio]

Yes, the arcade jumping in Pagan was awesome. The QTE combat in the Witcher 2 was great. The MMO grinding in Amalur was highly praised, etc. That's why. Certain blends just don't work well together.

Sometimes it does though, so I'm a bigger fan of focused but can live with some attempts at blends.

I have only played The Witcher, so can't comment on the others, but as I see it, that's not a genre mix, but more of a console mix and bad design. It's not a mix of FPS and RPG like Deux Ex, which I see no wrong in in itself. Of course, there may be some shitty elements to it, or if you dislike FPS then you're likely to dislike the game, but that's not because of mixing, you just don't like any FPS then probably.

 

[Menigal]

I don't see how mixing genres is an issue. Why do you think so ?

There's nothing wrong with mixing genres, if it's done right, but I like the option of playing an adventure game or a flight sim or a turn-based RPG or a god game or a 4x or a simulation of a prison. Hopefully the success of some indies will show that going for smaller, dedicated group of gamers is acceptable business practice.

 

[Pladio]

There's nothing wrong with mixing genres, if it's done right, but I like the option of playing an adventure game or a flight sim or a turn-based RPG or a god game or a 4x or a simulation of a prison. Hopefully the success of some indies will show that going for smaller, dedicated group of gamers is acceptable business practice.

I feel like most games still are pure genres though.
Skyrim is a fully fledged RPG
Civ 5 and EU4 are 4X games
Cities Skyline is a city sim....

 

[DArtagnan]

RPG is almost always a hybrid genre - and Skyrim has as much action as it has anything else.

 

[Pladio]

RPG is almost always a hybrid genre - and Skyrim has as much action as it has anything else.

I am assuming genres are defined in this thread as the classical:

- Strategy (subdivided into RTS; TBS....)
- RPG (subdivided into ....)
- FPS
- Simulation
- Sports
- + a few others.

 

[azarhal]

I think the worst example of fake choice is the trial in NWN2, where no matter whether you win or lose, you still have to undergo a trial by combat. It's not a short stretch of gameplay, either. I'm half-convinced that the whole game is a sort of stealth parody of that sort of RPG (maybe in a sort of protest against the publisher or something?) and that this was deliberate, but that still doesn't make it any less frustrating.

That's kind of funny, yesterday, I came to the conclusion that NWN2 plots was a parody of Star Wars. The trial representing the Could City section.

MC = Luke
Obi-wan = Elanee
Ghost Obi-wan = Zhjaeve
Han Solo = Neeshka
Chewe = Khelgar
Leia = Shandra Jerro
Lando = a mix of Sand/Qara
Eewoks = Grobnar
Darth Wader = Ammon Jerro

 

[DArtagnan]

I am assuming genres are defined in this thread as the classical:

- Strategy (subdivided into RTS; TBS….)
- RPG (subdivided into ….)
- FPS
- Simulation
- Sports
- + a few others.

Sure, but the point is that there's no such thing as a "classical" RPG that we can all agree is the "pure" genre. Even the most admired and classic examples like Ultima 7 or Fallout will have elements of other genres, like the "semi" real-time combat of U7 and the turn-based tactical combat of Fallout.

It's just not a pure genre, from my point of view.

 

[Pladio]

Sure, but the point is that there's no such thing as a "classical" RPG that we can all agree is the "pure" genre. Even the most admired and classic examples like Ultima 7 or Fallout will have elements of other genres, like the "semi" real-time combat of U7 and the turn-based tactical combat of Fallout.

It's just not a pure genre, from my point of view.

I agree with that

Still don't understand what's bad with mixing complete genres...

I wouldn't mind playing a TBS with some RP elements like Shogun 2 tried doing. or CK2 being somewhat Strategy with lots of RP elements to it.