lackblogger
SasqWatch
- Joined
- November 1, 2014
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As someone who's primary interest in RPGs is good ol' regular fantasy and its close derivations I probably notice this more than most, but I can't remember anyone else ever having pointed this out, but why do companies who become successful & make their name in the business from excellent fantasy RPGs almost universally then cease making fantasy RPGs and suddenly take a huge interest in futuristic and shooting based games?
It's like some kind of almost universal trend that cannot be avoided. Something deep within the recesses of game development psyche. You can say you like the trend and you could also provide some good guesses as to why, but is there something more to this?
Bioware: Absolute industry legends after Baldur's Gate 2, sealed the genre reputation with Neverwinter Nights, but then just stopped. Their next big game was science fiction and set in the Star Wars universe, then their next venture took them all the way to their big futuristic shooter Mass Effect. While Dragon Age did eventually bring them back to the fantasy genre, most people agree that the fantasy offerings of this studio since the early 2000s have been the background games to their main favourite genre, that of space shooting.
Bethesda: Hot off of their huge success with Oblivion after the nearly as popular Morrowind, Bethesda suddenly decided to buy the Fallout name & took it upon themselves to spend the next decade just doing futuristic shooters as a result. Sure, Skyrim popped up & was utterly massive, but that was more like a blip in the development schedule as the company tried desperately to make Fallout it's main title while fantasy fans could do nothing but twiddle their thumbs and play Skyrim for the 20th time.
CDProjectRed: It took a few iterations, but finally The Witcher series went mainstream & the big bucks started to really roll in. Their defining game series now a genre defining classic. So what was their next move? They're making a futuristic shooter.
Whalenought Studios: From out of nowhere Whalenought arrived with a fun little cRPG called Serpents in the Staglands. In the world of relativity, this game was huge for them, it established their reputation in the genre and the industry and while not being a mainstream game earned them a reputation far beyond the likes of most independent studios. So their next project? A futuristic shooter.
Numantian Games: Similar to Whalenought, Numantian made an independent cRPG with a small development team that got much wider sales and recognition than most independent studios. The words on most people's lips being, hey, these guys have some real potential. What is the result when people now ask what are they doing for their next game? They've made a futuristic shooter, not even RPG but in the RTS genre.
Bonus: Hairbrained Schemes: While HBS got famous by making futuristic shooters, the infamous Shadowrun Series, this series was still quite big in the fantasy stakes and was almost playable as a strict fantasy fan. But even here, their next step is one step beyond and they now make games where big robots shoot each other, a definite step away from the last tendrils of regular fantasy.
Double Bonus: Obsidian Entertainment. Like HBS, they're not as a tight a fit for the trend as the first group of named companies, but one can't help but feel the same tug going on here. Of their early years, most of their fantasy games were rehashes of old IPs, however, one always got the impression they weren't 100% happy with making regular fantasy cRPGs. How quick they were to develop the futuristic shooter Alpha Protocol, and how much of their mainstream credibility rested with their expansion to Fallout 3, named New Vegas. The reaction to their recent big fantasy release Pillars of Eternity was huge, however, even here one felt that they were only delivering what someone else wanted, the kickstater expectations somewhat deflated by the not-quite-what-I-was-expecting end result & later enhanced as when they then made their own IP, Tyranny, it was a dower but more finely tuned subversion of the fantasy genre. & what are we getting from them next, they're going for the futuristic shooter again.
It would seem that the only developer who has both achieved huge success with a fantasy RPG title and is currently still standing and is renown in the industry for making good fantasy cRPGs is the lovely Larian. Perhaps that's why so many people are now reaching out to the likes of jRPGs and such interesting derivatives as the Dark Souls series, at least those guys keep delivering!
Edit: I also even forgot to mention this site's favourite developer, Piranha Bites, who gained fame with the Gothic series, who then chose to venture into firstly pirates and then after that now design futuristic shooters with the Elex series. Though here at least the guns are supposedly the weakest weapon to use and so are discouraged. Hence why I didn't remember to include them. One assumes, either rightly or wrongly, that in the sequel they'll more likely buff guns than nerf them further or maintain the status quo after seeing the fan 'complaints'.
It's like some kind of almost universal trend that cannot be avoided. Something deep within the recesses of game development psyche. You can say you like the trend and you could also provide some good guesses as to why, but is there something more to this?
Bioware: Absolute industry legends after Baldur's Gate 2, sealed the genre reputation with Neverwinter Nights, but then just stopped. Their next big game was science fiction and set in the Star Wars universe, then their next venture took them all the way to their big futuristic shooter Mass Effect. While Dragon Age did eventually bring them back to the fantasy genre, most people agree that the fantasy offerings of this studio since the early 2000s have been the background games to their main favourite genre, that of space shooting.
Bethesda: Hot off of their huge success with Oblivion after the nearly as popular Morrowind, Bethesda suddenly decided to buy the Fallout name & took it upon themselves to spend the next decade just doing futuristic shooters as a result. Sure, Skyrim popped up & was utterly massive, but that was more like a blip in the development schedule as the company tried desperately to make Fallout it's main title while fantasy fans could do nothing but twiddle their thumbs and play Skyrim for the 20th time.
CDProjectRed: It took a few iterations, but finally The Witcher series went mainstream & the big bucks started to really roll in. Their defining game series now a genre defining classic. So what was their next move? They're making a futuristic shooter.
Whalenought Studios: From out of nowhere Whalenought arrived with a fun little cRPG called Serpents in the Staglands. In the world of relativity, this game was huge for them, it established their reputation in the genre and the industry and while not being a mainstream game earned them a reputation far beyond the likes of most independent studios. So their next project? A futuristic shooter.
Numantian Games: Similar to Whalenought, Numantian made an independent cRPG with a small development team that got much wider sales and recognition than most independent studios. The words on most people's lips being, hey, these guys have some real potential. What is the result when people now ask what are they doing for their next game? They've made a futuristic shooter, not even RPG but in the RTS genre.
Bonus: Hairbrained Schemes: While HBS got famous by making futuristic shooters, the infamous Shadowrun Series, this series was still quite big in the fantasy stakes and was almost playable as a strict fantasy fan. But even here, their next step is one step beyond and they now make games where big robots shoot each other, a definite step away from the last tendrils of regular fantasy.
Double Bonus: Obsidian Entertainment. Like HBS, they're not as a tight a fit for the trend as the first group of named companies, but one can't help but feel the same tug going on here. Of their early years, most of their fantasy games were rehashes of old IPs, however, one always got the impression they weren't 100% happy with making regular fantasy cRPGs. How quick they were to develop the futuristic shooter Alpha Protocol, and how much of their mainstream credibility rested with their expansion to Fallout 3, named New Vegas. The reaction to their recent big fantasy release Pillars of Eternity was huge, however, even here one felt that they were only delivering what someone else wanted, the kickstater expectations somewhat deflated by the not-quite-what-I-was-expecting end result & later enhanced as when they then made their own IP, Tyranny, it was a dower but more finely tuned subversion of the fantasy genre. & what are we getting from them next, they're going for the futuristic shooter again.
It would seem that the only developer who has both achieved huge success with a fantasy RPG title and is currently still standing and is renown in the industry for making good fantasy cRPGs is the lovely Larian. Perhaps that's why so many people are now reaching out to the likes of jRPGs and such interesting derivatives as the Dark Souls series, at least those guys keep delivering!
Edit: I also even forgot to mention this site's favourite developer, Piranha Bites, who gained fame with the Gothic series, who then chose to venture into firstly pirates and then after that now design futuristic shooters with the Elex series. Though here at least the guns are supposedly the weakest weapon to use and so are discouraged. Hence why I didn't remember to include them. One assumes, either rightly or wrongly, that in the sequel they'll more likely buff guns than nerf them further or maintain the status quo after seeing the fan 'complaints'.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2014
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