Topic: If you could only play one genre

[NWR_insanolord]

I saw this on NeoGAF and thought it'd be fun to do here. The idea is, if you could only play one genre of games the rest of your life, which one would it be and why?


For me it comes down to either 2D platformers or turn based strategy. They both have a great variety within them (platformers run from Super Meat Boy to Kirby's Dream Land and TBS goes from the relative simplicity of Advance Wars to the depth of Civilization and beyond), and both have a lot of replay value, at least for me.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Mine would be Metroid-inspired exploration action games. Also known as Metroidvania. I just can't get enough of those games. Puzzle games might be a close second.

[ejamer]

RPGs, no question.  Missing out on games like Xenoblade and Crimson Shroud and Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy VI would be inexcusable.


Although maybe in a gaming world where genre-bending is so common, we aren't really being specific enough? Do we need to specify between Western RPGs and JRPGs?  Should games in the Rogue-like RPG sub-genre (one of my favorites, and one that has influenced many popular games recently) be viewed separately?  What about MMORPGs?


(If we need to be more specific then I'm throwing down for JRPGs.)

[oohhboy]

It really depends on how high level the descriptor is. Higher it is, more broad it is, the more easily you can twist game generes into them. Considering how much of a genere salad games are these days, at the end of the day it's really an impossible question.

"Shooters" can be vertical, horizontal, first person, third person, isometric, simulation. You can qualify a whole lot of stuff under it including a lot western RPGs and some JRPGs with a bit of stretching.

I love strategy games, but push comes to shove, I like turn based more. It lets you think and it's not based on mouse micro management exploitation like it's realtime counterparts. I can move fast, but I am not that kind of fast mouse skills wise. I am a more headshot you from the otherside of the map with a pistol kind.

[Louieturkey]

I would say general would be RPG just because I like the stories and I like being able to care about your character. 

But since a game like Borderlands can be classified as an RPG, I'm guessing we need more specifics.  If I had to cut it down more, it'd be between 3 sub genres.  I'd choose between action rpgs, strategy rpgs and traditional turn-based Japanese rpgs.  I'd probably ultimately pick srpgs because one of my favorite games of all time (Shining Force 2) is in that genre and since I'd have less choice of games, those NIS games can easily last 200-400 hours depending on how high you want to level the characters.

[Oblivion]

RPGs, Western and Japanese.

[Ian Sane]

Adventure games like Zelda and Metroid, if we're so inclined to consider that the same genre.  If we don't count them, then just Zelda-style games.  I could probably make do with exclusively playing Zelda games for the rest of my life.  There would be some boring downtime but that's really the one series, and thus genre, that I would really miss.

RPGs seem like a good choice because of their sheer length.  As an adult, one RPG could probably suit me for a whole year.  But I never finish those games and always grow bored of them.  Perhaps with nothing else available to distract me that wouldn't be a problem.  Pokemon alone could last you for a while.

Of course some tricky definitions have lumped Zelda in as an RPG.  If we cheat like that, then RPGs is the genre for me.  I could live on Zeldas and classic Final Fantasy games.

[broodwars]

For me, the RPG genre is an easy choice. You get the most content for the least cost, and these days both Western & Eastern RPGs have picked up elements of other genres, so you satiate those needs as well.  Hell, depending on how loosely you accept the term "RPG", you can even include the "Adventure" genre (aka RPGs people don't want to consider RPGs, like Zelda).

[Ian Sane]

Zelda's status as an RPG is widely debated BUT I notice Secret of Mana is pretty much always referred to as an RPG.  But don't both games play pretty similarly?  If you liked LttP, you probably would also like Secret of Mana.  Is the difference because one is made by Square or that SoM has experience points and levels?  Zelda's heart pieces are a similar concept but not specifically defined as levels and experience points.  It seems that that one detail is what really keeps Zelda from being regarded as an RPG.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Zelda's status as an RPG is widely debated BUT I notice Secret of Mana is pretty much always referred to as an RPG.  But don't both games play pretty similarly?  If you liked LttP, you probably would also like Secret of Mana.  Is the difference because one is made by Square or that SoM has experience points and levels?  Zelda's heart pieces are a similar concept but not specifically defined as levels and experience points.  It seems that that one detail is what really keeps Zelda from being regarded as an RPG.

For me the reasons I've never considered Zelda an RPG are two-fold. Zelda has puzzles and Zelda does not have experience points and levels (not counting Zelda II). It's the series' focus on puzzles in combination with the lack of a leveling system (hearts etc I consider to be upgrades, although the distinction may seem arbitrary) that sets Zelda apart from something like Secret of Mana for me.
 
In a sense, Neither Zelda nor Metroid fit easily within any one genre. Particularly since Ocarina and Prime, those series have become genres unto themselves.

[azeke]

I'd rather not make that choice period.

I like my rhythm, platformer, shmup, roguelike, beat'em up games alike.

[alegoicoe]

Adventure/RPG exploration games in the vain of zelda, metroid and deus ex.

[Mop it up]

Platformers, they're the game that always bring me the most joy. This is assuming that all games made would become platformers, and not that there would still be as few as there are being made now.

Zelda's heart pieces are a similar concept but not specifically defined as levels and experience points.

I don't think they are similar at all. You gain heart pieces at predetermined points, and they raise the life bar by a predetermined amount, you don't gain them simply from defeating enemies. And all heart pieces do is increase life, Link doesn't have stats that go up from it.

Not only that, but there isn't anything in Zelda that's determined by a simulated dice roll. As long as Link's sword connects with an enemy, it hits, and it deals a predetermined amount of damage. Same goes for attacks against Link.

The problem with the term "RPG" is that it's a broad term, and has gotten more so over the years. I'm not even sure I fully understand the extent of the current definition.

[Khushrenada]

Ooo. Tough question. I'm the same way as Insanolord. Platformers or Turn Based Strategy games. I'd have to give TBS the edge specifically just because of Civilization. Would TBS include a game like Fortune Street? But platformers are my other love. Mario, Wario, Kirby, Donkey Kong and even Yoshi. That's an awesome set of series to be able to live off. Sure, it might suck to miss out on other things but the only type that would hurt the most is adventure which I think both Metroid and Zelda fall under.

[Stogi]

Chess.


But really Adventure games, if the range was Zelda, Metroid God of War and Uncharted.

[Spak-Spang]

I think I would go with platformers or Zelda style adventure games.

A close 2nd or is that 3rd is Retro games. 

[Pixelated Pixies]

I think I would go with platformers or Zelda style adventure games.

A close 2nd or is that 3rd is Retro games.

Retro isn't a genre. It's a stylistic choice. Good try, though, good try. 

[NWR_insanolord]

He capitalized it, so he may be referring to Retro Studios, which still isn't a genre, but raises another interesting question of if you could only play games from one developer, who would it be?

[Oblivion]

Square Enix or Atlus.

[Dasmos]

He capitalized it, so he may be referring to Retro Studios, which still isn't a genre, but raises another interesting question of if you could only play games from one developer, who would it be?

Platinum Games, CiNG or EAD Tokyo.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'd have to say either EAD Tokyo or Firaxis Games.

EDIT: After looking into it some more, I have to go with Firaxis. Civilization, Alpha Centauri, XCOM, Sid Meier's Railroads, Sid Meier's Pirates, and one of my personal favorites that I'd forgotten about, Sid Meier's SimGolf.

[Pixelated Pixies]

He capitalized it, so he may be referring to Retro Studios, which still isn't a genre, but raises another interesting question of if you could only play games from one developer, who would it be?

Oddly, mine would in fact be Retro studios.

[azeke]

Oddly, mine would in fact be Retro studios.

That's four and a half games against a breadths of entire genres and vast libraries of other developers?

As to me, decision about one studio is easier than genre. I'll take SPD (former R&D1) -- ridiculously diverse library across all genres, great quality and just the right amount of crazy that i like.

[Sarail]

Old Rare, for sure. NES through the N64 years were some of the most magical times in gaming from Rare.

[Ian Sane]

For one developer, historically I would have to go with EAD.  Nowadays that wouldn't quite float my boat as much as it did, but for their overall output there are just too many classic games covered.  You get Zelda and most Mario games.  Unfortunately it would be the NSMB games and not the more creative 3D ones by Tokyo EAD, unless we cheat and consider both the Kyoto and Tokyo EAD groups as a single entity.  They do share the same Wikipedia entry.