Part of what helps give a game series or franchise its distinctive identity is the genre of game that it predominantly sticks to. For example, if someone asked you to describe Call of Duty, you’d pretty immediately say “it’s a first-person shooter,” because every Call of Duty game sticks to that same genre. While genre is a big part of a franchise’s identity, though, that doesn’t mean a franchise’s genre is static.
9 Forgotten Gaming Subgenres That Need A Revival
Gaming has lasted long enough for some genres and concepts to be left in the dust, waiting for another shot.
Over time, whether due to experiments on the developers’ part or market pressure, some franchises can veer off into different genres, either ones similar to what they had before or substantially different ones.
We’re not just talking about spin-offs here, either; sometimes the core identity of a franchise’s mainline series can shift to a different genre entirely, becoming the norm going forward.
Sometimes, this ends up benefiting the franchise’s longevity, keeping it in tune with changing market climates. Other times… not so much. Here are some examples of both scenarios.
10Banjo-Kazooie
Collect-A-Thon To Vehicle Builder
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Given they came out on the Nintendo 64 during the golden era of collect-a-thon platformers, it shouldn’t be particularly surprising that the originalBanjo-Kazooieduology opted for that same framework.
Both games followed a similar format to Super Mario 64, with important collectibles scattered throughout a handful of large maps, though the difference was that these collectibles all existed simultaneously rather than being instanced like Mario’s Stars.
Following Banjo-Tooie, and not counting dumb spin-off games on the Game Boy Advance, we didn’t see the bear and bird again for a good eight years. When they finally returned with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, it was a substantially different framework.
No more platforming and traversing under your own power, now it was all about building and customizing composite vehicles. The levels were still large and meant to be explored, though Jiggies were now sectioned off into instanced challenges rather than being available on the map.
I actuallyliked Nuts & Bolts as a vehicle-building game, and if it hadn’t been called “Banjo-Kazooie,” it probably would’ve been better received.
Traditional RPG to First-Person Action RPG
Fextralife Wiki
The first two games in theFalloutseries were hardcore traditional RPG experiences. Everything was viewed from a top-down position, combat was taken in turns based on your character stats, and general gameplay was more akin to manipulating a character in a tabletop game.
The games were originally released exclusively for home computers, so they didn’t really need to be simplified or accessible for consoles. That changed with Fallout 3.
Under Bethesda’s banner, Fallout 3 shifted its focus away from tabletop-style role-playing to something a little more active: a hybrid first-person shooter and action RPG. While the nitty-gritty of the original games’ systems still existed in the form of character stats, dictated through Perks and the SPECIAL system, combat was a real-time affair where you could point and shoot your guns at anyone who looked at you funny.
However, Fallout 3 did preserve some of its heritage in the form of VATS, which allowed you to pause combat and take direct aim at enemy body parts, calculating success rates based on distance, skills, and more.
Like many others, I was still a kid when the original Fallout released, and didn’t even know the franchise existed until Fallout 3, which could explain its seemingly sudden, runaway success.
8Yakuza/Like A Dragon
Action Brawler To Turn-Based RPG
Yakuza: Like A Dragon
The vast majority of games and spin-offs in theYakuzafranchise are action brawlers with sandbox elements. You get free rein of a big town or city, punks stop you in the street, and you swiftly introduce their jaws to the curb.
This is paired with a variety of side activities you find around the map, like side quests and mini games. This norm followed the series' primary protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, up til things changed with the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and its new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga.
To better mesh with Kasuga’s different outlook on the world compared to Kiryu, the game’s core loop switched over to a turn-based RPG, including a whole party of characters, swappable classes, and even more exaggerated attacks than the usual Heat moves.
This continued on in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, accompanying the franchise’s official change in title. There are still mini games and side quests, though the rewards from both are more RPG-centric, like weapons and resources.
There are still action brawler games in the franchise, but they’re reserved exclusively for spin-offs now. It was a very odd change, especially for folks like me who got on with Yakuza 0, but it ended up being a welcome one.
Platformer To Mini-Game Collections (And Back)
Rayman Raving Rabbids
All three games in the originalRaymantrilogy were traditional action platformers, starting in 2D and then transitioning to 3D with Rayman 2. They were simple, linear games; start at the start of a level, shoot your fist, and grab grappling hooks until you get to the end of the level. However, in 2006, something strange happened. Something called the Rabbids.
Rayman Raving Rabbids was originally a spin-off from the main Rayman series, shifting its focus to collections of minigames that pitted Rayman against the titular screaming bunny creatures.
Apparently, this game was such a runaway success that the Rabbids started becoming the face of Rayman’s own series, to the point that Rayman himself was eventually phased out in 2009.
Rayman was left in limbo for two more years while the Rabbids filled the space he once occupied, only making his return to platforming with Rayman Origins in 2011 and Rayman Legends in 2013.
Speaking as someone who loved Rayman growing up, it still annoys me a little that the Rabbids effectively stole his series out from under him. Maybe that’s why it was kind of satisfying seeing Raymango off the deep end in Captain Laserhawk
6Resident Evil
Puzzle-Action To Third- and First-Person Shooter
Resident Evil 4
Given the prevalence of guns throughout theResident Evilseries, it’s easy to forget that gunplay wasn’t always a central mechanic. Yes, the original Resident Evil featured guns, but I would hesitate to call it a “shooter.”
The central conceit of the original Resident Evil trilogy was on problem-solving and enemy evasion; boss fights notwithstanding, you were generally better off running past zombies and conserving your ammo. The meat of the gameplay was tracking down clues and solving puzzles between rooms.
When Resident Evil 4 rolled around and blew everyone’s socks off, though, the writing was clear on the wall: it was time for Resident Evil to put a little more oomph behind its bullets. From that point on, traditional gunplay became the order of the day, whether in the third-person in 5, 6, and the remakes, or first-person in 7 and Village.
Resident Evil still has its fair share of puzzle-solving, especially in 7 and Village, but you’re more overtly encouraged to defend yourself, preferably with precision headshots to maintain that ammo-conscious vibe.
RTS To MMORPG
World of Warcraft
The original trilogy of Warcraft games, starting with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994, focused on real-time strategy. You build your base, you direct your troops, and you beat down the front doors of the other guy.
There’s a reason Warcraft 3 is still considered one of the definitive examples of the RTS genre to this day, which is presumably the same reason it’s the only one to get a remaster. In 2004, though, Blizzard had a hit on its hands that changed the face of the franchise, and indeed, gaming at large forever.
2004 saw the release of the originalWorld of WarcraftMMORPG, and you better believe it was a game-changer. How do I know it was a game-changer? Because in the 20-plus years since then, there haven’t been any new Warcraft games at all, just more expansions for World of Warcraft.
Every World of Warcraft Expansion, Ranked
From the original vanilla experience in 2004 to The War Within, this is every World of Warcraft expansion ranked.
The combination of a massive world, deep character building, and, of course, the social element cemented WoW as the authoritative MMO, with just about everyone trying to ape its success in subsequent years. Warcraft 3’s legacy lives on through similar RTS games, as well as pseudo-spin-offs like DOTA.
4Castlevania
Linear Platformer To Its Own Genre
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Starting in 1986 and for nearly a decade after,Castlevaniareleased several traditional sidescrolling platformers. The original NES Castlevania in particular established many of the franchise’s norms, from difficult platforming to using hearts as ammo for some reason.
Technically, this continued right up until after the prologue of Symphony of the Night, when things started becoming more open-ended.
The prologue to Symphony of the Night is actually a recreation of the final boss of 1993’s Rondo of Blood, which is why you’re playing as Richter in an old-school sidescrolling segment.
Once we switched to Alucard, though, that’s when the game’s new framework of unfettered platforming exploration and RPG-esque progression becomes clear. Therewasn’t really a name for this kind of game back then, but in subsequent years, it took the mantle we all know and love today, sharing it with the Metroid series: Metroidvania.
While there have been a handful of Castlevania games that returned to the old linear format since then, the major releases have kept things open-ended, which is fine with me, because I was pretty bad at the linear ones.
3Dynasty Warriors
Fighting Game To Musou
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
When you think ofDynasty Warriors, your understandable inclination would be to immediately associate it with the Musou genre. Dynasty Warriors all but invented musou games, after all, where one powerful combatant is pitted against waves of jobbers to battle for territory.
However, what you might not know is that the franchise didn’t start out that way. The original Dynasty Warriors, released in 1997 for the PlayStation 1, was actually a fairly traditional one-on-one fighting game, similar in vibe to titles like Tekken or SoulCalibur.
Starting with Dynasty Warriors 2 in 2000, the franchise transitioned to the one-on-many Musou format that we know and love today. Interestingly, the game we in the west know as Dynasty Warriors 2 was actually a spin-off game called Shin Sangokumusou, as opposed to the original game’s title of just Sangokumusou.
Since this was the game that established the franchise’s long-running identity, Koei Tecmo considers it the first “true” Dynasty Warriors game. The company celebrated the franchise’s 20th anniversary in 2020, despite the game’s release technically being three years prior. I’d be annoyed about that, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t prefer the musou format to the one-on-one fighter.
2Jak & Daxter
Platformer To Third-Person Shooter
Jak & Daxter: The Precusor Legacywas one of the earlier titles for the PS2, not quite a launch title, but close enough to launch that most PS2 owners played it. Development started in 1999, when collect-a-thon platformers like Super Mario 64 were still in vogue, so that’s the vibe the developers were gunning for.
Combat was quick and light, with a much greater emphasis on bouncing around, using power-ups, and uncovering collectibles. We wouldn’t see Jak again for a couple of years, during which he underwent a bit of a shake-up.
2003’s Jak II decided the best course of action was to grow the beard, literally and metaphorically. The game has a generally darker, more serious tone, and while there’s still platforming and melee combat, a much greater emphasis has been placed on third-person shooter gunplay via Jak’s new Morph Gun.
Jak also received a super-powered evil alter ego, Dark Jak, because, well, everyone was doing that in the mid-2000s. The guns and transformation abilities persisted into Jak 3, which also introduced Light Jak. I think he’s cooler than Dark Jak, personally.
1God Of War
Hack And Slash To Action RPG
God of War
The original 2005God of Warwas about one thing and one thing only: glorious violence. It was a classic hack-and-slash game, similar to Devil May Cry but slightly less complex, and with a little more puzzle-solving and platforming.
Both the gameplay and story reflected this high-octane pursuit of the ol’ ultra-violence; there were some numerical elements like upgrading your meters, but generally, you just had to mash the buttons and you’d win.
Following 2013’s God of War: Ascension, the series went dormant for a little while before finally returning in 2018 with a more somber and intellectual outlook. The game was still focused on action melee combat, but had also placed a much greater emphasis on character building.
Various pieces of gear came with their own stats and effects, resources could be collected for incremental weapon upgrades, and the story tone, while bombastic at times, was generally a bit quieter.
Some speculate this soft reboot was an attempt to have Kratos mature alongside the fanbase; I think Sony just wanted an old IP to use to show off a little. Hey, why not both?
10 Easiest Game Genres For Beginner Gamers
Just getting into gaming as a hobby? Consider starting with one of these game genres.
