Genre

When I meet people who are into gaming, I always ask them what they are playing. Why do I do this? Simple really, to start a discussion about games, and see if from their own personal recommendation; is there anything I should give a go. I ask because in recent years I have begun to look outside of my normal genre of gaming. I’ve learned to embrace that their might be quite a few games I am missing out on, because they arent usually the kind of thing I like to play.

Let me ask you, are you the same like me? are you the kind of person who sticks to just one type or movie, book or tv show? Or are you the more adventurous type, and give everything a go, and see how you like? Which ever you are, there can always be something that just surprises you. Which is why with gaming, it was a big shock to go from playing Mario to suddenly enjoying a business sim.

As I am an old school gamer, I got started on a lot of platformers. They were big in the 90’s, as that is what most games were. Then eventually I started playing fighters, (one I’ve already talked about), then slowly evolved with the current trends. As you know Goldeneye 007 was my first game for N64 and my first foray in first person shoots (FPS) then pretty much since, then till about ten years ago I never really played much else. There would be the odd hack and slash here and there, but generally that was it. So how did I end up breaking into other arenas?

One of the ways was buying games because I’d seen characters somewhere else. For instance Pikmin. I saw Captain Olimar in Super Smash Bros, and when they re-released Pikmin for the Wii I thought lets give it a go. Not realising that the games is a real time strategy game. I played it, understood it, and now I love the series. Would I say I’m a fan of the genre? No, but if something was to come out with similar game play in the same genre, then I would be up for giving it ago.

It's kind of the same with puzzle games, I used to hate puzzles in games. As they would always slow me down, as I used to think, why does this have to here? I was here for the fast not stop action, and now I have to think about; how many times I have spin a thing, to get me though a door. Now however, I welcome the challenge. So much so that I also ignore the hint button. All because I played things like Tetris properly and other puzzle based games. I learned how to welcome the change in other things.

One genre I stayed clear of though for the longest time was survival horror. Mainly due to being scared of them at young age; I’ve just generally kept that idea around in my head. That I would be scared too much by jump scares, general spooks and expected I will die a lot - so I just should even try. That all changed when I played Resident Evil 2 Remake. I played the demo and I was like this isnt too bad. It definitely has the spooks, but nothing more than I can handle. Which is why I am massive fan of the series, and now look forward to playing new survival horror games. Such as, The Evil Within, Back 4 Blood and The Callisto Protocol.

The best area of gaming that I have complete neglected in the racing game. The only racing game I would play, and not really play well is Mario Kart. I think a lot of us are  the same, that is far into racing games as we go. However, one thing I’ve learned about myself is, I like cars. I like fancy fast cars. So why arent I playing video games that feature them? Because I told myself there not for me. There for gear heads and dads who like to look a cars. Not FabEs. I now have interest in games like Forza and Grand Turismo because I do like cars, and loved to see them render in beautiful 4K.

It would go a miss If I didn’t mention sport games, but since I’m planning to cover that in its own post- a quick mention will do. Just like I kind of miss rhyme games, such as your Rock Band’s and Guitar Hero’s. Sadly I think that whole genre is done, to that scale. You never know it might be poised to make a comeback. If it does I might be willing to get back on it. However, for now Just Dance is just getting the genre alive.

I will continue to explore different video game genres, as some games are getting too long and big, so why not dip into other types that might have short play times. You never know, I might find a game series or type of game I just might fall in love with. Between now and then, keep your recommendation coming, as word of mouth is the best kind of marketing.

Xo FabEs