Games where you love the premise, but hate the genre.

[aozgolo]

Have you ever seen a game that really seemed to have an interesting premise? a cool story? a great setting? an interesting gimmick or feature? You start to get excited... only to realize: "Oh... it's one of those kind of games..."

Maybe you see a FPS that you wish was a turn based RPG, or a stealth action game you wish was a RTS, or a hidden object game you wish was an action platformer.

So tell us examples of games you've seen where you would love if it was just in a different genre.

 

[Kyrian007]

Yes, The Secret World. Story and premise sound really cool. Kind of a mix of Palladium's Beyond the Supernatural with some Stephen King and a heavy influence of Lovecraft. The kind of thing that's right up my alley. But its an MMO. Meaning I'd be grinding for days getting the 8000 beaver cocks (with a .8 drop rate) to unlock the next illuminati secret... pass.

 

[Zhukov]

Far Cry Primal was a nifty idea.

Sadly it was in the Ubisoft genre.

 

[distortedreality]

Undertale is an answer I sort of expect to pop up a bit in a thread like this (although maybe not here), and is my nomination.

Great idea, and for the most part well executed... but the random encounters got incredibly tedious, and the actual encounter mechanics weren't my cup of tea at all.

 

[BrawlMan]

Far Cry Primal was a nifty idea.

Sadly it was in the Ubisoft genre.

Would have been the best Beast Master game ever made, if not for Ubisuck. Primal being a glorified $60 expansion with reused assets and the map from FC 4 did not help matters. If they did something similar to Blood Dragon, that would have been fine, the entire staff and execs can go fuck themselves on that. I haven't enjoyed a Far Cry game since Instincts.

Shadows of the Damned. A neat idea of a man rescuing his woman from hell. What fans ended up getting was a game that is RE4 with demons, instead of Los Plagas. The gameplay is not bad, though knowing about the original concept; it wasn't even supposed to be an over-the-shoulder shooter (you can blame EA), but more in line with Suda's previous adventure games similar to Killer 7. The fact that there is no New Game+ is a big deal breaker. Ironically, critics loved Shadows, while many fans were either mixed, or thought it was the weakest of Grasshopper's titles. The soundtrack is awesome, so I'll give high props to Akira Yamoaka.

 

[Myria]

Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Liked the premise, just never been interested in fighting games.

 

[CaitSeith]

Most Lovecraft inspired games (like Eldritch, a first-person rogue-like about exploring ruins full of monsters and traps). I'm still looking for the game that balances properly the horror with the gameplay.

 

[Dalisclock]

Yes, The Secret World. Story and premise sound really cool. Kind of a mix of Palladium's Beyond the Supernatural with some Stephen King and a heavy influence of Lovecraft. The kind of thing that's right up my alley. But its an MMO. Meaning I'd be grinding for days getting the 8000 beaver cocks (with a .8 drop rate) to unlock the next illuminati secret... pass.

Yeah, right there with you. I saw that, got excited and then saw.....MMO. Crap. Free to play? Nope! NOPE!

If TSW had been made as a single player game, even with optional co-op/pvp, I would have gone for it.

Hell, that's one of the reasons I haven't touched a Final Fantasy game after X(XIII was single player, but had a lot of other issues....mostly everything). XV looks pretty interesting, but I don't have a PS4 yet.

Along with that, if Overwatch had a single player campaign and wasn't just a TF2 type team shooter where pretty much everything storywise is relegated to youtube.

 

[WeepingAngels]

All of those point and click games. Exploring the Great Pyramid sounds great until you realize it's a point and click game.

 

[Xerosch]

Yes, The Secret World. Story and premise sound really cool. Kind of a mix of Palladium's Beyond the Supernatural with some Stephen King and a heavy influence of Lovecraft. The kind of thing that's right up my alley. But its an MMO. Meaning I'd be grinding for days getting the 8000 beaver cocks (with a .8 drop rate) to unlock the next illuminati secret... pass.

Actually, as someone who absolutely dislikes MMOs, 'The Secret World' is the exception to the rule. It's surprisingly light on grinding, but very heavy on story and atmosphere. That the mission structure is as far away from 'collect beaver thingies' as possible.

While you get the some escort missions and have to find items sometimes, about 90% of the quests feature you progressing through multiple story tiers that somehow all tie together. In an early quest you need to sneak through a warehouse without sounding an alarm. You'll use the in-game web browser to research occult symbols. You need to be a detective to find clues about missing persons or safe codes. The game doesn't carry you from A to B, you have to invest yourself.

And the best thing: I've played for about 40 hours and never had to get a group to help me out. So far I could do everything as if I'd play on offline RPG.

 

[Xerosch]

Yeah, right there with you. I saw that, got excited and then saw.....MMO. Crap. Free to play? Nope! NOPE!

Well, as mentioned in my post above this one: If you're interested, you should check it out at least once. It's more like a single player RPG with little grinding, good stories and a very good quest structure. 40 hours in and I didn't need to group up once.

 

[Dalisclock]

Yeah, right there with you. I saw that, got excited and then saw.....MMO. Crap. Free to play? Nope! NOPE!

Well, as mentioned in my post above this one: If you're interested, you should check it out at least once. It's more like a single player RPG with little grinding, good stories and a very good quest structure. 40 hours in and I didn't need to group up once.

Actually, now I'm kinda interested. I'll see if I can work it into my schedule in the near future.

 

[American Tanker]

Oh, X-COM 2 should have been my kind of game. Imagine fighting your way through the streets of an Earth taken over by hostile aliens, blasting those space monsters back to the stars from whence they came.

Except that it's a turn-based strategy game.

NOPE. I'm sorry, that's just not my style. If it could have been done as a squad-based shooter with some stealth elements, though, in the vein of something like the old Ghost Recon games(like the ones made while Mr. Clancy was still alive), I'd have been all over it.

Maybe there's an X-COM-themed DooM .WAD out there... Not quite what I'm looking for, but it would serve.

 

[CritialGaming]

Oh, X-COM 2 should have been my kind of game. Imagine fighting your way through the streets of an Earth taken over by hostile aliens, blasting those space monsters back to the stars from whence they came.

Except that it's a turn-based strategy game.

NOPE. I'm sorry, that's just not my style. If it could have been done as a squad-based shooter with some stealth elements, though, in the vein of something like the old Ghost Recon games(like the ones made while Mr. Clancy was still alive), I'd have been all over it.

Maybe there's an X-COM-themed DooM .WAD out there... Not quite what I'm looking for, but it would serve.

EXACTLY this.

I got X-com 2 because it was in the humble bundle, and I figured since it got nothing but rave reviews I would give it a try. I did the tutorial mission and was like "NOPE!". I am totally shit at strategy game because I am a barely functional adult when I don't have to plan or think. This game immediately wanted me to plan and think and I died on the first real mission....on easy...At least the rest of Feburary's bundle was awesome.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Closest I can come to an answer here is Starcraft. I love the universe (at least, before 2 dun fucked up the zerg and Protoss), but I really suck at RTS games. I like being able to take my time while strategizing. :s

That and I guess AI Wars Fleet Command. I love the premise (Humanity is reduced to one base while a pair of inane AIs have taken over the entire Galaxy, and you have to tactically liberate it with careful surgical strikes and stuff). I love the soundtrack. But the gameplay is basically an endless RTS with a bit of tower defense that I can't seem to figure out how to handle. :s

Oh, X-COM 2 should have been my kind of game.

Except that it's a turn-based strategy game.

This game immediately wanted me to plan and think and I died on the first real mission....on easy...

I'm sorry you guys feel that way. As someone who has been craving a good turn based strategy game for ages, the series reboot has been a huge breath of fresh air.

I really enjoy tactical thinking and being able to take my time assessing the situation and the risks in a given situation. I'm sorry it didn't tickle your fancy.

...Might I recommend XCOM-The bureau? Pretty much the same/similar setting, but it's a squad-based shooter.

[
Actually, as someone who absolutely dislikes MMOs, 'The Secret World' is the exception to the rule. It's surprisingly light on grinding, but very heavy on story and atmosphere. That the mission structure is as far away from 'collect beaver thingies' as possible.

Really? Huh. I might give it a shot sometime, then.

 

[American Tanker]

Oh, X-COM 2 should have been my kind of game.

Except that it's a turn-based strategy game.

This game immediately wanted me to plan and think and I died on the first real mission....on easy...

I'm sorry you guys feel that way. As someone who has been craving a good turn based strategy game for ages, the series reboot has been a huge breath of fresh air.

I really enjoy tactical thinking and being able to take my time assessing the situation and the risks in a given situation. I'm sorry it didn't tickle your fancy.

...Might I recommend XCOM-The bureau? Pretty much the same/similar setting, but it's a squad-based shooter.

From what I've heard, The Bureau was pretty "meh". Like, not even notable for being "so bad it's good" or even outright bad. Not even a "guilty pleasure". Just dull and boring.

Besides, third-person cover shooters are so overplayed anymore. I mean, I'll admit I enjoyed Binary Domain, but it was at least kinda cheesy. Really, The Bureau would have to be more than just "third-person cover shooter with aliens" for me to really get interested.

EDIT: And while my mind is on the topic of "turn-based strategy series that I'd enjoy if they were in another genre", Front Mission. I've only played the one third-person action shooter installment in the series, FM Evolved.

And besides, I prefer tracks to legs anyways. Why aren't there more tank games?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Okay, I'll say it.

FNAF. Its a clever idea. And yeah, one could argue the jump scares are the whole point, especially to Youtubers, but the plot is more clever than the game mechanics allow.
A haunted pizzeria, where the animitronics are possessed by the Grudge-style vengeful ghosts of children murdered by a costumed serial killer, who is also somehow still kept alive inside a locked spring-trap loaded animitronic turned torture device! That's fucking Silent Hill material right there! That's an entire level, if not entire game!

 

[Xerosch]

Really? Huh. I might give it a shot sometime, then.

Actually, now I'm kinda interested. I'll see if I can work it into my schedule in the near future.

Sure, just check it out if you like. You can still see that TSW used to be subscription only before they went free to play. Not being a subscriber at the moment hasn't hurt my progress in the three main areas. Nothing is cut off except you'll get a little less XP than subscribers and have a few less storage slots (which I never needed anyway). Later on, after tens of hours, you'll need to buy story packs to continue the main quest, but you'll know way before that if the game is for you.

Just be aware that the tutorial is formulaic. Though the story get off right in the first minute, you'll need to quest in the first main area (the port town) a little to see how the story driven mission structure kicks in.

 

[Erttheking]

I love the idea of EVE Online, a massive world where EVERYTHING is player created, player run, and destructable, with crazy things like 3,000 player wars. But in a game where you need months or even years of grinding, have to pay a monthly subscription and there are microtransactions? AND with a learning curve that's slightly less steep than Mount Everest? Sorry, I'll have to pass on that one.

 

[CritialGaming]

I love the idea of EVE Online, a massive world where EVERYTHING is player created, player run, and destructable, with crazy things like 3,000 player wars. But in a game where you need months or even years of grinding, have to pay a monthly subscription and there are microtransactions? AND with a learning curve that's slightly less steep than Mount Everest? Sorry, I'll have to pass on that one.

You know EVE Online is free now right?