Genre defining games

[Nazulu]

I can't believe you would choose EVE Online to define the MMO genre. You have to be... Nah I'm just kidding, I've never played it.

However, I reckon Lineage 2 is a great example to define the MMO genre. It came early but had very good graphics at the time as well as some really good design (and I found it funny that the less the women wear the more armour), has a really basic character creation screen, heaps of classes to choose from (even though some were very similar), many levels and items, epic market area's, enchanting and tatoos to extreme measures, severe punishments that tortured bots and farmers when they first came in (until they changed the rules), and of course the unforgettable boss battles. I remember they needed 200 people to pull down Antharas which took 2 years I think. They beat games now in weeks!

 

[Allthingsspectacular]

That's not what I'm talking about though.

Genre defining, in this case, is when the best elements of a genre and why the genre is great is present in a game.

Influential is a lot different. Influential is just what happens when a game is profitable and you get a bunch of knockoffs.

 

[Yali]

Thief - stealth games

 

[Veylon]

I can't believe no one has brought up Starcraft for RTS's. There are three varied factions, each with a number of viable strategies to employ. It's got style, character, and is quite polished compared to the competition.

 

[Guffe]

Mario/Rayman for platforming
Zelda for Adventure
Lotro for the lore
Halo 1/2 and MetroidPrime for sci-fi FPS

 

[Skin]

Dota defined, naye, CREATED the entire Moba-genre :U

Did not create it. Also compared to alot of other AoS games on WC3, DOTA was a steaming pile of shit. If we were to say that Dota defines the genre for MOBA, then its safe to say that Call of Duty defines the genre for FPS.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I would say Silent Hill 1 & 2 for Survival/Psychological Horror

 

[WoW Killer]

Surely Timesplitters is the definitive console FPS. It's the one that finally created a coherent control scheme with a gamepad, and all the others copied it thereafter.

Captcha: Goldman Sachs - describe this brand with any word(s). Lets try "cunts".

 

[Nazulu]

I can't believe no one has brought up Starcraft for RTS's. There are three varied factions, each with a number of viable strategies to employ. It's got style, character, and is quite polished compared to the competition.

I was thinking of it, but I also really enjoyed Red Alert, Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge, Total Annihilation, Metal Fatigue (something different), Command & Conquar, C&C Generals, etc.

In other words, there were so many good RTS games back in the 90's and early 2000's. I miss those years.

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

I'd have to go with EverQuest over WoW for MMORPGs. It was EQ that blazed the trail, setting up most of the ideas and systems that WoW uses now. Sure, Warcraft is massive, but to my mind it's not doing anything that EQ hasn't already done. Except maybe marketing. It sucks at that. But gameplay-wise, no contest.

And for FPSs', I'd be torn between Doom and Wolfenstein.

 

[Rawne1980]

Dark Age of Camelot for defining PvP in MMO's.

Arguably no other MMO has managed to get PvP right since.

I do get tired of the whole "it's a clone of WoW" argument seeing as WoW is the biggest clone of the lot, "borrowing" everything from all the MMO's that came before it.

All WoW did was make it "accessible" to the masses.

MMO's up until that point were a niche genre.

So it may have technically garnered popularity for MMO's it did not "innovate" or "define" anything. It just took what we already had and made it simpler.

And yes I went there. Compared to the grind that was Ultima and then Everquest, WoW is on par with a "babies first" toy. It simplified things and made them a lot easier.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike WoW. On the contrary it's my wifes favourite game and anything that makes my wife happy makes me happy but i'm well aware (mainly because I played them) that WoW was not the first of it's kind and didn't improve on all aspects of the MMO genre.

 

[Scrustle]

Everquest for MMOs
Final fantasy 1 for Jrpgs
Goldeneye for Modern FPS
Doom for old school FPS
Halo for sci-fi FPS
Street fighter 2 for 2d fighting games
Tekken for 3d fighting games
Qbert for puzzle games (?)
Dungeons and dragons for Wrpgs
GTA3 for sandbox ganes
Saints row for parody sandbox games
DDR for rythm games
legend of zelda for adventure games

...
AM I DOING IT RIGHT?

I don't really think you can call Goldeneye "modern" any more. It's aged a lot, and pretty badly. Plus I don't think you can really put puzzle games in to one category by itself. So many different things can come under that umbrella. Although I guess if you had to pick an archetypal puzzle video game, Tetris might be a good choice.

 

[krazykidd]

Everquest for MMOs
Final fantasy 1 for Jrpgs
Goldeneye for Modern FPS
Doom for old school FPS
Halo for sci-fi FPS
Street fighter 2 for 2d fighting games
Tekken for 3d fighting games
Qbert for puzzle games (?)
Dungeons and dragons for Wrpgs
GTA3 for sandbox ganes
Saints row for parody sandbox games
DDR for rythm games
legend of zelda for adventure games

...
AM I DOING IT RIGHT?

I don't really think you can call Goldeneye "modern" any more. It's aged a lot, and pretty badly. Plus I don't think you can really put puzzle games in to one category by itself. So many different things can come under that umbrella. Although I guess if you had to pick an archetypal puzzle video game, Tetris might be a good choice.

Well i don't really consider goldenee modern . It was more like the foundation. You can see a lot of similarities from goldeneye and more modern FPS.

Also tetris . I completly forgot about tetris ... I am a failure as a gamer .

 

[Erana]

- Orcs Must Die defines tower defence games.

But...but...but there's not one single tower in that game! Okay, except for level 15. But I agree, it's just what a tower defense game should be. Complete with comedy.

No, sorry orc, you can't be the good guy.

Man, that makes me want to mod the game to switch an orc with a bunch of clones of the apprentice. XD

Still, I can't think of anything that's more defining of any genre than Rogue for Roguelike. I mean comeon.

 

[Shmok]

Half Life Singleplayer - every shooter uses scripted events today. Bioshock, Battlefield, you name it, it has it.

CoD4 Multiplayer - every freaking shooter uses Level-up unlockables, from Bulletstorm over Mass Effect3 to Space Marine and all CoD:MW Clones.

 

[veloper]

So the OP is basicly just asking for the "best" game in each genre?
Because EVE online isn't exactly genre defining in the normal sense of the word, but rather the odd game that is the exception to the genre.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

A 'genre defining game' would be, essentially, an ideal game from X genre...

Horror games: Silent Hill 2

RPGs: Chrono Trigger.

Action-Adventure: Ocarina of Time.

3D Platformer: Super Mario Galaxy.