The epitome of its genre

[Specter Von Baren]

What are some games that you find to be the epitome of their genre?

What I mean by this is, I'm not asking what games you consider the BEST game of its genre per se, but rather games that really embody the spirit of the game genre or take the mechanics of its genre and push them to their absolute greatest.

As an example.

I believe that Hollow Knight is the best Metroidvania ever in terms of embodying the concept of exploring a world while looking for upgrades and new abilities and backtracking to previous areas once you get those new abilities.

The reason for this is because after the very early part of the game you can do so much and go so far without finding any new upgrades. Most Metroidvania's will have you encounter a barrier or obstacle that you can't pass without a certain upgrade fairly close to some sort of main route, and a lot of others will expect you to get upgrades in a certain order. But Hollow Knight will just let you completely pass very big upgrades and let you keep going.

It truly exemplifies the core gameplay of Metroidvania's of exploration and freedom to do things in a unique order of your own.

So what games do you have as an example? Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be a main genre that is commonly used, if you feel it embodies some kind of sub genre or not widely recognized genre then that's fine too, just explain the genre for those that may not know what it is.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

This is a very tough question to answer for me. I think it might be because I still remember games from the 90s and 00s fondly so I witnessed genres being defined. It's also hard because if I was asked what game epitomised a genre it would make sense to me to answer with what I do consider among the best; the best FPS f.ex would inevitably represent the best of a genres mechanics and expectations.

Some games, like Thief, System Shock (2), Baldur's Gate II, Unreal Tournament, Demons/Dark Souls epitomise their genres insofar as they kinda defined them. There may have been others like them before or since but for whatever reason, these titles stood out for taking, or creating a genre and setting the standard.

Unreal Tournament was (kinda still is) the gold standard for a competitive MP FPS. The maps, the guns, the match types, the gameplay were superlative. Instagib domination ("Instadom") was IMO a sublime experience that really nailed skill-based, competitive gameplay. System Shock (2) defined the Shock-like, though personally I would say Deus Ex is where it shone...really it was the first real/great blend of FPS/RPG and all successors (BioShocks, Prey, etc) owe a lot to DE and SS. Thief created the FPS (First Person Sneaker) with a depowered main character who has to stay hidden to stay alive. It showed that a first person game without action could work!

I think Saints Row 3 is the ultimate GTA-Style sandbox, tho I think "like GTA" is kinda old hat now since there are so many open-worlds now. But SR3 took all the best parts of a crime sandbox and turned it up to 11. Great city, characters, gunplay, cars, soundtrack, missions, it was zany fun. I don't think there's much to say about Baldur's Gate II that hasn't been said; it's simply one of the best CRPGs ever made, with masterful writing, great character customisation/development, refined rules/combat, interesting, well written companions, dozens upon dozens of hours of gameplay, complex alignment system, etc. All BW games since then were influenced by BG2....romances and companions, complex villains, these elements are still found in BW's newer, inferior titles like Andromeda and Inquisition.

Speaking of BW, I'll give them JE and ME too, games which kinda epitomise the "cinematic storytelling" approach they began with KotOR way back when. The companions, dialogue, binary morality, all these features were popularised here. ME took it further by spanning your character and his/her decisions over 3 games, something not really done to the same extent before or since.

Last one I'll say is Borderlands 2. It refined the new genre defined by its predecessor and did a much better job of it. More guns, vault hunters, maps, enemies, the shoot/loot gameplay, zany world and characters and just enough story to keep the player moving, it polished and refined a genre I still cannot believe there aren't any other games like. It's so utterly unique and well done.

Honourable mentions: Payday 2 (4 player coop missions), Test Drive Unlimited (open world racing), JK2: Jedi Outcast (single player lightsaber Star Wars adventure), TF2 (class-based MP shooter), Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne for being one of the best RTSs of all time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I find myself thinking less in terms of genres and more in terms of publishers. Dark Souls is the epitome of "the From Software game", Walking Dead is the epitome of "the Telltale game", Assassin's Creed is the epitome of "the Ubisoft game", etc.

Resident Evil is the epitome of survival horror for sure, just as Resident Evil 4 is the epitome of "3rd person shooter with over-the-shoulder camera".

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Conker's Bad Fur Day is the epitome of a comedy game.

Bioshock is the epitome of FPS

Bloodborne is the epitome of Souls games

Dawn of war 2 is the epitome of single player RTS campaigns - never tried online mode

 

[jademunky]

I'd say that, depending on what you are looking for, either Baldur's Gate II or Planescape: Torment would be the epitome of the CRPG sub-genre.

If you want something that emphasizes the dungeon crawling, sheer number of character classes and epic boss fights, go with BGII.

Torment if you want something darker (although visually much more colourful), more personal, introspective and dialogue-heavy.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

DMC/Bayo - Spectacle Fighter

Deus Ex/Thief/Dishonored - Immersive Sim

Mercenaries - Open World / Sandbox

What Remains of Edith Finch - Walking Sim

Divinity Original Sin / Mass Effect - RPG

BulletStorm / Wolfenstein: The New Order - FPS

Mario - Platformer

 

[Tanis]

C&C Red Alert 2 - RTS
Galactic Civilizations 2: Endless Universe - 4X in Space
Civilization 5: Brave New World - 4X On Planet
Star Wars: Episode One: Pod Racer - Racing in Pod

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Conker's Bad Fur Day is the epitome of a comedy game.

Bioshock is the epitome of FPS

Could you explain why it is that Conker's Bad Fur day knocks other comedic games out of the park in terms of its jumor and jokes? I love the game myself but I'm interest in why other humor games don't match up to it in your eyes.

And what is it about Bioshock that specifically makes it a good representation of what an FPS game should be?

What Remains of Edith Finch - Walking Sim

Could you go into more detail on this? I've, for the most part, been on the side of being snooty towards walking sims for the most part, what is it about Edith Finch that makes it work well so I can know whether its worth checking out for myself?

 

[Dalisclock]

What Remains of Edith Finch - Walking Sim

Could you go into more detail on this? I've, for the most part, been on the side of being snooty towards walking sims for the most part, what is it about Edith Finch that makes it work well so I can know whether its worth checking out for myself?

Essentially, it plays to the strengths of the genre. It's a contemplative journey through the protagonists childhood home, as the last in the line of a family prone to tragedy(often bizarre ones). The house is filled with rooms that were preserved the way it was when the person died, making the house like a bizarre museum and Each family members final moments are shown as an interactive flashback, often with a different style.

It's also just long enough to do what it wants to do and then it ends, making it the perfect length for a game like this.

On a similar note, I'd recommend Kentucky Route Zero for the same genre as a close second, but part of that has to do with the fact that it's an episodic game and 5 years after releasing the first episode, the final episode is still not released yet. KRZ makes the most of the idea of driving/walking around on a short summers night in a unfamiliar area and running across some of the most peculiar things and the people who live there. It feels both surreal and authentic at the same time in a way that's hard to describe, where exploring and just enjoying the environment and the characters is the charm of it.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - It's really the best horror game I've played by far, no game's gotten close to it. It nailed the atmosphere with its ambiance, music, monster design etc, it's just an amazingly scary game. I think it ruined horror games for me.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Freelancer - Space Trading and Combat Simulator

Distant Worlds Universe - Real-time Space 4X
Space Empires IV - Turn-Based Space 4X
Alpha Centauri - Turn-Based Land Sci-Fi 4X
Age of Wonders - Turn-Based Land Fantasy 4X

Deux Ex (OG) - Sci-Fi FPS/ARPG
Morrowind - Fantasy FPS/ARPG
Outcast - TPS/ARPG

Anachronox - Sci-Fi Adventure

Knights of the Old Republic (OG) - WRPG

Fallout 2 - Sci-Fi CRPG
Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Fantasy CRPG

Harbinger - Sci-Fi Hack'n'Slash
Diablo II - Fantasy Hack'n'Slash

Startopia - Station Business Simulation

Rimworld - Sci-Fi Construction and Management Simulation
Dwarf Fortress - Fantasy Construction and Management Simulation

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Jagged Alliance 2 - Tactical turn-based RPG.
Close Combat 2 - Realtime tactical strategy
Pathologic - Walking sim(?)
The Longest Journey - P&C adventure game.
The Pandora Directive - 3D adventure game.

STALKER: CoP - FPS (including mods, and especially the Call of Chernobyl build w/ Warfare mod, and certain weapon and quest packs) ....

And given that I'm having so much fun with it...

Hearts of Iron IV - TBS Civ-builder.... but just because of the modder community.

Seriously, Equestria at War is great.

------------------------

But given that you didn't specify just videogaming....

Gloomhaven - Dungeon Crawler
Android: Netrunner - Asymmetrical head to head.
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn - Duelling
Resistance: Avalon - Hidden role

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

As for Conker, comedy is very hard to write. As Yahtzee said in one of his reviews, most comedy games have a comedic sense of tone, which is not the same as being funny.
Deadpool for example is just non sequitur jokes that get very old very very quickly, and are repeated all the time. Conker on the other hand actually had jokes with punchlines that only worked once, because repeating jokes devalues them.
Also the parodies were much more on point. In Deadpool he can talk to the narrator and breaks the 4th wall all the time, leaving the X-Men and whatnot confused. In Conker their 4th wall breaking is more clever; instead of just talking to the audience, they have a context sensitive button. Press B for Context Sensitive, which is a way to show Conker knows he's in a game, but it also directly effects gameplay. The central game mechanic is that Conker knows he's in a video game and it taking full advantage of that. So instead of a massive inventory of items to use, you get the exact item you need at that exact time.

Also the game mechanics of a cartoony platform are explained, which is hilariously unnecessary. Most platforms just have health bars floating above the ground because its simply easier to program and see. In Conker a Nazi rat developed anti-gravity chocolate but just tossed it away, thus explaining why health floats. Also the idea of lives is never explored in Mario or Donkey Kong - you just have a set number of lives and that's it. In Conker each life, a squirrel tail, is used to bride the Grim Reaper Greg to let you have another chance.

So it takes the idea of a platform and turns it on its head. mechanics like inventories that are overly explained in other games is boiled down to a single button prompt to get what you want, while life and health mechanics never explained in other games get entire cutscenes dedicated to explaining them. Its a very clever twist on what it means to be a platformer.


As for Bioshock, its a great mix of horror, RPG and shooter with a fantastic setting, story and soundtrack. The shooting is constantly changing with new weapons, upgrades, ammo types and enemies weak to different things, and the plasmids add a fun and challenging twist on the standard magic spells. The writing is top-notch and the first one still ranks high in the Top 3 greatest twists in video game stories to this day.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

As for Conker, comedy is very hard to write. As Yahtzee said in one of his reviews, most comedy games have a comedic sense of tone, which is not the same as being funny.
Deadpool for example is just non sequitur jokes that get very old very very quickly, and are repeated all the time. Conker on the other hand actually had jokes with punchlines that only worked once, because repeating jokes devalues them.
Also the parodies were much more on point. In Deadpool he can talk to the narrator and breaks the 4th wall all the time, leaving the X-Men and whatnot confused. In Conker their 4th wall breaking is more clever; instead of just talking to the audience, they have a context sensitive button. Press B for Context Sensitive, which is a way to show Conker knows he's in a game, but it also directly effects gameplay. The central game mechanic is that Conker knows he's in a video game and it taking full advantage of that. So instead of a massive inventory of items to use, you get the exact item you need at that exact time.

Also the game mechanics of a cartoony platform are explained, which is hilariously unnecessary. Most platforms just have health bars floating above the ground because its simply easier to program and see. In Conker a Nazi rat developed anti-gravity chocolate but just tossed it away, thus explaining why health floats. Also the idea of lives is never explored in Mario or Donkey Kong - you just have a set number of lives and that's it. In Conker each life, a squirrel tail, is used to bride the Grim Reaper Greg to let you have another chance.

So it takes the idea of a platform and turns it on its head. mechanics like inventories that are overly explained in other games is boiled down to a single button prompt to get what you want, while life and health mechanics never explained in other games get entire cutscenes dedicated to explaining them. Its a very clever twist on what it means to be a platformer.

Ah I see.... It also, thinking about what you've said, takes the age old world themes and uses them to their advantage in that regard. In something like Monkey Island, the jokes are restricted to things that make sense within the context of the setting and story, but since Conker deliberately has very low story (Aside from the general idea of getting home, you aren't really going anywhere with a clear objective) they can put farm, horror, WWII, underwater, tower, space, prehistoric and mountain of poop themes to their worlds to keep both the setting and types of jokes fresh. And having extremely different worlds with varied themes is also part of traditional platformers.

Man this conversation has made me sad though. Rare was so good at humor when they wanted to do it, even being willing to throw themselves under the bus with some of the jokes in Nuts & Bolts...

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

As for Conker, comedy is very hard to write. As Yahtzee said in one of his reviews, most comedy games have a comedic sense of tone, which is not the same as being funny.
Deadpool for example is just non sequitur jokes that get very old very very quickly, and are repeated all the time. Conker on the other hand actually had jokes with punchlines that only worked once, because repeating jokes devalues them.
Also the parodies were much more on point. In Deadpool he can talk to the narrator and breaks the 4th wall all the time, leaving the X-Men and whatnot confused. In Conker their 4th wall breaking is more clever; instead of just talking to the audience, they have a context sensitive button. Press B for Context Sensitive, which is a way to show Conker knows he's in a game, but it also directly effects gameplay. The central game mechanic is that Conker knows he's in a video game and it taking full advantage of that. So instead of a massive inventory of items to use, you get the exact item you need at that exact time.

Also the game mechanics of a cartoony platform are explained, which is hilariously unnecessary. Most platforms just have health bars floating above the ground because its simply easier to program and see. In Conker a Nazi rat developed anti-gravity chocolate but just tossed it away, thus explaining why health floats. Also the idea of lives is never explored in Mario or Donkey Kong - you just have a set number of lives and that's it. In Conker each life, a squirrel tail, is used to bride the Grim Reaper Greg to let you have another chance.

So it takes the idea of a platform and turns it on its head. mechanics like inventories that are overly explained in other games is boiled down to a single button prompt to get what you want, while life and health mechanics never explained in other games get entire cutscenes dedicated to explaining them. Its a very clever twist on what it means to be a platformer.

Ah I see.... It also, thinking about what you've said, takes the age old world themes and uses them to their advantage in that regard. In something like Monkey Island, the jokes are restricted to things that make sense within the context of the setting and story, but since Conker deliberately has very low story (Aside from the general idea of getting home, you aren't really going anywhere with a clear objective) they can put farm, horror, WWII, underwater, tower, space, prehistoric and mountain of poop themes to their worlds to keep both the setting and types of jokes fresh. And having extremely different worlds with varied themes is also part of traditional platformers.

Man this conversation has made me sad though. Rare was so good at humor when they wanted to do it, even being willing to throw themselves under the bus with some of the jokes in Nuts & Bolts...

Absolutely excellent points. The different worlds make it almost mandatory not to repeat jokes, as every situation is unique. One moment you're shitting on squirrel townsfolk as a vampire bat, the other you're in a hoverboard race through a volcano to win the approval of a big boobed cave man queen, another you're pissing on two fire demons and then yet another is an shot-for-shot remake of the Normandy landings in Saving Private Ryan.
Just an over abundance of creativity that Rare hasn't gotten close to since.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Mario 64 - 3D Platforming. I still think it's better than the Galaxies, mainly because it never gave me a headache.

God of War (PS4) - Cinematic Action/Adventure. The one-cut technique is done so well you don't even notice it. Kinda like they say about NPC AI or camera work in some games.

 

[Squilookle]

For all the praise Cities Skylines gets... I just can't concede that there's ever been a better all-round city building sim than SimCity 2000

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

For all the praise Cities Skylines gets... I just can't concede that there's ever been a better all-round city building sim than SimCity 2000

Ahh... but I think the OP wants what you think is the definitive experience of that genre. Like a benchmark. Like Quake 2 (may be) is to FPS what Minesweeper is to "puzzle game"...

Though to be fair, SimCity 2000 is damn fine and sums up that genre city builder.

 

[CriticalGaming]

The Witcher 3 - Western style RPG
Persona 4 or 5 - JRPG
Doom 2016 - FPS
Starcraft Brood Wars - RTS

 

[Squilookle]

For all the praise Cities Skylines gets... I just can't concede that there's ever been a better all-round city building sim than SimCity 2000

Ahh... but I think the OP wants what you think is the definitive experience of that genre. Like a benchmark. Like Quake 2 (may be) is to FPS what Minesweeper is to "puzzle game"...

Though to be fair, SimCity 2000 is damn fine and sums up that genre city builder.

Righto- then SimCity 2000 it is.

Wait... what did Quake 2 have that made it a benchmark? It didn't come free with every copy of Windows if that's what you're getting at...