Game series

[Lirael]

I'd like to see Insomniac reclaim the Spyro franchise. As far as I'm concerned the 'Spyro' games that have been made since don't exist...

The way that series has developed through other producers is just sinful! A Hero's Tale is way to garish and looks like a kid's colourbook, filled with all sorts of bright colours that don't go together. The series where he looks like an agitated dragon-doll on drugs is just awful, and the new Skylanders game makes me feel rather unhappy.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Call of Duty is going downhill, I loved Modern Warfare, didn't overly care for Modern Warfare 2 or World At War and loved Black Ops but it needs to do something new now, after I 15'thd in Black Ops it got to the point where I just played it for the sake of playing it and not because I found it overly enjoyable.

Final Fantasy is going down the shitter, I've not played a good Final Fantasy game since IX/X, they've all bored me since then and again, it was playing them for the sake of playing them.

Crash Bandicoot/Spyro/Sonic have also been disastrous since the originals.

The only series that I pay attention to anymore is Uncharted and Assassin's Creed and they're the only series I know that I would want before they came out.

 

[Linnaete]

I'll start off with what's going downhill. Most things. An large percentage of the gaming industry in general. This generation of consoles has given us some incredible new IPs and amazing newly-conceived franchises, yes, but it's also where the spark of innovation has been weakly flickering. I usually enjoy change and innovation, so it's jarring to see a lot of high profile releases being pretty much more of the same, and annually churned out for easy bucks. Nintendo is the interesting case. As much as I love Zelda, I will eventually run out of steam, and even I have to admit that Skyward Sword looks pretty much like another (great, I'm sure) entry into a series that hasn't evolved much, if at all, since A Link to the Past. And don't get me started on bloody Pokémon. The only consolation is, I don't play the Pokémon games.

There's just little to be excited about nowadays in comparison to previous generations (although we're going through a rather incredible few months now with Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Skyrim and a few others). Then when there is considerable innovation to what had been a tired, predictable series, there's a good chance it upsets a lot of fans, so it turns out in the end, no one really knows what they want. A lot of the market therefore becomes dominated by Wii shovelware and hordes of generic and unexciting shooters.

I would say that the JRPG genre is on a steady decline as well, but the several exceptions I can seem to think of has made me pause for a bit. I've heard a lot of great things about Resonance of Fate and I applaud that kind of fresh take on the genre, while Xenoblade Chronicles is arguably the best JRPG in a decade. Even then, these are only a few exceptional cases, and Square Enix's current record of losing the plot has really not helped things. Sorry Final Fantasy XIII-2, but I would definitely play Mass Effect 2 and 3 over you any day.

Anyhoo, what should they bring back? Shenmue. I mean come on, there's quite a lot of demand for another one, and it's definitely something I would rather see than say, a FFVII remake any day. A new Hogs of War would be my number one wish, and it's utterly depressing that there's not been an enhanced re-release of the game at least. That was one game I've probably had the most fun with. I'd love to see Bioware do a new Knights of the Old Republic for the current consoles too (rather than the online TOR). Sure, they already have Mass Effect, but...lightsabers and Sith Lords.

 

[Rey]

I'll start off with what's going downhill. Most things. An large percentage of the gaming industry in general. This generation of consoles has given us some incredible new IPs and amazing newly-conceived franchises, yes, but it's also where the spark of innovation has been weakly flickering. I usually enjoy change and innovation, so it's jarring to see a lot of high profile releases being pretty much more of the same, and annually churned out for easy bucks. Nintendo is the interesting case. As much as I love Zelda, I will eventually run out of steam, and even I have to admit that Skyward Sword looks pretty much like another (great, I'm sure) entry into a series that hasn't evolved much, if at all, since A Link to the Past. And don't get me started on bloody Pokémon. The only consolation is, I don't play the Pokémon games.

There's just little to be excited about nowadays in comparison to previous generations (although we're going through a rather incredible few months now with Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Skyrim and a few others). Then when there is considerable innovation to what had been a tired, predictable series, there's a good chance it upsets a lot of fans, so it turns out in the end, no one really knows what they want. A lot of the market therefore becomes dominated by Wii shovelware and hordes of generic and unexciting shooters.

I would say that the JRPG genre is on a steady decline as well, but the several exceptions I can seem to think of has made me pause for a bit. I've heard a lot of great things about Resonance of Fate and I applaud that kind of fresh take on the genre, while Xenoblade Chronicles is arguably the best JRPG in a decade. Even then, these are only a few exceptional cases, and Square Enix's current record of losing the plot has really not helped things. Sorry Final Fantasy XIII-2, but I would definitely play Mass Effect 2 and 3 over you any day.

Anyhoo, what should they bring back? Shenmue. I mean come on, there's quite a lot of demand for another one, and it's definitely something I would rather see than say, a FFVII remake any day. A new Hogs of War would be my number one wish, and it's utterly depressing that there's not been an enhanced re-release of the game at least. That was one game I've probably had the most fun with. I'd love to see Bioware do a new Knights of the Old Republic for the current consoles too (rather than the online TOR). Sure, they already have Mass Effect, but...lightsabers and Sith Lords.

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword is probably going to receive great things. I want to take a look at it, but yeah there really is not much change. It still looks intriguing though. Pokemon sells really well all the time, and yeah it never does change. If it does, it happens rarely. It is not that the games are such a bore. They are losing ideas for Pokemon designs. I am quite bored seeing most designs recycled from the same creatures. Arguably, the pokemon rpg games on the nintendo consoles (Coliseum and XD Gale of darkness) were a lot different from pokemon stadium for example. I enjoyed those quite a bit. Of course, it is not living up to people's expectations. I still play the Pokemon games, but I did not find the 5th generation very promising.

Yup, I agree with that "there is very little to be excited for nowadays" part. Things can end up being a massive flop, but you do not expect that from games such as Uncharted, Elder Scrolls, Assassins creed etc. I agree with Uncharted, Arkham city, and Skyrim and a few other titles as all to be excited for. Some series have been unexpectedly revived, and that has me interested. Games such as Dead Or Alive etc. Of course to some people, fighters are boring. I thought Dead or Alive V would never see the light of day. This year, Arkham city, Uncharted 3, and Skyrim are the major titles. Hell, I can even slip Halo Anniversary in there if I wanted to. I will.. and that is only because I loved Halo I more than any other Halo so far. Next year? A few titles come to mind.

Yep, Battlefield 3 and Modern warfare 3 are not exciting at all. They look like the exact same game to me but one just has bigger maps and vehicles. Shooters like these are definitely becoming replicas of each other. Prefer something like Halo.

I really agree with anything Xeno being fantastic. I am sure Xenoblade kicks the shite out of Final Fantasy XIII-2 . This is why Square Enix are becoming quite boring. I still want to play XIII-2 whether everyone says it is crap or not. Versus.. can it save Final Fantasy? Even I think Square Enix making an XIII-3 is going overboard.

I would love to see Xenosaga revived. If not an Xenosaga Episode IV, a new Xeno series would be completely nice. I can trust those games not to ever fail on me. Dino Crisis needs to be revived.. but that horrible 3rd game completely ruined the whole series. I would love to see another one in the future. So much killed series come to mind. I really wish resident evil would die, and Dino Crisis see the light of day again. Most JRPGS are terribly shit these days. A standalone title always seems to get a shite sequel.