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BS genre names

Like the hat?

Like the hat?

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,634
I've always thought the genre names people come up with to describe their games to be amusing. I'm thinking along the lines of Shenmue's FREE (fully reactive eyes entertainment) or breath of the wild's "open air adventure"

what are some others?
 
Spork4000

Spork4000

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
8,661
Role playing Games has to be the worst one, it's such a wide genre it basically tells you nothing about the game you're about to play.
 
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dlauv

dlauv

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
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Oct 27, 2017
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character action used to refer to games like spyro, crash, sonic and mario and now it means dante and ryu hyabusa. but that's fine.

wrpg is used for all kinds of games from arpgs to turn based to rtwp but jrpg is only just now being used to describe arpgs.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

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Oct 25, 2017
24,292
*insert made up genre name by japanese game devs for every game they make here*

they are hype tho even if they can be stupid tbh
 
Hayama Akito

Hayama Akito

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Oct 25, 2017
1,326
Maybe not what you are trying to discuss here, but: the "Shooting" genre has been pretty much fucked up as a name, people think of "Shooters" to FPS these days and for me the original genre that really deserves that name is the Xevious/1942/Gradius type of games. Now the genre is called in the US... "Shmups" and eeeww, honestly. On a side note, in Spain the genre is called "matamarcianos" that means "martian killers" and it's even uglier haha.

I don't like "Beat 'em up" too, I think the japanese concept of "Belt Scroll Action" is much, much better.
 
rpm

rpm

Into the Woods
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
12,381
Parts Unknown
It's not really what you're asking for, but I think "walking simulator" is a pretty reductionist and bullshit genre name, I've always hated it
 
Weiss

Weiss

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64,265
Character Action is dumb.

The correct term is Spectacle Fighter.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

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Sep 24, 2019
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Words and terms have definitions. You hear "roguelike" and you have an idea of what you're getting. Same goes for Metroidvania, RPG, Character Action, etc.

Do the genres perfectly encapsulate the game you're playing? Almost never, no. But the categorization works and when you describe something to somebody, they function as intended.
 
ClivePwned

ClivePwned

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,677
Australia
fontguy said:
There has to be something better than "immersive sim."
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yes. we bought the marketing wank there even though I love games like Prey and Dishonored.

role playing game works in the the traditional sense, its just that so many games employ elements of RPG (leveling up) etc that you get weird shit like Ubisoft claiming Assassin's Creed Odyssey is an RPG. It's not. It;'s an action game extended beyond all reason and riddled with MTXs to make it feel less bloated. That escalated fast, unlike playing AC:Odysse without paying extras. Jesus, I need help.
 
Garrett 2U

Garrett 2U

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Oct 25, 2017
5,511
Sea of Thieves is a Shared World Adventure Game, or a SWAG. (Which I personally love)
 
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Garrod Ran

Garrod Ran

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Mar 23, 2018
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tales of games always have a name for their battle system (the Linear Motion Battle System or LMBS) and some of them get pretty silly

shoutouts to the Trust and Tactical system from Tales of Destiny 2, the Dimension Stride system from Tales of Innocence, the Style Shift system from Graces that has no actual style shifting, and the Liberation system from Berseria that just says "fuck it, there is no lines anymore"
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

"This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance
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Jun 17, 2018
12,016
Tales of is fantastic at BS genre names. They don't really describe anything and are closer to story descriptions maybe, but they're still funny.

Tales of Phantasia "Legendary RPG"
Tales of Destiny "Fateful RPG"
Tales of Eternia "Eternity and Bonds RPG"
Tales of Destiny 2 "Liberating Fate RPG"
Tales of Symphonia "Resonating with You RPG"
Tales of Rebirth "Where You Will Be Reborn RPG"
Tales of the Abyss "Discovering the Meaning of Life RPG"
Tales of Innocence "Connecting Thoughts RPG"
Tales of Vesperia "Enforcing One's "Justice" RPG"
Tales of Hearts "A New Meeting Between Hearts RPG"
Tales of Graces "Discovering the Strength to Protect RPG"
Tales of Xillia "RPG of Unwavering Convictions"
Tales of Xillia 2 "Choices That Spin the Future RPG"
Tales of Zestiria "Passion that Illuminates the World RPG"
Tales of Berseria "RPG of Discovering Your Own Reasons to Live"
 
Novocaine

Novocaine

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,946
Whatever hobby-grade bullshit Pitchford said Battleborn was.

Roguelite is stupid. Because for some reason Rogue players get offended because a game steals elements from it but isn't exactly like it so it isn't allowed to be called a Roguelike.
 

Deleted member 13645

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Spork4000 said:
Roll playing Games has to be the worst one, it's such a wide genre it basically tells you nothing about the game you're about to play.
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I feel like it made sense at first because it was about literally roleplaying a character the same way you do in a tabletop RPG. But RPG has become such a broad genre over the years that it doesn't really tell you much anymore beyond that there's probably character progression of some type. We probably need to think up more sub-genres like CRPG that can better categorize the types.
 
Le Dude

Le Dude

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May 16, 2018
4,709
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Was "open air" ever labeled a new genre? I thought it was just a way of describing the direction they were taking for Breath of the Wild's world.
 
Video Games Are Dumb

Video Games Are Dumb

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Oct 25, 2017
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BfclcGBqSpm7THSsrpp0k9IGJHE=.gif


Me waiting for some smartmouth to discredit the greatest genre: F.R.E.E.
I love Shenmue.
 

dasu

Member
Aug 2, 2018
525
dlauv said:
character action used to refer to games like spyro, crash, sonic and mario and now it means dante and ryu hyabusa. but that's fine.

wrpg is used for all kinds of games from arpgs to turn based to rtwp but jrpg is only just now being used to describe arpgs.
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Was "character action" ever used to describe Spyro, Crash, Sonic and Mario? I think you may be confusing the terminology with "Mascot Platformer."

If we are mostly talking about the random one-off genre names that developers / marketers come up with to make their games sound super special unique, First Person Adventure for Metroid Prime always felt a little silly.

However, if we are talking about genre names in general, then the fighting game community defining a Party Fighting Game genre as a reaction to Super Smash Bros' general popularity always felt regressive and gate-keepy to me.
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

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Jun 17, 2018
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We had a thread of a game, I think being developed by someone from here, and is like you ride on the back of a huge bird and it's like open world flying while these huge airship battles clash around you or something. I can't remember what it's called but it looks really awesome, and I believe it may have had a good BS genre title too?
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
60,267
Poimandres said:
Really? I never saw/heard a single reference to any of those games as character action. They were always platformers, 2d or 3d.
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I think a better comparison would be like uncharted. It would be called action adventure, but isn't it also a character action game? You're playing as a character and in action.
 
Spork4000

Spork4000

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Oct 27, 2017
8,661
Tharp said:
I feel like it made sense at first because it was about literally roleplaying a character the same way you do in a tabletop RPG. But RPG has become such a broad genre over the years that it doesn't really tell you much anymore beyond that there's probably character progression of some type. We probably need to think up more sub-genres like CRPG that can better categorize the types.
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Yeah, The Witcher 3, Final Fantasy 15, Skyrim, Diablo, Divinity Original Sin, and Undertale are all in the same genre......somehow.

It seriously doesn't tell you much on the surface, and no one can nail down what makes a game an RPG, I could make a strong argument that Devil May Cry 5 is an RPG.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
60,267
dasu said:
Was "character action" ever used to describe Spyro, Crash, Sonic and Mario? I think you may be confusing the terminology with "Mascot Platformer."

If we are mostly talking about the random one-off genre names that developers / marketers come up with to make their games sound super special unique, First Person Adventure for Metroid Prime always felt a little silly.

However, if we are talking about genre names in general, then the fighting game community defining a Party Fighting Game genre as a reaction to Super Smash Bros' general popularity always felt regressive and gate-keepy to me.
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With metroid prime it made total sense. Especially with halo coming out just before it. They wanted people to know that while it was in first person and shooting is involved, it's not the main core aspect that whole game is built around.
 
dlauv

dlauv

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,515
dasu said:
Was "character action" ever used to describe Spyro, Crash, Sonic and Mario? I think you may be confusing the terminology with "Mascot Platformer."

If we are mostly talking about the random one-off genre names that developers / marketers come up with to make their games sound super special unique, First Person Adventure for Metroid Prime always felt a little silly.

However, if we are talking about genre names in general, then the fighting game community defining a Party Fighting Game genre as a reaction to Super Smash Bros' general popularity always felt regressive and gate-keepy to me.
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yes they were. and they were called mascot platformers too.
 
Poimandres

Poimandres

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,960
dlauv said:
they were those too.
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I'm truly curious where/when this was happening. I'm in Australia and have been playing games since the NES era and truly never came across this either locally or in the American and UK magazines etc I devoured.

I don't like the term character action anyway, but this is interesting to me and I wonder what other genre names used to float around.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
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Oct 25, 2017
38,938
Ibis Island
dlauv said:
character action used to refer to games like spyro, crash, sonic and mario and now it means dante and ryu hyabusa. but that's fine.

wrpg is used for all kinds of games from arpgs to turn based to rtwp but jrpg is only just now being used to describe arpgs.
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wut.
Maybe I just wasn't around the internet much, but I never recall that coming up in the magazines at the time at the very least.
 
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