Games You Love in a Genre You Don't

I don't like creeping around in alcoves, or avoiding vision cones.  It's not my style, or my power fantasy.  I have no interest in the Metal Gears of this world, and as for stealth sections in non-stealth games... Untitled Goose Game bucked that trend through sheer charm and humour value.  I didn't mind sneaking around because I was doing it as a horrible goose. (Regarding stealth sections, I really liked the water world in Rayman Legends. The movement made even the stealth fun.)

We've been through this one before.  I don't tend to like out-and-out action games: without some exploration to break them up for me (or some farming ), the single note of killing dudes gets a bit tired.  I've dumped top examples of the genre like Bayonetta and Astral Chain because I didn't like the in-between bits, or because there weren't any of note.  Muramasa: the Demon Blade is probably the only one that I've stayed with and loved.  This is because of the aesthetic, the Japanophilia, and the fact that the action (the way I played it anyway) focussed on easy-to-mash mid-air combos and juggling.  I felt like something out of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, despite my limited skill and reflexes.

I'd played resource management games before, but unless they were set on a football pitch or in a theme park I just wasn't arsed. Pikmin changed that though. It was an extraordinary, wonderous and borderline genius playthrough back in the day. I played through it again in 2020, sharing these thoughts:

I wrote:

It’s a really inviting game in so many senses - I don’t think any developer had ever made the RTS genre so easy to look at, or to understand or to get into. That’s in large part due to the controls making total sense and being simplified to a point where even an idiot like me can wrap his head around them in a couple of minutes. Pikmin has got so much personality and imagination...much of the game’s design is brilliant, with five really memorable and packed maps, many intelligently crafted and behaved enemies, a likeable and quietly emotive spaceman lead character. Of course, then there’s the Pikmin themselves. They’re the highlight: they’re so bursting with character that you can’t help but form a wee bond with them, and feel a bit sad when you’ve got no choice but to sacrifice dozens of them to quickly get a tricky piece of your ship back

Yeah, that.

First-person shooters are never my genre of choice. I've never jumped at the chance to play any first-person shooter to be honest. Even on N64, I respected the likes of Goldeneye 007, Turok Dinosaur Hunter and Doom 64, but they were never games I wanted to own or would especially go out of my way to rent. As I got more into gaming, I'd experiment with the likes of Perfect Dark, Unreal Tournament and Quake 2, but none of them really clicked with me in the same way that a good platformer/puzzler/racer would. It wasn't until I played Timesplitters 2 in 2002 that I got tuned in to first-person shooters at all. I really liked it's atmospehere, it's goofy style and it's arcadey sensibilities, and it looked and ran brilliantly. It saddens me that THQ Nordic are just sitting on this license, doing hee-haw with it.

Overwatch is a really good fun team shooter, and legitimately the only game I've ever taken to when it comes to competitive play. Yes, it can be frustrating at times, but there is plenty of fun to be had with friends here. One of the nice things about Overwatch is that it really rewards good positioning and teamwork. It helps to be mechanically good, but for those who aren't there are plenty of high impact characters (Mercy, Mei, Reinhardt etc) that are more a thinking man's hero. This makes climbing the ladder accessible in a way that other games don't.

I'm being a bit cheeky with the genre again here, because I have enjoyed playing Halo 4 online a lot and I do enjoy shooting games, but like I said there's enough variety in Overwatch for anyone who isn't really into shooters but fancies a go.

I guess I'm not really 3d games that require you to walk around and solve something. There are some that I've enjoyed, like Journey, but the one that really stands out as an absolute belter is Return of the Obra Dinn

This is probably the only game of its ilk where I've thought, oooh that's very clever. I'm not really into detective games, but working out the narrative is really good fun here. There's a fantastic and distinctive soundtrack, an intriguing low-res art style, and a narrative puzzle that's put together well enough that it's perhaps worthy of study for prospective game designers. Strongly recommend this one on Switch!

Guitar Hero/Rock Band

Ok, I get that this isn't really a genre. But I think rhythm games are alright. What I don't generally do, however, is buy expensive peripherals. Guitar Hero is an exception. It's a shame that Activision milked Guitar Hero into oblivion because it was really good fun in local co-op. It's unlikely to make any sort of return during a pandemic I would have thought, although maybe it could work well enough online. But I would very much like to play it again. You feel like it's the sort of kit that's set up for a bunch of affordable downloadable content but the music ownership industry is incredibly toxic so maybe that was never a possibility.

Another cheat genre perhaps, but I really dislike using touch screens exclusively for games.

Pokémon Go is a really nice companion app for exercise, and while I never got into any of its multiplayer elements, as recently as just prior to the pandemic I would still see groups of people congregating to play it near where I live. I imagine now is a pretty decent time to jump back into, given that they've added loads more pokemon now.

Motorsports Manager 3 is actually a bloody good game. You build up your team, spend resources on upgrading your car and getting better drivers, and you also make strategy calls during the race. It's (unsurprisingly) not as good as the PC version but still decent for a couple of quid.

I've played some Fortnite, PUBG and neither did anything for me, yet Apex I did enjoy. I've not played for a good while and don't plan to go back to it even when it comes to Switch, just I did like it.

Click get trophies

I first played HotS because of an Overwatch skin and I did continue playing it for a bit. I would certainly give LoL Wild Rift a bash when it comes to console.

Theme Hospital

I'm not a big PC gamer but Theme Hospital remains the best thing I've played on the format. Having dabbled in Football Manager and Euro Truck Simulator, they lean too far on realism for my liking. Theme Hospital is one of those quintessentially British games that's full of character and humour. Managing a health service has never been so much fun. It has a wacky plot, bonkers diseases and there's plenty of challenge - it might even be too hard (although I was 10 when it came out). Also available on the PS1 but I can't imagine it's much fun on a controller. That's probably why I have little desire to try Two Point Hospital as they are proper keyboard and mouse games.

Ninja Gaiden Black

I love a good action game but I'm lumping this into a section where your Dark Souls, Bloodbornes and Niohs go. Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox was prettier, faster and tougher than the Devil May Crys at the time and it's probably the one brutally difficult game that I will ever play. I was 17 when it came out and it was the perfect age to play something that required time and patience - if I was 17 now I would probably be into Bloodborne or Nioh. That said, I think the first Ninja Gaiden is a great game and seeing it return in the new Master Collection was welcome news.

Rayman Origins/Legends

Shock announcement - I'm not a fan of 2D platformers.

That's a lie. Donkey Kong 94 is pure class but then that's a vertical puzzle-platformer. I'm talking about console run and jumpers, I just never found them that appealing. Mario's 2D offerings? Not arsed. Sonic's? Take it or leave it. There's a good reason for this - I spent most of my Mega Drive days playing Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, and the N64 was my first console (that was mine and not handed down by family). I always preferred 3D platformers - maybe it's the exploration and nature of solving a level rather than just running to the end. Yet, Rayman Origins and Legends are two of my favourite games. I think it's because of the constant sense of achievement - you keep unlocking levels and characters and there's a number of collectibles (which I'm a sucker for). The game is very forgiving too - it pretty much does away with the usual "lives" and if you do die, you start immediately in that section. The music is also key - when you get into a rhythm there is a musicality to the whole thing that I think Mario and Sonic only nail when you master a level.

Super Smash Bros



I've played a lot of fighting games in my time, some of which I've been there for on day 1 but aside from the Smash Bros series they never seem to stick, mainly because I'm rubbish at them, I don't have the patience to learn all the combos or the quick thinking to use them at the right time.

Smash Bros though got it's hooks in to me after I first played a Melee demo pod in Electronics Boutique. I don't think it's hard to guess why, firstly there's the Nintendo love, anyone who enjoys this company can get something out of this game. It also helps that it's hugely accessible compared to any other fighter and whilst it has its professional scene that I'll never get anywhere near the standard of (I'm just chuffed if I manage to KO Jay a few times) I think there's enough options in there to make it enjoyable for anyone.

The random encounter and turn taking was an adaptation from dice-rolling that was jammed into videogames to attempt to counter-act software and hardware limitations, ignoring that The Legend of Zelda got this right almost immediately. Then as they became popular, everyone jumped on board with exactly the same game, with exactly the same setting. Except

The urban setting and silly humour set it apart from all the others. Actually enjoyable to work through.

Just a choose your own adventure book, but in comic form, although no-one can be arsed to draw a different panel for each character. shouldn't be classed as a videogame. Except

Where (a) they actually had a bit of game in, and (b) the story was actually incredible. Like, genuinely, despite my over-the-top bile a sentence ago.