[PPOTW] What is the best video game genre?

[Xexyz]

I picked Sandbox because a certain game sold so much in 24 hours.

 

[grossaffe]

Easy: There is no best genre.

 

[Nathan Drake]

If I had to pick one, I'd go with action/adventure. No particular reason other than I like the freedom that comes with action games in terms of combat and mobility, but with the linearity of your general adventure game in that even with freedom, your next point of interest is abundantly clear (I'm one of those people who sees sandbox as simply too much choice). JRPG's have become kind of stale in the sense that, really, if you've played one, you've played absolutely all of them. There are much better games out there that incorporate RPG elements into a more action/adventure game (see: Ys 7 - the best PSP game ever).

 

[trumpet-205]

Rather than best genre, I tend to avoid FPS, fighter, sports, beat them up, hack and slash, and simulation game.

If I really have to name best genre, rhythm games.

 

[ThatDudeWithTheFood]

JRPG has too many votes.

 

[emigre]

JRPG has too many votes.

GBAtemp has too many weeaboos.

 

[Foxi4]

This poll is indeed pretty flawed, asking which genre of video games is "the best" practically means being unfamiliar with what a genre is.

A genre is a category, a part of a classification system, it doesn't carry the notion of "quality", it's a device constructed of criteria. The purpose of using genres is to categorize content, not to judge whether the content is "good" or "bad" because that's not its purpose. What I'm saying here that genres aren't "good" or "bad" in and out of themselves and as such there can't be "the best" or "the worst" genre.

Quality transcends genre - there are good and bad RPG's as well as good and bad FPS'es and the particular genre criteria have little impact on the overall experience - it's the extent to which those criteria were met and the overall execution that are deciding factors of quality.

Genres are umbrella terms which serve no other purpose than to help the user in browsing through content. A user who likes games with plenty of character development can use this particular taste as a criterion in his or her search which will eventually lead him or her towards the RPG genre which specifically focuses on role-playing... and here we stumble upon the magical word "taste", and tastes are not universal.

You can say that Shakespear's "Romeo and Juliet" is a better love story than Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight", you can measure that if you apply certain criteria and those works will have qualities that either fulfil them or don't. You can also apply different criteria and reach a completely different conclusion, but at the end of the day, the deciding factor of which piece is better lays in the execution of the chosen criteria.

At the same time, you can't really say that drama is better than novels or vice-versa because "drama" and "novel" don't have qualities of their own - they're labels attached to given works that fulfil certain criteria. As a reader, you are more "likely" to enjoy one over the other depending on which of those criteria appeal to you, but this appeal is entirely a matter of taste. In and out of themselves, neither novels nor drama execute any criteria at all - they are the criteria.

The argument over which genre is "the best" is an argument over lables, not over measurable content and as such it's pointless. Games are either good or bad, "fun" or "not fun" and more often than not, their genre is completely irrelevant. Asking "what is your favorite genre?" would be far better since here we're asking about the subjective opinion, not an objective judgement.

 

[FAST6191]

If I had to pick one, I'd go with action/adventure.

Given that action adventure has now had criticism of a sort levelled at it for many years for being a generic term that encompasses an awful lot and says very little as a result I think you have just stumbled upon the alternative way of expressing the sentiments others have shared in the thread thus far.

 

[Issac]

I can't answer this either. My favourite game series is (the first four parts of) Silent Hill. And I also love Alan Wake. But I don't really like survival horror games in general. I love Final Fantasy games, and a few other (J)RPG's but many of other games in that genre bores me to bits. Action RPG are awesome if made right, but not all.

But I guess Platforming games really are those I would show a non-gamer for the sheer joy of gaming. Like Mario Galaxy, it's just fun. Quick to get into, no overwhelming story etc.

*Did not vote*

 

[TyBlood13]

GBAtemp has too many weeaboos.

That's rich coming from you. (And no, it's not b/c you're black! )

@Topic *Looks at avatar* Yup, going with that. Classic JRPGs forever!

 

[CompassNorth]

jRPGs and wRPGs aren't actual genres.
The only difference between the two is the country of where the game was developed, not mechanics.

 

[Arras]

I couldn't find SHMUP on the poll, so I went with other. I'd like to believe SHMUPS is the purist form of gaming aside maybe platformers. They test your reflexes, focus, endurance, memory and hand-eye coordination to the limits. Others may feel different, but to each his own.


I don't mean CoD, Buttfield, Gears and etc, I'm talking about Contra, Gradius, Raiden, Dodonpachi and etc.

Reflexes, focus, endurance, memory and hand-eye coordination... Yup, rhythm games got all that and more. (Shmups are awesome too though)

 

[Kirito-kun]

jRPGs and wRPGs aren't actual genres.
The only difference between the two is the country of where the game was developed, not mechanics.

They differ significantly. WRPGs tend to be open-world and allow for more player-choice than JRPGs. WRPGs are usually real-time and often emphasizes immersion. JRPGs tend to be more linear and story-driven. They tend to be turn-based and push players into an already-established role.

I personally prefer WRPGs. I haven't played a single JRPG which couldn't have been simulated by an Excel spreadsheet, some grid paper, and a scientific calculator.

 

[CompassNorth]

They differ significantly. WRPGs tend to be open-world and allow for more player-choice than JRPGs. WRPGs are usually real-time and often emphasizes immersion. JRPGs tend to be more linear and story-driven. They tend to be turn-based and push players into an already-established role.

Yes, I know the pattern in jRPGs and wRPGs, but again this doesn't make the two genres real.
Any game from any country can follow either pattern, it's not exclusive to a country for example look at all the games Zeboyd have made and all the games From Software has made. Zeboyd doesn't makes jRPGs and From Soft

I personally prefer WRPGs. I haven't played a single JRPG which couldn't have been simulated by an Excel spreadsheet, some grid paper, and a scientific calculator.

Etrian Odyssey, Class of Heroes, the modern Japanese Wizardry games, and many other jRPGs who payed homage to first person dungeon crawlers which became a hit in Japan such as Wizardry.

Still not a genre.

 

[migles]

first person shooters, third person shooters, are they a diferent genre? IMO its the same thing "shooters" and some of them actually let you play with both cameras

why is there not a such thing as second person camera?

 

[Kirito-kun]

Etrian Odyssey, Class of Heroes, the modern Japanese Wizardry games, and many other jRPGs who payed homage to first person dungeon crawlers which became a hit in Japan such as Wizardry.

Still not a genre.

Those games are still turn-based or pseudo-turn-based, meaning that they still can be simulated by Excel, paper, and calculator. Sure, you can't simulate the 3D visuals, but the gameplay is more-or-less still turn based. And um... Wizardry is not a JRPG. It's developed by a North American studio, Sir-Tech.

 

[CompassNorth]

Those games are still turn-based or pseudo-turn-based, meaning that they still can be simulated by Excel, paper, and calculator. Sure, you can't simulate the 3D visuals, but the gameplay is more-or-less still turn based. And um... Wizardry is not a JRPG. It's developed by a North American studio, Sir-Tech.

Oh, I read the question wrong.
Also the newer Wizardry games were made in Japan, but the western games became a hit in Japan and is very influential to the jRPGs. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Megami Tensei, other series all cite Wizardry as an influence.

And again not all turn-based games are jRPGs. Including the grid based first person that Etrian Oddysey, Class of Heroes, ect all pay a tribute to.


Edit: I'm not sure if you know this but western RPGs are way older than eastern ones, and they were turn-based. Turn-based RPGs aren't exclusives to eastern/jRPGs because wRPGs did them first.

Not only that but you said

I personally prefer WRPGs. I haven't played a single JRPG which couldn't have been simulated by an Excel spreadsheet, some grid paper, and a scientific calculator.

You know that western developers also made first-person dungeon cralwers first years before the eastern/Japanese did ? And that they were grid-based just like the Etrian Odyssey series and people mapped out the games the same way you did.

 

[grossaffe]

first person shooters, third person shooters, are they a diferent genre? IMO its the same thing "shooters" and some of them actually let you play with both cameras

why is there not a such thing as second person camera?

2nd person would be seeing through the eyes of someone else, such as perhaps a potential victim of yours. Not really an ideal camera, but someone really clever could potentially make a game that somehow made good use of the concept.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Those games are still turn-based or pseudo-turn-based, meaning that they still can be simulated by Excel, paper, and calculator. Sure, you can't simulate the 3D visuals, but the gameplay is more-or-less still turn based. And um... Wizardry is not a JRPG. It's developed by a North American studio, Sir-Tech.

Feel free to try and simulate Ni No Kuni in Excel, on paper or a calculator. If you can, then you can use your shit argument for any game/genre.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

>JRPGs
>winning

I knew GBAtemp had bad taste but I didn't think it was THAT bad.

(puzzle game master race)