In the varied world of video games there are as many genres as there are confusing abbreviations, but on occasion those genres get misunderstood by general audiences. One recent example is when last year’s mini-game collection Final Fantasy VII Rebirth got snubbed at the many mini-game-related award categories and instead took home multiple RPG of the year awards. During an improvised acceptance speech the game’s director, Tetsuya Nomura, noted that he was “equally thankful and confused” and proceeded to mumble something about moogles being the real protagonist. That was but one of many examples in the history of gaming and I have brought with me 14 of them to share with the class on this fine day.
14. World of Warcraft
Misunderstood genre: MMORPG
Real genre: Virtual Stock Market
While many might know World of Warcraft as a massive social RPG or a black hole that swallows 18 hours a day, the expansive world and epic bosses are all just smoke and mirrors in what is essentially the world’s most advanced capitalism simulator. Whether it’s tuxedo pants, boar intestine stocks, or more RAM for your PC, the WoW auction house has it all for those who know where to look, and by maxing the hidden profession of Brokering, a financially shrewd player can make more money mining copper ore than bitcoin.
13. DOOM (1983)
Misunderstood genre: First-Person Shooter
Real genre: Epilepsy Test
DOOM is best known today as one of the games that helped establish the first-person shooter genre, but it’s a little known fact that that was actually not at all what id Software originally set out to make. With its flashing dark rooms and power-ups with 255 color screen tints, DOOM was originally designed as (mildly sadistic) software to test players for epilepsy. The original plans for DOOM also included a seizure counter, but unfortunately the game became too popular and the developers were forced to release it before they could figure out how to implement such a feature.
11. Shenmue
Misunderstood genre: Open World Action/Adventure
Real genre: Forklift Simulator
Back in 1999, Shenmue was praised for being one of the pioneers of open-world gaming, so it might surprise players to learn that of its 18 hour runtime on average only 2 are spent exploring the world or fighting martial arts battles, while 19 are spent driving forklifts. The remaining 4 are of course spent on the gatcha game.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Misunderstood genre: Action/Adventure
Real genre: Soulslike
Lock-on, rolling, big ominous knights – the Dark Souls inspiration in Ocarina of Time is so obvious it’s surprising Nintendo didn’t get hit with a lawsuit for plagiarism. Fortunately it seems the ever-magnanimous Lord Miyazaki saw fit to let this one slide – much to the relief of Aonuma and Miyamoto, who according to rumors bought several flight tickets to Mexico just in case.
5. Dark Souls
Misunderstood genre: Soulslike
Real genre: Farming Simulator
Self-explanatory.
4. Fortnite
Misunderstood genre: Cross-Over Concert Dancing Game
Real genre: Battle Royal
During my long, tenuous research for making this list, this Fortnite discovery was by far the one that surprised me the most. It turns out if you dive deep enough into the world of Fortnite there’s a layer beneath the skins and dances and timed events with an actual game mode called Battle of the Royals or “Battle Royale” for short. Queuing took me about four hours and most players seemed AFK, but I can confirm now that its existence is indeed real. What a wild world we live in.
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Misunderstood genre: Life Sim
Real genre: Psychological Horror
With its deceivingly colorful charm and relaxing vibes it’s not surprising that New Horizons has fooled many, and due to its massive amount of content only the most dedicated players will ever reach the endgame to find out the truth. Stuck forever on a deserted island with no way to return and every day more and more people become stranded with you, while the scarce resources of the island get stretched thinner and thinner. There was only ever one way things could end.
1. PlayStation 5
Misunderstood genre: Video Game Console
Real genre: An actual Spaceship
The PlayStation 5 has been a greatly misunderstood product since its original launch, perhaps owing to the fact that nobody actually owned one in the first year while they were gathering dust in the basements of scalpers. Surprisingly the size alone wasn’t hint enough to consumers of this aircraft’s real purpose, and both scalpers and fans kept assuming it was meant to play PlayStation 4 games at higher resolutions. It got to the point where Sony’s space engineers were forced to lower themselves by releasing an actual game about repairing a crash-landed PlayStation 5 to prepare it for lift-off, but still people didn’t take the hint, continuing to play games on their machines instead of exploring the outer reaches of space. Some people never learn.
Full Article – https://www.vgchartz.com/article/464296/14-games-with-misunderstood-genres/
