Gather ’round, fellow button-mashers and joystick jockeys! Let’s embark on a quest through the ever-expanding universe of video game genres. From the days when “graphics” meant a few blips on a screen to today’s photorealistic virtual worlds, we’ve come a long way, baby! So grab your energy drinks, adjust your gaming chairs, and let’s dive into this pixelated playground of possibilities!
VIDEOGAMES
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars JS - Rayvis Death
Armored Core 6
Honkai: Star Rail
Borderlands 3
Ai: The Somnium Files
Nier: Automata pt 1
Hello Puppets: Midnight Show
Persona 5
Mass Effect 2
BlazBlue Cross Tag
Fire Emblem Fates
Octopath Traveler II
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood
Teppen
Umbrella Corps
Resident Evil 5
Pokemon Masters
Dead Or Alive 6
Sekiro
Ace Combat 7
Nier: Automata pt 2
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Everreach
Radiant Historia
Monster Hunter World
Fire Emblem: Warriors
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Robo Recall
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
Space Run Galaxy
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky
Lost Dimension
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Lego Jurassic World
The Crew
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma
Rune Factory 4
NBA2K14
ZMR Zombies Monsters Robots
Mass Effect 3
Star Wars
MotorStorm: Apocalypse
Tales of Vesperia
Action Games: Where Reflexes Rule and Buttons Fear to Tread
Platformers: Hop, Skip, and Jump to Victory
Ah, platformers! The genre that taught us the value of pixel-perfect jumps and the existential dread of bottomless pits. Super Mario Bros. isn’t just a game; it’s a rite of passage! Who among us hasn’t felt the rush of snagging that top-of-the-flagpole finish? But let’s not forget the unsung heroes like Bubsy – proof that not all mascots with attitude can stick the landing. For every Sonic the Hedgehog blazing through loops, there’s a Gex reminding us that sometimes, it’s best to leave the one-liners to the professionals.
Shooters: Where Aim is King and Respawns are a Way of Life
From the pixelated corridors of Wolfenstein 3D to the sprawling warzones of Call of Duty, shooters have been giving us itchy trigger fingers for decades. But it’s not all headshots and “noob tubes.” Remember Goldeneye 007 on the N64? Nothing says friendship like huddling around a tiny CRT TV, accusing your buddies of screen-cheating. And let’s pour one out for all the crates and barrels that gave their lives to provide us with ammo. Your sacrifices were not in vain, cubic comrades!
Fighting Games: Button-Mashing Ballets and Combo Crescendos
Street Fighter might be the grandfather of fighting games, but let’s not forget the weird uncles like ClayFighter and Primal Rage. Nothing says “90s excess” quite like battling with stop-motion dinosaurs or a sentient blob of putty. And who could forget the sheer ridiculousness of Mortal Kombat‘s Fatalities? “Finish Him!” became less a command and more a challenge to the designers: “How ludicrous can we make this?”
Adventure Games: Where Puzzles Perplex and Inventory Items Multiply
Text Adventures: The OG “Graphics? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Graphics!”
Zork might be the granddaddy of text adventures, but let’s not forget gems like Leather Goddesses of Phobos. These games taught us the value of vocabulary and the frustration of trying every verb combination known to humanity. “Use key on door.” “You can’t use the key that way.” “ARGH!”
Graphic Adventures: Point, Click, and Pray You Didn’t Miss That Tiny Pixel
The Secret of Monkey Island showed us that pirates could be funny, and that rubber chickens with a pulley in the middle are essential adventuring gear. But for every clever Sam & Max puzzle, there was a Gabriel Knight cat-hair mustache conundrum that made us question our life choices. And don’t get me started on the pixel-hunting in Myst. I still see those gears when I close my eyes…
Role-Playing Games (RPGs): Where Stats are Sacred and Sidequests are Serious Business
Western RPGs: Choose Your Own Adventure (Now with More Dialogue Options!)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt proved that gruff protagonists with gravity-defying hair can have hearts of gold. But let’s not forget the true heroes: our long-suffering inventory management systems. From Baldur’s Gate to Skyrim, we’ve spent more time organizing loot than actually saving the world. And don’t even get me started on romance options. Nothing says “epic quest” like pausing the impending apocalypse to flirt with every NPC in sight!
Japanese RPGs (JRPGs): Where Hair Defies Gravity and Emotions Run Higher Than a Limit Break
Final Fantasy VII taught us the importance of backing up our save files and the emotional devastation of well-timed plot twists. But JRPGs aren’t all brooding heroes and world-ending calamities. Earthbound showed us the lighter side with its psychic kids and sentient piles of puke. And let’s not forget the unsung hero of every JRPG party: the poor soul stuck lugging around 99 of every potion, “just in case.”
Simulation Games: Living Vicariously Through Pixels
Life Simulation: Playing God, One Swimming Pool Ladder Removal at a Time
The Sims isn’t just a game; it’s a glimpse into our deepest desires. Like the desire to trap our digital denizens in doorless rooms or see how many appliances they can use with their abysmal Handiness skill. But it’s not all sociopathic interior decorating. Games like Stardew Valley let us live out our cottagecore fantasies, one parsnip at a time. Who needs real-world responsibilities when you can obsess over virtual crop rotations?
Construction and Management Simulation: Because Who Doesn’t Want to Control Traffic Flow?
SimCity taught us that running a city is hard, but unleashing giant lizards on said city is disturbingly satisfying. But why stop at cities? Theme Hospital let us build medical facilities where the biggest threats were bloaty head and slack tongue. And let’s not forget Rollercoaster Tycoon, where the true challenge wasn’t building the perfect park, but seeing how high you could launch dissatisfied customers from an “unfinished” coaster.
Strategy Games: For Those Who Think Chess Isn’t Complicated Enough
Real-Time Strategy (RTS): Multitasking Madness and the Art of “Zerg Rush”
StarCraft II might be the pinnacle of RTS gaming, but let’s pour one out for the genre’s weirder offerings. Sacrifice let us command armies as a disembodied wizard, while Pikmin turned garden management into an interplanetary odyssey. And who could forget the absolute chaos of Command & Conquer: Red Alert? Nothing says “historical accuracy” quite like weaponized Tesla coils and psychic squid.
Turn-Based Strategy (TBS): Where “One More Turn” Becomes a Life Philosophy
Civilization VI continues the proud tradition of making “just one more turn” the biggest lie in gaming. But for every carefully planned cultural victory, there’s the sheer mayhem of games like Worms. Nothing says “strategic depth” quite like lobbing a concrete donkey at your opponents. And let’s not forget XCOM, where your carefully laid plans are always one 95% missed shot away from total disaster.
Sports Games: As Close as Most of Us Will Get to Athletic Glory
Sure, FIFA 20 might offer realistic football action, but where’s the love for the truly bizarre sports games? Rocket League answered the age-old question, “What if cars played soccer?” while Golf Story combined putting with RPG elements in a way we never knew we needed. And let’s pour one out for NFL Blitz, which taught us that sometimes, the best defense is a good body slam.
Puzzle Games: Brain Teasers That Haunt Your Dreams
Tetris might be the king of puzzle games, but it’s far from the only block in town. Baba Is You bent our minds with its rule-changing mechanics, while Portal proved that sometimes the cake is a lie, but the physics-bending fun is always real. And who could forget Gorogoa, which turned puzzle-solving into a work of art? Just remember: if you start seeing Tetris pieces when you close your eyes, it might be time to take a break.
Educational Games: Sneaking Learning Past Our Defenses
Reader Rabbit might have taught us to read, but let’s not forget the true educational heavyweight: The Oregon Trail. Nothing teaches resource management quite like watching your entire family succumb to dysentery. And for those of us who preferred our learning with a side of nightmare fuel, there was always Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Those disembodied hands still haunt my dreams…
Casual Games: For When You Have Five Minutes or Five Hours to Kill
Angry Birds proved that simple concepts can lead to global domination. But for every physics-based bird-flinger, there’s a Goat Simulator reminding us that sometimes, games don’t need to make sense to be fun. And let’s not forget mobile gaming phenomena like Flappy Bird, which turned frustration into an art form. Who knew tapping a screen could be so infuriating yet addictive?
Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs): Where Real Life Goes to Die
World of Warcraft might be the 800-pound murloc in the room, but let’s not forget the weird and wonderful world of niche MMOs. Second Life proved that virtual real estate could be just as cutthroat as the real thing, while EVE Online showed us that spreadsheets in space could be surprisingly thrilling. Just remember: no matter how much loot you amass, you still have to pay your real-world bills. Unfortunately, most landlords don’t accept gold pieces.
Interactive Dramas: For When You Want to Feel Things
Heavy Rain might have tugged at our heartstrings, but it also gave us the gift of “JASON!” memes. And while Detroit: Become Human tackled weighty themes of AI and humanity, it also let us play as the world’s most intense housekeeper. For those who prefer their interactive drama with a side of teenage angst, there’s always Life is Strange, proving that even time travel can’t make high school any less awkward.
And there you have it, fellow gamers! A whirlwind tour through the mad, magnificent world of video game genres. From the bleeps and bloops of yesteryear to today’s virtual reality epics, games have come a long way. But no matter how fancy the graphics get or how complex the storylines become, one thing remains constant: the power of games to transport us, challenge us, and occasionally make us question our life choices when we realize it’s 3 AM and we’re still trying to perfect that speed run. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a raid to get to. Those epic mounts won’t farm themselves!
