so a while back i was working on an article concerning aesthetic/design trends in video games (as well as their links with particular audiences) after developer Naughty Dog pretty much ruled out ever returning to making any Jak or Crash Bandicoot games and i got pretty sore about it.
well, as far as the whole game design thing goes, George Weidman of Super Bunnyhop worded it a lot better than i could've. while i'm not going to deny that older gaming generations had trends of their own (how many friggin 3d platformers did we get in the late90s-mid00s again?), certain trends seem to be more commonplace in AAA games from the more recent years. hell, even a good fraction of indie games aren't safe from this; just count how zombie/crafting/survival/metroidvania/sandbox games you see on steam's indie section.
a lot of people yell for new IPs all the time, but how do we know said new IP won't just use trends already seen before? new IPs are great, but if you can innovate on new features or streamline existing ones, that's even better. quite a bit of Nintendo series tend to try out new things and improve on existing gameplay stuff: while the Mario and Pokemon series are good example of this, Kirby and Zelda have this as well.
hell, recent Nintendo consoles feature some pretty creative new IPs that put a spin on existing trends and try out new styles of gameplay. the Pikmin games are wonderful, Captain Toad looks pretty fun, and the upcoming Splatoon is a interesting take on the shooter genre with its gameplay and graphical style. a good lot of japanese-developed titles are pretty unique in their gameplay as well, and there's even some pretty creative indie games if you look hard enough. there's also a few western-developed gems that put an interesting spin on usual gameplay conventions: just look at Guild Wars 2.
there's a bit more to fun and memorable game design (and aesthetic, by extension) than just hopping on a trend bandwagon, but not a whole lot of developers are willing to risk innovation over sales. why is there an overabundance of a particular genre/gimmick/graphic style in games? because that's what the vocal audience demands. and they sell. it's a sad truth, but it's a truth.
though even in recent times, there are creative gems that are worth a look at. you just have to look hard enough for them. c:
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