10 Video Game Developers That Stupidly Ditched Popular Genres

3. Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow

The Change: Side-scrolling action platformer to third-person hack n' slasher.

There were two main gameplay formulas across the 2000s that developers just couldn't get enough of. One was the Gears of War stop n' pop stuff, and the other was God of War/Devil May Cry-style character action. Besides those latter franchises alternating instalments almost every year, Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta got in on the action, alongside Castlevania, who reinvented itself in a way literally no one was asking for.

Swapping its exploration heavy, item-based progression for hacking, slashing and leaping about the place, yes the Lords of Shadow games were solid enough, but they were nothing like Symphony of the Night, or any of the 2D titles that made the series what it was.

Sadly, Lords of Shadow 2 was the last official Castlevania to this day, as former lead Koji Igarashi took to Kickstarter with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a spiritual sequel that raised $5.5 million from lapsed fans, hungry for more of what worked better.