10 Video Game Mechanics We Can't Believe Were Left To Die
Remember when variety was king?
To paraphrase the words of Van Halen, "When was the last time you played something for the first time?"
I'm not talking about a new game in general or a sequel, but the last time you got hands on with a title and realised you'd never played anything like it before.
That's where things get way harder, as especially this generation, outside the indie space the vast majority of developers have conjured up handfuls of bankable formulas and stuck to them.
For me, the answer was Death Stranding - something that has elements of third-person shooting and environmental traversal, but was ultimately a "hiking sim" where buttons were used for balance, climbing, grabbing packages off the ground or hurling them at enemies.
There was a real surprise behind Death Stranding playing its hand, and it reminded me of just how much previous generations used to prioritise this notion of not knowing what you were in for.
When budgets were more relaxed, a wider set of ideas got greenlit, and chances are the reason you fell in love with gaming overall, was down to not knowing what was next.
If there's one major thing the next generation needs, it's new ideas, as take a look across what we left behind, and you'll be wishing they never went away.