Omg I totally forgot about that one. We could use more than one anyways😌 but respect for Stephen
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I want more games where you can play as a supervillain. Well, where you can choose to play as a supervillain.
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I love Vendetta so much because the choice is there in the direction you want to go. It doesn’t force you any which way.
I personally feel the Superhero Genre is a little over represented but I’m writing a fantasy story so like-- who am I to talk right? I just feel like a story where you have the choice is naturally going to have issues of breadth or depth. If you choose to be a villain, and there is hero or vigilante routes, you have to write for all of those scenarios, essentially tripling the work while half the people playing only go for one route.
I kind of like the idea of a game where you end up as a superhero, villain, or vigilante based on your own actions over the course of the game but the final choice is decided by the pathing you took leading up to that point. (Like, a ‘skill check’ where it decides) but I know for a lot of people they might not like that lol.
Response to @LiliArch :
I mean, between Freak, Vendetta, Fallen Hero, Hero Rise, etc etc, I would definitely not say its under represented lol. It isn’t that I do not like the genre. OO, I would like to see something like Fallen Hero but while playing on the hero side instead (introspective, about a character who was in retirement following a severe incident, brought out by the need to reveal something important. Could even be a hero gone vigilante who is aiming to expose corruption in the agency they were hired under or something I donno. I think a cross over between The Exile and Fallen Hero would be pretty poggo)
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Well, that is the thing, isn’t it? If one likes a genre enough, it’s very difficult to get enough of it. If one doesn’t… it can definitely get over-represented very fast.
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Pretty much my thoughts, I’ve loved fantasy my entire life. I’ve never once gotten tired of it or been disappointed at how prevalent it is. Meanwhile, if it’s a genre I don’t like I’ll be less interested in it and probably wish that someone had posted another fantasy instead. Even if there’s already plenty of it to pick from.
Honestly, I’m not sure it’s truly possible for any genre to be overdone. They’re just too many potential stories to tell and more than enough potential readers to go around.
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I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a super hero interactive experience - I do lament the fact that the Unmasked series was seemingly canned since that was a series exploring perspectives within a hero world outside of the hero or villain characters - the reporter, the henchmen, the love interest etc. And many games involve heroes with no powers or very specific ones due to the need to limit the stories length. I love the genre though and find myself more drawn to it typically over the fantasy and modern supernatural genres, easily the most overused.
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I do think that the idea of playing an investigator like Santana from Vendetta could be a really cool story! A story where you are trying to unveil the corruption behind the industry but have issues due to the fact that they face protection both from the government and socially due to their status. I always feel though that it’ll probably be seen as less interesting than getting to be one of the hot shots themselves, though, but maybe not? 
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I mean, I wouldn’t mind playing an investigator either - it certainly is fun as well - but when you have a particular itch you have a particular itch, you know? And I don’t know of any game that would scratch that, so far. (I mean, when the best superhero game you know of is a LEGO one…)
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Actually I would prefer this lol I’m not really fond of superheroes/supervillains themed stories (thank you endless reprises of marvel movies for this) so I can only like them if they are tangentially related to the genre. Like Fallen Hero and WandaVision, since it’s less about the shiny heroes saving the day and more about the main characters searching for vengeance or trying to have a better life independently of the consequences. You know, this kind of thing
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I had a WIP like that not too long ago (Where the PC’s a journalist in a superhero world). It’s definitely a fun perspective to write and opens the door to a lot of interesting dynamics with the superpowered characters. Especially with the whole “secret identity” thing, as you can essentially have two different kind of relationships with the same character, one for their civilian self, and one for their superhero self. The main difficulty I found is writing everything that happens when said supers aren’t around and keeping it interesting.
Which could probably be fixed with a more interesting premise than I one used. In short, I agree that seeing more stories like that would be fun. I’ve always thought it would be cool to read a story from the perspective of one of the more mundane people in that kind of universe.
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If I didnt literally just release my fantasy WIP I would find it immensely tempting to actually make it myself hah! But, if nobody else touches it and you dont feel like retouching your project then who knows what could happen in a few months haha!
I personally think focusing on a civilian might be more interesting, particularly if there is a focus on the impact superheroes have on them. Like, for an Investigator or Journalist, what if they specialized in investigating Superhero related activities and were from a Small Town. What if they faced incredible pressure to sell out to the Corpos? What served as their motivations for beginning their investigations to root that out?
Response to @LiliArch :
That is fair! I mean, there is plenty of ways to take the genre a different direction! I just guess I am looking for more non conventional superhero stories myself! Since we have so many great WIPs already featuring a focus on superheros and villains themselves.
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Coincidentally enough the PC was from a small town in that WIP… But part of my weakness was that I couldn’t write any of the office politics, which was kinda necessary for a story like that. I thought too big (focusing on grand conspiracies and all) when the premise was meant to be more restrained. So, take that advice for what it’s worth if you do try your hand at it.
What interested me at the time was the idea of having superheroes in your life that you didn’t even know about. Like I was planning to have one of the PC’s family members be a hero without them knowing at first. I think it’s a fun dynamic to explore. Although it runs the risk of changing up the story depending on what you’re going for.
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Ehem, Before We Are Ghosts.
It’s like a baby of FH and The Grim and I and MC is literally the opposite of Sidestep from being a hero down to to being an empath instead of telepath.
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Fair, but this isn’t “what genre is in need of more representation” thread, this is “what you want to see more” thread, yes? (And as a card-carrying nerd I have the right - nay, the obligation - to never get enough of superheroes and sci-fi.)
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I almost chocked on my spit reading this XD
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(Like, a ‘skill check’ where it decides) but I know for a lot of people they might not like that lol
Honestly, I was on the ropes for this one as well, But one advice that I’ve gotten from a lot of writers (and my English professor) is to write for a single person. Don’t look at the audience because if you try and please everyone, the writing gets all jumbled up. Atm, I’m writing for myself, what I’d like to see in my book, which includes a lot of things and not just romance and while I’m not a coder, I do get a lot of errors but the support, I’m getting, It really keeps me motivated!
Romance is good, don’t get me wrong, but the in-depth world-building where each chapter
is dedicated to each character that shows their background, their goals, what pushes them forward, what their end goal is etc and all of that leads up to romance? Those are just amazing. Oh! and trauma because I’m a sucker for trauma where the RO are taking care of the MC while battling their own demons. (Which is why I played retribution so many times lol It’s the first book to make me almost cry XD)
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I would like to see some that are based on video games, perhaps with similar plot. Probably the best of which is to throw some slice-of-life stuff in on top of the video game-inspired plot.
As a Mega Man fan, I think that the X series actually has quite a lot of interesting, intriguing stuff and backstory going on in the background but just isn’t told well (read: detailed) in the actual games.
What I would like to work on would be a Creme de la Creme and some Mega Man X style crossover stuff, basically combining the plot of both and using some of @HarrisPS unused ideas. Maybe Lady Renault revived Zero and unfortunately turned him into a Maverick as a result of what happened in the mines (in my version, there is some secret lab dedicated to reviving dead Maverick Hunters etc). Additionally, we can get to see the daily life of a Maverick Hunter, and finally talk about X’s ROs. Too much of the time is spent on the battles and not enough on the story.
The object of the game, or what I would want in future IF-games, would mostly be focusing on interacting with characters- more so with ROs, worldbuilding, dynamic fighting sections, varied endings (not all of them end in “You die” though) and loads and loads of fanservice. And more backstories for every character! The X series didn’t do this enough. And if possible, the Zero and ZX series too. Moreover, maybe let the PC be anything they want, good or bad, and craft their own backstory, strengths/weaknesses etc, but try to be realistic. This is what the cancelled Rockman Online wanted to do. I hope to see this surface here.
In terms of genres that we need more of, I would want more open-world Metroidvania-styled games please. I’m not sure if that is even possible but somebody’s going to attempt it someday!
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Hey, so - while I’m fine with and flattered by people making fanfiction of my games, please don’t tag me when discussing it - I’m not comfortable reading fanfiction (or fanfiction ideas) based on my work, personally or legally. Thank you!
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Sword and Planet and Sci Fantasy: I am very fond on works like CS Lewis Cosmic Trilogy and Gene Wolfe Book of the New Sun, series that mix high technology with magic and very grandiose, epic narratives of cosmic proportion. I would love IF in that style.
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I would love for there to be more dark sci fi game here especially with a similar premise to Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri in terms of competing extreme ideological factions fighting for control on a hostile alien world except on a more individual level
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