I think if Saros delivers, Housemarque will find themselves as the only player in a brand new genre of games, similar to what FromSoft established with the Souls games and the resulting Soulslike genre.
Prepare for the Returnal-likes.
Returnal-likes? Returnal is just a rogue-like bullet hell game. It’s a good game, don’t get me wrong, but to say it’s going to create an entirely new genre is a stretch considering it’s not even really anything new
What about the death mechanic? You mention the active play aspects… but the death-loop is another mechanic that could be exploited further, possibly by this new game. It’s not a unique aspect at this point but could be a defining feature if refined into the gameplay loop proper.
Well Souls-like become a genre after Dark Souls, previously it was just a difficult Action RPG game.
I haven’t played Returnal yet though, does it introduce no newer mechanics (or a new take on existing mechanics) that can have it stand as it’s own sub-genre?
All it takes is few unique mechanics that other start using, and people calling it “Returnal-like” or something. But if it doesn’t have anything unique like that, which other may copy, then I doubt it.
The most unique mechanic I can think of is the adrenaline system which makes you stronger as you kill more enemies without getting hit. However a bullet hell or a rogue-like that rewards you for not getting hit doesn’t feel nearly as innovative as both the bonfire system and the Souls games freedom of build options in my opinion
Yeah, I agree.
