Games aren't evolving anymore? Or are they?

Hi! ^^

I think you're (luckily) wrong about that. I see a lot of changes happening all the time. Just play a game from 10 years ago. You will notice so many little things. We have a constant evolution going on in many different aspects of games. Controls, UI, level design - everything gets better over time. you probably don't notice many things, because they are only gradual improvements. but they're there. some examples:

play Onimusha 3 (2004) for an hour. then play DmC (2013). they are the same genre. yet they play so differently. not only the graphics and the sound design have improved a lot. the controls in Onimusha were absolutely fine back in the day.we didn't know anything better. but now they feel absolutely crappy, compared to modern games like DmC. also the camera angles are garbage in that game. gameplay in this genre has improved a lot.

same goes for Outcast. it was an absolute hit when it was new. look at it now. the tutorial for instance is horrible. we simply have higher design standards now.

watch the new Super Bunnyhop video about Spies vs. Mercs. you will also see a few things there that are just old design.

and don't forget indie games! the whole walking simulator genre for instance is completely new. i'd definitely call that innovation. and the genre itself is constantly evolving. look at how it started with Dear Esther, and look what people made of it and how they improved it with titles like Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch or The Fidelio Incident.

i agree some genres don't have a lot of big innovations to them. but there are lots of small things. and we actually do have big innovations in certain areas.

I think the biggest issue with new ideas in games right now is that they're viewed as a huge risk by many larger companies. Because either it'll work and everyone loves it and it sells well ... or everyone hates it or they just aren't able to implement it properly.

EDIT: Also I find NEO Scavenger to be pretty innovative, all the concepts were around but they were done in a fairly unique way.

lately all the good story telling games that i've played were on PS4, you should try The Last Of Us, Horizon .. and many other

but for me the best game that i've ever played is The Witcher 3, you must play it!

Check The Invisible Hours by Tequila Works ;)

development and advancement always seems faster than it truly was in hindsight, technology is still advancing every day
VR is a good example of recent developments, and yes while most VR games "haven't brought any new ideas" to the table, that's what happens every time there's a new gimmick out on the market - it takes time for developers to learn how to utilize new things to work with

I think that there's a difference between innovation and evolution. Games don't need to be innovative to evolve. Graphics, AI, UI design all evolve over time. Some old gamers complain about handholding in new games, and so on, and this is an example of evolution. Things which were revolutionary some years ago are now mundane, and that's part of the evolution. Mobile games on PC are part of the evolution. A multitude of visual novels are an evolution. Clickers and asset flips are an evolution.

The game market is fluid, and keeps changing. It doesn't always change in the direction hardcore players want, but it does change. Even if you look at AAA games only, they change over time. In minor ways, but they they do.

Maybe look at it this way:
At first most stuff had never been done before. More room to do something new which is groundbreaking at that time in its execution. Innovation is the BOOM-kind that you're looking for probably.

Nowadays with the amount of games almost everything has been done in some way or another. Innovation is much more subtle. Doesn't mean it isn't there or isn't good, but it's less of a BOOM-experience and more a subtle 'oh-this-is-sweet'-experience.

Or maybe I just wanted to write BOOM twice. BOOMBOOM. 5 times now if you're counting.