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For as prevalent as it is today, video games are still a very new medium, even coming after the creation of the audiobook. Unfortunately, at least in the eyes of Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda, it’s only taken 67 years for the “age of game mechanics” to be over.
Speaking to outlet DenfaminicoGamer alongside Katamari creator Keita Takahashi, Ueda explained that the current era of games is no longer focused on creating game mechanics, but instead continuing to streamline past game mechanics.
Ueda himself is also guilty of this with The Last Guardian which is essentially a continuation of the mechanics found way back in Ico. However, when first looking at Takahashi’s upcoming puzzle game To a T, he realised that creating new game mechanics is no longer the focus of most developers.
“I don’t remember exactly why I replied with a ‘like’ at the time, but I was probably thinking, ‘the era of game mechanics is over,” the game designer explained. “I wonder if we are no longer in the era where we need to provide new devices or new game mechanics every single game.”
Ueda doesn’t present this realisation as an inherent negative. In fact, the Shadow of the Colossus creator explained: “Even if the mechanics are not new, you can focus on the feel and art. Whether you like it or not, it’s better to sharpen the existing mechanics.”
It’s also worth noting that occasionally new mechanics do make a triumphant impact when they do happen. For example, 2009’s Demon’s Souls created an entire genre with its unique combat mechanics. In 2013, Shadow of Mordor introduced the fantastic, annoyingly-locked-behind-patents Nemesis System. 2019’s Death Stranding’s strand-based gameplay, despite its wacko name, is a new core game mechanic that returned for Death Stranding 2.
However, Ueda is right. As a developer that worked through the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 genre, there was a time where new mechanics were usually the focus of AAA as everyone was experimenting with 3D gameplay. That’s no longer the case – although, I’d argue VR is where that experimentation is today – but occasionally some awesome new ideas will sneak through.
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