Every genre started somewhere. Every genre had a game that started it that made the people who played it think "Yeah, I want more games like this." This was true of Platformers, Fighting Games, Beat 'em Ups, Hack'n Slash, 3D Action games, Adventure Games, Stealth games, Isometric games, twin-stick shooters, first person shooters, third person shooters, and so on and so forth.
However, over time, many of these genres have been incorporating elements of each other into themselves to make fresh and new experiences. Back in the N64 Era, 3D Platformers had just got started but, game devs were so good with Platformers and its rules that, at that point, the Platforming Genre, 2D or 3D, had basically been perfected. Later games in the genre had to incorporate other elements to compensate: Jak & Daxter incorporated run-n-gun gameplay mixed in with the platforming, Sly Cooper introduced Stealth as a big part of the genre, Ratchet & Clank had a very big focus on general combat, and other platformers were like this as well.
Over time, every genre gets to that point where everything the genre can do by itself has been done and has to incorporate elements of other genres to gain a fresh experience. A lot of Action Games have peaked what the genre is capable of by itself, so a certain number of them have incorporated Platforming mechanics. Some fighting games have incorporated RPG elements with varying degrees of success. Many RPG's have incorporated real-time action to substitute the turn-based action of some RPG's, and some genres are massive collections of multiple different genres.
However, the problem with this methodology is that, while you can have some unique experiences from other games in the genre, often the elements that were borrowed from other genres are unwelcome, either because they're poorly implemented or because they are elements that clash with the core of the genre.
Some of the biggest offenders are in two hybrid genres in particular: stealth-action and action-rpg.
The problem with a lot of stealth action games is how the two different genres tackle player engagement: while it is true that both genres generally should not be afraid of being too hard, there's a distinction in how these games should be hard.
Action games, usually, are very frenetic and high energy, usually fast paced, and can have enemies that can overwhelm you. The best action games will motivate you to fight to the best of your abilities and, in some small occasions, show off while doing so.
Stealth games are a different beast, though. Stealth games are usually a lot slower, more methodical, and a lot more about staying out of sight, which means you often have to be dis-empowered in order to incentivise this. Stealth games are about making waiting engaging, yes, but they're also about overcoming insurmountable odds without resorting to upfront combat.
For this reason, for a stealth action game to work, it has to give you just enough power that combat is viable but a small enough amount that stealth is incentivized as well. The problem, then, is balancing your available kit for both of these methods. While I'm not going to say it's impossible to do this, the problem is that it's necessary to do this in the first place.
For a hybrid genre to work, the elements it takes from both have to work together in unison to make something that is unique but still polished. Stealth and Action clash with each other so much that the stability in any game is awful. Usually, the way stealth action games go, is that stealth is put into the game but combat is made too viable an option for too much of the game.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an obvious one, since it's primarily action with very little stealth, but you also have Metal Gear Solid 5, which is by far the most action focused of the Solid games, then you have Hitman: Absolution, which tried to do this and, in turn, made combat the best option, up until a certain point, anyway. Dishonored works, for the most part, but only by separating the two completely so they never interact. The Elder Scrolls games are famous for having your options of melee, magic, and stealth, and it has the opposite problem that Revengeance does, stealth is far too overpowered to make combat a legitimate option, although it is still an option more than a pure stealth game. Fallout 4 also made Stealth problematic by forcing you more and more into gun-play, and it just keeps going. To be perfectly honest, I have yet to see a stealth action game done well, which is the crux of the matter.
Action-RPG's have a similar, though quite different problem. You see, Action games are about mechanical skill, which means that your ability to overcome the odds is based on your own ability to fight back. However, in most RPG's, particularly JRPG's and classic RPG's, is that when it comes to combat, the outcome is determined almost completely by what your numbers are.
When you combine the two, in the worst case scenario, the combat gives you just enough control to be able to dodge oncoming attacks but still makes the combat all about the numbers, like Dark Souls, Bethesda games, Bloodborne and NieR: Automata.
Bearing in mind, I'm not saying any of these games are bad: they all have good qualities. However, speaking purely from a combat perspective, most of these games are serviceable, not bad, just functional, they don't stand out all that much because the combat is still heavily focused on the numbers.
On the flip side, you get games that have great combat systems but, while numbers are not as big of a priority, they are still a big enough focus that the games' upgrading systems are more about damage values than new abilities.
Now, unlike the Stealth Action genre, it is feasible to combine a great combat system with RPG elements. Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of the greatest examples of a combat system done right: yes you do gain stat progression on yourself and your abilities but, you still gain new abilities throughout the game and those abilities can be combo'd together to make your own movelist and even have some spells serve as finishers.
Kingdom Hearts 2's failing was actually in its enemy design. Most of the time, enemies and bosses don't incentivise you to learn the combat system or build your moveset and style because, most of the time, spam X and sometimes Triangle works and, when it doesn't, you can just grind for more damage so that it does work. While some enemies do make it harder for grinding to work, most of the time it still does, and in Final Mix in particular, the only area where it doesn't work is with the data organization; to quote mieDAX "They really don't care what level you are."
Of course, that's not to say that hybrid genres can never work. One of the most successful hybrid genres out there right now is the MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. MOBA's are a combination of real-time strategy and RPG which makes a lot of these games work. The biggest pure MOBA's are DOTA 2 and League of Legends. Heroes of the Storm is doing well but poorly for a Blizzard games. However, there are games in the genre that incorporate even more from other genres.
The biggest ones are SMITE and Overwatch. SMITE is a MOBA that has a third-person camera and aiming system. Which means that, while the game is still a MOBA and uses a lot of the same tropes, the third-person camera makes the combat feel so much faster and so much more calculated because you're not just planning out your moves, you're also much more able to react to opponents or even get in their blind spots. In this way, SMITE is a MOBA that feels a lot like an action or fighting game.
Overwatch, on the other hand, feels like a MOBA version of Team Fortress 2. It has the team-based cooperation of TF2 and MOBA's combined with the first person control scheme and gameplay mechanics that fit into both genres. This is likely one of the reasons that Overwatch has done as well as it has.
Of course, I say that but, in reality, the title of 1st-Person MOBA actually belongs to Battleborn, which is far more like a MOBA than Overwatch ever could be. However, the reason Battleborn wasn't more successful was because it was perceived as Overwatch's rival and, whether it was true or not, it was clear that Overwatch was always going to win in a full competition.
Then there are some fighting games that include stat-based progression and this usually doesn't work. Sometimes it can, it worked in Budokai 3 but there was a reason it worked in Budokai 3. It worked in Budokai 3 because stat progression was restricted to Dragon Universe and Dragon Arena. While it is possible to battle your friends in Dragon Arena, generally if you want to have a balanced match-up, you do so in Dragon Duel, the actual versus mode.
In fighting games that handle it poorly, though, the stat progression is used in the multiplayer and actual versus, which means that balance is thrown out the window in favor of grind until you're ready type gameplay.
When hybridizing a genre, one thing to keep in mind is how the elements of one genre work with the elements of the other that you're using. You don't want to haphazardly incorporate elements of genres that just seem popular right now, that may reduce the quality of your product and make you seem like a trend-chaser. Instead, think about what genre of game you're making and think about what elements from other genres will work together with the product you're trying to make. It will make your game a lot more fresh and unique and lot less likely to be attacked for ripping things off.
That's all for now. Have a wonderful day.
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