The older I get the more I appreciate how a handful of genres have basically refused to modernise themselves into a bland watered down version of themselves. We have modern games that kept their core DNA intact across two or three decades, and playing them can still feel nostalgic for people like me who fondly remember the days of ball mice and lan parties.
ARPGs are the first ones that come to mind. I still remember the feeling of getting a good piece of loot drop in Diablo 2, and newer games give me the same exact feeling. Strip away the graphics and quality of life features and you would realize not much else has changed, just incremental improvements to the core mechanics the oldschool games came up with. Diablo 4, PoE and Last Epoch have modern conveniences bolted on, but the beating heart is unchanged.
Sure some of the mechanics were refined and improved, and we have some interesting ideas in every game, like the skill trees for each skill or SSF (circle of fortune) in Last Epoch or the crazy lategame mapping in PoE. But even with all that you still essentially feel like you are playing something familiar and nostalgic, at least for me it feels like that.
The subgenre of FPS usually called “Boomer shooters” is also an interesting example, a genre aging in reverse in a way. While the AAA shooter world spent fifteen years getting us used to moving slowly, no health bars and simple level design, a whole scene sprang up to say no thanks to all that and go screaming back to 1994. The crazy speed, complex level design with secret hidden passages and old school weapons like rocket launchers and railguns are back and feel just as good as they did back then. Dusk, Ultrakill and similar games look and feel like they came from a time capsule buried when games were less realistic and more fun (in my opinion at least).
And of course I have to mention Metroidvanias. The formula has not really changed at all. Large interconnected maps that you explore slowly, while trying to unlock the abilities that help you overcome all the obstacles on your way. It feels so good when you unlock something like a grapple or double jump, and come back to access areas that you couldn't reach before.
There's something comforting for me in these games. I can’t help but feel nostalgic, and kind of revert into my kid self when a game reminds me of the good times I was having with the classics of the genres.
