History GenreShift / VideoGames

* Played with by the ''Metroid'' series. The main games are all side-scrolling Platformers. Then came the ''Metroid Prime'' sub-series, which were First-Person Shooters, that don't even act like they're a spin-off of a Platformer-series. And then there's the completely absurd and unexpected GenreShift: "''Metroid Prime: PINBALL''"! It's by no means the most successful game in the series, but it sure is the strangest GenreShift from a Platformer or FPS that you could ever make...

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' Starts out as a light-hearted NoPlotNoProblem first person shooter, then switched gears with a wackier backstory, [[CoolHat hats]] and comedy, then of course, Gray Mann came into the story, and it turned DarkerAndEdgier, with the team fighting an endless horde of robots, based on themselves, and eventually lost their jobs. The current (non-related to game) story is of Ms. Pauling, the AnnoyingVideoGameHelper announcer's sidekick attempting to [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether put the team back together]].

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' started out as a tribute to martial arts cinema. Apart from the MultiArmedAndDangerous monster dude Goro, nothing out of the game was too out of the ordinary for those who've seen martial arts movies, and its main claim to fame was being the first major "bloody" fighting game. Then ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2'' came around, and the main plot of the series -- a dimension-wide conflict for people's souls -- took center stage. Then ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' turned things in a post-apocalyptic direction, with some sci-fi elements added in the form of the Lin Kuei cyborg ninja program. And so on and so forth.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is mostly a quirky RPG with some creepy moments there and there, but going on a [[KillEmAll Genocide Route]] turns it into a straight up horror game where ''you'' are [[VillainProtagonist the monster]].

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''
** The series wavers back and forth on how fantastical its court drama is. In the first game spirit channeling is simply a way to talk to [[SpiritAdvisor Mia Fey]] after her murder. The magatama shows up in the second game, upping the fantasy factor, and by the third game the entire final case revolves around the angry spirit of [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]] and her attempt to murder [[spoiler:Maya Fey.]] However, ''VisualNovel/{{Apollo Justice|AceAttorney}}'' trades the spiritual for a scientific (if slightly implausible) explanation for the Perceive ability and in ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' the closest we get to unrealism is the holodeck-esque [[SchizoTech Little Thief]]. ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' now runs the full gambit of fantasy and scientific (though with leaning on the latter), with the Magatama and Perceive abilities returning, a new futuristic method of therapy, a case based around a mythological demon supposedly being released from his chambers, the revelation that robots exist in this setting, and a heavy focus on space travel. It becomes fully fantastical again in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'' with half of the game taking place in a country that uses a form of spirit channeling as part of their court procedures.

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' starts off as pure humour, then goes to sci-fi at the Cave of the Past, then shifts to horror at the end of said cave.
** The game is pretty quirky from the get-go, but it gets downright surreal when you find yourself in [[LotusEaterMachine Moonside]]. The game is very fond of MoodWhiplash.

* The same case goes for the Trigens in ''[[VideoGame/FarCry1 Far Cry]]''.

* The original ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance was a puzzle platformer modeled after ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'', but the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS sequels, from ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis'' to ''Miniland Mayhem'', were ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}''-style puzzle game that utilize the touch screen and stylus. The latest installment, ''Minis On the Move'' for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, is a ''VideoGame/{{Locomotion}}'' clone.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' starts off like most typical ''Mario'' games, where the title plumber had to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser (in this game, Bowser kidnaps Peach and carries her off into space), but about halfway through the game, the plot unexpectedly shifts to a sad story about the loss of a different princess' family, but then cuts back to Mario still trying to save Peach from Bowser.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' starts off as pure humour, then goes to sci-fi at the Cave of the Past, then shifts to horror at the end of said cave.

* ''Franchise/ShiningSeries'':

* ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries'':

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'' and ''VideoGame/SplinterCellBlacklist'' shift the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series from full on [[StealthBasedGame Stealth games]] to ThirdPersonShooters with Stealth elements.

** By ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', SliceOfLife, time management and DatingSim elements are introduced to the ''Persona'' franchise, which became a mainstay of the series and a major selling point as an "anime life" game. Story wise, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turns into a more [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]] Franchise/ScoobyDoo-style murder mystery with [=MegaTen=] trappings as opposed to the focus on mortality. ''VideoGame/Persona5'' meanwhile doubles down on social commentray with its characters donning western styled pulp comic book and PhantomThief outfits coupled with more jazzy music.

* Similarly to ''Okami'', ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' spends the entire game in typical JRPG swords-and-magic fantasy, only to [[spoiler:switch to Sci-Fi in the ''epilogue'']].

* The ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' series wavers back and forth on how fantastical its court drama is. In the first game spirit channeling is simply a way to talk to [[SpiritAdvisor Mia Fey]] after her murder. The magatama shows up in the second game, upping the fantasy factor, and by the third game the entire final case revolves around the angry spirit of [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]] and her attempt to murder [[spoiler:Maya Fey.]] However, ''VisualNovel/{{Apollo Justice|AceAttorney}}'' trades the spiritual for a scientific (if slightly implausible) explanation for the Perceive ability and in ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' the closest we get to unrealism is the holodeck-esque [[SchizoTech Little Thief]]. ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' now runs the full gambit of fantasy and scientific (though with leaning on the latter), with the Magatama and Perceive abilities returning, a new futuristic method of therapy, a case based around a mythological demon supposedly being released from his chambers, the revelation that robots exist in this setting, and a heavy focus on space travel. It becomes fully fantastical again in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'' with half of the game taking place in a country that uses a form of spirit channeling as part of their court procedures.

* The Upper and Lower City areas from ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' each presents a very different universe despite the two locations being technically a part of the same place. The Main City has an UrbanFantasy setting that frequently deals with monsters, anomalies and magic rituals. Most of the residents came from the "real world" (e.g. the Detective is from New York, the Inspector and Agent Jones are British, while the Conductor is Scottish) and frequently makes [[ShoutOut references]] to classical literature, urban legends and pop culture such as ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', Bloody Mary, etc. All of these things are absent in the Upper City, which has a more antiquated SteamPunk setting. While magic and monsters still play a role in the Upper City life, they are not as prominently seen as in the Lower City. Most of the residents of the Upper City seem to have been born and raised in the City, and even those who came from "outside", such as Kira and Sophia, never allude to anything from our world, and their actual origins are completely unknown.

* ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'' was a spoof of [=JRPGs=]. [[VideoGame/Barkley2CurseOfCuchulainn Its sequel]] is a more Western-styled Action RPG with a ''Diablo''-ish focus on loot.

* For most of the series's history, ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' had consisted of [[WideOpenSandbox open-world]] [[BeatEmUp brawlers]] with light RPGElements. That changed with the eighth main series game ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', which plays like a full-blown menu-driven {{JRPG}}.

* ''VideoGame/GearsTactics'' takes the [[TakeCover cover-based gameplay]] of ThirdPersonShooter ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' and puts it in a TurnBasedTactics context, but manages to include gameplay aspects from the shooter, such as CoupDeGrace killing of enemies.

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' likes to tease the player with hints and suggestions of genre shift. For example, the first portion of the game seems to be a shooter set in a "normal" world with normal enemies, specifically a mafia group that the titular Payne had infiltrated, but then was exposed after being framed for murdering his partner. Following the connections up the hierarchy leads to a Hellfire Club-like nightclub called Ragnarok, where multiple references to The End of the World are brought up, and it seems the mafia heavy who uses it as a front is worshiping demons and practicing dark magic. However, it turns out that he's just a little insane and full of crap, even if he was killing people in his demented worship--no dark magic, just lots of creepy atmosphere, and then it goes back to what it was. Well, with a few bizarre dream sequences that seem to have installed a door in the FourthWall.

* The ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' series started life as a NintendoHard {{Mon}}s series that blended elements of a management simulation with [[ActionCommands action-based RPG combat]]. ''Monster Rancher EVO'', however, threw it all out the window and was an ordinary RPG with weird, half-and-half combat (half "classic ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher''" style and half standard RPG) and a stats system based on playing a rhythm mini-game. No, really. It also added towns, missions, almost completely axed tournaments, and it had a bizarre circus theme.
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'':
** The original tetralogy is a relatively straightforward series of Japanese [=RPG=]s, though at least one of the side-story games is a text adventure. After the tetralogy, the series became a multiplayer Online Action RPG with ''Phantasy Star Online'', ''Phantasy Star Universe'' and the portable games based on or inspired by these entries.
** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' went through some radical shifts in genre itself. The first three Episodes told a continuous story about the battles between the Oracle Fleet and the Darkers, until Episode 4 suddenly became a RealWorldEpisode that revealed [=PSO2=] to be an parallel universe to the one Earth inhabits, with an AppliedPhlebotinum-powered internet bridging the two. Episode 5 suddenly changed the story to one resembling "[[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]]" stories, with ARKS being trapped in the SwordsAndSorcery world of Omega; in addition to placing a greater focus on TowerDefense with "Buster Quests". The at-best-tepid reception Episodes 4 and 5 received convinced Sega to shift back to the stylings of the original three episodes and return to its ScienceFantasy roots.
* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'': The game starts off as a fun little shooter where you fight aliens with multi-coloured blood and where marines shout at the fallen enemies. Then you get to "343 Guilty Spark" in which you [[spoiler:wander through a creepy fortress with no enemies, discover what happened to the squad before you then fight through a Flood-infested forest. The Flood are like the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' infected, but they can fire weapons, including '''ROCKET LAUNCHERS'''. And they can sprint/leap great distances, too.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'':
** Played with in ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' when [[spoiler:you bump into what seems like a yeti-type monster while in the mountains. However, later on it turns out to be a bunch of apparently bullet resistant natives in suits. Which you then discover are actually mythical ape-like Guardians of Shangri-la, so everything is okay again]].
** Something similar happens in its predecessor, ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'', where you play a seemingly simple (albeit still fun) third person shooter similar to ''Franchise/TombRaider'' but having a bigger emphasis on combat rather than exploration. Come [[WhamEpisode Episode 17]] and [[spoiler:the game suddenly turns into a third person ''survival horror'' with the sudden appearance of conquistadores and WWII zombies]].
** This starts happening near the end of ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'' when [[spoiler:Djinns start possessing the bodies of the mooks you kill, making them incredibly difficult to destroy]]. As it turns out, [[spoiler:it´s actually {{subverted|Trope}}; the Djinn are hallucinations Nate is suffering while under the effects of the [[MindControl mind-controlling]] MacGuffin]].

* ''VideoGame/OddworldStrangersWrath'' starts out as the Oddworld equivalent of a western. Mysterious BountyHunter? Check. Gun toting outlaws? Check. Hick Towns populated by chicken men? ...Um, Check. But then in the final third of the game, [[spoiler:after stumbling into an ambush set up by the BigBad, and getting hit with a TomatoSurprise,]] the game shifts to a more traditional Oddworld setting as you help the native Grubbs overcome the BigBad. This change completely overhauls the game. Stranger's costume changes, the concept of Moolah (and therefore the concept of enemy bounties) is removed (enemies are turned into ammo instead. Don't ask), the soundtrack changes from spaghetti western music to epic orchestrated pieces, the enemies change from gruff outlaws to military Mooks, new gameplay mechanics are added, and the scenery colors shift from browns and reds to blues and greys.
* The ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'' goes from fairly conventional (but good) horror, to [[RecycledInSpace SPACE horror]], to CosmicHorrorStory.
* Similarly, ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' starts off as pure humour, then goes to sci-fi at the Cave of the Past, then shifts to horror at the end of said cave.
** The game is pretty quirky from the get-go, but it gets downright surreal when you find yourself in [[LotusEaterMachine Moonside]]. The game is very fond of MoodWhiplash.
* In terms of in-game Genre Shift, ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' goes from the hunt/gather adventure-game-esque "Cell" and "Creature" stages, to real-time strategy for "Tribal" and "Civilization," to a WideOpenSandbox for "Space."
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' gets a bit of a shift towards the end, from a feudal Japan mythical fantasy to a feudal Japan [[spoiler:Sci-Fi]] fantasy. [[spoiler: Near the end, you see Kaguya, a woman born from a Bamboo shoot in the myth, have a ''rocket that looks like a bamboo shoot'', and in the last part of the game, the eponymous Ark of Yamato turns out to be a ''spaceship'', also implying that these monsters you've been facing are ''aliens''.]]
* Similarly to ''Okami'', ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' spends the entire game in typical JRPG swords-and-magic fantasy, only to [[spoiler:switch to Sci-Fi in the ''epilogue'']].
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' is yet another JRPG to switch genre to [[spoiler:Sci-Fi]], though in this case it happens halfway through the plot.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' starts as a lighthearted journey story before it takes a ''very'' dark shift as [[spoiler:the protagonist becomes a VigilanteMan and [[PayEvilUntoEvil murders several villains who were "above the law"]], with his increasingly extreme methods [[OrderVsChaos bringing him into conflict with his friend]] who intends to go the InternalReformist route]]. Then it becomes a slightly lighter, but still dark, take on a [[spoiler:typical rescue-the-princess story]], and then the mood becomes much lighter and the plot turns into [[spoiler:an elaborate analogy for global warming]].
* The ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' series wavers back and forth on how fantastical its court drama is. In the first game spirit channeling is simply a way to talk to [[SpiritAdvisor Mia Fey]] after her murder. The magatama shows up in the second game, upping the fantasy factor, and by the third game the entire final case revolves around the angry spirit of [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]] and her attempt to murder [[spoiler:Maya Fey.]] However, ''VisualNovel/{{Apollo Justice|AceAttorney}}'' trades the spiritual for a scientific (if slightly implausible) explanation for the Perceive ability and in ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' the closest we get to unrealism is the holodeck-esque [[SchizoTech Little Thief]]. ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' now runs the full gambit of fantasy and scientific (though with leaning on the latter), with the Magatama and Perceive abilities returning, a new futuristic method of therapy, a case based around a mythological demon supposedly being released from his chambers, the revelation that robots exist in this setting, and a heavy focus on space travel. It becomes fully fantastical again in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'' with half of the game taking place in a country that uses a form of spirit channeling as part of their court procedures.
* The first ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters'' is a kaiju-themed wrestling game. Its sequel is, instead, a side-scrolling beat-em-up.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' shifts from a linear world to an openended one - the game begins in the World of Light, a bright, happy world with a linear plot and virtually no subquests. The second part of the game, the [[ApocalypseHow World of Ruin]], is a dark, dreary place and is entirely open for exploration, the player free to recruit allies and do subquests in any order before heading to the final dungeon.
** In general, the series has toyed with adding in modern and [[ScienceFiction Sci Fi]] elements from time to time, starting with a race of moon people and a giant robot in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' (or even earlier than that, with [[BonusBoss Warmech]] from the very first game.) UrbanFantasy with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', and ScienceFantasy with heavy CyberPunk themes in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' goes with episodic series with all of them being emotionally challenging stories filled with character developments. After you reach the Moon, however, the game shifts right into a linear and almost plotless dungeon crawler with BossRush.
** Two of the main-series entries are not traditional single-player [=JRPGs=], but rather [=MMORPGs=]: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''

* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'':
** The original ''Dynasty Warriors'' was a 1997 [=PS1=] FightingGame using characters from the ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' storyline; starting with ''2'' for the [=PS2=] it morphed into a HackAndSlash that over time became possibly [[MorePopularSpinoff more popular than]] [[VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms the turn-based strategy game it spawned from]] (one of Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s flagship series). This in turn spawned its own Genre Shift, the ''Empires'' standalone games (for ''Dynasty Warriors 4'' through ''6'', plus ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors 2: Empires'') that use TurnBasedStrategy between the battles, where the dynamic focused less on defeating enemy commanders and more on controlling bases, which would end up getting worked into ''Dynasty Warriors 6''.
*** In this case, the GenreShift resulted from ''[=DW1=]'' and ''[=DW2=]'' technically not belonging to the same series: the fighting game is known as ''[[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Sangoku]] Musou'' in Japan, whereas the hack-and-slashers are titled ''Shin Sangoku Musou'' (the titling implying the original was revamped into its "true" form). Because the games shared the same developers, cast, and setting, Koei decided to {{market|BasedTitle}} ''Shin Sangoku Musou'' as the second ''Dynasty Warriors'' game outside of Japan. This is why there's an discrepancy in the numbering of the games, with the Japanese releases always being one number lower than their overseas counterparts.
** ''Dynasty Warriors 4'' had a so-called Duel Mode (certain officers could issue challenges which if accepted would turn into 45-second duels inside an enclosed square that however used the same controls and camera as normal gameplay), while ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi 2'' has a Versus Mode that harkens back to the "original" ''Dynasty Warriors'' game in being viewed sideways.
* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' started out as a SimulationGame with light rhythm game elements, but recent installments inverted it, becoming {{rhythm game}}s with very light simulation elements. ''Shiny Colors'' reintroduced the simulation elements.
* The original ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' game started out in the style of a basic DatingSim, but shifted gradually into the horror and {{Gorn}} over the course of the arc. Later on, starting around ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'' but becoming most evident in ''Matsuribayashi-hen'', though, the series slowly shifted into being less about horror and more about ThePowerOfFriendship to ScrewDestiny.
* The first arc of the sequel series, ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', is a definite horror story [[SlowPacedBeginning once the murders start]]. However, while the later arcs have more {{Gorn}}, the simple fact that there's a BigBad to be confronted and argued with shifts it over much more to a "mystery" feel. In fact, a sizeable chunk of the story consists of the characters fighting amongst ''[[BreakingTheFourthWall themselves]]'' about what genre the story's supposed to be.
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Dune}}'' game was an AdventureGame. ''VideoGame/DuneII'' established the RealTimeStrategy genre. Note that the first game did have some strategy elements. In fact, you had to set up consistent spice production using the Fremen tribes you find and befriend (which takes some doing), while training other Fremen tribes to fight and arming them in order to defeat the Harkonnen. The game is clearly based more on Creator/DavidLynch's film than the book, even though Duncan Idaho looks like a [[Series/BabylonFive Centauri]], for some reason.

* ''[[VideoGame/MagicalVacation Magical Starsign]]'' does this, in much the same way ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' does.
* For most of the series's history, ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' had consisted of [[WideOpenSandbox open-world]] [[BeatEmUp brawlers]] with light RPGElements. That changed with the eighth main series game ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', which plays like a full-blown menu-driven {{JRPG}}.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''. During the first parts of the game, the game is very quirky, and quite a few jokes are made, and the focus is mostly on an escape from home, but then, it develops into a fight against a conspiracy involving stealing brains of fellow Psychonauts, from that point on, the game's humour becomes a little darker, the minds more and more creepy, and it shifts towards a psychological thriller - with the final level being a rather infamous example of [[NightmareFuel/{{Psychonauts}} Nightmare Fuel]] (and ThatOneLevel).

* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** The first three games were all RTS games where you could build and command entire armies In fact, ''Warcraft'' more or less refined the RTS format. ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', however, is a MMORPG where you command ONE character. But the first three games provide most of the backstory, and there's even places in the ''World of Warcraft'' where you can site where specific events in the previous games happened. For example, the throneroom above Undercity was directly based on a cinematic from ''Warcraft III'' where [[spoiler: Arthas betrayed his people and murdered his father]]. Alot of the original in-game builds are based on the buildings (Mostly the Alliance and Horde Barracks) straight out of the 3rd game.
** The Expansion for the third game was what slowly shifted the genre from strategy to RPG; it introduced Heroes that could be revived, had numerous abilities, and more importantly could level up and become stronger. The various campaigns were more focused on your hero units than your other ones, with a harsher food cap that resulted in much smaller armies compared to the previous installments. This culminated in the Frozen Thrones campaign for the Orcs, which was a RPG in all but name as you were given control of, at most, 3 units during the whole campaign, but were all hero units that broke the level cap of 10.
* ''VideoGame/ThunderForce'' is an arena shooter. ''Thunder Force II'' is part arena, part sidescroller. Every TF game past ''II'' is a sidescroller.

* ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'' does this intentionally, as the game is based on [[WrongGenreSavvy having things not exactly as they appear]].
* The cute and sweet dating sim series VideoGame/{{Angelique}} did this a few times for spin-off titles, but the best example is the RPG "Tenkuu no Requiem" which flirts with getting DarkerAndEdgier by bringing in a group of villains who aren't afraid to [[KickTheDog kick some dogs]]. (Quite literally in the accompanying RadioDrama.) This was a temporary shift though as following games returned to the series main genre.
* Each game in the ''VideoGame/BitTrip'' series is based on different gameplay mechanics.
** ''BEAT'' is a paddle game similar to ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}''.
** ''CORE'' is a double-axis shooter.
** ''VOID'' is a free-roaming collection game.
** ''RUNNER'' is a PlatformGame.
** ''FATE'' is a BulletHell shooter.
** ''FLUX'' returns to ''BEAT'''s gameplay design, while applying some gameplay mechanics and concepts from the other games.
* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest: SWAT'' started as a first-person InteractiveMovie, then changed to isometric overhead RTS, then to a ''VideoGame/RainbowSix''-style TacticalShooter. Going back further, ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest 1''-''4'' were all Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games. The first game was a straightforward PoliceProcedural. The second game was mostly a police procedural with more of a ''Film/LethalWeapon'' flavor. The third game was a DarkerAndEdgier tale of revenge. And ''Police Quest: Open Season'' was an even darker AuthorTract about trying to hunt a [[DepravedHomosexual crossdressing serial killer]] despite the media's interference.
* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' has a decidedly Survival/Horror twinge to it, especially in the very first level, but that is very quickly dispelled, and it very rapidly progresses into an epic Sci-Fi battle to secure the safety of the planet, with increasing levels of epic warfare depending on how you progress.
* ''VideoGame/BoilingPointRoadToHell'' most of the game is set in a Troperiffic WideOpenSandbox BananaRepublic. You deal with the drug lords, the rebels, the army and the CIA. The final act: Stop the BigBad in his volcano lair from using his giant mind control device.
* The ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi (Do)DonPachi]]'' features this not exactly in its gameplay[[note]]the later games play differently from earlier games, but in ways [[PublicMediumIgnorance nobody cares about]][[/note]], but in its characters and plot. The series started off as two shooters with mainly mechanical graphics for the player and enemies, much like other shmups of their time; the only characters you see are the player character (in ''[=DoDonPachi=]'''s true ending), the Colonel, and [[TrueFinalBoss Hibachi]]. In ''[=DoDonPachi=] dai ou jou'', the "mecha-loli" element starts to creep in: the player character is accompanied by one of several different Element Dolls, who make prominent appearances on the covers of the [=PS2=] and UsefulNotes/XBox360 ports. By ''[=DoDonPachi=] Daifukkatsu'', the mecha-loli trend is in full force; the Element Daughters (successors to the Dolls) appear as ''bosses'' and you'd be hard-pressed to find official ''Daifukkatsu'' art that is devoid of the Daughters, let alone features the player ships.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaI'' begins as a more-or-less typical fantasy RPG and then gets to the point where you have to use a time machine and go into outer space to defeat twenty spaceships to gain the title of "Space Ace." All this in 1980.
** Ultima IV shifted from a traditional fantasy adventure with "Kill the BigBad" as the primary goal, with a story that was more about philosophy and attaining personal enlightenment, without a primary villain. Later games had villains again, but the philosophical overtones represented by the Virtues remained an important theme throughout.
* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' switched from a plan-based multi-team TacticalShooter to a more straightforward single-team semi-tactical shooter starting with the console versions of ''3''.
* The first two installments of ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' had fairly realistically-handling cars, then it shifted to arcade-style handling starting with ''Hot Pursuit'', then to WideOpenSandbox racing from ''Underground to Undercover''. Only with ''Shift'' did it return to its simulation roots.
* ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' went from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''-style platformer to linear ActionRPG to ShootEmUp to {{Metroidvania}} in the span of four games.
* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' GameMod ''[[http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/day-hard-complete-half-life-2/ Day-Hard]]'', usually a straightforward parody FPS, has a part where you need to enter a HellHotel sans weapons for a FetchQuest. What follows is ''Franchise/SilentHill''-esque SurrealHorror. It doesn't last too long, but it's very out-of-place nonetheless.
* The original ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' was a ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}''-inspired run 'n gun shoot-'em-up essentially developed to be SNK's answer to Capcom's ''Commando''. The sequel, ''Victory Road'', retained the same game system from the first game, but was now set in outer space and featured alien enemies and high-tech power-ups. The third and final game in the series, ''Ikari III: The Rescue'', returned to the military theme of the first game, but was now an overhead beat-'em-up instead of a shoot-'em-up.

* The original ''VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlamMasters'', along with its upgraded edition ''Muscle Bomber Duo'', played as one would expect from an arcade-style WrestlingGame. The sequel, ''Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II'', plays like a wrestling-themed version of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' (i.e. multiple punch and kick buttons, command-based special moves, 2D playing field, victory by KO, round-based matches).
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' started out as a tribute to martial arts cinema. Apart from the MultiArmedAndDangerous monster dude Goro, nothing out of the game was too out of the ordinary for those who've seen martial arts movies, and its main claim to fame was being the first major "bloody" fighting game. Then ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2'' came around, and the main plot of the series -- a dimension-wide conflict for people's souls -- took center stage. Then ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' turned things in a post-apocalyptic direction, with some sci-fi elements added in the form of the Lin Kuei cyborg ninja program. And so on and so forth.
* The original ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance was a puzzle platformer modeled after ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'', but the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS sequels, from ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis'' to ''Miniland Mayhem'', were ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}''-style puzzle game that utilize the touch screen and stylus. The latest installment, ''Minis On the Move'' for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, is a ''VideoGame/{{Locomotion}}'' clone.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'''s story is an extreme example of this; the story starts out as an occult murder mystery, but, somehow, it suddenly turns into a philosophical sci-fi action flick a la Film/TheMatrix near the end.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' (and ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'') are massive franchises with multiple genre shifts in both gameplay and story telling, with the main consistent being using otherworldly creatures to fight other otherworldly creatures:
** The mainline ''SMT'' games expand on the original two ''Megami Tensei'' games with a central theme of OrderVersusChaos amid a Post Apocalyptic and Science Fiction setting. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' meanwhile features a high school setting and abandons OrderVersusChaos for a more personal story set in a timeline where the first ''SMT'' never happened. This would in turn spawn the ''Persona'' franchise which also dealt with high school students fighting otherworldy creatures ''without'' an apocalypse and mass betrayals.
** By ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', SliceOfLife, time management and DatingSim elements are introduced to the ''Persona'' franchise, which became a mainstay of the series and a major selling point as an "anime life" game. Story wise, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turns into a more [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]] Franchise/ScoobyDoo-style murder mystery with [=MegaTen=] trappings as opposed to the focus on mortality. ''VideoGame/Persona5'' meanwhile doubles down on social commentray with its characters donning western styled pulp comic book and PhantomThief outfits coupled with more jazzy music.
** The ''Megaten'' franchise also isn't consistently a JRPG series, as best seen with Persona's spinoffs. The sequel ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' are fighting games by Creator/ArcSystemWorks. ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' and 3's and 5's dancing sequels are unsurprisingly rythem games.
** ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' focuses more on campy and suave protagonists fighting demons akin to a Saturday Morning cartoon/anime, with the game being set in the same world as ''If'' and ''Persona'' where mainline SMT never happens. ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' doubles down on the Cyberpunk aspect and campiness of the villains and heroes, with the Heroine Nemissa trying to act like she's in a 90sAntiHero setting and failing miserably, while the girl she's possessing, Hitomi, acts like she's in a more optimistic setting. Meanwhile ''again'', the VideoGame/{{Raidou|KuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy}} and [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]] games are ''Dieselpunk'' AlternateHistory with more action elements, jazzy soundtrack and also light-hearted.
** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' is a StrategyRPG acts very much like a {{Deconstruction}} of the Mons genre in general, and as with ''Persona'', is very much anime inspired in terms of its designs and characters, while also featuring Time Management and a VisualNovel way of conveying the story. OrderVersusChaos from mainline ''SMT'' returns.
** Even mainline games are prone to GenreShift. ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' does away with all the sci-fi elements in the mainline ''SMT'' Games for a more lonely and darker setting, with OrderVersusChaos taking a back seat to "Reasons".
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' notably ditches the UrbanFantasy and setting of Japan entirely, alongside not having youth making up the main human cast. Instead, it's a MilitaryScienceFiction set in MysteriousAntarctica, where the human protagonists are all professional adults in an international military force dealing with a GreenAesop instead of the ComingOfAge themes in the other games. It's telling that ''Strange Journey'' was meant to be titled ''SMT IV'', until the name changed due to it being such a thematic departure. Music-wise, it's orchestras instead of electronic, pop or rock music, despite ironically being set in the future.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' subverts this. It starts out in what looks like a Fantasy Medieval setting, therefore going in the opposite direction of ''Strange Journey's'' MilitaryScienceFiction with the heroes trying to stop demons that emerge from a cavern in the middle of the capital. Then modern elements start appearing until the game reveals that beyond the cavern lie ''Modern Tokyo''. The rest of the game then becomes the typical ''Shin Megami Tensei'' faire of traveling through Tokyo AfterTheEnd, though Flynn is a bit of a GenreRefugee as with his friends, as best shown with their more archaic way of speaking, with even the people of Tokyo noting how out of place they are.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' at first is billed as a crossover between Persona 5 and ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'', only to end up being a more conventional ActionRPG that is as much as a genre shift for ''Dynasty Warriors'' as well. While DW style combat and fighting mass enemies is present, charging hordes in order to take a map is ''not'' the main focus, with players instead exploring worlds with a mixture of platforming and ''stealth'' crossed with Persona 5's typical dungeon crawling. While Time Management and Social Links are no longer a focus, players can still explore Japan for social interactions and gathering items akin to mainline P5. Crossed with the emphasis on hitting enemy weaknesses with Personas, ''Strikers'' ends up being more ''P5'' and ''DW'' meet the previously mentioned ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' games than each other.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' starts off like most typical ''Mario'' games, where the title plumber had to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser (in this game, Bowser kidnaps Peach and carries her off into space), but about halfway through the game, the plot unexpectedly shifts to a sad story about the loss of a different princess' family, but then cuts back to Mario still trying to save Peach from Bowser.
* The first half of ''Lionheart'' was a rather good RPG with a decent backstory, interesting dialogue and plenty of opportunity for roleplaying and character development. Then around the midpoint the whole thing devolved into a hack-and-slash fest with hardly any side quests.
* The original ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'' was an RPG mechanics heavy shooter. In 2 the leveling and class system were put in the background in favor of a tighter shooter experience, but 3 brought back RPG mechanics in force while tightening the combat even more. Role-playing (as opposed to RPG mechanics) remained a major form of engagement.
** The much more pronounced genre shift is in the narrative; what starts as a MildlyMilitary SpaceOpera techno-thriller espionage story in VideoGame/MassEffect1, turns full TheCaper performed during a CosmicHorrorStory in 2, and then turns into MildlyMilitary ScienceFantasy Cosmic Horror where [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu you punch out a string of mecha-Cthulhu's]] by 3.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' makes the jump from the SpaceOpera of the original trilogy to the SpaceWestern that defined shows like ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' and ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.
* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'', as the title implies, starts out as an AffectionateParody of the FilmNoir genre. Once you figure out the sinister plan behind the events, however, it turns into a CosmicHorrorStory.
* ''Tecmo's VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' was a first-person RPG which made use of common conventions such as a ManaMeter, recovery items, buying and selling from merchants, and SummonMagic. The sequels ditched all of this in favor of more action-oriented third-person gameplay with an emphasis on {{combos}}.
* ''VideoGame/LittleInferno'': [[spoiler:After being a pure puzzle game in which you group objects together in a fireplace and set them on fire to unlock combos, which only consists of just two screens of which one is the inventory/store, completing the last combo results in the fireplace exploding. From that point on, the final 15 minutes are much more like a point and click adventure where you see your own character for the first time and wander outside into the frozen wasteland that has been hinted to in some letters you burned.]]
* ''VideoGame/SilentStorm'' starts out as a fairly realistic SpyFiction set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where you command a squad of Allied or Axis commandos and tasked with finding traitors and following clues. Then {{P|oweredArmor}}anzerkleins are introduced, followed by {{Energy Weapon}}s and a shadowy organization straight out of ''Film/JamesBond'' that seeks to get both sides of the war to obliterate each other, so that they can pick up the pieces. The change was so jarring, a mod was created shortly after release to remove Panzerkleins from the game (although that makes the plot a little nonsensical).
** The stand-alone ExpansionPack ''Silent Storm Sentinels'' takes place a few years after the war, with the game going back to its SpyFiction roots, and the titular organization (made up of some of the commandos from both sides) trying to stop the formerly-defeated organization from going back to its old tricks. Then (sigh) the Panzerkleins are re-introduced (apparently, everyone forgot about them, and none were left in the Sentinels' stocks), and (with TheReveal that [[spoiler:the Sentinels' commander is the head of the villainous organization]]) it goes right back into ''James Bond'' territory with Panzerkleins and energy weapons.
** ''Hammer & Sickle'', surprisingly, averts this, as the developers have finally listened to the players and did their best to stick to the SpyFiction genre. This time, since the events take place during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the fiction is of this flavor. The PlayerCharacter is a Soviet soldier sent across the Iron Curtain to form a spy network and subvert the Allies without starting WorldWarIII (an actual [[NonStandardGameOver possibility]])... The the Sentinels and the organization (that just won't die) show up... but without their high-tech toys.
* ''VideoGame/MissionCritical'' is a fairly hard sci-fi first-person adventure game, where the PlayerCharacter is the last surviving crewmember aboard the USS ''Lexington'' after it is ambushed by a more powerful [[UnitedNationsIsASuperPower UN]] ship, and most of the crew play the role of a Trojan Horse in order to [[ISurrenderSuckers sneak a nuke aboard the enemy ship]] and give the player time to complete the mission. A good first part of the game is devoted to the player trying to fix immediate problems with the ship, such as an overloading reactor, the frozen main computer, a hole in the hull, inactive communication dish, etc. Then it switches to a more typical sci-fi about exploring other planets and alien ruins. Cue TimeTravel, and the genre switches again, only to go back to its original genre in time for the FinalBattle ([[spoiler:which is also the first battle which was originally lost]]). The game also features an UnexpectedGameplayChange, where the typical first-person adventure game changes to a space RTS for {{Space Battle}}s.
* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' starts out as a typical (if slightly sub-par) military shooter. Then you get to [[WhamEpisode Chapter 8]], and the game changes into a deconstruction of military shooters with heaps of PsychologicalHorror.
* ''VideoGame/ADarkRoom'' begins as a text-based civ builder, suddenly turns into a roguelike, and ends up as a classic ShootEmUp.
* You can do this yourself with the extremely versatility of ''VideoGame/TheSims'', in the sense that you can alter the setting of the game world. ''The Sims 3'' in particular has mastered this trope. In that game alone, you can have your RidiculouslyAverageGuy go about averagely paying bills, get in an average amount of exercise, enjoy average family barbecues, work in an average dead end job at the ole business office, shoot the breeze with the average neighbors, go on average bowling nights, get married to an average girl and have average kids... but then you can turn your average guy into a vampire-werewolf hybrid and have him fight with your alien neighbors, get a job as a ghost hunter, become insanely muscular, have sex with every able bodied female in the world, detonate public property for fun, die and come back to life, craft a man-sized {{Ridiculously Human Robot|s}} from scratch... among other things.
* The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series has had this happen a couple of times. The original game was a deadly serious drama about police corruption , gang warfare, and urban decay. The second game was a ''Scarface''-style revenge story that slowly got DenserAndWackier as it progressed. ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' jumps the rails and goes into full-on AffectionateParody mode. ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' shifts again, starting off as wacky as the third game, but quickly becoming a surprisingly [[DarkerAndEdgier grim]] sci fi story that borrows heavily from ''Film/TheMatrix.''
** Gameplay has undergone a slow but steady shift, as well. The first game was a dyed-in-the-wool ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' clone, and the second mostly followed suit. Changes to ''Saints Row: The Third'' pushed more into action-RPG territory (with an XP/level system and customizable perks). ''Saints Row IV'' seems to have embraced that genre full-on, actually calling XP by name, changing "Missions" to "Quests" and adding side-quests and a spellcasting-like superpowers system.
* A relatively subtle example happens in ''VideoGame/EmeraldCityConfidential'' after Chapter 2. As more magic gets used by the characters, the story takes on a less cynical FilmNoir tone. [[spoiler:It even has a genuinely happy ending, which isn't noir-ish at all.]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' franchise has always been an action-RPG with emphasis on action. That said, the games have slowly lost the trappings of [=RPG=]s. With the third game's switch to automatically assigning attribute points and removing any perment decision trees (for example, skills can now be respec'ed almost at will, rather than being permanent), it has essentially become a pure Action title with class loadouts.
* The ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series; once a 3D platformer, it went through several different owners and many genres until it became a game where you control monsters to fight other monsters.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' Starts out as a light-hearted NoPlotNoProblem first person shooter, then switched gears with a wackier backstory, [[CoolHat hats]] and comedy, then of course, Gray Mann came into the story, and it turned DarkerAndEdgier, with the team fighting an endless horde of robots, based on themselves, and eventually lost their jobs. The current (non-related to game) story is of Ms. Pauling, the AnnoyingVideoGameHelper announcer's sidekick attempting to [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether put the team back together]].
* This trope is one of the defining features of the company Creator/KeyVisualArts - the original four main games they created (''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', ''VisualNovel/{{Air}}'', ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', and ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'') all start off as light-hearted slice of life comedies that slowly segue into romance and serious drama with [[MagicRealism supernatural elements]]. The first game to diverge, ''VisualNovel/{{Rewrite}}'', only did so by adding in a new genre, taking it from slice of life comedy with urban fantasy elements to an outright fantasy romance.
* ''VideoGame/SilentHills''' playable teaser shifts from previous ''Franchise/SilentHill'' titles' third-person survival gameplay to first person exploration.

* The ''Franchise/MuvLuv'' franchise turns this UpToEleven.
** First, you have VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra, a harem visual novel that mostly plays out like a silly high school romantic comedy.
** Then you have VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimited, which transports the protagonist to a post-apocalyptic setting where humanity is threatened with annihilation, but still manages to retain much of the romantic comedy elements of Extra. Though it does [[DownerEnding end tragically]].
** And finally there's ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' wherein you return with all your "experience" of Unlimited intact, and try to stop mankind's impending doom. This VN abandons most of the comedy of the earlier installments and become a full-fledged apocalyptic horror story, with many, many traumatic and painful events to endure.
* The [[WhamEpisode Bad Boys Love]] route of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'': The game abruptly transitions from a humorous (if sometimes [[Heartwarming/HatofulBoyfriend surprisingly heartfelt]]) pigeon dating sim to a [[spoiler:dark and violent murder mystery/thriller story]].
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' has done this twice. Originally it was a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII shooter, much like ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' and countless others. Then, in 2007, they released ''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' to massive success, launching the Modern-Military Shooter genre and [[FollowTheLeader spawning numerous imitators]]. However, due to oversaturation on the market (among other things), the Modern-Military Shooter falling out of favor much like the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII shooter before it. As such, the series threw the genre overboard to rid itself of the title (ironic since they were the ones who popularized it in the first place), and settled on being an AlternateHistory[=/=]SciFi shooter. And then when ''that'' overstayed its welcome, the series went back to its World War II roots.
* ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'' was a spoof of [=JRPGs=]. [[VideoGame/Barkley2CurseOfCuchulainn Its sequel]] is a more Western-styled Action RPG with a ''Diablo''-ish focus on loot.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' is a series of stealth-action games. ''Hitman GO'' uses the series' stealth mechanics as the base for a turn-based puzzle game.
* The first entries in the ''VideoGame/RType'' series had always hinted on the evil nature of the Bydo. But it wasn't until ''Delta'' that the shmup franchise really took a turn for a DarkerAndEdgier direction, replacing the colorful sprites of previous games with a ''substantial'' dash of NightmareFuel. The series itself had ''another'' one later on, with the turn-based ''R-Type Tactics'' spin-offs.
* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series underwent a significant genre change, both gameplay-wise and story-wise, with 1997's ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]''. The early games, with some [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest exceptions]], were linear action-platformers divided into levels, [[NintendoHard extremely difficult]] due to their emphasis on fast reflexes and rote memory, and inspired by classic horror movies. ''Symphony of the Night'' switched the emphasis to non-linear exploration of a huge world and added RPG elements, so that the challenge now came from finding the things you needed to make progress through the castle (spawning the term {{Metroidvania}} due to the resemblance to ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}''). The horror influence broadened to include a wider variety of movies and literature, as well as classical mythology and folklore, with the series eventually settling into the dark fantasy mold rather than horror.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' starts off as a GothicHorror in an especially dark, grungy Victorian setting. Most of the early enemies and bosses are different variants of [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]], and the plot seems to be about finding a cure for the beast affliction plaguing the town of Yharnam. As you progress, the game starts dropping hints at something deeper: the [[ReligionOfEvil Healing Church]] that controls the town is conducting disturbing rituals and appears to have a direct hand in the town's troubles. The predominately beast-themed enemies give way to [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent snakes]] and other more disturbing threats the further you get out from Yharnam. Then you arrive at [[ExtranormalInstitute Byrgenwerth]] and the true scope of the game becomes clear: [[spoiler:the game is a Lovecraft-inspired CosmicHorrorStory. [[EldritchLocation Yharnam]] occupies a neverending Nightmare Realm overseen by the [[EldritchAbomination Great Ones]], powerful beings secretly observing and influencing humanity. The Healing Church worships them as god and uses their blood and magic to exert control over the city, while a splinter faction of the Church conducts arcane rituals to summon them into the world. What's more, the Great Ones themselves are [[MarsNeedsWomen impregnating human woman to bear surrogate children for them.]]]] Yeah, suddenly the werewolves don't seem so bad.
** ''Bloodborne'' itself was a major GenreShift compared to the rest of the loose series it belongs to. While its predecessors ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' trilogy were DarkFantasy games which could at times be pretty damn scary (although as a lesser example within the series, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' strayed a bit closer to HighFantasy than the others), ''Bloodborne'' used basically the same gameplay to create an experience that was full-blown {{Horror}}, a game that is grotesque and nightmarish practically from beginning to end.
* Played with by the ''Metroid'' series. The main games are all side-scrolling Platformers. Then came the ''Metroid Prime'' sub-series, which were First-Person Shooters, that don't even act like they're a spin-off of a Platformer-series. And then there's the completely absurd and unexpected GenreShift: "''Metroid Prime: PINBALL''"! It's by no means the most successful game in the series, but it sure is the strangest GenreShift from a Platformer or FPS that you could ever make...
* ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'' and by extension ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'' start off as more of a push away from standard ''Kirby'' affairs as the titular character no longer has his signature ability and now must be guided though levels by the player, the bosses in ''Canvas Curse''play more like mini-games until the final boss which brings back the traditional Kirby formula. ''Rainbow Curse'' however has made it so combat is a key feature through out the game.
* The Indie games ''VideoGame/{{Evoland}}'' and its sequel revolve around the concept of the evolution of video game technology. 1 shifts from an overhead adventure in zelda style to end up as an RPG. 2 goes further with the bulk of the game being an RPG, but different stages undergo drastic genre shifts into such things as top-down-shooters al la ''VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo'', Fighting Games, and even {{Rhythm Game}}s.
* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' and the first five minutes of ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' are both {{Heroic Fantas|y}}ies. Then the Coon shows up and everyone switches to playing {{Superhero}}es.
* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' starts out as a cute comedic visual novel where you try to date one of the three girls. [[spoiler: Then one of the girls commits suicide by hanging and the whole visual novel turns into a horror game. And then it turns into MetaFiction, as a certain character knows that she is in a game and isn't happy about it...]]

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' mod for VideoGame/HeartsOfIron turns the game from a straight up grand strategy to something more narrative driven, with focus trees and events being read like chapters in a story as opposed to being meant to help plan your gameplay. It's especially so as the SpaceColdWar between the victoroius Nazis, Japanese and Americans renders great power warfare pointless due to nukes. In order to also emphasize that AlternateHistoryNaziVictory is an awful timeline, the game experiments with the horror genre with many of the mentioned events and focus trees taking on a sinister and disturbuing tone, especially if the player edges to nuclear warfare.
** [[spoiler:And AfterTheEnd of nuclear war, the new events that prop up switch to outright fantasy as they deal with the scattered remains of humanity trying to rebuild or moving on and ultimately forgetting the old world.]]
* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' and [[DownloadableContent "Burial at Sea: Chapter One"]] are both a fast paced FirstPersonShooter with some stealthy missions thrown in to keeps things interesting. "Burial at Sea: Chapter Two" is very much a StealthBasedGame from start to finish.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and most subsequent games are {{Action RPG}}s with some platforming elements. ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' and its remake opt for a CardBattleGame instead. It's also where the series [[CerebusSyndrome starts shifting from the lighter fantasy romp through various Disney worlds with the occasional dark moment to more of a contained and overall darker narrative]].
* ''Videogame/AIWarFleetCommand:'' While the game and its sequel are both RTS games at all times, they have a particular blend of survival and stealth, in that the war is so massively assymmetrical you must play the guerilla game at all times and never make the AI too angry, lest it wipe you out no matter what you have. Following the Fallen Spire questlines, however, gradually shift it towards a less stealthy, and more epic-sized space battle simulator as both sides gain massive boosts in strength; Spire refugees grant you some of the very best vessels in the game and the capability to make more of them, and the AI both recognizes the threat and finds Spiretech [[BerserkButton especially infuriating]], so it goes ''[[UnstoppableRage completely berserk]]'' and starts hitting you with the big stuff you normally see when you've [[ControllableHelplessness gone too far]] in normal gameplay.
* ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' is the only side-scrolling [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] game [[note]] not counting two of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames the CDi Games]][[/note]]. This is also the only time you can level up with a certain amount of experience points, expanding on the RPG Elements of the first game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' is a straight fighter, but certain minigames and modes (IE Tekken Force, Devil Within and the entirety of Tekken 6's Scenario Campaign) have translated that into a Beat 'em Up.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' (and ''Franchise/{{Persona}}''):
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' is an extensive RPG with dating sim elements and {{Mons}} based on demons. The sequel ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' is a fighting game by Creator/ArcSystemWorks. In fact, this has happened a lot with the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series. The main series tends towards dark, post-apocalyptic stories, the first two games and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' having heavy sci-fi elements (you use some kind of technological device to summon your demons,) while ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' does away with all the sci-fi elements. Meanwhile, the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series ditches the post-apocalyptic elements and introduces high-school life and Jungian psychology into the mix, with the demons becoming aspects of a person's psyche, and the enemy demons doing the same, turning into Shadows starting with ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}''. By ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', SliceOfLife and DatingSim elements are introduced, while ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turns into a more [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]] Franchise/ScoobyDoo-style murder mystery with [=MegaTen=] trappings. Meanwhile ''again'', the VideoGame/{{Raidou|KuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy}} [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]] games are AlternateHistory with more action elements and also more light-hearted, while ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' is a StrategyRPG acts very much like a {{Deconstruction}} of the Mons genre in general. And that's only counting a ''few'' of the games in the franchise.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' starts out in what looks like a Medieval setting with the heroes trying to stop demons that emerge from a cavern in the middle of the capital. Then modern elements start appearing until the game reveals that beyond the cavern lie ''Modern Tokyo''. The rest of the game then becomes the typical ''Shin Megami Tensei'' faire of traveling through Tokyo AfterTheEnd.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' notably ditches the UrbanFantasy and setting of Japan entirely, alongside not having youth making up the main human cast. Instead, it's a MilitaryScienceFiction set in MysteriousAntarctica, where the human protagonists are all professional adults in an international military force dealing with a GreenAesop instead of the ComingOfAge themes in the other games. It's telling that ''Strange Journey'' was meant to be titled ''SMT IV'', until the name changed due to it being such a thematic departure.

* ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'' and by extension ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'' start off as more of a push away from standard Kirby affairs as the titular character no longer has his signature ability and now must be guided though levels by the player, Canvas Curse's bosses play more like mini-games until the final boss which brings back the traditional Kirby formula. ''Rainbow Curse'' however has made it so combat is a key feature through out the game.

* The same case goes for the Trigens in ''VideoGame/FarCry''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is mostly a quirky RPG with some creepy moments there and there, but going on a [[KillEmAll Genocide Route]] turns it into a straight up horror game where ''you're'' [[VillainProtagonist the bad guy]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' is an extensive RPG with dating sim elements and {{Mons}} based on demons. The sequel ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' is a fighting game by Creator/ArcSystemWorks. In fact, this has happened a lot with the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series. The main series tends towards dark, post-apocalyptic stories, the first two games and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' having heavy sci-fi elements (you use some kind of technological device to summon your demons,) while ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' does away with all the sci-fi elements. Meanwhile, the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series ditches the post-apocalyptic elements and introduces high-school life and Jungian psychology into the mix, with the demons becoming aspects of a person's psyche, and the enemy demons doing the same, turning into Shadows starting with ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}''. By ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', SliceOfLife and DatingSim elements are introduced, while ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turns into a more [[LighterAndSofter light-hearted]] Franchise/ScoobyDoo-style murder mystery with [=MegaTen=] trappings. Meanwhile ''again'', the VideoGame/{{Raidou|KuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy}} [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]] games are AlternateHistory with more action elements and also more light-hearted, while ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' acts very much like a {{Deconstruction}} of the Mons genre in general. And that's only counting a ''few'' of the games in the franchise.