Remind you Indigo Prophecy started all this shit.
The game itself does have actual gameplay sections (if you can call what you do in adventure games gameplay), with the usual point and click puzzle solving, it has fail states, it has choices and consequences, and even the Simon Says segments can lead to different outcomes depending on your success or failure (as an example, the bug scene in the office can be "failed" so you don't out yourself as a schizo to the cops).
Barring the interracial sex, the first third of Indigo Prophecy is an incredibly well-paced and directed adventure game. The opening scene in the bathroom is still seared into my brain to this day.
I’d argue Flashback and Out of this world started it and gameplay has gotten worse ever since
You could go further back and cite Prince of Persia, but I think that maligning this style of platformer too much is unfair, especially Flashback, which is where this "genre" peaked.
I don't even know what to classify Mixtape as, since even walking sim slop requires active engagement from the player, if only because you have to hold W to move forward.
Side note I just fucking love hwo retarded Indigo Prohecy gets near the end I wish more games would go full out stupid and change from a detective game with sex minigames and Motown music into
Gotta love David Cage and his narrative twists, the guy is genuinely unhinged and makes Kojima look like a good writer.
It's a pity you can tell exactly where Indigo Prophecy falls apart, because there's a genuinely great game in there, at least the initial part where you're investigating the murder from the perspective of guy that did it, and that of the cops, and trying to piece together the clues.
And before that David Cage made Omikron, which was massively ambitious (and flawed). Open-world city exploration before GTA 3 (and Urban Chaos), multiple ways to solve quests, melee and ranged combat, magic, permadeath of protagonist (and then possessing another character with different skills and quests), David Bowie concerts you could stumble upon. Naturally, most of it plays like shit and it's buggy as Hell, but you have to respect the vision.
It's a pity the man just gave up on being the Western Kojima and just started shitting out walking sims.
. Except they clearly aren't prepared because they're obviously so used to reddit but steam doesn't ban you for wrongthink. So they argue in circles like a retard while the clown farmers spam "goy slop" , "oy vey!" and "shut it down!" at them. You can feel the seethe while they desperately try to remain