Are Modern Games Being Dumbed Down?

Yes, contemporary games are attempting to appeal to a broader audience rather than meet the expectations of a gaming one, an audience game companies now consider as niche in a post-casual-game world. You can easily observe this trend in once-hardcore genres like RPGs and fighters.

Take RPGs: they are no longer as grindy as those in the late 90s or early 00s or offer RNG elements like random encounters. In addition, contemporary RPGs offer fewer stat-based character customization eliminating the need for theory crafting, making the user experience more homogenous and simplified. Compare Diablo 2 to Diablo 3. Vanilla WoW to Mist of Pandaria. Compare the Baldur's Gate series to Dragon Age. Final Fantasy X and older entries in the series to Final Fantasy XIII. Contemporary RPGs have more hand-holding and linear elements and fewer permanent decisions than before. Ask yourself how often you were lost in older RPGs versus in new RPGs. In new RPGs, objectives are often blatantly highlighted giving users a clear path to the goal.

You can observe something very similar in fighters where many of the control schemes have been simplified. Many fighters now offer 1-button supers, block assist, and input assist. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, each character had a unique launcher you had to learn to begin an air combo. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, there is a universal button devoted for launching. Street Fighter 4 utilizes an undocumented input assist system -- if your input comes close to the input of say a fireball, your character will perform a fireball. This chips away at the series' once unforgiving input precision seen in Third Strike and Super Turbo.

I have no issue with streamlined design, but when games are gutted to an unrecognizable state just for broad appeal, it becomes rather dull and insulting.