How is it that this genre was able to carve out its own niche little corner and exist while still remaining relatively unmolested by modernity? And not only this, but also IMPROVE overall over time? The original "euroshmup" is pretty much dead and that paradigm has shifted to be more in line with what was previously considered top notch quality in japan, with any changes to that formula being mostly respectful improvements.

Like think about how every beat em up is a flashy baby game with some nostalgia crap or tumblr art skin laid over it, or how every modern platformer is a metroidvania, or how every doom clone is actually just gaudy build engine style slop with bad level design, or how every RPG is a lame story "game" for men who haven't realized they're women yet. When I look at this stuff I just think
>MAN, how the fuck did shmups survive this?

Are shmups the ULTIMATE form of gatekeeping in video games?