I don't know about spoiled COD/AC/BF gamers, but innovations and new input methods are useless/cumbersome to me. I grew up loving gaming (Crash BAndicoot, Sonic, Mario, Spyro, gauntlet etc.) because it was both simple and difficult. But when you mix complex and difficult, gaming is just not FUN anymore. That is why games like Knack and Ryse are so refreshing for me.
Lets start with Knack. It reminds me so much of EARLY Crash, Spyro and Mario games. You don't need to have a comand for all 15 inputs on a controller for a game to be fun. I HATE the AAA games because If I go on vacation and don't play for a week or so I have to look at the manual to remember the button scheme! Is this what we as gamers want? I bought all the classic PS1 games on PS3 and never once did I have to look at manuals, I pressed a few buttons and remembered how to play in seconds. Knack follows this trend. It is REALLY difficult but simple. I saw reviews saying simple was a con, and simple made it boring and there is no innovation. And I was thinking: "what the hell is up with this new obsession with INNOVATION?" Unless your in the younger COD generation, innovation is not what made you fall in love with gaming.
Next with Ryse, It reminds me of the gauntlet and the early God of War titles. AGAIN, simple but challenging. I don't need 30 powers to choose from, give me a sword and a shield and throw everything you got at me. IN addition it has an excellent story in my opinion. So in games like gauntlet and God of War, I expect simple, challenging and story driven. Not is the gameplay repetitive! Its set in the Roman Empire for Christ's sake. If its going to be true to the time period then obviosly the war fighting was done is the SAME way for years, so how can you innovate on reality? All they had were swords and shields and arrows. So if they fought wars for YEARS like that, I'm sure for 8-12 hours you can deal with the repetitiveness.
Just my two cents.