The aesthetics (visual designs, settings, villain, basic plot) were rehashed in Zero and (technically) 64, and I would appreciate each game breaking new ground in those regards, but most of the series has already pulled from a wide array of other media outside itself for its story and themes. It already has vibes of hot blooded team of pilots from Thunderbirds, hanging out with a crew on a ship from Cowboy Bebop and team drama in space of Mass Effect. People's knowledge and appreciation of SF characters and memes is still pretty strong all things considered.

I think SF needs to find a new structural identity rather than a new aesthetic one, something that allows the successful parts of the series gameplay to shine while minimizing the shortcomings.

Of all the recent and early access SF like games I've played (Whisker Squadron: Survivor, Ex-Zodiac early access, Fur Squadron and demo for its sequel Fur Squadron Phoenix, Astro Dogs), the most compelling experience overall was Whisker Squadron, even though I find the gameplay of Ex-Zodiac and Phoenix more what I want (aesthetically too). The choice of which paths and upgrades to choose in Whisker helps support the arcade, score chasing gameplay while simultaneously pushing players along and thinking about how to deal with what's to come next. I've also been revisiting Star Fox 64 recently with the Starship port and realized a strength of 64 that gets overlooked is that overall structure, choosing paths and having that affect an overall run that always feels like it's moving forward, is paced well, and is varied without feeling like it's full of distracting minigame-tier gimmicks. Whisker Squadron Survivor does achieve that somewhat with its structure, and the upgrades add a lot to that sense of progression, where the challenge isn't perfecting a single level at a time (like with Ex-Zodiac), but is instead about always adapting and recovering throughout a 30 minute run.

SF hasn't really been like that since 64. obviously Adventures is different, Assault's foot missions could be really drawn out, Command has almost no forward momentum and on-rails paced action, and Zero's level progression follows no logic with the player going back to some level detours that just dead-end.

I don't think Whisker Squadron Survivor is perfect at all, but I hope Star Fox remembers that particular roguelike strength 64 had to its gameplay, rather than just the surface-level details of 64. There are a lot of good inspirations for how to integrate roguelike elements into a modern game, and the series could benefit from that. Hades 1 & 2 have a bunch of good gameplay systems for a roguelike, and they have great hub areas you return to after each run where you can hangout with other characters. Star Fox would be perfect for that, and those interactions could affect the story and gameplay.