I think he just means don't make a clone, When I was in school the students would just make clones of whatever game was popular at the time.
By "Novel" I think he just means an original concept inside one of the genres. I'm sure he's just tired of seeing super mario and counter strike clones.
Needed to fix this I somehow didn't read your last line, If you want to make an fps you have a few options. Try coming up with a new multiplayer game type,
or add a fresh feature to make a single player game "pop".
Off the top of my head-
Add some RPG elements into your FPS, the more your character performs repetitive actions he becomes more proficient.
Running 8km increase your speed by 1%
Firing 500 bullets from a sidearm gives you an extra clip or max clip size increase by 2
Taking 5k damage you increase damage resistance by 2%
ETC.
Just make sure you highlight these features with a screen pop up that congratulates the player or a skill tree.
Take a new spin on inventory management.
You can only carry 2 weapons at once but you can teleport in extra munitions or new weapons once you unlock them.
Add different ammo types to make certain weapons more effective against differing enemies.
Add overheating and degradation into your weapons giving the player a sense of fear.
ETC.
Add a interactive world mechanic.
As you progress you can interact with world objects to give you an upper hand, more than just explosive barrels. Like you can make ladders or boxes to reach new areas of the level.
Lockable/blockable doors and hallways to give strategic options.
Movable items to create a semi-puzzle environment.
I could keep going, FPS isn't really my strong point and I'm sure you could name games with these mechanics but it's just to help your creative fluids get moving.