Great post! The thought of people turning into animals is really, really old! It probably predates written history and to this day is a common trope used in many stories and games.

While those stories where created probably out of fear in the past, thanks to the enlightened age we live in (comet sighted! Its the end! lol) it is no longer seen as a way to generate fear but among certain parts of society its seen as a fantasy to become one of these creatures that is able to shapeshift into one or different animals (druidism in many modern games for example)

In my humble opinion thought i don't mind seeing it in stories or games if it is not over used and this trope can be used to create many interesting stories and characters (my favorite ones being the worgen in world of warcraft or the wolfmen/vampires in skyrim)