Things that annoy you - Gaming Edition

personally i have no problem with silent protags, my problem is with the so called avatar characters who have no personality

I remember a lot of people complaining about the decision to give Isaac in Dead Space dialog (as opposed to terrified shouting).

If it's handled well, it's fine by me.

OrangeRKN wrote:My wrath knows no bounds (other than the strictly bounded format of an internet forum)

Careful Jen, or he'll turn your avatar into a Game Boy sprite.

Where to begin....

1. Customisable Controls or the lack of them. Its 2021. Even for pure accesibility purposes *every* game should have customisable rebinds at software level. This should be a mandatory requirement to get your game on the PSN, XBL or eShop. I should be able to decide which controls are best for me, not have the developer decide for me. Bloody hell, if a game like Golden Axe can let me switch the functions of 3 buttons then a game like Final Fantasy XV should also. I know we can do it at system level but then you get crap like Microsoft not letting you remap the triggers to the face buttons. I also find one game has fine controls (say, Forza) but then another like AC Valhalla comes along and the buttons are all wrong compared to previous games in the series. Seriously devs, get it sorted. I want Fortnite-level of customisation in every title.

2. Cheats or a lack thereof. I don't buy a game like GTAV to go through the story, I buy it to muck around in the game world. Rockstar are nice enough to let me put in a cheat code to become invincible, spawn whatever vehicle or weapon I like or just have bottomless pockets. Sometimes I don't have time to unlock all the junk hidden behind gameplay so let me put in a cheat code to do it quickly so I can get on with enjoying your game. Some games are just hard. I might have played a game like Sekiro for more than a week had there been an invincibility cheat. I got all 3 endings on Tenchu 2 thanks to the health recharge cheat and I managed to master all the tracks on Wipeout 2097 once my ship was indestructable. I played these games for years because I could use cheats to eliminate barriers of entry.

3. Cheats for sale. Just no.

4. Online requirements. I still maintain the greatest MMOPRG-kind of game ever made is Phantasy Star Online on the GameCube because I can play it offline: I can still load up my character from 2003 and have a go. There is no reason a game like Destiny 2 needs to connect to a server to complete the campaign and no reason why Fortnite cannot have its island available for offline mucking around and practicing. I want to be able to play these games in 20 years time but their requirements to connect to long-dead servers will mean I cannot.

5. Subscription exclusives. This is aimed more at Apple Arcade but give us the option to buy a title outright as well as pay the sub. Gamepass at least affords me this luxury.

6. Any sort of barriers to gameplay designed to extort money from players. Energy bars, timers etc are a cashgrab and nothing more. Either have the guts to sell your game for actual money or implement a fair payment system like Pokemon Go.

7. Obtuse or hidden game mechanics you need a guide to understand. I'm looking at you, Pokemon EV values.

8. The Blue Shell.

9. Joycons. If it weren't for the terrible controllers the Switch would be my favourite console of all time. It beggars belief that Nintendo, the company that happily trotted out a brand new GBA or 3DS to fix the flaws in the original model are still selling inherently flawed controllers 4 years later. I'd happily pay £70 for a redesigned pair that lasted for years. It wouldn't be hard either: just reuse the analog sticks from the WiiU gamepad or even the sliders from the 3DS. My PS Vita has taken a ton of knocks over the last decade, become covered in grime and the analog sticks are as good as day 1. There is no excuse for it.

10. Open World Mechanics. Coming back to a game like MGS or Tenchu after playing Assassin's Creed for years is a revelation. Nice tight level design with an element of exploration or Metroidvania.

Vermilion wrote:

OrangeRKN wrote:My wrath knows no bounds (other than the strictly bounded format of an internet forum)

Careful Jen, or he'll turn your avatar into a Game Boy sprite.

As long as I get to keep my AYAMMM winners belt (for a bit longer at least...) then it's fine!

Carlos wrote:7. Obtuse or hidden game mechanics you need a guide to understand. I'm looking at you, Pokemon EV values.

Great list apart from I like this one! Hidden obtuse mechanics where it isn't necessary to understand them can help make a game feel more organic, and that was certainly the intention in Pokemon to have each Pokemon be like a unique animal. It's actually the guides and normalisation/demystifying of those mechanics that I object to more than the mechanics themselves!

Every platform should have fully customisable controls at the system level, it should just be a given at this point.

It is a source of continued frustration that I can connect my Dual Shock 4 to my PC and via Steam mitigate against the horrendous stick drifting issues by customising the deadzone on the offending stick and all is well, but on the actual system that the controller is designed for I'm forever stuck with it!

Jenuall wrote:Every platform should have fully customisable controls at the system level, it should just be a given at this point.

It is a source of continued frustration that I can connect my Dual Shock 4 to my PC and via Steam mitigate against the horrendous stick drifting issues by customising the deadzone on the offending stick and all is well, but on the actual system that the controller is designed for I'm forever stuck with it!

We'll go bowling.

I should have chose the ending that shuts him up for good. I've got an incomplete GTA IV because 60fps means you need to be a robot to mash the A button fast enough.

Overly complicated equipping/setup systems.

Games should be easy to set up/equip your characters and not require a phd, yet there are games such as the infamous Final Fantasy 8, which had a system so complicated and unintuitive (junction), it sucked most of the fun out of the game, especially when you consider that FF7's materia system and the setups in FF9 and 10 were so simple and easy to use.

Bosses that are immune to status effects for no apparant reason. Cheap way of increasing difficulty.

Snaking.

This was an issue specific to Mario Kart DS, which was one of the first online racers i ever played. The game mechanic which meant players could gain a slight boost by power sliding led to races where opponents would snake back and forth across the track and simply disappear into the distance. It pretty much sucked all the fun out of the experience as the only way to keep in touch was to snake too, and when you're not very good at doing so, it just ends up being a chore.

Vermilion wrote:Snaking.

This was an issue specific to Mario Kart DS, which was one of the first online racers i ever played. The game mechanic which meant players could gain a slight boost by power sliding led to races where opponents would snake back and forth across the track and simply disappear into the distance. It pretty much sucked all the fun out of the experience as the only way to keep in touch was to snake too, and when you're not very good at doing so, it just ends up being a chore.

oh yeah that was really bad, its probably one of the reasons i dislike online gaming. not to mention that racer who camped

Spindash wrote:Games set in continental Europe where everyone speaks in heavily-accented English. Or, even worse, with American accents.

Are you thinking of Soul Calibur II?

My contribution to this thread:
Redd's rate of appearance in ACNH.
Literally the most interesting thing in the game and it's been artificially made ludicrously inaccessible.

f wrote:

Spindash wrote:Games set in continental Europe where everyone speaks in heavily-accented English. Or, even worse, with American accents.

Are you thinking of Soul Calibur II?

I was thinking more games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed. At least beat-em-ups aren't making claims at historical accuracy.

Jenuall wrote:Every platform should have fully customisable controls at the system level, it should just be a given at this point.

It is a source of continued frustration that I can connect my Dual Shock 4 to my PC and via Steam mitigate against the horrendous stick drifting issues by customising the deadzone on the offending stick and all is well, but on the actual system that the controller is designed for I'm forever stuck with it!

Honestly a great deal of the issues in this thread boil down to "my console doesn't give me the freedom to fix issues or alter the game to be how I would like it".

f wrote:

Spindash wrote:Games set in continental Europe where everyone speaks in heavily-accented English. Or, even worse, with American accents.

Are you thinking of Soul Calibur II?

those were meant to be english?

The term Metroidvania. It was initially used to describe entries in a series goddamnit

I've gone back to F-Zero GX and there are a couple of gripes with it:

- if you enter the time trial section, you can't go back. You have to select a character, and then select a track, and then progress to the game, before you can bring the menu up and return to the main menu. Why? Why lock me into a selection I may have made accidentally, or why can't I change my mind and just go back? Utterly baffling.

- if you're playing time trial mode and get a good time, you enter your name. For some reason the game refuses to remember it though, meaning I have to constantly re-enter it. When you're posting good times consecutively, it gets really old, really fast. Why don't you remember my name? Why make me enter it every damn time? Argh.