What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?

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OrangeRKN
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PostWhat's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by OrangeRKN » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:25 pm

My friend linked me to the steam page for Tactical Breach Wizards, an in-development turn-based tactics game from the Heat Signature devs. It looks pretty cool, but what impressed me was the demonstration of one of the character's mechanics. The witch is described as a "by the books" officer, and that's reflected in gameplay by her gaining mana for only using necessary force. Essentially you should aim to kill an enemy by dealing exactly the amount of damage needed to deplete their health, but no more. To me that sounds like a really neat mechanic that also ties in nicely to her characterisation.

If I were to answer the question from a game I've recently played it would have to be Katamari Damacy Reroll and the way it disguises the loading between different sized environments as you grow bigger. It's really seamless and allows for such stupid escalation, especially in the latter levels.

What's a recent neat mechanic that you've come across?

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more heat than light
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by more heat than light » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:29 pm

I guess the tagging in Apex Legends is a fairly obvious one. For someone like me that finds talking online difficult it's absolutely revelatory. You can communicate pretty much anything in a couple of clicks, and it's borderline faultless. It'll undoubtedly be copied in every online game from now on.

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Pedz
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Pedz » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:30 pm

John.

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Preezy » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:33 pm

The Nemesis system in the Shadow of Mordor games sticks out in my mind as a cool mechanic, really enjoyed that. AngryJoe had a hilarious video about it when the game came out, really shows off how the system works (plus his last-gasp survival reactions were pretty funny):


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OrangeRKN
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by OrangeRKN » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:38 pm

Pedz wrote:John.


Wrong thread, you wanted "Who's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?"

more heat than light wrote:I guess the tagging in Apex Legends is a fairly obvious one. For someone like me that finds talking online difficult it's absolutely revelatory. You can communicate pretty much anything in a couple of clicks, and it's borderline faultless. It'll undoubtedly be copied in every online game from now on.


Definitely, I think it's going to become pretty standard. My only dislike is that R1 is normally the mapping for grenades or secondary fire and they become more cumbersome as a result. (Solution - three shoulder buttons each side on the PS5!)

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Kriken » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:40 pm

twitter.com/ThornDracorn/status/1102751077051650049


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Balladeer
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Balladeer » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:43 pm

In SMO, the ability to dress Mario up in his wedding suit and topper.

Well you asked for ‘smartest’...

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Gemini73 » Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:50 pm

Preezy wrote:The Nemesis system in the Shadow of Mordor games sticks out in my mind as a cool mechanic, really enjoyed that. AngryJoe had a hilarious video about it when the game came out, really shows off how the system works (plus his last-gasp survival reactions were pretty funny):



Yeah that would get my vote in recent times. Very much under appreciated how smart it is.

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OrangeRKN
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by OrangeRKN » Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:01 pm

Kriken wrote:

twitter.com/ThornDracorn/status/1102751077051650049



Blue shells need to work like this

Balladeer wrote:In SMO, the ability to dress Mario up in his wedding suit and topper.

Well you asked for ‘smartest’...


I expected no less from you B)

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Balladeer » Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:04 pm

:mrgreen:

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Ironhide
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Ironhide » Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:21 pm

Pedz wrote:John.


:lol:

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by NickSCFC » Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:46 pm

By far (and probably obvious) it's Cappy in Mario Odyssey. Throw the cap at anything and you become it, along with it's entire move set and properties.


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PatSharpsMullet
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by PatSharpsMullet » Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:13 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:
Pedz wrote:John.


Wrong thread, you wanted "Who's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?"

Maybe John defines himself as a thing and and not a person?

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Clarkman
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Clarkman » Wed Mar 13, 2019 6:57 pm

Hollow Knight's method of attacking to build HP is now how I want all other Metroidvania's to be.

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by rinks » Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:25 pm

I’ve seen so many people praising Apex Legend’s tagging, and I agree it’s very well implemented, but Gears of War 3 did pretty much the same thing eight years ago.

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Choclet-Milk » Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:27 pm

Kriken wrote:

twitter.com/ThornDracorn/status/1102751077051650049


Is Sandra Bullock a playable character?

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Balladeer
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Balladeer » Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:44 pm

NickSCFC wrote:By far (and probably obvious) it's Cappy in Mario Odyssey. Throw the cap at anything and you become it, along with it's entire move set and properties.


Belting shout. On a similar vein, for the action-adventure genre, BotW's climbing mechanic opened up a whole new dimension, and made the world feel much more natural. Very smart.

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imbusydoctorwho
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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by imbusydoctorwho » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:16 pm

The ability to jump forward and backwards in time in that level from Titanfall 2, wish we could a whole game based around that mechanic

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PostRe: What's the smartest mechanic you've recently come across?
by Tafdolphin » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:33 pm

Dishonored 2's Clockwork Mansion and Crack in the Slab levels. Both are mindboggling in scope and execution. I actually think the latter took what Titanfall 2 did with time travel and improved on it

The Apelegs ping system, obvs.

Obra Dinn. Just everything about it (but especially the Rule of Three for locking in correct answers)

Into the Breach's perfect information system. Took the randomness out of tactics games and turned the whole thing on its head.

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