Game aspects that really annoy you

[Grazza]

Its not really an aspect as such... but... predictably I'm gonna have to highlight the METROID SERIES. What a load of old tosh.

 

Have you played the 2D, "16-Bit" ones? There are so many reasons the Prime series (in my opinion) doesn't represent Metroid (first-person perspective, bad save points etc). Let's hope Metroid is reinvented again for the Aitch Wii.

 

Yes, speaking of time limits, I've always hated racing games that have checkpoints!

 

I recommend OutRun 2006. Best racing game ever! I know what you mean though.

 

Right, the first ones I can think of are:

 

1) Long Sections Without Saving

Whether it's through bad save points or just the inability to save in dungeons, this really must be eliminated from modern games. I'm playing the Final Fantasy III remake and was really enjoying it until now. The last place you can save and recharge is outside the Ancients Maze. After that, there's the (very long) Crystal Tower, then the World of Darkness!

 

Zelda is brilliant in this regard, although I know a lot of gamers who get confused about how you're meant to play the dungeons. I think the perfect solution can be found (in games in genreral) via a combination of autosaves, rechargeable health, teleportation and the ability to save anywhere you like.

 

2) Loading Times

I won't say much about this, but they really do ruin my immersion. I suppose I was spoiled with the N64 and GameCube, where I didn't find they were noticeable in any 1st-party Nintendo game until Twilight Princess.

 

3) Inconsistency

I don't want to be too harsh on Phantom Hourglass, because this was due to hardware limitations, but there was an issue that made it less immersive to me. I loved the 3D bits (including the sailing), but when you arrived at an island, the game turned 2D and the islands didn't greatly resemble what you had sailed up to.

[Hellfire]

Have you played the 2D, "16-Bit" ones? There are so many reasons the Prime series (in my opinion) doesn't represent Metroid (first-person perspective, bad save points etc). Let's hope Metroid is reinvented again for the Aitch Wii.

I've played Metroid since I was a kid and was skeptical at first about Prime, but it certainly nailed the Metroid representation. The save points are exactly like in the other ones, spread out and not too common (mp2 might have less of them, but it certainly didn't pose any problems to me), the claustrophobia and isolation feeling is there and possibly even stronger, the music is still Metroid and the first person perspective totally fits in with immersing you in a huge and hostile world. Of course, it's a matter of opinion, not everyone may like the new format, but I don't think it can be said that Prime failed to represent Metroid.

 

That's only a trick. In fact, there's far more random battles in the game than any previous FF games. Holding the button to run past them all just isn't practical and you end up fighting far, far more enemies than you would have in previous games. It's enjoyable enough at first, but eventually fighting the same enemy over and over becomes really tiresome. It would have been better if there was more story and dialogue sequences to pad out the battling, but as there wasn't, it seemed that most of the time was spent just fighting enemies continuously.

 

I like doing my Final Fantasy sidequests, so naturally I was disappointed when I found out that they had made getting the legendary weapons nearly as difficult as in an MMORPG. I found the FFX weapon gathering had a pretty cool take - you had to get the sigil for a character by doing something fairly unique (blitzball, chocobo racing, hunting down the summons, monster arena completion) rather than just harvesting items from mundane enemies.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to say it has more random battles, since they're completely avoidable and not random. Fighting the same enemy over and over again? Kinda like what you do in every other FF, except this time you could see the enemu :P I grinded quite a lot as I do in other RPGs that I want to do a lot of sidequests and I fought quite less and it was infinitely less tedious. About the story I also disagree, I loved that they stayed off the mexican soap opera FF way treating everyone like retards, always stating the obvious and creating stupid love stories.

That chest thingy in FFXII was indeed ridiculous, but I prefered it to FFX weapon and summon gathering, which I even had to give up so boring and unfair it became. Oh, hi a batt- 999999999 DAMAGE YOU LOSE! Ugh.

 

But I agree 100% that it's annoying when RPGS have too many things that demand a guide and it's impossible to do so without one. Some things like that here and there, OK that's cool, but when it's too much... it's too much.

[Grazza]

I've played Metroid since I was a kid and was skeptical at first about Prime, but it certainly nailed the Metroid representation. The save points are exactly like in the other ones, spread out and not too common (mp2 might have less of them, but it certainly didn't pose any problems to me), the claustrophobia and isolation feeling is there and possibly even stronger, the music is still Metroid and the first person perspective totally fits in with immersing you in a huge and hostile world. Of course, it's a matter of opinion, not everyone may like the new format, but I don't think it can be said that Prime failed to represent Metroid.

 

I disagree about the save points being like the other games. In Zero Mission and Fusion, at least, the save points were always close enough to the boss so that you could get there with full health and missiles. If you had to defeat any enemies, they would leave enough health/missiles to max you out again. Not so in Metroid Prime.

 

The first-person perspective is definitely a matter of taste. Personally, I think it's more important to be able to see Samus in the context of her environment, in order to evade, than it is to be able to aim precisely. Aiming is important, but it's a balance. (It used a lock-on anyway, so could have been third-person.)

 

Jumping was also a more important part of the 2D games. You could aim by timing what point during your jump you would fire. Or, you could fix a diagonal, run at an enemy and fire at the right time. I just preferred it that way.

 

Even keeping the first-person perspective, Metroid could be done a lot better. Changing visors, for example, has only been introduced with Metroid Prime, and it was fiddly in both that and Metroid Prime 3 (I haven't played no.2).

 

One thing's for sure: the 2D Metroids can provide a lot of enjoyment for those who don't like Prime.

 

As for Final Fantasy XII, I could write a whole thread about that, so I might leave it for later!

[Hellfire]

Perhaps ZM and Fusion were a little easier in that aspect, but I didn't see any noticeable difference that made any impact.

[darksnowman]

Have you played the 2D, "16-Bit" ones? There are so many reasons the Prime series (in my opinion) doesn't represent Metroid (first-person perspective, bad save points etc). Let's hope Metroid is reinvented again for the Aitch Wii.

 

Yeah afaik I've played em all except Metroid 2 + Prime 2. Fusion is my fave of the bunch (which probably isn't saying much...) and what I played of Prime 3 was good due to the controls- but it was still just yucky Metroid underneath.

[Dyson]

Bring it on sucker, this is my kind of shit!

 

WOOOOO!

[Konfucius]

I really hate cut-scenes I can't skip and most of all death due to terrible controls, weird design decisions or bad camera angles.

I also hate unbalanced AI - maybe even most of all.

[Cube]

I really hate cut-scenes I can't skip

 

Ones you can't pause can be annoying, too. I also hate cutscenes (bar from intro cutscenes) that have lots of cool action in it.

[Sheikah]

 

It doesn't make a lot of sense to say it has more random battles, since they're completely avoidable and not random.

 

 

It's random where exactly they will appear and which ones (within a select group of enemies for a particular map), and to run them all isn't feasible. A good example is that place early in the game where the lights temporarily go out...trying to outrun every enemy won't work (especially because they can do range spells).

 

Fighting the same enemy over and over again? Kinda like what you do in every other FF, except this time you could see the enemu :P

 

Yeah except this game had many, many more enemies along the way than the other games (and little story afterwards to make it feel as if you weren't just killing enemies non-stop). It also lacked No Encounters ability which kinda sucked. I agree that not being able to see the enemy can be tedious, but I found in those FF games you would bump into maybe 10-15 battles along the way, but in this game it would be something like 50-100 enemies, depending on the dungeon.

 

I grinded quite a lot as I do in other RPGs that I want to do a lot of sidequests and I fought quite less and it was infinitely less tedious. About the story I also disagree, I loved that they stayed off the mexican soap opera FF way treating everyone like retards, always stating the obvious and creating stupid love stories.

 

Characters were undeveloped ghosts with next to no interaction. For instance Penelo never even talked to Basche. Most characters had no reason to be going on the journey to risk their lives for little reason. Cut scenes were scarce, as was dialogue, and the story was ridiculously pale in comparison to most FF games. I loved the stories in FF7-9; unfortunately a story with any charm was completely lacking in this game. It was like playing an MMORPG made for offline play.

 

That chest thingy in FFXII was indeed ridiculous, but I prefered it to FFX weapon and summon gathering, which I even had to give up so boring and unfair it became. Oh, hi a batt- 999999999 DAMAGE YOU LOSE! Ugh.

 

Um that was dark aeons, they only came on the international (so European too) version of the game and you didn't have to kill them. :p That was FF's answer for hardcore gamers.

 

But I agree 100% that it's annoying when RPGS have too many things that demand a guide and it's impossible to do so without one. Some things like that here and there, OK that's cool, but when it's too much... it's too much.

 

Yeah, how the hell we would have learned what was required to create the weapons (e.g. the Tournesol) and exactly which monsters dropped them without a guide I do not know.

[Hellfire]

I liked the way FFXII handled story, it might lack the kick the others had, but they were usually so cliché and boring, this time it's a political plot where you have to draw your conclusions and fill in the gaps, which is how I like it (Metroid, Zelda, Half Life). It doesn't mean the story is lacking or pale, it's just not in your face, which I guess is something that annoys me in a lot of games now that we're talking about. I viewed Van and Penelo kind of like the link between players and the rest of the party and world, the ones who were pulled from their homes, but the other characters were pretty damn great except for the princess. And I honestly don't feel that way about the encounters at all, it seems like an exageration to me. BUT this isn't a FFXII discussion :P So, sorry.

 

Non-skippable cutscenes are annoying (if it's the first time it's cool, but if you viewed them once, they should be skippable) same with non-pausable, thankfully it's possible to go into menus now to pause them.

[Jonnas]

Plus, in pretty much most games, mainly RPG's, you start in a glorious fantasy world, but you always end up in some technological fortress at the end, either that or space/other dimension.

 

I feel Tales Of Symphonia is a slight exception to this, as you shift from fantasy to technology from the beginning.

 

Hmm...You're right to some extent. Most RPG final battles/dungeons are in some alternate world. I guess it becomes a bit cliché and predictable after a while.

 

Another thing: when the final boss in an RPG is some kind of huge-ass hellish monster for no reason at all. FF9 is one of the main perpetrators.

 

And not even ToS is an exception to this (hell, all of the Tales games' final battles feature a hellish monster in some paralel world. And for no reason at all.)

[Sheikah]

I liked the way FFXII handled story, it might lack the kick the others had, but they were usually so cliché and boring, this time it's a political plot where you have to draw your conclusions and fill in the gaps, which is how I like it (Metroid, Zelda, Half Life). It doesn't mean the story is lacking or pale, it's just not in your face, which I guess is something that annoys me in a lot of games now that we're talking about. I viewed Van and Penelo kind of like the link between players and the rest of the party and world, the ones who were pulled from their homes, but the other characters were pretty damn great except for the princess. And I honestly don't feel that way about the encounters at all, it seems like an exageration to me. BUT this isn't a FFXII discussion :P So, sorry.

 

Non-skippable cutscenes are annoying (if it's the first time it's cool, but if you viewed them once, they should be skippable) same with non-pausable, thankfully it's possible to go into menus now to pause them.

 

Didn't you find that it had such a cheap way of throwing a story together? The majority of the story advancement was done through text on a background with a narrator (who had the most annoying accent) reading it out to you. The lack of character development or dialogue between characters made them feel generic, as did the fact that they could all equip any weapon or use any ability. It is a shame that they went that way with FFXII, because most fans of the FF series were fans of that trademark development and charmful story.

 

I don't know about you, but at the time of creation the early PS1 FF games filled the hole in Europe where people hadn't had much contact with in-depth story RPGs. I'd hardly say they were cheesy. Having an actual story compared to not having one really doesn't make it cheesy.

[Tales]

Game Over screen.

 

I played Star Ocean on PSP a few days ago. I had travelled back and forth for some stupid sidequest that didn't do me any good. The enemies were easy so I didn't bother to save just yet. When I was on my way to back to the city to continue the story one of the characters suddenly starts to talk about a secret cave and opens on the wall right next to me. Of course I go all "ooh, treasure!" and rushes into the cave. Didn't take long before I was introduced to mr maximum damage and sent to the title screen.

[Cube]

Game Over screen.

 

It depends on the game. It really suits some games (action games and the like) but is better off if it quickly moves from the "Game Over" to a recent checkpoint/save point.

 

However, most platformers haven't suited the Lives/Game Over system since Super Mario 64 (what point does it serve other than to annoy you and make you walk to the castle and back to the painting you were just in?). Of course, it suits a few (Such as the Sonic games as it doesn't have a Hub world to travel around to get back to the level - you just start the level again straight away).

[Hellfire]

No, I don't find that, I find that a lot of games, even big profile ones take a bad approach at stories and say everything in such obvious fashion, pulling some cheap tearjerkers or deaths to make the story feel meaningful, when in fact, it's not that great. To me, it just makes me "meh" at the characters. FFX is one of the biggest offenders (where every character could learn what the other characters did, just like FFXII, although I'm not sure about weapons).

 

Honestly, I think it "spoiled" a lot of gamers in a bad way and now they can't see or enjoy a story unless they spoon feed it like a baby, which is obvious when seeing people say FFXII has no story. I applaud them for taking a different route with a more political plot and a believable war and invasions going on and it's certainly my favourite 3D FF.

(not talking about just ff now, but storytelling so it's ontopic)

[Aalborg]

Mostly all fucking modern JRPG....For once I would like too play a main character who is over 25 yrs old, and also cut the crap out of god awful love scenes (Looks over at the craptastic game known as Final Fantasy X )

 

god yes!!!

 

They serioulsly have to remodel their whole approach to that genre.. im also a bit tired of their main charachters always beeing these "Pretty boys".. put them in a dress and you would never know they were boys

[Jav_NE]

One thing that bugs me is developers getting lazy with secrets. FInding things in a game takes time, and the player should damn well be rewarded for finding them. An achievement or trophy is the recent cop-out, and it's shit. I want a new outfit, or a new weapon or something new when i find all 50/100/200 whatever is is damnit!

[dazzybee]

One thing that bugs me is developers getting lazy with secrets. FInding things in a game takes time, and the player should damn well be rewarded for finding them. An achievement or trophy is the recent cop-out, and it's shit. I want a new outfit, or a new weapon or something new when i find all 50/100/200 whatever is is damnit!

 

THANK YOU!!!!! I don't understand all this achievement bullshit! Ooooh, I got some points onto a score which means nothings - wahoo!!! A new weapon, skin or something is infinetly better! GoldenEye got it right

 

Though I prefer trophies than the gamerscore, at least its (digitally) tangible

[Hellfire]

One thing that bugs me is developers getting lazy with secrets. FInding things in a game takes time, and the player should damn well be rewarded for finding them. An achievement or trophy is the recent cop-out, and it's shit. I want a new outfit, or a new weapon or something new when i find all 50/100/200 whatever is is damnit!

Yes! This! I said this recently in 360 discussion when talking about achievments, they're cool, but devs use them as an excuse to turn them into content when it actually isn't!

[Patch]

Following on from the achievements thing, one of my only annoyances with Twilight Princess was opening treasure chests that contained . . . du-du-du-duuuuuh . . . 20 rupees!

 

And the real kicker was when it stopped you from taking the rupees if they didn't fit in your wallet. The chest stayed on the map, mocking you as you destroyed nearby objects with your sword in frustration.

[Deathjam]

Following on from the achievements thing, one of my only annoyances with Twilight Princess was opening treasure chests that contained . . . du-du-du-duuuuuh . . . 20 rupees!

 

And the real kicker was when it stopped you from taking the rupees if they didn't fit in your wallet. The chest stayed on the map, mocking you as you destroyed nearby objects with your sword in frustration.

 

YES! That annoyed the hell out of me.

 

Also: When you play a segment of a game for the first time, nearly completing it perfectly, only to die at the end, then have to redo it all over again, but of course doing it MUCH worse than the first time ( a DMC and Ninja Gaiden occurence really).

[Aalborg]

Yes! This! I said this recently in 360 discussion when talking about achievments, they're cool, but devs use them as an excuse to turn them into content when it actually isn't!

 

well those achivements that you just get for completing something that you can't fail to do, is a tad boring.. I like the ones that actually requires some skill and determination (or idiocy) to get and you can brag about it endlessly

..... like my Little Rocket man achivement.. wuhuuuuuuuuuu

[Hellfire]

well those achivements that you just get for completing something that you can't fail to do, is a tad boring.. I like the ones that actually requires some skill and determination (or idiocy) to get and you can brag about it endlessly

..... like my Little Rocket man achivement.. wuhuuuuuuuuuu

I'm not saying everything about them is bad, it's an incentive for people to do things in games that sadly they didn't do before like getting high scores or playing in higher difficulty settings, but most developers just replace actual rewards and unlockables with a worthless achievment, because it's the wasy way out.

[Mundi]

Bad title screens annoy me.

I know it´s not really important but I like a stylish title screen.

Blue Dragon being the worst perpetrator.... A big white screen with play and load.

Real ambitious -_-

[Chris the great]

ok, not techniqualy a game issue, but people who think its ok to talk at you constantly as you play, asking you difficult questions, im doing enough allready to survive this gun fight, its not helping that you have me trying to work out what your thinking about.

 

or if im watching a cutscene. ok, they are usualy cheesy, outlandish and the dialouge is crap, but its still the story. if i sat and talked to right through a movie you would be pissed at me. same applies here asshole.

 

worst contender in that field was my mum, in the middle of a boss fight in MGS4, she decides to say snake has a big bum. fuck sake woman, i was being awsome, kicking arse and generaly enjoying myself, now i feel like a tit. shes one to talk, her arse is huge.