Your "What were they thinking." Moment while you were playing a game.

[Dirty Hipsters]

Red Dead Redemption 2 - The crafting. You. Have. To. Do. Every. Single. Item. And. Chose. To. Store. It. One. At. A. Time.

Shit like that is what made me quit playing Red Dead Redemption 2. It's a game that revels in wasting your time.

No Rockstar, crafting every bullet one at a time isn't making me immersed in the world, it's making me bored and annoyed, fuck you.

 

[thebobmaster]

Fire Emblem Fates.

Every single shota or loli you come across is ''technically an adult'' and you can make babies with all of them. And then there's an hyperbolic time chamber where those babies immediately become teenagers so you can recruit them and take them to war. You can even make a baby with one of those aged up babies if you'd like and then put the baby you get from that into the hyperbolic time chamber.

I was SO glad when Three Houses did away with the child characters, and made it so romances progressed only at specific times, and the Byleth romance couldn't conclude until the endgame. Felt so much less icky.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Holy shit spider gwen would be amazing!!!

On topic: almost every major story beat in The Last of Us 2. Every single sequence in that game is literally there because the writers need the characters to be stupid for the plot to happen. The only believable moment is the snow fight with the kids.

Um, but the birthday present museum chapter was pretty awesome though.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Um, but the birthday present museum chapter was pretty awesome though.

i said "almost". That was a great moment and it would have been a better moment if you played that at the very start of the game before everything sucks. It would have been a great way to lull the player into the grove of the original and think you're getting more of your two favorites. Joel's golf adventure would have had such a better impact on people if it came later on in the game.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

i said "almost". That was a great moment and it would have been a better moment if you played that at the very start of the game before everything sucks. It would have been a great way to lull the player into the grove of the original and think you're getting more of your two favorites. Joel's golf adventure would have had such a better impact on people if it came later on in the game.

Yeah, imagine if they ditched the “revenge” theme and just went with something like “forgiveness...interrupted” and spent the whole game building up to that, where the player as Ellie has an MGS4 microwave scene moment mashing on the triangle button trying to get to Joel before he gets tee’d off. Oh man, that would’ve pissed even more people off. I’ll shut up now.

 

[BrawlMan]

spent the whole game building up to that, where the player as Ellie has an MGS4 microwave scene moment mashing on the triangle button trying to get to Joel before he gets tee’d off. Oh man, that would’ve pissed even more people off. I’ll shut up now.

​

 

[Dalisclock]

I bought a couple of these up a year or so back when I went through the metal gear series and dedicated a thread to it, but the original Metal Gear is full of these. I'll list a few in no particular order.

-Elevators go one direction only. If you get on an elevator and go past the floor you wanted to get off on, you have to go to the other elevator(which might be on the far side of the building, past traps and guards) to go back the other direction and get off at the right floor. The first building is 4 or 5 floors tall, so this will happen at least once. There is no stated reason that the elevators work like this except maybe that Big Boss is a massive dick.
-There are many locked doors that require keycards to open and 9 levels of key cards to collect across the game. The doors have no indication which keycards open them and there's no rhyme or reason to how they're placed, so a level 9 door might be followed by a level 2 door and the only way to find out is to walk up to a door, equip a keycard and keep doing that until the door opens.
-You can only have one item equipped at a time. This includes your gas mask and if you don't have it equipped, it doesn't work. Keep that in mind when I say there are numerous rooms with poison gas which slowly deplete your health and have locked doors. Remember what I wrote above about the key cards and doors? Now imagine having to unequip your gas mask to cycle through every keycard you have in a poison gas room hoping you figure out which card opens the door before you lose too much health because Snake apparently can't wear a gasmask and hold a keycard at the same damn time.
-There are POWs across the game you must rescue. Well, technically you don't have to rescue them but your rank increases after you rescue X number of POWs and that determines how much health you have and ammo you can carry. Even better, you can LOSE a rank each time you kill a prisoner, accidental or not. There's a boss near the end of the game who has 3 POWs around him and it's difficult to kill him without killing one of the POWS, so you're almost expected to lose a rank. Did I mention the number of POWS are finite and there's enough to maybe regain rank once if you kill a prisoner?
-To top off this shit sundae, the Metal Gear fight at the end is a fucking joke, but a bad one. So you don't actually fight the Metal Gear. The Metal Gear stands there in it's hanger and you place 16 bombs on it's legs in a precise order while some lasers fire at you from above. The problem is because of the whole "Lose rank" problem, it's possible to lose a couple ranks and literally not be able to carry enough bombs to complete this fight. And even better, if you fuck up the order, you need to start again. And fnally, someone does give you the order, all up until the final bomb, so you have a 50-50 chance of getting the last bomb on the correct leg.

The bright side is, Kojima learmed from Metal Gear, as you'll probably notice a lot of these problems aren't in later Metal Gear games. Even by Metal Gear 2, the keycard issue had been greatly simplified, the rank system vanished, the prisoner rescues because plot progression and the elevators have UP and DOWN buttons.

 

[Drathnoxis]

The Quiet Man.
Ok, the protagonist is deaf so we'll make it so the player doesn't hear any audio so they can sympathize with the character.
That seems like it has the possibility of being interesting, if done well.
We'll also have the main character speak in sign language and be able to read lips so he actually has no problem understanding anyone whatsoever.
Umm, ok. But how will the player be able to understand what's going on then? Will there be subtitles?
There also won't be any text in the game at all, because obviously deaf people can't read!
Wait, what?

The game is utterly incomprehensible. It's like watching a film in a foreign language with no subtitles. People go places and do things and you have absolutely no way of knowing why or what relation they have to each other. You can only play the game with audio after you've finished it once and they only patched that in a couple weeks after release. They somehow thought that the player being confused and lost was a good thing.

Also I'm pretty sure the main character has a really weird Oedipus complex because his mom and girlfriend look identical and might be the same person? I don't know

 

[happyninja42]

The Quiet Man.
Ok, the protagonist is deaf so we'll make it so the player doesn't hear any audio so they can sympathize with the character.
That seems like it has the possibility of being interesting, if done well.
We'll also have the main character speak in sign language and be able to read lips so he actually has no problem understanding anyone whatsoever.
Umm, ok. But how will the player be able to understand what's going on then? Will there be subtitles?
There also won't be any text in the game at all, because obviously deaf people can't read!
Wait, what?

The game is utterly incomprehensible. It's like watching a film in a foreign language with no subtitles. People go places and do things and you have absolutely no way of knowing why or what relation they have to each other. You can only play the game with audio after you've finished it once and they only patched that in a couple weeks after release. They somehow thought that the player being confused and lost was a good thing.

Also I'm pretty sure the main character has a really weird Oedipus complex because his mom and girlfriend look identical and might be the same person? I don't know

See what I think would've been neat for them to do, is to implement the audio for people speaking, or the subtitles for it, specifically only when they are in frame. So you could have the issue of someone talking to the protag's back, and then he turns, the POV switches to a person who is already mid sentence ".....so is it true mother fucker?! Did you?!" and you are like "....uh, wut?' because you only got the tail end of it. If you control the POV to look at a portion of the room for a clue or something, it might make it where you miss out on dialogue, because you aren't reading their lips, and thus not activating the audio/subtitles. THAT, I think, could be cool. It makes the player have to choose how much of their focus is on the other people in the story, versus the environment itself.

 

[Drathnoxis]

See what I think would've been neat for them to do, is to implement the audio for people speaking, or the subtitles for it, specifically only when they are in frame. So you could have the issue of someone talking to the protag's back, and then he turns, the POV switches to a person who is already mid sentence ".....so is it true mother fucker?! Did you?!" and you are like "....uh, wut?' because you only got the tail end of it. If you control the POV to look at a portion of the room for a clue or something, it might make it where you miss out on dialogue, because you aren't reading their lips, and thus not activating the audio/subtitles. THAT, I think, could be cool. It makes the player have to choose how much of their focus is on the other people in the story, versus the environment itself.

That would have worked, except sometimes I swear he's able to read their lips when they are looking away from him.

 

[BrawlMan]

The lack of level select in Contra 4. What the hell was Way Forward thinking? Even by the standards of 2007, it was inexcusable. I get wanting to learn the levels and patterns, but at least it's something that should have been unlocked after beating the game once.

 

[Dalisclock]

The lack of level select in Contra 4. What the hell wass Way Forward thinking? Even by the standards of 2007, it was an excusable. I get wanting to learn the levels and patterns, but at least it's something that should have been unlocked after beating the game once.

I've seen this in plenty of other games from the same era, a level select that unlocks once you finish the game for the first time. There's no real excuse for not having it anymore, for games that have distinct missions/levels.

 

[Misterian]

I'll be that guy and go with this.
View attachment 3209

There are plenty other issues with the game of course, but this last 10 minutes basically just threw everything the series had been building up to in the garbage. It's so frustrating when you play Mass Effect 2 and they were clearly planning something very different with all the dark energy foreshadowing that ended up getting dropped entirely in 3.

The extended cut helped at least with closure in the endings, but it was still like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound... to the head.

I'm sort of inclined to agree.

Granted, I had prior experiences with good stories that carried endings that were nonsensical or poorly thought-out. So I didn't feel as betrayed as most fans were.

But I still scratch my head on why Bioware thought those endings were justified narratively. With the reputation the game already built prior, I'd argue with them that Mass Effect 3 could've ended just with the Reaper fleet being defeated for good and the galaxy lives mostly happily ever after (perhaps bittersweetly if the sacrifices made throughout the game are kept into account) and the trilogy would've lost nothing from getting such an ending.

 

[Piscian]

I think most recently it would have ben LOUII. It's been talked to death and I've heard my frustration aired beat for beat more than once. I never had any complaints regarding the diversity aspects. I think my only disappoint in that regard is that the trans kids story felt..artificial. I didn't have any issues with the character or logic. I empathize, but when it happened I was like "oh..I guess were doing this now.." and that extends to my confusion towards the writing choices in the game in general.

It felt very bizarrely scripted. Often something that happened would be referenced ingame, but like 11 hours later. I remember that scene where you're forced to play with some dog. I played with the dog, tried to leave, but it made me play fetch for like 5 minutes. As I'm leaving I realized "oh..I guess elli killed that dog?...meh". I only realized because the scene dragged out like the writer pawing at me to get a shit. Somebody really needs to edit that game. Hell I'd probably replay a directors cut where Abby and ellies stories are interwoven so that the deaths have a more immediate impact.

Someone mentioned Resident Evil. I remember buying RE6 on launch day and being ....W..T.F. I reemember RE5 being a.. little more action oriented but still vaguely trying to be a survival horror game. RE6 was like a cinematic quicktime event that goes for 6 hours that has you spent most of your time bodyslamming zombies. To this day I still dont know who the target audience was supposed to be. Ironically it was very similar to an older game called "Zombie Revenge". I cant help but wonder if RE6 was an another game that just got reskinned.

 

[Dalisclock]

It felt very bizarre scripted. Often something that happened would be referenced ingame, but like 11 hours later. I remember that scene where you're forced to play with some dog. I played with the dog, tried to leave, but it made me play fetch for like 5 minutes. As I'm leaving I realized "oh..I guess elli killed that dog?...meh". I only realized because the scene dragged out like the writer pawing at me to get a shit. Somebody really needs to edit that game. Hell I'd probably replay a directors cut where Abby and ellies stories are interwoven so that the deaths have a more immediate impact.

YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD YOU KILLED THE DOG!

*RUBS YOUR NOSE IN IT*

YOU KILLED THE DOG BECAUE WE MADE YOU! YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD NOW! ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE YOU KILLED HAVE NAMES! LISTEN TO THEM CALL OUT THEIR NAMES!

I'm all for some nuance in the "Those mooks had familes" trope but my god it feels like TLOU2, from what I've seen, wasn't at all subtle about trying to push that on you. I mean, fuck, MGS was doing this long ago and arguably pulled off the trope better, even if it forced you to walk down a ghost river with all the people you killed on it.

 

[meiam]

YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD YOU KILLED THE DOG!

*RUBS YOUR NOSE IN IT*

YOU KILLED THE DOG BECAUE WE MADE YOU! YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD NOW! ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE YOU KILLED HAVE NAMES! LISTEN TO THEM CALL OUT THEIR NAMES!

I'm all for some nuance in the "Those mooks had familes" trope but my god it feels like TLOU2, from what I've seen, wasn't at all subtle about trying to push that on you. I mean, fuck, MGS was doing this long ago and arguably pulled off the trope better, even if it forced you to walk down a ghost river with all the people you killed on it.

Isn't that just a results of "game I can't remember the name at the moment and I can't figure out how to google it" where you use white phosphorus on civilian and the game act like your a monster for doing it and critic lavishly hype up the game has having a though provoking story. It seems like some people just love this stuff.

I love the idea of the ghost river in MGS3, but I always play those game non lethal so it didn't really work for me since I didn't even realize what was supposed to happen there, so that might be the reason why game have to force you to do the awful thing.

On topic, wtf where people thinking when they value Roblox?! Have they even seen it, even second life has (had?) more value. The 2000 internet bubble is calling and it wants it's headline back.

 

[Jarrito3002]

In Kingdom Hearts 3 I did not get the Ultima Keyblade because is the material for it is behind too much bullshit. A finicky cooking mini game and also RNG praying you get it in the mail. I don't care if these new methods are complicated and more "reward" I like the method in the first non Final Mix version where I would equip Treasure Magnet on everyone and beat the item out of them.

Speaking of Kingdom Hearts final mix why did they bump the Divine Rose and nerf the Hell out of Oblivion.

Also why could Frogger not swin and die in the water. Its a frog and everyone just went along with it and accepted it like how how how.

Same with Sly Cooper I know they gave a lore reason why they can't swim but you have a raccoon who can swim, a hippo which is a hippo so he his body is designed a to make him buoyant and box turtles while terrestrial do have limited swimming ability. So the need for water hazards in gaming trumps nature itself or at least pick animals that are not water friendly so it can make sense.

Seriously though Frogger.........

 

[Agema]

The "Interloper" chapter of Black Mesa. The devs had done a fantastic job of fleshing out Xen, turning it from "bouncing between floating rocks" to something that looked like Far Cry and Subnautica had had the world's most beautiful baby... but holy crap, the whole "factory/warehouse" section could have been cut down by two-thirds and it would only have improved the experience. It was a slog of straightforward, uninteresting, grindy combat and platforming.

That was probably one of my favourite bits of Zero Punctuation. Yahtzee described the Xen part of Half-Life as being a bit like a man in an immaculate dinner suit wearing a welly, and suggesting the best way for Black Mesa to have dealt with with was not to give him another welly.

 

[BrawlMan]

YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD YOU KILLED THE DOG!

*RUBS YOUR NOSE IN IT*

YOU KILLED THE DOG BECAUE WE MADE YOU! YOU NEED TO FEEL BAD NOW! ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE YOU KILLED HAVE NAMES! LISTEN TO THEM CALL OUT THEIR NAMES!

I'm all for some nuance in the "Those mooks had familes" trope but my god it feels like TLOU2, from what I've seen, wasn't at all subtle about trying to push that on you. I mean, fuck, MGS was doing this long ago and arguably pulled off the trope better, even if it forced you to walk 2down a ghost river with all the people you killed on it.

No More Heroes 1 & 2 and Ninety Nine Nights pulled that shit off better too. God, TLOU2 fails so hard any category other than graphics and accessibility.

 

[BrawlMan]

Guess it's one of those things were you have a much better chance at liking it without playing the previous titles?

Even if I played 3rd Birthday first, I would still hate it.

Giving the retro bosses and enemies super armor in Mr. X's Nightmare. It's cheap and gets really annoying the further you get. Axel's alternate move set is actually worse, other than his Blitz Attack. Making the unlock all moves trophy/achievement locked behind a cheat code, most casual players are not gonna research nor invest in. What the hell, Dotemu and Guard Crash?