Bad Sections In Good Games
- Thread starter cojo965
- Start date
The beginning stealth level in Uncharted 2. Frustrating as all hell. And never again are you asked to be stealthy. Even more uncharacteristic since you spend the rest of the game blowing any and everything that crosses your path straight to hell. Since when has Drake been subtle about anything?
Several, easily.
Batman Arkham City: The fight were you actually fight "Joker" and several waves of henchmen, Mr. Hammer, and a Titan. On NewGame+, this was a pain. This or Penguin's battle arena.
Sonic Generations: The remake of the Sonic Heroes level. Didn't like it then and didn't like it now. Also, not a big fan of the Colors remake (another shit level from the original game).
Pokemon games: Never really liked Victory Road. Going into it at first is usually a pain trying to navigate it, as well as dragging all your HM slaves with you, thus fighting everything is also a pain.
Bayonetta: In chapter VI (i think), and I want to say verse 4 or 5 there is a staircase on which you fight Grace & Glory (or the fucking elemental ninjas of bullshit). And what's worse is after you get rid of the first pair, a second pair appears. I hate fighting these guys normally, but this section killed me near 20 times during my first playthrough of the game.
Batman Arkham City: The fight were you actually fight "Joker" and several waves of henchmen, Mr. Hammer, and a Titan. On NewGame+, this was a pain. This or Penguin's battle arena.
Sonic Generations: The remake of the Sonic Heroes level. Didn't like it then and didn't like it now. Also, not a big fan of the Colors remake (another shit level from the original game).
Pokemon games: Never really liked Victory Road. Going into it at first is usually a pain trying to navigate it, as well as dragging all your HM slaves with you, thus fighting everything is also a pain.
Bayonetta: In chapter VI (i think), and I want to say verse 4 or 5 there is a staircase on which you fight Grace & Glory (or the fucking elemental ninjas of bullshit). And what's worse is after you get rid of the first pair, a second pair appears. I hate fighting these guys normally, but this section killed me near 20 times during my first playthrough of the game.
Sid Meier's Civilization. Any version, though the memory-glutton Civ 5 is the worst offender. A similar complaint can probably be leveled against most 4X / turn-based strategy games:
When going, for example, for a science victory, if you've played well, you'll reach a point in which all of the pieces are in place - all the spaceship parts are under construction, etc - and all you have to do to win is wait.
Which is satisfying, for about two minutes. Then you get bored. Soon, all of your units are on standby just so you can hit Enter, wait for the computer to make all of its moves, then hit Enter again, and so on.
You're bored, but if you're anything like me, you MUST see it through, because hey, you've gotten this far, and you're not going to quit now.
When going, for example, for a science victory, if you've played well, you'll reach a point in which all of the pieces are in place - all the spaceship parts are under construction, etc - and all you have to do to win is wait.
Which is satisfying, for about two minutes. Then you get bored. Soon, all of your units are on standby just so you can hit Enter, wait for the computer to make all of its moves, then hit Enter again, and so on.
You're bored, but if you're anything like me, you MUST see it through, because hey, you've gotten this far, and you're not going to quit now.
Halo 4
There are just way too many race against time parts. There are two sections that feel like they were trying to recreate the ending of Halo 3, in the beginning and in the middle of Halo 4.
Then there's another little bit where the only path you are on falls away pretty quickly after the start of a section.
Then of course that Star Wars-like trench flying mission near the end. I did my first play-through on normal, and I must have died like 25 times at least near the beginning, because that aircraft is a nightmare to handle, which isn't helped by the race against time parts of that mission.
All I have to say now is, 343, if by shear luck of a chance you see this, when making Halo 5, go easy on these kind of missions. If you want to add one in, make it the only one and make it a very short section.
Though knowing how you like to screw things up after people ask for things, you'll probably end up making Halo 5 one big race against time mission.
There are just way too many race against time parts. There are two sections that feel like they were trying to recreate the ending of Halo 3, in the beginning and in the middle of Halo 4.
Then there's another little bit where the only path you are on falls away pretty quickly after the start of a section.
Then of course that Star Wars-like trench flying mission near the end. I did my first play-through on normal, and I must have died like 25 times at least near the beginning, because that aircraft is a nightmare to handle, which isn't helped by the race against time parts of that mission.
All I have to say now is, 343, if by shear luck of a chance you see this, when making Halo 5, go easy on these kind of missions. If you want to add one in, make it the only one and make it a very short section.
Though knowing how you like to screw things up after people ask for things, you'll probably end up making Halo 5 one big race against time mission.
Poseidon's level in God of War.
Hated that whole thing, and the timed areas were a trial in patience and tolerance. The swimming was okay, but when you have to hurry up and time your pace to get around stuff to not get killed was not fun.
Fighting against Fedorova in Deus Ex: Human Revolution was just...frustrating.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't doing a pacifist run and I can carry more weapons and ammo, but that didn't happen.
I died more times than I'd care to admit, and the developers did say boss battles were not balanced, but that battle was the most irritating to me.
Hated that whole thing, and the timed areas were a trial in patience and tolerance. The swimming was okay, but when you have to hurry up and time your pace to get around stuff to not get killed was not fun.
Fighting against Fedorova in Deus Ex: Human Revolution was just...frustrating.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't doing a pacifist run and I can carry more weapons and ammo, but that didn't happen.
I died more times than I'd care to admit, and the developers did say boss battles were not balanced, but that battle was the most irritating to me.
The Fade in Dragon Age: Origins, though after playing through it so many goddamn times it's become much less tedious. My very first playthrough, however, it took hours. I didn't want to have to look up a guide for whatever reason - obviously a much better plan was to slowly fall into insanity.
I think Orzammar / the Deep Roads are significantly worse than the Fade, though. I'm stuck there on my current playthrough and it just really sucks. Not to mention that it's focused on politics. I play video games to ignore real world issues! How dare there be politics in my game!
The most recent terrible section was in Lollipop Chainsaw. The last minigame at the Fulci Funcenter where you're basically wall-climbing in an elevator. Jesus H. CHRIST, I rage quit that section so many times I've lost count. Now every time I hear "Empire State Human" (which is, well, never but you get the point) I black out and go into a murderous rage.
I think Orzammar / the Deep Roads are significantly worse than the Fade, though. I'm stuck there on my current playthrough and it just really sucks. Not to mention that it's focused on politics. I play video games to ignore real world issues! How dare there be politics in my game!
The most recent terrible section was in Lollipop Chainsaw. The last minigame at the Fulci Funcenter where you're basically wall-climbing in an elevator. Jesus H. CHRIST, I rage quit that section so many times I've lost count. Now every time I hear "Empire State Human" (which is, well, never but you get the point) I black out and go into a murderous rage.
The last level in Pariah
The Fade (glad someone else mentioned it) in DA:Origins
Pinnacle Station in Mass Effect
Xen in Half Life
All the zombie things and the bosses (the zombie things annoyed me more) in Deus Ex:HR
Escorting morons in Dead Rising
Large parts of last level (Halo) in Halo 3 (I wanted 3 way fights to end the game, No Covenant just sorta bummed me out)
Master Ninja Mode in Ninja Gaiden 2
The whole game aside from um... the um... Sword? in Ninja Gaiden 3
The (lack of) level design in The Library in Halo (I enjoy fighting The Flood but even a Halo nerd admits the playspace was dull)
Shadow Moses in MGS4 (the majority of it came across as a giant succession of trolling from Kojima. It could have been perfect, good old fashioned MGS1 sneaking with uber graphics but what? Little, black orbs with arms? Sigh, to be fair the end of the level nearly makes up for it, with the Vamp battle and the railgun vs Gekkos and of course REX. But for me, the damage was done.)
The Fade (glad someone else mentioned it) in DA:Origins
Pinnacle Station in Mass Effect
Xen in Half Life
All the zombie things and the bosses (the zombie things annoyed me more) in Deus Ex:HR
Escorting morons in Dead Rising
Large parts of last level (Halo) in Halo 3 (I wanted 3 way fights to end the game, No Covenant just sorta bummed me out)
Master Ninja Mode in Ninja Gaiden 2
The whole game aside from um... the um... Sword? in Ninja Gaiden 3
The (lack of) level design in The Library in Halo (I enjoy fighting The Flood but even a Halo nerd admits the playspace was dull)
Shadow Moses in MGS4 (the majority of it came across as a giant succession of trolling from Kojima. It could have been perfect, good old fashioned MGS1 sneaking with uber graphics but what? Little, black orbs with arms? Sigh, to be fair the end of the level nearly makes up for it, with the Vamp battle and the railgun vs Gekkos and of course REX. But for me, the damage was done.)
In the Katamari games, there's generally a level where the idea is to find the largest...bear, or whatever the King wants. But there are fucking bears everywhere, even tiny ones. Getting bigger to tackle that huge bear statue? Nope, it's over, you ran over the microscopic one trying to escape the inside of your pinkie toenail.
I've probably said this before on this site, but the Forsaken Fortress in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Seriously, they give you your sword, let you mess around with it for like five minutes, and then make you go through the dungeon without using the thing (a primary game mechanic) that you just learned about. Instead, they have you going through a long, tedious stealth section. This part of the game feels so much longer than it probably is, but two things make it nearly unacceptable:
1.) This is the beginning of the game. I am actually not opposed to the idea of reducing the player's power if it adds something to the game. I just think that if you're going to do that, make the player care about the powers (or allies) he lost. Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door does this pretty well. One chapter of the game has a Duplighost stealing Mario's body and name, and his allies have fallen for the trick, so Mario is left at reduced power without his backup. The player gets a sense of urgency for getting his friends and body back, especially since he can't continue his mission of gathering the Crystal Stars without them. Mario's shadowy state also allows him to recruit Vivian, a fiery phantom that up until now has been trying to stop Mario with her sisters, and show her that he's actually a nice guy. But what's also important is that this is the FOURTH Chapter of the game (out of eight), so by this time, the player should be familiar with how helpful Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshi have been to him, and how important it is that he unmasks the Duplighost. Would it be such a meaningful effect if this happened to Mario when Goombella was his only companion?
2.) The stealth stuff shown in this part never happens again. You do have to revisit the Forsaken Fortress later on, but that time, you manage to go there with the Master Sword. The only thing you need to make that trip easier is to take out the cannons. Other than that, you don't have to do any of this stealth crap again. You never lose your sword again, either. So I have to question what the point of the stealth dungeon even was.
Next time I start a file on Wind Waker, I should just get the Forsaken Fortress over with, and then copy that file onto every available slot. That way, I can skip right to the good part of the game.
Seriously, they give you your sword, let you mess around with it for like five minutes, and then make you go through the dungeon without using the thing (a primary game mechanic) that you just learned about. Instead, they have you going through a long, tedious stealth section. This part of the game feels so much longer than it probably is, but two things make it nearly unacceptable:
1.) This is the beginning of the game. I am actually not opposed to the idea of reducing the player's power if it adds something to the game. I just think that if you're going to do that, make the player care about the powers (or allies) he lost. Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door does this pretty well. One chapter of the game has a Duplighost stealing Mario's body and name, and his allies have fallen for the trick, so Mario is left at reduced power without his backup. The player gets a sense of urgency for getting his friends and body back, especially since he can't continue his mission of gathering the Crystal Stars without them. Mario's shadowy state also allows him to recruit Vivian, a fiery phantom that up until now has been trying to stop Mario with her sisters, and show her that he's actually a nice guy. But what's also important is that this is the FOURTH Chapter of the game (out of eight), so by this time, the player should be familiar with how helpful Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshi have been to him, and how important it is that he unmasks the Duplighost. Would it be such a meaningful effect if this happened to Mario when Goombella was his only companion?
2.) The stealth stuff shown in this part never happens again. You do have to revisit the Forsaken Fortress later on, but that time, you manage to go there with the Master Sword. The only thing you need to make that trip easier is to take out the cannons. Other than that, you don't have to do any of this stealth crap again. You never lose your sword again, either. So I have to question what the point of the stealth dungeon even was.
Next time I start a file on Wind Waker, I should just get the Forsaken Fortress over with, and then copy that file onto every available slot. That way, I can skip right to the good part of the game.
Since I'm glad to see many people bring up Dark Souls, I'll go ahead and add The Duke's Archives to the list of horrible sections in that game.
I mean SERIOUSLY, WHY THE FUCK do those stupid Crystal Hollow enemies do SO MUCH GODDAMN DAMAGE!?!?!? ESPECIALLY the archers? It's even more irritating when you realize that whenever you ascend any of your weapons to Crystal, their damage will barely double, at the expense of giving it essentially one "life" of 16 durability. Meanwhile, the damage done by Crystal hollows and their weapons as compared to uncrystallized weapons from enemies goes up by like freaking x5.
And finally, FUCK those damn Channellers who not only shoot you with extremely fast soul rays, but also become invincible the second they begin their teleporting animation and retreat like cowards to an unreachable spot such as a balcony you cannot directly walk to.
I mean SERIOUSLY, WHY THE FUCK do those stupid Crystal Hollow enemies do SO MUCH GODDAMN DAMAGE!?!?!? ESPECIALLY the archers? It's even more irritating when you realize that whenever you ascend any of your weapons to Crystal, their damage will barely double, at the expense of giving it essentially one "life" of 16 durability. Meanwhile, the damage done by Crystal hollows and their weapons as compared to uncrystallized weapons from enemies goes up by like freaking x5.
And finally, FUCK those damn Channellers who not only shoot you with extremely fast soul rays, but also become invincible the second they begin their teleporting animation and retreat like cowards to an unreachable spot such as a balcony you cannot directly walk to.
Forced racing sections, especially in GTA/Saints Row. Yes, I'm playing a game with cars in it. Yes, I like to drive quickly and recklessly. No, I'd rather not be forced to do so. That "Love Fist Limo" mission in Vice City deserves special mission because FUCK THAT MISSION.
The Council Missions in X-Com: Enemy Unknown.
It's not that they're bad per se, it's just that unlike the rest of the game (which is brilliant, by the way) they don't scale up as you progress. They can be genuinely scary and challenging early on in the game when you have crap equipment and troopers, but later on, it's a waste of time to take a squad of veterans fully armed with plasma weapons and Titan armour to face a dozen Thin Men...
Every other mission in the game seems tailored to challenge you, but Council Missions are completely unnecessary from about half-way through the game. It's invariably a slaughter good for nothing but maybe promote a full-rookie squad.
It's not that they're bad per se, it's just that unlike the rest of the game (which is brilliant, by the way) they don't scale up as you progress. They can be genuinely scary and challenging early on in the game when you have crap equipment and troopers, but later on, it's a waste of time to take a squad of veterans fully armed with plasma weapons and Titan armour to face a dozen Thin Men...
Every other mission in the game seems tailored to challenge you, but Council Missions are completely unnecessary from about half-way through the game. It's invariably a slaughter good for nothing but maybe promote a full-rookie squad.
The first level of Vanquish, all it is is just running down a hallway while every few steps the wall explodes and you have to stop for a few seconds. Also the end credits, which lets you shoot pictures of the developers while wondering, "Who thought this would be fun?". And they take like 20 minutes because they go by only 1 or 2 at a time and you can't skip it, and you have to wait if you want to play God Hard.