Game Clichés you hate the most

[Saviordd1]

WarCraft (open to debate).

I'm very willing to argue warcraft

The fact that it has orcs, goblins, elves, magic, knights in shining armor, big castles and all of that is enough to put it in Tolkienesque territory.

The fact that the orcs are actually more or less neutral and there's some steampunk doesn't save it from the Tolkien stamp.

 

[clippen05]

You must eat every 30 minutes/gas up your car/wash the dishes/manage a house/drive drunk friends home/any number of chores because realism.

Please, do tell me a game that makes you do any of these things. Right off of merriam-webster= a cliche: something that has become overly familiar or commonplace.

And you know what, I can't think of a single game that makes you do any of that stuff. Do you just hate realism in games and you tried to list examples that don't exist to convey your point? I mean, in Fallout New Vegas you have to eat if you chose to play the hardcore gamemode, buts its entirely optional; that's all I can think of. And don't even think about saying GTA because the whole friend dynamic is entirely optional aside from 1 or 2 mandatory occurences. Please, name me one mainstream game that requires you to do this stuff all the time.

 

[Vern5]

WarCraft (open to debate).

I'm very willing to argue warcraft

The fact that it has orcs, goblins, elves, magic, knights in shining armor, big castles and all of that is enough to put it in Tolkienesque territory.

The fact that the orcs are actually more or less neutral and there's some steampunk doesn't save it from the Tolkien stamp.

True enough. It's definitely down there with the other Tolkien wannabes like Dragon Age and Kingdoms of Amalur.

 

[Pink Gregory]

One thing I've noticed in a lot of games that have come out recently, specifically the Assassins Creed Franchise, is the emphasis on buying things or doing missions to earn more money when you don't need any more money. I don't care if upgrading the blacksmith or Assassinating this guy will earn me more cash, I already have the max I can hold! This would be an interesting mechanic if you were always tight on cash, but by the time I get 65% into the game Ive already bought every weapon and upgrade I can so now all I can do with that money is toss it in the street.

I decided far too late in the series to not loot bodies, I still ended up with hella florins; I know buying a new weapon every time I lost one would be annoying, but this isn't exactly a step in the right direction.

OT; Plot-convenient amnesia is wearing thin on me a little bit; I know it's a good (well, convenient) way of answering questions that a non-amnesiac protagonist wouldn't ask, but give me some credit, if I want to find things out, let me look for them, let me plumb a few libraries or something. Sort of in the way that the Elder Scrolls series handles lore, you've really gotta dig deep (or at least take a look at a book), and even then it won't answer everything. I LIKE that!

And sometimes I'd rather develop a new future, not be stuck piecing together the past.

 

[Pink Gregory]

WarCraft (open to debate).

I'm very willing to argue warcraft

The fact that it has orcs, goblins, elves, magic, knights in shining armor, big castles and all of that is enough to put it in Tolkienesque territory.

The fact that the orcs are actually more or less neutral and there's some steampunk doesn't save it from the Tolkien stamp.

It's disappointing that it's never the elves that have stuff done to them, I like the sort of shamanic aesthetic that Warcraft goes for with the Night Elves, but always with the trees and the forest. It's not so much ripping off Tolkien, considering that he established what is now a fantasy standard; that's like saying all movie romances rip off Casablanca; although there's different levels of it I suppose.

That being said, orcs come from the moon in Warcraft. THAT I like.

 

[Setrus]

Is "good guy win, bad guy loses" a cliche? Because if it is i choose that . I want the bad guy to win despite all oir efforts just to change shit up .

If that doesn't count then:

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP ! Fuck friendship . Friendship does not triumph over all .

Agreed on the first, it gets old...do we even NEED a good guy and bad guy every time? Can't a there be a "executing anyone breaking the law" guy vs a "true anarchist" type character? (For example)

As for the second...agreed too, but you made Fluffershy cry... :-(

I'm sure someone else has said it, but I'll add it none the less: The dangers in a cutscene. "Oh I'm scaaaared...I've taken sixteen rifle rounds to the chest, you really scare me with that little pistol...wait, is this a cutscene? Oh crap!"

 

[museofdoom]

How often female characters have really skimpy or impractical armor. You know, god forbid we have a game with a female character that isn't sexualized to death.

 

[Mr Dizazta]

Final boss battles. Come at me bros.

 

[lucky_sharm]

How often female characters have really skimpy or impractical armor. You know, god forbid we have a game with a female character that isn't sexualized to death.

Then you might as well complain about all male protagonists being unnaturally handsome, witty, fit, and capable. It's shocking how people completely overlook this.

 

[Mikkel421427]

The excuse I usually see in Science Fiction or Fantasy of "Magic!/Technology!". Now now, I know the quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"... That quote, my ass. Behind every bit of technology, there's a theory. While I don't want to demand a theoretical and scientific thesis approved by peer review, I do give out huge freaking points to the writers if they're willing to give me the basic theory of how it works. A shining example of what I'm talking about is something I still find incredibly exciting to read every time I think about it... And that... Is this http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Living_With_Tiberium_(blog)
It was created for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars where the studio asked a couple of people from universities to write a paper on Tiberium as if it was the real deal. Now, say what you want about the game, but that right there, is what I would love to see in every single game. A thorough explanation of the main thing of the game and I'll be happy.

Captcha: More Better. Exactly, Captcha. More of that and everything would be a bit better

 

[Keneth]

I, The Chosen One, must go save Princess Macguffin from the clutches Evil McBaddie! She is the key to averting The End Of The World! I only met her once, for about five seconds, ten years ago, but I'm certain she is my one true love! And even though I'm so incompetent that I let her get kidnapped again mere moments after saving her, MULTIPLE TIMES, it is my Destiny to save her!

Spoiler

Seriously, this game is just one massive cliche .

 

[Brad Calkins]

Realism, pretty much every game I would even consider calling my favorite is so far removed from reality that it wasn't even aware the laws of physics were a thing.

The whole debate basically boils down to, do you want to die from making a single tiny mistake and never be allowed to play the game again, or do you want to ride a dragon to the moon and defeat zombies using the power of rock 'n' roll?

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

The cliche that has the player not play as the protagonist but as some random dude following the protagonist around doing the protagonists bidding. This is especially apparent in Oblivion (Martin is the protagonist) and Modern Warfare-series (with Price being the protagonist). I am fine with taking the backseat for a few levels, quests or missions if it sets up an important plot or character arc. But constantly feeling that I am only re-threading someone else's footsteps or doing the dirty work of the major player? That's bad storytelling right there.

MW really is the penultimate expression of this. The PCs never contribute anything directly to the story, they are only following the guys who actually contribute around. Price and Soap chase Makarov around the world, while Yuri just seems to be their mindless muscle who's along for the ride.

 

[NewYork_Comedian]

Plot-convenient amnesia is wearing thin on me a little bit; I know it's a good (well, convenient) way of answering questions that a non-amnesiac protagonist wouldn't ask, but give me some credit, if I want to find things out, let me look for them, let me plumb a few libraries or something. Sort of in the way that the Elder Scrolls series handles lore, you've really gotta dig deep (or at least take a look at a book), and even then it won't answer everything. I LIKE that!

And sometimes I'd rather develop a new future, not be stuck piecing together the past.

I like this idea, although the thing that annoys me with it is that in all of the Elder Scrolls games, and New Vegas, your character has absolutely no background. At all. One of the thing I loved about Origins so much is that the background your picked could drastically change the reactions characters have towards you. If the games could add even a little bit of history to your character, then it would be much more immerse. And if you wanted to expand upon it, you could have a prologue a la Dragon Age that sets up why you were thrown into prison or traveling on the road of an imperial ambush, ect.

 

[Zipa]

The more recent one that annoys me is killing off the protaginist at the end of a game because the writers can't be bothered to actually write a ending with some drama or a twist so they go for the easy option. It works once in awhile like in

Spoiler

red dead redemption with John Marston

but every game doing it get fricking old.

 

[danon]

That the game world elaborately explains every mystery to the main character as if he is the center of the world before he has accomplished anything.

 

[Falseprophet]

-Tolkien-esque Fantasy (Must it always be elves and dwarves until the end of time?)

Yes, yes, yes! For all their faults, JRPGs have a huge variety of interesting and unique settings. Western fantasy RPGs are still stealing drinks from Tolkien's bar fridge.

Is there anything -other- than Tolkien fantasy? He pretty much wrote the book on the subject(No pun intended). There's always steam punk I guess, but that's less of a genre and more of a stylistic element.

Most fantasy novels stopped shamelessly ripping off Tolkien over a decade ago. It's high past time for games to catch up. I'd love to see an RPG in a setting like Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy or Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards books.

 

[[REDACTED]]

Plot-convenient amnesia is wearing thin on me a little bit; I know it's a good (well, convenient) way of answering questions that a non-amnesiac protagonist wouldn't ask, but give me some credit, if I want to find things out, let me look for them, let me plumb a few libraries or something. Sort of in the way that the Elder Scrolls series handles lore, you've really gotta dig deep (or at least take a look at a book), and even then it won't answer everything. I LIKE that!

And sometimes I'd rather develop a new future, not be stuck piecing together the past.

I like this idea, although the thing that annoys me with it is that in all of the Elder Scrolls games, and New Vegas, your character has absolutely no background. At all. One of the thing I loved about Origins so much is that the background your picked could drastically change the reactions characters have towards you. If the games could add even a little bit of history to your character, then it would be much more immerse. And if you wanted to expand upon it, you could have a prologue a la Dragon Age that sets up why you were thrown into prison or traveling on the road of an imperial ambush, ect.

I liked the way Daggerfall handled this. It would generate a detailed background for you based on the way you designed them in character creation. It meant that your character had an actual history, but one that was almost always consistent with your vision for the character.

 

[Theo Rob]

1. +1 for the "chosen one" thing.
god said you'll do it, so shut up and to it.
2. secretly a prince/princess/part god/charged with superpowers
it ruins games when they use this twist, the later they use it, the more annoyed i get.
3. black and grey morality
growing amount of games simply have you root for the lesser asshole
4. betrayal pile up
we don't need each major villain to betray and kill of the previous one
5. tech vs magic
tech is killing the environment! magic is better or some thing along those lines

 

[sXeth]

5. tech vs magic
tech is killing the environment! magic is better or some thing along those lines

Yeah, I always kind of want to see a game with tech and magic where the magic works in Dark Sun fashion and drains the life out of things around you (Either one thing massively for the evil guys, or spread across an area for the goody types).