Game cliches you hate

[TheKruzdawg]

EDIT: So I totally just realized that the title of this thread was cliches, not glitches, which makes my post irrelevant.

 

[k-ossuburb]

Doors. What the hell is up with doors in videogames?

In Silent Hill 90% of them were broken so you couldn't open them.

In Elder Scrolls IV they would cause serious hilarity if you managed to trap someone in them while it closed.

In GTA 3 they weren't really doors, they were just painted squares that kind of looked like doors. Like some kind of extra-bloody Wile Coyote cartoon.

And that's just "manual" doors. Automatic doors have their issues too, especially on elevators. I remember in Halo: Reach I phased through the door with my magical glitching powers and fell 10 storeys to my death.

I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head right now, but you know what I mean. I bet you've come across some pretty stupid doors as well. Seriously. What the hell is up with doors?

 

[Kargathia]

Chainmail bikinis, and any plot involving world domination. They pretty much instantly make me lose any kind of interest I might've had in the game.

Yeah, it would need to be very complex and sophisticated. I think games are getting to the point, technologically, where this kind of thing is feasible. But games seem to neglect AI a lot of the time, which is a shame. Good AI adds a whole lot more to a game than impressive graphics or whatever, in my opinion.

It doesn't even need to be that complex. Just look at the Total War series, which has been handling morale very smoothly for a long while now.
Absolutely 100% agreed though with that AI is much, much, MUCH more important than shiny graphics.

 

[UltraDeth]

I can't stand mute protagonists

 

[SoloStoffe]

Fighting russians as the main antagonist.

It's getting tiresome.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

Enemies that refuse to fear me, no matter how efficiently I dispose of them.

That should definitely be the next step in game AI. You're outnumbered so you fight like a demon because you think you're gonna die, and once you've killed four or five badguys the others take the hint and start scrambling over each other to escape. Stand back and let them go or hunt them down like dogs? Instant, organic roleplaying choice. I WANT TO PLAY THAT GAME NOW!

Used to be done in crpgs all the time - Wizardry 1-8 (yep, they had morale systems back in 1983), Baldurs Gate 1+2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale 1-2, Deus Ex all had morale/fear mechanics.

Same with tactical-squad games like Jagged Alliance 2, Hammer and Sickle, Silent Storm etc.

Not so much in shooters, as the idea tends to be one of killing everything in sight, but games that combine shooting with stealth, rpg mechanics or other more thinking-based gameplay used to have them - e.g. Deus Ex, Thief 1-3, Hitman: Blood Money.

It was really only the advent of the last couple of console generations and the growth of more casual couch-based gaming that they started to drop that stuff. Up until about 2002 enemy AI was one of the main things that games tried to advance on. It isn't that they can't do it - it's just that now they focus more on graphics than gameplay.

 

[Esotera]

How pretty much every female character is amazing at hacking, and can easily decode alien technology. Also, health packs. They're too unrealistic for my liking.

 

[Spoon E11]

Point morality systems. They ruin games. If your going to have one then dont make it visible and never say +5 Evil ect. Just hide it away and make it far more subtle.

 

[-Dragmire-]

"You are the only one who can do this! YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!"

I'm getting really fucking sick of it. It's why I liked Oblivion. I was NOT the "chosen one". I was just some dude who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. I didn't have jack shit given to me because I was "the one". I had to work to be famous, work to get to higher places, instead of just being given everything because I'm "the one".

Really fucking sick of it.

Play Bard's Tale, it spoofs the Chosen One bit quite well.

OT: Protagonist saving the world then goes back home to farm or something equally stupid. I would think celebrity status would be the least of what you get for saving the world.

oh, and shop keepers who know the world is going to end if the evil entity is not stopped still charging you $5,000,000 for a sword.

 

[mikey7339]

Those random grunts, gasps, hmmms, hmmphs, weird expression noises, what ever they are that Japanese characters make in lieu of facial expressions or actual words. One of the reasons I prefer text boxes to actual speech in JRPGs.

 

[AgentLampshade]

Currently I was playing through Arkham Asylum again and I was down in Croc's lair looking for those stupid spores. I got to the point where I need to leave but I can't. You know why? That stupid move where Croc swims under you and destroys the planks while you run away? Well that destroyed the only way for me to leave. And the game autosaved while I was in there so I'm stuck and would have to start all over again.

Line Launcher.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

Time limits during fights. I understand why the developers would attach a time limit to a fight to make you get more involved with the situation, but when often it's when (for example) the place you're in is going to blow up. It makes you wonder, how do we always have a time limit that's nice and round, like 2 minutes, and how the hell do we know how long until the time limit runs out? It just seems weird that so many game characters have a magic watch just to tell them how long they have to finish their business and get out.

You took the words right out of my mouth. The difference is that my reasoning behind hating time limits is personal (they make me overly anxious) as opposed to being a criticism aimed at their implementation.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

"You are the only one who can do this! YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!"

I'm getting really fucking sick of it. It's why I liked Oblivion. I was NOT the "chosen one". I was just some dude who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. I didn't have jack shit given to me because I was "the one". I had to work to be famous, work to get to higher places, instead of just being given everything because I'm "the one".

Really fucking sick of it.

I can think of great crpgs that subvert that brilliantly: SPOILERS FOR ARCANUM, BALDURS GATE 2 AND TORMENT!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


Arcanum (by Troika) - it starts off with you being called the chosen one, and lots of characters telling you that you are. You can even very easily play the whole game through thinking that you're the chosen one, a reincarnation of an ancient hero. Except that if you explore the gameworld thoroughly and follow up on certain clues along the way, you might find a set of coordinates where you can meet a certain NPC...who happens to be the guy that everyone thinks you are, still alive (which makes it kind of unlikely that you are his reincarnation). Instead of the chosen one, it turns out you're some random guy that's been mistaken for the chosen one - basically like Brian in Life of Brian.

Baldurs Gate 2 (Bioware) - ok, in the Baldurs Gate series you ARE the chosen one - as choseny oney as a chosen one cliche can get. But one of the many things that this middle entry did that makes it stand tall over Bioware's other games is invert that cliche. Sure, you're the chosen one...until some guy hijacks both your destiny and the destiny of the series' overall villain, taking your 'chosen-one'ness for himself.

Planescape: Torment (Black Isle/Interplay) - no secret that this is my favourite ever game. Again, you kind of look like a chosen one - you're immortal (you regenerate and wake up again whenever you die), and you're rapidly growing godlike powers. BUT you also have this knack of bringing pain, suffering...and, well, Torment, to everyone around you, especially anyone who trusts you. You're actually the cursed one, the one that's causing the suffering and misery and needs to be destroyed...and unlike you, your companions are NOT immortal...

 

[Richardplex]

The arbitrary ways the game stops you moving forward. A trail of ants is crossing the path, you cannot pass! Though on the flipside, it adds to the hilarity of the Mother series.

You heartless bastard. Don't even think of stepping on the ants. You cannot crush the feeble just because they are weak.

Mine would be the... actually, I like my cliches

<--- RPG arsehole. see this.

 

[AshuraSpeaks]

1. Time limits, shorter than a reasonable amount of time. Portal gives you almost enough if you struggle with the idea, and triple what you need if you've done it a few times before. Halo 1's ending actually EXTENDS past the "final amount of time" because it's being calculated in real time in response to changing factors blah. World of Warcraft's timers are pretty much "Hey, get on that taxi and fly to X" because they're usually a half an hour or some huge chunk. All of these work perfect, but only because they err on the side of too much. I have never beaten GTA3 because a late game mission destroying faux coffee stands ACROSS ALL THREE MOTHER SLAPPING ISLANDS, that for some reason also has a time limit, that is just arbitrary and sucks out the fun.

2. Escort quests where you move a fleshy target around even though you can't really protect them so much as park them, run ahead, demolish everything, then run back. It's frustrating and detracts from the escapism, from everything you've been building toward to make yourself less vulnerable.

 

[kuolonen]

Hmh, many little things, but lately what has really turned me off many games (mainly shooters) is the "Stick it to the man, rebels hells yeah!" bullshit plot. Its gotten so bloody predictable and overused.

For f***s sake, I'm done fighting the power over and over again. Let me be goddamm stormtrooper or the Dark Emperor for once and develop it from there without the old "Dissillusionoment with higher-ups, taking up the rebel handband"-routine.

Done. To. Death. in evry conceivable way.

And no, giving a last minute option to change sides (after killing most of the Man's armies) for the altrenative ending, does not count.

 

[Hides His Eyes]

Enemies that refuse to fear me, no matter how efficiently I dispose of them.

That should definitely be the next step in game AI. You're outnumbered so you fight like a demon because you think you're gonna die, and once you've killed four or five badguys the others take the hint and start scrambling over each other to escape. Stand back and let them go or hunt them down like dogs? Instant, organic roleplaying choice. I WANT TO PLAY THAT GAME NOW!

Used to be done in crpgs all the time - Wizardry 1-8 (yep, they had morale systems back in 1983), Baldurs Gate 1+2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale 1-2, Deus Ex all had morale/fear mechanics.

Same with tactical-squad games like Jagged Alliance 2, Hammer and Sickle, Silent Storm etc.

Not so much in shooters, as the idea tends to be one of killing everything in sight, but games that combine shooting with stealth, rpg mechanics or other more thinking-based gameplay used to have them - e.g. Deus Ex, Thief 1-3, Hitman: Blood Money.

It was really only the advent of the last couple of console generations and the growth of more casual couch-based gaming that they started to drop that stuff. Up until about 2002 enemy AI was one of the main things that games tried to advance on. It isn't that they can't do it - it's just that now they focus more on graphics than gameplay.

You know, I've actually played most of those games and totally forgot about them. I guess what I want to see is modern games doing it, because alongside the other advances that have been made in recent years it would make for a really, really fun experience. Regarding Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale though, the frightened enemies tend to run away, collect themselves, then come back and try again, and you end up killing them anyway. What I'd really like is the choice of: a) let them go because you're nice, b) hunt them down and kill them so they can't summon help or c) hunt them down and kill them because you're just a bastard.

This is linked to the fact that I would like to see more moral choices in games, especially RPGs, that are organic and part of the gameplay, rather than always manifesting as dialogue options. Moral choices in games tend to have a very scripted, controlled feel.

 

[Echo42]

what happens in pretty much every space marine based story mission in DoW:
orcs -> eldar turn out to be manipulating them -> bigger opponent (chaos, tyranids, necron)

To be fair though, the Warhammer universe would be much safer from all these ancient or new threats if the Eldar were just left the hell alone to fix things. But no the Space Marines have to come in a knock over their tables and drink all their Coke... Imperialistic bastards.

 

[Flight]

Women as white mages and damsels in distress. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but it's obnoxious whenever I get a "save the princess" moment, especially when said "princess" has previously been established as being capable of defending herself. Also, why is there an unspoken rule in most games that guys can't be healers?

 

[II2]

- Backtracking and backtracking 'inverted' or 'parallel' or 'shadow' versions of the same level. Unless they change it up SIGNIFICANTLY or do something really clever, it's just padding.

- Deus Ex Machina kidnap / lose all your weapons - invetory. I can understand the usefulness of this from a narrative perspective and gameplay perspective, but especially in RPGs and the like, it FUCKS your sense of ryhthm with your character's inventory. It could just be my own personal idiosyncrasies talking, but I find having to search for and find the inevitable chest/locker/vault with all your belongings in it stressful and annoying in a meta-game sense that feels SORTA similar to 'losing progress'.

- Lengthy dream sequences where you are trapped and have to plod through just to get back to the actual "real" game. (I mean this for games where it's not a central thing like Catherine, but maybe happens just once in the story)

- Boss Monsters as stock enemies in later levels. (small grievance)

- Unlocking core class functions in multiplayer.