Game mechanics you're glad have (virtually) died.

[Specter Von Baren]

Yeah I'm with you personally but I have heard a lot of people make that complaint so I'm saying even if you are one of them you still can enjoy Asura's Wrath I'm sure.

I would argue the main reason people hate QTEs is when they're like RE4 where they pop up suddenly and failing them leads to death. Most rhythm games are basically just QTEs but set to music and people love playing them. So long as you know it's time for a QTE then they're fine.

 

[Dalisclock]

I would argue the main reason people hate QTEs is when they're like RE4 where they pop up suddenly and failing them leads to death. Most rhythm games are basically just QTEs but set to a rhythm. So long as you know it's time for a QTE and then they're fine.

Now I'm getting Uncharted Flashblacks. The first game, where a box would fall from a ledge without warning and you had to do the QTE with like 2 seconds warning.
At least the later games gave you much more warning and implemented it better.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Now I'm getting Uncharted Flashblacks. The first game, where a box would fall from a ledge without warning and you had to do the QTE with like 2 seconds warning.
At least the later games gave you much more warning and implemented it better.

I feel that random encounters are so detested for a similar reason. I'm not going to romanticize them as I would prefer most games have followed Earthbound's amazing example with it's encounter system, but I've played games that do things to make random encounters better.

Some games I've played have had a sort of "threat meter" in them, where you'll have an indicator of some kind that goes from green to yellow to red to indicate whether a battle is going to happen and I don't feel frustrated with the encounters because if that. I think making mechanics come out of nowhere and have little way to interact with them is the big culprit.

 

[wings012]

The most recent JRPGs I've played typically have on map enemies that you need to walk into to trigger an encounter. Though they have an aggro range and will chase you, they can be avoided and sometimes there's a mechanic to actively attack them which gives you bonuses in combat, like starting first or getting a free turn or whatever.

 

[BrawlMan]

Games where you take damage from an enemy colliding in to you and they're not carrying a weapon, unarmored, nor charging at you. They're just usually walking. A ton of platformers from 2D to 3D did this way too much. This kinda died around late in to 7th generation, but there are still indie games that commit to this practice for "historical" or be true to the old days. You should not go back to bad game designs from the past; you will never truly move forward.

Regenerating health and cover shooters. Outstayed their welcome for far too long and did so little. Begone forever.

 

[BrawlMan]

This is not so much a mechanic as it was a design trend. When every Western publisher, AAA, AA, or indie felt the need to cram in 80s references or nostalgia for no reason. Other to appear hip, appeal to those from the 80s and sometimes 90s in the most shallow way possible. DD Neon had plenty of 80s references, but that made sense, and Way Forward made sure to make a good game behind it first. You'll still get your occasional 80s design or stylized game from the indie circle, but it's nowhere prevalent how it was in late 2000s and early to mid 2010s.

 

[Worgen]

This is not so much a mechanic as it was a design trend. When every Western publisher, AAA, AA, or indie felt the need to cram in 80s references or nostalgia for no reason. Other to appear hip, appeal to those from the 80s and sometimes 90s in the most shallow way possible. DD Neon had plenty of 80s references, but that made sense, and Way Forward made sure to make a good game behind it first. You'll still get your occasional 80s design or stylized game from the indie circle, but it's nowhere prevalent how it was in late 2000s and early to mid 2010s.

I kinda think that the 80s and 90s are the last times you could really do many references and have them be mostly universal. In the 2000s media started becoming much more fragmented so you couldn't really count on everyone knowing the references, plus you have to look at the age of the designers. Chances are they are putting something they remember in to be a fun thing, once we get further into the 2000s we will probably see more from then.

 

[BrawlMan]

Chances are they are putting something they remember in to be a fun thing, once we get further into the 2000s we will probably see more from then.

I get that and nothing wrong with it, but there were many that threw in them in there just to jump on a trend in some of the most shallow ways possible. I know these references will come back here and there at some point, but my main beef is that the ones from the past just all blended together. Not much to stand out other than name.

 

[Worgen]

I get that and nothing wrong with it, but there were many that threw in them in there just to jump on a trend in some of the most shallow ways possible. I know these references will come back here and there at some point, but my main beef is that the ones from the past just all blended together. Not much to stand out other than name.

I think the worst example of something like that is from the movie Moana. When Maui uses a bird to carve something in an oar and says its called a tweet. That was painful and totally takes you out of the movie.

 

[BrawlMan]

This is more so a trend, but crappy license movie adaption or tie-in games. There are some good ones, but most were garbage or a rushed mess to meet demand, a quick buck, or for the Christmas holiday.

 

[Fallen Soldier]

I’m glad to see QTEs go the way of the dodo. They’re not as common as they were once before and if they do appear you can turn them off in some games like in spider-man.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Stuff that’s tied to using cutscenes to hide loading times for new areas or chapters because consoles had memory/loading restraints. That’s something I’ll really be praising the PS5 for whenever I wind up getting one is the near instant load times for everything.

 

[BrawlMan]

The death of "real is brown" in video games. Stayed on for far too long, because nearly everyone in the AAA space was going for "realism". Two or three weapon limits are gone, aside from COD/Battlefield, and the weapon wheel has come back to FPS/TPS game design. Also, I am glad health meters are making a comeback in gaming again. The Japanese and most indie games are usually more than fine with them, but the Western AAA side kept removing them (aside from the odd boss), for "IMMERSION!" and "Realism!". Even certain FPS games and TPS games (Gears 5) are embracing health meters at least on enemies. I do admit it was weird seeing health bars on enemies in Gears 5.

 

[Dalisclock]

The death of "real is brown" in video games. Stayed on for far too long, because nearly everyone in the AAA space was going for "realism". Two or three weapon limits are gone, aside from COD/Battlefield, and the weapon wheel has come back to FPS/TPS game design. Also, I am glad health meters are making a comeback in gaming again. The Japanese and most indie games are usually more than fine with them, but the Western AAA side kept removing them (aside from the odd boss), for "IMMERSION!" and "Realism!". Even certain FPS games and TPS games (Gears 5) are embracing health meters at least on enemies. I do admit it was weird seeing health bars on enemies in Gears 5.

What, you didn't like red jam all over your screen when you got shot in a first person game instead of an actual health bar?

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

What, you didn't like red jam all over your screen when you got shot in a first person game instead of an actual health bar?

Nothing helps in a tight situation like further obscuring your vision.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

The death of "real is brown" in video games. Stayed on for far too long, because nearly everyone in the AAA space was going for "realism". Two or three weapon limits are gone, aside from COD/Battlefield, and the weapon wheel has come back to FPS/TPS game design. Also, I am glad health meters are making a comeback in gaming again. The Japanese and most indie games are usually more than fine with them, but the Western AAA side kept removing them (aside from the odd boss), for "IMMERSION!" and "Realism!". Even certain FPS games and TPS games (Gears 5) are embracing health meters at least on enemies. I do admit it was weird seeing health bars on enemies in Gears 5.

Ah yes, the late 2000/early 2010 aesthetic of 'ugly'.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

The death of "real is brown" in video games. Stayed on for far too long, because nearly everyone in the AAA space was going for "realism". Two or three weapon limits are gone, aside from COD/Battlefield, and the weapon wheel has come back to FPS/TPS game design. Also, I am glad health meters are making a comeback in gaming again. The Japanese and most indie games are usually more than fine with them, but the Western AAA side kept removing them (aside from the odd boss), for "IMMERSION!" and "Realism!". Even certain FPS games and TPS games (Gears 5) are embracing health meters at least on enemies. I do admit it was weird seeing health bars on enemies in Gears 5.

Health meters for you, sure, but fuuuuuuck health bars on enemies in shooters. Or even some non-shooter games. Show me damage on enemies ala Doom, or have gameplay where the health of an enemy is largely irrelevant.

I'm pretty sure the only reason we keep having health bars in recent games that didn't have them before is because they want you to see exactly how much of a bigger number your new weapon does compared to your old one. Gotta love it when they shove down crappy unwanted RPG mechanics down our throats!

And yes, this pretty much exclusively applies to Ubisoft games.

 

[BrawlMan]

Health meters for you, sure, but fuuuuuuck health bars on enemies in shooters. Or even some non-shooter games. Show me damage on enemies ala Doom, or have gameplay where the health of an enemy is largely irrelevant.

I agree with you to an extent, but it depends on what game and how well somebody is doing it. I know not every game needs health meters for everything, but I am just happy to see them make a comeback after an misguided attempt to look more "mature" or "realistic". Doom doesn't need health meters for enemies, but I like look of the health meters for bosses in Doom 2016.

 

[Worgen]

Health meters for you, sure, but fuuuuuuck health bars on enemies in shooters. Or even some non-shooter games. Show me damage on enemies ala Doom, or have gameplay where the health of an enemy is largely irrelevant.

I'm pretty sure the only reason we keep having health bars in recent games that didn't have them before is because they want you to see exactly how much of a bigger number your new weapon does compared to your old one. Gotta love it when they shove down crappy unwanted RPG mechanics down our throats!

And yes, this pretty much exclusively applies to Ubisoft games.

If its something like borderlands where you can have wildly varying enemy health pools then I think health bars are fine. But something like Doom or Gears shouldn't have them. I think part of the gameplay there is getting a feel for how much damage your enemies can take.

 

[BrawlMan]

But something like Doom or Gears shouldn't have them. I think part of the gameplay there is getting a feel for how much damage your enemies can take.

I do not know about Eternal, as I barely got into it and later traded the game in. Doom 4 on the other hand, shows damage on bosses with health meters. So you get both. Gears 5 does health meters for mooks and mini bosses. I think the major bosses don't get any. Vanquish does both as well, but you're mostly fighting robots so that definitely makes sense. Plus, you can blow off the limbs of robots and they'll change tactics and become suicide bombers or alternate their attacks depending on the robot. Bosses and mini bosses actually have their names displayed and gets a big health bar in the center of the screen.