Lately I've been playing Final Fantasy XIII-2 and, while I've been enjoying it overall, Mog's voice and character just really annoys me, no matter how useful he/she/it might be. However, I find this to be counterbalanced by the fact that it is an actual part of the game where I can grab the little bastard by the neck and throw it as far as I possibly can, listening to it screaming in terror all the while. I sometimes take breaks just to do it for fun.
Doing that reminded me of another game with a similarly therapeutic mechanic, Radiata Stories. one of the funnest things about that game was that 'X' was the literal 'Kick' command button, and I could run around kicking doors, trashcans, rocks, and people to my hearts content. Not only that, but the game encouraged that kind of behavior, so I spent a lot of time just running around town kicking people in the shins until they decided to fight me. And I would be able to kick them in the shins some more after I kicked their ass.
So, what other games have mechanics that you found to be similarly therapeutic or unexpectedly fun.
Note: Wantonly slaughtering NPCs in sandbox games doesn't count; we already know that's fun, and it all comes from the nature of the sandbox, not some particular game's design.
Doing that reminded me of another game with a similarly therapeutic mechanic, Radiata Stories. one of the funnest things about that game was that 'X' was the literal 'Kick' command button, and I could run around kicking doors, trashcans, rocks, and people to my hearts content. Not only that, but the game encouraged that kind of behavior, so I spent a lot of time just running around town kicking people in the shins until they decided to fight me. And I would be able to kick them in the shins some more after I kicked their ass.
So, what other games have mechanics that you found to be similarly therapeutic or unexpectedly fun.
Note: Wantonly slaughtering NPCs in sandbox games doesn't count; we already know that's fun, and it all comes from the nature of the sandbox, not some particular game's design.
