Things No Game Should Do

[bojac6]

So I was playing Wolverine Origins the other day (before you say anything, I borrowed it, no money went towards that terrible game) and I found myself really frustrated with the game, not because of poor writing or bad gameplay (which the game had) but because of stupid design decisions. So I started listing the stupid things it was doing and realized it was things that just should not happen in a modern game. Here's a few I came up with:

Wrestling with the Camera - This was the moment I gave up on Wolverine. I was in a fight and the camera angle kept jumping around because there was some sort of magic "camera must face this way" line right in the middle. So I couldn't see anything, keep track of anything, or enjoy it. No game should make you spend more time working on camera angles than doing whatever the game is about.

Using Bad Controls to Up Difficulty - Wolverine, many 3rd person fighters, others. Just like you should never wrestle with the camera, you should never wrestle with your controller. Don't make me use the Left stick and the D-Pad simultaneously, that's just stupid. Controls should be fluid and responsive, difficultly should flow from the game. Perfect counter-example, Batman: AA. Really simple buttons, no complicated combos, but you do such amazing things.

Mash a Button - GTA, Wolverine, almost every game ever. Making tap A repeatedly to run does not increase realism or make the game more fun. Pressing B a billion times to turn a crank does not simulate turning a crank. All developers are doing is frustrating players who don't want to just twitch their thumb, but actually want to play a game.

Base A Game Around Something Cool, Make Bad Guys Immune - Force Unleashed, others. What's the point of the Force Unleashed? I would say it's using Force powers. Zapping and choking dudes left and right, shoving them off cliffs with your mind, it should be awesome. So why are the majority of the enemies in magic suits that protect them from the Force and can only be killed by doing the same stupid lightsaber move three times in a row? This is dumb and ruins the game. Do what the Jedi Knight games did, introduce more bad guys, not more powerful bad guys. The last level of Jedi Knight is fantastic because you just cut down a hundred stormtroopers. It's tough because there's a lot of them, but it's fun because you're amazingly powerful. Compare that to fighting the Dark Troopers in Force Unleashed. Repetitive, dull, and frustrating. Halo doesn't suddenly introduce bad guys that can't be shot. Why should a Star Wars game introduce bad guys that can't be choked.

Checkpoints Before A Cutscene - Wolverine, a lot of games. Don't make me watch the stupid cut scene over and over again because I died in a boss fight. Don't make me skip it, don't make me wait for it to load so I can then load the fight. Check points should load you to action. I don't know what's worse, loading to a cutscene that takes 5 minutes to get through and having to watch it a billion times, or loading to a single snarky comment before the fight and having to hear the bad guy say "And now you die, hahahaha" or whatever over and over again.

Save Points - PoP: Sands of Time, Dead Rising, others. Yes, there was a time for these. Yes, it was technology limited. You know what? We're passed that. I should be able to pause, save, and leave the game at any time. Maybe not in the middle of a fight, I get that. But I should never be more than a few minutes from saving. Some of us game to kill some time before doing something else. I shouldn't have to ask myself if I have enough time to actually save any progress I made.


Now the rules are, these should not be things that you personally don't like, but things that are more or less objectively bad. For instance, saying "Be an FPS" is just an opinion, make it a legitimate bad design decision. Secondly, have real examples of games guilty of this. I agree with you completely that games should not literally kick you in the balls every five seconds, but I haven't heard of this game. Finally, feel free to cite games that were great at the time but shouldn't be done any more. Like fixed cameras, worked fine back in the day of the first GoW and other games like it, but today, I think we've moved past it.

 

[Sjakie]

The same standard minibosses in wolverine turned me off from it. Also Wolverine should have been more 'cutthroat' for my tastes.

...and what you said!

 

[Sacman]

Gah, wall of text... don't wanna read... must skip... to the end...
OT: any game that sacrifices substance for style automatically falls into poor design...
like the fight scenes in Devil May Cry that are awesome to watch but leaves the player out of it...

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

Have a weapon on par with the CoD noob tube.

 

[RandallJohn]

Unfair boss fights - Street Fighter series. Bosses with unblockable, screen covering attacks, insane reach, and the ability to resurrect themselves if not killed exactly right. Originally, I thought I was just not good enough at these games, but then I found out that this is something of a recurring trend. There's even a name for it: SNK Boss Syndrome.

SNK boss syndrome:
A term used to characterize most bosses of the King of Fighters series (and other SNK fighting games). It is characterized by:
1. The characters having unusually high damage and priority in their moves.
2. Annoying, repetitive A.I. which reads the input of the opponent's moves in advance.
3. Can only be beaten with the use of stupid patterns (most of the time).

 

[Lightslei]

I'll give you the two primary reasons for the savepoints from a coding perspective:

1) Say the game has a leveling system and the player is incapable of defeating the boss by normal standard (I'm not talking about people who do low level runs) can't beat it so they want to level up but they saved right before the boss fight and can't change it. Most players I'd expect would just overwrite 1 default save continuously (although I would guess it's physically possible to set a seperate save without the players permission).

2) Save Points are so it loads the game from a specific point to start with so say you don't render the entirety of FF and crash the console...

Really the only place for it is extensively long-drawn out games...

Camera Control is what I define as laziness on the developers end.

What's the fastest way to create artificially difficult enemies? It's lazy coding to get the game out as fast as possible.

Bad Controls aren't always the fault of the developer although a lot of the time it is, sometimes it's just due to the way it's read to the system... although developers really should fix that before trying to sell them >_>.

 

[Blue_vision]

2 things to argue with OP:

Tapping buttons can work. In GTA, I loved how you madly tap buttons to run away really fast. It actually immersed me a lot more in the game than just holding down x would have.

And saving isn't something that needs to be standardized. It's a stylistic choice. In an open world like Metroid, having save points that you need to get to to save makes the game more interesting. Sure, it can be annoying sometimes, but it'd be better than just saving and picking back up whenever you want.

The rest are agreed on though.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

On the subject of Save Points, Mass Effect 2 did them masterfully. It provided an auto save feature that frequently saved immediately subsequent to an important scene or part of the level, therefore preventing continuously repetition. Additionally, you had the option to create your own at any given moment just in case. This should become the standard for all video gaming. We have moved to an era where cinematic are a primary element and having to watch a clip for hours on end due to a difficult boss engagement is an exercise in immense frustration. I understand the occasional scene not being saved via auto saving features and those are acceptable. Having to rewatch scenes akin to the duration of MGS or FFXIII is... aggravating.

My list would be...

Higher HP =/= Difficult. || Despite what developers believe, providing your foe with seventeen health meters and a cheap attack does not equate to a difficult engagement. It only enrages most gamers and can often lead to a growing hatred of the title. When I raise the difficulty, I expect a more intuitive AI that is capable of calculating my actions and adjusting accordingly. Certainly an increase in health is warranted, so long as it is not the principal - or in most cases, the only - element of 'higher difficulty.'

Cheap attacks || These are always mind numbingly irritating because there is not skill involved. I can respect a loss to my opponent when they outmaneuver me or I make a mistake. You live and learn. When the enemy is provided a secret attack of supreme awesomeness, you cannot survive and they spam it to death, then I call foul. There are numerous manners these horrendous gimmicks can be employed however it is not less frustrating.

Randomness || In certain practices, specific damage calculation, this is a wonderful feature if properly implemented. Where it becomes a disaster is best cited in FFXII; the infamous randomization of the treasure chests and their content. Whoever thought of this should be stabbed. It is a terrible gameplay mechanic that serves no purpose beyond immense irritation. If locating a certain magical item or x-potion at that portion of the game would unbalance things, then do not include them whatsoever.

Guide Dang it! || Ah the beloved TV tropes quote, where a game includes something that is either vague eluded upon or not at all referenced to and therefore the requirement of a guide is necessary. FFXII again had one of the worst abuses of this I have ever witnessed, with four randomly (gah!) chests being opened resulted in the reduction of the likelihood in locating the ultimate weapon to a merger 0.001% Now the argument may be, "They want you to purchase their strategy guides!" Well, hate to break it to game developers however we have websites like Gfaqs dedicated to providing free guides and assistance. Take the aforementioned example. The FFXII board lit up warning gamers not to open those chests. So all Square accomplished was angering their fanbase. Good idea >.>

Mutliplayer/Online/FPS || For the love of all that is holy not every game and it's mother must require those two features. RPGs are a prime example of a genre that discourages both and I for one would like to see a revival of games that focused on their respective storyline and single player content, then providing another make shift copy of Call of Duty or Halo's online system, which is usually inferior in every conceivable way. Additionally, not every game must be a bloody shooter. This is becoming problematic in Mass Effect 2, where a large portion of the RPG benefits were tossed in favor of a simplistic shooter experience. We have another FPS a year, too many. It would be nice if even a couple games would stay clear of all three listed in this category.

 

[MasterMongoose0]

I feel like you bashed Wolverine more than I would've (granted, I'm only 2 hours in), but that game has so many bad design decisions in it. The way they wrestle control away from you to show "HEY WOLVERINE IS DOING SOMETHING COOL" when they could have easily kept it in play a la Modern Warfare/God of War etc. The game cuts to two second long clips all the time, which instead of pumping me up just bores me. Wolverine leaps onto a boat, kills two soldiers (all from a "cinematic" camera angle), and then I get control again.

That forced stealth shit needs to go. I'm so sick of seeing it in action games. If failure in stealth= instakill, then I don't wanna be a part of it. ACTUAL stealth games don't generally work this way, so why should your contrived stealth do it?

I was playing the original Metal Gear Solid on hard earlier, and the cutscenes before/during boss fights make me angry. Its especially strange since you can skip most cutscenes, but not all. I heard Grey Fox's dumb, "Good, snake. Now we can fight as warriors. Hand to hand is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to weapon," so many times today...

 

[derintrel]

Escort Missions

 

[Gigaguy64]

Infinite combos in fighting games.
NO.
Just NO.

I swear if i haft to fight a Magnito, Storm, Psylock team on MvC2 Multiplayer again im gonna go nuts.
And its not just Capcom.
SNK REALLY suffers from this.
And most of the time its one freaking move that can be spammed over and over again.
Im looking at you Iori...

 

[Paulie92]

2 things to argue with OP:

Tapping buttons can work. In GTA, I loved how you madly tap buttons to run away really fast. It actually immersed me a lot more in the game than just holding down x would have.

And saving isn't something that needs to be standardized. It's a stylistic choice. In an open world like Metroid, having save points that you need to get to to save makes the game more interesting. Sure, it can be annoying sometimes, but it'd be better than just saving and picking back up whenever you want.

The rest are agreed on though.

I agree, except for tapping be to turn a crank is bollocks.

My pet hate at the moment is the fact that killing enemies in almost any game (RPG's particularly) takes forever. They have insane amounts of health and you do medeocre damage. See: Mass Effect 2, Oblivion, Brutal Legend and Fallout 3 for the top of my head examples.

 

[Glamorgan]

Can I just say that, before anyone says it, quicktime events can work. I cite Heavy Rain, Guitar Hero, and Rockband as an example.

OT: I agreed with pretty much everything on there. Though you do have a bit of a problem with Wolvie, don't you?

 

[Jonny The Kay]

Cheap deaths you can only know coming if you've died once from it already

 

[Dango]

Appeal to a wide audience.

It may seem weird, but appealing to a wide audience is precisely what's wrong with the development of modern generic FPSs. The problem is simple, if you try too hard to appear to everyone, then you can never completely satisfy one specific group of gamers.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

I see your "Save Points" and I raise it to "only one save file available". In a game like Dead Rising, where unfortunate timing can screw you up royally and make your save useless, that is absolutely unforgivable.

Unskippable Cutscenes is another. Look, I might watch every cutscene you offer just because I care... but, newsflash, not everyone does. So have them skippable. And not easily skippable like "oh fuck, I accidentally pressed a button and the cutscene is gone".

 

[Legendairy314]

Little wiggle room. For those RPG games where you're tasked with going through a game with a plethora of options only to find out you've invested wrongly...It's even worse when you realize you're going to need to go back quite a ways to even hope of redeeming yourself.

My latest experience with this was FF13. Oh great, my two medic's just disappeared and now I have one healer who just learned cure...awesome...

 

[bojac6]

Can I just say that, before anyone says it, quicktime events can work. I cite Heavy Rain, Guitar Hero, and Rockband as an example.

OT: I agreed with pretty much everything on there. Though you do have a bit of a problem with Wolvie, don't you?

It's fresh on my mind, so yeah, I'm pretty harsh on it. I actually think the Force-immune bad guys in Force Unleashed was much more annoying.

Higher HP =/= Difficult. || Despite what developers believe, providing your foe with seventeen health meters and a cheap attack does not equate to a difficult engagement. It only enrages most gamers and can often lead to a growing hatred of the title. When I raise the difficulty, I expect a more intuitive AI that is capable of calculating my actions and adjusting accordingly. Certainly an increase in health is warranted, so long as it is not the principal - or in most cases, the only - element of 'higher difficulty.'

Oh yes. This is terrible. I remember Mass Effect on Insanity, just sitting in the tank against a colossus. It was just so boring. Just keep shooting. They needed to make them smarter, not tougher. My ideal difficulty curve would be:
Easy: Stormtrooper rush. Just running at you, armor is worthless, can't hit anything, no regard for personal safety.
Normal: Mob movie. They take cover, they have full health, and they can hit you. Mostly they sit behind cover, pop out and spray an area, then reload in cover. Can be killed just by standing there, but you will take damage if you're not careful.
Hard: act like characters in a war movie. They have the same health as normal, better accuracy. Big change here is they work together. One draws fire, some suppress without looking. Try to catch you in open m
Insane: Cohesive Unit. Again, same stats, maybe more accurate. Constantly pressuring and flanking. Force you into the open.

Of course this needs a bit of adaptation depending on game type. FPS might throw in grenades as it gets harder. RTS might make unit choice smarter. RPG might add new spells or abilities. But mostly, it's like this list. None of that shooting the same guy a billion times crap.

 

[hittite]

1. The main protagonist should have lines that aren't all whiny, self-pitying filler. Xenosaga, I'm looking at you. I very nearly broke my TV trying to punch the main character in the neck and damage her vocal chords.

2. If a character is thus developed, they should stay in character and not attempt one random act of awesomeness. There's a scene where little miss whiny completely breaks character and has a mexican stand off with a psychotic android with more raw firepower than the US military (that's actually not an exagerration) and blows its friggin' head off! Please note that this is 3/4 of the way through the game and she has been firmly established as the second least likeable character in the game (by which I mean all of history).

whoah, I have more issues than I thought.

 

[RandallJohn]

I already posted one, but a game I'm playing just made me rage right back here with a fresh gripe: Bosses with multiple forms.

"Yes! I just spent three hours and all of my healing spells on that boss, but he's FINALLY gone! I can finally... wait... are you fricking KIDDING ME?!?!"

I'm pretty sure this has happened to all of us. It makes it even more frustrating when you have to immediately go into the next fight with no opportunity to heal your weary party.

Oh, and the second form of the boss is usually exponentially harder than the first.

Offending games? Several. MGS3, Marvel vs Capcom, Every Final Fantasy ever, etc, etc. For a recent release, I cite DQ9 (King Godwyn.) I'd cite Dissidia Final Fantasy (Chaos,) which had three forms, but all of them were laughably easy, and more of an annoyance than anything.