Things that instantly kill your interest in a game

[llubtoille]

Main character death
Mass Effect 2 is a great recent example,
10mins into it, your main character dies and is later restored,
It just doesn't sit right with me,
I'm not religious or anything, but I can't stomach the logistics of resurrection.
even dying in game play will put me off when you simply 'respawn' or whatever.
price of persia was fine, 'no wait, that's not what happened'
or any game where you need to reload a save game.
but if your character simply re-materializes... my mind just can't get over it.
How did they do it? what was it like? can they remember dying? are they the same person? are they immortal-ish?
I then think of the kinky aspects of simply respawning if you die, in a perverse way.
then my mind goes down the dark tunnel of perversion which makes me feel ill
now I'm feeling ill

 

[KaizokuouHasu]

Many things put me off.

Multiplayer; any game designed with multiplayer as a focus is instantly a killjoy. I didn't like Halo 2 or 3 because of this, nor do I particularly enjoy Left 4 Dead 1 & 2. Just watch Yahtzee on Multiplayer and you'll see what I mean.

Muscle-man Archetypes; I hate this one. Games that use over-the-tip burly men always put me off. The irony is that these games are marketed towards men and teenage boys. I always found that to be slightly Freudian (read; gay). That said, I really did enjoy games like Nier and Resident Evil 5 (although I always play Sheva).

Bioware; I don't like them, at all. Jade Empire was the last game they made that I didn't get a brain hemorrhage raging over. I've played most of their games, most notably the latest few. I don't like them, and I hate it that I have to play a few more to be able to justify negative criticism in the future.

Stupid gameplay mechanics; Instant take-downs, press to jump between covers, unlimited ammo-except not, cinematic non-interactive action, usually a combo or an activated skill. Things that don't serve to add to gameplay, but just make the game look seamless. Most of the time it's like they think I'm an infant that needs to be guided by my wee little hand or that I'm too dumb to figure out puzzles or challenges.

Sexy Women on the front cover; This one is simply because it is bloody hard to bring one of those to the counter and say with a straight face that you heard from a friend that the game has great gameplay, or something like that. It also gets awkward when someone at home asks about it. ¬_¬ I like Dead or Alive, for instance. But it would be kind of hard to buy some of the DoA games because of some of the front covers (I'm primarily looking at you extreme beach volleyball).

Shitty story/character development and dialogue; this explains itself.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

when i look at the box and it says "multiple endings" I am turned off

 

[Vakz]

"Japanese RPG". I just can't stand them. Friends have made my try a lot of them, but I haven't manage to find a single one I liked.

 

[elcamino41383]

When the game is either a sports game, or I find out that it's an FPS. I just hate first person. So many great looking games I have no interest in thanks to think.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

When devs spew lies and such:

"Endless customization", because lets face it it's not.
"New and improved gameplay", well it can't be both now can it.
"Versatile AI", should not really be a selling point in the day and age.
"Reaction based mini games", you mean a quick time event? (seriously this annoys me the most, they don't say quicktime event because it will only annoy poeple but they will put it in the game anyway)

 

[Torrasque]

"Streamlined" This little word usually means "The game has been made so a toddler can play it! All that fun stuff you enjoyed before? Well we've wrecked it all so you don't have to worry about ANY details! Everyone can do the same thing now!"
Its killed my interest in alot of games, especially WoW. I didn't leave WoW because of it, but it was definitely one of the many factors that helped.

"Realistic" Fuck you realism. I don't care how "real" a game can be, its a fucking video game.
Sure, I enjoy pretty water effects that are realistic, and I enjoy physics that behave like real physics, but I don't give a damn about realistic guns, realistic damage, or realistic terrain. Unless its ACTUALLY REAL, it is not realistic. Period.

And the last one, is a boring or irritating soundtrack. Sure I can and do usually turn on my own music, but I shouldn't have to. The game should have good music that is engaging and gets me into the mood of the game, yet not be so distracting that I stop playing the game just to listen to the music. Borderlands has terrible overworld music, while D2 has amazing overworld music.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

when a game gives me really hard challenges and then the punishment for failure is so minor... if I die and get sent back 5 steps trying to kill the same 10 guys that I've already failed at time and time again, I am really bored at that point (Uncharted for example)

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I usually lose interest in a game when I realize I've been awarded like 20 achievements even though I've been playing for less than an hour. That's usually not a good sign.

Oh, and Games for Windows LIVE.

 

[WaffleCopters]

umm.... When a game is like the 15th game in franchise. or when its storyline seems shit.

or even worse. when a game series ended well. then tried to be rebooted just because of how well it went (HALO 4 ANYONE?!)

 

[WaffleCopters]

MMO.

Yup, that's it. I hate MMO's, and when people try to recommend that Borderlands become an MMO in my presence, hell is going to break loose.

First off, i agree with borderlands would be terrible as a MMO... seriously...


And second off THERE IS WAY TOO MANY GODDAM MMOs. i dont know whether it is DUE to WoW but i swear ever since WoW came out and went REALLY well (in the "earned blizzard over 100 million a month" way) the increase in MMOs became exponential...

what was wrong with just normal RPGs...?

 

[Serenity Fallen]

Biggest turn off for me is actually in-game, and not on the advertising. Forced, unskippable tutorials and insufferable Exposition Fairies. Especially when they continue hours into the game, long after I should have finished with the need for explanations.

Example? That stupid Jiminy Cricket wannabe who killed Okami for me... after several hours of play he was still showing up to yank control of my game away from me, force me to scroll through text boxes of solutions I'd already thought of and then, on top of all that, he'd insult me for having not having solved the puzzle sooner!

And don't get me started on Phantom Hourglass... *shudder*

In short, I don't like games that don't trust me, as if I'm going to accidentally poke my eyes out with the controller or something if I'm left alone too long.

 

[laggyteabag]

A couple more things that dont put me off, but make me why why its there -

A female character is almost always skinny with big boobs.
The blood on the screen looks more like slightly tinted red water than blood.
In most RPGs the first enemy that you encounter are the dreaded giant rats.
Why men almost always have big muscles, have a deep voice and sound like batman.
Armour for women characters is almost always intended to be revealing, instead of looking like armour.
Most of the time generic races are used, Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Goblin, Troll ect.

 

[DeathStreamer]

A couple more things that dont put me off, but make me why why its there -

A female character is almost always skinny with big boobs.
The blood on the screen looks more like slightly tinted red water than blood.
In most RPGs the first enemy that you encounter are the dreaded giant rats.
Why men almost always have big muscles, have a deep voice and sound like batman.
Armour for women characters is almost always intended to be revealing, instead of looking like armour.
Most of the time generic races are used, Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Goblin, Troll ect.

Ummm, how old are you, because the answer to those questions are incredibly simple, and should be obvious to MOST of the common populace that are at my age or older (I am 16). If my questioning of your current age offends you more than I intended, then I apologise.

1. Because skinny women with big boobies are what people want to see
2. This is either to do with censorship problems or lack of effort into the blood effects
3. Because rats, or whatever you start of fighting, have to both appear and physically BE weak, but a normal small rat or cokroach would just be stupid wouldn't it?
4. Because one of the things that can tie people to like a character is wanting to be like them. Most men dream of being muscular and intimidating.
5. This coincides with #1, people want to see as much of a woman as possible without it needing to be censored.
6. I don't have a solid answer for this other than a lack of creativity among the developers of modern-day games. Maybe because they are classic races and pose the most interest?

 

[Gunner 51]

Spoiler

Up until I played Deus Ex, if I saw the publisher was Squeenix - I'd give that game a very wide berth. I still feel the same way about anything by Capcom, too. I guess I'm just not fond of Japanese games. They're a little too strange for my tastes.

But gameplay wise - the escort mission. The minute I hear "please escort..." I roll my eyes.

If you haven't done all of Sarah Oakheart's escort quests in LOTRO, you don't know how bad they can get.

Spoiler

and to make it worse, later on you realize she's and evil queen of darkness type who could have squashed any of the foes that had "captured" her.

So, that means you skipped on Just Cause 2?! *GASP*

My main turn-off when considering to buy a game is very probably the price-to-content ratio. If a game offers way too little content for the price I'd be paying it for, I'll not buy it. I'm especially looking at you, Call of Duty. Making people pay 59.99 ON FUCKING PC is preposterous.
And then there's the usual DRM question...

Looking forward to Quantum Conundrum?

OT: If a reviewer mentions the word "repetitive" then I've lost interest. A mechanic should only be used a few times or spread out so it doesn't get worn out. If a game only has a few ideas, then it should be shorter in length. MMO's are too grindy and the "social" side is the only thing that seems to hold it together.Fighting games can't hold my interest as a single player experience. RTS's are something that I struggle with and can't help but feel that you need to memorise hotkeys, number of resource gatherers and set building orders and any time spent deviating will be the difference. That said, even if you master an RTS, you generally play the same maps and similar strategies over and over, but I respect it for its depth.

Trial and error gameplay should be avoided, but if a game does have it, then the player shouldn't be punished for it.

Games should provide a logical and fair challange. A game without challenge would make me zone out and feel like im just moving from one cutscene to the next. I prefer gameplay over story, but to each their own.

@JaceArveduin: I've seen some pretty hairy escort missions too. Though if you've ever played G-police or Resident Evil 2, those escort missions will have you tearing your hair out.

@James Crook: I can't blame you for being turned off by a high price - low content game. The CoD games like you said are bad for this, but I think Mirror's Edge really took the prize home for this. Which was a shame because if the rumours are true, there was a lot more to the game than what made it onto disk.

@DavidM4: I'll admit a little repetition is a good thing in a game. It shows you have worked out a winning strategy to the game you are playing. Trial and error gaming can be annoying - having played Sniper: Ghost Warrior. But it's not as annoying if the load times are mercifully quick.

 

[captaincabbage]

i know i'm probably gonna get alot of crap for this but i'm not really into rpg's what makes matters worse is alot of cool idea's have been wasted on them

Fair enough man, it's just not your cup of tea. I wouldn't say certain ideas were "wasted" on them tho, which ideas are you talking about?

OT: When the box says: "Genre-defying action!" on it, you instantly know it's just another shooter with a bloody slo-mo mechanic.

 

[Jfswift]

If game mechanics are clumsy like with the puzzle mode on Catherine (and cheap, you barely have enough time to do the last puzzle and only if you memorized the route up there). Oh and that annoying bell sound when you reach the plateau in between the challenges.

 

[ssgt splatter]

Anything that requires me to think too much. Example would be RTSs and RPGs.
I like shooters and certain racing games because they involve one puzzel each; shooters, use gun on man and racing; pass everyone else and win...simple.

Captcha: Nexact Works

 

[Quellist]

Characters that look more like childrens toys than people (for example see Xenosaga)

 

[Coldster]

Japanese-style anime usually turns me off a game. That doesn't mean I hate all games like that, it just means that I don't usually buy them (or even like them). I love Kingdom Hearts but thats about it for those kind of games.

Excuse me, but... is there a NON-Japanese anime? I mean other than Korean/Chinese ones?

Actually yes there is, and you know it too. They usually go by the name of cartoons. Have you ever seen Teen Titans? That is a perfect example of American Anime. So is the 80s Transformers and Xiaolin Showdown. Look them up if you haven't seen them, then you'll understand what I mean.