Sub-Zero

When I'm playing a video game, one thing that always annoys me is the "invisible wall". Another thing is in open world games, when I clear a section and then it is not clear what I'm supposed to do next and I spend a lot of time basically walking around aimlessly trying to figure where I'm supposed to go.

What common things in video games do you dislike?

OldBoy

Load times that vary so much in games. Load times period. I know they have to be there, I guess, but sometimes big interruptions are not ideal. That’s what pause is for.

And non-skippable cut scenes. I like The Witcher 3 and all but don’t need to see same while beautiful art of Witcher and Yennifer and recap of what’s happening, when I die or go to different area on map...

DJariya

Game updates that take 6 to 10 hours to download.

OldBoy

don’t you just have it auto do it in middle of night or whenever you’re not using?

Michael Corvin

Swimming. Rarely does it ever feel like you are actually swimming. Tomb Raider does a decent job but it's still more of a nuisance than something to look forward to.

OldBoy

Fallen Order wasn’t that bad, but generally agree about swimming in games. Actually AC: Odyssey not bad either...

maxfisher

Invisible walls are my number one. They just reek of laziness and instantly pull me out of a game.

andicus

I definitely hate those, especially when they occur at the beginning of a save point.

fujishig

This. Especially when it's a new game. Like you sit down with your brand spanking new game and you know you have to put it in and cook dinner or something while the thing loads it onto the harddrive and downloads updates.

I hate escort missions of basically all kinds.

Games that don't have some kind of recap (if the story is complex) or tutorial (if the gameplay is complex). Yeah, I know, manuals are passe and you can go on the internet if you really want. But it's really really hard to pick up a game without these after taking a week or so off. A game like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 doesn't even really explain the combat system all that well, and it does it only once, so screw you if you try to pick it up again after playing other games.

Speaking of that game, I hate gachas/random rolls. I understand the monetization behind it for things like mobile games, but I also understand the insidious way it's used to get people to spend more via adrenaline rush, etc.

brainee

Yep. While I understand that an open world game has to have limits, good design can avoid the invisible walls (like an in-game boundary that your character wouldn’t be able to cross anyway).

Im playing Divinity Original Sin 2 and those load times are infuriating. I’m hopeful that the next gen of consoles, using SSD drives, make this a thing of the past.

Its been a couple years since I played Witcher ... was what you’re talking about cut scenes or just something shown on the screen during loading? It used to be a big issue, but at least with the games I play it seems cut scenes are skippable.

First thing I thought of. Nothing like feeling great in a game for how you keep your guy alive and kicking ass ... only to have it all thrown out the window babysitting some idiot NPC.

mewmartigan

Or at the beginning of a boss fight. I don't want to have to sit through a 5 minute cut scene every time I die and have to retry the boss.

andicus

Oh, yeah. That, especially. You're potentially already frustrated, and that just compounds it.

Kdogg

I’ve hated these since Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. They are the worst.

starseed1981

I've gotten really sensitive to lazy game design. I was playing Dragon Ball: Kakarot and it was all over the place. Things like un-directed cut scenes where the camera is static or a lack of voice acting, etc. I don't have tolerance for that any longer.

nickdawgy

Escort missions. Hallucinating missions (Far Cry anyone?). Forced stealth missions.

Sub-Zero

Thanks for all of the replies.

I also don't like boss fights when there is no indication if your character's attacks are actually doing any damage to the boss.

tanman

Basically bad design for me.

One of the worst is if you have to trigger something specific to go to the next cut scene to continue with the game. Especially if it's not something obvious, like you have to stand in a certain spot.

GoVegan

That's the worst.

Oh yeah, didn't you notice his shoe has a hole in it? He only takes damage to his big toe. All those bazooka blasts to the face haven't done a thing.

Michael Corvin

I started A Plague Tale: Innocence yesterday and the decelopers seemingly decided to use every annoying trope, cliche and bad design idea under the sun which is interesting given all the praise.

• Full on stealth* game (I get to crouch walk through 90% of the game, yay!?)
• Entire game is one long escort mission
• Captured and lose all your items/weapons
• Save point right before a cut scene
• Stay in the light sections so the evil X can't get to you
• Loads and loads of generic barriers (bushes, crates, etc) to force you down a narrow path

Can't wait to see what video game cliches are in the second half of the game.

*Stealth is my least favorite genre but if the game is strong enough, or some of the stealth sections are optional I'll hang in there. However, if I've played your stealth mission/section let's say, 25 times and I'm still failing, how about we go ahead and eliminate one of the NPCs? Still not helping after a dozen more tries? Go ahead and knock another one out of the mix because I'm clearly terrible at stealth but would still like to enjoy the game I spent money on. Or how about make the AI dumber or their patroling routes longer or something. Why can't developers think more progressively like that?

OldBoy

i love that when i was playing DOOM (2016), during the load screen, a helpful hint came on (which they can be useful if you read), but this one was particularly funny..."IF an enemy has a head, that is usually the weak spot."

brainee

To be fair, it's no secret that the game is almost entirely sneaking past villagers/guards, escorting Hugo, and avoiding rats by staying in the light. It may be one of those cases where the basic gameplay is just something you don't enjoy ... which is perfectly fine (even if others like it). I'm the same way with the Souls games. Despite all the praise, I didn't enjoy it.

I do agree that difficulty settings (which can be changed mid-game) are a nice way for more people to enjoy a particular game (regardless of their gaming skills). My fast twitch muscle movements aren't what they used to be (compared to my teens and twenties) but I still enjoy gaming. But when a game has only a single difficulty setting (and that setting is "hard") that often makes it an insta-pass for me.

Even though Plague Tale could certainly have an easier setting (based on some of the things you suggest) I can see how that takes more time/money to development instead of combat games (where it's a simple matter of tweaking health and/or damage). Since getting through the game's levels is more about doing the right thing slowly (as opposed to needing to be fast/precise, as you would with a shooter), I'd think walkthrough videos would be hugely helpful for anyone stuck on a section. That doesn't apply to the game's (mercifully infrequent) boss battles though. Which is another thing I really dislike about games (that I've seen before) ... boss fights that force you to play in a completely different that anything else in the game.

Michael Corvin

The story and characters (love Amecia and Hugo's relationship) and production value is carrying me and it's only really been one section that just irritated the crap out of me. Getting through the town after letting Hugo out of the cage.

I almost listed the boss fight thing too. They seem out of place and very awkward but they're more like mini-bosses so not too annoying.

davidh777

I just finished Far Cry 4 and disliked both the swimming and the hallucinatory segments, mostly because I couldn’t figure out where I was going, or my movement was restricted. Swimming segments also always try to simulate the drowning experience, which is just not fun. I’m two missions away from completing the major stuff in the game, but know they’ll both be unpleasant so I’m just calling it good now.

Drunk missions are pretty much the same as drugged/hallucinatory stuff.

GatorDeb

Not being able to skip cut scenes.

nickdawgy

The Max Payne hallucinating mission was the worst ever.