Things You Dislike in Games

[Ahlchamest]

I couldn't find a thread about this, so I thought I'd make one.

I know I have a bunch, but only can actually remember a couple

Invisible Walls - I don't know why, but this gets me mad. I want to explore an open world, but the damn invisible walls are there.

Can't skip cutscene - Sometimes I just want to skip a cutscene I've already watched (in some cases, pause).

Voice Acting - As much as I hate to say it, Tri-Ace does not have the best voice actors.

Stealth - I don't mean MGS stealth, I mean the kind of stealth where you "have to" follow a certain character without getting caught. Mostly about GTA

I want to know what you guys dislike about video games, it can be anything

 

[Linnaete]

+ Escort missions. Or missions where you're generally trying to defend someone from being blown into bits by enemy fire and the very person you're trying to protect is so hopeless at surviving that it destroys all sense of fun from the mission itself. The escort missions I've played have just been an irritating as heck, and I would much rather be on the offensive than on the defensive.

+ Bad voice acting. I'm looking at certain cheapskate publishers who just grab some random people off the street and hurl them into recording booths to save money. And when this happens, the voice acting is normally so bereft of emotion and generally much talent at all. They hardly get into their characters, if at all and just blurt out some half-monotonous lines that are more painful to listen to than anything. If you can't get decent voices, just leave the damn thing mute then.

+ Mandatory stealth. Well, I don't hate stealth per se, it's just that most of the time I don't enjoy having to go through it as it isn't my idea of fun.

+ Darkness. You know those moments when you're in an area and it's just awkwardly dark? You can hardly see where you're going, let alone shooting at and you simply wish to get the hell out of there into a brighter area again? Furthermore, as my TV is an ageing SDTV now, I have a little bit more difficulty in the dark when the most I can see is my own reflection on the screen.

+ Pop-ups. It isn't much of an issue now, but in the last generation or two, some games had an awful case of scenaries just unexpectedly popping out from nowhere. I could be flying a helicopter around when all of a sudden a whole building warps in right in front of me from out of nowhere.

+ Countless repetitive missions of the same thing - I'm looking at Crisis Core here. It had 300 missions with little variety and I found myself just waltzing around hacking and slashing enemy after enemy just to get to a treasure chest with unexciting contents. If it had a little bit more variety to it and not 300 of the similar thing, then I wouldn't have minded as much.

+ Broadly, just characters I don't like. In RPGs, there's always at least mopey character that does something so illogical that his or her conflicts could have been easily solved by sitting down and having a talk with the others, rather than seeking to blow them up. There is also at least one character that has to annoy me, whether it's their voice, their appearance, their demeanour, or all three. And there is usually some episode of emo-ness from a main character that when he does become mute and distant at a later stage, I just celebrate.

+ Mandatory minigames that are just so annoying to do. Here I am trying to get on with the main story when - huh? I have to do a timed race of some sort? Or participate in this equally annoying thing just to get a certain item or something? If these were optional I can just ignore them, but if they're mandatory and I just want to carry on with the main story, I'm not a happy bunny.

+ Terrible AI. A bad guy can have terrible AI, I'll be fine with that. When it's an ally that has bad AI though and just runs into enemy fire just to die, then it's annoying.

+ When lip-synching is totally off. You watch a cutscene and a character begins talking. However, the English voice just does not match the Japanese lip movement of the character who is supposed to be speaking, so it just looks awkward.

There's probably a lot more, but I'll stop here for the time being and probably let someone like Martel take over.

 

[Ruhku]

I hated the heavy text in games and extremely long cut scenes that can't be skipped or you need to watch to know what goes on.
Like Matel Gear Solid 4. Man that game was like a movie or something.

 

[Martel]

Ohoho, here we go.

+ Tasks and trophies that rely more on your luck than your skill. The best example I can think of here are the Battle Trophies in Star Ocean: The Last Hope. I don't mind a challenge, because if I can overcome it, I know I've beaten it through my own skill. Example? The Secret Missions in Tales of Vesperia. Those were seriously hard, and I felt so good once I'd beaten them, because I had to orchestrate the outcome through my own skill. But when my fate is decided by a random number generator or something equally fucking bone idle and stupid that pops up once in a blue moon, I get annoyed, because I can do nothing about it. The line between difficult and frustrating is the line between the need for skill and the need for luck.

+ Inbalanced learning curves. Games like Demon's Souls, Resonance of Fate and, dare I say it, FFXIII, piss me off immensely because they start off pathetically easy (or insanely hard, in RoF's case) and continue to be so for a long while, but at certain points they reach ridiculous levels of difficulty (or ease, as was the case with RoF past Caligula until the tenth chapter or so) that is like a slap to the face. The whole idea of a learning curve is that the game gets progressively harder as you go, not that it fluctuates ridiculously so you have no idea what the hell is going to happen next.

+ Game-breaking moves. Particularly in RPGs, when a boss has a move that can kill you in one hit, never mind what you do or how good you are. Things that render all that hard work you've put in absolutely useless and leave your fate to chance. The Curse status effect in The Last Remnant is the best example of this point - incurable, with a 50% chance of death for the next five turns or so? On half the enemies? Who the hell designed that?!

+ Characters that show potential but are then abruptly cut out from the proceedings for having said potential. I'm looking at you, Faize, Jihl Nabaat, even Lezard Valeth. Those interesting characters - often villains - that show so much promise and intrigue, then totally vanish and turn up for five minutes at the end, minus half of their personality. It's like the writers can't be bothered with them anymore. It's always good when they come back, but just thinking about what they could accomplish if they kept them as an active presence really pisses me off. Time spent on their backstory and development would be time well spent, but they never both, in favour of utterly shit, bland protagonists.

+ Love plots. No game ever gets a love plot right. EVER. It's always forced down our throats, or it's so painfully cheesy that it's embarrassing to watch it. The Final Fantasy series is plagued with shit love plots, and I can think of a few more games besides that toss in a love story to a game that really doesn't need it, because the premise is solid without it. Love plots draw attention away from everything else that is actually interesting, and they're always the same. It's BORING.

+ Difficulty worn away by grinding. Coming from me, who loves grinding, this might sound off, but if you can just overcome any and all challenge by power-levelling, it's mind-numbingly tedious. Very few RPGs balance the ability to grind properly with the difficulty of the game - Resonance of Fate is one, where it becomes progressively harder to level up. The Disgaea series is another, because of the ridiculously high level cap. But series like Pokemon and FF are a joke - something isn't exactly difficult if you can just level up to beat it. That isn't difficulty.

+ Those aggravating mandatory fetch quests that slow down the story. Oh, if you want to get through this door, you need to fetch me a statue. Lol, the statue is complete, backtrack all the way to a previous area and kill an enemy to get the item you need. OLOL, still not good enough, you need to trade that for something else. And on and on and ON until I forget why I'm doing all this shit to begin with. Finding the Chozo Relics in Metroid Prime drove me insane, and finding the Sky Keys in the second one...I just used a guide, I lost all patience. Just let me move on with things!

+ Excessive backtracking. I have only ever seen this work with Castlevania and Metroid, and only because large portions of the areas are sealed off. But having to backtrack through the same places - like in Phantom Hourglass, where you had to travel through that Phantom Dungeon about ten times over the course of the game - is dull, and it's poor design besides.

+ Those games you can beat just by mashing one button constantly. Please, this isn't real gameplay, you're just pretending to play the game . FFXIII, Bayonetta, most hack-and-slash games (as fond as I am of the hack-and-slash genre for general stress relief) just require you to hammer one button repeatedly to win. Sure, you can branch out, but you have no motivation to, because you win just fine without doing so.

+ Bad soundtrack. This is more of a pet peeve than anything else, but there is nothing worse than being stuck in a dungeon with the same mind-numbingly tedious tune going on and on and ON AND ON for hours. I know I can mute it and put my own music on (and frequently do) but I shouldn't have to, is my point.

+ Games that give you absolutely no idea where to go. I've never gotten along with sandbox games for this very reason; games that just throw you into it and expect you to get on with it are boring. They have no real direction or plot to speak of, and it makes me wonder just why the hell I'm playing it in the first place. Earlier games, like Morrowind, were exceptional, because they managed to ease you into it gradually, but these days its all or nothing - you get set on a linear path like FFXIII, or you get thrown into a big load of nothing like you did with Oblivion.

+ Empty towns. What, did a plague sweep through before me or something? FFXII managed to create a bustling habitat with Rabanastre and Archades, you think I'm going to accept supposedly busy cities being utterly desolate? Create some NPCs, now! This is especially true of the Pokemon series, which have about 20 NPCs in massive cities. Rural Japan isn't THAT rural, Nintendo.

+ Morality choices. OH, FUCK OFF WITH THESE ALREADY. Especially considering that in most games that have these, if you don't pick the "good" option you get nothing for it. It's all very black and white and just plain boring. Having the option to do different things is nice, but that it has to be so painfully split between good and evil or whatever they want to call it instead is depressing. So I pushed a guard out the window. I shot half a dozen of the bastards to get to this point and it hasn't impacted on my morality score at all! How does one isolated incident possibly make any difference?! In games where you're killing people constantly, having a morality system is stupid. Choice is good, but the way they go about classifying your choices is bad. BAD. -50 affection points, and have your eyes glow red, because you're BAD.

+ Gimmicky second modes thrown in purely for the sake of variety. For example, the FPS sections of Metroid: Other M. Not only were they unnecessary, but they were poorly done. I don't mind variety, it's when variety is thrown in for the sake of variety that I lose my temper. I'm not playing an action/adventure game to get stuck on some bullshit gimmicky puzzle. If they're fully integrated into the game or skippable, it's fine. But if you're forced to run through them to carry on with the game, it's infuriating.

+ Slow characters. Look at Nier. He tears across landscapes like he's bloody Sonic the Hedgehog. Then you've got characters in other games whose pace is so torturously slow that you'll be fifty before you get anywhere. It just makes the game harder to play.

+ Excessive travelling. This has been a huge flaw in every single 3D Zelda game to date, which requires you to trek across this massive empty space dotted with two or three enemies before you can actually get anywhere or do anything. I took to reading my current book during sailing in Wind Waker. Oblivion was even worse, because I had no idea where I was going, and the only game I've ever played that makes travelling over a mostly empty landscape even remotely bearable is Borderlands.

+ Forced time limits. Oh, these make me cry. I love the Atelier series so so much, but that x number of days time limit...oh, the pain of it. Time limits should be optional things - like, you beat the game or whatever in a certain time, you get a reward - and not things you have to play the game by. It can be challenging, yes, but half the time is just saps all enjoyment from the game. You don't have the time to take your time and enjoy what is in front of you, or it's game over.

+ REPEATED LINES OF DIALOGUE. Honestly, I'd rather have the characters not speak at all than endure the same tired phrases again and again and AGAIN. This is especially true of witty dialogue, which is funny the first couple of times you hear it, but after you've heard it for the fifty-millionth time you just want to kill whoever says it. Often, the characters with bad voice acting repeat their lines as well, making it even worse. A lot of RPGs with voice acting have this flaw. Even if the voice acting is good, it gets very tedious very quickly.

+ Erratic narrative. The Star Ocean series, to name the first that comes to mind, has this horrible habit of throwing a shit-ton of sci-fi jargon on you towards the end of the game (after you've spent about 95% of your time on an under-developed planet and just gotten to grips with things) and then using it exclusively. Games that give you a lot of information to immediately digest and then give you NOTHING until the very end of the game are annoying; the story should be properly spread out over the game to keep your interest. After an epic start, I shouldn't be left wondering where the story went and if/when it'll ever show up again.


...I'll edit in more as I think of more.

 

[Will Graham]

Back Spawning - This appears mainly in horror survival games, basically you clear an area of enemies then proceed. All of a sudden you are hit in the back of the head and enemies have just spawned in the corridor behind you. it's a lazy gimmick designed for a cheap scare, or a lethargic attempt to make an area more difficult.

Unskippable and/or unpausable cutscenes - Pretty self-explanatory I think

 

[Tucker]

No romance or close connection between characters.
No, I am not a hopeless romantic. But every game I have enjoyed has had some type of romance, or at least a very close and deep friendship/tension with another character. I liked Grandia 3 a LOT because of Yuki and Alfina. Star Ocean? Sophia and Fayt. (Even though I hated Sophia ) One of the reasons why I didn't like 12 until the end was that there was no real connection between the characters. Penelo and Vaan were alright, but I wished they did a bit of Balthier and Fran during the game.

No leveling up
I did not enjoy 10's battle system. I want to level up I love it when you are deep in the game and a character gains a level. It's like, yay

Side Missions with no purpose or story development
In 12, all the side missions just gave you something. I need side missions that will show a cutscene and have some more character development. Otherwise it seems pointless, as I love the story so much in games. I think that would have made FF12 a whole lot better.

Purchasing Weapons and Armor
You NEED to be able to buy your weapons and armor. You just need to.

Visiting towns
Any game should allow you to visit past, new, or side towns.

Maybe I'll add more later

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

LEON!
LEEEON!
HELP LEON!
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!

BURN! BURN TO THE GROUND! BURN!

LEON!

BURN! BURN TO THE GROUND BURN!

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY! THE MORE THE MERRIER!

LEON!

BURN BURN TO THE GROUND! BURN!

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY THE MORE THE MERRIER!

HEY! LISTEN! HELLO? WATCH OUT!

HELP ME FOX!

LE-

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

#2
quicktime events.

Quicktime events can be made ok. but half of them? no. No more heroes and god of war both did Quicktime events well. Others like...OH! Soul calibur III,RE4 and others just not only screw this up. but it's !@#$ing annoying.

#3
Drawn out game over seens.

in short: look at DK 64. It has a game over screen that lats for like 2 minuets. as dose Banjo kazooie. It's stupid. if you die. you should just go back to the title screen. not watch a stupid flashy scene that you don't care about.

#4
Fallen one/OHKO moves.

I find theese annoying. Yes they make the game harder. there supposed too. Dosen't mean i still like them.

Fallen oneAKA 1Hp moves)

The point of these moves is to reduce you to one HP. While this is supposed to make the game harder. i thinks its stupid. especially when the boss may follow up with a full party attack. *coughpinknucough*

OHKO Moves:

OHKO moves. are generally easy to avoid. my main quarrel with them. is when YOU use them. they never work. NEVER. and when the bosses use them on you- OHAI YOUR DEAD! TEEHEEE >_> Stupid

#5 Over Blown attacks.

SUPERNOVA. LONG. FLASHY. CAN'T KILL THREE PEOPLE.

That is all.


#6 Revisiting levels.

While this dosen't partictularly annoy me. I still don't like it.
The great maze from Brawl. basically makes you replay the entire game again. just without cutscenes. And the fact that you NEED to go through this pace. is not only annoying. it's LONG and STUPID.

#7 Water levels.

Water temple,Aquas,Atlantica,Hydro city,THE ENTIRETY OF WIND WAKER.

All these things have some thing in common. Water.

Water levels. while basically Manditory in every RPG and Adventure game. they are the things i hate. OOT's Water temple while isn't as hard as people make it out to be. is annoying. change the water,pause iron BOOTS ON! Walk. Pause. IRON BOOTS OFF! walk. Repeat.

Things like the hydro city and conkers BFD. Where you run out of air is stupid. especially since you SLOW DOWN when your about to drown.

The great sea on wind waker. Now i like this. but the great sea is...just...so...empty.

There Is NOTHING INBETWEEN THESE POINTS.

Thats how empty it is. i like me some action. while taking relaxing trips in a game is awesome. spenind Ten minuets just to get somewhere. and not finding a damn thing in between.is stupid.



i has more. but I'm lazy. i'll Edit them in later.

 

[ribbit]

Games with no character development-- Dragon Quest IX is a prime example of this. Unlike in VIII where you have all these companions that talk and do stuff throughout the game, you have 3 other characters that you created yourself along with the mute lead (instead you have Stella the stupid fairy doing all the FLAPPING talking). I like games where I can learn to love the characters by the end of the game. Not go through wishing they were more than just tools to kill enemies.

 

[Tom Badguy]

Can't skip cutscene - Sometimes I just want to skip a cutscene I've already watched (in some cases, pause).

+ Escort missions.

+ Those aggravating mandatory fetch quests that slow down the story.

These three I hate with utter passion.

Any time you have to back track. Like in Legend of Dragoon. You go through like three or four areas, get to a dungeon, beat it, then you have to go ALL the way through what you just traveled. Annoying as hell.

 

[lugiaXDG009er]

invisible walls in a free roam game, really WTF your a grey warden you've killed like a million darkspwn but you can't walk through a fucking puddle seriously. thats just one example

not having the ability to swim, in some games this makes some sense like with sonic the hedgehog its always been known that he can't swim for nothing. the games that don't make sense to name one Halo, you are a spartan you can survive not only the heat from entering the atmosphere and the like 50,000 foot fall going at terminal velocity resulting in a pretty damn good crater but have the water reach a little above your head and your dead thats it game fucking over

mazes and puzzles, don'tget me wrong huge fan of being lost in a place full of monsters and i love the challenge of a good yet possible puzzle, however i do not like it when you are given a fucking maze that is so fucking complicated you can't remember how to get out, or those fucking puzzles that they just hit you with a perfect example of this is darksiders. here you are hacking and slashing your way through hordes of demons and the like a few puzzles you know to give you breather, a couple of hours from the last boss when bang 3 fucking annoying puzzles that result in quite a few rages and rage quits like seriously why can't you just make this a little easier i mean we just went through the whole fucking game just to get here and now i can't get to the end because you are assholes and gave us three pretty difficult puzzles one after the other.

no character development, i'd really love to like this character or hate them but unfortunately i don't have any backstory to them and they want talk about anything else but the mission at hand so sorry.

those moments after you finished the whole game, mostly in free roam games when you finished the game and they throw you back into the world with absoloutley nothing to do cause you did all the side missions cause they gave some really good items money or powers and all thats left is collectibles, really you devs couldn't be bothered adding in some optional extra missions so we can get some more gameplay out of the game, i know there is DLC but mostly you need to pay for them and they take a while to download sometimes, i would much rather have DLC but still have some missions in the game to continue playing.

stupid learning curves, why couldn't every game have a learning curve as great as the one in borderlands, no instead you make the game so easy you don't have a need to grind that much to advance the crystarium and then when get to a certain point you hit me with the fucking underleveled so you need to grindfest 2000, really you couldn't have at least given me some harder enemies to at least prepare me for this no Okay square enix i might forgive you if you would just fucking release KH 3 which is supposedly coming out at the end of this year hey square enix almost the end of the year where is KH 3D and the anouncement for the date KH 3 comes out.

will edit more later

 

[Bambi]

Not being able to skip scenes

the AI of the computer when you have to keep some fuck alive is shocking. Likewise, if it's someone you're against, they seem to be insanely accurate. Urghh

Having to take the long way around the map because you cant jump/step over a shitty little wall/rock/bump in the terrain. Not being able to jump irritates the hell out of me.

Long attack sequences. Il just go knit while it plays out. Urgh

Puzzles. I dont have the patience to figure this shit out

desert, water and icy levels. grr

 

[Rydia]

Long and constant FMVs. I want to play a game not an interactive movie.

Characters that will trade the entire world away for their lover.

Horrible angles and camera views. This was mostly in older games.

Downloadable content. I hate paying $60 for a game and not getting all the content. Even worse when the content is on the disk but you have to pay to unlock it.

Rescue missions of a main character. I hate watching them in movies in TV and I hate them in games.

Tutorials you can't skip: This is more for older games, but I hated having to jump eight times or do some other stupid things.

Immature people in MMOs. Unfortunantly, this can be half the people that play the game.