Game mechanics you absolutely detest

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

*This rant contains spoilers from Mass Effect 2. I left no spoiler markings because the game is 4 years old. If you don't want to spoil a game which, if you have not played yet, has probably already been spoiled for you... there you go.

Alright, so I've recently gotten back into mass effect, and have finished up just about everything perfectly. Today I went to do the reaper IFF mission (The mission that triggers the Normandy getting attacked by the collectors) and completed it, but I made the mistake of selecting the galactic map afterword, instead of activating legion.

I thought nothing of this, I just decided to keep rolling with it, considering that I read from multiple sources that the game allowed you to do one loyalty mission before you start losing crew in the suicide mission, and that this was meant to be saved for Legion. I've always gotten it's loyalty before I started the suicide mission, so again, I thought nothing of it.

I activated legion after the collector attack, went out of the room, and spoke to him again to acquire his loyalty mission, completed the mission, and then proceeded to the Omega 4 relay. I continued on to the suicide mission until I reached the part where they reach the captured crew, and I stopped. I realized then I fucked up. It wasn't a colonist shown in the collector tube-thing, it was that one girl who was like "YOU HAVE A NEW MESSAGE AT UR PRIVATE TURMINAL"... Everything was perfect. Everything. I even managed to get charm options I have never been able to use before- but something went wrong.

I guess activating legion after the collector attack sprung it, because in order to obtain every other loyalty mission, at least one mission would have to be completed after you have recruited said squatmate. I take it the game counted the time in which it took legion to compute whatever he found on the reaper (Which was about 4 seconds real time) as a mission, in order to allow me to obtain the loyalty mission.

Now I'm pissed.

This is such a stupid game mechanic- I understand the urgency placed on the suicide mission, but I'm still fucking pissed- Mainly because my last save pre IFF was 4 hours prior to where I was. I lost 4 hours of progress all because selecting the goddamned galactic map forced me into that ridiculous plot hole. and there was nothing I could do about it.

I guess I just wanted to get that off my chest, because I lost 4 hours of my life to the most idiotic thing in the mass effect series, not including the ending to the third one. (And the thought that the third one's end is shit makes me angry too, but whatever, I'm not trying to open an old wound.)

TL;DR: Mass Effect 2 fucked up because I made a stupid choice, and I ruined my perfect play through.

So forum, what game mechanic, of any game, to you despise the most?

 

[tippy2k2]

Not to be a jerk about it and maybe I misunderstand you but it sounds like you got pissed off at Mass Effect 2 because you made a mistake and the game made you pay for it...

Anyway, my hated game mechanic in games are items where the player has no realistic chance at countering it. This includes but is not limited to:

-Out of nowhere QTE (Hi Resident Evil 4!)
-Ambushes in Fire Emblem Awakening (seriously...worst thing ever)
-"Protect the useless NPC who seems to have a death wish" (Hi SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked!)

Old games were notorious for this kind of thing but they still seem to crop themselves up in new games every so often because...developers hate you? That's the only reason I can think of.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Not being able to skip or pause cutscenes. Bonus points if it's right before an incredibly hard portion of the game, forcing you to sit through it every time you fail the gameplay segment.

To game devs; I get it. You spent a lot of time and effort on those fancy cutscenes, and you want some recognition for it. That said, if you force me to watch it you'll only breed resentment. Maybe I've already beaten the game and don't want to sit through it again. Maybe I can only play for a twenty minute segment and don't want to waste half of it just watching when I could be playing. Maybe my viewing is interrupted by that pesky "real life" thing people talk so much about. Maybe I just can't be arsed because the game's story is shit.

On a similar note, I consider QTE's as an extension of this, thus my general disdain for them as well.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Not to be a jerk about it and maybe I misunderstand you but it sounds like you got pissed off at Mass Effect 2 because you made a mistake and the game made you pay for it...

But the thing is I didn't really make a mistake-
What is usually supposed to happen is you wake legion, then your ship is attacked by the collectors, then you do his mission.
In my case, my ship was attacked by the collectors, I woke legion, and then did his mission. Note that waking him involves a mere 1-minute conversation. that's it- but I take it the game considered that a recruitment mission (Although it was not a mission at all) and counted that against me. I find that ridiculous.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Not being able to skip or pause cutscenes. Bonus points if it's right before an incredibly hard portion of the game, forcing you to sit through it every time you fail the gameplay segment.

To game devs; I get it. You spent a lot of time and effort on those fancy cutscenes, and you want some recognition for it. That said, if you force me to watch it you'll only breed resentment. Maybe I've already beaten the game and don't want to sit through it again. Maybe I can only play for a twenty minute segment and don't want to waste half of it just watching when I could be playing. Maybe my viewing is interrupted by that pesky "real life" thing people talk so much about. Maybe I just can't be arsed because the game's story is shit.

On a similar note, I consider QTE's as an extension of this, thus my general disdain for them as well.

I always think that if they want non-skipable cutscenes that they should only force you through it the first time, and then, any time after that, make it so people can skip through them. I mean, if they have the ability to program in entire worlds and complex games, why can't they just have something that keeps tabs on what cutscenes you've watched?

 

[Weaver]

I hate sticking to cover. I honestly never saw it as necessary and it just feels like my character is magnetizing to everything.

We were able to use cover long before these sticky cover mechanics by crouching next to a wall.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I think that there is a place for every mechanic but its not often I like time limits or QTEs done well they do add to the game however its just often they arent.

Other mechanics are constant repetition that really urks me especially if you have to redo lots of a game just to have another go at a certain troubling section again not a hard and fast rule but it quite often annoys the hell out of me especially if it is heavily reliant on knowing what is going to happen.

The worst ones are the ones that actually break the game like throwing away or using the wrong item at the wrong time or not even picking it up therefore making the game unfinishable or having an area that makes it impossible to escape from if you fall in thankfully that dosent happen much now.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Escort missions, fixed turret sections and my own personal idea of hell, escort mission with fixed turret sections. Bonus points if the gun turret is a pain to aim properly, looking at you Spec Ops.

Checkpoints directly after an unmarked point of no return can also sod off.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

I hate sticking to cover. I honestly never saw it as necessary and it just feels like my character is magnetizing to everything.

We were able to use cover long before these sticky cover mechanics by crouching next to a wall.

Deus Ex HR did this the absolute worst way possible. The only way to truly be in cover was to do the damn 3rd person magnet cover thing.

 

[BraveSirRobin]

Having just finally unlocked every star, stamp and gold flag in Super Mario 3D World I can honestly say FUCK the levels with a forced scrolling camera. I hate when a game takes control away of a basic feature like that, especially when the locked camera angle is a shitty one.

The only other thing that can make me stop playing a game on the spot are button mash events. I don't know why but these always seem to be the worst ported aspect of console games and they strike me as a cheap cop out. Like we could come up with a mechanic here or we could just make the player press this button 50 times in 10 seconds. The only exception to this was in the final boss fight of The Wonderful 101 where they use it in a fairly hilarious way.

Escort missions, fixed turret sections and my own personal idea of hell, escort mission with fixed turret sections. Bonus points if the gun turret is a pain to aim properly, looking at you Spec Ops.

World of Warcraft was terrible with those. Either they walk just faster than you can but slower than you can run or they are the speed of a turtle. The best part was if you knew the route and tried to clear a path early they would sprint ahead to help you fight and the IMMEDIATELY RUN BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE AND WALK FORWARD AGAIN. I do not miss some of those quests for sure.

 

[Vegosiux]

I hate sticking to cover. I honestly never saw it as necessary and it just feels like my character is magnetizing to everything.

We were able to use cover long before these sticky cover mechanics by crouching next to a wall.

And, to add Yahtzee in this one, it gets even better when stickable-to walls and ponce-repellant walls don't look any different from each other!

But let's go with a couple classic peeves. Out-of-nowhere QTEs, escort missions, contextual commands, beef gate bosses.

Also ability rock-paper-scissors. You know what, I don't like that. Sure, resistances and bonuses to damage are OK, but I don't want my favorite ability to be completely ineffectual at any point. Less effective, sure, but I don't like when the mobs pull a no-sell on me.

 

[RaginDrage]

Mini cutscenes that force your character's perspective toward an important entity or fancy set-piece.

Thanks developers, but i'm perfectly capable of observing things on my own. My attention span isn't so low that I can't see the huge building beginning to collapse or the shiny plot element on display.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The usual suspects: QTEs, escort missions, time trials, rail shooting sections, forced screen-scrolling, underwater levels with borked controls, autosaves that lock you out of content, unskippable cutscenes during New Game Plus, lack of a pause option, holding down a button to run, imprecise crosshairs, forced stealth tracts in a non-stealth game, lack of crouch/jump buttons, non insta-kill headshots...

 

[Evonisia]

Quick time events that aren't part of core gameplay.

I like them in Hitman Absolution as it's the same quick time event for every melee encounter, they're part of the core gameplay.

Honestly I would have walked out of Resident Evil 4 a lot happier if I could watch the cutscenes without the screen giving me .5 seconds to smash a button or press a button fifty times to prevent instant death. Bayonetta is terrible for it as well, especially because on large televisions the icon is incredibly small and give you literally one second to respond to them.

 

[StriderShinryu]

unskippable cutscenes during New Game Plus

This one has always mystified me as well. I mean, I don't approve of it but kind of understand when the cutscenes aren't skippable on a first play. On NG+, however, when you literally must have already completed the game and seen those cutscenes before? That's just stupid.

I hate sticking to cover. I honestly never saw it as necessary and it just feels like my character is magnetizing to everything.

We were able to use cover long before these sticky cover mechanics by crouching next to a wall.

I actually like cover mechanics in general, even sticky cover. My issue with them has always been on the actual mechanics and design side. If you're going to put sticky cover into your game, don't make the cover button the same as another button you're likely to use frequently near cover like a sprint or evasive roll. Also, if you're going to use sticky cover try not to design your environments such that every piece of cover isn't just a suspiciously placed chest high wall.. especially if that type of cover doesn't appear anywhere else and basically just ends up screaming "Hey player, you're about to enter a combat section!"

 

[Tanis]

Escort Missions
-Especially when the A.I. is retarded.

Quick-Time-Events
-Especially in cut scenes.

Save Systems That Don't Fit The Game
-Especially when they're in a long game with complex puzzles/fights.

 

[Racecarlock]

Heavy Rain and Mafia II are both heavily guilty of "DO THESE CHORES, BECAUSE NARRATIVE!".

Heavy Rain has all of those house sections.

Mafia II has cleaning toilets, selling cigarettes, lifting one heavy crate VERY SLOWLY into a truck, and much more tediousness that really cements it's nature as an "Authentic experience", though if I'm being honest afterwards you'll wonder why you wanted that. Or in my case, wonder why in the hell people wanted GTA V to imitate this game.

 

[momijirabbit]

Not being able to skip or pause cutscenes. Bonus points if it's right before an incredibly hard portion of the game, forcing you to sit through it every time you fail the gameplay segment.

Great, now I am having war flashbacks to FFX, you can't skip a single cutscene in the entire game, and before every boss there is usually a 2-5 minute long cutscene that you have to sit through every single time you screw up.
Yunalesca is the worst, there are like 4 cutscenes between you and the fight against her and they are soooooo long.

 

[Lilani]

I don't mind some quick-time-events, but Kingdom Hearts II's battle system for me was utterly ruined by the QTEs it introduced. Some of them were strategic little bonus-moves you could do on certain monsters under the right circumstances. They required timing and strategy to pull off consistently, which I was fine with.

What I wasn't fine with was the boss sequences where all of the leveling and gear I gathered were rendered basically useless by the moments where the boss fight would come down to how fast I could mash the triangle button. The very first tutorial in demonstrating the QTEs was guilty of this. You had to press triangle to jump around the monster like a maniac and dodge stuff. Which was cool...at first. About halfway through the battle I was like "Okay...when am I going to actually be able to hit the guy?" Finally the game deigned to let me hit the thing and beat it.

And then the final boss sequence is especially guilty of this. The final boss fight is supposed to be the final test of your abilities--to put all of the skills and items you've gathered throughout the game to use in one last hurrah. And in KH1, I felt like that's what I got. Several grueling battles in succession which slowly wore down on what started as a very intimidating boss. In KH2, what I got was a pre-animated, semi-interactive movie that paused every now and then to either let me swing my keyblade at a few things and sometimes press triangle to do something. The climax of my frustration at this was in the very final form of the final boss, at a moment where a bunch of lasers are being fired at you and the only way to defend yourself is to mash the triangle button as fast as you can. My first time getting to this part, I wasn't ready for having to do such a thing, so by the time it started my hand wasn't in a good triangle-mashing position. So I ended up losing the fight. It wasn't that I wasn't strong enough, I was doing plenty of damage to the boss and I wasn't taking much damage in return. No, I wasn't foiled by a lack of strength or preparedness. I was foiled by my inability to press the triangle button fast enough. All that progress, all that level grinding, all those items I crafted and bought. Completely. Fucking. Useless.

That isn't a final test of the player's skills, that's a cheap mechanic to generate artificial novelty in a fight because the developers weren't confident enough in their own battle system to believe it could stand up on its own to be satisfying for the player. I am so glad Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance kept that shit to a minimum, and I hope KH3 does the same.