Gaming Cardinal Sins

[SGT_Noobnuts]

Thou shalt not make button mashing a viable strategy in fighting games

It is extremely frustrating in fighting games in which there are intricate combos to try and do but your opponent (online or otherwise) is clearly button mashing his way through the matches and still wins.

This is especially prevalent in Namco Bandai licensed fighting games like the Naruto games for example, in which the best strategies are the ones that involve the most button mashing. It's not as bad in JoJo Allstar but it is still a big problem in their fighting games.

Thou shalt not release an incomplete game, not patch it, don't give out DLC and release the "better" version a month or two down the track

Basically every Capcom fighting game ever made

 

[laggyteabag]

Thou shalt not replace a boss battle with a QTE.

Thou shalt not make the player reload both weapons at once if duel-wielding.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Thou shalt not force me to play on lower difficulty levels on the first playthrough to unlock the 'adult' difficulty. I don't want to know how to finish the game before i'm allowed to play against 'tough' opposition...i want the full challenge not the watered down one

Thou shalt not call a difficulty 'hard' unless it actually is hard. I've played so many games that are piss easy on the hardest setting that they should just call it 'hardest' not 'hard'.

Thou shalt not ever...EVER...take control of my camera while i'm using it. This is one problem that really makes me flip my shit and gets me angry. If i 'have' to see something then make it a cut-scene but don't steal my ability to look around just because you think i'm so retarded that i cannot see the only lit area with the exit ladder in it. If you do make it a cut-scene then make it skippable...

Thou shalt never make auto-aim a 'default on' option and never make it mandatory in lower difficulties. This is just common sense. If i'm so crap at a game that i need assistance aiming then i really shouldn't be playing the damn shooting game. If the game needs auto-aim to make up for it's poor shooting mechanics then the game shouldn't exist in that form.

 

[Childe]

Thou shalt have fun well playing games and not turn said game into a toxic land fill.

Seriously if your gonna complain about people go play single player.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Thou shall not operate mostly on random encounters, then have touch encounters, and then alternate.
At least justify it; and even then, we're still taking points off.

Thou shall not have the ability to switch perspectives to 1st or 3rd person, but the controls optimised for neither, or have one control style always being used, even with the perspective switched.
Looking at you, Alone in The Dark 2008.

Thou shall not have measly consequences for death.
"Oh no, you got a scar! Well, your non-existent hubby will be slightly less inclined to have sex with you now." Seriously, Peter Molyneux, what kind of consequence is that for fucking up completely?

 

[Roofstone]

Cardinal Sin: Thou shalt not make your subtitles so small I must sit two feet from the tv to read them!

Game: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
Cardinal Sin: Though shalt not make your block button the same as your attack button

To it's defense, it is a parry, not a block. It is supposed to be a quick reverse. But I see your point, sure.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Game:
Super Mario Galaxy

Sins:
- Thou shalt not make a platformer without decent camera controls.
- Thou shalt not make a game where your most basic attack consists out of 'wiggling the controller'.
- Thou shalt not force the player to exit the level each time (s)he gathers a collectable (forcing the game to load the hub and subsequently load the level again).
- Thou shalt make sure the art style is consistent (what is up with those squiggly purple things - yeah, it's a fancy shader, but it clashes with the rest like crazy).
- Thou shalt not use a 'life'-system, seeing is it really has no purpose unless you're playing in an arcade (and using it in a platformer is dated as fuck).
- Thou shalt not make half of your soundtrack nostalgia bait (paying a tribute is one thing, but I get the feeling about half of the songs are just reworks of old Mario tracks).

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Thou shalt not ever...EVER...take control of my camera while i'm using it. This is one problem that really makes me flip my shit and gets me angry. If i 'have' to see something then make it a cut-scene but don't steal my ability to look around just because you think i'm so retarded that i cannot see the only lit area with the exit ladder in it. If you do make it a cut-scene then make it skippable...

On that subject... Thou shalt never take away controls from the player in the middle of a freaking fight (Fable 3 with its execution moves), leaving the player at the mercy of any enemies left.

Thou shalt not make invisible walls anywhere. Don't want the player to go there? Make a real, visible obstacle, so the player won't even think of trying.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Don't use button combinations for save file deletion. Don't make everyone play a game of Twister with our fingers because a small minority of idiots accidentally delete their save file.

Wow - this is actually a thing?

Sheesh...

Yes, Pokemon and A Link between Worlds. Although A Link between Worlds does it well I still think it's a pain and unnecessary.

A Link between Worlds = You choose to delete your save and it tells you what three buttons to push simultaneously and hold.

Pokemon = There is no option to delete your save, you have to hit three buttons simultaneously at the title screen and those three buttons change with every game it seems so you have to search through the manual to find out what they are. You aren't likely to commit this to memory since the button combination changes every game so you find yourself digging out the manual every time you want to start a new game.

You can't even start a new game and overwrite the old one and if you do start a new game it tells you that you won't be able to save, it doesn't tell you how to delete the old save. If you didn't have the manual or the internet, you would not know how to delete an old save.

 

[GalanDun]

Thou shalt not bind the controls in a retarded way and not let me completely rebind them to my liking.
Looking at you, Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360. Why were the functions of X and A swapped? X does what X did in RE4 for PS2, except that X on the 360 controller is where Square is on the Dualshock. Could have been worse, but seriously, why can't I rebind the controls? Max Payne had a retarded default scheme and it let me rebind those. Even Code: Veronica and Survivor 2 had more options for key selection than RE5 did! Sure they had crappy default schemes but they let you fix them!

 

[Varrdy]

[
Yes, Pokemon and A Link between Worlds. Although A Link between Worlds does it well I still think it's a pain and unnecessary.

A Link between Worlds = You choose to delete your save and it tells you what three buttons to push simultaneously and hold.

Pokemon = There is no option to delete your save, you have to hit three buttons simultaneously at the title screen and those three buttons change with every game it seems so you have to search through the manual to find out what they are. You aren't likely to commit this to memory since the button combination changes every game so you find yourself digging out the manual every time you want to start a new game.

You can't even start a new game and overwrite the old one and if you do start a new game it tells you that you won't be able to save, it doesn't tell you how to delete the old save. If you didn't have the manual or the internet, you would not know how to delete an old save.

Eesh! That sounds like what scientists would refer to as "a pain in the arse"!

 

[Pizzarand]

Thou shallt not give the player context-sensetive-only moves that the character should logically be able to do all the time.

Watching Two Best Friends( a LP Channel) newest video, this came to mind. It's about Green Lantern and in it you have to fight some dudes until a green circle on the ground appears. Then you go to it, press x and Green Lantern flies to the next platform to fight more dudes. This happens throughout the entire first stage, until you figth the boss and begs the question: Why didn't Green Lantern just fly to the boss immediately? This happens way too much in video games, even in not shitty ones(e.g. Why can Sora in KH 2 jump in the air and do repeatable air diveattacks ONLY when fighting a specific enemy? Stupid Triangle Button Bullshit).

Thou shall give thy player the option to test for free, when purchasing new moves or attacks.

Too many times in a game I was stuck having to decide between two sweet new moves/weapons/attacks, because i could only afford one and almost every time after making my choice I immediately regretted it. I mean what do you get in most games, when making a decision like that? The name of the move and a 1-2 sentence description, a small video preview if you're lucky. Unfortunately that's just not enough for making a solid decision, that's not enough to know how it will FEEL using that move/weapon/whatever. The player should have enough information to make a choice that suits him most and actually letting him use what he wants is pretty much the only way this is ensured.

 

[tippy2k2]

Game: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
Cardinal Sin: Though shalt not make your block button the same as your attack button

To it's defense, it is a parry, not a block. It is supposed to be a quick reverse. But I see your point, sure.

Earlier in the thread, I had forgiven Metal Gear Rising for these sins.

My forgiveness is running thin. This parry/block system is getting me my ass kicked. This is especially true since you don't parry/block when you're in the middle of a combo or when you're moving forward (both which you do a lot in a spectacle fighter like this). I have also basically stopped relying on it in boss fights for I have no clue when it'll actually work and when it won't and it's costing me

Spoiler: Late boss fight

I just fought Sam in the desert. Most of his attacks consist of him slashing three times in a row...Raiden evidently only likes blocking one thing at a time and you can't block quick enough to block the other two slashes. I ended up beating him by just running by and doing a light slash with X. Repeat until he finally goes down. Not exactly epic sword-fighting that I expected out of the game...

I'd like to think that I must be doing something wrong but unless you are supposed to block/parry with a different move for those combo attacks, I don't have a clue what it could be and this could all be easily remedied if block/parry was it's own freaking button Kojima!

Now don't get me wrong; it's still a good game. However, it could have been a great game if I knew I could rely on my block/parry button...

 

[Angelowl]

Thou shalt not have in game cutscenes where actual gameplay takes play and at the same time remove player control.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Cutscene: giant door opens, stormtroopers and AT-STs swarm out, I die the moment I regain control since everyone is shooting at me during the cutscene. I literally die in a cutscene where it is not part of the script. Who ever playtested this game again?