Poll: Your Least Favorite Hub Branch/World Theme

[Arakasi]

I love the aesthetic of water worlds, they are very pretty and often well designed.
However, I pick 'Other' for my exception:
Underwater Worlds.
Those just make me sad for the following reasons:
-The controler scheme is normally fucked up for just this section, meaning you practically have to relearn how to play.
-Breathing mechanics don't provide me with a fun challenge, they provide me with drowning anxiety.
-They are generally slower.
-They don't do anything interesting underwater, always a small puzzle that's difficult to get to, never an Atlantis.
-The vision is generally obscured, just making it more frustrating.

 

[Fijiman]

Anywhere where most of the map consists of small platforms hovering above instant death inducing nothingness.

 

[MarsProbe]

I lumped for "normal grassy plains" in your poll, but really I dislike any areas that are just a little plain and don't really have much in the way of unique aspects. Back when I played WoW I remember being a bit disappointed in some of Northrends environments after what we got in TBC. More Zangermarsh and Netherstorm like areas please.

Any area that involves as little colour as possible, like the designers are going for some washed out/minimalist look. Which brings me neatly onto...Halo Reach Forge maps. OK, so some of those maps are fun to play and fairly well designed, but really, could they not come in a colour other than grey?

Speaking of bad levels in general, anyone remember the terrible "Caves of Kaliya" level from Tomb Raider 3? I remember that seeming like the laziest level ever, like the first thing you might churn out in a map editor .

 

[Yopaz]

It's hard to say, grassy plains get boring and they are usually found in almost all games, but they are nice for starting you up. Ice worlds usually have the best looks and music, while water worlds can be breathtakingly beautiful.

I don't want to go through the entire list and just stick with other. Worlds that don't fit in and seem randomly placed, worlds that doesn't make sense in the context. It feels unimaginative. This could be any of the above and neither of them. It could be space or it could be a ice cavern. When it doesn't fit in then I wont like it.

 

[MammothBlade]

Anywhere that puts me underground, or swimming below water. Such levels are rarely implemented well, with a few exceptions. It's not that I'm claustrophobic, such levels just tend to be the most awkward to navigate. And underwater levels tend to have terrible camera angles.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

I hate those bizarre themes (TV Tropes-term: "Womb Levels") which, in any game that features them, always appear only at the very end. Not only are they insanely difficult, but the general atmosphere (color scheme, background noise etc.) almost always manages to makes me feel physically unwell. Not to mention, they mean I'm almost out of game!

Those may occasionally work well, though. The one in Grandia actually cheered me up. I didn't mind the game being over because, hey, it had already delivered nearly 90 hours of gameplay (WHY can't anybody be arsed to make a multiple-disk game any more?), and at that point, I was about ready to find out how the story ended anyway. Besides, a game THAT good could always withstand at least a couple more playthroughs without getting old!

I just remembered something that annoys me even more:

"Gimmick" levels. You know, a level which serves the sole purpose of sticking out. Doing something different. Like a driving segment in a game that isn't a driving game. The controls are almost always horrendous because the game makers lack experience in the requisite type of gameplay - and, of course, you'll never see any more good parts of the game if you don't beat the gimmick level somehow!

 

[JasonKaotic]

I would say Waterworlds, but it depends how it's done. If a lot of time is spent under the water then I'll probably stop playing pretty quickly out of frustration. But if it's just a theme and the game physics remain intact then it can be really nice-looking. Seriously. Underwater physics. Stop it. Right now.

Otherwise I'll say magma fields. Something about them just annoys me every time I have to go to one. I suppose they're just really hard to find your way through and the enemies are usually really annoying. Not particularly interesting to look at either.

I'm getting kind of sick of forests too. They usually all look exactly the same, especially in 2D games.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

Usually it doesn't matter to me if the game itself is good. But usually grasslands/ plains are boring

 

[Darren716]

Water levels, between shitty swimming controls, lack of ability to attack, and this

Spoiler

and this,

Spoiler

and that damn serpent in world 8 of new super mario bros on the DS which I couldn't find a picture for, I certainly dred any time I have to go in the water in a game.

 

[Wayneguard]

I'm not one for the volcanic worlds.

 

[lacktheknack]

Water worlds.

Because they mean you'll have to swim.

And swimming in games makes me go

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[wintercoat]

Any stage where the environment can instantly kill you. Lava stages, water stages where the protagonist forgot his/her floaties, ice stages with slippery floors that make you fall into a bottomless pit, fuck them all.

 

[Darken12]

Magma. As an ice person, I am contractually obligated to hate fire in all its forms.

 

[janjotat]

Magma fields and water worlds if you can't swim. I'd rather be boxed in rather than die for falling off a platform. Luckily I don't play any games where they have set stages like that.

 

[eternal-chaplain]

While any hub world can have its crappy game content, I hate magma worlds in particular because it seems hardly possible to make them actually look beautiful.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Magma worlds are alright. They at least tend to be quite visually interesting. Water worlds can go fuck themselves though.

 

[Grottnikk]

I loathe water worlds/levels. They are slow, I usually can't use my normal/favourite weapons, I have to keep looking for a place to surface so I can breath and, finally, I usually can't explore fully because of all the above reasons. Whether it's Tomb Raider, Everquest's "Kedge Keep" zone or the murky waters around Skyrim, I detest water levels.

 

[Beautiful End]

Air worlds. You know, where you have to travel areas that are high above the ground and elements such as the wind or super small landing platforms are always there.

But above all, that weird ass level at the end of most games. You have an original game with perhaps a good story and great environments and then BOOM! Nightmare/Time travel/Alternate universe/whatever time! Where no rules applies and the game says Fuck You! to everything it taught you so far!
Pssh, easy cop out.

 

[pidgerii]

toxic/sewer areas, I fucking hate them!
they're terrible, I have yet to play one game where these areas are anything but dumb and out of place
and while I don't outright hate them, I'm not particularly fond of futuristic alien final levels that platformer games seem to always have

Man, Fallout 3 must be like the worst game ever made for you.

Anyway I hate water levels.

 

[redmoretrout]

Definitely the weird/crazy theme at the end. When they have used all of the conventional ideas and just start throwing whatever shit comes to mind first. Space? Crystals? Slime? Demons? Sure, chuck whatever you can think of in the last level, it doesn't need a coherent theme. The game is almost done, lets just wrap it up.