Quit assuming I'm an idiot.

[BlindMessiah94]

Have you ever played a game that assumed you were an idiot? A game that held your hand so you could win at it? How did this make you feel? Did it undermine the gameplay experience for you, or did it make the game more enjoyable by guiding you towards your objectives?

Spoiler: Here is my experience if you care to read

I recently borrowed Perfect Dark Zero from a friend. I know that Rare was only a shell of it's former glory at this point, but still I was astonished at just how much lost potential there was in this game.

I couldn't quite put my finger on why the game bothered me so much. Sure it was just like every other FPS. Sure it focused too much on graphics and a cliche story. But I could forgive all this if if the gameplay was great. The thing is, it wasn't half bad. The single player campaigns seemed to attempt to stay objective based, and span multiple locales and scenarios, and feel like they should be entertaining and diverse...but they fell short.
I knew what it was that was bothering me though, as soon as I got lost in the first couple of stages, and an "Objective Arrow" was pointing to where I needed to go, as if to say "This way dumbass".

The problem I have with this is that because the level design wasn't intuitive, they compensate by giving you a linear path to follow. They make a level big and open and then when you try to explore every nook and cranny, an arrow appears on the floor telling you to go another way. Why make the levels all big and expansive if you don't want the player to see all of it? What is the point in all these fine detailed maps and graphics if you don't want anyone to pay attention to it?

It undermines the gameplay experience for a gamer when a company tries to cater to people who have never played before. I didn't need a guidance arrow in Goldeneye and I figured out where I was going. Anyhow, that was my experience, I'm sure not everyone agrees with me, so what's yours?

EDIT: Some of you mentioned it's the worst when you can't turn off the tutorials or arrows. To this I wholeheartedly agree. I also now realize this is why I couldn't stand fable. For a game that should be about exploration it sure does a great job at trying to keep things linear.

 

[Jedamethis]

I couldn't give you a specific game, but I hate this with a vengeance.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I just recently played the HAWX 2 demo, and that is what I felt. Everything I did felt like I had my hand held throughout.

 

[WorkerMurphey]

Although games might hold your hand I prefer that to being obtuse and refusing to let you know where to go due to poor pacing or level design. I suppose GTA4 is the only game that bothered me by explaining too much, but that was mostly because the variety of min-activities that needed to be spelled out.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Although games might hold your hand I prefer that to being obtuse and refusing to let you know where to go due to poor pacing or level design. I suppose GTA4 is the only game that bothered me by explaining too much, but that was mostly because the variety of min-activities that needed to be spelled out.

I would agree that it is equally as bad for a game to be completely unintuitive and offer no guidance, but I would prefer that the objectives in the game were clear enough and the level design was easy enough to follow that you could reach your objectives without the need of aid. Two sides of the same coin I suppose.

 

[crudus]

Any game that has a tutorial last at least half the game. I think GTA4 did that.

 

[Blue_vision]

Although games might hold your hand I prefer that to being obtuse and refusing to let you know where to go due to poor pacing or level design. I suppose GTA4 is the only game that bothered me by explaining too much, but that was mostly because the variety of min-activities that needed to be spelled out.

The only reason it's bad is because there's SO MUCH STUFF for you to need to know. Regardless, I immediately forgot how to pick up and throw things, and I kinda doubt that I'd need to do that.

 

[Brad Shepard]

Final fantasy 13, when i played it, good god i felt like i was in a special ed class.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

I started D&D Online last night and thought the title of this thread verbatim. There's this announcer guy that narrates half the adventure for you, usually for things you could easily detect yourself.

"You hear ominous howls ahead." ...Couldn't they have just played the sound for that? My ears work fine, I'd have heard the monster.

"You see the cultists performing a dark ritual!" Yes, yes I do. Anything you'd like to add? No? Just making sure I didn't think they were playing charades?

"You hear what is unmistakeably the sound of cracking ice." I'm looking at it, too, do I get points for that?

I think it's there to simulate a real DM, add to the "you're really playing D&D" feeling or something, (Equipment and such even tells you die count, unneeded in a game like this) but it feels like they were catering to old people and ADD sufferers.

EDIT: I kindof wish more games were like Saint's row 2; little boxes of "Here's how you do this. Got it? Good." to administer simple instructions and be gone.

 

[Cinnamonfloss]

Final fantasy 13, when i played it, good god i felt like i was in a special ed class.

"To use an attack, press.."
"Potions are used for.."
"The map is in the corner"
"Use the right analog stick to move the camera!"
"This is a game!"

 

[sephiroth1991]

I hate tutorial levels "Press X to jump" heres a gap for you don't worry if you mess up its only a small ditch with a rock on one side to clime up.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I started D&D Online last night and thought the title of this thread verbatim. There's this announcer guy that narrates half the adventure for you, usually for things you could easily detect yourself.

"You hear ominous howls ahead." ...Couldn't they have just played the sound for that? My ears work fine, I'd have heard the monster.

"You see the cultists performing a dark ritual!" Yes, yes I do. Anything you'd like to add? No? Just making sure I didn't think they were playing charades?

"You hear what is unmistakeably the sound of cracking ice." I'm looking at it, too, do I get points for that?

I think it's there to simulate a real DM, add to the "you're really playing D&D" feeling or something, (Equipment and such even tells you die count, unneeded in a game like this) but it feels like they were catering to old people and ADD sufferers.

That is essentially why he is there, but I mainly use him as a way of telling me that I'm progressing through something. He only talks during important moments so it isn't like he talks whenever you open a door.

OT: I never really liked Runners Vision in Mirrors Edge. The game was linear, I could normally find my route in a few minutes without even noticing that there was a small red platform here meant for me to jump off of. It also didn't help that toward the end of the game where they took away your cool little rooftops and replaced them with closed areas and they would still feel the need to highlight the ONLY door that I could go through with a bright red mark.

 

[wellhereiam]

I don't really have a problem with tutorials and those objective arrow things as long as I'm able to skip the tutorial, and toggle the arrow on and off. What I hate are games where you're forced to sit through the tutorial even on a new game+.

 

[Sylveria]

Final fantasy 13, when i played it, good god i felt like i was in a special ed class.

"To use an attack, press.."
"Potions are used for.."
"The map is in the corner"
"Use the right analog stick to move the camera!"
"This is a game!"

Lies... it is not a game.

 

[Brad Shepard]

Final fantasy 13, when i played it, good god i felt like i was in a special ed class.

"To use an attack, press.."
"Potions are used for.."
"The map is in the corner"
"Use the right analog stick to move the camera!"
"This is a game!"

I really thought it would have thought me how to put cloths on next...

 

[Macgyvercas]

I couldn't give you a specific game, but I hate this with a vengeance.

Same here. I hate it when games are still giving you tutorials three quarters of the way to the final boss.

 

[Aggressor and Usurper]

Nothing to see here. People misunderstood what I was saying. Ahem. >_>

 

[Wolfram23]

Easily the best tutorial level I've played is in Demon's Souls... which purposely kills you at the end hah (but gives you a chance). After that, you're on your own.
Actually Mirror's Edge had a good and necessary tutorial as well.

But yeah, in the first chapter of a game I don't mind little tooltips but after that, eff off. I get that they want to have their game played by new players but let's have optional tutorials... and how about a manual/options menu to look at all the stuff you can do in the game just in case you have to reread how to do something.

 

[expwnit]

Many games do this, but I understand the need to accommodate new and/or slow players. I'm more frustrated by plot devices that make your PC appear a fool. For instance in Persona 4, early on the game you get messages while interacting with people...
You meet a lady in a kimono. Talk with her. You go home immediately and see a lady in a kimono on TV and you're trying to work out who she is. You decide you can't think of anyone who matches that description.
Really?

 

[blankedboy]

All I remember about Perfect Dark is that the objective arrow told me fuck-all and I was always confused about where I was supposed to go next.