When you lost the 'willing' part from willing suspension of disbelief

[bificommander]

There's a lot of unrealistic things, mechanics or story events that you'll have to learn to accept when playing games because... well, games just can't be perfect simulators of real life, and most would be less fun if they were. But sometimes there's just a little, or big, thing that just pulles you right out of the game, something you just can't ignore. Maybe it wasn't the worst break of reality you've seen in a game. Maybe it wasn't even the worst one in that particular game. But it is the one that killed your immersion. What was it for you?

For me, a big one was the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword setting. Obviously, no depiction of Hyrule has ever been close to a realistic representation of a medival kingdom. In Twilight Princess, Hyrule City was as big as it's ever been to my knowledge, and it still was the size of a village. But I could always accept it. And hey, the world strechted further than you could see (even if you couldn't ever find a path to these other places). So I never even thought about the realism of those settings.

Untill Skyward Sword came along. This time around the whole inhabited world was explicitly stated to be just the tiny floating island town, plus 2-3 single building islands. I thought it was cool when it was announced. But when I played it, I quickly realized they'd done nothing with their setting idea. On top of the floating island was just a regular village you'd expect to see on the ground. It was filled with items that they'd have no way of making, wasted incredible amounts of space as if the entire livable world wasn't small enough to make a lap around in under a minute. And there were a few families living there, ordinary families that in no way reflected the fact that you'd need some serious family planning in the entire world population is below 30.

But the most hillarious thing is the monster that is hiding on the island. No one knows that he lives there. In a village of 20 people. Because he built his house hanging from the bottom of the island. Oh, that makes sense... if it weren't for the fact that all the people frequently fly around the tiny island. Hell, if you fall right next to the house, the Skyknights will catch you and put you back while looking right at the house. And the house and walkway towards it are made of so many wooden planks, that the monster would've had to cut down every single tree on the island to make it. No one noticed that, huh?

I know it's a silly thing to worry about, but I can't stop noticing it. So, what silly things bother you?

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well I found the character of Nathan Drake to be absolutely ridiculous towards the end of Uncharted 3. He survives so much shit that should have killed him hours ago. He escapes a sinking ship while fighting dudes, gets ONE hour of sleep, falls out of a plane while fighting dudes, trecks through a desert without water for ages then fights more dudes on horseback. It's just STUPID!

I'm all for people surviving stuff when it fits with the game but Drake is not fucking Master Chief for fucks sake! The entire game is built around humans being ordinary humans but more athletic and that's fine but randomly giving Drake the God Mode hack is silly and out of place

 

[BloatedGuppy]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

 

[blackdwarf]

Recently I have been playing Resident Evil 6. Yes, I enjoy it. Yes, the game is badly designed. The game has a habit to make something happen which results the main characters failing from a higher point, which would be fine, if it weren't for the heights. People are falling from the fifth floor or something, land on their backs and get up without any form of injury. They also survive huge explosions from which the shock wave alone should kill them, but no. They get up without any problem.

And another common thing is that you aren't allowed to pass obstacles, even though a normal person could easily squeeze himself through the holes.

 

[Vegosiux]

Waist-high fences, broken bridges and doors that you just need to find a key for no matter if you can uproot a tree with one hand. Those are my biggest peeves. At least make the obstacles realistic within the setting.

 

[King Billi]

Why can't Zeus and Poseidon and all the other gods just haul themselves out of the underworld after Kratos kills them? Why can a mortal man defy death but the bloody GODS can't?


Honestly though farfetched leaps of logic and ridiculous plot holes are present in so many of my favourite games that it seems pointless to complain about them, especially when none of them really affect my overall enjoyment. I'm fine with letting a game dictate it's own rules as far as reality goes.

Never let facts get in the way of a good story I suppose...

 

[shadyh8er]

Well I found the character of Nathan Drake to be absolutely ridiculous towards the end of Uncharted 3. He survives so much shit that should have killed him hours ago. He escapes a sinking ship while fighting dudes, gets ONE hour of sleep, falls out of a plane while fighting dudes, trecks through a desert without water for ages then fights more dudes on horseback. It's just STUPID!

I know exactly what you mean. I actually died the first time I reached the part where you have to steer Drake through the air to grab on to that falling piece of cargo to parachute down. It was just so...out there that I didn't think the game would actually let me do it. Now I can't play it without chuckling a bit.

And for the desert bit, I usually just tip the left stick to the right while I check my Facebook on my Kindle or something.

Other than that, I can't really name any time I completely lost my immersion.

 

[J Tyran]

How people live in Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls, its just such a lethal place to live. Want to visit you family in the next village? No chance, you are going to be bitten by a vampire, half eaten by trolls and a necromancer is going to make off with your nekkid corpse (bandits took your clothes).

 

[Abomination]

Almost every JRPG has moments where the established mechanics take a back seat for stupid drama.

Generally it is when the most logical solution to a problem is right in your face but you can not do it due to poor mechanics.

 

[Jiefu]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

The US government in WW2, and even the French, British, Soviet, Japanese, and German ones (for whom the war was all the more immediate) still paid their soldiers (the Soviets only had different compensation methods due to their socialist government pattern, not uncompromised idealism by their soldiers). Even when the wolf is at the door, people still want to be paid for the bullets you use to shoot him.

 

[Veylon]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

Yes, it has to be this one. The most egregious example that comes to mind is Dungeon Lords 2, where there's a temple of people who know you're the Chosen One, have been preparing for this moment for quite some times, and yet will not do one single thing to help out. There's a lot of other stupidity plot-wise in the game too but I won't get into it.

What's especially annoying is that this kind of scenario should be relatively easy to fix. If the game-makers want the Chosen One plot and want the player to work for their stuff, all they have to do is make getting equipment dependent on non-standard materials.

The townsfolk are happy to give you all the Steel Swords you want, it's just that the swarm of monster threatening the town are resistant to ordinary weaponry, making their generosity not terribly helpful. They'd get your sword enchanted to make it worthwhile, but the town wizard's been missing and somebody has to go look for him. Hint hint. Alternatively, decent weaponry might depend upon some sort of rare ore deep in demon-infested territory which, you know, only the Chosen One could hope to enter and survive long enough to retrieve it.

Or, heck, just have people be skeptical about the whole 'Chosen One' thing. Then it would make sense that they'd still want to profit off you. They don't buy into this Apocalypse crap.

Though I would love to see a game sometime where, after your Chosen One credentials have been established, the GP meter just disappears and you can take whatever you need from the shops. That would be a decent reward for taking the goody two-shoes moral path.

 

[The_Echo]

Why can't Zeus and Poseidon and all the other gods just haul themselves out of the underworld after Kratos kills them? Why can a mortal man defy death but the bloody GODS can't?

In the real Greek mythology, gods die in one of two ways (that I know of): they die and are gone into nothingness (e.g. Pan, Asclepius), or they die into a state that can be resurrected (e.g. Adonis). I don't think gods are sent to the Underworld.

So we can assume Kratos kills them into nothingness. Not to mention God of War isn't exactly firmly set into the mythology.

OT: I don't really get my suspension of disbelief broken... ever.

 

[sextus the crazy]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

The US government in WW2, and even the French, British, Soviet, Japanese, and German ones (for whom the war was all the more immediate) still paid their soldiers (the Soviets only had different compensation methods due to their socialist government pattern, not uncompromised idealism by their soldiers). Even when the wolf is at the door, people still want to be paid for the bullets you use to shoot him.

Yes, notice how none of that mentions soldiers paying out of pocket for their weaponry. If any kingdom entrusted someone to go and kill something and this mission was vital to their survival, they would be smart enough to pay for some solid gear for their soldiers to use. It's just common sense.

 

[bug_of_war]

Any game where the protagonist is silent. I just get annoyed when everybody is talking and direct questions or accusations across my way and my character just stands there doing nothing. Big one for me was Dishonoured. I HATED that game for numerous other reasons, but the big killer for me was at the start of the game, when the empress dies (it's not a spoiler, games been out long enough and the trailer/blurb basically give it away) and everybody is like, "CORVO WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS BRO? YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL!". Why the fuck did he not say, "I didn't do it, assassins did". I know that they're corrupt, but to believe that my character is not going to defend himself is just bullshit.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

Oh yes.

The Ultima series can be pretty bad in this regard. Especially from the fourth game on. Not only have you saved the world multiple times over, you're also pretty much the messiah of Britannia's principal religion and the games make a point of you only being summoned to that world when it is absolutely necessary. So any time you show up, it's a pretty safe bet everything is screwed unless you can prevent it. Yet there are somehow still people who can't recognize the Avatar at a single glance. And every time you need something from someone, you're probably gonna have to do some stupid favor for them, instead of them just giving you whatever you need so the world can escape destruction.

EDIT: granted there is often some reason for all of it, but still

 

[Diddy_Mao]

I love the InFamous series to death. I've talked before about how little sense the "evil" morality play makes to the entire game...so I won't repeat myself here.

Instead I'll discuss the immersion beaking existence of chain link fences.

Most of your travel time in these games is spent on the rooftops or scrambling up the side of a building like a surly super powered lemur. But whenever you come across a certain seemingly simple to navigate baracades Cole loses all motor functions.
I can scale a building by climbing the drainage gutter but I can't climb a chain link fence.

I call shenanigans.

 

[Eddie the head]

Well the ending to Mass Effect 3. I'm sorry that was the elephant in the room.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

"You are the great savior of our land...the only hope of our people. Without you, we are surely lost."
"Sounds great. Can you hook me up with a sword? All I have is this rusty one."
"That will be 800 gold pieces."

That always bothered me too. I mean, sure I understand if I am maybe trying to get something diamond encrusted and made of precious star-metal that only falls to the earth once every three thousand years - there should be a quest for that bugger, but when I'm in a shop, all banged up and half my back-up dragging-ass half dead behind me, is a discount on health potions / healing / resurrection services so VERY much to ask so I can go back out there and save YOUR puny village from destruction? Pretty please?!

Waist-high fences, broken bridges and doors that you just need to find a key for no matter if you can uproot a tree with one hand. Those are my biggest peeves. At least make the obstacles realistic within the setting.

And another one... this especially makes little sense in the "this door needs a key" when you pick locks on everything you pass by constantly situation.

How people live in Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls, its just such a lethal place to live. Want to visit you family in the next village? No chance, you are going to be bitten by a vampire, half eaten by trolls and a necromancer is going to make off with your nekkid corpse (bandits took your clothes).

That was one thing that they at least recognized with the (semi-pointless, but flavor fun) marriage option in Skyrim. You go up to someone wearing a necklace and if they're single and want you, you get hitched. Because the worlds too damn dangerous to think about love, just find a mate and procreate before you get eaten by something. Priorities.

Almost every JRPG has moments where the established mechanics take a back seat for stupid drama.

I'm still mad I couldn't Phoenix Down Aeris(th). After all these years!

For me a big big one is when - and this is a voiced protagonist issue on the 'dial' system mostly - my character says something totally other than I intended or thought I selected. Like when I say "that's a shame" and the voice says "you could stop being a ***** about it" or something similar.