Who the hell thought THAT was a good idea?

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Everything to do with the controls and movement in Metal Gear Solid 2, especially with regard to shooting. There are better ways of creating challenge than just being hugely awkward. Getting up from prone, aiming, and then shooting is the most overly complex chain of actions I've ever come across in a game. The aiming is so sluggish as well.

That entire series has one of the more obtuse control schemes ever developed. People ITT are talking about Rising's parry system, but I distinctly remember in MGS4 that the act of sneaking up on someone and shooting them (which you would imagine would be an integral part of a game based around being a spy) required me to press and hold multiple buttons, often having to actually look down at the controller to confirm I had my fingers positioned correctly so that I could still pull the trigger.

A lot of the discussion of Kojima's 'auteur' status revolves around the plot, but at a fundamental level he's bad at making intuitive controls that fit the game.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

1. First Person Shooters

No, really. I've never done it before, but aiming a gun and shooting someone in real life can't be nearly as hard as waving my mouse around trying to get a little trigger pointer on the baddie while he's moving, I'm moving and the screen is bobbing up and down. How is this entertaining? It's pure masochism.

2. Real time strategy

This is a no brainer. If it's 'strategy', then the skill that I need to win is strategic thinking. How the hell does this equate with furiously tapping buttons and moving the screen around to do things quickly enough to crush the enemy? That ain't strategy, that's speed. I'll take as much time as I want to decide where I want to build a city or where to move my troops, thanks.

3. Fighting games

Press left, right, down, down, down, up, A, B, A, A, B to execute a special move. Seriously? What a stupid game. I played street fighter at a friend's house once and he beat me about 10 times before I realised how dumb it was that the guy who knows more moves is going to win. I was 8 years old. Apparently people three times that age still play these games, but I don't believe it.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

GTA 5: Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to remove the ability to exit your car without turning off the engine? I'm pretty sure I've bitched about this in another thread, but I'm going to do it again here. In GTA 4 they perfected this system by making you hold down the exit car button to turn off the engine before getting out, why then do I have to exploit a glitch to do it in GTA 5? And why did they not patch it after releasing it for last-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when they released it again for current-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when releasing it for PC? And after all the time that's passed since launch, why is this one trivial to implement feature still not fixed?
It's fucking absurd that in a game about crime, which often involves a quick get away, something like this could make it past testing.

I guess there's another quibble I have with the game; why don't they just give us an RGB slider to select paint colours, rather than a list of colours that's both too long to be intuitive, and too short to be extensive enough. They could always have simply kept the presets as aditional presets.

Bioshock: Didn't anyone play the game before launch and realise that the hacking mini game will get really repetitive after the first hundred times?

 

[tippy2k2]

GTA 5: Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to remove the ability to exit your car without turning off the engine? I'm pretty sure I've bitched about this in another thread, but I'm going to do it again here. In GTA 4 they perfected this system by making you hold down the exit car button to turn off the engine before getting out, why then do I have to exploit a glitch to do it in GTA 5? And why did they not patch it after releasing it for last-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when they released it again for current-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when releasing it for PC? And after all the time that's passed since launch, why is this one trivial to implement feature still not fixed?
It's fucking absurd that in a game about crime, which often involves a quick get away, something like this could make it past testing.

I'm confused. Not to gripe on your gripe, I'm just curious; why would it matter if you can't turn your car off? Is it strictly an immersion thing or was there some tactical advantage you got doing that in GTA4 that you lost in GTA5?

(also FYI; you have a "Italics" sign for Bioshock on your second part so the tag isn't working.

 

[RedRockRun]

To reference the venerable Adam Carolla (blessed be his name), the UPS slogan, "What can brown do for you?"

 

[FirstNameLastName]

GTA 5: Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to remove the ability to exit your car without turning off the engine? I'm pretty sure I've bitched about this in another thread, but I'm going to do it again here. In GTA 4 they perfected this system by making you hold down the exit car button to turn off the engine before getting out, why then do I have to exploit a glitch to do it in GTA 5? And why did they not patch it after releasing it for last-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when they released it again for current-gen consoles? And why didn't they fix it when releasing it for PC? And after all the time that's passed since launch, why is this one trivial to implement feature still not fixed?
It's fucking absurd that in a game about crime, which often involves a quick get away, something like this could make it past testing.

I'm confused. Not to gripe on your gripe, I'm just curious; why would it matter if you can't turn your car off? Is it strictly an immersion thing or was there some tactical advantage you got doing that in GTA4 that you lost in GTA5?

I would have a longer post, but this fucking site and it's damn captchas seemed to bug out and I lost what I wrote, so here's a re-write.

The reason it's a problem is because it interacts badly with the car damage system which makes it progressively harder to start your car the more damaged it is, and it doesn't seem to take more than a few bullets before the car often takes at least two turns of the key. This is a problem because it leaves you exposed in various scenarios, the most annoying that I encountered I'll now list.

The armoured cars that you find driving around the city. I can't count the number of times I've thrown the sticky bomb onto the back door, detonated it, pulled up next to the case and got out, only to then grab the case, get back in, then sit there like an idiot while the armed guards open fire on me through the windscreen.

Another is one specific case with the Vagos. There's some body armour located near a dumpster in their parking lot, but the programmers must have been drunk that day because the Vagos can't seem to tell the difference between you stealing one of their cars and you getting back into your own car. Of course, they open fire on you if you "steal" one of the vehicles, so, if you get out of your car and grab the body armour a lot of it will likely be used up by the time your start your car again and get away. I've taken to parking my car in the middle of the road just so they don't attack.

There's also the obvious store robberies which require no further elaboration, as well as the inability to get out of your car and use a better gun (such as shooting down a helicopter) without putting up with the delay.

There are plenty of reasons why a game about crime would need fast getaways, and it just frustrates me that my god damn character insists on diligently turning off the engine every time. I've actually taken a liking to the electric cars, since they start instantly regardless of damage.
In fact, I've sort of noticed that the character seems to be a lot more casual about everything compared to previous games. I don't know how to explain it, but it just feels like they're always doing everything far less quickly and frantically than they should, especially since the game seems to put you into "action mode" when you're being chased by police or "in combat", which actually makes you get out without turning off the engine as well as seeming to actually get in and out faster. The problem is, it's a rather unreliable system.

For such a trivial change that seems like the office intern could do it over their lunch break, it really annoys me that this has persisted through multiple console generations and every single patch.

(also FYI; you have a "Italics" sign for Bioshock on your second part so the tag isn't working.

Fixed

 

[tippy2k2]

The reason it's a problem is because it interacts badly with the car damage system which makes it progressively harder to start your car the more damaged it is, and it doesn't seem to take more than a few bullets before the car often takes at least two turns of the key. This is a problem because it leaves you exposed in various scenarios, the most annoying that I encountered I'll now list.

...and now I feel super dumb for making you type that out. I thought you wrote that you thought it was dumb that there was no option to turn your car off where it is the opposite (which makes a lot more sense).

 

[Dalisclock]

Games where you have to(or at least encouraged to) play stupid mini-games that aren't even integrated into the main game to "Progress". ME3 got on my nerves where you could only improve the efficiency of your war assets by either playing multiplayer(Nope, not happening) or playing a simplified strategy game via the website, where you need to check in every couple hours to click the galaxy map a few times. Really, EA? You couldn't have integrated that into the main game via the, I don't know, WAR ROOM ON YOUR SHIP? Maybe, though, I should be happy they didn't sell it as DLC.

AC4, for all its merits, had a pirate management mini-game accessed through your cabin. I never bothered with it and as far as I can tell I missed nothing. Why? "You need to have UPLAY in online mode to play this game, despite the fact you're already playing the main game in off-line UPLAY".

No, Ubisoft. How about you STFU about your shitty UPLAY and I'll go back to capturing ships. Deal? I play all my ubisoft games in UPLAY offline mode FOR A REASON!

I swear, if Ubisoft would stop trying to force UPLAY into everything, I'd be far more willing to buy their games. I like their games in general, but I hate how they do things.

 

[xaszatm]

Speaking of "WTF Who thought of that!?!" ideas, today's the tenth anniversary of Shadow the Hedgehog! ...the entire game is a WTF but the biggest would be the inclusion of vehicles and guns. Who thought this was a good idea?

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

3. Fighting games

Press left, right, down, down, down, up, A, B, A, A, B to execute a special move. Seriously? What a stupid game. I played street fighter at a friend's house once and he beat me about 10 times before I realised how dumb it was that the guy who knows more moves is going to win. I was 8 years old. Apparently people three times that age still play these games, but I don't believe it.

So... the guy that knows the game best has an inherent advantage? Isn't that how it's supposed to be? I can't for the life of my how that would be a bad thing.

Because it isn't strategic. It's just memorising complicated button sequences. If you want to call that 'skill' then that's fine. I wouldn't feel satisfied beating my friend because I spent 20 hours memorising that stuff. That's why chess is a good game and street fighter isn't.

By the way, what happens when both players already know all of the moves?

I don't know. There aren't really any cues to who is going to do what, like in boxing. Luck?

 

[vallorn]

I love Dark Souls 1 way, way too much but good GOD which of the people at From Software thought that it was a good idea to make the bloody Jump something that, to trigger it, you had to start sprinting, release the sprint button and press it again rapidly, and then put a REALLY handy NPC or two in areas you could only get to by fiddly jumping... Ok the latter is most likely "Because Dark Souls" but still, those controls are absurd.

 

[sXeth]

Fallout 4, the dialogue.
Much like Mass Effect the dialogue system, much like Skyrim's UI, is completely obtuse. Rather than actually telling what the option says it instead gives a vague idea of it. Because the dialogue is based mainly on tone rather than what you actually say now, the braindead PC comes off more artificial than Tommy Wiseau (as opposed to be before, where they merely came off as a bit retarded).

The Sarcasm option, which is really generally the only interesting one of the 4, also seems to fluctuate wildly between being angry and hostile, or an attempt at humor. Its not just Hit and Miss (and Miss and Miss) Voice-direction either, the NPCs react to it in both ways, often in one conversation (so its not an NPC bias).

Although Bethesda's choice in Fallout 3 and 4 to suddenly have their sandbox characters have backstories is kind of skewy to begin with. It really doesn't work well in the formula (and makes for some slight absurdity if you have a really young teenager guy in 4, or a really old guy in either).

 

[RedDeadFred]

The infamous ''skinship'' feature from Fire Emblem fates.

The gist of it is that the player character can call any unit to his room and pet them to raise their relationship. Its more then a bit creepy when quite a few of those characters are underage, some definitely not being any older then 12. It also makes your character look like quite the psychopath, calling his soldiers to his room one by one so he can touch them.

What the fuck....? I laughed, but really? That's kind of messed up.

I don't even have something that comes to mind for this topic, I just felt compelled to say that this is probably the weirdest thing I've ever heard of being included in a game (at least, for the genre).

 

[The Raw Shark]

Almsot everything about Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Why are all the weapons class locked when they weren't in the first game?
Why are the Qunari so screwed in regards to having armor available, when there was already Sten who could wear pretty much anything just like the other characters?
Why is every male elf besides Solas or the Sentinels looking like someone broke both their arms?
Why is --Whoever the Main Villain Is In case no one has played the game-- the Main Villain? After he was already disposed of in the last game I might add?
Why do, oh and whoever's reading this one take note if you plan to play the game alot, about NONE of the War Table Operations lead to NOTHING? I don't care about some stupid little text, you made me wait hours for delivering a bunch of injured morons who decided not to bring a healer across a mountain side when I was supposed to be using them for other things, and you just give me some text and 1 or 2 of a plant who's resources I DON'T EVEN NEED?
Where is the Ranger class?
Where is my dog?
Why is the Inquisitor NEVER going outside of formal conversation?
Why can't I tell any of my employees, or anyone in general for that matter, to shut their mouths whenever they, oh and everyone does this all the time, start showing me abnormal amounts of attitude? If you're working for me in saving the world from the big green sky-gina then you better damn well listen to what I say or else it's your head to the chopping block.
Why are Diplomatic and Humorous Hawke so pissy?
Why are there so many outfits that we can't get in general and for that matter why are most of the NPCs dressed like characters from before?
Why do the Darkspawn look even WORSE than when they looked like putties from Power Rangers in Dragon Age II? I know that they were mostly Orc copies in Origins but at least they were intimidating!
Oh also why are there 20 buzzcut hairstyles? And why does no one know what a trimmed, not overly-glossy looking beard look like?
What happened to Alistair's hair? It looks awful now, change it back.
Why is the combat such a slow, tedious and boring process? I mean I was pissing myself when I was first playing as a Reaver because of how cool it looked but then I realized it was just another part of how awfully the game balances itself. Making enemies have more health DOES NOT MAKE IT MORE CHALLENGING.
It was really, REALLY hard to like anything in Inquisition after all this crap, yeah there are some cooler things to take out of the DLC, but if I need to get the DLC to think your game is any good then none of it was worth it in the first place.
I'd really, REALLY like to know who the hell at BioWare keeps thinking up this crap, or greenlighting it for that matter.

 

[demoman_chaos]

In Sonic Adventure 2 I always found it odd how so many things were tied to the B button. There are a lot of buttons on the GC controller, so why do I have to cycle through things to use the visor thing for Knux/Rogue or for that one time Sonic's Magic Hand thing is in anyway useful? This is most problematic because I have Sonic/Shadow roll down slopes and they don't always follow my instructions.

In Dragonball Z Budokai 3, I really want to brutally slaughter who the hell thought that that Dragon Rush bullshit wasn't an atrociously awful and utterly beyond broken mechanic. A 3-stage guessing game you can easily activate that has the potential to instant-kill you at default health (with SSJ4 Goku/Vegeta if you have their DR SPecial Move and start the DR with a PPPPE combo you can do more than 3,000 points of damage with 1,000 hp being 1 of up to 7 and default 3 bars), and horrifically spammed by some AI characters (like Videl and Uub who are the main culprits) is the giant puss-filled cancer growth on an otherwise amazing game.

If a unit is crouching behind sandbags (and only sandbags) or lying prone in grass they are basically immortal. Deal with it.

Flanking the enemy and hitting them in the ass still grants them the cover bonus from the sandbag on the opposite side of them right?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Wait...you can skip those cutscenes, i'm sure. I have yet to be spoiled. Not that it's unpredicatable, haha!
Who the bloody hell gave a voice to Nathan Drake? He is an annoying **** who can only speak in annoyances. The game is fun otherwise, but i have never wanted to mute a noise hole so bad since that time i agreed to look after cockerels and hens during a hangover.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to let marketed advertising connect science with scientology? Quite opposing mindsets, i assure you! Whoever thought it was a good idea to post on a forum whilst incredibly tired, missing medication and dru...oh, wait.

 

[springheeljack]

The hand holding feature in Fable 3

WHY THE FUCK DID YOU INTRODUCE IT IF YOU CANT EVEN DO IT CORRECTLY
It really ruined that tense scene when you are in the cave with your adviser guy and you are supposed to be leading him and instead of leading him you are literally grasping air

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I love Dark Souls 1 way, way too much but good GOD which of the people at From Software thought that it was a good idea to make the bloody Jump something that, tro trigger it, you had to start sprinting, release the sprint button and press it again rapidly, and then put a REALLY handy NPC or two in areas you could only get to by fiddly jumping... Ok the latter is most likely "Because Dark Souls" but still, those controls are absurd.

Oh jeeehus, i forgot about that nugget of bullshit. 10 hours in before i even knew that might have existed, let alone successfully pulling it off. Why, dark souls? Why? What did we ever do to you??