Your favorite small features in a game

[D-Class 198482]

So I was playing Prototype 2 and I realized (and loved) that when I grabbed a hostile soldier they'd start begging, threatening me, or saying that they had something to tell me while they were in my grip.
What is your favorite small feature, that happens often but isn't really worth noticing a lot, in a game?

 

[camerinian]

It's almost completely optional, but I love the actions you can do with your co-op partner in Portal 2, like dancing, hugging, etc. They just add that extra bit of personality to a game where the main protagonists are literally robots

 

[Ultress]

The little visual things in The Metroid Prime trilogy like her hand switching positions in the arm cannon and her eyes changing in corruption as she becomes more exposed to the phazon.THey add a nice little touch of detail.

 

[vinniebarx]

Tower defence in AC Revelations

lol jk has to be the different ways you can think up killing the adoring fan in Oblivion

 

[KINGBeerZ]

NPC conversations, just in any game I really love it when they have little discussions between NPC's particularly humorous or easter egg filled ones.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

From the 5th generation Pokemon: The Pokemon World Tournament.

The nostalgia.

The feels.

*Garchomp roars*

[HEADING=1]AND CYNTHIA'S GODDAMNED GARCHOMP GETTING ICEBEAM'D TO FUCKING OBLIVION OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN![/HEADING]

[HEADING=1]MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!![/HEADING]

*ahem*

I must get me some ice cream now.

 

[Shinsei-J]

The little clouds of sand you kick up in Journey.
I think the game would have been way less immersive if they were to just disappear.
They're just so elegantly beautiful.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I really like the menu noises in Persona 4, they're just so light and airy it really fits with the game.

Oh and random emotes in LoL. LAUGH BAITS HATERZ! Seriously, I made this one Syndra chase me by laughing at her when I was playing Support Nami. She was fucking fed as well and she chased me from her base to the middle of the map... Got out with Nami's baus Tidal Wave + Stun + endless speed buffs. Lol 20HP u mad overextended enemy? *team dogpiles her*

I would have way less fun if I couldn't play a game of Psychological Warfare. Protip: Spam Lux's laugh enough and they WILL towerdive you. I also turn Diana into a complete comedian who never stops telling the same two tired "jokes" all game. Pity the Nerf Train hit her far too hard so she's unplayable now compared to her older self. They broke the hitbox on her shield orbs. It's clearly hitting them but they basically need to be hugging you to even remotely set them off. Her Q does fuck all now, her teleport range got nerfed spectacularly... The list goes on. Literally everything she has got nerfed. Even Moonfall. Y'know the ability that doesn't even have a damage value?

Darius OP? Better nerf Diana and Rengar! Again! They're like the new Irelia.

 

[Cazza]

Being able to see your body in FPS games. It makes jumping much more easier and cooler. I feel it's kind of backward not having it.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

The little bonuses the game gives you when you die to help you get through a difficult section. This was done pretty well in Max Payne 3. When you died over and over in one spot, you'll get some extra painkillers and ammo. Hell, even just straight up dying resets your health bar. It just makes the game that bit fairer.

 

[RedAce]

In Spec Ops: the line in one of the earlier parts a civilian runs at you i mowed that poor woman down hard and didn't notice she wasn't an enemy until play through 2, i felt like shit once i realised.

 

[Bostur]

Buttons. And Icons. I have a thing for smooth user interface elements. Blizzard makes the best ones.

A good button needs to feel soft and smooth, yet it must act with determination when pressed. Some buttons feel sticky, giving the impression they only work sometimes - yuck.

I have no idea what makes a good button. It's a subtle cocktail of graphical design, sound and responsive event handling. But I know a good one when I see it.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

The cape animation in the new Batman games is the only one I can think of right now. It just flows so smoothly and naturally. I can't think of those games without it.

 

[Sam Elder]

Those environmental effects in games that make the landscapes spectacular, such as with Skyrim, even standard that games beautiful, put on the HD Mods and youve got one hell of an amazing screenshot

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

In Spec Ops: the line in one of the earlier parts a civilian runs at you i mowed that poor woman down hard and didn't notice she wasn't an enemy until play through 2, i felt like shit once i realised.

Lots of stuff in that game i could list. Spec Ops the line was my game of the year because it surprised me and was awesome.

 

[cip_raziel]

From the top of my head, I'd say the newspaper bit at the end of a mission in Hitman Blood Money, I would love to see things like this one in more games, a feature that tells how you played a level but in a creative way, not just your usual screen with you killed X random NPCs. Hitman Absolution could've done it too, maybe using tv news instead and showing some random images from the mission, especially since in all missions there are Evidence tapes.
Oh and the sun and sun effects/rays through different windows, wall cracks and over rooftops in Dishonored. I found myself a few times blinking up on a building and admiring the view.
Tali's voice in Mass Effect.
The bandits' screams while burning in Borderlands 2.
Cosmo Canyon's music in Final Fantasy 7.
Hmm maybe not all of them are just "small things", but meh...

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The real-time fauna trail Amaterasu leaves behind in Okami. Flowers when you walk, golden flowers when you run, Autumn leaves when you hurtle through the sky, lily pads when you swim... besides looking gorgeous it adds a proper sense of nature divinity to the character.

 

[Purple_Kuja]

The hand-held map in Far Cry 2. It functioned well, looked nice and on more than one occasion led to me driving into a tree/river/arsehole-merc because my eyes were off the road XD

 

[Jorec]

Idle animations. I just really love when developers take the time to make these things that aren't really necessary. I just love seeing characters fiddling with their weapons or doing humorous things in general.

Case in point, the idle animations from Metro 2033. I love em.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_oSajQIH9o

Another that comes to mind is Metroid Prime. Seeing Samus fiddle with her gun or have her slowly scan the room, shit like that is great.

 

[TheRussian]

In Spec Ops: the line in one of the earlier parts a civilian runs at you i mowed that poor woman down hard and didn't notice she wasn't an enemy until play through 2, i felt like shit once i realised.

Oh my, I did the exact same thing by accident. It's interesting how the game teaches you to shoot on sight and then messes with you by occasionally putting civilians right in front of you.

As for the subject, I like persistent bodies/shell casings in my shooters. It's a hard thing to pull off in modern shooters, and when it works, like Spec Ops, it serves to drive the message home.