Your most hated game mechanic

[Withall]

Unskippable cutscenes, period. There is very little as annoying as unskippable cuscenes EACH TIME YOU START A NEW CAMPAIGN/STORY MODE. *glares at Freelancer*.

Other than that, though... I'm pretty OK with most game mechanics used: they were put in the game for a reason (or lack-thereof), but if it is annoying, it's probably due to poor integration or insufficient beta-testing.

 

[ReckzB]

Karma Meters.

Whatever the fuck ever happened to subjectivity? I remember a time ten years ago (as usual, Deus Ex) when choices could have consequences without having to call me an asshole or Jesus incarnate.

This too. I like the fact that I can play games and just how I interact with others, what actions I take, etc, can affect both the outcome of the game as well as how NPCs will react to me, but it just loses its edge when developers throw a moral scale into the works.

The problem I have with it is, if I have a morality meter and - on the off-chance that I actually like the game - then I'm not going to say what I want to say, do what I want to do, and so on, because I'll be striving to reach 100% Virtuous and -98% Moronic Jackass.

 

[Agent_Nahmen_Jayden]

Escort missions, especially when the game makes it so they can't get hit even once. You escort the person through 90% of the mission and then an enemy bumps into the thing you need to escort and you have to start the whole mission over again.

 

[Engarde]

Limited saves without the option to make a temporary save and quit. Sometimes life demands attention, and to not even be able to save whilt I fight of ninjas / do less exciting things bothers me.

 

[Queen Michael]

For me it's scores in games where completing the game has nothing to do with scores. In Pokémon Snap! they were a vital part of the game, but in SMB the scores are pointless.

 

[darkknight9]

Escort missions. Tool of satan. BEGONE!!!!

 

[aaron552]

I HATE forced stealth sections, perhaps even more then the forced time limit. It's what turned me off of Beyond Good & Evil. I suppose one could argue that stealth was in fact the point of that game, but if so then it sure did a great job setting itself up as an action\adventure game instead. Not to mention the stealth still isn't very well executed, regardless...ugh, I better stop before I type an essay.

I agree that some of the forced stealth sections are annoying, but I only recall there being a handful of them (3, I think? My memory is a little hazy). Many of the "stealth" sections could be completed by combat, if you were good. The Alpha Sections actually aren't invincible in combat, even without Pey'j/DoubleH.

For me, it's either "Press X to not die" quick time event sequences, "Press X to win" QTE sequences where it's the only way to win, or (for party-based RPGs only) insta-lose if the PC dies/passes out/etc.

 

[default]

Pickups that disappear literally about 3 seconds after you unearth them. I'm looking at you, Mario

 

[Mordreich]

Difficulty scaling can go straight to hell! When your character is just a gob of weaksause you should not be able to just waltz through an enemy base stabbing nooblings with little to no resistance.

 

[Cerzelo]

There are so many, but auto-aim has to be the most annoying, mainly because it was done in Red Dead Redemption, which I do love, but auto-aim simply turns it into easy mode.

 

[Delta2501]

Agreed on unskippable cutscenes, especially on second viewing; this is an undeniable waste of our time that designers should have learnt to drop by now.

On the subject of cutscenes, I think it should be possible to pause at any point too, so that you don't end up missing something/having to reload a save just because I had to answer a door when it was inconvenient for the game.

Another one I'm surprised hasn't come up yet is lives systems, but I guess most modern games are better at this.

Finally, its not so much a mechanic, but I say enough with enemies with excessive health bars. IMO enemies should be tough because of difficult patterns and dangerous attacks, not because I have to repeatedly go through their predicatable patterns without getting hit. Basically it makes fake difficulty and tough short duel>war of attrition.

I though Viewtiful Joe (1 not 2) was pretty good in that most enemies were tough and resistent unless you fought in the right way, which made them tricky but not requiring more than a couple of attacks.

Oh, and random encounters, especially when the encounter rate is too high.

 

[Snowden's Secret]

Escort missions which have people who insist on running headlong into an enemy despite being completely unarmed and unarmoured, and who are prone to friendly fire and will start attacking you if you try to kill the enemy who is killing them. Basically Oblivion.
Also regenerating health.

 

[angry_flashlight]

Random quick time events. If you're going to use QTE's at least use them often enough so we the player expect them (like God of War). Don't just randomly throw them at us 5 hours in (Uncharted 1).

Unskippable cutscenes are annoying too. JUST LET ME PLAY DAMMIT!

Another thing that annoys me is when you get spawn killed in singleplayer. MP I can understand, but singleplayer? Are you serious? You guys didn't find this stupid and infuriating in playtesting? (I'm looking at you Loose Ends on Veteran. Fucking mortars.)

 

[Chaos Marine]

Quick time events and awkwardly placed checkpoints. Take GoW for example, there was that bit before you encounter the Theron Guard drones and it's absolutely aggravating because you get one hit killed by those torque bows.

 

[Psychophante]

Mandatory vehicle/turret sections in fps games. They get me used to running round like a lunatic gunning people down, then tie me to some stupid fixed weapon. Grrr...

 

[John47]

maybe places in fps where you have to be stealthy , unskipable cutscenes before bosses , unskipable cinematics before the menu screen , not well responding controls , scarry levels , sewer levels , stationary turret or defense levels , retarded npc AI , metallic enemies in fps that need explosives to kill them , very long boss fights without checkpoints , dissapearence of bodies after 3 seconds , graphical flaws , bugs , non-triggered glitches , 20 dialouges talking about the same thing and much much more.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Escort missions are annoying, but I have a very specific example of a hated game mechanic - roaming bloody pokémon!
You get one turn, and then it buggers off. Then you spend hours wandering from route to route. Then, when you eventually find it, you get another single turn until it buggers off. Think you can stop them with mean look? No, most of them have roar.
In other words, I still haven't caught Raikou, despite the fact it's walking whilst paralysed and with only a single hit point left.

 

[Antiparticle]

For me: Underwater levels, vehicle sections, unskippable death/game over animations, infinitely respawning enemies.