Gaming Pet Peeves

[DeScruff]

This is more than a pet peeve. It's something I genuinely despise.

Stealth sequences in games non-stealth games. They are some of the most infuriating things ever.

Literally dealt with this yesterday. Was finishing up Deliver Us The Moon. It has a stealth sequence in the middle of the final act of the game. And it's TERRIBLE. Fortunately, the game is very buggy. So I was able to cheese my way through it even though I should have died. But even pulling that off took about a dozen tries.

This could be said about a lot of ___ sequences in non-_____ games. But yeah Stealth sequences are terrible.
How many fps games decide "We want a platforming level!" despite their rather terrible jumping controls or a game deciding to have racing sequence.

 

[DeScruff]

Oh yeah. My personal pet peeve. RNG gambling event for progression.
- Maybe its the main quest, maybe its a side quest. But its an even that one can only progress. if the RNG favors you.
I recently reran into this with the Dark Spire where for a side quest you need to win 5 consecutive times, without losing or cashing out at a dice rolling competition.

Related: Poker in games. Look I don't know how to play poker. I don't really care to learn.
And oddly enough, a lot of games that feature it, don't explain how to play it. They just assume everyone knows how to play. And I am not going to go on Youtube watch a 10 minute video on how to play Poker just so I can get past this one stupid quest in a game. And even then that only helps so much since its still 100% RNG if you get the cards you need.
This is one reason I like playing games on PC, I can just use Cheat Engine and find some way to skip the card game section, or automatically win. And I know.

I cheated not only the game, but myself.
I didn't grow.
I didn't improve.
I took a shortcut and gained nothing.
I experienced a hollow victory.
Nothing was risked and nothing was gained.
and It's sad that I don't know the difference.

 

[Meursault]

Trophies or gameplay shoehorned in to make the most of photo mode. I think the addition of photo mode is really great for those that want to use it. Even I use it. But just because it's an added feature, I don't want gameplay to revolve around it especially if it's for padding and turns into a massive chore hunting down specific places or angles. As they say, hobbies shouldn't feel like work, and that applies in-game too.

 

[Rico Penguin]

Oh yeah. My personal pet peeve. RNG gambling event for progression.
- Maybe its the main quest, maybe its a side quest. But its an even that one can only progress. if the RNG favors you.
I recently reran into this with the Dark Spire where for a side quest you need to win 5 consecutive times, without losing or cashing out at a dice rolling competition.

Related: Poker in games. Look I don't know how to play poker. I don't really care to learn.
And oddly enough, a lot of games that feature it, don't explain how to play it. They just assume everyone knows how to play. And I am not going to go on Youtube watch a 10 minute video on how to play Poker just so I can get past this one stupid quest in a game. And even then that only helps so much since its still 100% RNG if you get the cards you need.
This is one reason I like playing games on PC, I can just use Cheat Engine and find some way to skip the card game section, or automatically win. And I know.

I cheated not only the game, but myself.
I didn't grow.
I didn't improve.
I took a shortcut and gained nothing.
I experienced a hollow victory.
Nothing was risked and nothing was gained.
and It's sad that I don't know the difference.

The rise of trophies/achievements was a blight for me in many ways. Not the least of which it lead to the death of cheats...unless you want to give me 5 dollars? Then boom! Cheats galore!

Ok maybe it wasn't just trophies that did it...

 

[zatoseyes]

Oh yeah. My personal pet peeve. RNG gambling event for progression.

I know it's not a critical component of the game, but I really hated this about Vagrant Story.

 

[Dreggsao]

Drift "races" in racing games. Racing is about getting faster from a to b than your opponents, not about angles. Get that anime shit out of my game!

 

[CelicaCrazed]

Tiny text. What is this, a video game for ants!?

 

[RiffRaff]

Tiny text. What is this, a video game for ants!?

As someone with not good eyesight, I feel this. As TVs get bigger, text gets smaller. What the fuck!
I do like that recently with Death Stranding and The Outer Worlds the gaming community made enough noise on the topic to get them to patch adjustable text in. Yes, it should have been like that day 1, but at least it's a common issue that devs know they have to pay attention to.
I'm not getting any younger as well as a large portion of the gaming community. Eyesight is one of the most common things to start deteriorating for us. It must be considered when making games (and it also drives me nuts when a show or film shows a text message on screen and I can't see that shit!).

And I think all games should have customizable controls. One of my biggest (first world) fears is losing use of a hand. That would render my favorite hobby quite difficult. Massive props to Microsoft for creating that accessibility controller.

 

[RiffRaff]

Just about the worst example of this was playing The Witcher 3 at launch on a 32" TV. Oh boy. That was painful.

Did it on a 22' screen.......

 

[RiffRaff]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. That's brutal.

Thank god the game is so damn amazing I was able to get past that all. I had to pull the chair up to pretty much right in front of the screen lol.

 

[Xeronio じゃない]

Trophies or gameplay shoehorned in to make the most of photo mode. I think the addition of photo mode is really great for those that want to use it. Even I use it. But just because it's an added feature, I don't want gameplay to revolve around it especially if it's for padding and turns into a massive chore hunting down specific places or angles. As they say, hobbies shouldn't feel like work, and that applies in-game too.

I know that this is not what you are talking about, but your comment made me remember Dark Cloud 2 and its obnoxious crafting system that is mandatory and obtuse enough to help sell a shit ton of guides, which I'm pretty sure was the intention all along.

 

[DeScruff]

As someone with not good eyesight, I feel this. As TVs get bigger, text gets smaller. What the fuck!

I have a feeling that comes from developers and testers using computer monitors, or at least sitting as close to the screen as you would with a computer monitor. You just don't realize "Oh the text is way to small for the average living room".

But also similar problem with games ported to the Switch.
When I played the Trails of Cold Steel 3 demo on my Switch Lite, I couldn't help but feel the text was hard to read. But playing the same demo on my PC, or the full game on my PS4, I thought the text was fine.

 

[RiffRaff]

I have a feeling that comes from developers and testers using computer monitors, or at least sitting as close to the screen as you would with a computer monitor. You just don't realize "Oh the text is way to small for the average living room".

But also similar problem with games ported to the Switch.
When I played the Trails of Cold Steel 3 demo on my Switch Lite, I couldn't help but feel the text was hard to read. But playing the same demo on my PC, or the full game on my PS4, I thought the text was fine.

I do hope devs start thinking of the living room when making and testing their games. I imagine that's how a majority of gamers game.

Sucks to hear about Cold Steel. I haven't had any text issues in portable mode with my regular Switch yet (though my eyesight problems are myopic). But that's even more an argument for games needing adjustable text size. I know it's not an easy thing to do, but...

 

[sweaty dungus]

You know what really pets my peeve? All the Naughty Dog-flavored "cinematic flair" occurring within gameplay in everything nowadays. When a game tries way too hard to WOW you with an overly elaborate set piece you've likely seen done better a thousand times by now. It will never have the same effect as it did in 2009 when Uncharted 2 rocked the world, and only serves to diminish the replay value of your game in the long run.