Stupid Video Game Troupes

[Roager]

I don't know if this is the best way to phrase it, but false urgency?

You know how in Skyrim or GTA or whatever, the main plotline stands around waiting for you to start missions? And no matter how long you do or don't take, it changes nothing? That's... fine I guess. It's a somewhat necessary concession that the story makes in service to open world gameplay. And said plotline can be written around it, where having those longer breaks between events feels natural and legitimate.

Remember when Arkham City used the same structure, but every so often Dr. Dickface would blare out over the PA system how "PROJECT GENOCIDE WILL BEGIN IN __ HOURS" but his countdown would just repeat at FOUR HOURS for like a week if you were doing side content instead of progressing the story?

Yeah, that was dumb.

 

[bong264]

I don't know if this is the best way to phrase it, but false urgency?

You know how in Skyrim or GTA or whatever, the main plotline stands around waiting for you to start missions? And no matter how long you do or don't take, it changes nothing? That's... fine I guess. It's a somewhat necessary concession that the story makes in service to open world gameplay. And said plotline can be written around it, where having those longer breaks between events feels natural and legitimate.

Remember when Arkham City used the same structure, but every so often Dr. Dickface would blare out over the PA system how "PROJECT GENOCIDE WILL BEGIN IN __ HOURS" but his countdown would just repeat at FOUR HOURS for like a week if you were doing side content instead of progressing the story?

Yeah, that was dumb.

Fallout 1 is (I think) the only RPG with a time limit that kinda mattered. Take too long dicking around and the super mutants start killing every town until the finally reach your vault. Although I think that mechanic was broken and only fully implemented in a fan patch

 

[Nova]

I think making money from killing things that should not have money. Like, how does the economy even work when you can spend your day smashing the lowest level non aggressive enemies and make enough to pay for a night at an inn after like 5 kills?

There's an old RPG Maker game, Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis, where if it wouldn't make sense for an enemy to be carrying money, they'll instead drop body parts or scrap metal or something along those lines that you can sell. Same end result in gameplay, but it fits much better in terms of flavor.

 

[Xeo]

Fallout 1 is (I think) the only RPG with a time limit that kinda mattered. Take too long dicking around and the super mutants start killing every town until the finally reach your vault. Although I think that mechanic was broken and only fully implemented in a fan patch

I learned the hard way that Kingdom Come: Deliverance's time limits, or rather time between taking a quest, or finding out about it and then going to do it matters. It was honestly kind of hilarious when it first happened to me. As you start that game as a chump, like any random asshole off the street realistically would. You don't know how to fight, how to ride a horse well. You're clumsy, young and kind of dumb. No one takes you seriously, because there's seriously no reason to, yet. So I have these hardened knights bossing me around and then an opportunity arises to maybe start to make something of yourself. And these guys reluctantly agree to allow you to tag along to a big mission/battle. They tell you that bright and early the next morning they're heading out.

So me, being me, was like "Fuck that noise, I'm gonna go fuck about in town, try to steal shit and maybe do a sidequest or something!" As it turns out, I got into a fist fight and got my ass beat, bled all over my clothes, tried to wash them in a fountain, pissed someone off who chased me out. I ended up drinking with what little money I had and got blackout drunk until I well, blacked out. I woke up the next day in a goddamn compost heap well into the mid-day. The knights had left without me and I failed that quest. That was that.

 

[modern_moron]

I learned the hard way that Kingdom Come: Deliverance's time limits, or rather time between taking a quest, or finding out about it and then going to do it matters. It was honestly kind of hilarious when it first happened to me. As you start that game as a chump, like any random asshole off the street realistically would. You don't know how to fight, how to ride a horse well. You're clumsy, young and kind of dumb. No one takes you seriously, because there's seriously no reason to, yet. So I have these hardened knights bossing me around and then an opportunity arises to maybe start to make something of yourself. And these guys reluctantly agree to allow you to tag along to a big mission/battle. They tell you that bright and early the next morning they're heading out.

So me, being me, was like "Fuck that noise, I'm gonna go fuck about in town, try to steal shit and maybe do a sidequest or something!" As it turns out, I got into a fist fight and got my ass beat, bled all over my clothes, tried to wash them in a fountain, pissed someone off who chased me out. I ended up drinking with what little money I had and got blackout drunk until I well, blacked out. I woke up the next day in a goddamn compost heap well into the mid-day. The knights had left without me and I failed that quest. That was that.

I still can't get past the combat in that game.

Feels clunky on both PS4 and PC (PS4 10x worse).

I know the whole deal is you have to actually train to be good at anything, but without any frame of reference for how it should feel to play when you're at least capable, it seems like a huge time sink.

Oh and the lockpicking. Fuck that minigame.

 

[AtomicBanana]

There's an old RPG Maker game, Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis, where if it wouldn't make sense for an enemy to be carrying money, they'll instead drop body parts or scrap metal or something along those lines that you can sell. Same end result in gameplay, but it fits much better in terms of flavor.

Yeah when I wrote this I was also thinking about FFXII and its loot system, an extra step for the same result.

 

[AtomicBanana]

Fallout 1 is (I think) the only RPG with a time limit that kinda mattered. Take too long dicking around and the super mutants start killing every town until the finally reach your vault. Although I think that mechanic was broken and only fully implemented in a fan patch

Yeah, I know they get your vault after a certain time once you complete the first main quest, but the only place I really saw them destroy was Necropolis and I always though that was just scripted.

 

[Xeo]

I still can't get past the combat in that game.

Feels clunky on both PS4 and PC (PS4 10x worse).

I know the whole deal is you have to actually train to be good at anything, but without any frame of reference for how it should feel to play when you're at least capable, it seems like a huge time sink.

Oh and the lockpicking. Fuck that minigame.

I didn't get too far into it for these reasons you just described, but I admired the realism of it all. I've considered coming back to it some day since it's so cheap now. Maybe just push through and see if it gets better. But even just typing out that sequence of events made me chuckle out loud, so it at least had that going for it.

 

[Panzadolphin56]

Explosive barrels being everywhere.

I mean they make sense from a gameplay perspective, and make action games more fun (explosions are always amazing)... but holy shit is it crazy in a practical sense for anyone to leave explosive substances lying around their military base, fortress, space station, etc en-masse.

 

[Roager]

I can pretty easily forgive classic Doom for boom barrels, but then the problem is that I see every other boom barrel as "Like Doom had, but dumber."

 

[Panzadolphin56]

Yeah, I certainly don't blame older games for having them. I just think they've become increasingly absurd as the years have gone on and games have increased in complexity and realism. That said it's one of those tropes where I can't see what the alternative to it is, they do serve a useful gameplay function generally.

 

[Jinx]

My most hated trope is the one where the (straight white male with a gruff attitude and a bad shave) protagonist's girlfriend is murdered at the beginning of the game to provide "revenge" motivation for the character. It's not just lazy, it's got an underlying misogyny for it - women existing in the game simply as a plot device for the male protagonist. When I see it happening in a game I usually just quit. It's so trite and as someone who lost a girlfriend once I really don't like having to relive that shit in a game.

 

[Jinx]

As for the amnesia trope... it does get old, but I don't mind it if it's used well. I thought Prey did a brilliant job with it - it was integrated into the story in a very tight and logical way and paid off in the end. They also did another trope well but I'd rather not mention it since it's a huge spoiler for the game.