What seemingly unimportant details you hate in a game? Something that you may even didnt realize until someone else brings it up. The following are some examples on tendencies that I consider should be banished from any future release.
1.- Loading screens leading to....loading screens. Ninja Gaiden 2 comes to mind since its recent release.
So you are battling a typically cheap boss and get killed; You are furious and want to get back in the action right away.
You are sent to the "game over" screen, "Continue?" YES!....loading.....then you get to another screen: "Chapter 9...blah,
blah, blah....loading...........ready" Why the hell do you have to go through two loading screens?? As I said NG2 is a recent
example of several games out there that resort to multiple loading screens in a row.
2.- Crrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaawwwliiiiinnnggg death sequences.
I can accept the tradition of touching and enemy and dying instantly (what? are the henchmen suits dowsed in fast action
poison?), but once my life bars falls all the way why do I have to watch my character slowly convulsing in slow motion with
the words "YOU DIED" or "YOU ARE DEAD" or "YOU SUCK", ok, I died, I realized it when my character stopped responding to
the controller input so lets go over it and CONTINUE....dont rub it all over my face. This is specially annoying in action
intensive games when you may die repeatedly.
3.- Condescending menu options.
Press X to exit. "X" Are you sure you want to exit?. "Yes" Quitting game will lose any unsaved data. Exit? "YES!!!"
4.- Stages in a snowy environment.
I hate those damn stages... They usually make for a beautiful scenery in games that the icy context doesnt affect the
game mechanics. I know ice is slippery and since the first Mega Man games I know that running or jumping on any icy
platform will make me slide along. So games like Mario Galaxy, want to innovate? Make the ice sticky for a change!!
Wrestling the controller and trying to maintain your character on route is no fun, its a chore.
5.- Inertia.
So in the real world you cant run from 0 to 15 in 0 sec. You start running, you build up speed and equally you gradually slow
down to a halt, thatshow it works in real life. When you are playing a game, prectically all the laws of logic and reality go
directly to the thrash can. So why does my character must build speed, or slow down before stopping? Dont we have analog
controllers now? You know, push the analog stick a little so Mario moves slowly, push it harder, make him go full speed?
Usually inertia means miscalculated jumps, constant falls in lava pits and more annoying icy stages.
So if we are fighting turtles and self conscious fireballs, I think we can give physics a break, dont you?
6.- No pausing during cut scenes.
Fortunately this tendency is disappearing from high profile games. But nevertheless, a pause option should be a must in any
cut scene for any game. Murphys Law calls for a telephone to ring, a wife/girlfriend to start talking exactly during an important briefing
or a game defining moment. So in these events you usually press "start" and a)nothing happens b)you skip the cutscene.
Pause option is a must!!
Also, you reach a section of the level where there is a short cinema pointing certain area as a tip of where to go next or what do you have to do...then you get killed and restart the area, and watch the cinema again. lets say is a somewhat tricky level and you get killed again. reload and watch the cinema again...and you cant skip it. I found this predicament the scrapyard level of Force Unleashed, there were 4 cinemas, at the beginning of the area, then you kill some robots, use a switch, another cinema, retrace your steps, kill one robot, another cinema, kill the big robot, use a force power, another cinema. Jump, OOPS you miscalculated the jump or got typically blindsided by the camera and fall to your death. Cue the cinemas again.
7.- Cheap shots.
I was playing Force Unleashed and sometimes I would be hit by an explosion or a missile and get thrown on my back to the ground and during this time when I have no control over my character until the "wow! that was a hard hit, Im a little startled but Im getting back on my feet" animation, enemy fire will still lower my health.
I consider it to be far beyond cheap getting punished while not having control of your character. Im not asking for a blinking invincible time after being hit, just to let my skill determine if I get hit or not. Lost Planet has this problem also....its far more annoying since you are fighting gigantic insect that stomp the ground and send you flying too often. You are on your back start to get up, take and step and *thud* there you go again then suddenly you are dead.
Thats what comes to my mind right now. What annoys you?