Good evening! I’m sure many people are playing games at home because we’re still social distancing and finding safe ways to stay entertained. Both experienced and new players eventually find a series of issues that affect the quality of their gaming experiences. Some games are simply better than others. I can recall specific games that would be excellent if they didn’t have a few fatal problems. Every gamer is different, but I’m sure we all have some recurring pet peeves. I’ll list my pet peeves in games below.
Confusing Maps Games are becoming increasingly bigger and more complex. Open world environments make games feel immersive, creative, and cinematic. Even linear games are more sophisticated today. That means a good road map is essential. Otherwise, you’re going to spend hours running around lost. Most games have maps and objectives to follow, but they’re not always clear. The Batman: Arkham games and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order would be masterpieces if they had better maps. I remember being dazed and confused regularly in those specific games among others. I can think of very few elements that ruin the gaming experience more than bad road maps. Bad Controls I believe clunky controls are a cardinal sin in gaming. Awesome games allow the player to control the characters and gameplay with ease. The controls can be either simple or complex, but they shouldn’t be particularly frustrating to learn. Fluidity makes the gameplay better and it can be a problem if movement, aiming, combat, and other basic elements are hindered by terrible controls. When enemies attack, you should be shooting them instead of the floor or ceiling. Bad controls are common in survival horror and some players think it makes the experience more frightening. I just think it makes the game seem broken and undeveloped. It’s also a smoke screen that makes a dull game appear scarier. Bugs and Glitches Technical issues are pretty common in modern games, especially AAA titles with huge environments. However, some games have an excessive number of bugs and glitches that make the experience almost impossible. Bethesda is one of the biggest offenders, but other companies are guilty too. You can get stuck in walls, start floating around in the air, fall through the ground, or experience other freaky situations. Sometimes you can’t progress through a level because a certain area will never open up. I’ve also seen games crash or freeze entirely. Rage 2 and Vampyr crash almost every thirty minutes. Usually, I give up when a game crashes too many times or has an excessive number of glitches. Extreme Difficulty Levels I know many gamers want a really intense and difficult experience. It makes them feel powerful with a huge adrenaline rush. I’m not that type of gamer. Excessive difficulty is just frustrating. The market has a ton of games and I can always find something with better accessibility. A good game should be accessible to everyone, not just professional gamers or people who want an ultra challenging experience. That’s why most games have a variety of difficulty levels, including easy, normal, hard, and others. I think the Dark Souls and Wolfenstein games are insanely difficult. Even their easy settings are pretty extreme. I would say pleasantly challenging is the sweet spot. Games shouldn’t be too easy or hard. Easy and Boring The other end of the spectrum also happens. Some games are very easy, rudimentary, and dull. Games usually become dull and repetitive when they don’t pose a challenge. Even games for children should have some challenges. Kirby Star Allies is cute, but it becomes repetitive and boring right away. Whereas Yoshi’s Crafted Island is also simple, but it’s more creative, fun, and less repetitive. Simplicity is fine, but developers need to find something special to keep players engaged. Poor Storytelling Some players care about the plot and others are more preoccupied with the gameplay. Neither approach is wrong. It’s just a matter of preference. I prefer a combination of good storytelling and gameplay. It makes the experience more interesting, entertaining, and substantial. Honestly, I’ve seen games with better stories than the average blockbuster movie, including The Outer Worlds, The Last of Us, God of War, Red Dead Redemption II, and Horizon Zero Dawn. That’s why a poor story can affect the experience. It seems like the majority of games should be a little more evolved today. Bad stories make games boring, generic, and forgettable. I’ve seen plenty of exceptions, such as the entire Resident Evil series, but it just doesn’t work for most contemporary games. Way Too Long A lot of players will disagree with me on this one. I’m not a fan of games that take weeks or months to finish. The majority of casual gamers don’t have that kind of patience or time. People have jobs, families, hobbies, social lives, and other commitments. That means excessive amounts of time shouldn’t be dedicated to finishing a game. I’ve also seen games that were too short, but excessive length is a more typical problem. Open world games are very enjoyable and developers can get carried away. Periodically, I stop playing a game because it will take forever to complete. Fallout 4 and The Last of Us Part II are a couple of my favorite games, but I still haven’t finished them. Loot Boxes Have you every been blackmailed by a game? Some games have loot boxes that require real world money. Basically, they’re prizes, weapons, characters, levels, and upgrades that can be purchased separately. Occasionally, loot boxes are mandatory to level up a character, obtain certain weapons, or even finish the main story. You want to finish the game? Pay an extra twenty-five or fifty bucks. I don’t mind if loot boxes have superficial items like new outfits, in-game currency, extra ammunition, etc. However, loot boxes shouldn’t be mandatory. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite requires an outside purchase to obtain almost half of the playable characters. I’ve never played Star Wars: Battlefront II, but it also had a huge controversy about loot boxes. Excessive Repetition After a while, everything looks the same in certain games. The gameplay, missions, enemies, and everything else are just reused. The experience becomes pretty boring when a game lacks variety and creativity. I recently noticed this problem in Devil May Cry 5. It’s a fun game with a hack and slash system, but the overall gameplay never changes. You just run through the levels, kill enemies, and fight bosses to progress. Wash, rinse, repeat. In fact, all of the Devil May Cry games look the same. They have very similar combat, enemies, missions, weapons, etc. I like the series overall, but it would be nice to see a little ingenuity. Outdated Character Issues Stock characters, stereotypes, and archetypes are commonplace in games. That’s fine, but it’s nice to see variety periodically. I like characters with depth, relatability, personality, and complex backgrounds. Many characters in video games are under developed, bland, and just archetypes that are used in various franchises. Most game villains are also very one dimensional. I’ve noticed additional character issues. Bad voice acting is a common problem that’s completely outdated for today’s standards. It’s also not unusual for female characters to be overly and needlessly sexualized to please male gamers. Basically, I regularly see all kinds of outdated character issues. The situation is getting much better, but it still happens sometimes. Okay, my fellow gamers. What are your biggest pet peeves in video games? We all have them. Perhaps, I have unrealistic expectations or maybe you agree with my complaints. Tell me about it in the comment section. What do the best games have in common? I’ll probably cover that topic in a separate blog post soon. Thanks a lot for visiting. Please, be careful, wear a mask in public, wash your hands frequently, and stay home if you’re sick. We’ll get through the pandemic together and it will pass much quicker if people are careful. That’s all for now and come back again next week. Bye!
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May 2019
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