Pet peeves & what you'd like to see more of in games?

[BlizZaga]

I wasn't sure what to name this thread. Anyway.

I'd like people's thoughts on what they think is overused in games, what you don't like (find tiresome), and, alternately, what kind of things you'd like to see more of in games. Also, you could say what you liked best in some of your favorite rpg maker games, and which games are your favorites. (did I say games enough times?)

My favorite Rpg maker game is Fantasy Maiden's Odd Hideout. Regarding genre, it's a mild horror game. I'm hoping others have played it. In it, you play as a girl who is locked in a house made of sweets in the woods, with her childhood friend. I don't want to give anything away, but a mechanic in the game allows you (if you get the true ending) to play as her childhood friend (in a complete play through of the game as the childhood friend) and get another ending. Oh, and you can play poker.

I like this for a couple reasons. Perspective: By playing as another character (not someone in your party but as the main character) you can gain more knowledge about what's going on (that you didn't know while you were playing as the other character) and you have the chance to flesh out relationships between characters. Oh, and if executed well, it's really fun! (i.e.: seeing the thoughts of your new character and how they react differently due to their personality.)

Some pet peeves I have about games are:

1) wayyyy too much dialogue that gets in the way of enjoying your game. I'm more talking about descriptive dialogue not interactions between characters.
2) Time limits. I want to say that this entirely depends on what kind of situation you're facing. So not all instances are frustrating. This is just a personal thing for me.
3) Long side quests that aren't worth it/are boring. Like, the reward for finishing doesn't measure up to the effort put in.
4) Random encounter battles with high appearance rates (not much time/steps between them)

Favorite things in games:

1) Mini games. These can be card games, or anything really. I like the way mini games can give you a break from the main story and also reward you for playing well (giving you special items, money etc.)

2) Customization: for example, when you change armor/clothes for your character the sprite in the game changes accordingly, the ability to dictate what stats for your character increase when you level up

3) Save points: I really don't know why I like save points, maybe it was growing up with Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. Regardless, I like how save points reward you, in a sense, like getting to the next part of a dungeon after some hard enemies. Or if you're about to fight a boss, you know that you can always go back to that point just before you fight without having to play through other areas.
What I mean is, when you're playing a game where you can save anywhere you're sometimes not quite sure at which point is the most important to save. And if you make a mistake and save without getting a certain item you need etc. over another file, you might have to go to a save earlier back which takes a long time to get to the point you were originally at. If you have 20 save slots, that can get confusing as well.

4)The little things: this can be anything quirky or fun in a game. Be it easter eggs, funny or sarcastic descriptions of items (i.e.: an item named "bad apple"), hidden items (elixirs ftw), extra side quests/ dungeons that open up after you beat the game, puns. An example would be the ending in Dreaming Mary. At the end, a dialogue box will ask you if you want to quit and go to the title screen. You have the option of saying no. If you say no enough times, there will be extra dialogue (basically like the developer talking to you).

5) Hard mode - yep.

Can't think of anything else on the spot, so I'd like to hear your thoughts!

 

[Jiriki9]

I can agree with some of your points - and with others not. It depends on why and how you like to play, probably. For me, playing is kind of compensation. I enjoy it because I can forget stress and worries in it. That of course leads to a specific set of things I like and dislike in games.

Maybe I just go for where I see things differently from you:

-Save points: I understand your point, but for me there is just this: I like it to be able to directly quit a game at any point, without having to replay a lot to reach that point a game. This stems from not usually having time to play hours in a row (sometimes I still do, but OH do I regret it later on, then!) Thus, save points are a tricky thing. Because if they are too sparse (and that happens easily), there are parts of the game which are REALLY annoying for me. Same goes for the combination of safe points and annoyingly hard (boss) fights - in which the save point is FAR before the boss and it is not a point of needing to level just a bit more, but you made a minor mistake and - BAM: you have to play through the bosses dungeon one hour of time again. -.-

-Hard mode. Well, as mentioned above, games are compensaton for me. They are a means of making me feel good, of relaxing. Of course games should not be boring and challengeless! But in most games, I do not need any hard mode, because I do not WANT games to be truly hard on me.^^

There are other things I dislike in games, maybe go on with that first, before coming to the good stuff.

-Childishness/Boyishness/Girlishness/"Youthishness". This applies to RPG-maker games, mostly. Back in the days of fiddling with good ol' rm2k, there were quite some games of that type. It is hard for me to characterize what exactly I mean by this. A game of this type usually is poorly done in some ways. Stories tend to be flat to boring. You will find a lot of stereotypes (sometimes typical for the genre, sometimes just from the rl). There is (in the "youthish" games) pointless use/mentioning of "cool" stuff like violence, drugs, crime in general and the whole field of sex(uality). And quite often, it is clear that the maker has not even a hint of what those might truly be like (stereotypes coming in again). Things are not done in a subtle way, but always straightforward (in German, we say "mit dem Holzhammer", translating as "with a wooden hammer". I think that pictures it quite well ;)). Characters, dialogue and plot are usually pretty one-dimensional as well. If there is some kind of treachery, secret or any element meant to be surprising, this is either not surprising at all, or there is no understandable reason given, making it random in a bad way. This leads me to another point about this: I like it when things make sense. This can be in the character/plot/dialogue/wahtever itself. It does not need to follow accepted or my ideas of logic, necessarily. But it has to be understandable for me why a certain thing happens. (!This, of course, does not apply when things are illogical ON PURPOSE obviously. Usually that would be for a comical effect. Think of many good old point&clicks from way back.) Mind you: these all are no gamekillers on their own, in small doses. But if a game is full of it, and it's clear that it's teh first making attempt of a 12 year old, it is just not really enjoyable for me. I'd still seek for good points and try to do constructive criticism. But I would not be enjoying the game, probably.

Wow, that was long, sorry for it.^^

Now, things I like, and you did not mention yet...

1. Choices. I just LOVE when you have an influence on what's going on. This can be gameplay-wise (Skilling System, Upgraded Class choice, character creation...), character-wise (your choices affect the characters behavior later on, choice-based relation system, ...) and, very much, storywise. This partly fits your point of customization, of course.

2. Things making sense. Well, I just like it.^^

3. Replayability: I, of course, like it, when I can play a game a second time, and preferably do not feel just like replaying, but things are, at least in some ways, different. There are tons of ways to achieve that.

4. A setting that feels like more than is actually given. An emersive setting, I think may be the word. If a game manages that, it is very likely to catch me. (goes for books, movies and other stuff as well, btw!) For example, might be a game is set mostly in a castle in a medieval-ish world. This is not completely explained. But still, you get the feeling that there is much more to the world beyond the castle walls. This, also can be achieved by a lot of different ways. A sure thing, I think, is that information is given in a by-the-way-style and step by step - and not, for example, in the classical intro description like "This is the World of FANTASYX. It has four continents, populated by the four thinking beings, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Giants....."

Now, that was much, I hope not too much XD

 

[jaye]

I like all kinds of games, but I wish there were more games with the main actor being a girl or an anthro. Something different ya know. I do see a lot of girl main actors, but they are always horror games. The only peeve I have is when a game is poorly done. Something thrown together just to say you have done a game.

 

[BlizZaga]

Nice input both of you! To the first, I can understand with save points being frustrating with replaying parts that are annoying. I guess it can depend on, like you said, if they're scarce/well placed or not. I guess nostalgia really gets me on that one. (i.e.: Final Fantasy VI)

To the second, I know what you mean! It seems a lot rpg horror games have a girl/little girl as the main character. An example of games with a female character is Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. I really like the character sprites but the game is actually pretty hard unfortunately. Still fun, but hard. I still haven't beaten Dracula lol. Another one... hmm... ehhh, can't think of one right off the bat!

I really enjoy a game that has an immersive story with believable characters. I myself, am a sucker for dialogue, I really like to write. (especially comedy) I think dialogue between characters can really add a lot to a game. Character development as well. For example. In Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, you can talk to your party and they will say different things, you can also get married and have a child, whereas in Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies you customize and recruit characters and they don't talk to you. I don't know why, but I just couldn't stand this. I liked the character customization, but really missed those small interactions with your party in DQ five.

 

[Harmless]

I really respect games that push RPG Maker's limits and make something out of the box. Also, anything with really good music is always a win.

I hate it when game waste your time. I know this sounds vague, but I played Zelda: Skyward Sword with my gf recently and the game really felt like it was giving us tasks and complicating a goal that should be really simple. An example being: Having to get an object, right when you're about to get it, the game tells you: "Sorry, big boy, you gotta go get the song to open the path, first". There is nothing wrong with adding complications to a story, but dangling a carrot and ripping it out of your hand is not a fun time.

 

[Jiriki9]

Oh yes, wasting time in games can be soooo annoying. I completely agree there with @DireDimes. Also, overlong, unskippable cutscenses/tutorials/etc. can be a REAL pain. Do you remember the owl in good old Zeld: Ocarina of Time? A wonderful game to be sure, but that bird annoyed me soo much, especially the moment right befor you go out ino the plains and you click as fast as you can to get through that boring and useless dialogue - and click once to much and IT STARTS OVER. Always hated that point.

 

[Nemo]

[...] I wish there were more games with the main actor being a girl or an anthro. Something different ya know.

Ugh I know the feeling. I've been avoiding mentioning anything anthro for fear of getting crucified by the internet.

My biggest pet peeve with games I think is that armor and stats are linked inseparably. While I guess that makes sense for stuff like armor, why is Robe A more resistant to stab wounds than Robe B? My personal thoughts was have armor be an invisible element (chain mail underneath?) that provides the stats, and Appearance being what your character wears on screen. Transmutation is a fairly common gameplay element where something similar to this is provided, but getting two of the same overtly expensive item can be a bit of a pain, ya know?

I've seen a couple interesting save systems actually, um...The simplest one that gives you save points while still letting you 'put the game to sleep' basically had a quick save system. Say you're halfway through a dungeon, no save point in sight but you reeeeaaally have to go to Lloyd's kick-ass party down the street. Don't worry bro, press a button and boom, saved. Once Joe McPartyPants comes back to play, he can load that insta-save, but in the process, it deletes it, meaning during the game he'd have to rely on the in game save points. This basically allows for a way to quit the game in a hurry, while still having the challenge and satisfaction of standard save points.

Ori and the Blind Forest had an interesting save system as well (And if you haven't played it, it's an *amazing* platformer with gorgeous music and visuals). Basically you have a set amount of energy, maxing out if you hunt everything down at I think it was 15 units. You can save anywhere you want, but it takes a unit of energy to do so. Early on in the game when you have just 1 max, it can be pretty tricky to decide where to put them, especially since your energy also goes into other abilities like charge flame (big ol' explosion!) or light burst (Basically an energy grenade). While not extremely complicated, it made you think a lot more about where you put save points, and if you forget to save, it could literally set you back several hours.

Regarding a hard mode, I've always been a fan of New Game+. Provides more content while making the game slightly more difficult. I could see why people would want a hard mode, though. Everyone's skill levels are different~