Video game pet peeves.

[prisonermonkeys]

I couldn't even stomach enough of it to form an opinion on the story because of the combat system (and Vaan, and the license grid).

Vaan was unlikeable, but he was very much an outsider to the story looking in. The better dynamic was in Ashe, Balthier, Basch and to a lesser extent Fran.

The licence system was okay, but it was too open-ended. It was better than the junction system from FF8.

what was really getting me was the wait after a command before it was executed.

It was Square's way of balancing the combat. Without it, combat would have been one-sided. The lag was necessary to give you time to change your command if you wanted to.

 

[Wolfe]

The licence system was okay, but it was too open-ended. It was better than the junction system from FF8.

I don't like the "boardgame" style systems, including FFX's sphere grid and FFXIII's crystarium, because they're essentially just convoluted skill trees that won't unlock anything without persistent micromanagement.

It was Square's way of balancing the combat. Without it, combat would have been one-sided. The lag was necessary to give you time to change your command if you wanted to.

Why would combat have been one-sided? Maybe I missed something about how it all works. Why not shift the order so the wait occurs after the execution and before you can make your next command, similar to the bar in Active Time Battle? If you didn't have to wait for the command to be executed, you wouldn't need to change the command to react to a change in circumstances.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

One thing that peeves me about the Resident Evil franchise, the fact Capcom felt the need to make it more action oriented because they thought gamers wanted shooters. They could have just made a new FPS title for that, but no; they mess with an already established franchise and ruin it! *facepalm*

Also, when a game gets rushed to release!
I.E. Sonic 2006 and Spyro ETD.

 

[Com Fox]

When games that have online modes, purposely put in OP characters.

What are designers gaining with including a character that would ruin the online play for everyone else (points to Mega Rayquaza)?

 

[Dan]

Severely limiting the top speeds of cars in racing games.

I know some of them are electronically limited in real life, and they are limited in-game to balance their performance with the rest of the car's class, but sometimes it's taken too far. One example would be the VUHL 05 in Driveclub. It's a great car, but I can't get it past 150 MPH. It just bounces off the rev limiter while every other car passes by. I would prefer if the car naturally got to a point where it didn't accelerate any more under it's own power. If it was drafting another car or going downhill, then the speed would increase, but level out on flat ground. The VUHL 05 can clearly go faster than 150, but I feel less inclined to use it because of how hard it's been limited.

 

[Wolfe]

Severely limiting the top speeds of cars in racing games.

One game where that bothered me more than usual was in FUEL. The fastest cars barely top 125mph, and in some of them you'll spend most of your driving time in the 90mph range. I usually set games to km/h anyway, but in this case it was useful for a placebo effect. I suppose the low speeds were a limitation of streaming the map as you drive along, like GTA.

It also bugged me in Mario Kart 8 because the tight handling/drifting and track design were fantastic and I felt it could do better than humming along at a modest top speed all the time, but then the 200cc class came along. With that for contrast, now it's fun to pop into 50cc once in a while with a cute vehicle like the City Tripper and putt along enjoying the soundtrack and drifting.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Sega GT 2002's AI peeves me, no matter how many upgrades I apply to my car, I can't catch the AI in the event races.

 

[Dan]

One game where that bothered me more than usual was in FUEL. The fastest cars barely top 125mph, and in some of them you'll spend most of your driving time in the 90mph range. I usually set games to km/h anyway, but in this case it was useful for a placebo effect. I suppose the low speeds were a limitation of streaming the map as you drive along, like GTA.

It also bugged me in Mario Kart 8 because the tight handling/drifting and track design were fantastic and I felt it could do better than humming along at a modest top speed all the time, but then the 200cc class came along. With that for contrast, now it's fun to pop into 50cc once in a while with a cute vehicle like the City Tripper and putt along enjoying the soundtrack and drifting.

Didn't FUEL have the largest game map for a console? Why did they limit the top speeds? I can understand with GTA V, but FUEL was larger, right?

 

[Sonygamer455]

Sega GT 2002's AI peeves me, no matter how many upgrades I apply to my car, I can't catch the AI in the event races.

I was playing Test Drive 5 just the other day and it's AI is about the same way. It always feels like no matter what car I choose, they are always faster than me even if I choose one of their cars. That's about the only thing that brings the game down for me.

 

[Morgoth_666]

Didn't FUEL have the largest game map for a console? Why did they limit the top speeds? I can understand with GTA V, but FUEL was larger, right?

I don't know if it was the largest map but it was pretty damn big... I recently played through FUEL and drove the length of the main east/west highway that goes [almost] straight across the map and it was about 90 miles one-way. Just Cause 2 was probably bigger but I don't know what else is.

As for why the speeds were limited, that became pretty apparent once I drove a fast car on any part of the highway that wasn't in the flat desert area. At speeds above about 115mph things get very interesting along the horizon... and after a while they get pretty interesting a lot closer to you, particularly if you're hitting 130. Eventually you'll start driving through the half-finished road before it can fix itself which becomes a bit of a problem if there's a corner coming. Part of it may have been my PS3's condition(though it generally works correctly after I replaced a dying hard drive).

Just for an extra insult, they gave you a dragster that could do 215 -- but you could only use it in one event on the salt flats(which ran just fine). You could drive it to the highway during the race, but at best you could only drive on the highway for 10 seconds or so before the time ran out.

It was a pretty enjoyable game though. Just suffered from the lack of high speed and no real satisfaction to the ending. Most of where it shined was in just cruising around the seemingly millions of miles of paved and dirt roads where you could rarely reach such speeds.

 

[Dan]

Eventually you'll start driving through the half-finished road before it can fix itself

Ah. Rendering limitations. I should've known. I had that same issue all the time with GTA Online for the PS3.

 

[Wolfe]

I had no such issues in FUEL on my XB360 (only in GTA), but I'm sure the limited top speed was to prevent it from happening.

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

34. Blinding light at the end of the tunnel in Racing Games.

 

[TJ13]

34. Blinding light at the end of the tunnel in Racing Games.

The Crew?
That's a bad problem only during the day though.

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

The Crew?
That's a bad problem only during the day though.

Also GT6 and NFS.

 

[Dan]

Also GT6 and NFS.

Don't forget Driveclub. There's one Japanese track where you'll be doing 150-160 MPH with a sharp left turn you need to brake for. Factor in the AI coming very close behind you and rain, and you've got an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Com Fox]

Boss Fights being "Pleas Kill me now" fights.

What I mean by that, is that a Boss that is was too easy for the point it is in the game it feels like they are screaming for you to finish them off as quickly as possible.

Spoiler: A bit long.

Worst offender is Giovanni from Pokemon Gen I, WHO ON EARTH THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE HIM A 🤬 Ground Type Gym Leader 🤬? It totally ruins a potentially great fight. All the starters pretty much have the type advantage at this point (Charizard is part Flying), you can Blitz through him without even trying.

In case people might defend him with Pokemon Yellow and Rock type attacks. In Red/Blue all of Giovanni's Pokemon only know Normal, Poison and 2 Ground type moves (I'm not even kidding). In Yellow, sure the move pool is much better and you start with Pikachu but you have all 3 starters to acquire as well. In FireRed/LeafGreen, sure there is now Rock Type moves but his strongest Pokemon (Rhydon) is changed to its Pre-evolution, killing any Challenge for Charizard and allowing Blastoise and Venusaur to just reck easier than before.

 

[TS050]

Unskippable Cutscenes.

There was a pretty difficult boss fight near the end of Kingdom Hearts 1, and before you could fight, you had to go through a cutscene that was about 3 minutes long. It was also unskippable.

So, every time you died in-game (which was fairly likely against this boss), you had to endure this stupidly long cutscene each time. It makes trying to play the game a bit of a chore.

The cutscenes became skippable in the HD re-release, but I haven't picked that up yet.

 

[Scaff]

When in a racing game; you get penalized for the next lap for making a mistake in the final section of the current lap. That's just stupid in my book.

I don't have an issue with this one, so long as its only given in a situation in which cutting the track would give you an advantage on the next lap (such as cutting the final corner to gain an entry speed advantage in the start / finish straight).

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I don't have an issue with this one, so long as its only given in a situation in which cutting the track would give you an advantage on the next lap (such as cutting the final corner to gain an entry speed advantage in the start / finish straight).

The chicane before the final turn in Gran Turismo 4 was a prime example - you could carry way more speed into the final corner and onto the main straight if you cut the corner.

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

35. That seizure inducing flash in NFS Most Wanted 2012.

 

[TJ13]

Hearing COD 1016 is going to be backwards compatible with the Modern warfare titles. Meaning New name, same content.

 

[RACECAR]

Collisions with Invisable objects/walls

Another massive annoyance with some racing sims. Nothing says aggravation like when you're driving and you hit something you don't even see. "That's quite a gap you're building, would be shame if it were to suddenly..disappear" Or my personal favorite of mine from the earlier Codemasters F1 games "What a race you've had and quite a clean car too, would be a shame if it wear all to suddenly..end in that corner"

 

[Sonygamer455]

34. Blinding light at the end of the tunnel in Racing Games.

Burnout 3 Takedown and I think Burnout Revenge are some others.

I remember in Burnout 3, I was doing a time trial with I think it was the "World Circuit Racer" and I remember it was on a track with a lot of snow in the background. When you reach the end of a tunnel or approach a steep hill, you get blinded and then you can't see the traffic until it's too late. I hated that challenge so much.

(I am going off memory though, I haven't played it in years)

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

@Sonygamer455 Almost all games have this now. On windows, doors, characters opening their eyes. Its annoying.

 

[MXH]

The achievements related to the online portion were far worse though. hate it when games that are predominantly singleplayer experiences, get a tagged on multiplayer with trophies to go with them. Will never get my Platinum for The Last of Us and Tomb Raider for this reason.

These trophies/achievements should have never counted towards Platinum/1000G in the first place. Especially considering how online populations drop like a stone in many cases. Just terrible.

 

[Com Fox]

The fact that we need Trophies and Achievements in the first place. I really don't get the point of it unless you need to brag how good you are to your friends online.

I even found it upsetting when Nintendo started doing it with Mario Party 10 (even though you can't show of your achievements online since they are in-game).

 

[Leadfoot530]

Assignments for unlocks in a payed DLC.

I've most notably seen this with the Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront titles. Both go through EA, so you know right off the bat that the DLC prices are going to be steep. The DLCs may also contain a new map and/or weapon to use. My main problem is when they give you these outlandish challenges to complete in order to unlock said piece of content after you purchased it. At least with my experience, some of these challenges can be pretty difficult to complete, so some times I'm stuck with a locked weapon from a DLC that I payed for. I'd be perfectly okay with having players complete challenges if the content was free, that way they have to earn it, but paying for it, and then getting this difficult challenge to complete to even be able to use it, is just extremely frustrating.

 

[Dan]

Assignments for unlocks in a payed DLC.

I've most notably seen this with the Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront titles. Both go through EA, so you know right off the bat that the DLC prices are going to be steep. The DLCs may also contain a new map and/or weapon to use. My main problem is when they give you these outlandish challenges to complete in order to unlock said piece of content after you purchased it. At least with my experience, some of these challenges can be pretty difficult to complete, so some times I'm stuck with a locked weapon from a DLC that I payed for. I'd be perfectly okay with having players complete challenges if the content was free, that way they have to earn it, but paying for it, and then getting this difficult challenge to complete to even be able to use it, is just extremely frustrating.

I can understand if they want players to try out other weapons and attempt a new playstyle they might end up liking, but there's better ways of doing that.

 

[BKGlover]

Collisions with Invisable objects/walls

Another massive annoyance with some racing sims. Nothing says aggravation like when you're driving and you hit something you don't even see. "That's quite a gap you're building, would be shame if it were to suddenly..disappear" Or my personal favorite of mine from the earlier Codemasters F1 games "What a race you've had and quite a clean car too, would be a shame if it wear all to suddenly..end in that corner"

Could I tie when a wall is there but somehow you can make contact with it before you actually hit it into that? One of NASCAR Dirt to Daytona's issues is that sometimes the walls register closer than they're rendered.