Coming Up with Good Ideas is Hard

[Chezlyn]

Gameplay Mechanics.
The life-blood of any video game that can either make it the best of its kind or break it entirely.
I'm curious which video game mechanic really stuck with you and why you enjoyed it.
As for myself, the Nemesis System in Shadows of Mordor really is the best and impossibly unique.
I am unsure if the Nemesis System was introduced before or if it was the first of its kind.
Nemesis System TLDR: Should you fall to an enemy, that enemy would grow stronger once you respawned and would rise through the ranks every time that enemy defeated you, really giving you a sense of personal grudge, as opposed to every other video game just forcing you to have an enemy/rival of the Devs' choice.

 

[Estein]

The aligment system in Ogre Battle which dont let your overlevel yer character or risk unable to recruit certain character and so on,also Romancing saga 1 and 3,the event system,and generational system like 2,or early Phantasy Star game

 

[Waffles]

I have always been a fan of the way Summon Night 2 let's you decide how you spend your points after each board.

Wanna have an absolute goddess of a character rampaging through the field and leading an army of glass cannons? You absolutely can do that, it's not gonna stop you... but be ready to strategize many moves ahead, because certain characters need to survive the map in order for you to win, so you have to hover around them until all nearby threats are gone. It's a surprisingly nerve-wracking experience, because you are essentially soloing a 12-player map. But it's great.

I also loved how maps on Army Men World War: Land, Sea, Air start you off with several AI teammates that get unceremoniously killed on scripted events as you advance, making you feel so alone and paranoid.

 

[Octopus]

Love the topic, I really enjoying getting into specific game mechanics and analyzing them.

The 'Ki pulse' mechanic from the Nioh series- attacking uses stamina like a typical Souls type game, but after attacking if you time a specific button press correctly you regain most of your stamina back; it's just that the timing is pretty tight. It's a big hurdle in the beginning, but once you get used to the mechanic it becomes like second nature and reflex. It lets you be far more aggressive than you normally can be in a Souls type game which went a long way to making the games feel unique over just being another Souls game.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Most platformers have always created either something new or refined the old one and take it to the next level

Ori and the Blind Forest for example (a mix of Metroidvania), it has that "bounce" ability which is called bash I think

Yoshi's Islands flutter jump, as simple as it looks, it actually helped a lot giving that quick and much needed boost (especially on hard levels)

And then, there's Super Mario 64…(what else can I say?).
So revolutionary, so many groundbreaking designs, how it embraced the 3D environments and cemented itself as the greatest platformers, really huge impact on the gaming industry and the making of games

The mechanics are simple but hard to master, you have high jump, backward somersault, long jump, dive, kick, slide kick, wall kick, wall jump, punching and the triple jump

As you can see, there's techniques that requires momentum and then there's one that needs timing. That's why it's feels so fluid to control Mario, even when you run, jump, punch and anything that Mario can do has weight and depth…that's why it's still an incredible achievement not just technically, but for the movement that was ahead of it's time

 

[Strategist]

I've always liked the Elder Scrolls leveling system. Use an ability to get better at it and also improve the relevant stat. Many other RPGs use similar systems. Intuitive is best when it comes to game mechanics, in my estimation.

 

[ObscureJigglypuff]

I like the Psyche-Locks mechanics in Phoenix Wright, can't explain exactly why.

At least for me it's the best mechanic of "digging for the truth" in the franchise.

 

[Inkingsama]

In Megaman Star Force 3, there is this mechanic called "Noise gauge". When megaman inflicts damage to enemies in battle, the gauge goes up and when it reaches 200%, you can access a special form that grants megaman special abilities and changes all of his attacks into high tier attacks exclusive to that form for 3 turns, so you can wreak havoc in those 3 turns and make mince meat out of bosses, but the thing is, you can choose to not transform and instead keep raising the gauge to reach 999% noise and then transform to get even better attacks. To be honest, the attacks that you get at 200% noise gauge aren't that different from 999%, it's just power scaling stuff but man, it feels good to max out the gauge and delete bosses in 3 hits.

 

[BlissfulBandit]

The enemies in Crimson Tears on the PS2 will drop more money and EXP the longer you juggle their bodies after you beat them. It's nothing revolutionary, but it feels so good when you can keep it going.

 

[moonbits]

• The Press Turn battle system from SMT3 and Persona has been my drug for so long.
  • Exploiting weaknesses and chaining attacks. A battle could end in mere minutes, the tension and strategy is simple but rewarding.
• The White/Black switch in Ikaruga.
  • Absorbing and dealing damage depending on the paradigm is a simple but quite difficult mechanic to master. You can safely avoid an attack or risk it all for maximum damage.
• The gore finishers/combos from Ninja Gaiden 2
  • See someone without an arm? Execute him with style and give yourself some space on the otherwise onslaught of enemies
• The dual wielding in Halo 2&3 alongside the dynamic of alien/human weapons
  • Two guns, more fun. Plasma deals shield damage and the hitscan weapons deal damage. Deplete an enemies shield and one, precise shot with a magnum is enough.
• The boosting/attack rhythm of Virtual On
  • You either dodge or attack, the slight delay between these actions and your opponents moves is an adrenaline rush, that second before each move.
• Being able to grab any item in the world and throw/move it (Elder Scrolls) (The most wholesome and worthless game mechanic)
  • The most useless mechanic but my god, isn't it just fun. It immerses you in a very goofy way.
• EX moves in Street Fighter
  • Perform a more powerful move by using both punch/kick buttons to escape a combo or perform an exquisite finisher.
• Slow-mo in Max Payne (Also the one in F.E.A.R.)
  • Dodging in slowmotion, performing a sick dive and lining your shots perfectly before you even land, badass.
• The counter system from Dead or Alive
  • Simple but it turns the tide of battle swiftly, a rock paper scissors like tension.
• The directional catching from Ape Escape
  • catch monki with analogue, unga bunga it fun
• The radical combinations of Gunstar Heroes/Alien Soldier
  • Powerup are badass but what if combine them and change the type of damage/pattern to skillfully destroy everything.

 

[middler]

Dead Head Fred on the PSP has one of my favorites. You collect different heads from various creatures or what not. Each head has different abilities and though the swap mechanic isn't revolutionary or anything this implementation is great as it lends to the general comedy of the character and story.

I don't need "new", I need "good".

 

[Batman]

Usually I hate magic in action-RPG/Adventure games. Magic is always very limited and limiting. Confusing, even. But there are some rare exceptions, and one of them is Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia. Magic in this game works the same way as in any other Castlevania or most Japanese Action RPGs in general. There is one little difference though: the mana regeneration is super fast! That changes everything! Fireballs, lightning, magical axes bigger than you and most of your enemies - all accessible at once, powerful, fast and furious. Feels almost like cheating a little.

 

[Inkingsama]

• The Press Turn battle system from SMT3 and Persona has been my drug for so long.
  • Exploiting weaknesses and chaining attacks. A battle could end in mere minutes, the tension and strategy is simple but rewarding.

Exploiting weaknesses? Nah man, get into a boss fight on a new moon with a team full of demons with dark might and beat the boss into the ground with just regular attacks. Extra points for beating Ongyo-Ki with this "strategy".

 

[Ikagura]

Remember that for one revolutionary game mechanic there are 100 if not 1000's of gimmicky or badly applied mechanics.

You can have the best idea in the world if you cannot apply it correctly it's just bad.

I don't need "new", I need "good".

People also seem to confuse "pioneering" with "innovating". A game can have something novel but anecdotal whereas another could take the same mechanic and redefine a genre.

There were VSF before Street Fighter II, there were FPS before Doom but both brought their respective genres to a new level.

 

[Another Iori]