Modern Games Pet Peeves

[Lee__Kanker]

I figure if you're here there's Something that you dislike about modern games, especially big budget

For me it's most of them feeling the same, in terms of artstyle, animations, controls, camera, voice direction, mechanics...

But if I dont want to make a textwall yet

Let's say one peeve is the unskippable slow down and talk in engine parts
I tend to insta dislike any game that does it over and over

What's the point? Why can't it be a cutscene so I can be entertained watching it and take a breather, or skip it if I don't wanna stop? I dont mind if its like gta and its during a long car ride you're gonna do anyway, thats good, but stuff like Bayonetta 3 where I gotta stop the frenetic action to re hear the same dialogue drives me nuts, in 2 you could skip it but not in 3
If it's just to give me more story exposition but you dont have the money to do so many cutscenes, I'd rather it be a file\diary entry. Even when given the option to skip it like in bayo 2 it's annoying because I still have to walk for a couple secs while hammering A. I miss having a clear distinction between talking time and gameplay time, when did they decide that was obsolete?


Also cursors and markers everywhere because you're too dumb to focus and orient yourself for 5 seconds

And also the character just telling you the solution to the puzzle; whys it even there then?

 

[StMil]

Hmm, great question Lee_Kanker!

I don't think I have many obvious pet peeves, except maybe relating to in-game payments (pay to win stuff), and DLC that is just awful and not worth paying for.

But in terms of actual gameplay, I'm gonna say that maybe "crafting" is becoming too prevalent in modern games.
I mean if you enjoy crafting that's cool, there are plenty of games for you to play where that's a thing, and I'm glad you're having fun.
But the problem is that's it's a game mechanic that is seeping into too many games where it just doesn't belong.
Like it's basically the norm now, whether you like it or not.

I know that's a bit of a spicy take, but I'm happy for people to disagree!

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Hmm, great question Lee_Kanker!

I don't think I have any obvious pet peeves, except maybe relating to in-game payments (pay to win stuff), and DLC that is just awful and not worth paying for.

But in terms of actual gameplay, I'm gonna say that maybe "crafting" is becoming too prevalent in modern games.
I mean if you enjoy crafting that's cool, there are plenty of games for you to play where that's a thing, and I'm glad you're having fun.
But the problem is that's it's a game mechanic that is seeping into too many games where it just doesn't belong.
Like it's basically the norm now, whether you like it or not.

I know that's a bit of a spicy take, but I'm happy for people to disagree!

Oh that's not spicy at all friend, Ive seen many ppl complain about it

I think the problem is that often it's shallow
It's so basic and easy it's like half a step removed from just picking up an object, how many games have the "put this and this together to make this noise making machine o distract enemies" would just picking the thing be that different? You dont have to explore cause it's a linear game, they're not scarce cause it's not a survival game so theres no resource management and strategy. So it just adds a couple button presses to make you feel like you did something extra, after so many games do it it just feels like a chore
Make an actual complex crafting system where you can screw yourself over or when you really have a lot of options to tinker with I say

Coincidantally many games that have it also have "press the stick down to crouch = stealth", which is kind of the same problem, shallow way to make the game seem more complex that it is when it couldve been an in depth mechanic

 

[Gorse]

ATTENTION, DEVELOPERS OF MODERN FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS: Contrary to popular belief, it is not mandatory – under any national, state, or municipal law – to include a skill tree in your video game. The protagonists of Doom, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and countless other FPS titles are not wizards that cast magical spells to turn their enemies into a frog – they are people holding a gun. In real life, when one uses a gun, they typically don't unlock the ability to slow down time after they've shot 500 bullets, so there's no need to replicate it in every FPS game made after the year 2011.

Please correct your performance with regards to this matter immediately. Developers that continue to include skill trees in their FPS games will be subject to the fullest penalty as defined in the “Concord Act, 2024”.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

ATTENTION, DEVELOPERS OF MODERN FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS: Contrary to popular belief, it is not mandatory – under any national, state, or municipal law – to include a skill tree in your video game. The protagonists of Doom, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and countless other FPS titles are not wizards that cast magical spells to turn their enemies into a frog – they are people holding a gun. In real life, when one uses a gun, they typically don't unlock the ability to slow down time after they've shot 500 bullets, so there's no need to replicate it in every FPS game made after the year 2011.

Please correct your performance with regards to this matter immediately. Developers that continue to include skill trees in their FPS games will be subject to the fullest penalty as defined in the “Concord Act, 2024”.

I dont mind it with doom because they were more like styles in devil may cry 3; alternate playstyles you level up

Why the name of lucifer's beard are they in wolfenstein and shadow warrior, I forget they're even there in wolfenstein
Why coulnt shadow warrior just have a shop since you get points for doing certain kills anyway, why stop the action to upgrade from your menu

 

[Ajderniz]

I had two, but forgot about the second one
Anyways, this is one thing grinds my geahs:
Correctness, in terms of * design. When current game developers want to make a good game (who doesn't?), it is not uncommon for them to borrow and employ what is seen from successful titles. Naturally, if what these other titles have has proven to be effective for applying certain elements that you are also using, this seems to be an obvious choice, and a wise decision.
To borrow ideas from others is natural, and is not only endorsed, but unavoidable. In fact, if you read all of the theory, listen to all of the advise, draw inspiration from all those other cool games that you've enjoyed in the past, and are smart enough to implement this knowledge into your own thing, it is most likely that the product of your labor will be a success, under the eye of the standard that your follow. In other words, you can make a Hollow Knight-inspired game with polished mechanics, level design, graphics, music, story, and all of the other things that are expected from the descendant of a long line of non-linear platforming video-games, and this will be a successful game. Yet in this success lies the fact that your addition to the genre's culture is unremarkable.
I think that, in order to differentiate yourself from others, you ought to fail, you ought to try new, weird takes that don't quite work; and I think that this is the reason why so many big-name studio games from the late 90s to the very early 2000s are so incredibly memorable and fondly mimicked: the rapid development in graphics technology allowed for experimentation in uncharted territory nobody had written any books about.
You know that the reason knowledge arises in you is because you are able to spot a difference between what you already know and the information that you're processing? If the information you just synthesized is not remarkable in any way (ie. it is not different enough), then you'll forget it. The same way, a game that does it all by-the-book is invisible.

 

[moonbits]

I do not like the over reliance on damage numbers and floating health bars. It contaminates the screen and I can't even see the enemy.

 

[It's Thinking 2]

Too many tutorials and over-complicated controls.

 

[Octopus]

Definitely the 'yellow paint' phenomenon that is everywhere now where the level designs are either too cluttered or the colours are too washed out to be able to tell anything apart from anything, so the devs slap some sort of glaringly obvious effect onto something to let you know that's the only thing you can interact with. I call it 'yellow paint' as that's what it was in the otherwise amazing Resident Evil 4 Remake, which was almost ruined by said paint.

Just in case you couldn't tell the locker was interactable.

 

[lucasgvse]

Definitely the 'yellow paint' phenomenon that is everywhere now where the level designs are either too cluttered or the colours are too washed out to be able to tell anything apart from anything, so the devs slap some sort of glaringly obvious effect onto something to let you know that's the only thing you can interact with. I call it 'yellow paint' as that's what it was in the otherwise amazing Resident Evil 4 Remake, which was almost ruined by said paint.

View attachment 1100

Just in case you couldn't tell the locker was interactable.

The problem is this games are tested by a lot of people from QA before being released, and they add the painting by a huge demand. We may dislike it, but commercially it is definetly not ruining any game. The problem, to me, is not having the option to deactivate this feature if you want (don't know if it's the case in RE4 and FFVIIR)

 

[Octopus]

The problem is this games are tested by a lot of people from QA before being release, and they add the painting by a huge demand. We may dislike it, but commercially it is definetly not ruining any game. The problem, to me, is not having the option to deactivate this feature if you want (don't know if it's the cade in RE4 and FFVIIR)

Ruining the game may be a comedic exaggeration, but the art design is definitely impacted. It's a little strange to have an atmospheric, dark horror game suddenly throw a bright yellow painted ledge and a bunch of barrels at you. For RE4 at least, you can't disable it I don't know about the FF7 remakes.

 

[lucasgvse]

It's a little strange to have an atmospheric, dark horror game suddenly throw a bright yellow painted ledge and a bunch of barrels at you.

Yeah, i prefere when they just add some HUD highlighting the objects.

 

[moonbits]

Neither solution is perfect. It's a bit of a comical conundrum since only big budget games can achieve these sort of graphics but they have to appeal to the most common denominator which have very short attention spans.

Either paint the box yellow to clearly communicate interactivity OR have the player walk near every object so it can be highlighted by a HUD element to indicate its breakable/interactable.

 

[It's Thinking 2]

The problem is this games are tested by a lot of people from QA before being released, and they add the painting by a huge demand. We may dislike it, but commercially it is definetly not ruining any game. The problem, to me, is not having the option to deactivate this feature if you want (don't know if it's the case in RE4 and FFVIIR)

It should be a menu option to turn it off. That way it's yellow by default and it can be turned off or vice versa. I mean people who can only see yellow can still navigate the menus.

 

[Ravl]

Also cursors and markers everywhere because you're too dumb to focus and orient yourself for 5 seconds

This one is the absolute worst. If your game is all about "exploration" there should be no wayponts or objective markers. This applies to most games actually, like when in a modern jprg you need to "investigate the area/talk to people in town" and the game points you to exact guy you need to speak to proceed with the story.
Rpgs, and expecially Jrpgs, got so much worse in the past 20 years It's unreal.

Neither solution is perfect. It's a bit of a comical conundrum since only big budget games can achieve these sort of graphics but they have to appeal to the most common denominator which have very short attention spans.

Either paint the box yellow to clearly communicate interactivity OR have the player walk near every object so it can be highlighted by a HUD element to indicate its breakable/interactable.

Handholding is required for modern adiences. If a game these days even remotely requires the player to use his brain, using basic reading comprehension skills for navigation or puzzles, people would be schreetching at the devs with pitchforks.
While challenging games still exist, in the AAA sphere It's all about them movie games. I swear people like Kojima should just go to Hollywood and never come back

 

[Lee__Kanker]

The problem is this games are tested by a lot of people from QA before being released, and they add the painting by a huge demand. We may dislike it, but commercially it is definetly not ruining any game. The problem, to me, is not having the option to deactivate this feature if you want (don't know if it's the case in RE4 and FFVIIR)

That's exactly my problem, if a game is so high budget the devs are TERRIFIED of players getting frustrated or struggling the hame's gonna be super bland

Like imagine a game being made today like resident evil 1 when you're expected to die on your first encounter because you cant move well and you have to slowly aster the controls after failing over and over

Or siren or silent hill where the combat is unsatisfying as possible, silent hill especially its so unpleasant it's like stepping on a dying animal

View attachment 1206
This one is the absolute worst. If your game is all about "exploration" there should be no wayponts or objective markers. This applies to most games actually, like when in a modern jprg you need to "investigate the area/talk to people in town" and the game points you to exact guy you need to speak to proceed with the story.
Rpgs, and expecially Jrpgs, got so much worse in the past 20 years It's unreal.

Handholding is required for modern adiences. If a game these days even remotely requires the player to use his brain, using basic reading comprehension skills for navigation or puzzles, people would be schreetching at the devs with pitchforks.
While challenging games still exist, in the AAA sphere It's all about them movie games.

I could figure out I needed to talk to everyone in town to find a way to proceed when playing pokemon ruby as a kid! children in the 80s could do it in dragon quest 3!

Handholding is required for modern adiences. If a game these days even remotely requires the player to use his brain, using basic reading comprehension skills for navigation or puzzles, people would be schreetching at the devs with pitchforks.

 

[It's Thinking 2]

Majora's Mask had a book to keep track of sidequests, but only because time keeps resetting and you need to know which ones you cleared.

 

[Knighthart]

Not really a pet peeve but I miss pre-rendered cutscenes. Everything being in real-time makes monetary sense, plus the advantages are nice (customizability, immersion) but there's just some sort of appeal to that overly processed movie-like feel to pre rendered ones. We no longer have that alternate 'pre-rendered cutscene artstyle' for this era.
Similarly, another change due to technological advancement, autosaves. It's got to the point where auto saving is starting to replace manual saves for tons of games, and even if it's reliable, I don't see why anybody would want to be left out of the option of hitting a definitive "save" before closing a game.

Also, when it comes to real time action games, ever since the ps3 era there's pretty much no prominence of blocking anymore. Dodging is the primary defensive mechanic in the majority of games, with blocking primarily being delegated to just fighting games now. Definitely contributes to the "samey" feel mechanics wise.

While I'm still making meaningless complaints, I'll add gacha to the list. Aside from the obvious stuff you can complain about, I just miss when gacha wasn't the only option for an IP to bank into the video game medium. In that intention of wanting a quick buck, there might've been a lot of trash but the freedom for it being 'any type' of video game left it open to the possibility of pumping out some genuinely good video games. Those opportunities are much less now that pretty much any franchise wanting to get into gaming just defaults to the guaranteed money-making gacha genre.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Not really a pet peeve but I miss pre-rendered cutscenes. Everything being in real-time makes monetary sense, plus the advantages are nice (customizability, immersion) but there's just some sort of appeal to that overly processed movie-like feel to pre rendered ones. We no longer have that alternate 'pre-rendered cutscene artstyle' for this era.
Similarly, another change due to technological advancement, autosaves. It's got to the point where auto saving is starting to replace manual saves for tons of games, and even if it's reliable, I don't see why anybody would want to be left out of the option of hitting a definitive "save" before closing a game.

Also, when it comes to real time action games, ever since the ps3 era there's pretty much no prominence of blocking anymore. Dodging is the primary defensive mechanic in the majority of games, with blocking primarily being delegated to just fighting games now. Definitely contributes to the "samey" feel mechanics wise.

While I'm still making meaningless complaints, I'll add gacha to the list. Aside from the obvious stuff you can complain about, I just miss when gacha wasn't the only option for an IP to bank into the video game medium. In that intention of wanting a quick buck, there might've been a lot of trash but the freedom for it being 'any type' of video game left it open to the possibility of pumping out some genuinely good video games. Those opportunities are much less now that pretty much any franchise wanting to get into gaming just defaults to the guaranteed money-making gacha genre.

Not meaningless at all, I REALLY miss prerendered scenes too; it was so neat to see a different fancier look made by a separate studio
They were like the game's high points, events! They made for super cool intros (thats another thing I miss, remember when games had openings?), and they could do super spectacular stuff that just wasn't possible in the main game to make you even more hyped up about whats gonna happen now and how you're gonna have to deal with it

 

[Gorse]

We no longer have that alternate 'pre-rendered cutscene artstyle' for this era.

God, I know! I hate how these totally disappeared in the sixth gen, and how there seems to be zero love for them throughout the larger gaming community. Everyone sucks off low-poly PS1 graphics until they're blue in the face, but what I really want to come back is animation that looks like this:

There has to be some indie dev working on a game with this visual style, right? I know ReBoot was one of the big childhood shows for millennials, so, y'know – chop chop! I think the problem is that people associate them with FMV games, and therefore consider them terrible, but I liked some of those FMV games, you dolts!!!!!!

 

[Lee__Kanker]

God, I know! I hate how these totally disappeared in the sixth gen, and how there seems to be zero love for them throughout the larger gaming community. Everyone sucks off low-poly PS1 graphics until they're blue in the face, but what I really want to come back is animation that looks like this:

View attachment 1223

There has to be some indie dev working on a game with this visual style, right? I know ReBoot was one of the big childhood shows for millennials, so, y'know – chop chop! I think the problem is that people associate them with FMV games, and therefore consider them terrible, but I liked some of those FMV games, you dolts!!!!!!

I'll say one thing tough, low-poly fellation is so REFRESHING after 15+ fucking years of mweeeee ps1 games didn't age well mweee who would want this back mweee you just didnt know any better mweee the saturn aged so much better hell even scott the woz still says this

The fun thing with ps1 is that everyone was being experimental with fmv so some games had really really crude ones like tekken 1, others were gorgeous like

LOOK AT HOW EXPERESSIVE THEY ARE AND THIS WAS MADE BY ONE PERSON IN SMALL STUDIO

 

[Guinea]

Hmm... gotta go with Gacha games and how some of them are good and then they just hit end of service and vanish forever. The worst of this is when a game like Breath of Fire 6 is a gacha and it disappears. Like, bro, it's the 6th game in the series, why make it a Gacha? Stupid.

 

[It's Thinking 2]

God, I know! I hate how these totally disappeared in the sixth gen, and how there seems to be zero love for them throughout the larger gaming community. Everyone sucks off low-poly PS1 graphics until they're blue in the face, but what I really want to come back is animation that looks like this:

View attachment 1223

There has to be some indie dev working on a game with this visual style, right? I know ReBoot was one of the big childhood shows for millennials, so, y'know – chop chop! I think the problem is that people associate them with FMV games, and therefore consider them terrible, but I liked some of those FMV games, you dolts!!!!!!

I never thought they looked terrible. I'd be down for a new series like that.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

I never thought they looked terrible. I'd be down for a new series like that.

Pretty much post 2007 every youtuber or anglo internetian agreed "ps1 was never good what were they thinking"; in italy it stayed very popular


Stop copying Batman Arkham, it's never as good, the over reliance on detective vision was already the game's biggest flaw why did THAT become the thing everyone copies?
I love how china looks, it and honk kong, both cities and countryside
Chinese stuff in movies, jap cartoons, games? Im all over it

I was so disappointed when I played sleeping dogs and it was just the arkham fighting system
Yes it was inspired by jacking chan in the first place, but it's so stiff, it works for batman (city especially did a good job at incorporating his gadgets into the fighting) but I want something snappy and flashy if Im being a kung fu cop not waiting for the guy to turn red and pressing one button

Shinobi, God Hand and Viewtiful Joe show you can have an engaging extensive fighting system without 1000 combos, whered that go?

 

[moonbits]

Pretty much post 2007 every youtuber or anglo internetian agreed "ps1 was never good what were they thinking"; in italy it stayed very popular


Stop copying Batman Arkham, it's never as good, the over reliance on detective vision was already the game's biggest flaw why did THAT become the thing everyone copies?
I love how china looks, it and honk kong, both cities and countryside
Chinese stuff in movies, jap cartoons, games? Im all over it

I was so disappointed when I played sleeping dogs and it was just the arkham fighting system
Yes it was inspired by jacking chan in the first place, but it's so stiff, it works for batman (city especially did a good job at incorporating his gadgets into the fighting) but I want something snappy and flashy if Im being a kung fu cop not waiting for the guy to turn red and pressing one button

Shinobi, God Hand and Viewtiful Joe show you can have an engaging extensive fighting system without 1000 combos, whered that go?

You could have an entire debate on that particular battle system. "Free flow combat"