Pet Peeves in video games

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

Always bugs me when higher difficulty levels in games just change around the damage and health values and nothing else. I always prefer when it changes actual elements of the game or enemy spawns, like Ninja Gaiden.

 

[KirboDeku]

RPGs with ridiculously high encounter rates or if equipment is a linear progression with no other fun stuff attached to it. Also any game where the walking speed is ridiculously slow.

 

[quixotic_kimchi]

forced tutorial

i get it. i kno how catch a pokemon BIANCA *seethes internally*

 

[Graw]

Crafting. I'm so fucking sick of crafting in games. No I don't want to go collect a bunch of random bullshit so I can turn it into something useful. Just give me the useful thing. It was novel when Minecraft came out and if it was only used here and there it wouldn't be so bad but crafting systems are everywhere. I just find them so boring and tedious. I think I hit peak crafting fatigue with Skyrim. There was one play session where I spent 3 hours doing nothing but crafting and arranging my inventory. When I realized that I turned the game off and I haven't played it since.

 

[nintara]

Always bugs me when higher difficulty levels in games just change around the damage and health values and nothing else. I always prefer when it changes actual elements of the game or enemy spawns, like Ninja Gaiden.

in fairness this makes it easier to add a more customizable difficulty selection like in persona 4 golden, though this potential is usually unutilized and might arguably make the game too malleable

and that reminded me of another design choice i dislike: games that automatically make themselves easier when you fail repeatedly, i know mighty no 9 and the ratchet and clank games do this, at it's best it's not noticeable, but i don't think it should be there at all.

 

[Nidstang]

Unskippable walky talky sections

 

[Hourai]

Always bugs me when higher difficulty levels in games just change around the damage and health values and nothing else. I always prefer when it changes actual elements of the game or enemy spawns, like Ninja Gaiden.

Y E S
E
S

Numbers is the absolute worst way to up the difficulty, because it doesn't make anything harder. It just makes it more of a slog. There are so many games that try this, and without fail they make me just stop.

I'd say grinding. While it generally hasn't been necessary since 1989, some bad games show up every so often and decide that you need to waste time leveling up to progress. You should be having a hard time because your strategy is shit, not because you didn't waste enough time. This also ties directly into the difficulty = numbers mindset.

 

[moonbits]

I was never fond of the mandatory aim down sights mechanic to actually hit something; it's cool from a immersion perspective but tying it to game balance was a mistake.

 

[Fray Guillermo]

just change around the damage and health values and nothing else

One of the few games I'm okay with this are the 3d Ys, feels too easy on anything lower than nightmare lol also enemies are more aggressive and I think their attacks are also faster

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Mine are Corpse Runs. where when you die you lose your stuff and have to go back to where you died or risk losing them when you die again.

 

[Deleted member 257420]

When I move the joystick and the character moves, or when I press a button and an action is given!

I mean, what the hell? Playing games and doing something?! I’d rather sit back and complain! /j

 

[Bakuma1997]

Those "You are supposed to lose" bosses, they are meant to make the enemy look threatening, like, even all your cool crap and stats won't dent this guy...¿A CUTSCENE WON'T BE ENOUGH? especially since some of them look like reguar battles so either i end up quitting or wasting hard to or impossible to recover items

Always bugs me when higher difficulty levels in games just change around the damage and health values and nothing else. I always prefer when it changes actual elements of the game or enemy spawns, like Ninja Gaiden.

Beat me to it, i never has beaten any Kingdom Rush game in higher than easy, not because i suck, but because all they do is make enemies spongier in not a game, a GENRE where those enemies are frowned

 

[DunkeyKong]

I think you forgot the "s", there is a thread about it here https://retrogametalk.com/threads/pet-peeves-in-video-games.2400/. But anyway, I think that'd be lives and a timer in a platformer and unskippable cutscenes

 

[Vexicrypt]

I hate how a lot of games -- metroidvanias especially -- adopted the "you lose your money/souls/whatever when you die" mechanic from Souls games. It was cool and edgy for the first 10 times but now its just annoying imo.

 

[Jimbo_McDumbo]

I know this is the point of these but I hate in games like DMC or Bayonetta, when you die three times they ask if you want to reduce the difficulty. I'm not a prideful man, but I refuse to drop to easy mode. Also all games should give you the option to skip the tutorials or pause cutscenes

>pic unrelated

Post automatically merged: Apr 25, 2025

Y E S
E
S

Numbers is the absolute worst way to up the difficulty, because it doesn't make anything harder. It just makes it more of a slog. There are so many games that try this, and without fail they make me just stop.

I'd say grinding. While it generally hasn't been necessary since 1989, some bad games show up every so often and decide that you need to waste time leveling up to progress. You should be having a hard time because your strategy is shit, not because you didn't waste enough time. This also ties directly into the difficulty = numbers mindset.

Grinding is gay. I mean that literally, why else why else would they call the gay dating app "Grindr"?

 

[RageBurner]

I think you forgot the "s", there is a thread about it here https://retrogametalk.com/threads/pet-peeves-in-video-games.2400/. But anyway, I think that'd be lives and a timer in a platformer and unskippable cutscenes

Good catch, I do believe this calls for a merger.

Merge complete. Hopefully no puppies were harmed in the process.

 

[Leo-Dash]

1. Combat session - Story session having huge duration in differences
   • the Dungeon took 10 minutes and now I'm stuck with 30+ minutes of cutscenes!
2. Slide Puzzle! Extra points if it's a
   
3. JRPG with a Hot Spring Events
   • Extra if it's another ON NOES the male party members accidentally got into the women's hot spring section! You perverts! We are going to beat you to death
     • Yes Yapsona 3, 4 & 5 I'm calling you out
4. Endless Tutorials
5. RPGs with almost 20+ characters but only 3-4 party members in combat
   • and the protagonist cannot be removed from the party! He is forced member!
     • I need to make a thread about games that do this right with multiple teams
6. Forced Mini-games! I don't find them as "a plesant break from the game's norm" I find them invasive and detract from parts of the games I enjou!
   • No NOMURA! I don't like KH2:FM for the stupid minigames! I love it for the Combat!
     • Modders please removed Atlantica and replace it with Traverse Town, like the creator of the Nobody May Cry MOD is doing
   • No NOMURA! Re:coded has good combat! It doesn't need world Gimmicks and minigames! STOP taking the game's combat away from me!
7. Established game franchises which are already loved for what they are getting watered down/dumbed down with Sequels in order to attract more wide audiences instead of sticking to what their fanbases love in the first place!
8. Useful common abilities that are locked at optional content instead of being spreaded naturally in the main game
   • Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days unfortunately! You need to farm & complete challenges and extra game!
9. Higher difficulties that just give more Attack & HP to enemies while reducing yours! No new attacks! No advance AI combat mechanics! Just make them Damage Spongers
10. Forced stealth sections
    • yugioh 5ds stardust accelerator 2009! I bought you to play cards games! Why is there a Forced Stealth section in order to advance the story?

 

[Hourai]

Grinding is gay. I mean that literally, why else why else would they call the gay dating app "Grindr"?

I had hoped we'd be past hiding intent behind jokes, but I suppose that's too much to ask for, isn't it?

 

[Iracunda]

please i just wanna use controller

 

[Bacon Eater64x]

Permanently missable Content. Wanna continue through the story but forgot to finish one sidequest? OOOPS YOU LOST YOUR CHANCE BUDDY SEE YOU IN NEW GAME PLUS. Some times i understand due to lore reasons (FF6 is a good example) but otherwise it makes it a chore to do sidequests as i always do them at my own leisure. Tales of Vesperia is an example of this, ruining a lot of the side content as a result.

The other pet peeve and the one that really ruins a lot of retro game experiences: LIMITED CONTINUES. Every game that does this deserves to be save-stated to fucking death. Im gonna just quote AVGN on this because it applies:

I really hate this password thing in general because, what's the point? You should have unlimited continues. Yeah, because the only reason you should have to put in a password is if you turn the game off and want to come back to it later. As long as you're still playing, you're gonna keep playing the same stages over and over and over again, so what's the point of sending you all the way back to the beginning? The earlier stages are the easiest, and those are the stages you end up playing the most. It's the later stages where you need the most practice! It's all about trial and error. Like imagine if in high school, you fail out of senior year. What happens? You do senior year again, right? You don't have to go back and do freshman year again! So, BOTTOM LINE, HAVE UNLIMITED CONTINUES! Goddammit

Whenever a game does this, it makes me wanna stop playing it, instead of playing it more. I already HAD beaten the earlier stages, i don't need to replay them AGAIN.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Permanently missable Content. Wanna continue through the story but forgot to finish one sidequest? OOOPS YOU LOST YOUR CHANCE BUDDY SEE YOU IN NEW GAME PLUS. Some times i understand due to lore reasons (FF6 is a good example) but otherwise it makes it a chore to do sidequests as i always do them at my own leisure. Tales of Vesperia is an example of this, ruining a lot of the side content as a result.

FF7 had an area in Disc 3 to allow lost materia at least.

But that's why a guide or having several save slots is always better for that kind of stuff.

The other pet peeve and the one that really ruins a lot of retro game experiences: LIMITED CONTINUES. Every game that does this deserves to be save-stated to fucking death. Im gonna just quote AVGN on this because it applies:

Some people will answer you with a "git gud"/"skill issue" or "the game is short, that's to prevent people from finishing it in just an afternoon".

While I can agree that in context that's why Super Mario Bros has a limited continue system that is backed up by 1-ups, shortcuts and warp zones but in the meantime I don't mind having free play for Neogeo games as score resets upon each so there are still stakes for the scorers.

I really hate this password thing in general because, what's the point? You should have unlimited continues. Yeah, because the only reason you should have to put in a password is if you turn the game off and want to come back to it later. As long as you're still playing, you're gonna keep playing the same stages over and over and over again, so what's the point of sending you all the way back to the beginning? The earlier stages are the easiest, and those are the stages you end up playing the most. It's the later stages where you need the most practice! It's all about trial and error. Like imagine if in high school, you fail out of senior year. What happens? You do senior year again, right? You don't have to go back and do freshman year again! So, BOTTOM LINE, HAVE UNLIMITED CONTINUES! Goddammit

I firmly believe that password systems were meant for game magazines so that testers would get to a specific level more quickly or waiting a bit to distribute them so that younger players would see more of the game. A password system acts both as a save (without the sram) and a level select option.

Whenever a game does this, it makes me wanna stop playing it, instead of playing it more. I already HAD beaten the earlier stages, i don't need to replay them AGAIN.

Some games have great first levels as well (since they're played in kiosks).

 

[Bacon Eater64x]

I hate when some games are so dark that it's impossible to see anything unless I turn up brightness to the max.

Holy shit i thought i was alone on this. It's the sole reason i despite Twilight Princess's artstyle. The characrter designs are good (except for Zelda) but i cannot see anything. Smash Ultimate's Dracula Castle is guilty of this.

Some people will answer you with a "git gud"/"skill issue" or "the game is short, that's to prevent people from finishing it in just an afternoon".

I never agreed with the latter mindset. Maybe because im not a kid with limited options admitedly, but i rather play an easy game over and over again than get stuck in a hard as balls game. I like making progress and moving to the next challenge, beign stuck in the same part brings nothing but frustration to me. It's why Super Castlevania 4 captivated me while Dracula X ended up beign one of my least favorite games when i was a kid.

I had more fun playing games like Kirby 64 where i was able to finish the game as much as i wanted than say, the Lion King SNES where the second stage took all the fun and made it garbo.

Limited Continues is part of the problem, making it so that you repeat the same stages you already did (and therefore are actually good at) over and over instead of moving to the ONE part you actually need to "GiT guOd" at. At that point it is more about fatigue instead of providing an actual challenge. Also FUCK games that don't have a password and still have limited continues (looking at YOU Batman Returns for the SNES)

 

[Rolle]

When I recently tried out Red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time and after few hours I realized that even I thought I'm having fun for most of the time I don't want to play this game anymore because of those unskippable body looting animations, it's kinda made me feel like game is punishing me for no reason because every time after big shootout I either have to waste my time for watching looting animation for every single enemy I killed or leave all the loot behind that makes me feel bad and made me drop the game after like 15 hours.
Do y'all also had small things like that ruins games for you?

 

[solnK!]

The body horror and animal violence in Parasite Eve, Im not comfortable with that vibe

 

[χKai]

Unskippable cutscenes at every shrine you finish in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. More of that 'forces you to look at & read the same thing over and over repeatedly' bullshit, and while you can skip them  technically, the prompt alway takes way too long to pop up, forcing you to watch at least 3 seconds worth anyway before you even get to skip. It's bullshit and unnecessary, other cutscenes in the game let you skip right away, but not the most overplayed cutscene in the game - Shrine completion. Almost makes me not want to play it.