Trends and mechanics you are glad to see largely gone from gaming

[secreto7]

I keep thinking of tropes that used to annoy me only to realize that I simply stopped playing the kinds of games that were prone to those tropes and that I thus have no idea whether those tropes are actually gone these days.

Mandatory, lightning-fast QTEs maybe? Or crafting systems in games that absolutely do not need crafting systems?

Congrats on level 4 !

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

Goodbye Random Encounters on RPGS, most have an overworld sprite now to engage combat as it should have been after Chrono Cross, that's the only thing that makes FFX a 9/10, (in replay value).

 

[GardeniaSky's icon GardeniaSky GardeniaSky]

I can't really think of anything that hasn't been posted here already.

I'm nostalgic for games with dedicated 'save spots', but nowadays I'm really grateful that a lot of games don't have them. Being able to pick up and put down a game at will is a huge selling point for me.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Goodbye Random Encounters on RPGS, most have an overworld sprite now to engage combat as it should have been after Chrono Cross, that's the only thing that makes FFX a 9/10, (in replay value).

Hell yeah!

I'm also glad to see that QTE are getting the kind of "love" they deserve here ;D Seriously, they annoy me way too much... but I guess that they still aren't touching in Crimes Against Humanity territory like Adobe Flash and its thousand little annoyances did, so there's that XD

 

[Turbo Kid]

I don't mind random encounters, I like how they keep you on your toes. Oh look, that super strong monster that has a 5% chance of appearing just showed up and you didn't heal your party after the last fight. Sucks to be you doesn't it? When is the last time you saved your game by the way?

However, I like having a way to turn them off like an equipped accessory, or simply having some kind of fast travel option (or an airship) if you want to get from place to place hassle free

 

[secreto7]

I can't really think of anything that hasn't been posted here already.

I'm nostalgic for games with dedicated 'save spots', but nowadays I'm really grateful that a lot of games don't have them. Being able to pick up and put down a game at will is a huge selling point for me.

Yeah! Save everywhere FTW!

 

[Turbo Kid]

Nope. Saving anywhere trivializes games. Just my opinion. Might as well play with save states.

 

[secreto7]

Nope. Saving anywhere trivializes games. Just my opinion. Might as well play with save states.

Of course, just like the enemy encounters, it depends on the situation and how you use them.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I approve of quality of life features to keep games from getting too frustrating, but I also feel that if you go overboard in making things convenient for players then there is no real challenge anymore.

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

I don't mind random encounters, I like how they keep you on your toes. Oh look, that super strong monster that has a 5% chance of appearing just showed up and you didn't heal your party after the last fight. Sucks to be you doesn't it? When is the last time you saved your game by the way?

However, I like having a way to turn them off like an equipped accessory, or simply having some kind of fast travel option (or an airship) if you want to get from place to place hassle free

Honestly most of my grievances of this mechanic is from the startling louder than the music SFX that would shatter the gameplay and exploration of the open world (FFX-2 did this better with the same mechanic with a softer line crack) than not having the ability to see the enemy encounter. Fast Travel is good in all but was inevitable step in gaming evolution.

 

[bjork]

I approve of quality of life features to keep games from getting too frustrating, but I also feel that if you go overboard in making things convenient for players then there is no real challenge anymore.

Not every game is about challenge, though

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Password saving (or rather lack of any way to save your progress) and each character in your party having a separate inventory

 

[E0N]

Random encounters from JRPGs. I absolutely loathe this thing and it ruins pacing so much of a game. I'm glad that modern JRPGs don't have this anymore (except for some exceptions)

Save points. I understand that it had to be done at one time because of hardware limitations but thank god that the devs ditched it when the tech caught up. Being able to save anywhere, anytime is such a life saver.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Not every game is about challenge, though

That's a fair point.

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Speaking of saving, I like that having more that one save file per game is now a standard (either through the game itself or through accounts)

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Speaking of saving, I like that having more that one save file per game is now a standard (either through the game itself or through accounts)

Yeah! The lack thereof was the ONE thing I truly loathed about Strife, specially after offing McGuffing in a fit of rage (you CAN screw yourself by killing important NPCs on that one, but it's your fault if you do).

 

[JPchicre]

Late 2000s and 2010s Brown and Grey games, when everything was brown and Dark, and you couldn't see the screen and the art style was only generic Grey non defined realistic art-style.

 

[Segadude113]

Password saving (or rather lack of any way to save your progress) and each character in your party having a separate inventory

Shining Force especially. It's one of my favorite games but each character only holding 4 items including equipment is a pain in the butt. Riviera is like that but you can only pick a few items for each battle and the characters have to share them. Final Fantasy IV had a limited space for items so it had the Fat Chocobo act as a sort of bank for extra stuff you find.

As for password saves, yeah that can go eff itself. lol Animorphs as short as it is requires password saves. No excuse because the first two Harry Potter RPGs on GBC that released around the same time had save batteries.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Any kind of QTE really. I honestly just drop these kind of games, so it's not like it was truly dropped. But at least it's not in everything.

Inventory management too. It's still in many RPGs, but I am glad its not as common as it was. Having to fit items in slots and whatnot or backtracking several times just to get everything. Boring. It was the worst part of BG3.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Shining Force especially. It's one of my favorite games but each character only holding 4 items including equipment is a pain in the butt. Riviera is like that but you can only pick a few items for each battle and the characters have to share them. Final Fantasy IV had a limited space for items so it had the Fat Chocobo act as a sort of bank for extra stuff you find.

As for password saves, yeah that can go eff itself. lol Animorphs as short as it is requires password saves. No excuse because the first two Harry Potter RPGs on GBC that released around the same time had save batteries.

I love how the show Thunderbolt Fantasy addressed an age old question gamers always have of how do characters carry so much stuff with The Sorcerous Sword Index:

"Although it appears to be an ordinary scroll, it is actually a pocket universe; the scroll form is so that those without magic can easily access its contents. When the scroll is damaged or broken, the swords inside cannot be viewed or accessed except by magic, and it must be physically repaired with paper, paste, and cord in order to function normally again."

 

[Boscobilly]

Cover systems. They always sucked even from the beginning.

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

I usually don't complain about inventory limits in old games, but only when the limit is very small

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Speaking of saving, I like that having more that one save file per game is now a standard (either through the game itself or through accounts)

Yeah! The lack thereof was the ONE thing I truly loathed about Strife, specially after offing McGuffing in a fit of rage (you CAN screw yourself by killing important NPCs on that one, but it's your fault if you do).

I guess Pokemon still does only give you one save file, but at least on Switch they aren't tied to the cartridge. You can always make another local profile if you want to start a new game without deleting the old one. From back on Gameboy up until 3DS, you had to delete your old save to make a new one.

 

[ThirteeTooBeets]

Password saves

 

[Vardalis]

For me? Motion controls. The only time I ever truly felt like a Wii remote or PS Move controller ever added value was for lightgun games. 95% of other games I played would've been just as good (or bad in the case of a lot of the games) with a traditional controller.

Also forced stealth segments with immediate fail states but I feel like those still crop up sometimes.

Also also, games where you absolutely destroy an enemy or a boss or something like that and the following cutscene shows them wiping the floor with you for story reasons.