Common Sins/Blessings in Videogames.

[Infinity's End]

Being able to save at any time, or auto-saving

I'd say this depends. In many games, being able to save at any time ruins the mood. Autosaving can also get annoying sometimes, but it's normally a good thing.

As an example, I don't think either mechanic would work well in a Metroid game.

It was clearly proven how nice auto-save was in Shadow Complex, which is basically a Metroid game.

[TheBlackCat]

As an example, I don't think either mechanic would work well in a Metroid game.

We essentially had auto-saving in other m, where you automatically jumped back a room or two if you died.

[okey]

I only have one thing to add, but this one drives me up the wall.

Boring level design: This shit's epidemic. It's even finding it's way into games where clever level design is the whole point (Metroid ). It's especially bad with shooters (corridor->setpiece->corridor->setpiece). Levels should be memorable for their layouts, not for the amount of scripted events and psuedo-cutscenes you can cram into them.

[Zynux]

Boring level design: This shit's epidemic. It's even finding it's way into games where clever level design is the whole point (Metroid ). It's especially bad with shooters (corridor->setpiece->corridor->setpiece). Levels should be memorable for their layouts, not for the amount of scripted events and psuedo-cutscenes you can cram into them.

I think someone (BlackCat maybe?) already mentioned this in the thread, but the FPS with the most boring level design is definitely Halo imo. Just copypasta and symmetry over and over.

[okey]

Halo 1 had some genuinely great levels in it though. I don't mind seeing reused assets in a map so long as the layout is interesting (see: the silent cartographer). I'd much rather have alternate paths and secrets and shortcuts than detailed backdrops (ideally you want both, but oh well!)

[Zynux]

I'll concede that Halo in general did pretty good outside, but in buildings and structures I just thought it was terrible. The Silent Cartographer is an overall exception though.

[okey]

Assault on the Control room was pretty good too. I'm telling you, the first half of Halo was some good stuff . Then you get to the library and...sheesh.

Let's not even talk about Halo 2's campaign....

[Zynux]

Assault on the Control room was pretty good too. I'm telling you, the first half of Halo was some good stuff . Then you get to the library and...sheesh.

While Assault on the Control Room is my favorite mission, I can't ignore its copypasta level design inside the buildings. But to this day Halo had the best Campaign mode imo.

Let's not even talk about Halo 2's campaign....

Indeed, let's not talk about that travesty.




To bring this topic back on track a little bit, I have some sins to report:


UNSKIPPABLE: Okay, so I'm playing Pokemon Diamond (liking it by the way) and I already complained about this in another thread but not to the anger that I'm doing now. Nothing in this game is skippable. NOTHING. Dialogue? Nope. Cutscenes? Nope. Special Events? Nope (I don't even think I'm exaggerating! I can't remember when I was actually given the option to skip something). Like seriously, wtf? I'm at a lost for words. I don't think I've ever played a game so annoying in this department. I never realized how beautiful it was to skip dialogue until I played this game. Yeah, I like this game, but its also irritating as hell to play.


Lack of Options: I hate going to the options menu only to find that there is a very small amount of options I can choose from! Like seriously? Some of them are really only "Mono/Stereo" and music options and that's it! Please, to all games out there, give us more options to make the game more customizable and enjoyable.

[Naner]

I never felt particularly annoyed by Pokémon's lack of skipabilty, unless I had to go through the same dialog twice (like when the battery dies and you didn't save ). As for options, some games don't need them. Skyward Sword's only option is how much control information appears on the HUD and the game works perfectly like that. Consoles normally don't need a settings screen as full as a PC game's.

[okey]

Sins
Health regeneration, bring back health packs please, crouching behind a crate till my health is back to normal isn't my idea of fun. It's even worse when in MP games.

I agree that regenerating health sucks but it's only part of the problem. FPS games are boring and samey now for a bunch of reasons: over-reliance on hitscan weapons, slow movement speeds, lack of weapon variety, dull color palettes, lack of monster variety, level design that boils down to a bunch of hallways, unnecessary use of iron sights.

Cover systems are a big offender too. Cover systems suck because devs never bother to implement suppression and flanking mechanics into gameplay, and firefights devolve into whack-a-mole because of it.

Shooters are stuck in this weird rut where they're neither arcadey or tactical.

Sins:
Using three colors for the entire world: Even in real life this never happens, and although Human Revolution seems to have done this in a way that doesn't make everything look bland, most games like this might as well be played color-blind

I think these images say it all:
Mario Galaxy Screenshot ---> Same screenshot in 16-bit color
Battlefield 3 Screenshot ---> Same screenshot in 16-bit color