Things that you hate in video games

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Out of the Legend of Zelda series, there is actually one dungeon I hate completely and it isn’t even water related. I feel annoyed and frustrated every time I play Oracle of Ages and reach Symmetry City Which I hate mainly because of the quest to fix the Tuni Nut and then Skull Dungeon is even worse because you have to pull those handles to raise the floor and it takes so long to cross some of the floors because of the enemies and the room resets rather quickly. The Switch Hook is the only good thing about that place. I can actually clear the Water Temple from OoT faster than I can Skull Dungeon.

 

[SBaby]

After replaying several RTS games the one thing I Hate is population caps in single player modes. I understand it's for balance purposes but when your pop cap is as low as 50 or 100 and most units cost 2-4 points then that number rises pretty quickly.

I absolutely hate it when the creators of RTS games use 'balance' as an excuse for population caps (we know the real reason is because they don't want the games to drop frames from too many units being on the map at once; any other excuse they try to make is superfluous). If there is an issue with balance, it isn't because of how many units can be on the map at once. It's because the stats of units themselves aren't balanced well.

So for me, there are two things that I absolutely hate. The first is escort missions, where you have to babysit an inept idiot who feels the need to run face first into every ambush on the map, instead of waiting for you to clear everything out. Seriously, there is no way from any kind of real world standpoint that an escortee would do something that stupid, unless they were completely insane to begin with.

The second thing I've grown to hate is time limits. Now I know time limits used to be very prolific in games back in the 80s and 90s. But they really are a product of a bygone era and have no practical place in modern games. The challenge has gone from getting somewhere on time to completing the mission itself. In this day and age, the mission itself should be the challenge, not a gimmick like a time limit. That goes double for role playing games. If you need to have a time limit to beat an RPG that you made (and it doesn't involve some kind of school simulation), YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! The ONLY exception is if you're using the time limit for an escape sequence, because the dungeon or area you're in is about to explode. And even in those cases, the use of it is still going to be brief and very limited in the game.

 

[NPC]

I think time limits are fine when they're generous, because they give you an idea of how long it should be taking you to complete a section. For example, Super Mario 3D World and the Monster Hunter games use time limits, but I almost never felt pressured or threatened by them. The Katamari games also use time limits to great effect, because running out the time isn't a failure condition in them.

I do dislike very demanding time limits for very specific sections. I think those are a holdover from the arcade era of game design.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Time limits I think are acceptable in any Mario game as all of the 2D Mario platformers minus SMB 2 since it was a reskin of a different game created to hold over Western audiences before SMB 3 was released all had time limits and thus are a staple of the series. Now if it was Metroid or Kirby that had time limits for an entire game then that ruins the best part of those games which is exploring without any outside pressure other than enemies. Kirby managed to do time limits for the Revenge of Meta Knight sub game in Kirby Super Star because you were essentially destroying the Halberd and it makes sense that there’d be a time limit to show how much time Kirby has to escape from the falling airship and it explodes and is destroyed. Air Ride is a racing game so a time limit is understandable. I don’t like time limits when there is no real need for one especially if no real danger is present and there is so much to explore.

 

[MrJechgo]

Out of the Legend of Zelda series, there is actually one dungeon I hate completely and it isn’t even water related. I feel annoyed and frustrated every time I play Oracle of Ages and reach Symmetry City Which I hate mainly because of the quest to fix the Tuni Nut and then Skull Dungeon is even worse because you have to pull those handles to raise the floor and it takes so long to cross some of the floors because of the enemies and the room resets rather quickly. The Switch Hook is the only good thing about that place. I can actually clear the Water Temple from OoT faster than I can Skull Dungeon.

The color-coded version of the Water Temple... and the less-intensive boot switching, made the 3DS version more manageable since the N64 version had a confusing design. Every "floor" looked the same. THAT was that dungeon's major problem. It wasn't even the water physics, as Link, by that time, had the regular hookshot, the Zora Tunic AND the Iron Boots. By comparison, in Majora's Mask, the Great Bay Temple elevated this with brighter colors... and the Zora Mask. In Twilight Princess, the Lakebed Temple was also decently designed, and we could use your sword and shield underwater. In Skyward Sword, the Ancient Cistern wasn't too bad either.

 

[WildHennaCharizard]

Unnecessary stealth missions in games. I have to sneak around or follow someone without getting caught by guards, a spotlight, and if I attack anyone it's a game over...

Getting to a point in game only to realize I can't go any farther because I didn't pick up something I needed to advance. So I have to go back and find it; that is If I allowed to otherwise I have to restart the whole game!