10 realistic gameplay mechanics that suck
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Date: 2022-09-29
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Comments and reviews: 14
kdawg3484
My number one is inventory management. Absolutely ruins many games for me. Every game, no matter the genre, becomes an accounting and organizing simulator. BotW is probably the worst about this for me, but tons, probably most, games suffer from it. Encumbrance is just a subset of inventory management. There's unlimited space in games now for databases of thousands of useless items, but my character can only carry a small number of things, and I'm constantly having to interrupt gameplay to play accountant, and inventory space upgrades become the most treasured things you can find in the game. It's such an appallingly lazy way of adding difficulty to games. And it's dumb, because it's STILL unrealistic which makes it entirely arbitrary. It is absolutely the worst chore in games.
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My number one is inventory management. Absolutely ruins many games for me. Every game, no matter the genre, becomes an accounting and organizing simulator. BotW is probably the worst about this for me, but tons, probably most, games suffer from it. Encumbrance is just a subset of inventory management. There's unlimited space in games now for databases of thousands of useless items, but my character can only carry a small number of things, and I'm constantly having to interrupt gameplay to play accountant, and inventory space upgrades become the most treasured things you can find in the game. It's such an appallingly lazy way of adding difficulty to games. And it's dumb, because it's STILL unrealistic which makes it entirely arbitrary. It is absolutely the worst chore in games.
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Dwight
On a similar vein, I don't like when games have things that are supposed to add realism, but completely fail at it. Major offenders off the top of my head are:
1. Crowbars that break after a few swings in zombie games. It would take well over 1000 lbs of force to damage a crowbar
2. Survival-game hunger meters. These games usually require the player eat food every couple hours, but in real life, humans can go weeks with little to no food. Not ideal or easy ofc
3. Arbitrary encumbrance. Some games limit your inventory to add realism, but it's not done well. For example, maybe you can carry ten weapons, but size/weight doesn't matter. Suddenly carrying around 10 sledgehammers in a small backpack doesn't feel so realistic
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On a similar vein, I don't like when games have things that are supposed to add realism, but completely fail at it. Major offenders off the top of my head are:
1. Crowbars that break after a few swings in zombie games. It would take well over 1000 lbs of force to damage a crowbar
2. Survival-game hunger meters. These games usually require the player eat food every couple hours, but in real life, humans can go weeks with little to no food. Not ideal or easy ofc
3. Arbitrary encumbrance. Some games limit your inventory to add realism, but it's not done well. For example, maybe you can carry ten weapons, but size/weight doesn't matter. Suddenly carrying around 10 sledgehammers in a small backpack doesn't feel so realistic
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Ilpo
If my memory serves me correctly there was very odd balancing at the very first Call of Duty game (2003) with realistic difficulty. It was a lot easier to play that way than it was on a hard difficulty. Can't say it was fair but still. And what comes to overburden Fallout 4 got this bug that will not reset carrying weight if you sell items from your inventory. So one can of food weights so much that you cannot walk. I also hate this realistic idea that FPS game (like Doom) restrict player to only carry 2 or 3 weapons and it doesn't matter if those weapons are pistols. Nope, you need put two of em down so you can pick up rocket launcher and assault rifle.
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If my memory serves me correctly there was very odd balancing at the very first Call of Duty game (2003) with realistic difficulty. It was a lot easier to play that way than it was on a hard difficulty. Can't say it was fair but still. And what comes to overburden Fallout 4 got this bug that will not reset carrying weight if you sell items from your inventory. So one can of food weights so much that you cannot walk. I also hate this realistic idea that FPS game (like Doom) restrict player to only carry 2 or 3 weapons and it doesn't matter if those weapons are pistols. Nope, you need put two of em down so you can pick up rocket launcher and assault rifle.
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Jeanne
The worst timed games are the Atelier, Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and Rune Factory franchises. They didn't let me fight, gather materials and interact with the characters as much as I wanted and needed. It always kept me on the clock to gather things, farm or meet a certain character in a certain building by this time otherwise you lose out on cutscenes, items or relationship bonding.
With the HM/SoS games, you are on a year time limit otherwise you get a bad ending if you don't do everything correctly.
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The worst timed games are the Atelier, Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and Rune Factory franchises. They didn't let me fight, gather materials and interact with the characters as much as I wanted and needed. It always kept me on the clock to gather things, farm or meet a certain character in a certain building by this time otherwise you lose out on cutscenes, items or relationship bonding.
With the HM/SoS games, you are on a year time limit otherwise you get a bad ending if you don't do everything correctly.
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Big
I really don't like minimaps. I think game devs get lazy with their game design and put them in because they don't want to design something that makes sense in the realm of travel. So they stick a 2D representation of where I am in the world and say, Hey, stare at this for 90% of your travel time.
Almost every game does this, and while it's not the end of the world, I really appreciate it when a good level is designed without me having to look up a guide or map or anything just to figure out where to go.
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I really don't like minimaps. I think game devs get lazy with their game design and put them in because they don't want to design something that makes sense in the realm of travel. So they stick a 2D representation of where I am in the world and say, Hey, stare at this for 90% of your travel time.
Almost every game does this, and while it's not the end of the world, I really appreciate it when a good level is designed without me having to look up a guide or map or anything just to figure out where to go.
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NealCamerlengo
The Quest for Glory series has weight limit (except for like one game and it depends on your strength) and time limits. Also fall damage sucks. The other thing is lack of a pause function like just because real life has zero pausing doesn't mean video games have to be the same. The other is being hurt despite landing a move in the recent WWE games. Sure if it misses then sure but not when I land on the opponent especially in the 2K games.
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The Quest for Glory series has weight limit (except for like one game and it depends on your strength) and time limits. Also fall damage sucks. The other thing is lack of a pause function like just because real life has zero pausing doesn't mean video games have to be the same. The other is being hurt despite landing a move in the recent WWE games. Sure if it misses then sure but not when I land on the opponent especially in the 2K games.
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Daniel
I thought of another one too, non-controllable a. i companions that constantly yell at you and tell you to keep 'moving' or 'shoot something'! Meanwhile and all too often your a. i companion is a worthless f that doesn't help you in combat at all or continually needs reviving! I especially hate that BS in open world games where I want to explore the map and discover things. When are developers going to wake the f up and realize that s ain't fun?
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I thought of another one too, non-controllable a. i companions that constantly yell at you and tell you to keep 'moving' or 'shoot something'! Meanwhile and all too often your a. i companion is a worthless f that doesn't help you in combat at all or continually needs reviving! I especially hate that BS in open world games where I want to explore the map and discover things. When are developers going to wake the f up and realize that s ain't fun?
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renthegigglefox
It wasn't a panic mode per se, but Shadow Hearts: Covenant had a madness mechanic where, after a set number turns indicated by a party member's sanity value, the character in question would enter a berserk state where they were uncontrollable, dealt increased damage, and also became confused. This made it equally possible to have a party wipe due to your own team as from a boss's attacks if the fight went on for too long.
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It wasn't a panic mode per se, but Shadow Hearts: Covenant had a madness mechanic where, after a set number turns indicated by a party member's sanity value, the character in question would enter a berserk state where they were uncontrollable, dealt increased damage, and also became confused. This made it equally possible to have a party wipe due to your own team as from a boss's attacks if the fight went on for too long.
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Andrew
My most hated real game mechanic has to be the inventory in RE4. Leon has a briefcase that you have to turn and arrange stuff in it and not nearly enough room. Yeah you can get bigger ones later on but it's still not much room and makes ZERO sense bc he doesn't even have a briefcase while he's walking around anyway. Dude can't even step sideways, that would have been more realistic than his magic disappearing luggage.
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My most hated real game mechanic has to be the inventory in RE4. Leon has a briefcase that you have to turn and arrange stuff in it and not nearly enough room. Yeah you can get bigger ones later on but it's still not much room and makes ZERO sense bc he doesn't even have a briefcase while he's walking around anyway. Dude can't even step sideways, that would have been more realistic than his magic disappearing luggage.
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brSiRiuS
Okay. Number 5 (spending time with friends) is something I really like to do and I'm glad some games have it. It is a feature more inclined to RPGs, but I really enjoy anything that makes me more immerse in the game's universe and my character's life. I understand why GTA IV got some harsh critiques around that. I really enjoy those little details in games, but I think it's best if it is not mandatory in some cases.
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Okay. Number 5 (spending time with friends) is something I really like to do and I'm glad some games have it. It is a feature more inclined to RPGs, but I really enjoy anything that makes me more immerse in the game's universe and my character's life. I understand why GTA IV got some harsh critiques around that. I really enjoy those little details in games, but I think it's best if it is not mandatory in some cases.
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P ter
I'd also add realistic reloading in some games, usually crafting and survival games, where you have to remove the magazine manually, reload it wit bullets and put it back into the weapon or have multiple magazines in your inventory in order to be able to reload. I know it's more realistic, than pressing R and you get a fully loaded weapon in a matter of seconds, but I prefer this over over managing it.
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I'd also add realistic reloading in some games, usually crafting and survival games, where you have to remove the magazine manually, reload it wit bullets and put it back into the weapon or have multiple magazines in your inventory in order to be able to reload. I know it's more realistic, than pressing R and you get a fully loaded weapon in a matter of seconds, but I prefer this over over managing it.
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Ratus
I recently played Deus Ex 1. I thought I was going to headshot everybody. Then they had that annoying breathe movement thing when you aim the gun. That pissed me off so much that my accuracy was being artificially messed with to be realistic.
Then later in the game I blew both my legs off and they had me drag myself throughout the whole level on my damn knees.
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I recently played Deus Ex 1. I thought I was going to headshot everybody. Then they had that annoying breathe movement thing when you aim the gun. That pissed me off so much that my accuracy was being artificially messed with to be realistic.
Then later in the game I blew both my legs off and they had me drag myself throughout the whole level on my damn knees.
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Kyrika
The excessive weight of the grass in Demon's Souls is something new to the remake. For some reason they felt the need to add in both a hard cap (limited quantity on you) and soft cap (making tiers of grass sequentially heavier) for all the healing grass, and honestly, I don't feel it to be a good change. In the original, all grass just weighed 0. 1 a piece.
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The excessive weight of the grass in Demon's Souls is something new to the remake. For some reason they felt the need to add in both a hard cap (limited quantity on you) and soft cap (making tiers of grass sequentially heavier) for all the healing grass, and honestly, I don't feel it to be a good change. In the original, all grass just weighed 0. 1 a piece.
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Jeffrey
I am quite surprised than the game Outward was not mentioned. Limited fast travel, low inventory weight limit, currency as item, drink and eat non poisonous material at regular basis and many more. Name it, it's most likely one of Outward core mechanic! Sleeping? If I wanted to sleep I would not have spent the last 8 hours with a controller my hands.
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I am quite surprised than the game Outward was not mentioned. Limited fast travel, low inventory weight limit, currency as item, drink and eat non poisonous material at regular basis and many more. Name it, it's most likely one of Outward core mechanic! Sleeping? If I wanted to sleep I would not have spent the last 8 hours with a controller my hands.
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