Yes, guys. It’s time for another boring list (because new ideas, HAHAHAHAHAAHA). I have been a longtime gamer (admittedly really on-and-off throughout the years) and there have been some things that just don’t sit well with me. Some of these may be a culture thing, or it’s the problem with the developer’s decision, or something about the genre, or maybe some parts of the mechanics or designs just frustrate me — but nonetheless, below is my 10 video game pet peeves.
1. Ubisoft, please, no more 2D Assassin’s Creed Games.
I played quite a lot of Assassin’s Creed games throughout the years; some good, some bad. But what irks me the most are the 2D ones. I mean Assassin’s Creed and 2D? That just doesn’t sound like a good idea at all. Assassin’s Creed just feels too limited in 2D. One of the best charm of Assassin’s Creed is to figure out the most effective way to traverse from one location to the next, in beautiful historical settings; with dozen of ways to assassinate your enemies that may require you to zap around the area or blend with the surroundings. Assassin’s Creed 2D games never replicated that charm of the series, or at least, not as good. Furthermore, China and India are really ideal settings for an Assassin’s Creed game due to their unique architectural designs, perfect places for freerunning and climbing. Can’t believe they wasted all that in a side-scroller.
2. Time limit is bad.
Time limit in RPG is not a particularly good idea. Even worse are the games where there are time-specific events that are ridiculously easy to miss. The best type of time-based RPG are games that let the players naturally feel the flow of time, but not feel like they are being forced to do as much as possible within the time limit. From my experience, games like that are few and far in between though.
3. Mobage is shit.
Mobage is shit. Yeah, being a gamer from an older generation, I’m afraid to say I’m not particularly welcoming of mobage. Some of them are undoubtedly fun (hell, I played quite a few myself), but have really abusive business practices for me to truly enjoy them. Speaking of abusive business practices…
4. I dislike the newer culture of video games.
I was born at a time when internet still wasn’t a common thing. That means video games during this time have literally zero internet features, and call me old fashion, but I’m still more used to that than the more internet-reliant modern games. I dislike having to download a thousand updates and patches just to play my game. I experienced few nightmarish scenarios where the equipment I want are locked behind online multiplayer. And microtransactions? My god, don’t even get me started on that. Even AAA games have been following the P2W approach, and loot boxes aren’t exactly uncommon. I mean, fine, I admit I sometimes buy additional content too, but it’s for the very important DLC swimsui-. …Sorry, my shitty joke aside, I suppose my point here is that the newer internet culture of video games have done more harm than good, but I’ll stop here for now since this is getting a little long.
5. Fuck Konami
Suikoden was one of my favorite RPG series during early PS1/2 days and I always feel they are underappreciated, and it doesn’t help that Konami just forgot about it after Suikoden 5. Metal Gear Solid too, where do I even start? A series that was way ahead of it’s time with incredible story, music and characters. Even Metal Gear Solid 5 looks like it’s building up to something amazing but yeah, the “controversy” occurred that forced the series to conclude on such a half-assed note.
6. Controller buttons still confuse me sometimes.
Even now, I still get confused with the controller buttons. Being a multi-platform gamer, some of their button schemes are just too similar. Playstation controllers are by far the most unique, and it’s mostly Nintendo and Xbox controllers that’s messing me up. Since you know, they are exactly the same buttons, just reversed. I mean, there are 26 letters and even numbers/symbols if they want to go there, couldn’t they use something else other than A, B, X or Y?
LPs did give us a moe AI screaming at Biohazard so all is well, I suppose.
7. I have never understood the appeal of Let’s Play.
In my opinion, experiencing the games yourself is incomparable to watching Let’s Play, so I never really understood the appeal. I understand not everyone can afford to purchase every console or games available, but watching Let’s Play is still a terrible alternative. Maybe it’s good for checking out games you have never been interested in, or maybe you just want to revisit some old classics. But in general, Let’s Play makes for a terrible first impression — if there’s a game you want to play and if you have yet to experience it, just play the actual game. Well, I say all these now but this is coming from someone who frequently watches moe AI and virtual youtubers playing games so take it what you will.
I‘m not sure about killing, but I definitely hate you too, Tales.
8. My Tsundere relationship with Tales
The world just doesn’t want me and Tales to get along for some reason. Tales of Destiny was the first Tales I played but never really got around to finish since playing it right after Final Fantasy was a bad idea. The impact Final Fantasy games left on me was too strong for me to try a much smaller-scale, less ambitious RPG. I picked up Tales of the Abyss one day and a week or so after that, suddenly decided to buy a PS3 (I blame impulse buying), so Tales of the Abyss has since tossed into my unending Backlog of Abyss. Surprisingly, I was able to finish Tales of Zestiria without a problem. Tales of Berseria is the worst though, my PC at the time couldn’t handle it (tbf it was a shitty prebuilt). While I managed to build myself a custom gaming PC sometime later, I couldn’t even enjoy it properly as I became severely sick (that lasted for months I might add) halfway through the game. Tales just hates me for some reason. It’s like Tales is going “i-it’s not like I want you to play me or anything”, but without the dere — the worst kind of tsundere.
9. Desert is my least favorite RPG landscapes.
One thing I like best about RPG is the ability to explore beautiful, exotic fictional landscapes. …Well, except for deserts. They are dull, monotonous and worse, the area is stupidly huge. There’s nothing like exploring a colossal emptiness of vast, barren wasteland; something that I always look forward to with bated breath and shaking hands whenever playing a RPG.
10. Strategy RPGs are the hardest RPGs for me to get into.
There have been a lot of subgenres of RPG over the years; the traditional turn-based RPG, Action RPG and Strategy RPG, and admittedly the latter has always been the hardest for me to get into. Battles take forever or maybe I’m just a dumbass who can’t figure out a good strategy (I mean the genre is called /Strategy/ RPG for a reason). I don’t particularly hate the genre though and always enjoy a good RPG, even Strategy RPGs. I’m willing to be open-minded and enjoy the genre if I can, but I guess long story short, I’m just not good at it. The only Strategy RPG I can confidently say I finished is Hyperdevotion Noire… which is yeah, not really saying much.