8 Awesome Video Game Mechanics Everyone Hated
Welcome to Tues Your Own Adventure! Join Jules and James as they take look at "awesome" video game mechanics we all hated!! Brilliant on paper. Terrible in practice.
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00:00 Hello all of you little demons, Jules here for whatculture.com back again with another
00:04 episode of the awesomely named and awfully hosted Choose Your Own Adventure, the weekly
00:09 medieval themed format where I, the crown jewels of whatculture.com, take a list chosen
00:13 by you, yes you, the person who is trying to beat the Guinness World Record of most
00:18 hard boiled eggs eaten. 72, 73, 72, 70, oh, oh, that's not gone well. Yes, you get to
00:27 decide what list I dole out to you each and every week, and this week we have none other
00:31 to thank than MJVDG for their suggestion of video game mechanics that were, on paper,
00:42 absolutely brilliant but we all ended up hating. Because you see, in order to stand out in
00:46 a crowded sea of video games that are released on a near continual basis, developers often
00:51 have to think outside the box when it comes to making their game catch your attention
00:55 and, by extension, the attention of your wallet. And therefore questions about how to think
00:59 outside the box become questions about the box itself. What if the box didn't exist
01:03 at all? What if the box was motion controls? What if the box was motion controls but actually
01:08 only through a pre-order for season pass holders? And in that moment, we've lost sight of
01:12 what we're talking about completely. As is most of my videos.
01:16 What I'm trying to say is, it's easy to make a great idea on paper that will still
01:19 fail to materialise into greatness for the player, and even those that sound utterly
01:24 awesome can indeed lead to moments of frustration and backlash from the fanbase, which is what
01:29 we're talking about today. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 8 AWESOME
01:33 video game mechanics that we all ended up hating. And you know the drill by now, say
01:37 hi to me here over in the live chat and put your suggestions for next week's episode
01:40 down in the comments section below. But with that in mind, let's get on with this list,
01:44 shall we?
01:45 8. The Persuasion Minigame - The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
01:50 I tell you, I am an absolute sucker for any sort of video game that lets me charm and
01:55 schmooze my way through the experience. If you have got a charm stat or some way to influence
02:01 dialogue using some sort of minigame, then I am all for it, my dude. I love wringing
02:06 extra loot out of NPCs, sidelining boring quests with a turn of phrase, and even getting
02:11 bosses to back the hell down when they see my razor sharp wit. Oh, my wordplay, it cut
02:16 me. And yet when it came to Oblivion, an otherwise absolute masterclass of a game, Bethesda managed
02:21 to bungle their Persuasion minigame in such a specific way that it's still absolutely
02:26 functional and often times useful, but it's just so uncannily horrible to use over and
02:32 over.
02:33 Now the idea behind the mechanic is sound - use a rotating wheel with different values
02:36 in order to charm whoever it is that you're speaking to. But the implementation and accompanying
02:41 panopticon of pain seems to be the animator's attempt at conveying base emotions of pleasure
02:46 and hatred, and it all makes for an utterly ridiculous experience. Like it's so weird,
02:51 just watch their faces and not the wheel when you're talking to them. Oh, I love this,
02:55 oh I hate this, oh I love this, oh I hate this. And it's just like, imagine if that
03:00 was real life, if you were trying to go and find somewhere to eat with a friend and you're
03:04 suggesting places and you're like, do you want to go to McDonald's? And you look over
03:07 and they're just like this. I'll put that in the maybe pile then, shall I? You're basically
03:12 chatting absolute bollocks to them while hoping that your trivial pile of persuasion matches
03:17 up to what they like. There's no skill, there's no finesse, and it's basically
03:21 the same as the lockpicking minigame, but here the lockpick is somebody's face, and
03:25 it's not always happy with you poking a metal rod up its nose.
03:28 7. The majority of the Batmobile sections - Batman Arkham Knight
03:33 Throughout Rocksteady's tenure with the Arkham series of video games, fans the world
03:37 over, through adulation and praise at the devs for their attention to detail, amazing
03:41 worldbuilding and of course the impeccable blend of hard-hitting action and supremely
03:46 enjoyable stealth sections. However, there was always one aspect of the games that players
03:51 felt was missing, and that of course is the giant, absolute shtunker of a vehicle, aka
03:57 the Batmobile. But in a case of "well be careful what you wish for", we got it in
04:01 Arkham Knight. And oh boy, did we get a lot of it.
04:05 Previews for Arkham Knight pushed the Batmobile heavily as being one of the key reasons to
04:09 own this game, with a huge focus on vehicular combat as well as even a bit of mild puzzle
04:14 solving. It all sounded too good to be true, and unfortunately for many, that turned out
04:18 to be the case when the game finally dropped, as these sections quickly became a drain on
04:23 the entire experience. Now, don't get me wrong, the mechanics of the Batmobile itself
04:27 were wonderful, and the heavy bottom slide of the car felt wonderful to wrestle against.
04:32 Yet the Batmobile was used way too many times across the game, to the point where it became
04:36 a bit of an eye roll when yet again, Juicy Bruce over here announced that he'd need
04:40 his car for this specific point in the mission.
04:43 Nearly every aspect of the game features the Batmobile in some capacity, with even the
04:47 Riddler creating a whole slew of new races to challenge players with. And as such, we
04:51 had a taste of the sorbet that was a refreshing experience, and then realised that, oh, that's
04:56 all we're eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'll have some mango with my strawberry.
05:02 It's 11pm. I just wanna sleep. I just wanna sleep. But the sugar rush is too much.
05:10 Number 6, The Force Wall, Wipeout 3. Now, with the likes of red shells, homing missiles
05:16 and even swarms of killer bees, thank you very much Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed,
05:21 you are a wonderful game, but bees? I did not need another reason to be afraid of them.
05:25 When it comes to racing games, there are many, many ways to claim pole position while causing
05:30 other racers to curse your name as they drown in sticky honey. But when it came to the otherwise
05:34 fantastic Wipeout 3, the devs dropped the ball hard when it came to its power-ups, as
05:39 here, more often than not, you'd be the one having the brakes put on. I say this because
05:43 for some reason the creative team decided that should you hit another racer with a power-up
05:47 or weapon enough to damage it, instead of dropping onto the track and creating an obstacle
05:51 for you, the racer in question would be temporarily flipped over to allow you to pass underneath.
05:56 Which sounds great, right? Well, it is, on paper, but the problem was that in practice,
06:01 that moment in which it flips up and then flips back down again was ridiculously short,
06:06 meaning that about 9 times out of 10, you'd be passing underneath the racer as they flipped
06:10 out on top of you. Sick.
06:13 This of course impacted your own racing skills somewhat, because last time I checked, it
06:17 is much harder to make a 3-point turn when you've got your rival flipping you off from
06:20 your own front windscreen. Worse still, some of the power-ups themselves were actively
06:24 dangerous for you to use, with the force wall especially dropping a barrier ahead of you,
06:29 but causing all other racers who crashed into it to bounce backwards.
06:34 Because that's what you want in a speedy game like this, right? For all of your rival
06:37 racers to suddenly become hurtling backwards towards you, it's just kind of like "haha,
06:41 take that! Oh my god, I am taking that!"
06:43 5. Using Rob to... help you. Gyromite.
06:48 Now the NEAS era of video games is definitely what the MCU would have called "the maddest
06:54 timeline". You had an explosion of video game content that washed the sour taste of
06:59 Atari's ruinous taint out of your mouths, and because Nintendo was leading the charge,
07:03 that meant that some of these games came with weird and wonderful peripherals. Including
07:07 the one and only Rob, or Robotic Operating Buddy, who may well have been Nintendo's
07:13 most insane product ever. Well, that is until the Virtual Boy or the Nintendo Labo. Those
07:19 were pretty insane. I mean, to be fair, it's still pretty mad. It's a robotic assistant
07:23 that helps you play video games. Although I should rephrase that by saying "it's
07:27 a robotic assistant that HELPS you play video games". Because this guy here, well he sucked.
07:33 But you tell me, on paper, that this isn't one of the best sounding mechanics for your
07:37 video game hobby ever. An actual robotic assistant. And yet, as anyone who's actually had the
07:42 pleasure of Rob's help will be able to tell you, this product, and the games that he was
07:46 attached to, were utterly abysmal.
07:49 Dynamite best exemplifies the problems here, as in this title you were a professor trying
07:53 to move through levels to collect dynamite that would explode if you ran out of time.
07:57 Because that's what I want to do when I'm a scientist. Go around my labs defusing bombs.
08:02 But blocking your way were colour coded pillars that Rob could help you shift by pushing the
08:06 corresponding buttons. However, the act of getting him to move at all was a chore, making
08:11 you pause the game to go into this pseudo select screen to tell Rob what to do. And
08:15 then you would wait upwards of a minute per button press that you wanted him to make for
08:21 him to complete the action. Imagine that. It's like, "There is a timer. There is dynamite.
08:27 Rob, will you help me?"
08:29 Of course I will dude, I've got your back fam.
08:32 [Robot sounds]
08:38 Don't worry fam, I've got this. You can trust me dude, I'd ride or die for you.
08:45 You and me forever man. Let's Thelma and Louise this.
08:52 One button. In a minute. In a game. With a time limit. Do I need to expand more on why
08:56 this was actual hell? I thought not.
08:59 4. Unlocking cars based on rankings. R4 Ridge Racer Type 4
09:04 Now here's a video game mechanic that must have sounded absolutely brilliant when the
09:07 devs were chatting about implementing it into their game, but as soon as they actually put
09:11 it into practice, it became as confusing as the title to which it was attached to. I mean,
09:15 R4 Ridge Racer Type 4? Does that mean that the game is actually called Ridge Racer Type
09:20 4 Ridge Racer Type 4?
09:21 Well in R to the Power 4, which is definitely what I'm going to call it now, you'd unlock
09:24 cars for your collection based on the position in which you finished the tournament, meaning
09:28 that if you placed first across all of the races, you'd get a first place-esque prize
09:33 in the form of the fastest car and the most cash. Which all sounds grand, right? Well
09:37 the problem was that some of the more desirable cars, and in fact some of the better cars
09:42 in terms of handling and acceleration or braking power, were actually locked behind the second
09:46 and third places, and the only way to get them was to go through the tournament again
09:51 and place second or third respectively. Meaning that you would have to, in some cases, throw
09:57 the race in order to achieve the pole position that you wanted.
10:01 Sick. Match fixing in a video game. I thought I'd seen it all, James. I thought I'd seen
10:07 it all. Plus you'd have to feel sorry for those questing for 100% of this game, as they'd
10:11 have to do this multiple times on each event to complete their collection and unlock the
10:15 final car of the game.
10:17 3. Calming BB - Death Stranding
10:20 Now to say that Death Stranding is a video game full of half-baked but kind of brilliant
10:25 ideas is kind of like saying that I will be a little bit chilly when those energy price
10:29 hikes kick in in winter. And I also don't have a radiator in my room, I've just realised
10:33 that.
10:34 A quick look at Death Stranding's list of unique and odd mechanics is like trying to
10:38 read Homer's Odyssey, but all you've got to go on is paraphrases and key quotes that
10:42 are written over an old groceries list for how weird some of them seem. Holding buttons
10:47 to balance, multiplayer in the form of bridge building, weaponising your piss using monster
10:52 energy drinks, avocados... to be fair that last one was just surprising because I thought
10:57 we had some in the fridge.
10:58 But I digress, which is actually what Death Stranding does a lot, introducing new mechanics
11:02 on the fly that often lead absolutely nowhere near essential storyline missions. But one
11:07 that unfortunately was tied directly into the experience was the monitoring of BB, your
11:11 little bridge baby. Or as it's known amongst many gamers, Baby Mario version 2.
11:15 On paper, the idea of calming down a frightened child once you've taken a serious spill
11:20 or encountered a horrific enemy should only serve to heighten the tension of that moment.
11:24 You've just lost your packages, your baby is crying, it's all gone wrong. Except,
11:29 let's just say that last sentence again with a different intonation. You've lost
11:33 all of your packages, your baby is crying, it's all gone wrong. What about that is
11:38 fun? What about that experience is fun at all? I mean, I know that deep down there is
11:43 a desire within all of us humans to protect a small child, but at the same time, you've
11:47 just got to think to yourself, "Okay, this is a gameplay mechanic I could definitely
11:51 do without, because the screaming in my ears, it just doesn't end. It's like tinnitus,
11:56 but just more infantile. If you want to call it tinnitus, whatever. Tinnitus, tinnitus,
12:00 whatever."
12:01 And unsurprisingly, it wasn't fun to have to use the motion controls to calm BB down
12:05 for the 50th time, by which point this quirky method had officially outstayed its welcome.
12:10 Number 2, don't forget to take your joy, or nothing will happen. We Happy Few.
12:14 Now, I don't think I've been as disappointed with a video game as I was with We Happy Few
12:19 when it launched in 2016. The state of the game back then was so disappointing, because
12:25 while it's gone on from strength to strength, and it's been expanded by really quite generous
12:29 DLC experiences that have been really well received, and the game has received a ton
12:34 of fixes and tweaks, the game as it stood, 2016, the vanilla version, who boy was it
12:40 left wanting.
12:41 It had a concept that was a stone cold killer as well, of a society held in a perpetual
12:46 state of drug addled repression, and was backed up with brutality. It told of a town divided
12:52 by those who took their joy pills to forget, and downers who were those that rejected the
12:56 fantasy in order to live out in the wastes.
12:58 As such, a lot of expectations were built up around the process of taking joy in order
13:02 to fit in with the other pill junkies, and how these mechanics would affect gameplay.
13:06 Would you be caught short at a desperate moment and be chased out of town? Would you have
13:10 to scavenge for them in order to stave off a beatdown? Well the answer on paper was a
13:14 definitive yes, but in practice was a resounding no.
13:17 For you see, while joy dosage was important to get through certain gates and bypass doctors,
13:23 that was the extent of its implementation, and the sheer abundancy of the pill meant
13:26 that it was never really that hard to acquire. What was once an amazing piece of worldbuilding
13:31 just became a chore with all of the tension of the situation dissipating almost entirely.
13:36 Hell the fact that you could complete the game without taking joy once outside of a
13:39 few story beats just shows how little they cared about this, which was such a shame,
13:44 because it had the potential to be one of the best things about this game.
13:48 And that's why I hate it a little bit.
13:49 At number one, the Renbu system. Dynasty Warriors 6.
13:54 So imagine that you're in the headquarters of Koi Tecmo, and all of a sudden this dev
13:58 slams through the door. He's sweaty, he's shaky, he's got a nervous look in his eyes,
14:03 almost feverish. He grabs onto your shirt, and he pulls you closer, and you can see the
14:07 sweat on his brow, his lips are quivering. He pulls closer to your ears, just brushing
14:12 that bit there, just to make you go "what are you doing?" and he whispers the words
14:16 "But what if... Infinite combos?"
14:20 Well, you'd drop your Lu Bu mug. It would smash on the floor and your tea would go everywhere.
14:26 Because that's how important it was to a Dynasty Warriors fan. I know it might not mean much
14:30 to an outsider, but to a DW fan, or as we call ourselves, Musso Melliers, for we drink
14:35 the Musso like fine wine, this concept was enough to make my Dong Zhuo turn into a Dong
14:41 Wu. Infinite combos, in a game, about pushing beatdowns like a drug dealer, is pretty much
14:47 the actual dream, so many, myself included, were hyped to the extreme legends when the
14:52 Ren Bu system was announced for Dynasty Warriors 6. However, this soon became possibly the
14:58 most hated mechanic in the entire series thanks to its implementation, which saw nearly every
15:03 character share a base moveset that had to hit a certain hitchain in order to unlock
15:08 new and more exciting moves. This, when coupled with the fact that enemies only appeared in
15:12 small clumps, often meant that you'd be using basic strikes for far longer than our
15:16 patience would tolerate. Thus turning what were once warriors of legends into Saturday
15:21 League dads scrapping it out in the car park after a few pints of the gogo juice. Y'know,
15:26 just a fizzy burpy mess with weak as piss punches. No thank you, mate.
15:31 And there we go my friends, those were 8 awesome video game mechanics that we all absolutely
15:36 hated. I hope that you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought about it down
15:39 in the comments section below, as well as putting your suggestions for next week's
15:43 episode. I love reading all of them so thank you very much for this little dialogue that
15:47 we have, this little back and forth, this little tete-a-tete that I like so very much.
15:51 And if you want to chat to me further you can do so over on the social medias @RetroJay
15:55 but the O is a zero and you can follow James Dowse over here. I don't know what Mimi's
15:59 put up this week but I'm sure that it is *mwah* spicy indeed. But before I go I just
16:04 want to say one thing, I hope that you are treating yourself well with love and respect,
16:08 my friend. That is always an awesome idea that is good when it's followed through
16:12 on. Because I just want you to live a healthy and happy life, to treat yourself with that
16:16 love and respect that I know that you deserve, alright? You deserve love, you deserve happiness,
16:20 you deserve success. Alright, so just go out there, treat yourself well, treat your neighbour
16:24 well, go out there, build bridges instead of burning them and have a brilliant day,
16:28 whatever it is you are getting up to. Big love from me to you, my friend. As always,
16:32 I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, I'll speak to you soon.