10 More Pointless Video Game Mechanics Nobody Used
Does anyone blind-fire in Call of Duty?
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00It's always great to see a video game introduce a truly groundbreaking mechanic, one that
00:05fundamentally reinvents how we play a certain type of game, and is then endlessly imitated
00:10by genre successes.
00:11But not all mechanics are created equal, and while players will never forget a game that
00:16introduces a truly unique feature, often a game implements mechanics that are, well,
00:21fundamentally pointless.
00:22Let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10
00:26More Pointless Video Game Mechanics Nobody Used.
00:2910.
00:30Blind Fire – Call of Duty Vanguard
00:32The latest entry into the Call of Duty franchise, Vanguard confirmed the series' ongoing struggle
00:38to continually innovate its well-trod shooter gameplay, as players en masse mocked its inclusion
00:43of a toastly random blind fire combat mechanic.
00:46Now, in theory, blind fire allowed players to shoot indiscriminately into the open without
00:50revealing themselves, which is a seemingly strategic combat option to help players fend
00:54off enemies in a pinch, right?
00:56Except upon the game's launch, players took to social media to question why Sledgehammer
01:00bothered even including it, given how few opportunities there are for players to use
01:05it in a practical way in both the single player campaign and multiplayer suite.
01:09More to the point, even when it is a viable option, it's fiddly and awkward enough that
01:14you'll probably end up just getting killed by an enemy who isn't messing around with
01:17blind fire.
01:18Considering how little blind fire even figures in the game, you couldn't be blamed for
01:22spending dozens of hours playing Vanguard without even realising that it was actually
01:26a feature.
01:279.
01:28Vehicles – Saints Row 4
01:30While the sheer freedom-loving insanity of Saints Row's sandbox gameplay is very much
01:35the point, by giving players a bevy of superpowers from incredibly early on in the fourth game,
01:40namely super speed and super jump, developers' volition basically made Vehicles completely
01:45and utterly pointless.
01:46Now, this isn't to say that the wish-fulfilment aspect of the various superpowers isn't
01:50worth it, but in a franchise where cars have traditionally played a major role, the power's
01:55generous capabilities trivialise driving to the extent of being basically redundant.
01:59Why get into a car when you can just sprint, jump and glide to your target instead, and
02:03save yourself a tonne of time by not having to deal with traffic?
02:06Now, while cars are still in the game for those who want to use them, they're effectively
02:10rendered obsolete by the infinitely superior traversal options that you have at your disposal
02:15that come within the first hour of Saints Row 4.
02:188.
02:19Jumping – Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch
02:22As wonderful a game as the Studio Ghibli-inspired Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch is, there's
02:27so little utility to the jumping jack ability that the game itself even admits it.
02:32Jumping jack is one of the first abilities that you unlock in the game, and it allows
02:35you to jump while running, which serves no major practical purpose within the gameplay
02:39itself given the lack of platforming elements.
02:41Hilariously, the game even describes it as, not very useful, but a whole lot of fun.
02:45While jumping jack technically serves a tiny practical purpose by giving you a fractional
02:50speed boost while moving and letting you grab the floating golden orbs faster during combat,
02:55these fringe advantages really aren't enough to make the jumps seem worthwhile to about
02:5999.8% of players.
03:01Unlike most of the pointless mechanics on this list, though, at least it is bloody adorable
03:05to look at and beautifully animated to boot.
03:08If you're going to be useless, you might as well look good doing it, right?
03:117.
03:12Horses – The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
03:15Here's a possibly controversial choice with The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild's
03:18horses.
03:19Breath of the Wild is a great game that, above all else, promotes player freedom, to go about
03:24Link's adventure however you desire.
03:26And while a horse might sound like a useful vehicle in theory, given the game's emphasis
03:30on vertical traversal, it's easy to go most of the adventure without using them much at
03:34all.
03:35This isn't one of those open world games where you're endlessly riding around long,
03:39winding paths on your way to the next objective, as there's so much for the player to see
03:43and do at any given opportunity that you'd just be constantly hopping off your steed
03:46anyway.
03:47Plus, without the ability to quickly summon horses from anywhere on the map, it can feel
03:51a bit like busywork to even get them into your vicinity at all.
03:55Unless they're needed for a quest, Breath of the Wild's horses don't really serve
03:58much of a purpose, especially if you max out your stamina and can just sprint everywhere.
04:03While some might enjoy riding horses for the sheer sake of the act itself, the mechanic
04:07doesn't present the discernible gameplay advantage that you'd actually expect.
04:116.
04:12The Turn On, Turn Off feature
04:14The Secret of Monkey Island
04:16Okay, so this one is admittedly pretty funny.
04:19The original version of The Secret of Monkey Island featured a bevy of on-screen options
04:23for player interaction, which players will of course need to use throughout the game
04:27in various contexts.
04:28Except that is for the Turn On and Turn Off commands, which players are never required
04:33to use throughout the entire game, especially with the Use function being able to turn objects
04:38on and off.
04:39The reason for this is actually quite hilarious, as the game was created using LucasArts'
04:43bespoke script creation utility for Maniac Mansion, or SCUMM Engine, which had been used
04:48to develop Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, The Graphic Adventure, the year before.
04:52And so, rather than tinker with the engine, LucasArts decided to just import the interface
04:57and command system wholesale, no matter the fact that Secret of Monkey Island had no practical
05:01use for the Turn On and Off functionality.
05:04The game's success evidently prompted the company to give the engine a redesign for
05:08the sequel, though, as Monkey Island 2 La Chute Revenge lacked the same, rather pointless
05:13mechanic.
05:145.
05:15Melee Attacks – Doom Eternal
05:17In the vast majority of FPS games, the most basic melee option isn't exactly that strong,
05:22but it will at least allow you to get a temporary stagger or incapacitate an enemy for long
05:26enough to find your footing.
05:27But not, apparently, in Doom Eternal.
05:29Here, the base melee attack is so hilariously underpowered as to be functionally pointless,
05:35administering close to zero damage, enough that staggering even the most rudimentary
05:39zombie into a glory kill state takes around 100 hits.
05:43Not exactly ideal in a tight spot, then.
05:45It's an especially odd choice, as melee was actually pretty decent in Doom 2016, yet received
05:50an inexplicable nerf in this sequel.
05:53Perhaps this was an attempt to further highlight the power of the new Blood Punch melee ability.
05:57But considering that Doom Eternal is already a highly challenging game, depowering a combat
06:01skill that was previously useful in a desperate moment makes no sense whatsoever.
06:064.
06:07Magic Hands – Sonic Adventure 2
06:09Mechanics don't come a whole lot more pointless than Sonic Adventure 2's Magic Hands ability,
06:14which allows Sonic to shrink and trap enemies within a small sphere, which can then be thrown
06:18at other obstacles.
06:19It's not as cool as it sounds, honestly, the main issue being that using Magic Hands
06:24grinds gameplay to a dreadful halt, and is so much slower than just using Sonic's more
06:28conventional attacks to subdue the enemy.
06:31In a series that's all about going fast, the Magic Hands feel woefully out of place,
06:35like a half-formed feature that somehow just slipped through the QA process during development.
06:39Combine its sheer impracticality with the fact that unlocking it also is easily missed
06:43by players in the first place, and you have a mechanic that's as helpful as a chocolate
06:47teapot, and therefore used by basically nobody.
06:503.
06:51Break Free – Friday the 13th The Game
06:54Friday the 13th The Game may not be the most mechanically robust title on the market, but
06:58even for its own roughshod standards, the Break Free feature definitely pissed a lot
07:03of players off.
07:04Now, in theory, the mechanic allows those playing as hapless camp counsellors to break
07:08from Jason Voorhees' grip once he attacks, but in reality, Jason is so freakishly overpowered
07:13that it's damn near impossible to actually escape his grasp unless you've got a pocket
07:17knife in your possession.
07:18Once anyone playing as Jason has grabbed a counsellor, all they need to do is press a
07:21single button to finish them off, ensuring those who are playing as the counsellors have
07:25basically no chance to escape.
07:27Balancing multiplayer games is definitely hard for sure, but in tipping the scales so
07:31aggressively in Jason's favour, as suits his character admittedly, the developers may
07:35as well just make his grab an insta-kill in of itself.
07:39If they really wanted the Break Free mechanic to be worthwhile, then Jason desperately needed
07:43a cool-down on his brutal finishing moves.
07:462.
07:47Smoking – Vanquish
07:48Now while I'm pretty sure that everybody tried out Vanquish's admittedly hilarious
07:52smoking mechanic at least once, that was probably about it.
07:56And while I hate ragging on Vanquish because it is my all-time greatest 6 out of 10 game
08:00that is a true 10 out of 10 game, even I have to admit I basically only used it enough to
08:04get the achievement.
08:05But yes, Platinum Games' cult classic third-person shooter literally has a button dedicated to
08:10lighting up a cigarette while in cover during combat.
08:13Now the game tells you that it's useful in that you can throw it over the barricade
08:16and the enemies will target it because they believe it to be a heat signature of a human
08:20and they are dumb robots.
08:21But the problem is that it never distracts them for that long, you can run out of cigarettes
08:25and you might as well just shoot them because it's far easier.
08:28It's amusing all the same though, and we have to admit, that is pretty much Platinum
08:31Games' entire MO for building games.
08:34Is it silly?
08:35Yes.
08:36Let's make it.
08:371.
08:38The Gummi Ship – Kingdom Hearts
08:39By far the most divisive aspect of the Kingdom Hearts games is the requirement to pilot a
08:44gummi ship in order to travel between worlds.
08:46Beyond padding out the gameplay, these sections were effectively pointless, nothing more than
08:50a tedious on-rail shooting sequence that nobody asked for.
08:54Sadly, there's no way to avoid using the gummi ship in the three Kingdom Hearts games,
08:58though it's safe to say that most players didn't spend any more time in them than
09:01they utterly needed to, and certainly avoided wasting time with optional gummi side content
09:06and upgrades.
09:07While Square Enix admittedly made these sections far more tolerable in the second and third
09:11game, they still don't suit the series' design philosophy overall.
09:15Why force us through these painfully bland, time-filler segments in a series of games
09:19whose appeal lies in exploring magical worlds filled with iconic Disney and Square Enix
09:23characters?
09:24After all, in a franchise with a loose-at-best grasp of its own internal logic, would anyone
09:29have cared if Sora and company just magically warped their way between worlds?
09:33I'll answer that for you.
09:34Not a damn person would.
09:36And there we go, my friends.
09:37Those were 10 more pointless video game mechanics nobody used.
09:39I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
09:42the comments section below.
09:44As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ with a zero,
09:47or you can do the same over on Instagram, RetroJ with a zero.
09:51But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
09:54Hope you're treating yourself well, my friend, with love and respect, because you deserve
09:58all of the best things in life, alright?
09:59And do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise.
10:02You're a massive ledge, now go out there and absolutely smash it today.
10:05I believe in you.
10:06As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:10to you soon.
10:11Bye.