Blog:Grust's Top 10 Least Favorite Features in Gaming

Not long ago, I made a list listing some of my favorite features in gaming even doing a followup for my love of RPGs and why I love them. And now, my top 10 features in gaming I don't love. For this list I'm listing features in gaming I either have an immense hatred for or either put up with. Keep in mind that while I dislike these features won't mean I think the game is bad. Even my all time favorite game, Ocarina of Time suffers from some of these. So I won't view games that have this as bad or terrible.

Now I hate Micro-transactions, Loot boxes, and social justice agendas in games which helped to ruined western gaming and entertainment for me but as I've ripped on these so much and you all know my opinion on them now so I will be excluding them from this list but think of them as the true top 3. Okay then onto the countdown.

10. Overtutorialized: I've been gaming since I was 3 years old and have an instinct when playing a lot of games. So I don't need handholding all the time when playing. That's my beef with overtutorialized sections to learn a new mechanic or play the game. I know how to shoot a gun in every game I play, perform actions, the button layouts haven't changed much since PS2 or XBox in many games. I'm fully in my comfort zone so I don't need these. One of the worst examples is in the Great Deku Tree for Ocarina of Time (my all time favorite game) where Navi interrupts to explain simple game mechanics. It's 10 though since it's for new gamers and I think it can be done right by putting the tips in loading screens or giving help tabs.

9. Annoying Characters: You know what I mean the characters that won't shut up, won't die, interrupt the game, or follow you but are more trouble than they're worth. Examples I can think of are Navi as she won't shut up, The Adoring fan from Oblivion that is more likely to attract enemies to you, Or Heimskr from Skyrim who won't shut up about Talos that every chance I get I make sure to kill him just for some quiet in Whiterun (even when I'm morally good, he's that annoying). The only annoying character I like is Tidus because he becomes less annoying through character development.

8. Padding: A term that means something to artificially extend the game making it longer than it needs to be. While this can add more story or fun, when done wrong it comes as lazy or pathetic. An infamous example are the shadow tentacles in Alone in the Dark needed for spectral vision. But it played a role in making the horrendous Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 into one of the most traumatic, painful experiences in my life. After certain events in the game, Harry follows three scenarios that must be completed from fending off Dementors or releasing muggleborns from the Ministry of Magic. These events must be completed to continue the game. By then I'm horribly bored and want to be done with the game. Padding can be done right with sidequests. Fable 2, from beginning to end takes about 12 hours to be but the sidequests can give up to maybe 100 hours and give nice rewards. That's how you pad out the game.

7. Door Mazes: I don't see this much anymore but this is frustrating in older titles. Basically it's a maze of doors that send you to random parts of an area and you have to find the right door or the correct path which with a confusing layout make you think the game is longer than it needs to be. It's annoying, frustrating, and can make the game almost unplayable if you suffer poor memory (drink water if you do, it improved mine). The closest I ever seen it done right is the final boss of McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, but it's not a maze just part of the boss mechanic.

6. Always Online: I believe this was used to combat piracy but making all games, even single player online only is a bad idea. I still remember how SimCity (2013) was unplayable due to the network issues and Projared made that funny 1 minute review of it. And even then not everyone has perfect internet access and sometimes there are what I call "bad internet days" which can render some online only games completely unplayable. Now MMOs require online so you can play with other players so that makes sense. It's how I play with others in Neverwinter. But with connecting to other players you run into another problem. Assholes players that act smug, snarky, egotistical, insulting degrading and a pain in the ass to deal with. The worst of these players are what's called PvP Elitists who will constant whine over losing PvP arenas. I've played WoW for eight years and dealt with this BS a lot with some players telling others to commit suicide and one guy was such a pain that I intentionally lost a PvP battleground as I wanted him to lose s well. I eventually quit PvP altogether when I got my PvP gear in NW and got called an idiot 2 days later for having weak gear. I avoid PvP like the plague now. Even most that were in my Alliance agreed with me.

5. Lackluster Quest Rewards: I just did an hour going in that tough dungeon and now to get my reward from the quest giver. I hope I get an upgraded dagger for my Thief. Turns in quest, gets a weaker dagger and barely enough gold to repair my equipment. What the hell? This is when you complete a quest in an RPG or MMO and find the reward.... underwhelming. I don't have any specific example but if you play a quest taking RPG or MMO, you'll see what I mean. You can argue it's about the journey or the challenge but screw that I wanted a super strong dagger to kill tougher enemies for more gold.

4. Very Difficult to Find Items: Right off the bat, I'm giving an example, I have three characters in Neverwinter and I want all three to have an artifact called the Staff of Flowers because it can give about 3,000 power at its full potential. The trouble is to get it I have to do Mass Expeditions in Undermountain while having a rune challenge. I can only do 3 MEs a day per toon and get 3 runestones to trade for a treasure chest for goods, and the only place you can find them. Now from what I heard it takes about 100 chests to find the staff so combined I'd need almost 300 treasure chests. I could find them in the auction house but they average to about 1 million Astral Diamonds and I need those to upgrade my gear enchantments. Hell this feature can even ruin crafting systems, one of my all time favorite features in games. Worse this isn't a challenge in skill, it's a challenge where you don't say, "Screw this, I'm out of here."

3. Uncontrollable AI characters: I hate it when I can't control all my characters. The AI in gaming isn't truly perfect so they'll make mistakes, take hits, waste MP and get killed. Sometimes these characters can be so annoying I prefer to fight solo. Granted some RPGs have some commands for AI parties which can help but it's a reason I greatly prefer turn-based. Thankfully while I hate this, I don't hate games that have it. Kingdom Hearts has it and it's an absolute favorite of mine. Also Donald and Goofy and guest members can recover if K.O.ed so that's a plus.

2. Unskippable Cutscenes: I like to watch cutscenes for story but what if it leads to a boss that defeats me in battle. If I want a rematch I have sit through the cutscene again because I can't skip it. Why? I already saw it once, let me fight the boss. Two examples that still haunt me are the cutscene leading to the Seymour Flux boss fight in Final Fantasy X. Flux was a tough boss so I died often so when I restarted I had to sit through the cutscene again and again and again. Thankfully this is no longer an issue as my experiences in RPGs have made me understand the importance of stats and boss mechanics so I can beat him in one go even though he's a tough boss. Another example is the SNES version of YS 3. The cutscene leading to the final boss is very long and the boss itself is super hard so I had to sit through the cutscene like a million times before I finally beat him. I think unskippable cutscenes died in the 360/PS3 era thank the Joker, but never forget, never forget.

One dishonorable mention

 * Passwords: In most older titles. Thank Joker this one died. Imagine having to play FF7 with passwords.

And the number 1 least liked feature is not something intended by developers.

1. Bugs and Glitches: These can ruin an otherwise great game, they can make games crash, freeze, force you to restart or commit suicide to restart or render the game unplayable. And the sad thing is they've been around since the Atari 2600 and even by today, I'm encountering them in the game Days Gone and Neverwinter (it didn't get the nickname Neverworking for nothing). Some glitches I've encountered was a dragon not losing its soul when I slayed it in Skyrim, dying right away after starting a mini-dungeon in Neverwinter and tons of bluescreen errors, Boozer not going to the motorcycle during a mission forcing a suicide to try again in Days Gone, and of course 7 Days to Die. Now for glitches you activate at will like World -1 in Super Mario Bros. doesn't bother me and can be fun but for game ruining glitches, they are my least favorite feature in gaming.

Despite all these, they are common in many games I really love and will tolerate them if it means a fun experience. Any feature in games you have a dislike towards? Let me know in the comments.

