Let's leave the past, in the past...

[Wolf Kanno]

What are some game concepts or controls you use to put up with when you were a younger gamer but don't have time to deal with anymore now?

[Bubba]

I'll no doubt get a bollocking from PC gamers now but... keyboard controls.

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum and the controls for all the games were Q=up, Z=down, I=left, P=right, ENTER=jump/fire. Now, a lot of the games allowed you to customize the controls to the slightly easier Q=up, A=down, O=left, P=right, SPACE=jump/fire... but your hand would still cramp up after 15 minutes trying to get through the first level of Airwolf.

Like I said, most games let you change them. However, some of the more evil games had no control customisation and you were left with 1=up, 2=down, 3=left, 4=right, 5=jump/fire. WHAT KIND OF EVIL BASTARD GIVES YOU KEYBOARD CONTROLS LIKE THIS??

Once I had a NES and then later a SNES controller in my hand, I knew I would never go back there... EVER.

[Fynn]

I honestly can't think of anything. It feels like my current gaming tastes are a natural evolution of my childhood gaming tastes and I still enjoy the games I played in my childhood.

[WarZidane]

Unskippable scenes/dialog, rare these days but some games still have it. Beyond that, I can't really think of anything that games haven't moved on from entirely.

[Psychotic]

Having a set amount of lives - a relic of the arcade era.

[Spuuky]

I'll no doubt get a bollocking from PC gamers now but... keyboard controls.

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum and the controls for all the games were Q=up, Z=down, I=left, P=right, ENTER=jump/fire. Now, a lot of the games allowed you to customize the controls to the slightly easier Q=up, A=down, O=left, P=right, SPACE=jump/fire... but your hand would still cramp up after 15 minutes trying to get through the first level of Airwolf.

Like I said, most games let you change them. However, some of the more evil games had no control customisation and you were left with 1=up, 2=down, 3=left, 4=right, 5=jump/fire. WHAT KIND OF EVIL BASTARD GIVES YOU KEYBOARD CONTROLS LIKE THIS??

Once I had a NES and then later a SNES controller in my hand, I knew I would never go back there... EVER.As an exclusively PC gamer, I have never once played a game with controls like that. Because those don't make sense? I was trying to think of an answer for this thread though and you probably gave it to me - using a controller to "aim." Really sucks having to do that in a world where the mouse exists.

[Bubba]

Yeah, I don't think any PC games had those controls. My keyboard experiences with my Spectrum were so scarring though I never owned PC for gaming.

[Example]

Grinding and tank controls. Do I really need to say why?

[Slothy]

QTE's and loot boxes.

[Iceglow]

Dialog that displayed 1 letter at a time without the option to force it to display a full window of dialog.

Unskippable long death animations. I get it I died but fuck off making me watch this damn animation again. The most recent example I can think of this was the 37 seconds death animation from Too Human which couldn't be skipped and took place in a game where the levels solo would get so tough that it actually became a tactic to kill as much as you could without concern for your health, die and respawn a few meters back but with full health and ammo.

Arcade mode, limited lives. If I wanted to play in an arcade, I would. If I want to play at home, I don't want a modern game telling me I have to "continue" in order to play another 3 lives or whatever.

Games where the grinding of and repetition of levels also need to allow you to skip story dialog/scenes because frankly after you've done it once or twice and absorbed the story, the repetition becomes more irritating than not.

Fixed Camera Angles... This is something I simply am not able to abide by. Sure the older Resident Evil games did it to great effect and some JRPG's, notably the FF series itself have had forced camera angles and worked well with it. But frankly, I want to be able to control the camera if it makes sense for the game, if a remake of Vagrant Story was ever done for example, an over shoulder camera option would need to be a must. Others such as games like Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy Tactics need to have a smooth 360 rotation. The mobile version of Tactics has a free move camera mode included but the angles other than the standard 4 cardinal points make the game difficult to control and awkward looking.

There's probably more but I can't think of them atm

[theundeadhero]

Password save-game systems.

[maybee]

Unskippable scenes/dialog.

KAIRI KAIRI OPEN YOUR EYES

SHE WILL NOT WAKE UP

YOU.....YOU ARE NOT RIKU ??!, GIVE RIKU BACK HIS HEART

[Fynn]

Unskippable scenes/dialog.

KAIRI KAIRI OPEN YOUR EYES

SHE WILL NOT WAKE UP

YOU.....YOU ARE NOT RIKU ??!, GIVE RIKU BACK HIS HEART

At least the HD rereleases fixed that! The same can't be said for FFX, however...

[Rocket Edge]

Grinding.

[maybee]

Unskippable scenes/dialog.

KAIRI KAIRI OPEN YOUR EYES

SHE WILL NOT WAKE UP

YOU.....YOU ARE NOT RIKU ??!, GIVE RIKU BACK HIS HEART

At least the HD rereleases fixed that! The same can't be said for FFX, however...



Oh gosh, that was annoying as hell. Got to feel empathy for those who had to watch the Yunalesca part over and over again. No excuses for a modern HD port game either.

[Loony BoB]

So I'm playing Zelda Ocarina of Time for the first time and holy crap having to go into this menu to equip/unequip these boots which are a game mechanic for an entire dungeon is goddam awful. I understand they fixed it in newer versions, rightly so. I'm powering through it but urgh.

Not much else springs to mind off the top of my head. More the inability to do something, such as selecting multiple units using click and drag in RTS. I replayed Dune II a few years ago and not being able to do that was frustrating.

[Slothy]

That is the worst level in ocarina. Probably in the whole series.

[Fynn]

I can't wrap my head around the water temple hate. It was a good level.

[Slothy]

You're a monster. :lol:

[Fynn]

what else is new

[Bubba]

I can't wrap my head around the water temple hate. It was a good level.

It was horrendous. If you don't pull/push that block in a room at the start... you are in a world of hurt.

Also, like BoB says, the N64 version with the equipping/unequipping of the iron boots is horrible.

[Slothy]

what else is new

I love you.

[Zora]

I can't wrap my head around the water temple hate. It was a good level.

I hated it it was a kid; as an adult, I can better intuit where Nintendo would hide the next key or objective. Wondering aimlessly and changing the water levels to find oh, I need to bomb a wall in this room to progress was the worst. Now, I'm look "this room is suspiciously empty, seems bigger on the map, and oh hey, is that a crack in the wall" as opposed to like "who needs maps, honestly?"

When I last played it on the 3ds, I disliked the shadow temple more. Something about it just irked me. I suppose it was the lens of truth having to be constantly bothered my natural urge to conserve magic.

[Fynn]

what else is new

I love you.

what else is new

[Mercen-X]

Outfit customization qualities: some gear "sounds" really cool yet never alters the character's appearance. Other games do the opposite wherein outfits are aesthetics only. The worst offenders are games that give significant stat upgrades or unique abilities while also implementing customization of character appearance. The latter forces you to give a character design you put your heart into so that you can get that ability or stat upgrade for progressing the game. It's small gripes, but it bugs me.
Note: In Final Fantasy VII, I initially thought Nanaki's weapons did not change his appearance, but looking closer at LIMIT Break animations, I noticed the subtle differences. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the bracers and accessories found in the game. This has also really bugged me.

I also dislike equipment that bears a single use in-game.

[Vyk]

For some reason the thing that immediately jumps out at me for games I revisit, or retro games that go too far is the thing where I locks you into a jump arc without any control. It was dated even on the NES when you have something like Mario, jumping in the Castlevania games is almost unforgivable, and they're not even the worst offenders

And I agree with everyone that said grinding. It was the RPG equivalent of quarter-munching replacement on home console, where Contra had one-hit kills, Dragon Quest had grinding

[Loony BoB]

Wait, there are games without grinding?

[Wolf Kanno]

When I made this thread, I was thinking tank controls. OMG are they bitch to use and their only purpose is to allow you to back up as you fire. It's the hardest thing about playing some of the old Survival Horror games.

[DMKA]

Manual saving. I got so used to auto saves over the years that now when I go back and play older games I find myself going absurd spans of time between saves, whereas growing up I habitually saved after everything I did.

Also, I find insane levels of grinding hard to deal with now. I don't mind moderate grinding, but like, I told myself I was going to get the platinum of FFXHD, then I realized you needed to complete the monster arena, get Wakka's sigil, and max out the sphere grid and I did everything else except those three things and gave up. :p