Level Caps:
I don't really have a problem with this. This is generally how Suikoden worked and honestly, I like it cause it keeps challenge up. I will say I don't care for games that have a level cap of over 100 to 9999 while the game can be completed by lv 60 :rolleyes2 It just always feels like the best parts are for the optional content while the main story is just a chore you need to complete to get to the good gameplay.


Enemy Levels that Scale
I don't really have a problem with this but I apparently don't play too many games that do this. VIII is the only one I can think of that did this and I always had mixed feelings, it was nice at first but seemed unnecessary cause even enemies leveling with you could not stop the ungodly broken aspects of the Junction system.

Actually, FFT did this as well but they did it stupidly with only random encounters gaining levels while story battles didn't. Luckily, the system was designed in a way where even low levels can still kill you if they use the right abilities *Charm anyone?*


Fetch Quests
Hell yes, I hate these cause they always seem stupid and forced. Being sent off to find a specific item is fine but when you are sent out with a shopping list I have problems. I also hate Secret of Mana for the Sage Jock quest, where the asshole pretended to be an assistant and sent you all across the goddamn world looking for him...


Multi-Stage Boss Fights
I actually enjoy these quite a bit. Granted I do agree they are a little old and I usually expect every final boss encounter to be a multi-boss fight but it doesn't change my enjoyment of them. Of anything, I miss normal multi-stage boss battles like Xenogears had. XII at least gave me that.


Scripted Battles You Are Forced to Lose
I generally don;t have a problem with these. See ljkkjlcm9's post for my reasoning.

Bosses That Are Immune to All Status Effects
I don't mind final bosses but XII has spoiled me and now I expect more bosses to have status weaknesses besides slow. Seriously, you can do so much more if you build a battle around using status magic wisely and normal encounters are too easy for it to be with them exclusively.

The Destruction of a Home Village
This has not been done recently but I never liked it to begin with. Ten years ago this writer may have had a point but lately its all but gone. I do agree I don't want to see a revival of it anytime soon.


Amnesia
This has rarely been done good. Xenogears and to an extent Vagrant Story are about the only two that were well done imo. I usually only see this cliche when concerning female heroines with special powers that are the key to destroying the world...


Overly Complicated Puzzles that Require a Strategy Guide
Temple of Time? Screw that, the water temple was way more difficult to figure out. Puzzles are a rare breed in RPGs today, outside of Zelda, very few even bother and those that do put little effort into it. The Lufia 1 and 2 and Wild ARMS 1 and 2 are about the only games I can remember having overly complex puzzles that offer no hints and require a strategy guide to complete. Its an irrelevant complaint in imo


Weapons that Can Only be Received After Meeting Very Specific, Secret Parameters
XII is the first game to pull this in 15 years and people get all pissy about it :rolleyes2 Yes I feel there should at least be an in-game hint and yes, having it tied to not opening 4 specific chests was a cheap shot but I don't have the Zodiac Spear and missing it has not destroyed my enjoyment of this game.


Overly Chatty Cutscenes During a Cataclysmic Moment
Yes and no...I'll admit, I would like more scenes with action and no words, and yes, villains giving super ass long speeches as they lie there dying do get on my nerves. Yet its been a long time since I've seen this in an RPG.


Constant Party Switching
I don't mind when its done right... XII didn't bother me cause I built my party with each character fulfilling a certain role so my levels are fairly consistent but I know many people didn't so I can see it being a problem. X gave every character a role but in order to gain levels you had to use them in battle and the game gives you more xp with more characters used in your party. This led to me constantly bringing out characters to do simple actions and transformed half my encounters into annoying grindfests.

Yet in Persona 3, you had to switch out your whole party for strategy cause even powerful characters become a hindrance due to elemental weaknesses so you are generally coerced into using party members you generally wouldn't use and due to a nice level cap system, the unused party members leveled quickly with your main party.


Boys Up Front, Girls in the Back
Its still prevalent but the genre has been changing this ever so slightly. It has gotten better for the most part.


The Nearly Invulnerable Random Encounter Enemy
Once again I feel this is not as common as it used to be. Still I actually enjoy this and find no harm in it. If you are stupid enough to farm Metal Slimes in DQ when you are too underleveled to do so then that's your own damn fault.

The Plot Starring an Angsty, Unassuming Teenage Hero Who Will Save the Universe
Oh, god yes! This is the only one that is still constant and by god it seems to get worse with each new game. I know they are supposedly marketing to their target audience but they need to realize that a) making them clueless dip-skullskullskullskulls is not the way to make them endearing and b0 just cause they are older doesn't mean that people can't relate to them. Solid Snake, Kratos, and Dante are hugely popular and are all older adults. If the character is compelling age really shouldn't matter so you either need to start writing older characters until we get sick of it or start writing better high schoolers. Most kids their age are more interested in getting laid than saving the world.


MILF's personal #1 most hated cliche: The Silent Protagonist
I'm conflicted, I would have to agree only cause the few games I felt it was done right also happen to be games that actually gave their silent leads a personality expressed through body language and in-depth dialogue choices. Chrono, Ryu, the main Suikoden characters, and the MegaTen characters all have pretty distinct personalities expressed to the player through other means. So making them mute does seem pointless if you are going to give them a background personality.