The Seven Worst Game Mechanics

Erik at Probable Failure talks about the seven worst game mechanics from button mashing to unskippable cutscenes.

[Eromu]

Fail on #7

There IS a trophy for beating the game without dying on 3DDGH.

[probablefailure]

Well, shit.

[SilentNegotiator]

Jumping to flashing ledges should be on this sort of list.

[colonel179]

Yeah, I was going to comment on that!

BTW, for me at least, IMPOSSIBLE trophy! WTH? In the first temple I died like 10 times...

The same goes for the trophies about defeating the bosses without being touched! IMPOSSIBLE!

[GiantJedi]

Number 1 has Assassins Creed written all over it.

[meganick]

As well as Metroid: Other M.

[TheDeadMetalhead]

And Mass Effect.

Die at the Krogan Battlemaster fight? Have fun watching a 5-minute unskippable cutscene again.

[tiamat5]

Please. Half of God of War's enemies would kill you faster if you tried to button mash them. The burrowers with the blades on their arms, the Medusa,the Sayters, the Giant with the club, the Cerberus etc. Never understood what people mean by God of War being simply a button masher. Many times I have tried to strong arm my way through GOW1 and GOw2 only to just die faster and more often.Never understand what people are talking about.

[probablefailure]

Bosses aside, and on the easier difficulties, I found that button mashing works.

[FENDR]

try button mashing on hard in the god of war series see how far that gets you

[jarrod1981]

although i havent played gow3 i just finshed playing gow1 and it is definatly a button masher. it was a great game but a button masher for sure.

[UnSelf]

try not playin on easy/normal for once

[dizzleK]

He shouldn't have to play it on hard in order for the game to require skill. Spin it all you want, it's a button masher. You might have to hit the block button more but you're still mashing buttons.

[Rocket Sauce]

QUICK
TIME
EVENTS

[TheDeadMetalhead]

Those aren't always so bad. Hell, Heavy Rain was literally made of QTEs and it was pretty good.

Now, if the QTEs are combined with unresponsive, buggy controls...

[Bloodlyte]

#2 is what I hate the most, example : in Alan Wake there comes a point that a bus on its side blocks your path, and i'm like, dude just get a trash-box or something, get on it and jump over, but noooooooooooooooooo i have to walk trough the forest with shadows that try to kill me. ( still Alan Wake was awesome! )

[dinkeldinkse]

2 is just fucking stupid and 4 can be stupid in games like Ass Creed. Seriously, how the fuck does an assassin forget or lose 95% of abilities?

[tiamat5]

dizzleK that is exactly what I am talking about. Beating God of War took more then just mashing buttons. I don't remember the speed of me mashing the buttons ever winning me a fight. When I tried to do that to a Sayter it always grabbed me and tossed me away. The way everyone talks as if beating multiple enemies was a breeze or something. Of course on easy any game can be breezed through but in the hard levels of GOW the enemies were merciless.You know how many times the little dwarf like guys killed me with their axes or the Medusa turned me to stone or the Sayters knocked me down? It did take skill to stop multiple enemies from taking you down. Call it a button masher if you want but don't dismiss it as if that all it was.
I can simplify any game if I just break it down to it's simplest actions. All you did in Halo was point and shoot and hide behind things to heal. All you did in Alan Wake was shine the light, dodge things and shoot the gun.All you you did in SOTC was jump on the Colossus and kill them. All you did in Mass Effect was talk a lot and shoot at things until you leveled up.Heck,I could even call Halo a button masher because that's all you basically did to kill an enemy, dodge bullets and mash the buttons until they died.

[tiamat5]

Double Post. Damn it.

[zerocool3397]

I hate it when you get a game that has had one single element thats so perfect, that you can't help but wonder if the rest of the game elements are going to be as awesome. For example, Alone in the Dark. The game had some much potential, hell the fire mechanic was brilliant. The way that the fire engulfed an object added something to a game that I don't think had been done before, well not in that way. That said, the rest of the game just made me want to pull the disk out of the draw and film it being covered in lighter fluid touching with a flame and posting the burning disk on youtube.

[ECM0NEY]

#4 Infamouse came to mind 1st for me

[Pillville]

INSTANT WATER DEATH!
Like in Ratchet and Clank, he can get shot in the face ten times and be fine, but if his knees get wet, he drowns.
Same with Red Dead Redemption.

REGENERATING HEALTH!
I know you youngsters won't understand, but as an old gamer, regen-health feels like cheating.

Ok. Now a game mechanic every game should include:

The ability to make notes on in-game maps.
Like how the DS Zeldas do. Why can't our big bad hero carrying 12 guns and a years food supply also carry a pencil?