Annoying video game trends can seriously put a damper on your gameplay experience, oftentimes meaning the difference between playing the game again later and sending it to your local used game store for recycling.
These particular trends are some of the biggest reasons most gamers never pick up the game again, as the memories alone are like Kryptonite to even the most hardcore gamers.
Long loading times for boss fights – There are some boss fights that force you to be on your toes the instant they begin. Unfortunately, you have to wait for them to load, and if it’s a long load time , you’re sitting there just wanting to get the party started. Worst case scenario is that you get fed up with waiting, go grab a snack, and when you get back you realize you already got your ass handed to you.
Intrusive tutorials – You know how this works. You’re playing the game and you just learned a new ability, but the game isn’t satisfied with you just knowing about it. Instead, the game pauses itself and shows you how to pull off the new ability, oftentimes making you yell at the screen, “Just let me play the ****ing game! I’ll figure it out when I’m not busy!”
Quick Time Events – These are among the worst of the annoying video game trends. You’re stuck in a situation and suddenly there is a slight pause as a controller button appears onscreen. Good luck if you’re not used to the controller button layout, because if you don’t push that button in time, you’re dead or seriously stuck behind where you want to be.
Unskippable cutscenes – You’re playing the game when suddenly it gives you a cutscene you can’t skip, even if you’ve already seen it thousands of time before. What makes it worse is if the cutscene really adds nothing to the story or the enjoyment of the game itself. This is another part where you’re tempted to just walk away and grab a snack because god forbid the game should just let you play.
Unintuitive in-game camera angles – This is one of the worst enemies you’ll face in 3D platformers, as the camera will suddenly pop to an angle that makes it impossible to see what you’re doing, forcing you into a leap of faith if you can’t take an extra second to fix it to a more usable angle.
Escort missions with suicidal AI – The main objective is to make sure that this character gets from point A to point B. Normally, this might not be so difficult, but if the AI is borderline suicidal, wandering aimlessly in the middle of the firefight for example, you feel like you’re trying to protect a kid with a mental disorder. Not fun at all.
Signing in to play – This is especially bothersome for downloaded games. You want to play a game you downloaded a month ago, but unless you sign in over the internet, the console acts like it’s not there. It’s literally sitting on your hard drive and the console doesn’t see it if you’re not signed in.
Water levels – This is one of the classics among the annoying video game trends. Water levels are full of that one element that makes movement next to impossible on the fly. Yes, it’s realistic, but it breaks the physics of the game you were trying to enjoy, and turns the game into a chore.
Lack of save points in longer games – Role-playing games are the worst offenders for this. You’ve put hours of gameplay and progress into your session and you end up just looking for a place to save the game. You run into that one monster you dread and it’s all over. You have to start over from the last place you saved because the game didn’t give you a chance to save since then.
Boring or pointless DLC missions – You spent the money and time to download that extra mission or quest for your favorite game, and you go in to play with the new content, only to find that what you downloaded was only enough to keep you entertained for an hour or two. That or you discover that it literally added nothing to the value of the game. You’re left with the question of why it was worth that much money.
Were there any annoying video game trends we missed?