Game mechanics you hate for any reason

Annoys me as well. Not sure when we got to the stage that it wasn't okay to walk more than ten steps without having to pick up some wood. I end up doing a perimeter loop to make sure I've checked every possible corner of each environment but feel I need to otherwise I'll be missing out on some barely noticeable incremental upgrade or bit of pointless shit. We used to have to pick up rubbish in detention at school; now it's core loop "gameplay" in AAA games.

Environmental artists must fucking hate it.

I actually prefer that. You know most of it is shite and it's where it logically should be! I don't feel compelled to search. In this, a bag of gold emitting golden rays (!?) has been dropped next to some guy begging for money. And ten steps later is some golden wood. And then a coffin-sized chest with a teeny-tiny helmet in it.

Here, have some starter gear.

What's that? You don't want it in your inventory any more now that you've got better gear? Hah, get fucked! You'll still be carrying it around when the end credits roll.

Blame folk like me. Regardless of the RPG, I am instinctively hoarding everything. It all started with Final Fantasy 7, in which I needed to have 1 of every item in the game for no other reason but to feel like I had a complete list. A bizarre behaviour I have carried with me for 25 years.

It was Starfield recently, that made me finally challenge that habit, but I know I would likely slip into old habits again with almost any other game.

I too would prefer that. Games that give you a ton of weapons are fun if you’re an over-powered killing machine, but when there are other demands on the player, the last thing you want to be doing is opening a weapon wheel or cycling through 10 different weapon types.

First game I remember keeping your load out to 3 weapons was Killzone. I’m sure it wasn’t the first, but it made you consider gunplay a lot more often.

Far Cry uses it too, if I am remembering those games correctly. And with the rusting in Far Cry 2, it meant you often had to find another weapon on the floor, whilst trying to remain in cover.

Those were good times.

I forgot about Halo, so I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting a ton of games. I always think of games like Doom and Unreal Tournament, where you could just hit the numbered key of the gun you wanted. It works for those style of shooter at least, because that’s pretty much all you do.

Battlefront broke up the weapons by class, which was pretty awesome for the time.

I kinda wish Red Dead Redemption had a limited load out though. One pistol, rifle and a melee/explosive. No weapon wheels and no going up to your horse to flick through 8 different types of rifle.

Witcher 2's limited inventory was awfull as well.

I dislike rng crafting mechanics such as demon skills in SMT 3: Nocturne, crafting in all of the Star Ocean games and many more.

Bullet sponge enemies are also the bane of many games. The worst offender noone ever mentioned is Uncharted 3. Its ridiculous how many bullets those large guys eat on very easy!

Loading screens with lots of text that disappear after 2 seconds without a prompt.

And Oxenfree had your dialogue choices on a timer so you had to press them at the right moment. Then you’d start talking directly over the top of whatever dialogue was already under way.

But I’m here to say:

Limited edition timed/event dlc.

I know its usually something you only really see in grindy mobile influenced live service bullshit games but I’ve been tapping away at WWE 2K24 since it was on PS+ as a brain off podcast game.

I was already only using half a roster due to a very large chunk being hidden behind a scarce in-game currency. But I just learnt how much is locked behind two additional digital currencies in its FUT influenced grindy mobile bullshit mode. And that not only do you need to either pay a lot of real money or grind hundreds of matches to unlock lootbox cards but that those cards are used to unlock specific limited timed event matches behind which additional skins and characters are hidden.

And the one I’d have been tempted to grind for is no longer available anywhere as his event is over.

The actual gameplay is fine its just got so many barriers to letting you have the whole thing. If it wasn’t PS+ I wouldn’t have touched it.

If I was that way inclined I think the only way to unlock even the full base roster would be heading toward £100 and that’s before the season pass (£30 for 5 dlc packs), the three standalone pieces of dlc (tenner each for two, £20 for the other) and the descent into the lootbox hell mode to mop up hidden skins, variants and timed exclusives.

It also puts all of the locked characters into the character select screens of the normal modes. So if your wrestling obsessed kid wants to play as Undertaker they can see him but he’s greyed out with a signpost to your wallet.