They set up the rules of their fictional world and then they don’t abide by them, usually in the name of posing a challenge for the player. Nothing wrong with a little challenge, of course, but a well-designed game should be able to ramp up the difficulty without pulling the rug out from under your feet.
I use the word “cheat” with my tongue firmly in my cheek. What I’m really talking about are bad or lazy design decisions.
Infrequent save points
Crysis 2 is the latest in a long-line of culprits, including pretty much every Japanese RPG ever. This is a holdover from the days when drive space for saves was at a premium. That problem was taken care of about fifteen years ago.
The most frustrating thing about infrequent save points is replaying the same sequence over and over. And god help you if there’s a cutscene between you and your last save point. In the end, this strategy doesn’t so much increase the challenge as make the game more frustrating.
While I strongly feel that you should be able to save whenever you want in any games, I admit that some games handle save points very well. The Halo
Deliberately obtuse controls
To me, this is akin to playing baseball with a blindfold over your eyes. It certainly would make the game a lot harder, but I prefer to strike out because the pitcher is better at pitching than I am at batting. At least then, I have a chance to improve and prevail.
Bosses that require completely new skills
I know—reality doesn’t present you with a set of incrementally increasing challenges. You could be a soldier shooting your way through a line of enemy soldiers, and then you turn the corner to find yourself face-to-face with a tank.
But we’re talking about games, here. The skills you learn are the ones that you should be able to apply to more difficult situations, even if you have to use them in new and creative ways.
A tip off that your skills are about to be rendered useless is when you square off against a giant carnivorous plant, a distressingly common boss in games (Bulletstorm
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What game is this from? Seriously, I can't tell. |
Stealing your equipment
Oh man, this one steams me (I’m looking at you, Dead Money). It’s especially egregious in games where armor and weapons define your increasing power as you level up, such as in the Fallout series. In these cases, stripping you naked is the equivalent of busting you back to 1st level just as you face the game’s end boss.
This strategy makes sense in games where your equipment augments your skills, such as Assassin’s Creed
Make stronger and smarter enemies for me to fight as I grow more powerful. Don’t artificially weaken me.
Good counterexamples are STALKER
Taking away your skills/powers/spells
Very similar to taking away your equipment. This happened to me at the end of Neverwinter Nights 2
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NWN2 hurt my self-esteem. |
I had become a lazy player, but I maintain it was because the game allowed—encouraged, actually—me to play that way. If it had introduced such scarcity earlier on, I would have known to be prepared for it.
Rotten cheaters.
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