If you're an experienced gamer.. Join this thread (gameplay related)

[noname2200]

First off, welcome to the forums.

Some of the things you've listed have been around for decades. The redundant NPC advice, for instance, has been a staple of RPGs since the original Final Fantasy (and probably earlier). The same goes for unlocking stuff (as you yourself pointed out). I'm not saying these things aren't frustrating, but they're not new.

I'll also add that I don't completely understand your last point. The example you cited sounds more like you're angry with games like Mario 64, Grand Theft Auto, etc. which force you to go through an elaborate open-world hub to get to the next portion. Am I reading you correctly?

As for difficulty, I'm mostly okay with what we have now, but that might be because I remember the NES era, where 99% of games had the difficulty cranked up to "OMGWTF?!?", which is far worse in my opinion. Still, I don't object when a game comes out which gives you the option to punish yourself: sometimes it's fun to do so. Overall, however, current games' difficulties don't bother me too much.

But mandatory tutorials. Man do I hate mandatory tutorials...

Advance Wars 2 was no fun to play the second time on normal mode, because the first hour was them force-feeding you stuff you already knew. I hate this new-er trend of games making you play the long tutorial; it's helpful the first time, but incredibly annoying thereafter. Still, I do remember what happens with complex games that don't make you play the tutorial. I can't recall how many people I've met that played Ogre Battle 64 and were completly lost, because they didn't bother to go through the excellent (and optional) tutorial at the start of the game.

Another thing that bugs me this generation is how more and more games are adopting stat growth. It's not the stat growth itself I object to. Quite the contrary, it can be quite fun at times. But sometimes I want to play a game which gets harder as it goes along, and in which my character is just as weak as he was in the beginning; I've just gotten better since then. In my opinion, for example, Resident Evil 4 would have been even better if Leon didn't become stronger at the same pace the enemies did. Instead, you'd have had to become a better player as you went along.

Alright, there's more ranting I'd like to do, but this post is already getting long in the tooth.