General Gaming Old(er) game design choices.

[gamer.tv]

This is a thread spurred by my recent annoyance playing Chrono Trigger. It's not as though a 24 year old game needs to come with a spoiler warning, but it was the classic case of working towards a boss, many smaller fights, came to a mini-boss and died...then I realised I hadn't saved in about an hour and then...title screen.  Loaded up the game and back I was again, which I know in essence was entirely my fault, but it makes me thankful for the modern approach of that last bonfire, the entrance of the dungeon or just...coming back to life. 

 

With that in mind, are there any older gaming tropes you're glad have been laid on a boat, pushed into the ocean and set alight by a flaming arrow? Or for the sadists, any that have been retired but you wish would come back for one more tour?

[Ghost_MH]

Game overs and/or limited lives. I'm so happy that, outside of rogue likes, you aren't expected to beat games in one sitting anymore. Losing an hour of progress? How about all of it, because that's how quarter eating arcade games work.

[Dre801]

You're on the final boss of the game.  You die.  You have no Continues left 

[dualhunter]

I hate game where you have multiple lives but dying once (in later levels) means you might as well start over. Super Turrican isn't that hard as long as you don't die and get your weapon downgraded. In the original Star Fox I made some progress on the hard route but then I lost a wing and/or died which removed my upgraded double blasters and then it wasn't possible anymore. In Mega Man and Mega Man X games if used your E tanks or sub tanks and died you were stuck having to try to finish off the final boss fights without them (i.e. give up and start over). At least Mega Man X you could tediously refill the sub tanks between attempts assuming you noticed the continuously respawning enemies sometimes drop health.

 

I hate basically any loss of progress especially if it adds insult to injury like having to fight your way back to where you died to fight to get your stuff back before you can continue.

[Paperclyp]

I never beat the original DMC because there’s a weird plane escape sequence after killing the final boss. If you lose you have to re-fight the final boss. Man I was pissed. I rage quit and never even tried again, which isn’t like me.

 

I’m not sure if it’s old game design but I get frustrated when games don’t make it clear if you can’t possibly solve a puzzle / open a door / traverse some thing, or if you can and just aren’t understanding what to do. 

[Paperclyp]

Oh I thought of another one - games where during the cut scene you don't know if hitting start skips it or allows you to pause. Most games bring up a button prompt if you hit a button during a cut scene to confirm if you wanna skip or not, but enough don't that it's terrifying if you've haven't tried it yet. 

[Keyser_Soze]

42 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

Oh I thought of another one - games where during the cut scene you don't know if hitting start skips it or allows you to pause. Most games bring up a button prompt if you hit a button during a cut scene to confirm if you wanna skip or not, but enough don't that it's terrifying if you've haven't tried it yet. 

 

What games have pauseable cut-scenes?

[Paperclyp]

42 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

What games have pauseable cut-scenes?

Man a lot of them. I feel like more often than not they do nowadays? 

[Keyser_Soze]

I guess I haven't played one or tried to pause one.