What are your gameplay pet peeves?

[TheSonicRetard]

I must add to my list:

Bouncing back when hit:
I hate bouncing back several feet when touched by anything in a platform game. Many times this will knock me into a bottomless pit, killing me. Last Battle sucks because of this, and so does Legendary Axe (the first one). It's worse in games when you stand there stunned for a second after the bounce before you can move again. Legendary Axe uses this to add challenge to compensate for the lackluster game design (see level 4). You try jumping to that platform over there but right as you begin to land a butterfly comes in from nowhere and touches you, causing you to fall into the bottomless pit behind you. Damed powerful little butterfly, methinks.

I would just like to say that, when you play a game without this feature, you realize how important it is. Go play Turrican 2, for example - a game with no temporary invincibility or bounce-back. The tiniest of enemies can completely drain a full life bar in seconds.

[sheath]

I am okay with a small hop back when hit when the level design is not bent on killing you with pits. I hate games that overemphasize bottomless pits and spike pits to create difficulty. Every action-platformer should have some of course, but the ones that use them constantly just don't appeal to me.

My worst offender though has to be try and redie gameplay and "guess what the developer wanted you to do" creating an illogical solution to a puzzle. In action games try and redie gameplay just pisses me off, because I try and try and die and then eventually get through but didn't learn or master anything. The next time I hit that same segment I will die over and over again with no rhyme or reason to it. When games make you guess the developers random flag flip it just blows me out of the experience. I hate wandering around looking at everything and talking to everybody just because some invisible barrier prevents me from moving on.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

In Super Metroid bouncing back upon being hit can be used to speed through certain rooms. So it does have its benefits.

[The Jackal]

Overpowered cheap bosses who spam the same attack; lag in online games; dodgy collision; repeated bottomless pits for no reason but cheap level design; crap camera; naff controls; "realistic" games (e.g. The Getaway series); insane time limits (e.g. Driver series); missions requiring perfect playthroughs (e.g. Driver series again); restricted ammo for no reason; no/really spaced out checkpoints; putting alot of effort to unlock something only to find it's a picture or something as equally useless; short 1 player campaign; DLC (rarely worthwhile); online players who rage-quit; online players who exploit glitches; sibling/friend who moan when they lose; online sniping/camping.

[Spaced]

In SHMUPs dodging loads of bullets just to get hit by some kamikaze pilot at the bottom of the screen.
In RPGs having to complete a quest within a quest within a quest to get that damned item you need.

[StarMist]

some more =

Menu Lag: stupid Capcom games esp have this, where I can't flip through the menus quickly enough to reset (PS) or alter something.

Analogue Lack: Many DC shmups. Also VF5 on PS3 anyone? Cz Sony cheaped out and used the later PS style raised/stiff dpads that do not roll, meaning a quarter circle's dodgy at best and a half circle's right out---and nope, can't play VF w/o those motions.

Old Time Fixed # of Save Slots on Modern Systems. This is when the game only allows one to create a single memory file that typically only has 3 or 4 save slots on it despite system (or cart) capacity for much more. DS games do this and even so do some Saturn ones (ie those that won't save to or read off the backup cart).

[cheaterdragon1]

Things that break to easy. N64 Gameshark's are the culprit here. These things can break because you looked at it for too long.

This isn't the game's fault, but when you get stuck in a game, and there's no walkthrough for the game online. I wonder if I'll ever finish Star Odyssey & Beggar Prince.

[doomguy]

In modern first person shooters i hate regenerating health

In modern games i miss the lives and continues system, although it is frustrating to lose your last continue near the end of the game ultimately it makes beating it much more rewarding and you become a better player.

In fighting games there is almost always a character with unfair moves and people online seem to still get enjoyment from using these moves over and over, i find it so boring to win that way.

[Orchid87]

I hate the controls in Alien Soldier. Why the hell couldn't Treasure make it more like Contra?

[Bastardcat]

Brutal Trial and Error and cheap AI being passed off as "challenge".
Also, difficulty level/time to completion/percentage based endings. Because missing out on the "true" ending, because you missed .01% or are a few seconds late, is bullshit!

[blobolonia]

Console-to-PC ports that don't have adequate display configuration or input options.
Games that have skippable FMV, but unskippable within-engine scenes where you stand around like a nitwit while NPCs talk about the weather.

[Bastardcat]

Console-to-PC ports have almost always been kind of dodgy.

[Kollision]

nice necro!!

some

unskippable cut scenes or too many endless cut scenes
I bought a game to play it, dammit, I don't want to go through all of this shit
that's why I hate today's gaming
I can live with that one in the 2nd stage of Gradius V, but things like Mod Nation Racers make me want to puke. A friend brought the game over one day and I couldn't believe we would have to wait more than five minutes just to start playing the goddamn thing because you can't skip the goddamn opening (I wanted to swear a lot more in this sentence, but I don't want to get a mod notification or something)

excessive menus and delays therein
Delays, long paths, confusing lay-out, awful lot of text with no practical purpose.

power-ups you need to avoid or else you're screwed
Recent ones were Recca and Darwin 4081. Speed-ups in excess are a particular case.

[Markss]

Cheap deaths in platform games nothing worse

[Mamba Tabac]

Bosses that have infinitely spawning standard enemies to get in the way while you fight them
Bosses that are easy but take an age to kill due to colossal health bars
Any sort of 'protect this!' scenario
Games that don't grant a few seconds of invunerability after getting hit
Instant death pits
Stealth sections that instantly fail you if you are seen
QTEs - honestly, just stop it now