Games have come a long way from the coin-munching days of the arcade. Yet, there’s always room for improvement. Here are three minor, but still annoying things, that game companies need to get sorted:
1) Un-skippable cut-scenes. Yeah, we get it. Your cinematic team created a stunning visual work of art that borders on being some kind of visual orgasm. It’s epic, bloody, and as emotional as an Academy Award winning film. But if I can’t skip it the second, third, fourth, or fifth time after dying to the boss it precedes, you know what else it is? Annoying.
2) “Auto-saving”. This feature should make me feel safe, but most games that aren’t Gears of War implement this badly. There’s nothing worse than playing for 1/2 hour and dying, then realizing that upon entering a half dozen caves, houses and dungeons (Skyrim) the game had not been autosaving despite checking off the box in the options menu to auto-save as often as possible.
Note: Usually this failure to implement accompanies issue #1 by auto-saving before the unskippable cut-scene. Note to developers: Auto-save AFTER the un-skippable cut-scene and just before boss fights.
3) Leveling for leveling’s sake. Leveling up in RPGs is part of the fun. There’s an addiction to seeing your character become more powerful, learn new abilities, and access new weapons and gear. Even some non-RPG games have gotten in on the fun, like the Modern Warfare series. Even there leveling results in new skills and weapons. But what happens when leveling doesn’t really get you much, like in Mass Effect 2 where you only get new skill points every OTHER level?
You ask yourself, “well, what’s the point?” If a level up means no new stat increases or skills, why bother? Mass Effect 2 is especially nefarious because many higher end skills require 2 or more points to increase them, so often it’s a matter of having to gain eight levels just to increase one skill. At least in World of Warcraft your character’s attributes increase even if you don’t get a talent point.
That’s it for now. There are still plenty of things the games industry can work on, but let’s let them get to work on these three first!
