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[Graknorke]

Games that completely change the gameplay every ten minutes
Looking at you Call of Duty. Black Ops 2 was notably bad for this. It was throwing one-off gimmicks at least once a level to try and keep interest (in the early missions anyway). My attention span is not that short. If your core mechanics cannot keep interest then trying to patch over it with novelty sequences won't help much.

[McTraveller]

Mecha games with weak single player/weak characterization.

Sometimes, the mecha is more memorable than the pilot. I'd love to create the single player to a mecha game- I feel that not enough mecha games have a strong single player where things happen and people die, a lot of things aren't explained, and the entire experience almost feels like "these are the things that would be cut from a game".

You are looking for Xenogears for the PS1.

[kaenneth]

Mecha games with weak single player/weak characterization.

Sometimes, the mecha is more memorable than the pilot. I'd love to create the single player to a mecha game- I feel that not enough mecha games have a strong single player where things happen and people die, a lot of things aren't explained, and the entire experience almost feels like "these are the things that would be cut from a game".

You are looking for Xenogears for the PS1.

A really great game, except the one jumping puzzle bit.

[Squill]

Not sure why everyone here is so against platforming. While it can get annoying if it's both poorly done and mandatory, I find the idea of secret jumping puzzles to be really neat (Something like noticing that you can climb up some boxes onto the rooftops, and find a hidden area from there).

[SealyStar]

Games that completely change the gameplay every ten minutes
Looking at you Call of Duty. Black Ops 2 was notably bad for this. It was throwing one-off gimmicks at least once a level to try and keep interest (in the early missions anyway). My attention span is not that short. If your core mechanics cannot keep interest then trying to patch over it with novelty sequences won't help much.

This only works in jokey games, often that parody the whole idea. Like Frog Fractions.

[SOLDIER First]

Stupidly difficult sections in an otherwise easy game.
Looking at you, Lord Jabu Jabu.
"what are these? bubbles and jellyfish? okay whatever."

"OH GOOD LORD I HAVE A FOURTH OF A HEART LEFT"

[Ianflow]

Hrm. This gets me thinking... how would a survival horror in a tank work?

I think it could work... if you did it really well. Somehow. Maybe bring it down to "survival horror in a car".

Spoiler: Tank survival horror: A synopsis. (click to show/hide)

You get dropped into a post warzone bunker, completely empty. There are messy papers everywhere, food on plates, maybe some bottled water in a fridge. Opening the door to the surface irrevocably shuts down the bunker, and you find semi-futuristic tank waiting outside. Behind you is a radioactive wasteland. Ahead of you is a warped, desolate countryside torn by war. The hatch on the tank opens, and for lack of a better option you climb inside, to a welcoming voice and a map to the nearest survivor outpost, miles ahead through the battlefield.

As you drive on, listening to the tank and the howling wind, you catch glimpses of... things... moving in the fields. They seem to avoid you for a time, but eventually a handful try to attack the tank. You laugh and keep driving. Then more come. On the third day you start hearing a small grinding noise in the tank's engine, and the voice becomes slightly despondent. Your supplies run low.

houses and potential stockpiles dot the landscape, but leaving the tank still for too long causes more attacks, and potentially more damage to your tank. Stay and starve, scavenge and potentially damage your one defense further and further. You take your chances outside, but never for very long. A week passes.

The engine's grinding is more severe, and the tank's AI voice is increasingly corrupted. Your meager scavenging trips and even more meager supplies dwindle, and as the tank grinds louder, moves slower, the things outside get closer.

At some points you have options to search military bunkers for pre-war intel papers or parts to keep your tank running longer, but the security gets more complex and more dangerous the farther into the wastelands you go, forcing you to make longer stops and sometimes use your withering tank as bait to thin out the enemy numbers, at the cost of its already-fading condition.

Do you speed up and hope the engine holds, knowing you'll call every beast on the plain to you? Turn the tank around and send in the other way, hoping to make the last few miles on foot? Set up a self-destruct  to make the monsters fear you? How do you cope with your only means of survival becoming more decrepit and useless by the day?

I like the idea of slow horror that sets in over a few hours of play instead of jump-scares or gore. I'd play it.

I'm not a survival horror person, as they usually bore me, however, this is good!
Reminds me of a Subnormality Comic that is horror.

I think sometimes I want a slice of life game, that has a slow and creeping sense instead of a beginning change that is sudden.

[sjm9876]

Hrm. This gets me thinking... how would a survival horror in a tank work?

I think it could work... if you did it really well. Somehow. Maybe bring it down to "survival horror in a car".

Spoiler: Tank survival horror: A synopsis. (click to show/hide)

You get dropped into a post warzone bunker, completely empty. There are messy papers everywhere, food on plates, maybe some bottled water in a fridge. Opening the door to the surface irrevocably shuts down the bunker, and you find semi-futuristic tank waiting outside. Behind you is a radioactive wasteland. Ahead of you is a warped, desolate countryside torn by war. The hatch on the tank opens, and for lack of a better option you climb inside, to a welcoming voice and a map to the nearest survivor outpost, miles ahead through the battlefield.

As you drive on, listening to the tank and the howling wind, you catch glimpses of... things... moving in the fields. They seem to avoid you for a time, but eventually a handful try to attack the tank. You laugh and keep driving. Then more come. On the third day you start hearing a small grinding noise in the tank's engine, and the voice becomes slightly despondent. Your supplies run low.

houses and potential stockpiles dot the landscape, but leaving the tank still for too long causes more attacks, and potentially more damage to your tank. Stay and starve, scavenge and potentially damage your one defense further and further. You take your chances outside, but never for very long. A week passes.

The engine's grinding is more severe, and the tank's AI voice is increasingly corrupted. Your meager scavenging trips and even more meager supplies dwindle, and as the tank grinds louder, moves slower, the things outside get closer.

At some points you have options to search military bunkers for pre-war intel papers or parts to keep your tank running longer, but the security gets more complex and more dangerous the farther into the wastelands you go, forcing you to make longer stops and sometimes use your withering tank as bait to thin out the enemy numbers, at the cost of its already-fading condition.

Do you speed up and hope the engine holds, knowing you'll call every beast on the plain to you? Turn the tank around and send in the other way, hoping to make the last few miles on foot? Set up a self-destruct  to make the monsters fear you? How do you cope with your only means of survival becoming more decrepit and useless by the day?

I like the idea of slow horror that sets in over a few hours of play instead of jump-scares or gore. I'd play it.

I'd definitely play this.

[HissinhWalnuts]

Whenever a game spams shooting enemies that fly and I'm currently playing a melee character.

[itisnotlogical]

Freezing enemies of any kind ever

I have never had fun fighting an ice-themed enemy that could freeze me. I always spend half the battle frozen, waiting to be put out of my misery by an enemy that could be easily defeated except for their stupid god damn freezing ability. Sometimes it can be almost like the infamous Silver battles from Sonic 06.

[mastahcheese]

Freezing enemies of any kind ever

I have never had fun fighting an ice-themed enemy that could freeze me. I always spend half the battle frozen, waiting to be put out of my misery by an enemy that could be easily defeated except for their stupid god damn freezing ability. Sometimes it can be almost like the infamous Silver battles from Sonic 06.

I liked how one enemy from the Metroid prime series did it, in that you weren't frozen, just your suit was offline, so you had only limited control, and breaking out of it could actually be affected.

[hector13]

Artificial Difficulty

Increasing the difficulty level just makes more of the same type of enemy appear, or gives them more health and/or more damaging attacks. It's much more entertaining to have newer enemies on top of those already present, or at least enemies that compliment each other eg projectiles and melee, fast but weak alongside slow but powerful.

I like the occasional challenge, but it's great when I see a new enemy and proceed to get smashed by it until I figure out how to neutralise it.

[Virtz]

That's a pretty sweeping definition of "artificial difficulty". In fact, I can't really say I know many (any?) games where difficulty level wouldn't do either of what you describe.

I'd say artificial difficulty is more like damage you cannot avoid without foreknowledge of what's coming. Basically keep replaying the game till you memorize all the traps.

[Mephisto]

Artificial Difficulty

Increasing the difficulty level just makes more of the same type of enemy appear, or gives them more health and/or more damaging attacks. It's much more entertaining to have newer enemies on top of those already present, or at least enemies that compliment each other eg projectiles and melee, fast but weak alongside slow but powerful.

I like the occasional challenge, but it's great when I see a new enemy and proceed to get smashed by it until I figure out how to neutralise it.

This brings to mind the Timesplitters game (I think the second) where increasing the difficulty would actually increase the length of the level to include more difficult portions. Now, the game itself was far from perfect, but I absolutely loved this mechanic. I mean, what better way to encourage players to try a harder difficulty than to make it include actual new content other than stronger enemies?

That can be done well, but it's usually horrid.

How about games that penalize you for not being good at them by not letting you play all levels on anything but the hardest difficulty? No examples, but I do remember playing and hearing about several.

[timferius]

I liked how the harder difficulties in Goldeneye would add more objectives ON TOP of more/harder enemeis.