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Author Topic: Run Killers  (Read 11142 times)

Turtlekid1

  • Tortuga
« on: July 06, 2011, 07:42:22 PM »
So there you are on a lazy afternoon, sitting bored.  Hey, here's an idea!  You can go play that one video game that you haven't played in a while!  Except... what about that one escort mission or gimmick level that you always hated?  Man, you would have to do that part again if you replayed the game.

I'm sure most folks here know what I'm talking about.  These are the parts in video games which are not only not up to the standards of the rest of the game they're in, but which can single-handedly eliminate all desire to replay a game when one considers them, even when the rest of the game is superb.  This thread is dedicated to those.  Sort of an anti-"Games You Think Are Perfect," I guess.

One of the examples that comes most readily to mind for me is the Ice Cave segment of Uncharted 2, which consists of a bunch of slow-paced platforming and puzzles without much action to break it up.  The one fight that does happen here is semi-scripted and not at all similar to or as fun as the gunfights in other parts of the game.

Another game with a couple of these moments is Spyro 2 - particularly the "popcorn" game in Magma Cone, the "Guide the Alchemist" mission in Fracture Hills, riding the Trolley in Breeze Harbor, and the Lava Lizards challenges in Skelos Badlands - all of these require you to have extremely quick (as in, faster than even many difficult games require) reflexes and/or employ trial and error and memorization to win.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's Earth and Wind Temples are some of the most tedious dungeons I've ever had to trudge through.  In comparison, sailing around and looking for the Triforce shards is positively relaxing - at least there's good music and a bright blue sky to keep you company.

I'm sure you guys can think of some others.  Post 'em here. 

Or just keep it to yourself and leave this thread hanging awkwardly without a single reply, that works too
« Last Edit: July 23, 2012, 11:48:10 AM by Turtlekid1 »
"It'll say life is sacred and so is death
but death is life and so we move on"

ShadowBrain

  • Ridiculously relevant
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2011, 09:10:39 PM »
Hey, good topic! Well, seeing as my PS3 was recently wiped, I'll start with games from that. Of course, if I played a game all the way through again, then it wouldn't really matter whether I had any original data, but... nevermind. Here's what I can think of:

Batman: Arkham Asylum: There were one or two stealth segments that frustrated me... though I guess that was in their nature.

BioShock: Blame it on my impatient berserker attitude in action games, but I got pretty sick of dying two or three times every time I tried to take down a Big Daddy. In other words, I was one of those people that was very glad respawns worked the way they did (although yeah, I guess it is a little cheap). Oh, and I suppose the hacking minigames got a little old, but I wasn't that averse to them.

Dante's Inferno: The Circle of Fraud certainly lived up to its name--ten meta-levels of Challenge Mode rejects in a game already replete with GoW-esque excessive combat.

Mirror's Edge: Anytime there's a gun on-screen, I guess.

Psychonauts: Take a guess.

Also, while I'm thinking of it:

Metroid Prime: As I mentioned before, I had a hell of a time dealing with the Omega Pirate--and, as someone else mentioned, those friggin' Chozo Ghosts. Still, maybe I'll have improved since then. Also, despite how much I loved the graphics/aesthetics/gameplay itself, the insane difficulty and weak plot of MP2 basically make me want to not play it again, period.

For the most part, though, depending on how long it's been or why I'm playing a game again, just having to sit through (interactive) cutscenes and unskippable tutorials can be enough of an impediment.
"Mario is your oyster." ~The Chef

Kuromatsu

  • 黒松
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2011, 09:16:22 PM »
I know for sure my Wiiware Cave Story Hard Mode run (essentially a three heart run with no missiles) fell flat on its face once I reached The Core but that's probably not what you're talking about.

« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2011, 10:06:10 PM »
Generally speaking, anything that feels tacked on (such as the aforementioned Triforce pieces in WW or the Chozo Ghosts in MP) are also things that make me reconsider doing a run of a game.


Having said that, it usually doesn't stop me (or deter me too much) as I love playing games. :)


Speaking of data being erased: I recently (and very stupidly) decided to transfer all of my game data from the Wii to the SD card. And I started by deleting those that I knew were on the SD card already and just completely starting again (starting again being just transferring it all, or so I thought).

Somehow, in the process of doing that, I erased the progress of several of my VC games. Some of the ones that weren't erased reverted back to a previous save file, and I'm pretty sure I lost any/all.. Wii saves (like, when you hit the Home menu during an Nes/Snes game and can save it like that..)
Kinopio is the ultimate video game character! Who else can drive a kart, host parties, play tennis, give good advice and items, and is almost always happy??

« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2011, 10:26:55 PM »
I have this problem with most Zelda games due to the fact that I almost never remember what I'm supposed to do when I get back into it.

The only game I'm playing enough to keep up with right now is "Link's Awakening Deluxe" thanks to the 3DS Virtual Console. I got a little lost a couple of times, but most of it was just my inability to think critically about whatever situation I was in.
I'm a horrible person.

« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2011, 10:31:43 PM »
Most water-themed dungeons in the LoZ series can be classified as "run killers", really. Forced stealth segments in any game also tend to be obtrusive to the flow.

Chapter Three of Dragon Quest IV follows a travelling merchant's quest to open his own business. It boils down to several hours of carting goods between kingdoms while fending off pathetically weak enemies. Poor Torneko.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's Earth and Wind Temples are some of the most tedious dungeons I've ever had to trudge through.  In comparison, sailing around and looking for the Triforce shards is positively relaxing - at least there's good music and a bright blue sky to keep you company.

Huh. I saw those Temples as welcome relief from Wind Waker's seemingly endless seafaring quests. Conversely, collecting those Triforce shards was such a stomach-churningly laborious undertaking that I've only bothered to salvage them all two or three times.

Somehow, in the process of doing that, I erased the progress of several of my VC games. Some of the ones that weren't erased reverted back to a previous save file, and I'm pretty sure I lost any/all.. Wii saves (like, when you hit the Home menu during an Nes/Snes game and can save it like that..)

That sucks, man.
YYur  waYur n beYur you Yur plusYur instYur an Yur Yur whaYur

« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2011, 10:55:55 PM »
Conversely, collecting those Triforce shards was such a stomach-churningly laborious undertaking that I've only bothered to salvage them all two or three times.
This sentence reads like a joke. I'm scared it wasn't meant that way though.

The first thing this thread made me think of is stage 5 of Gitaroo Man. Every other level is pure rhythm game love and joy but the Ben-K battle is an endless boring reggae with gameplay focusing almost solely on moving through extremely long notes. If you mess up on one, you're going to be sitting there for the next 10 seconds doing nothing. The one low point in a god-tier game.

WarpRattler

  • Paid by the word
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2011, 12:15:14 AM »
The fear that I'll find my save data wiped yet again post-firmware update has prevented me from playing DJ Max Portable 3 for some time now.

I'm going to throw a brick through the window of any Vita developer who ties saves to hardware.

« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2011, 01:10:44 AM »
This is sort of different, but right now I'm in a constant loop of "I should give this game another shot!" and then "...........nope" for playing Dead Rising.

I think the reason I find that game so difficult to play is because I don't understand it. Are you supposed to kill zombies? Or just take pictures of them? Or kill them and then take pictures of them? Then what's the point of the missions? And why the bleep are the missions so far away, and you try to shoot the guy running around the rafters but you can't kill him so you just die and restart at the other end of the mall again?

All of that goes through my brain, leading to .......nope

BP

  • Beside Pacific
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2011, 02:06:26 AM »
Picture-taking, zombie-killing and survivor-rescuing are all just ways to level Franky up so you can survive the story. You're supposed to do anything you god[darn] want to, any way you god[darn] want to, and that's why it's fun. Kinda like BioShock.

As for beating Carlito the first time, you should slap him with a King Salmon. You can grab one in the pond on your way to the food court, climb the crates and walk on the roof-like structures to get to him, wait for him to stop shooting, don't get so close that he attacks, and SMACK! Defeated. Not kidding. Mannequin Torsos are also effective.


I can't really think of any game I plan on ever replaying/have ever replayed that has parts like this.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2011, 02:08:05 AM by BP »
All your dreeeeeeams begiiin to shatterrrrrr~
It's YOUR problem!

« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2011, 12:21:43 PM »
This sentence reads like a joke. I'm scared it wasn't meant that way though.

YYur  waYur n beYur you Yur plusYur instYur an Yur Yur whaYur

« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2011, 12:31:31 PM »
The first thing that came to mind was the escort/hacking mission towards the end of the original Goldeneye 007.  Natalya is a bullet magnet, and needs to use computers faster.  It's been ages since I've played this, but I remember it being mind-warpingly hard and a pain in the ass.

I can't believe Metroid Prime was mentioned, but not the lame fetch-quests tacked on at the end.  I never thought of the Chozo Ghosts as unfun or tacked on, but collecting the artifacts in 1 and the keys in 2 struck me as pretty lame.  Definitely on par with Wind Waker's fetch-quest.

I don't know why, but the airboat stuff in Half-Life 2 stopped me dead in a run.  It's not terrible or anything... just not as cool as the rest of the game, I guess. 
Haters gonna hate

ShadowBrain

  • Ridiculously relevant
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2011, 02:21:42 PM »
Oh, yeah, the hovercraft sections in that were retarded.
"Mario is your oyster." ~The Chef

« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2011, 02:40:37 PM »
Escorting the Princess through the desert in the first M&L game is annoying. It's never been enough to stop me from playing through the game, but it is kinda annoying. "I'll just take out a couple of enemies here, jump on the mounds and- GAAAHH"

I haven't played any other MP game except the first one, but I recall finding Artifacts as I played the game and by the time I reached the end of the game (or reasonably close) I usually had most of them..
Kinopio is the ultimate video game character! Who else can drive a kart, host parties, play tennis, give good advice and items, and is almost always happy??

TEM

  • THE SOVIET'S MOST DANGEROUS PUZZLE.
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2011, 03:49:47 PM »
Oh, yeah, the hovercraft sections in that were retarded.
Fanboat, herptard, and those parts were fun.
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