Game Mechanics that bothers others but doesn't bother me/Game Mechanics that bothers me

Throughout the ages of gaming, we come across game mechanics that helps us out big time but there are other times when some game mechanics have caused difficulties and frustration that can get in the way of fun (known as Scrappy Mechanic). However, there are a few that I’ve find that they’re not as bad as most other people would say whenever I find them manageable, worth the ‘trouble’ or if they don’t bother me at all. Here are a few game mechanics that bothers most people but doesn’t bother me:

Game Mechanics that bother others but doesn't bother me: 

Snow routes in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (Route 216 and Route 217)

As a heads up, I’ll be mentioning a lot of gaming mechanics from Pokemon with me playing Pokemon over the years. Anyway, there has been a fair amount of people who disliked the snow routes in the Sinnoh games as you can get stuck in the deep snow, requiring you to move slowly until get out of it. I personally don’t find it a problem for me. I guess I have the patience to keep on moving in the snow slowly just like in real life. You just keep on moving until you’re out of the snow, marvelling at the beautiful pixel snow graphics  and onto the next route as Elsa would have said “The cold doesn’t bother me anyway”.

Fire Emblem Heroes Summoning

Fire Emblem Heroes has been my top mobile game, getting me into the franchise. One of its main features is to summon characters from the franchise at a cost of certain orbs. As it’s set in a gatcha game style (which is popular in Japan but disliked in the West), you won’t know who you’ll get. You could end up getting a character you already got multiple times or missed out getting the one you wanted. I understand the frustration but I try not to let it get to me. Since after all, there is still a chance for you to get the character you wanted in another summoning session or when you’re least suspect it. Even if I didn’t get the desired character, I try to use this as an advantage by using the ones I’ve got to inherit skills, use for features or merge. That way, you can still make use of them (especially if you need a certain skill for a certain character or grind for features to upgrade characters to a five star) as shown in this chart below:

Plus to an extent, this does add the thrill of getting your most wanted character and to keep you going. Even so, I have plenty of Five Star characters that I’ve obtained (and wanted) to make use of including Ike, Reinhardt, Sigurd, Julia, Hector, Kaden, Ryoma, Miciah and Sothe on the day when they're first released, Laegjarn and Laevatein on the last day of their debut banner, Ishtar with three orbs remaining during her debut banner, all three of the Winter 2018 Heroes and all of the first Brave Heroes.

 Tripping – Super Smash Bros Brawl

There’s this occasional mechanic in Super Smash Bros Brawl where a character randomly slips over and trips. A lot of people have given this a flax, getting in the way of their victory and strategy. I guess I understand where they’re coming from but it’s only a rare, occasional mishap that’s to me not too much of a big deal as you just get right back up afterwards and carry on the fight. Sakurai have probably added it for the humour and fun. Whilst I get that there are various competitive competitions, Super Smash Bros is a series that is meant to be for fun and not to be taken too seriously.

Kind and Laid Back Miis – Miitopia

Miitopia is a quirky RPG game where you use Miis as characters. There are several personalities to choose from that effects the battle in various ways. The Kind and Laid Back personalities are often considered the worst personalities due to a number of things. I’ll go over them both.

I do like the kind personality as it makes the Miis...well kind and I do like kind hearted characters. I do get that they have only a handful of quirks with two of them similar to Mii’s friendships level quirks but I say it’s not a half bad thing (as I would argue that it would spare the Miis from being at a certain friendship level with the Cover quirk has been useful for training lower level Miis that do not have a certain friendship level for the sacrifice). The other quirk that is, for some considered a hindrance is the Spare trait which allows the kind Mii to spare the monster for it to flee. The trade off is that you won’t gain any exp or food which is something that I didn’t actually noticed until I’ve looked it up. There’s also a chance for this to fail which can cause resentment. I can understand where this is coming from though there is one instance when my Mii used this on a Fiend which is an overpowered enemy so least it came in some use as seen below:

You can get around this by using it on a class that is reliant on special moves including Mages as shown above.

I do get that for some reason, there are no overworld quirks for the kind Mii. I would have come up with a couple including giving them priority to pick up a fallen Mii and to have instant apology if they were in a fight (after the tension event). Kind Mii also have traits that involves raising relationships so they do have some use.  

The other disliked personally is Laid Back with two of their quirks having a chance to causes resentment (by using another Mii to shield themselves or steal a food) and one of their quirk involved conserving their MPs in exchange for their effect and power. I understand that those quirks can be a pain for many but I find that those quirks are rare at best which can cause some comical moments at times and not to be taken seriously (like one time when one of my Laid Back Mii have stolen a HP Banana from this Mii soon after they have stolen it from an enemy). They do have some useful quirks including boosting their power or effects (which I find that it’s their most commonly activated quirk) or become immune to status moves.

So there maybe some personalities that are more useful than others, I choose the Mii’s personality based on what suits them best (depending on the Mii I’ve based them from), rather than just choose the best personality since after all, there wouldn’t be as much uniqueness. My Mii would personally be best suited for a kind (as I try to be kind to others since we do need more kindness in the world) or cool (I do agree that it’s the best) personality whereas a cautious (which I say that their best quirk ‘Warm up’  isn’t  useful for a frail Mii and can cause a momentum lost when you really need to use that Mii for tough battles as well as annoyingly being activated too often) or a stubborn personality (which only have a handful of traits at best) would not. Same goes for some class.

Whilst I say those two personalities doesn’t deserve the hate they get, they could have some buffs and improvements for a sequel. The kind personality could have more quirks including healing their allies and say a compliment to an enemy to cause them to miss a turn. For their spare trait, they could have gained twice as much experience and money and the food given for free upon sparing the enemy and should it fail, the kind Mii could become angry instead for some more use and amusement. As for the Laid Back Mii, I would remove one of their traits that cause resentment and add some new ones including using a turn to eat a snack while doubling its effects or randomly fall asleep to heal and gets angry when they are woken up by an enemy.

 Friend Safari – Pokemon X and Y

The Friend Safari is a facility that is unlocked after beating the Elite Four where you can find rare Pokemon depending on the type of your friend’s safari. I understand that getting the safari you want can involve a lot of hassle including the type set randomly and requiring you and your friend to be online at the same time for the third Pokemon to appear. But what it does have to offer is Pokemon with Hidden Abilities and some perfect IVs, many of which have been useful for breeding competitive Pokemon including Protein Frogadier, Speed Boost Whirlipede and Gale Wings Flecthinder as well as those that weren’t really obtainable from Black and White (for Westerns at least) including the Kanto starters and Lightingrod Pikachu. There’s also this Pokemon Reddit where you can offer and request Friend Safari which is a way to get the Friend Safari you want, making it one of the rare occasions where I go on Reddit. So Friend Safaris can be troublesome yes but it’s worth it.

Friend Codes

Friend Codes are often loathed by many with it having to add your friends to play with on your Nintendo consoles by adding their codes each time. But to be fair, I don’t have a problem with Friend Codes. I guess it’s something to do with being brought up with them from the start and most of the games I’ve played that have online features are Nintendo games including Pokemon Diamond, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii and Animal Crossing Let’s go to the City which are among the first online Nintendo games. So I guess I’m used to adding and sharing Friend Codes. At least as of the 3DS days, you now only have one Friend Code for every game which makes it more manageable.

On contrast, there are some game mechanics that bothered me so I’ll be listing them here; some 

which are either based on my own personal experience or are shared by the majority of other players.

Game Mechanics that bothers me

No save – Spelunky

Spelunky is an indie explorer game where you have to explore underground tunnels, collecting as many treasure as possible while avoiding traps. Unfortunately, I find the game frustrating to play as once you get killed; you have to start all over again without going back to the level where you’re left off. I was put off with the fact that you can’t save to where you were up to and having to start all over again. If that wasn’t bad enough, then there are many traps and enemies that are difficult to face including some that can instantly kill you. You can also save a dame or a damsel but with all the difficult traps and enemies, I find rescuing them more annoying. I do respect the fact that the difficulties is part of the appeal though I would like the game to have a beginner friendly option (just like on how Fire Emblem have Casual mode) with the ability to get back to the dungeon you were up to.

World 4 Time and Place Movement  - Braid

It’s more of the case of ‘that one level’ but the mechanics in World 4 for Braid involves time flowing at the opposite direction of Tim’s movements (the character you play as) so as a result, objects and enemies will either move towards you or reversed. I remembered that I’ve find the mechanic for those levels one of the most frustrating and not fun as the objects keeps on getting in the way when trying to solve a puzzle, causing you to ‘die’ multiple times. The mechanics are also too fiddly to navigate the levels for their own good. Least the ending for World 4 was the one good thing that came out of it as the Greeter tries to talk to you but due to the time flowing is still taking affect, it looks like as if Tim is moving away from him.

Energy Prices – Spiral Knights

I remembered playing Spiral Knights back in the days, alone or with my friends. I had some fun exploring worlds and fighting enemies though it had a couple of mechanics that prevented me from fully enjoying the game. Whilst my memory is now slightly rusted at best, one of which I remembered was the amount of energy that is needed to advance to the next level. Whilst I understand that it would help the developers to get by, it limits the amount of progress I would do for my play through without having the amount of crown prices I needed or by using real money. I’ve heard that Spiral Knights have undergo many changes since I’ve last played it including the removal of Mist Energy which would help to solve one of the problems I had while playing Spiral Knights if I ever get back playing it.

Safari Zone – Pokemon Red/Blue – Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver

Back in the day, I did like the Safari Zone with the amount of rare Pokemon you can find.  That said, I can see the frustrations that many people have including from my experience. What you have to do is to capture the Pokemon without battling them but to just use Safari Balls and pick either a rock/mud or food based items which would help you to capture the Pokemon. The trouble is, it’s entirely based on luck so you won’t know if they are actually working or if the Pokemon will run away which is again very frustrating especially if it’s a rare Pokemon you want to capture (and if it’s a  shiny). If that wasn’t bad enough, then it has a step limit which adds more frustration. I probably wouldn’t have the patience at this day and age to find and catch Pokemon I needed to breed for competitive battling.   In addition, I’ve heard in Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver that you have the ability to customize the environment to alter what Pokemon can appear. Some of which including Riolu and Gible takes as long as 200 days to appear! It seems that Game Freak have caught on with the Safari Zone hate, removing them or replacing them in later games. As much as the Safari Zone does sound fun, I can live without it.

Roaming Pokemon – Pokemon Gold/Silver – Heart Gold/Soul Silver

"You know something is dreadfully wrong with this mechanic when it takes this long JUST TO CATCH ONE OF THEM!"-  Chuggaaconroy

Roaming Pokemon is probably one of the most, if not the most frustrating mechanics in Pokemon. What it is that you’ll randomly find legendary Pokemon in the wild and will flee as you as you start to battle them. Then you have to go through all the pain to track them down from area to area just to capture them. The only way to stop them from fleeing is to use trapping moves which only a few Pokemon can do at best and have to remain in battle. The real kicker is when you do capture them, you can only get their set natures and IVs as soon as they start running so you can’t soft reset to get the one you wanted so you could end up with a useless one after all that. Not to mention various other trouble including some of them having roar which force you to flee (and preventing you from encountering them again for good in Fire Red and Leaf Green) and a glitch in the third generation games barring Emerald where they have bad IVs. So I’m glad that Game Freak has removed this for good or has butchered it, making it the game mechanic not to be missed.

Lack of abilities/held items/removal of some moves – Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Let’s go Eevee

I was overall lukewarm with Pokemon Let’s go Pikachu and Eevee. Sure, your companion Pokemon is nice and all while some of the mechanics based on Pokemon Go are clever, others not so much. But asides that it’s only limited to Kanto Pokemon, I was mostly turned off with the fact that they have removed abilities and held items in the games, butchering strategy.  Lack of abilities several Pokemon not as special or powerful including Alakazam and Clefable without Magic Guard, Cloyster without Skill Link, Dragonite without Multi Scale, Gyarados or Arcanine without Intimidate and Mega Kangaskhan without Parental Bond. Without held items, offensive Pokemon would miss the power boost from Life Orb, Choice Specs and Choice Band, defensive Pokemon would have a lesser longevity without Leftovers (especially if they lack a recovery move) and some Pokemon wouldn’t be able to revenge kill without a Choice Scarf. I was also not happy with several good moves being removed including Close Combat, Focus Blast, Stone Edge, Brave Bird and Hurricane (Fighting and Flying types have especially got the short end of the stick when it comes to high based power moves). They’re the reasons why I would rather stick with Pokemon Ultra Moon or wait for Pokemon Sword and Shield for the true Pokemon experience.

Sick Miis – Miitopia

The most annoying mechanic in Miitopia is when a Mii randomly gets sick (up to three at a time), making them unable to take part in any battles or relationship events until they get better. The only way to cure the Mii is to gain a large amount of EXP (for the next level) which is a pain, especially since the only way to quickly grind for EXP is to go to this area before the final boss for the rare snurps which is unreliable at best (with it being random and they have a chance to flee). The only other way is for a Mii to check up on them which is random at best. I wonder how the developers have thought of the idea as it really gets in the way of my adventure. For the sequel, I would either remove it entirely or make it an optional side quest where you have to find a cure and the sick Mii would gain a level with boosted stat growths upon being cured.

Miis asking for taken Miis – TomoDachi Life

The Mii on the left has already been taken yet three guys have the same
feelings for her! 

I’ve enjoyed TomoDachi Life but it does have a couple of flawed game mechanics. Here’s one of them. You sometimes find Miis developing feelings for other Miis and you have the choice of helping them out or denying the relationship. Whilst it’s good when it’s successful, there’s a chance that there’s another Mii who can develop feelings for the same Mii that has been taken. I find it annoying that the game makes them do this out of ignorance. If you do happen to make them go for it and the taken Mii accepted them, then this would be cheating like in real life which is not right. This can only be put to a stop when the couples are married but there is no quicker way to get them to marry so I have to go through all the annoyance to prevent the Mii from asking out the taken Mii and to spend time cheering them up just for this. Hopefully, the sequel will remove this mechanic and give us the choice to speed up their relationship (as well as giving us a choice to pair up Miis while we’re at it).

No same-sex marriage – TomoDachi Life

The other game mechanic that bothered me for TomoDachi Life is the lack of same sex marriage option, meaning that LGBTQ+ based Miis would have to be in a straight relationship or to miss out being in a relationship and I happen to have several Miis that are LGBTQ+ based characters, people or friends including myself. The only way to get around this is to set the Mii to the opposite gender for the Mii at their ‘same gender’ to fall for them which may work for some but it’s not the same as it’s only really seeing that Mii as another gender. Even so, we LGBTQ+ community deserve better as we fight to have the same recognition and the same rights as straight people over the years. For me to be denied with that option would deny my sexuality (especially if I would like my Mii to be married with a Mii based on my boyfriend or husband).  Also by allowing same sex relationships, this would help to teach younger audience that same sex relationship is ok (potentially recognising themselves as LGBTQ+). In the light of this, Nintendo have made an apology and strive to include it for future instalments and I can only hope that they’ll be true to their word for games like TomoDachi Life to be enjoyed by everyone.

To round off this article, I just wanted to bring up this honourable mention; The Battle Points for Pokemon games.

You either loved the Battle Frontier (and similar facilities for the Battle Tower) for an extra challenge or loathed it for the annoyance. For me, there were some great facilities including Battle Hall and Battle Dome and not so great facilities including Battle Factory (as I dislike the rental Pokemon comparing to my own) and Battle Palace. The main problem is the Battle Points you get after winning a seven streak of battles which is slow to grind for and very frustrating if you lost one battle. Heart Gold and Soul Silver were the most atrocious with so many items, TMs and Move Tutor moves to grind for which are expensive and time consuming.

Thankfully, later games have made this more manageable since X and Y as you can now earn Battle Points after beating each trainer and the option to take a break as well as making Move Tutor Moves more cheaper as of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, not to mention providing other ways to get Battle Points including the Mantine Jump in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon or saving them up from Pokemon Bank (which now becomes my main source of Battle Points).

I would however improve this further by having the ability to continue after you lose (by using the perfect point system from Pokemon Stadium, Colosseum, XD and Battle Revolution) which would be especially useful if you're aiming for the boss trainer as losing one battle would force you to start over, making it frustrating. 

As for the removal of the Battle Frontier (barring the Battle Tower based ones), it depends on how feel about the Battle Frontier yourself. I do appreciate and enjoy the wide variety of (mostly) interesting challenges but I can live without them providing that I can still earn Battle Points easily as mentioned above (and have other things to focus on in Pokemon). Whatever the 8^th gen games will have to offer regarding to this is remained to be seen, least for this time of writing.