Sana requested a post in which I tell you guys about what I like in video games and what’s not my cup of tea. Sounds fun. Thanks for the idea! Here I go!
THE GOOD
The things I like are pretty obvious. Of course, a game must be fun, but what makes some games stand out from others is when they have a good story and good characters. These are pretty important. That’s why I love games from the Kingdom Hearts and Jak and Daxter series so much. Good stories, awesome characters. And lots of fun. The cut scenes are often as much fun as the game. They get a very special place in my heart. Like a nice apartment. With a view. Because I can’t fit houses in my heart. I still, of course, like games that don’t have good plots, or plots at all, such as those from the Mario or Donkey Kong series because they are still fun and creative. They are just not quite as special to me. But, still special. They get a slightly less nice apartment in my heart.
Good graphics and music are always nice, but not super important. Good, or at least, not bad dialogue helps, too. Other things that make me happy are when you have a lot of places to explore, items to collect, new moves to learn, which is why I like Metroid games better than Halo, even though both are awesome. In Metroid, you get upgraded weapons and moves as you play and can collect things to upgrade your health and missile capacity. Plus, there are many places to explore. Unique ideas are fun, too. In “Okami”, for example, you drew things with a brush, which was neat.
I also like when you can save often enough, don’t have to redo a lot when you die, and can skip cut scenes. “Kingdom Hearts”, for example, made you rewatch cut scenes, and it was annoying. Square Enix must have realized how annoying it was because you get to skip them now. I also like when games are a challenge, but not ridiculous. I hate absurdly hard games.
Specifically, my favorite games are platformers, RPG’s, and other such things with action or exploring or whatever.
THE BAD
Now for the things I hate. These are the things that will cause me to sell or not even buy a game. One is dirtiness. Some games think that because they’re rated M, they need to have as many bad things as they’re allowed. When I was looking at new games for the XBox 360, the only games that looked good were rated M, so I checked the back, and they had things I didn’t want. So I’m not even going to try them. What’s nice about the Halo series is all they have is violence and a little bit of swearing. Being rated M, they could have more, but there is no dirty things and minimal swearing. In fact, “Halo: Reach” doesn’t even have swearing. I’m proud of you, Bungie. On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t like super corny games. I can only handle a small amount of corn.
I was also kept from getting a game because I heard it had a limited number of saves. That would be so annoying. I also hate it in games when you can’t save at all.
I also hate bad controls, like when the camera won’t obey you or you can’t control it at all, and you often die just because you can’t see where you’re going. I also hate that “Sonic and the Secret Rings” is only hard because the controls are so bad. They tried something new, where Sonic is always moving, and you tilt the Wii remote left or right to go left or right, forward to speed up, and back to slow down. I think you can make Sonic stop, but it’s hard. I feel like I have very little control over him. It’s very aggravating.
This next thing is tolerable or horrible, depending on what game it is. I don’t like when games have battles start randomly. Most games, you can see the enemies and choose if you want to fight. In games like “Final Fantasy X” and “Quest 64”, you never know when a battle may start because you can’t see any enemies. You’re just walking, and then suddenly you have to fight things and can’t easily get away. In the former game, though, it’s a good game so it doesn’t bother me as much, but the latter is already not a great game, and this is pretty much the worst part of it.
Also, like I said, I hate super hard games. I really hate them. It’s bad enough that the final bosses of “Vexx” and “Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep” are insane, but when a whole game is a chore… No way. I also hate having to do stupid things or you can’t move on, such as beating the super annoying “Donkey Kong Arcade” in “Donkey Kong 64” not once, but twice, in order to get a necessary item. I also hate when you must fight zillions of enemies or when they take super long to kill. All this fuels the duck’s feathery rage.
The types of games I dislike are sports, really simple games like pinball or Pacman, and fighting games that aren’t “Super Smash Brothers” and racing games other than “Jak X” or “F-Zero”.
THE UGLY
And now, the things that simply disappoint me. For one thing, when things don’t feel complete. In the 2006 version of “Sonic the Hedgehog”, it was a good game, but they left some things unfinished. For example, things would fall in the water without a splash. Such a simple thing to fix. I felt like they sold the game before they were completely done with it.
I am also disappointed by bad graphics and bad music, but that’s not a big deal. I am saddened when games are too short, especially good ones.
I also don’t like bad dialogue and skimpy outfits. Too skimpy, and this nears the Bad. I also don’t like when you get to the end of the game and aren’t allowed to return to previous areas, like in “Okami” and “Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier”. I don’t mind when it’s a kind of game where there’s nothing to collect, but in these, there is, and I couldn’t go back for what I missed.
I also don’t like when they think they’re too cool. I’m talking to you, Sonic. And the characters in “Jak X”. I don’t think they were as obnoxious in the previous games….
Well, there you go.
An Opinionated Duck
The Duck of Indeed 