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[CloudWolf]

First off, this post will contain some serious spoilers for The Witcher 2 and some minor ones for 3. So don't read this if you don't want to get spoiled.

I'm currently playing through The Witcher 3 a second time (just in time for Blood & Wine) while reading the books and after (re)playing Witcher 1 and 2. Because of this, the second time is probably even better than the first because now I understand so much more of the lore, backstory and many of the characters. That said, it also unveils a few things that are, well, not so great about Witcher 3's story and characterization. The main thing that stoud out to me was the fact that several very important characters are just missing in the third game for unknown reasons.

Now I know what you're thinking: this is about Iorveth and Saskia, but it isn't. With those two I can understand why they wouldn't be near the locations The Witcher 3 is set in and at least CD Projekt Red provided an explanation for Saskia with Hearts of Stone. No, my gripe is with John Natalis and, even more importantly, Anaïs la Valette. Both characters are incredibly important to the fate of Temeria after The Witcher 2. Two out of three endings that mention Natalis have him ending up as Temeria's regent and Anaïs is the last direct heir to Foltest and can end up with Natalis, Radovid or Roche. In The Witcher 3 Natalis is mentioned in an offhand comment as being "missing" and Anaïs is never mentioned again. I found this incredibly odd, especially since the story of The Witcher 3 (and also that of the series in general) is all about the fate of Temeria.I seriously can't get my head around why CD Projekt Red would choose to completely omit these characters from the game, even though they should play a major role in the fate of the Northern Kingdoms.

So, how does GAF feel about this? And do you have any other examples of great games that had headscratchers like this in it's story or gameplay?

 

[shangolin]

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

 

[Madn]

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

I thought you couldn't jump in Zelda

 

[High Fry Frow]

The absolutely terrible underdeveloped platforming mechanics in Soulsbourne games.

 

[Warxard]

Murloc Paladin in Hearthstone

 

[UmbraeCruxis]

I thought you couldn't jump in Zelda

If you run off a ledge, yo usually jump in zelda games.

My pick is stuff like the motorcycle/rocket section or quick time events in Bayo 1. Otherwise, really great game with annoying and sometimes just not fun sections interspersed. NOt sure who thought it was a good idea.

 

[PortablePanda]

can't comment on OP because have yet to play Witcher 3 (I know I know, I'll get around to it)

but continuing the thread, this fucker right here:

A blemish on an otherwise incredible game

 

[shoreu]

In ME3 when that quarian decided that killing Shepard along with the ship is a good idea

 

[Johndoey]

I love Alan Wake a lot but the

Spoiler

short little Tornado segment

near the game's end felt a bit silly.

 

[Dark_castle]

Lost Izalith the thread?

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Bravely Default

Chapter 1, cool

Chapter 2, awesome

Chapter 3, awesome

Chapter 4, awesome

Chapters 5-8, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Actually, to be fair, conceptually what the game does is very interesting, and it pays off in the ending. Chapter 5 isn't bad, but it draws out for much too long after that.

 

[Servbot24]

The on foot areas in Star Fox games (adventures excluded). No one wants that. It's not fun. The flying is great, stick to that. It's puzzling because Nintendo usually has great focus.

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

There's no reason you would really need to jump. They focus the gameplay on what matters in that world, which is a good thing.

The absolutely terrible underdeveloped platforming mechanics in Soulsbourne games.

It's not a platformer though... there is the occasional item you have to jump for but altogether that makes up about 2 minutes out of a 50 hour game

 

[impact]

The camera in Monster Hunter is just so bad for 2016 standards of dual analog games with camera control.

 

[shangolin]

There's no reason you would really need to jump. They focus the gameplay on what matters in that world, which is a good thing.

There's plenty of jumping in 3D zelda games, it's just all automated which I really don't like. Less control isn't a plus in my book.

 

[GeeTeeCee]

There's always one moment in most of the MGS games that I absolutely loathe playing again:

MGS1: the wolf caves
MGS2: underwater escort mission
MGS3: comatose escort mission
MGS4: eastern European tailing/vehicle turret sequence
MGSV: any time the fucking Skulls Parasite Unit show up

 

[TronLight]

can't comment on OP because have yet to play Witcher 3 (I know I know, I'll get around to it)

but continuing the thread, this fucker right here:

A blemish on an otherwise incredible game

I really don't understand why people think this boss it's the worst thing ever, care to explain?

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

That walking in plank mission in God of War. You know the one in talking about!

 

[Corpsepyre]

The music puzzle in God of War 3. WTF?

 

[justsomeguy]

The warden in halo 5. C'mon 343i.

 

[Mike M]

Dark Souls 2 Soul Memory clusterfuck. Made multiplayer ten times the hassle in trying to fix a problem it didn't really fix.

 

[Trace]

Lost Izalith the thread?

I wouldn't call that one a headscratcher. It's blatantly obvious they were out of time and it was rushed along with a lot of the other final zones.

 

[WhiteWolf]

Final boss in Arkham Asylum, it doesn't fit in the game at all. Shame such an amazing game goes out on a flat note.

 

[Darkspineslayer]

The fact they brought back the Plasma Striker in the new Ratchet and Clank. Is that even useful? You can rarely stop and aim ahead at enemies, even then you get one shot off. Groovatron does nothing because they bob around. Far more expedient to just pull out another gun.

 

[Corpsepyre]

That walking in plank mission in God of War. You know the one in talking about!

God of War 1? Which sequence again?

 

[User 479360]

 

[MuchoMalo]

There's plenty of jumping in 3D zelda games, it's just all automated which I really don't like. Less control isn't a plus in my book.

Sounds like a waste of a button, IMO. It's not a platformer. I guess it would add to the challenge?

The lack of optional heists in GTA V. They made such a big deal of this feature and let you earn heist members, yet the ones in the main story are the only ones outside of online? What? And they couldn't figure out a way to have custom heists? Huh?

 

[Saganator]

GTA's horrible UIs, every one them.

 

[James Scott]

For the Witcher 3: Not being able to fast travel outside of using a sign post...why? Disable it if there's active combat or a dedicated story sequence you're not supposed to run away from.
Not sure if this is similar, but Dillon's Rolling Western, like Brutal Legends, shouldn't of tacked on a different genre. (it's a tower defense game when it should've been an action focused Zelda western)

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

Why would you need to jump in a Zelda game? He'll autojump if you're supposed to be able to jump. No real need to take up a button with that.

 

[Azuran]

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

I have never played a Zelda game where I thought "Damn, I wish I could make Link jump"

 

[Corpsepyre]

This game started off SO well, but then I dropped it when it went all RTS-ish

 

[wispsmoke]

Dark Souls 2 Soul Memory clusterfuck. Made multiplayer ten times the hassle in trying to fix a problem it didn't really fix.

Yeah, then they put in a ring that made it easy for meta-twinks to rush for, anyway. Meanwhile, the rest of us didn't get summoned and had an expiration date for pvp.

 

[QuantumSquid]

GTA's horrible UIs, every one them.

What's wrong with GTA V's UI?

 

[Eolz]

The lack of a dedicated jump button in 3rd person games. Mainly looking at you, Zelda.

The absolutely terrible underdeveloped platforming mechanics in Soulsbourne games.

Wat

The camera in Monster Hunter is just so bad for 2016 standards of dual analog games with camera control.

Well, most of the time it isn't a dual analog game. It works well with the lock on or when you have two sticks.

 

[georly]

Metroid not being able to crawl.

Not showing halo's face, EVER.

Zelda games not being dark souls.

Not making Zelda a girl.

What were they thinking.

 

[SuperSonic1305]

Brutal Legend turning into an RTS.

 

[User 479360]

This game started off SO well, but then I dropped it when it went all RTS-ish

I powered through it, but hated every second of the RTS garbage.

 

[Whompa02]

Kingdom Hearts, specifically Kingdom Hearts 2, had so many headscratching moments...if I had to choose one I guess the Undersea music routine would be high on the list

 

[Mr. Poolman]

The dumb as hell jump button on Dark Souls 1.
Tap and hold to run, tap again to jump.
Many of the jump related deaths were due to stupid control scheme.

 

[Tingle]

The dumb as hell jump button on Dark Souls 1.
Tap and hold to run, tap again to jump.
Many of the jump related deaths were due to stupid control scheme.

It was even worse in Bloodborne because they fixed it in Dark Souls 2, then actually brought back the Dark Souls 1 version for some odd reason. Fortunately they went back to their senses with Dark Souls 3.

 

[Mike M]

This game started off SO well, but then I dropped it when it went all RTS-ish

Brutal Legend turning into an RTS.

I seem to recall an interview where it was revealed that it was developed as an RTS and the rest of the game was bolted onto it.

 

[brawly]

Pharros Lockstones in Dark Souls 2. It was already annoying in the original but SotFS made it even worse.

 

[shark sandwich]

Final Fantasy XII - the camera controls for L/R are reversed and there's no option to change it. (So pushing the right analog stick to the left makes the world rotate to the left instead of making your character turn to the left). Totally baffling for a 2006 game.

 

[MAtgS]

Some of the type balancing in Gen 1 Poke'mon was laughable.

1. Ghost type is suppose to have the advantage over Psychic type except that:
A. There's only a single evolution line of ghosts even in the game
B. Said poke'mon needs to be traded to reach final evolution (Yeah, so does Alakazam but he's not the only psychic)
C. The ghost poke'mon are all half-poison type, which is weak to Psychic.
D. The few Ghost-type moves in the game have pitiful base power, except for that one that just does damage equal to level, rendering typing pointless.

& Dark type didn't exist yet (hell Dark type was created because they fuck up so badly in Gen 1), so the strongest psychic poke'mon were virtually unbeatable.

2. Dragon moves are allegedly super effective against Dragon types. Allegedly, because there's only a single dragon move in the game & it deals an exact amount of damage no matter what, rendering the type advantage useless.

3. Poke'mon that had stats counter-intuitive to their typing. IE Fire works off of the special stat but many fire type poke'mon had higher physical attack stats instead.

4. Multiple moves that were normal type when they should've something else, like Gust & Karate Chop.

 

[Castef]

Murloc Paladin in Hearthstone

Love it!

 

[Blobbers]

I don't know if it was fatigue or what, but the last dungeon in Persona Q went way too far for me. I already found the game to be too long and thought it should've finished after the 4th dungeon, which I found all had neat little mechanics within them. But the

Spoiler

clock tower

just goes ballistic with the switches, platforms, the spider FOEs and the queen spider FOEs, having to backtrack to floors and those god damn reaper sections. Man, I felt so defeated after getting to the end of the dungeon, I almost quit the game altogether.

 

[Azuran]

Some of the type balancing in Gen 1 Poke'mon was laughable.

1. Ghost type is suppose to have the advantage over Psychic type except that:
A. There's only a single evolution line of ghosts even in the game
B. Said poke'mon needs to be traded to reach final evolution (Yeah, so does Alakazam but he's not the only psychic)
C. The ghost poke'mon are all half-poison type, which is weak to Psychic.
D. The few Ghost-type moves in the game have pitiful base power, except for that one that just does damage equal to level, rendering typing pointless.

& Dark type didn't exist yet (hell Dark type was created because they fuck up so badly in Gen 1), so the strongest psychic poke'mon were virtually unbeatable.

2. Dragon moves are allegedly super effective against Dragon types. Allegedly,

You forgot to mention the best part: Psychic was immune to Ghost because of a glitch.

Gen 1 Pokemon was a mess. You could fill this entire threads with examples from it.

 

[OnionPowder]

The unskippable long boring cutscenes in Max Payne 3.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Lack of button controlled hand slap, blowing and rolling in DKC:R

I didn't particularly mind it, necessarily, but I didn't like it either.

 

[spazchicken]

The final boss in Uncharted is pattern based when that mechanic was never introduced previously in the game or in games after.

 

[Castef]

Metroid not being able to crawl.

The weirdest thing in Metroid is that the suit does not have a flashlight.