I absolutely agree. Especially in games where I am armed to the teeth (i.e. RE4), why can’t I just rob the shop? Or kill the shopkeeper and loot what I need?
Apparently, Jerry Falwell was on to something.
OTOH getting the Chicago Typewriter made the game… less interesting. Point and shoot at anything, you’re basically invincible and can kill anything. It’s not a challenge. My latest incarnation of Leon Kennedy has the CT and a few herbs just in case. Nothing else is needed. The only problem is that the big damn coelacanth where getting the tiny rowboat into just the right position to launch a harpoon is such a pain in the ass.
I’m convinced that the game is pre-programmed to force the palyer to complete two surface swimming trips and one under water, no matter how good one is at hitting the damn fish
I like this. Especially since I have a fear that I will need a particular item and not have it. Whenever I play Diablo, the town square becomes filled with neatly organized piles of gold and potions and objects that I just might need.
Leisure Suit Larry 2 actually had a great comment on this. After buying a million ounce Grotesque Gulp at the kwik e mart, you try to put it in your pocket. ‘Are you crazy? You can barely lift this thing! How in the hell do you expect to fit it in your pocket? Oh what the hell, this isn’t real life just a great simulation. You put the Grotesque Gulp in your pocket. It doesn’t even make an unsightly bulge.’
I remember playing Diablo online and having giant piles of gold all over the town square.
Great times.
First, I must present The Grand List of (Console) RPG Cliches.
Second, an FPS that does a lot of these things right is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. You have a very limited carrying capacity, tend to only find ammo and such in hidden weapon caches or on the bodies of your opponents and you have to eat and drink periodically.
Of course, you can also go from having multiple gunshot wounds to full heath just by applying a few bandaids and drinking some vodka, but hey…
What, you never read the comic?
You speak the truth. I went up against the main bad guy with that thing, unloaded for about 5 seconds, and the guy went down. Huh. That was a lot harder before.
Still, there is something really fun from time to time about taking out a full crowd of people in less than three seconds.
Keys. There are two models for keys, one or the other of which is used in almost every computer game.
1: There is only one key in the universe. It opens every lock, ever. Nothing else will.
2: Keys are abundant. Any key can open any lock, but each key can only ever be used once.
Bioshock had some fun with this one. There are first aid stations that provide healing, and the NPCs know how to use them. However, you can hack the things so they will hurt anyone but you. (Of course, turnabout it fair play–there’s a least one hacked vending machine that spits grenades at you if you try to use it.)
In Monkey Island 2 there’s a scene where you need to deal with, IIRC, an enormous sheepdog. The game lets you pick up the sheepdog and put it in your pocket. And once you’ve done it, your character looks directly into the “camera” and gives you a big cheesy grin.
How can you not love a game that, er, monkeys around with clichés like that?
Oh Go, those were hilarious. I barely play console RPGs (mostly because they are so damned cliched* but I could still relate what few ones I have played to the list.
(I think my favorite is the “Load Bearing Boss!”)
A variant on a couple already mentioned:
You can take five or ten bullets in the face before you go down. Falling on a grenade takes perhaps half your HP. Zombie teeth sinking into your neck will only be a concern if you let it happen 19 more times.
But if, during a cutscene, someone sneaks up on you and blackjacks you on the back of the head, you get knocked out instantly. On a positive note, however, this will never kill you.
Or just as ridiculous, you surrender when faced with a handful of armed opponents. Never mind that you likely just mowed your way through a platoon of them to get to this part. Two guys point weapons at you and it’s time to throw in the towel.
I haven’t seen this yet. Cars do not need gas. You can drive for hours and never have to stop to fuel up. Also, you can crash a car beyond belief, and within seconds and for a few hundred dollars, the car will be fixed, painted and the cops won’t recognize it.
SSG Schwartz
Loved that, with my backpack full, running through piles of gold, trying to pick it up and watching the gold dance!
CMC +fnord!
I don’t know if it’s quite a “cliche,” but I’m plenty tired of (non-magical) sword/fist fights where every attack or landed blow spawns a technicolor cascade of light. Apparently, a lot of Synesthetics are bloodthirsty, roaming adventurers.