Without getting too political, we are living in historic times globally, and this has permeated the world of technology and gaming as well. AI and economic changes have a direct impact on the behavior of development studios, publishers, and most importantly, consumers. The industry is going through a lot of growing pains, but it's also experiencing some positive changes. For example, the indie scene is getting more popular every year as players become increasingly frustrated with triple-A products.
Best games on PC Game Pass
Silksong, Clair Obscur, Doom, and Minecraft are just a few of the great games on PC Game Pass.
Gaming is an overall positive hobby, and there are so many great titles to enjoy, but there are also a lot of frustrations due to industry trends and a few unpopular design choices. These range from big things like monetization to very small and tricky details like unskippable cutscenes. Let's take a look at what we're all sick of seeing in video games and the industry in general.
High difficulty bullet sponge enemies
Artificial Difficulties Are Not Inspiring
It's a story as old as time. The game feels too easy, so you increase the difficulty mid-game or start playing on a higher difficulty level, only to realize that the enemies aren't necessarily smarter. They're just tanky. Switching settings adds chunks to your HP bar, turning the entire combat experience into a long, tedious ordeal, requiring you to deal more damage and use more consumables to survive. There is no strategy involved.
I personally don't usually play on higher difficulties due to skill issues, but when I do, I appreciate that the enemy AI is coded differently and utilizes the full range of the arsenal. I think Baldur's Gate 3 I did this pretty well, as I played in honor mode where enemies will use any means necessary to trick you. Sure, they get health buffs as well, but the extra legendary actions on bosses and more brutal actions in combat look and feel very much part of the overall experience.
Walk slowly next to an NPC
The awkwardness of having to keep pace
This may be a significant issue from a gameplay perspective, but we've all experienced this moment once or twice while playing a game. NPCs will ask you to follow them during the quest, but their walking and running are much slower than yours, so you'll have to keep stopping or slowing down. Even worse are games that intentionally nerf your speed so you can't pass anyone catching up.
Typically, when these sections happen, they either turn into cutscenes (unless there's some important gameplay to engage with) or the NPCs suddenly speed up and hope to catch up to me. Think of it this way. In many games, companions speed up to stay with you, so why can't you do the same with quest NPCs? Of course, I'm not a game developer, so please take this statement lightly. I'm sure there are warnings.
long development time
double edged sword
Over the past 10 to 15 years, it's become clear that many huge, hyped games are either taking an incredibly long time to come out, or their existence has been a matter of debate for some time. The Elder Scrolls 6, Fallout 5, Half-Life 3, GTA 6… Let's continue with examples. I 100% believe it's important not to release a game before it's ready. (ahem, cyberpunk 2077), it's also perplexing how long these developments take these days.
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It could be years before players see actual gameplay, a proper trailer, or get any real, tangible information. Plus, as fans grow older, graduate from school, and start families, it's absurd to think what stage of life they'll be in when their favorite franchises finally return. There's a game here that will keep even veterans who have long abandoned the gaming hobby coming back, but if it takes too long, there's a risk that the series' momentum will be lost. I doubt this will happen for some of the most anticipated titles. And this must be emphasized again. I think it's good for developers to cook and cook for a long time and deliver something complete while also managing player expectations through social media and interviews before release.
Too many launchers
Why do we need so many?
Monopolies are never a good thing, but with the abundance of game launchers these days, I wonder what the ultimate goal of monopolies is. Having to download a set launcher to access certain games is incredibly annoying. Some of the biggest offenders are Blizzard's titles. sims games, and fortnite.
Having all this additional software bloating your system is tiring. Especially if you only play one or two games that require such a launcher. I doubt this trend will end any time soon, especially for multiplayer titles, but we can all hope to be able to enjoy all our games from one or three centralized launchers.
big empty world
The biggest open world environments aren't always the best
With the open world boom, many games have focused on featuring large worlds. This doesn't really matter as long as this big world actually has substance. And lately, that hasn't been the case. There are so many titles trying to promote the fact that they feature large maps, but often size doesn't matter to players at all. In fact, the trend may be moving back toward more linear experiences and a limited hub world.
It turns out that if the story and gameplay are good, players will be fine with navigating their way through a world that's a bit more limited and features some truly unique, hand-crafted locations. Huge, infinite worlds only seem to really work in sandbox creation games like these: minecraftAnd if: star field It's one of the best examples of how procedural generation is fundamentally at odds with the concept of RPGs.
Repeatable Samey quest
They feel like a chore rather than an experience
Almost every big game has fetch quests, collectibles, shiny repeatable quests, etc. That's the definition of busy. It's something you can do on your side when you feel like it or when you need to grind more resources or materials for whatever you need. It can certainly be fun a few times, but as long as you know what to expect, doing the same thing over and over again in different locations can get quite tiring.
shining quest Skyrim It comes to mind as the biggest example of a repeatable quest that can go on infinitely. even cyberpunk NCPD Alerts are action-packed and fun, but they also come very quickly. Of course, there's generally nothing forcing you to interact with these quests, but I'd like to see something a little more innovative or new in this department.
Games released in an unfinished state
In the end we may need a long development time
As a PC player, one of my biggest frustrations over the past decade has been the number of triple-A games that release on PC in a nearly unplayable state. Performance is almost always sub-par and optimization will need to be done through modders and fan patches for the first few weeks. In some cases, the only option is to wait for hotfixes and patches, which can take months to fix serious problems. It's gotten to the point where I have to accept that if there's a new release I want to play, I won't be able to play it on my PC until more than six months after release, sometimes even years. Now I buy the big new releases of PS5, but even that doesn't always guarantee quality.
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Even in great games like Destiny 2 and Fallout, many players often unknowingly ruin their gaming experience due to these bad habits.
This trend is quite worrying. With RAM prices soaring and access to affordable PC parts plummeting, we think more people will be turning to consoles to experience the most anticipated games coming soon. And with the general distrust players have toward new games on PC, not to mention the predatory pricing, pre-orders and day one releases are likely to be much quieter. But we'll get to that in a moment.
Long, non-skippable, non-pause cutscenes.
Suddenly we go to the movies
Look, I love a good cutscene and I wouldn't dream of skipping one the first time I play any game, but I need an option to pause it. This is especially true if the game contains very long cutscenes. There may be an ending or important reveal that players don't want to miss. It's even more frustrating to have to look up those cutscenes online later to see them in full when you're distracted.
What's worse are the repetitive, unskippable cutscenes. For example, it's pretty annoying to go into a boss encounter (looking at Yunalesca), die multiple times, and then have to watch the intro cutscene over and over again. This is a small detail that may deter players from jumping into a second playthrough or even NG+ if they know they'll have to watch X cutscenes again.
Video game prices rise
The new release is a luxury
One of the most discussed issues in gaming in recent years is the overall rise in prices. This is especially felt in triple-A games and new releases, where, on PC at least, in addition to performance issues and unreliable optimization, people are reluctant to pre-order. It doesn't help that we live in an era of deflation, where prices are the same or even higher than before.
These days, some releases can go up to $90 without naming or shaming you. That's not far from $100, where we start asking ourselves whether we can afford to buy our weekly groceries or play that new game that just came out. Times are tough and these price hikes are leaving a serious bad taste in people's mouths. On the other hand, there's more attention being paid to much cheaper indie games, sales are becoming more and more popular, and Game Pass is a legitimate option for getting your hands on new games, regardless of your opinions on subscriptions.
Limited-time events and manufacturing FOMO
you had to be there
We've seen this all the time in live service games: limited-time events. Otherwise, don't miss out on these cool cosmetic items, weapons, skins, emblems or other exclusive items. On the one hand, it almost feels like a necessity for live service games where you need to keep the hype going throughout the season to avoid slumps and slow moments.
On the other hand, it's incredibly frustrating for time-poor players. Not everyone can show up to play every day, and capitalizing on this by using manufactured FOMO naturally leaves players feeling like their time and money are not respected. Sometimes it can feel like the game is taking over your life as you feel pressured to keep up with every event and challenge and unlock everything.
