Fussy and annoying stages in games you otherwise like

[Sin Agog]

I want to mention the jerky racing levels in Knights of the Old Republic, but then I used to love it when games would flit about between genres and styles according to wherever the story happened to be. It's how gaming should be.

[Dannyhood91]

Is that The Lawnmower Man?

Fuck, I hated that game with a passion. Bought because it was cheap and I was fed up of waiting to save up enough pocket money to buy a decent SNES title. God, it was utterly dreadful. Terrible cheap 'n nasty 2D levels punctuated by pseudo-3D levels that even at the time looked ropey (and played even worse).

Horrible title.

I used to love this game. I never got past about level 3 though because I was just a nipper.

[kidney]

The Twilight Town chapter in Paper Mario TTYD where you have to run back and forth from the town through the woods to the steeple about 7 times, sometimes without any party members so you're screwed if you get into a battle.

The island section of Resident Evil 4.

The jungle level in GoldenEye, could never do that as a kid.

The Bevelle Temple trials in FFX with the moving platforms and maze-like structure that is generally disorientating as all fuck.

Any level in Hotline Miami 2 where you're shot from offscreen and die.

Any section in a Souls game where you can't fucking see a thing.

[Replies From View]

The Amazing Illusion screen of Fantasy World Dizzy on the Spectrum.

[magval]

Hate the lake monster level in Resident Evil 4. Takes ages and is no fun at all to play.

Also the vehicle stages in Crash 3.

[Bogbrainedmurphy]

Escorting/defending tasks drive me potty, as do those missions on games such as COD which require you to hold off respawning enemies for a set amount of time before a rescue.

Escaping Pripyat following the "All Ghillied Up" mission where you get a bit of time to set up some sort of perimeter before facing an onslaught is a prime example.

Not a level or even compulsory as such, but the deeper the editing options on PES used to get the more teeth itchingly obsessed with completing everything before even playing a match I became, awful.

I'm glad I fell out of love with PES, at it's worst stage I was scouring the internet for proof of the design of Thailand's away and keeper kits to edit them, without ever intending to play as or against them. The thought of something on that database not being quite right while I played matches on it elsewhere made me feel really uneasy. And that is not healthy.

[The Boston Crab]

Totally agree on the defending a zone bullshit. In Resi 4 the bit in the house/hut is pretty decent and tense but only because it's pretty easy. They repeat the trick several times thinking about it, mostly find it too tense and unpleasant.

[madhair60]

Also the vehicle stages in Crash 3.

Those segments are gash. Bandicoot

[Sebastian Cobb]

Answering the questions to prove I was old enough to play Leisure Suit Larry.

I vaguely remember a friend having a copy of Zool with one of those anti-piracy code books, and to get round the usual trick of just photocopying it, it had matte black pages with gloss black writing.

[madhair60]

Alt and X skips those questions. Ctrl-alt-X in the VGA remake

[Jerzy Bondov]

The big hall in the Resi4 castle where Ashley has to climb up and pull levers while getting attacked by monks while you are also attacked by monks.

[holyzombiejesus]

I played a Spiderman game on the PS2 where you had to jump over these revolving platforms on the roof. It was incredibly tedious, far too difficult and gave me a headache.

[Steve Lampkins]

The original Mafia was ace, but it had a terrible motor racing part where the AI was a cheating bastard.

There were save files floating around to get you past it, but I think I used a glitch that someone discovered.

[magval]

The big hall in the Resi4 castle where Ashley has to climb up and pull levers while getting attacked by monks while you are also attacked by monks.

No way. Played that the other day and I fucking love it, one of my favourite stages in the game. Goes on for fucking ages too. Also depending how well you're getting on, there'll be extra challenges, like the cunts shooting arrows at me from the balcony and the prick in red dispatching a load of scythe goons at me from the top of the staircase when it folder down.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I think it was ok with Ashley in Resi 4, but in Resident Evil 5, unless you were playing co-op with a mate it was a pain in the arse as your fuckwit partner seemingly constantly got themselves into trouble.

[Phil_A]

The motorcycle chase in Shenmue. Mainly because of the fact there's no savepoint before it, so you've no choice but to watch the same unskippable cutscene over and over and over until you get it right.

[Bazooka]

The motorcycle chase in Shenmue. Mainly because of the fact there's no savepoint before it, so you've no choice but to watch the same unskippable cutscene over and over and over until you get it right.

Shenmue 2 had a few real QTE slogs where if you fucked up, you had to watch an 8 min cutscene again.

[magval]

I watched your man the Viper stream both Shenmues on Youtube recently. Was the appeal of those games exclusive to the time they were released? They didn't seem even remotely enjoyable to play.

[madhair60]

I watched your man the Viper stream both Shenmues on Youtube recently. Was the appeal of those games exclusive to the time they were released? They didn't seem even remotely enjoyable to play.

They never were. Others will disagree. Best to listen to them really.

[St_Eddie]

I watched your man the Viper stream both Shenmues on Youtube recently. Was the appeal of those games exclusive to the time they were released? They didn't seem even remotely enjoyable to play.

They're an acquired taste, to be sure.  Personally, I love Shenmue but it's far from a game for everyone.  Then again, given that I originally played Shenmue on my Dreamcast upon release, I can't truly say how much my love for the series is down to nostalgia at this point.  I honestly don't know how I'd feel about Shenmue, if I were to play it for the first time these days.  However, I suspect that I'd still enjoy the experience.  It's definitely an esoteric game and not something that would be appreciated by the majority of mainstream gamers.

[Ferris]

They're an acquired taste, to be sure.  Personally, I love Shenmue but it's far from a game for everyone.  Then again, given that I originally played Shenmue on my Dreamcast upon release, I can't truly say how much my love for the series is down to nostalgia at this point.  I honestly don't know how I'd feel about Shenmue, if I were to play it for the first time these days.  However, I suspect that I'd still enjoy the experience.  It's definitely an esoteric game and not something that would be appreciated by the majority of mainstream gamers.

The context in which you enjoyed the game has changed. It would be impossible to avoid comparing it to the GTA series, and those games are better.

[QDRPHNC]

They never were. Others will disagree. Best to listen to them really.

Speaking of Shenmue, I have a vague memory of a really terrible review of it on IGN.

Found it immediately. Here's my favourite quote:

From the city objects like telephone booths, vending machines, and road signs to the intricate ink drawings in your Ryo's father's dojo, the Buddhist altar in Ryo's house, and the SEGA Saturn under Ryo's TV (LONG LIVE THE SATURN!), you can't even begin to imagine... well actually, you can. Look around your computer room and look for any book. Find one? Now pick it up and turn the pages. What you're doing is mimicked with near flawless visual detail in Shenmue; if this sounds rather boring playing with "real-life" objects, it's far from that.

[St_Eddie]

The context in which you enjoyed the game has changed. It would be impossible to avoid comparing it to the GTA series, and those games are better.

GTA and Shenmue aren't even vaguely similar (outside of some ridiculously broad surface level similarities).  I'm a fan of adventure games.  Shenmue is an adventure game, ergo I think that I would still appreciate it, if I were to play it for the first time today (though I can't be certain).  GTA is not an adventure game.  At all.  Saying that "GTA is better than Shenmue" is like saying that Outrun 2 is better than Bioshock.  Apples and oranges.

Speaking of Shenmue, I have a vague memory of a really terrible review of it on IGN.

Found it immediately. Here's my favourite quote:

From the city objects like telephone booths, vending machines, and road signs to the intricate ink drawings in your Ryo's father's dojo, the Buddhist altar in Ryo's house, and the SEGA Saturn under Ryo's TV (LONG LIVE THE SATURN!), you can't even begin to imagine... well actually, you can. Look around your computer room and look for any book. Find one? Now pick it up and turn the pages. What you're doing is mimicked with near flawless visual detail in Shenmue; if this sounds rather boring playing with "real-life" objects, it's far from that.

Okay?  You don't personally agree with that quote.  That's fine but I don't see how that makes the review terrible, just because you don't share the reviewer's opinion.  As I previously said, it's not a game for everyone.  As someone who loves the game, I 100% agree with that quote.  The "real-life" simulation of Shenmue is a huge part of the appeal for fans such as myself.  It was downright revolutionary back when it was released and I've always had a fascination with such things.

[QDRPHNC]

Okay?  You don't personally agree with that quote.  As I previously said, it's not a game for everyone.  As someone who loves the game, I 100% agree with that quote.  The "real-life" simulation of Shenmue is a huge part of the appeal for fans such as myself.  It was downright revolutionary back when it was released and I've always had a fascination with such things.

It's not that I disagree with his opinion, exactly, more that the review is a hyperbolic, atrociously-written piece of crap. Did you miss the part where he compares the graphics in Shenmue to literally picking up a book and looking at it in real life?

Also, the fact that he directs the reader to look around their "computer room" tickled me.

[St_Eddie]

Did you miss the part where he compares the graphics in Shenmue to literally picking up a book and looking at it in real life?

Except that the reviewer didn't say "literally".  Also, the reviewer wasn't talking about the graphics in that sentence.  The reviewer was correctly describing the level of interaction within the game, or at least certainly as to how it felt back in 1999.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with that quote, especially given the context of when it was written.

Also, the fact that he directs the reader to look around their "computer room" tickled me.

Yes, that was daft.  I'll grant you that.

[QDRPHNC]

Except that the reviewer didn't say "literally".  The reviewer correctly described the level of interaction within the game, or at least certainly as to how it felt back in 1999.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with that quote, given the context of when it was written.

No, he didn't literally use the word literally, he just said that picking up a book and looking at it in real life is "mimicked with near flawless visual detail in Shenmue."

Yes, that was daft.  I'll grant you that.

More of a window into his world.

[Ferris]

Ok

[QDRPHNC]

I think GTA and Shenmue are comparable.

[Ferris]

I think GTA and Shenmue are comparable.

I think they're more than "not even vaguely similar" but it's sunny and I'm out for a walk so who cares? Monster bacon sandwich from the market as well - 6 rashers! An absolute beast.

[QDRPHNC]

I think they're more than "not even vaguely similar" but it's sunny and I'm out for a walk so who cares? Monster bacon sandwich from the market as well - 6 rashers! An absolute beast.

From Carousel Bakery? Lucky git.