Your gaming Kryptonite

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What is your Kryptonite? What game types, game sequences, boss battles or multiplayer types can you just not get to grips with?

Mine is being timed. There was a very short sequence in Uncharted 2 that I just played where ledges retracted under me as I climbed. It drove me into a blind panic. I got there in the end and saved immediately. Quick time events also fall into the timed category as well. Throw up a button symbol that is going to go away in a fraction of a second and I'll forget everything I ever knew about the controller I'm holding.

I don't have too many issues that I would consider my kryptonite, but something that does bother me are games that offer a multitude of options for tackling the game, but none of those options having a real impact on how to play the game. Or rather you're not given the incentive to experiment because the basic thing you learned at the beginning of the game is just as effective as progressing through the game at the end.

Basically games that offer unlockable abilities or combo systems to enhance the repertoire of attacks, but you can still take down enemies with a basic attack, and do so effectively. I guess I'm talking about the God of War/Devil May Cry/Bayonetta type games then? What is interesting to me is that I really really enjoy those games, but rarely do I ever feel the need to explore the combat system in depth because I can usually beat the game with the original three or four button combo I used initially.

I guess the reason why it bothers me sometimes is it usually leads into the "Learn 2 Play, N00b" argument when I bring it up as an issue, where I'm somehow playing the game wrong. Even though I'm still progressing, I'm not progressing in the coolest way possible.

Maybe that's it--my gaming kryptonite is hearing that argument.

Skill run games: such as Trials, Super Meat Boy etc. To me it's the gaming equivalent of punching a wall until you don't feel the pain any more.

Real time strategy. Have never liked a single one. Two reasons: I prefer doing things in games, rather than feeling like I'm telling someone else to do things; my favorite games as a kid featured persistent mechanical/character growth, and Warcraft (first one I tried) would start me with a couple peons and a piddly base every map.

PVP. I'd rather work with someone than be dominated by kiddies that have way more time than I do.

I think it's sport games where I don't fully follow the sport.

I think a lot of the reasons I play FIFA so well (apart from the fact I play it so much every year), is the fact I'm a big fan of football and I get a lot of things such as tactics and the strengths of each player.

I do enjoy other games, but NHL as an example, I was just rubbish when I played online, as although I will watch ice hockey with my mates (they're into it a lot), I don't fully have a feel for the sport, so I don't really get the best way to approach things.

Open World games.

I'm learning that as I impulse bought GTAV and after 1 hour am already bored with it.

Oopss.double post.

"Massively Multiplayer"

Occasionally I try something involving this phrase. It does not work out. It goes a little bit like this:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/NlNP2.gif)

Driving sequences/games. I am just so bad at them. I can do shooters well enough to compete, I am good at 3rd person action and platformers, and I can play fighting games well enough not to embarrass myself - but put in a driving sequence? What a recipe for frustration! My characters in GTA have the best cardiovascular health because they run everywhere!

JRPGs. I don't like the aesthetic of the games (the anime look just turns me off). I stay away from them like the plague. From what I have read about the best exemplars in the genre (the few times I have tried to get into the genre based on recommendations from friends), I don't think I would find the world building or the stories to be anything I am interested in.

Platformers. Just no. I don't hate myself so much that I will play a platformer. I have bought a few (like Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, crap like that) because people rave about them but I am terrible at them and have no desire to expend the time and effort and frustration to get any good at that style of game.

Do my particular flavors of Kryptonite mean I am missing out on some great games? I am sure of it. Do I care? Nope. Too many other things out there that I like.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Real time strategy. Have never liked a single one. Two reasons: I prefer doing things in games, rather than feeling like I'm telling someone else to do things; my favorite games as a kid featured persistent mechanical/character growth, and Warcraft (first one I tried) would start me with a couple peons and a piddly base every map.

This. My first attempt was Total Annihilation, which i really wanted to like. After the first few maps I just quit, when it felt like things were spinning out of control. Turned based strategy is where it's at; you take your turn then I'll take a few hours for my turn.

Also, Dark Souls type games. I'm at the age where I've become content to just watch someone else play it.

Forward, Down, Down-Forward + High Punch. I've never been able to nail that.

RTS. Dear God I'm a parent of twins with a fulltime career. You figure I'd be ok with nonstop action and mayhem. I fall apart faster than the Jets on gameday.

Any PVP shooter. Just go ahead and look at the bottom of the rankings. There. I'm there. That's me. The guy who's beta testing corpse reload simulator.

Budo wrote:

RTS. You figure I'd be ok with nonstop action and mayhem. I fall apart faster than the Jets on gameday.

Any PVP shooter. Just go ahead and look at the bottom of the rankings. There. I'm there. That's me. The guy who's beta testing corpse reload simulator.

We are the same person! I can't stand RTS games.

Regarding PVP, at LAN parties I would always rename myself "Free Kills". That's how good I am at PVP.

Yellow5 wrote:

Forward, Down, Down-Forward + High Punch. I've never been able to nail that.

If you can throw a fireball, you can do it. Tap forward, then quickly throw a fireball, you'll uppercut.

I believe in you.

Any multiplayer RTS for me. I love them in theory, but they're just a giant ball of stress in practice. In single player, so long as I can slow them down and/or pause them, I can usually scrape by.

I'm also not able to handle fighting game combos, but my biggest kryptonite anymore is "free-to-play". I've tried a variety of free-to-play games now, and they've almost all felt unnecessarily grindy or heavily gated in order to convince you to pay, and they've all suffered from grossly inflated content to justify their costs. I'll stop paying attention to games I was keenly interested in once I find out they're free-to-play.

For me it's JRPGs, MMOs, competitive multiplayer, and first-person platforming.

Oddly, my kryptonite has already been voiced in this thread.

RTS - Stresses me the hell out.

PvP/Online Multiplayer - No thank you. I'm more of a gaming tourist where I like to take my time and play at my own pace.

Micheal Bay - I'm finding myself less and less interested in Summer Blockbuster explosion-y games. Your Batman's, Assassin's Creed's, Far Cry's and such. Boooring. I've long since given up on Mt. Dew/Doritos-CoD action (the last game I played was OG Modern Warfare), but it's strange even to myself to realize that I just don't even care anymore for the relatively higher-brow stuff like Dishonored and BioShock. Still down with Bethesda RPGs and that ilk, though.

MOBA - LOL

Cutesy Nintendo-like Mascot games - Apparently I'm dead inside 'cause the sight of Yoshi-Yarn, Mario and all their minions makes me want to puke. That goes for the non-Nintendo cartoon properties as well. I'm not apposed to cartoon-esque presentation (Marvelous Ms. Take, for example), I just can't stand the overly sappy Saturday Morning Care Bear variety.

JRPGs - Too emo. Too many belt buckles & hair spikes. Too many "..."

-Edit to add a couple.

Anything competitive multiplayer with open mics. I feel my hope for humanity slip away every time I play them.

Other than that, timed events trip me up as well.

RTS and Platforming for me.

higgledy wrote:

Mine is being timed. There was a very short sequence in Uncharted 2 that I just played where ledges retracted under me as I climbed. It drove me into a blind panic.

That would do it for me too. Having to jump across ledges while rushing. I seriously start freaking out as if I were actually on that cliff, because falling usually means starting alll over again, or, worse yet, falling behind other players (if it's multiplayer).

I could copy/paste most every post so far and call them my own.

Great thread topic!

RTS is a big one for me - I get too stressed, feel like I have no idea what is going on wherever I'm not looking and have never gotten far enough in to one for it to click. I too tried Planetary Annihilation and bounced...still plan to go back and try again.

My biggest single kryptonite moment was Hitman Absolution. Got it on Steam for cheap, and gave it a go while farming it for cards. Found the initial infiltration stuff to be great (big Deus Ex and MGS fan) but at the point where it became clear that I was about to be forced to assassinate my target (which, obviously!) I just couldn't do it. I guess it's a testament to how immersive the setting was, but it's one of the few times I couldn't separate my personal feelings from the game, so my only option was to not play the game.

Probably an analogous thing going on where I have a blast causing mayhem in Saint's Row but can't get into GTA at all.

Any game that requires extended use of my ring and especially my pinky fingers. I just don't have the dexterity to use them effectively. For example, the best I can manage to do in Rock Band is the hard difficulty. The expert difficulty is probably physically impossible for me. I just don't have that sort of control over my pinky fingers.

Being timed is up there for me. Especially anything where you need to get to the next checkpoint or whatever before the clock runs out to get more time added to the clock.

I also dislike poorly designed missions in open world games, or really any game. Perhaps this just ties into bad game design. For example, in something like an older GTA where you need to complete a mission a certain way, or take a certain route for no obvious reason, other than the next glowing ring is on that street.

And unskippable cutscenes, especially when they are an opening sequence to a boss battle or something that kills me many times. Having to click through the same dialog every 30 seconds to start the same battle gets really old really fast.

Timed events are definitely near the top of the list for me. They induce sheer panic and I inevitably freeze.

But I think the top of my kryptonite list is anything that requires precise controller agility.

Fighting games are a good example. I simply cannot get the timing down on the combo moves. Even relatively accessible ones, like Injustice, leave me confused and ready to hurl the controller across the room. I typically can't even progress in the tutorial because of one move or another. A button + up on the right stick, then release and press B. ARGH!

Sports games, despite my love for them, can also trip me up. I usually need to rely on a basic move set in games like NBA 2K or FIFA because I can never get the timing of the advanced moves.

It's not just that I'm getting old (I am), but I also seem to lack the coordination to pull these off.

CptDomano wrote:

Basically games that offer unlockable abilities or combo systems to enhance the repertoire of attacks, but you can still take down enemies with a basic attack, and do so effectively. I guess I'm talking about the God of War/Devil May Cry/Bayonetta type games then? What is interesting to me is that I really really enjoy those games, but rarely do I ever feel the need to explore the combat system in depth because I can usually beat the game with the original three or four button combo I used initially.

I think what's happened is that those games have difficulties (or, like in the Batman series, just the normal story mode) where you can progress with the basic attacks, and then either harder difficulties or other modes (the Batman challenge rooms) where you can't progress with basic attacks. As someone who can pretty competitive/hardheaded about certain games but who is also getting old, I like the approach.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Real time strategy.

Ditto; way too stressful for me.

EDIT: Games that are primarily touch and motion controlled in real-time also give me fits. I'm looking at you, Fluidity: Spin Cycle.

I'll add one of my own: If you're a game producer more interested in "game as movie" than "gameplay," then go make a movie.

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