I think we all have at least one game that we really love but which also has that one game mechanic that is just bafflingly stupid, annoying or broken, without being bad enough that it sours the entire game for us.
For me, that has to be the inventory & menu system in Earthbound.
Earthbound is in many regards a great game but the inventory system is just garbage.
For starters, it doesn't have a section for important items.
Why do the sound stone, the map, the ATM card AND the receiver phone all have to be stored in your regular inventory? They are all very basic but passive items that you can't use in battle so they should really have their own category.
Also stuff like the pencil eraser or many other quest items, they all clog up your inventory.
I mean come on, every RPG (even back when this was made) had a basic "key items" or "important things" section.
I shouldn't have to occupy so many item slots just so I can look at my map or recieve scripted phone calls or be able to get my fucking money.
Sure, it's charming and "realistic"... but the charm quickly wears off and it just gets annoying.
Add to that the fact that all of your equip items ALSO have to be stored in the same inventory and Ness ends up with almost no space in his pockets.
Besides that, I think you should always have a description of each item and ability on screen whenever you have the cursor on it, instead of having to select "help" on every item individually or go into another menu. You can't even do that during battle, in a shop or in other menus like that.
So when you're in a shop and there's an item you don't know, you just have to buy it in good faith that it'll be useful and then check your inventory to see what it does. If you're lucky it won't be a total waste of money or inventory space.
And when you have one of the million different status ailments and forgot which PSI Healing you need to get rid of it, if you're in battle, you just have to either take a guess or use the best one you have and potentially waste your precious PP.
When my RPG ("That's the Spirit!", I mentioned it before, elsewhere) is done I want the inventory system to be as convenient, intuitive and user-friendly as possible.
There will always be a description that tells you every single thing you need to know about an item or move, even in stores or other menus, all the equip items go into a seperate menu, so they don't take up space in your inventory, and when you're in a shop you'll be able to buy, sell, check and re-arrange your items all on the same screen without having to go in and out of menus.
Same with equip items. Why shouldn't you be able to do everything you can do in your "equip" screen while in a shop? If you want to try out different items you already own or check how they effect your stats you shouldn't have to leave the shop screen.
But you get the gist.
What about you? Any specific game mechanics or elements that you hate without ruining the game for you?
For me, that has to be the inventory & menu system in Earthbound.
Earthbound is in many regards a great game but the inventory system is just garbage.
For starters, it doesn't have a section for important items.
Why do the sound stone, the map, the ATM card AND the receiver phone all have to be stored in your regular inventory? They are all very basic but passive items that you can't use in battle so they should really have their own category.
Also stuff like the pencil eraser or many other quest items, they all clog up your inventory.
I mean come on, every RPG (even back when this was made) had a basic "key items" or "important things" section.
I shouldn't have to occupy so many item slots just so I can look at my map or recieve scripted phone calls or be able to get my fucking money.
Sure, it's charming and "realistic"... but the charm quickly wears off and it just gets annoying.
Add to that the fact that all of your equip items ALSO have to be stored in the same inventory and Ness ends up with almost no space in his pockets.
Besides that, I think you should always have a description of each item and ability on screen whenever you have the cursor on it, instead of having to select "help" on every item individually or go into another menu. You can't even do that during battle, in a shop or in other menus like that.
So when you're in a shop and there's an item you don't know, you just have to buy it in good faith that it'll be useful and then check your inventory to see what it does. If you're lucky it won't be a total waste of money or inventory space.
And when you have one of the million different status ailments and forgot which PSI Healing you need to get rid of it, if you're in battle, you just have to either take a guess or use the best one you have and potentially waste your precious PP.
When my RPG ("That's the Spirit!", I mentioned it before, elsewhere) is done I want the inventory system to be as convenient, intuitive and user-friendly as possible.
There will always be a description that tells you every single thing you need to know about an item or move, even in stores or other menus, all the equip items go into a seperate menu, so they don't take up space in your inventory, and when you're in a shop you'll be able to buy, sell, check and re-arrange your items all on the same screen without having to go in and out of menus.
Same with equip items. Why shouldn't you be able to do everything you can do in your "equip" screen while in a shop? If you want to try out different items you already own or check how they effect your stats you shouldn't have to leave the shop screen.
But you get the gist.
What about you? Any specific game mechanics or elements that you hate without ruining the game for you?
