-The save points just before a cutscene, so if you die, you are forced to watch the said cutscene again and again.

-When characters are discussing, they say what the player is supposed to do. Dude, i’m the one who’s supposed to do so, not the guy you’re talking with.

ALWAYS ONLINE SINGLE PLAYER GAMES

• escort missions
• press x to not die
• unskippable cutscenes
• long-ass mandatory tutorial missions (I can and do RTFM, fuck you very much)
• no subtitles for spoken dialogue
• shitty writing
• shitty voice acting
• non-union voice acting
• skinny dudes with huge fucking swords
• mandatory gacha/pay to win
• padding what could be a short, fun, memorable game with a lot of bullshit
• trophies/achievements
• a plot-relevant sidekick with an overly perky VA (gives Paimon from Gacha Impact the thermonuclear side-eye)
• characters who look prepubescent in outfits a grown-ass adult would think twice about wearing
• long, convoluted processes to find “ultimate weapons” that aren’t worth the effort

Sequels having less features than the previous game without being a complete enough experience that you could ignore it. If they got rid of a lot of shallow features to focus more in-depth on others, that’s understandable.

@daredevil not being able to pause a cutscene.
Especially since I’ve had kids and often need to leave a game quickly, this has become very annoying.

Not being able to pause and rewind cutscenes. I’ve got ADHD and my attention wanders even if I’m interested in something. Let me rewind to see what I missed when my brain seeking dopamine told me to check my phone.

And being forced to walk slowly in a scene for reasons. It’s not fun; it’s frustrating.

@daredevil when I find myself in an ancient cave or tomb that has been abandoned for centuries but there’s a torch burning on the wall and candles next to every treasure chest.

Anything in a menu that you have to do a lot, but still requires multiple inputs to achieve. Think resource management in No Man’s Sky or Dark Souls. Crucial to the game, but breaks your flow over and over again.

When you get two dialog options and neither is something anyone would actually say.

Things that are really hard to do with bad ping, like the Melody’s hair quest in Hypixel skyblock

Honestly I am so over tutorials/slow starts. If it takes an hour of cutscenes, bullshit exposition, walk forward, jump three times… i don’t have the patience for it anymore.

A nice post prompt, OP. To start, and to riff off yours, I’d say games that don’t have a run option, and insist on a milquetoast in between of “fast-walking.” Here are mine that I can think of from some of the most recent games I’ve played:

–No third-person viewing option in an RPG; e.g., Cyberpunk 2077. After readily having the option in my hundreds of combined hours in Skyrim and FO, it felt preposterous not having the option to view my character at will. Crazy.

–Needlessly loud start menu music or fx leading to the title screen

–I’m doubtful there’s any sort of terminology for this, but, mission-style games that don’t make any attempt to establish a linear, interlocking world. E.g., Nioh. It’s very souls-like overall, but I really wish this aspect of the game was more like a From game in this regard.

Might edit in some more if this post stays active.