5 Video Game Tropes That Need to Die Already

Andrew Fields
Games Nintendo
Games Nintendo Xbox PlayStation

Video games are fun, but they aren’t perfect. Whether it’s bad design or market meddling, there are things that will nearly always ruin an otherwise perfect experience. Worse still, some of these have become tropes and have infected the entire industry. Here are five of the worst offenders that we’d like to see obliterated from existence.

Limited Save Slots

A classic, Legend of Zelda save slot screen.

One of the better quality-of-life changes in games was the integration of save slots. Being able to have more than one active game is an underappreciated blessing as there are a lot of uses for extra save slots. However, in those early days, sometimes the uses exceeded the number of slots available.

With advancements like SD cards and cloud storage, today there’s no need to limit the number of save slots. Unfortunately, this is one of the only problems with Kirby Star Allies. The game is a great time, especially when playing with groups. The fun nature of the game makes it worth revisiting every so often. Ideally, one game would allow a slot for the player, friends, family or roommates, and a significant other. Unfortunately, the game only allows players three save slots, no matter the amount of GBs on their SD card.

Metal Gear Survive extra character save slot
Want to add an additional character save slot to 'Metal Gear Survive'? It will cost you.

However, Kirby Star Allies isn’t the only perpetrator of this trope, Metal Gear Survive manages to take it to the next level. It goes beyond simply putting an arbitrary numerical limit on save slots by making additional slots available only through microtransactions.

Both games (and the industry) could learn something from Fire Emblem: Fates. The game has three main slots that are stored on the game card as well as several extra slots stored on SD cards in the 3DS. This is the ideal — gameplay without artificial limits.

Tutorial Characters

Navi and Link in Ocarina of Time
Navi had so much potential.

Navi, the player’s guide in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is known for spending most of the game shouting at the player while flitting across the screen. While tolerable and a nice complement to a silent protagonist, not many people actually liked Navi. She becomes less helpful and more frustrating as the game goes on.

So, it’s easy to understand how players could forget about Navi’s somewhat interesting character arc. We see the fairy go from an overeager caretaker to a purposeless wanderer when she leaves a grown and capable Link at the end of Ocarina. The moment is not as emotional as it could be, though, because the player is more than happy to see her go.

Games outside of Zelda have adopted this trope as well, including Omochao from the Sonic games and the Rotom-Dex in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Sometimes, tutorial characters work out well enough. Take the more beloved Midna of Twilight Princess. But more often than not, they make the tutorial a pain and ruin a character who had the potential to be interesting.

Unforeseen Instant Deaths

A particularly dangerous stage from 'Super Mario Bros. 3.'

What’s more fun: performing a dazzling feat of platforming expertise, or falling into an endless pit hidden behind a hill? While there’s something akin to a fun surprise in the latter, getting fooled can’t compare to succeeding. An instant death is always a hard stop in platforming games. Without them, though, there wouldn’t be any reason to perform those dazzling feats of platforming expertise.

However, if they don’t have any sort of warning, then they stop feeling like a challenge and start feeling like someone’s trolling you. Take Mighty No. 9, for example, a game where it feels like every other jump or fall will end in a purple pit of death.

Alternatively, take masochistic games like I Wanna Be the Guy for examples aplenty. The difficult platformer literally requires gamers to take leaps of faith in hopes a platform will appear that will save them from certain death.

Luckily, Super Mario Odyssey doesn’t require players to be psychic. Instead, the game gives players subtle visual cues that disaster is ahead. For example, the game’s crumbling floors look like they are going to fall apart when you touch them. If you linger too long and fall, you can’t help but laugh at yourself for not noticing the signs. This simple aesthetic tip makes the deaths from these platforms feel justified.

End Screens as Completion Bonuses

The completion screen from 'Metroid: Samus Returns.'

While the journey is typically the focus of a good game, there’s something to be said about a good ending. Upon completing the story in Super Mario: Odyssey, a player gets the classic and heartwarming “Thank you for playing my game” end screen. They also receive a completion bonus, a nifty golden sail that works well for a prestigious victory lap.

The end screen is a fitting gift that gives players satisfaction, a sort of bookend to the game. But the sail adds a layer of pride to their victory by rewarding them for going the extra mile to fully complete the game.

Super Mario Odyssey's gold sail
Now, this is a completion bonus worth showing off to the world.

However, Super Mario: Sunshine does things a bit differently. To get a unique ending screen requires days of work collecting all of the Shine Sprites. Once you’ve accomplished this not-so-insignificant feat, the game’s secret end screen finally becomes available to you.

However, this reward is unfulfilling. Unlike OdysseySunshine‘s (and similar games like the Metroid series) reward isn’t one that can be shown off or taken with the player after the credits roll. It’s a solitary accomplishment that we hope the industry moves away from, especially in the age of trophies and achievements.

Microtransactions

A loot box from 'Star Wars: Battlefront 2.'

Little remains to be said that readers don’t already think. Microtransactions may have a place in phone games like Candy Crush or Clash of Kingsas they are often actively developing to match the needs of their audiences. But full-priced games like Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Bravely Default are, by their very nature, meant to be complete.

Whether microtransactions lock away parts of these full-priced games or give players unfair advantages, they go against the spirit of gaming. In single-player games, progress should be determined by the challenges the player has overcome. In multiplayer, their rank should be dependent upon the player’s skill. Neither should be affected by the player spending money past the main price tag.

Having spent most of my life relieving academic stress by diving headfirst into nerdy interests ranging from history to sci-fi ship design, I see no reason to stop doing so now. The only difference in university is that I can do just that as part of my degree. Hooray for hipster English professors!