If there's
poor game design in a game, then I'm going to call it out, no matter how famous the title is.
Instead, its horrors are derived from the game's shoddy execution, weak puzzles and frustrating play rhythms, a nest
of poor game design decisions through which disappointment, not fear, are hatched.
Even the intense parkour sequences are fractured
by poor game design such as the ability to consume energy rich drinks or food while mid-climb.
So
many poor game design choices, bugs, crashed twice on PS4 Pro and just lack of enough testing before release.
I believe that to be
poor game design because it will turn off many players, who will then not experience the rest of the game (or if they do it'll be on YouTube).
I find it to be
poor game design when unlockables are gated behind brutal challenges, as it creates an unnecessarily frustrating experience (especially for completionists).
Want to play gimmick levels, auto run levels, slight variations on 1 - 1, and hilariously difficult levels
with poor game design?
The bottom line is that Sticker Star is a generally enjoyable experience filled with long stretches of utter rage induced
by poor game design.
Whether your tastes align more with the East or the West,
poor game design is still poor game design.
Numerous other frustrations, problems and examples of
poor game design are present throughout the course of the game as well, although for the sake of keeping this review somewhat short I'll forgo talking about many of them.
This, in no simple terms, is
poor game design.
As many of us probably know, uneven difficulty curves or
poor game design can absolutely ruin those experiences and make difficulty a factor once again.
This can be
poor game design, or fiddly obtuse UI from an era gone by.
For example, I previously mentioned that I believe
its poor game design to put an unlockable behind a brutal challenge.
That is
poor game design, as it is not reasonable to expect players to use an ability that they don't even know they have.
Buffs as «Gameplay»: Buffs — temporary passive enhancements or protections — are
poor game design.
Indeed, whether by deliberate intention or
poor game design, certain boss battles spike a games difficulty in such a fashion that they have gamers tearing hair out, screaming into pillows and throwing controllers around the room in frustration.
Side missions tackle the quest giver's existential issues extremely well in purely thematic instances, but its gameplay counterpart is not nearly well - versed and feels slightly disconnected from the interesting story that's taking place — it's genuinely interesting thematic values and character development that are shackled down by
poor game design.
Whether it's console limitations,
poor game design, or annoying glitches, the following ten games won't win any awards in the art department.