- hubs / hub worlds
- arbitrary inclusion of puzzles in games/genres that don't focus on puzzles
- not clear where you have to go / what you have to do (typically resulting in unnecessary backtracking)
- low to average framerates
- splitscreen that's an afterthought (e.g. only one mode, one arena, good for 15 minutes at best) or isn't compelling even if you have 2 players.
- save management (including save points, quicksaving, having to manually save, and games where saving requires a one-time-use item)
- being able to get stuck do to saving in a place you were ill-equipped to handle, and unable to leave, having to start the entire game over
- lack of movelists in a fighting game (or Twisted Metal game) even in the manual
- having to take turns with opponent to check movelists because it doesn't show moves for both players simultaneously
- controls not remappable
- when you lose, you are taken back to the title screen, and have to reload your save from the memory card or hard drive, as though you just powered on the system.
- double jump, where the 2nd jump is more like a delay rather than an actual jump
- double jump that is relatively easy to whiff, so that out of the thousand times you're required to perform one, invariably some will result in unfair death
- platformers where jump is X button / A button but camera control is the righthand control stick.
- games with tutorials / help dialogue that make everything including once simple concepts sound more complicated than it really is. (''press A to jump over this hole'' becomes ''press A to jump thus gaining an temporarily increase altitude before gravity pulls you down, this can be used to clear missing sections in the terrain immediately before you when using in conjuction with the analog stick. When in contact with the ground, control resumes to normal and you can jump again.'') It's like... who is this written for.
- hidden collectible items such as cogtags or medallions without sufficient help to locate them. (i.e. not showing how many in each area/chapter and how many you have found) (ones you found permanently disappear, making it harder find the rest) (no radar or chime when they are nearby)
- arbitrarily making the player unlock certain content instead of being available out of the box. (Primarily applies to fighting game characters, but applies to other things as well)
- games with a laundry list of combos to memorize, in genres that aren't hack-and-slash, or in franchises that didn't originally have them. (Superman Returns, Sonic Unleashed PS360, Castlevania Lords of Shadow, etc)
- ultra high speed games where you can't see where you're going due to low camera angle (Burnout Paradise) or side-scrolling perspective.
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