10 Awesome Video Game Mechanics (That Are Impossible To Pull Off)
Wait, DOOM's enemies can fight each other??
At the end of the day, your game can be pretty and your story can be enrapturing but the thing that makes us happy to pick a game back up over and over again is its gameplay. From the humble 2D platformer to the 3D open world RPG, developers have to craft a game that’s engaging and fun to play if they want to retain their audience.
Better yet, innovating and experimenting with awesome new additions to the playstyle is how you make your title stand out from the crowd.
Seems obvious right? You’d think so. So why do some game studios craft really cool gameplay mechanics that are a struggle to use?
How frustrating is it to know how cool a gameplay mechanic is but you just can't bring yourself to get it right? Difficulty is one thing but overcomplication, insane control schemes, demands for your time; these kinds of things make us feel like kids that have been shown a fancy new toy and then told to keep to keep it in its box.
In this list we’ll be looking at some games that featured some really cool mechanics that only the best and most dedicated got the most out of.
10. Potion Mixing - The Witcher 2
One of the great things about the Witcher games is just how much there is to do that you can totally get through each title and not have experienced everything. Except Gwent. We all played Gwent.
Many players never bothered with the potion making and mixing in The Witcher 2 because they’d rather go monster hunting than ingredient gathering.
Making a potion in game is a step by step process that requires finding a place to meditate, having read a specific potion formula, holding the ingredients to make whatever quality base you’d like and then all the ingredients for the specific potion. Potions use ingredients that can be crafted elsewhere so it’s all too easy to use something that you need later. Video game material hoarders can attest to this concern.
Potions are cool and can have numerous great effects such as status resistance, a higher chance of parry or making invisible enemies visible. But if you failed to craft something worthwhile, your concoction could kill you so… do you really want to risk it?
The importance of such things depends on your difficulty choice of course, but if you’re going for a casual jaunt through the world of Witcher 2 then you probably won't have much use for potions nor the time spent putting them together.