10 Irritating Video Game Tropes That Refuse To Die

6. Signposted Weak Spots

Link Breath of the Wild
Sony

What's more likely to trigger a euphoric rush of adrenaline? Defeating a boss whose Achilles heel is so clearly signposted that the challenge comes not in wandering off mid-fight out of boredom, or a tussle where half the battle is working out how best to exploit the movements of a foe that's settled on consuming your flesh for breakfast?

The correct answer to that rhetoric is scenario B, and the explanation for why a certain FromSoftware series sits at the tippy-top of the mountain when it comes to memorable encounters.

Dark Souls isn't without its flaws (good job ruining the mood, Bed of Chaos) but FromSoft's series lives and dies on its reputation for not mollycoddling the player. Besides a shard of hammered metal to help your Chosen Undead succeed, it's your job to discover how best to abuse the environment and your enemy's moves against them.

That is satisfying and intuitive game design. Take note of that next time, Nintendo, before you decide to slap yet another engorged eyeball that screams 'HIT ME!' on a dungeon boss.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.