10 Open-World Video Game Tropes EVERYONE Is Sick Of

8. Enemies You Can Only Fight With Other Players

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Niantic

Open-world MMOs are famous for these massive 'raids' and 'world bosses', to the point that they're generally lauded as a feature.

Parts of the world or enemies you need to fight to advance a story or get an important piece of gear for your character – but they can only be defeated by a team. Or maybe even a small army!

Even more egregious are games that you can play entirely single-player, except for a couple of things where you need to seek out social interaction to win. Having fun playing this game with a tight storyline by yourself? Well, if you want to get that extra special item you've had your eye on, you'll now suddenly need to talk to other people and set up a team.

High-level character in Conan Exiles with a maxed out combat thrall by your side want to fight the first boss enemy you come across, right after the 'tutorial'?

Four hits and you're dead, but at least you took down its health by 4%. Go get your friends and come back! Oh, you don't have friends? That's okay, the boss just holds the only way to get the strongest items in the game, no big deal.

Contributor
Contributor

Author of Escort (Eternal Press, 2015), co-founder of Nic3Ntertainment, and developer behind The Sickle Upon Sekigahara (2020). Currently freelancing as a game developer and history consultant. Also tends to travel the eastern U.S. doing courses on History, Writing, and Japanese Poetry. You can find his portfolio at www.richardcshaffer.com.