10 Outdated Video Game Design Tropes That Must Die In 2017
9. AI Companions That Can't Keep Up
Many games include an AI companion that follows you around during levels. Sometimes they’ll help you out with specific skills, other times they are there to help carry your equipment, but most often they are there just so your character doesn’t sound stupid talking out loud to give exposition to the story.
Unfortunately, many games now make it compulsory to stick with these companions, meaning you can’t progress further in the level without them. This usually results in long periods of waiting at a doorway because your partner can’t keep up with you.
If you’re really unlucky and playing a particularly poor game, you’ll spend a lot of the time backtracking to try and locate your companion, only to discover the AI has gotten stuck behind a barrier back at the start of the level.
Technology has improved drastically over the years, so surely developers have figured out how to make the AI characters keep pace with the players by now? If the player’s character can run and jump over basic obstacles, why can’t the AI as well?