10 Things Video Games Do (That We Never Want To See Again)

6. Forced Walking & Tailing Missions

I know why this one happens, the devs have inserted an exposition dump in the form of an NPC and he has a hell of a lot to get through before we stroll into town or to the cave or whatever we’re doing but there are few things as painful as being forced to walk in a game.

I’m looking at you Metro, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the Gears of War 2 comms chat sections.

Sometimes you don’t even need an NPC to slow you down, maybe your character is just having a moment or maybe they’re tailing someone. I’ve thrown the latter in with this entry because the annoyance comes from the same place. If I’m the Dragonborn or the Hero of Kvatch I don’t see why I’m crouched here behind this pillar and creeping down the road trying to see where some dude spends his seedy afternoons.

Yakuza spinoff Judgment is a great example of this. The game is an absolute blast, the combat is chaotic and exciting, and then there are the tailing missions.

Here you’ll need to hurry on after some dummy who frequently changes directions, suspiciously looks behind him even though he doesn’t know you’re there, and stands still staring right at you only to pissbolt in the other direction for which you’ll get a notification that you’re “losing the target”.

Lost Judgment does have a pretty funny option to ‘act casual’ if you’re spotted but I still don’t want video games to do this any more.