10 Things Video Games Really Need To Stop Doing

3. Scripted Fail States

There’s something that feels particularly unfair about pulling off a tricky boss encounter or series of quicktime events only to arrive at a scripted fail state.

So, tumbling down that waterfall in Tomb Raider one moment is an instadeath but fall down that same waterfall four quicktime events later when you’re supposed to and you’ll move on to the next chapter.

Heavy Rain, Until Dawn, and Uncharted are also classic offenders of this particular frustration where you’re left wondering why you bothered to avoid certain peril dozens of times only to fall victim to scripted peril mere moments later. Outside of quicktime and platforming heavy sequences, this same thing can happen in boss fights that you aren’t ever supposed to win.

When you’re absolutely trouncing a boss and then the game interjects with a cutscene that has you lose it feels pretty unfair.

A perfect example of this is the sci-fi butthead we’ve already mentioned once on this list, Mass Effect’s Kai Leng. It doesn't matter how easily you beat him up, the following cutscene has you lose because of reasons. On the flipside are cases like Devil May Cry 5 where you are indeed supposed to lose the first boss fight, but if you do manage to win, the game just ends because, well, you won. Well done you.