10 Video Game Cliches That Need To Die

2. Highlighted Climbable Areas

tomb raider swan dive lara croft
Crystal Dynamics

The issue that faces developers when they put climbing mechanics into their games is that, unless they're making Breath of the Wild, not everything can be climbed.

Consequently, they need to find a way to communicate to players what can be traversed and what's just set dressing, and that usually results in every climbable ledge having a visual signifier, whether that's a yellow painted outline in Tomb Raider, or simply highlighting ledges a different shade from the environment they're attached to in Uncharted.

There obviously needs to be some way to identify interactive areas, but it can make the game world feel more artificial than it should. I mean, after all, who was leaving behind hundreds of ropes in Far Cry 4?

God of War recently did a great job of justifying why certain areas were highlighted, so hopefully devs get more inventive in the future.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.