10 Video Game Mechanics That Make No Sense

More often than not, video games are a uniquely immersive brand of escapism in which players can travel to fantastical worlds and do things they never could in real life.

Games by their nature aren't supposed to be strictly "realistic," though that doesn't mean they can't adhere to the basic rules of our own existence. And yet, so many games feature mechanics that categorically betray the building blocks of reality.

This is most often done by game developers in order to give the player a more seamless, hassle-free experience.

Real life can be a troubling bore, after all, and so players are typically willing to overlook some nonsense mechanics if they result in greater overall enjoyment.

And yet, if you step back and consider these mechanics, they really don't make any sense at all in the most basic terms.

The offending games certainly hope that you don't think too hard about these gameplay features, as if you do your sense of immersion just might be shattered.

The majority of these mechanics are commonplace enough that players basically just accept them, whether they grant a time-saving advantage or just create a ton of busy-work...

One of the most pervasive gaming trends of the last decade-or-so is "detective vision," whereby the player character is able to scan the surrounding environment for points of interest, and even tag enemies and trace their movements through objects.

While some games at least try to explain this mechanic away within the context of its world, like Batman being rich enough to create environment-scanning tech, or Geralt of Rivia having supernatural Witcher Senses, even many realistic(ish) action games will allow you to freely track enemy combatants in a way that isn't even remotely realistic.

Granted, games would probably be a lot less fun if you had no idea whatsoever where the enemy was going, but often it feels like developers use Detective Vision as a crutch to compensate for overly cluttered, busy level design where enemies can't easily be distinguished by the player.

Though The Last of Us' Listen Mode is intended to be a translation of what Joel and Ellie can hear, it still feels somewhat at odds with the game's grittier survival thriller tone. Without it, though, the gameplay would simply be offputtingly difficult for many players.

Such is the tension inherent in Detective Mode - it's useful, but doesn't really make much sense within the internal logic of many games that use it.

And yet, it's so commonplace and accepted nowadays that it probably isn't going away anytime soon - if ever.