10 Video Game Tropes We're Sick Of
When turning off your game and going outside seems more fun, something has gone terribly wrong.
No one plays computer games to have a bad time, and we gamers are very vocal when it comes to voicing our displeasure. Luckily, game developers are open to player feedback and keen to keep gamers happy as best they can (within reason).
This is increasingly the case in the age of social media, where it's not unusual to exchange messages with game developers about content quality and play-ability. It's a symbiotic relationship, and developers are largely receptive to concern and criticism - so why some continue to employ certain tropes that have been the bane of gaming for years, we don't know.
Rather than disappearing altogether once universally condemned, some stale cliches have seemingly carved out a permanent place in gaming despite that vocal opposition - tropes that provoke a dramatic eye roll at best and launching our controller at the TV at worst.
So with that in mind, here's a list of gaming tropes we'd happily delete from gaming culture forever.
10. Elemental Enemies
Fire, water, earth, air. Just, make, it, stop.
Computer games are often feats of imagination and technical achievement. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of game developers working together to provide hours of fun for us lucky gamers.
But the inclusion of the four typical elemental enemies too often boils down to a rather flashy game of rock-paper-scissors. That a fire demon? Garden hose coming up. Water monster? Grab your stun gun. Earth giant throwing stones at you? Shields up. Oh no, is that an evil air spirit? Take a coat, love.
The main problem is the fact that such are enemies are so damn common, to the point where it seems fantasy RPGs are contractually obliged to include them. Given the effort put into the world-building and lore of such games, it's baffling that developers would resort to their continued inclusion when there's so much originality in other aspects of games.