10 Ways Video Games Keep Pissing Off Fans

3. Hand-Holding

Another thing fans are well and truly sick of, I guess unless you’re like a kid or especially new to video games, is hand holding. This goes double for any hand holding that extends past the tutorial or is impossible to turn off. There’s nothing wrong with a tutorial that runs you through the basics, personally I don’t even mind being told how to use directional keys if it helps somebody who needs it.

But I swear to god if one more NPC tries to tell me how to solve a puzzle when I’m part way through doing it I’m going to stab them in the back and reload so I don’t get in trouble.

Some games barely give you a moment of failing at a puzzle, combat encounter, or platforming section before they’ll tap you on the shoulder asking if you want to pull the difficulty down or dropping hints you didn’t ask for. This is especially bad with adaptive difficulty that decides of its own accord to make things easier without even letting you know that it’s happening behind the scenes.

Then there are NPCs, companions, or even the game itself regularly piping up to remind you of where you need to go next, even if you were happily exploring. Whatever the case may be, stop it, video games. Bad video games.