9 Most Overdone Clichés In Modern Video Games

7. Difficulty Through Numbers, Not Skill

It's hard to pin down precisely when this went mainstream, but every time a game's challenge is predicated on making you grind out some levels and numbers rather than actually get better at timing or combat mechanics, that's the issue.

We're talking areas of an open-world gated by one-hit kill enemies, a boss that flattens you because their "level" is more than five above yours, even though all they're doing is jabbing you with a dagger. Ostensibly, it's the sort of game design MMORPGs focus on balancing out for months or years' worth of play, condensed and crowbarred into a triple-A action title.

Why? Often, it's to alleviate the grind with microtransactions or pre-order stat boosts.

As I write this, Marvel's Avengers is another. A game where you're only as powerful as whatever statistic is on your current piece of loot; only as effective as whatever canned animation you can trigger over and over, and if you can't hit hard enough, the only recourse is to grind until your number is higher.

Contrast this with games where you actually get better as a player - Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro, Breath of the Wild. Those that hide their numbers altogether feel far more natural and rewarding to play.