I'm Tired of Handholding in Video Games.
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Some games treat you like you're a child and over-explain even the simplest mechanics to you, which I find strange. 15-20 years ago, games didn't feel the need to do that, and we still figured out how to play. I'm getting tired of characters spoiling puzzles, games telling us exactly where to go and what to do, etc. Let's talk about games that hold your hand too much.
Edited with Gling AI: bit.ly/46bGeYv
Special Thanks to the following:
Video Credit:
Design Doc, WhatCulture Gaming, Game Maker's Toolkit, Worth A Buy, ChronoGear, IGN, Easy Allies, gamereanx, Stodeh, gocalibergaming, Skill Up, British Pathe, djbeema, cheniorx x, JT Gameplay, Steve Saylor
Music Credit:
"Apex" by Vladmsorensen
Karl Casey @WhiteBatAudio
"Die Historic" by Three Chain Links
#gaming #videogames #horizonforbiddenwest #godofwarragnarok - Ігри
It's incredibly rewarding learning how to exploit intricate gameplay mechanics without a tutorial, or simplified controls.
Exactly.
I've just gone from playing Sniper Elite 5 to SnowRunner, and good lord the difference in hand-holding could not be more noticeable. More than once in SE5 I was reduced to yelling 'Shut up, Karl!' at the screen. Yes, I'm in the final mission, and yes I know how to hide in long grass, for crying out loud. 🙄But in SnowRunner they really do expect you to figure stuff out on your own - and there's no annoying character chatter - and it's all the better for it.
Great example of what I'm talking about. I respect devs that trust their players to figure things out (that's one of the most satisfying aspects of gameplay: discovering new stuff to do!)
The reason why this is happening is because developers and publishers are too scared that they will frustate casuals who make up the vast majority of the audience. So they do anything they can to make everything as easy as possible so that the casuals are more likely to buy future sequels.
*He already said that before the 1st minute of the video...*
That's the motivation yes
This reminds me of the Sly Cooper games...
Before most missions (yes MOST missions) the character "Bentley" will brief you in by explaining where to go and what you have to do as well as temporarily breaking the 4th wall every time by saying things like "When you get up close, press the X button to do this" or "Once you are there, make sure to hit the Triangle button in order to do that". This character is talking to the character that the player is playing as by telling them which button on the controller they need to press... nearly every mission this is what you have to listen to. And sometimes when you reach the target or get to where you need to be, Bentley will remind you once more by summarizing which button does what.
Tbf this game is targeted more towards younger audiences, but I'm sure even kids can read prompts that contain less than 3 words on a screen without needing to be reminded throughout the majority of the game.
Great video as usual :)
I'm VERY familiar with this one haha. I replayed the sly cooper games (especially 3) a ridiculous amount of times throughout my childhood, and sitting through those explanations basically became a bathroom break or time to grab food bc they were so monotonous and annoying.
Thanks!
I also really don't like it when characters acknowledge that they are in a videogame. It is a really weird case of cognitive dissonance when you think about it. Why would characters that are self aware about being in a videogame care about anything that happens during the story if they know that it isn't real and therefore completely meaningless? It makes no sense from a storytelling perspective.
I share the same sentiment and its annoying when games treat me like a baby. I believe forspoken does this, the game has to explain how to use the menu ffs.
This is why Elden Ring, Sekiro, Rimworld, Factorio (to name a few) are such welcome breaths of fresh air, they just drop you in the world and let you figure things out for yourself.
I have to wonder what devs are thinking when they explain how to use a MENU to their audience. Everyone around me grew up playing gameboy era games and we were just fine without copious amounts of tutorials.
@@realtayo42 they probably think their audience are all dumbasses lol, "You click on the equip menu to equip your gear" who would've thought?!
Personally I can't stand when games don't give me direction on how to proceed the main story. I'm an adult with a full-time job, wife & other responsibilities, tell me what I need to do cuz it might have been a few days or a week since I've played... However totally agree that the hand holding is annoying & I'm not advocating for it, I'm just saying don't expect me to have a notebook beside me to track information that could be just pointed out on a map with a quick icon.
There's definitely a balancing point that would be fine for people on both sides of the fence, if devs want to stick to a 1 option solution (I would prefer to have a slider for the level of assistance. That being said, I think in general, recent big releases have leaned toward handholding as opposed to the more ambiguous side like in Morrowind.
@@realtayo42 oh yeah, in terms of giving hints to solve puzzles I hate that. I can look that up if I'm really stumped.
Bro, I’m digging your content man.
Thank you!
There is a fine line between hand-holding and telling you nothing. Tell you the basics but make it skippable and make it quick.
Basically
In games like dark souls, Rain world or Celeste, the game teaches you the basic mechanics, but let’s the player figure out and master the more advanced mechanics to further benefit them throughout the game, which is what makes them so engaging. Too bad most modern games are too afraid to do this.
Exactly
I'd love more games to allow for more freedom of movement & physics, environmental effects. It's so satisfying when your character can interact with the world around them. I'd love more stealth approach options/crime scene discoveries/evidence puzzle solving aspects/climbing, platforming aspects. Etc.
Freedom is such a big thing; I'm not great at character action games but I love knowing that in something like bayonetta, I'm only limited by my own skill, not the game. Practicing the moves, learning the more advanced combos, and pulling them off is so much more satisfying than being railroaded down one specific way to play a game.
@@realtayo42 totally agree 👍🏻 i think mario 64 & game's like skate 1 did a great job at putting out a game that had a basic movement build and a environment you can mess around with and you can learn how to engage and traverse the environment however you want based on how you learn how to use the movement in combo with the obstacles around you. Many more games could lean into this type of gameplay if we didn't focus on making "the largest open world game or something that's ultra realistic with terrible movement or something"
That DRIVER tutorial was wicked. i forget which one was hard, but i was like 8 and couldnt do it. My older brother had to help me out so i could actually play the game before the 5 day rental was over at blockbuster.
Yeah that tutorial is actual torture
I don’t mind some handholding. I’m short on time and want to enjoy a good story, not wondering around solving puzzles
That's fair. I just wish every game had an adjustment slider for the amount of assistance.
I also really don't like when devs do this because a lot of the times games are great but a part of the experience is ruined by this, I love your idea of giving the players an option if they are new to the genre or not. I love games without hand holding like zelda, fromsoft games, and in general exploration games tend to be much better in this regard like outer wilds (man such a good game). Also great video ❤
Thank you!
No matter what genre it is figuring out how to play them is half the fun! Many games these days doesn't let U do the trial and error cause it may break the flow of the story the game is trying to say! So much so to the point that the game even tell about wasd and how these keys work..
"So this is exactly how you do this cool mechanic and we will remind you how to do it anytime you need to use it"
Kingdom Come Deliverance is one such game where there is absolutely ZERO hand holding and you have to figure everything out yourself... I have finished that game twice... with all side quests and dlc content... it is the most immersive and hard-core rpg you can ever get to play... it even outshines fallout new vegas and skyrim in terms of immersion and role play mechanics...
KCD is absolutely incredible in that aspect; it feels infinitely more immersive because of it. You actually have to put yourself in the mindset of Henry and do what he would have to do.
Yes they need to stop this!!!!!! COD zombies used to run around tryna figure out what to do next … everyone jumped online live to figure it out…. Now they just show you a big “objective” icon on the screen
I really used to love zombies, especially Black Ops 2. It isn't what it used to be.
so maybe the level of difficulty could be more or less hints during the gameplay, and the graphic optimization setting could be more or less decorative elements in the environment.
That would be a great step forward.
Notice that its only western developed video games which I don't play anymore.
Thats not true. Japanese games heavily sufffer from this as well nowadays. I can even name quite a few examples.
It's prevalent there for sure, but even the masterpiece Xenoblade Chronicles 3 suffered from bad tutorials.
So… a significant factor to a game’s success for many of the larger titles is how well they review by gaming journalists, who do not represent the people that actually purchase games. People that don’t play games for fun and have to complete a game in their work week, naturally treat games as a task to finish and like it to be as quick and easy as possible. And they don’t develop the gaming skills to do that on their own. So developers HAVE to cater to that demographic, because it’s disproportionately impactful on commercial success of a game. Beyond that, I think most people would agree that depending on the gameplay and complexity of a game a little tutorials or direction is best, although it’s annoying if it isn’t skippable and kills the pace of the game (especially if considering repeated play throughs).
There are also a lot of more casual gamers that probably want a lot more instruction than someone like you or I might, and that does impact things as well, but it wouldn’t be as prevalent or be the default option if game journalists weren’t like half the target audience.
Personally I prefer the approach of say Xenoblade X to Xenoblade 3. 3’s tutorials killed the pace and as someone who had played literally any other RPG before, being forced to button press by button press be walked through buying and equipping some (trash) gear on a specific character is downright insulting to my time, let alone my intelligence. Xenoblade X… I mean it gives you a quick blurb saying things like “congrats you unlocked overdrive now” and stops there. Which is great. I can go experiment for a bit with it, and if it doesn’t work and I want to learn I can go look online and/or read the manual. I understand why games typically can’t be that way because it’s too little guidance… but it sure is more fun.
Xenoblade 3 (love that game to death) had horrific tutorials yeah.
With regard to the rest of it, honestly the meme about journalist difficulty seems like it should actually come true if only to give them the experience they want without ruining our experience.
The god of war puzzles are fucking mind numbing
I find it really frustrating how even simple puzzles like those get spoiled in that way.
Was just thinking this. I recently played through horizon forbidden west and that game was ruined by hand held quest, the neverending vomit of useless dialogue, and the shove down your throat obtuse story. If they made that game in a fromsoft fashion and had the environment and artifacts tell the story, it could of been amazing.
It's unfortunate that Horizon has such massive potential, but it gets weighed down by things like this.
Mmmm my favorite is gqmes that make you have to do the tutorial, specially open world games cuz theres times am basically finishing the game and still end up finding tutorial parts
I honestly just laugh now when I get a tutorial near the endgame. Clearly I got there just fine without it!
Buy the game, start it and just play, figure out the controls yourself, its not like something will explode if you press something that you shouldnt. And if you really want to teach me something about your game, put there tutorial section on title screen, and if I feel that I need some help and explain something, I will be happy to try that tutorial. But dont ruin my game telling me how to jump and how to attack. And sometimes, its better to just not know some complex and stupid mechanics... looking at you Tales of Zestiria/Berseria. They were explaining so many things in these games, and in the end... 80% of it didnt really mattered if you know it or not.
Yep, I absolutely love Tales of Berseria but I started skipping the tutorials after a while because I found them so annoying
Finally your talking about this and this shit is rampant on the playstation Side horizon and God of war amongst others I'm so sick of this games with protagonist talking to themselves or one dumb side characters speaking to you every time this is because of the casual noob audience who can't play games without an arrow to guide them
im an idiot so depending on the amount I dont mind
And that's fine, it's just that everyone has a different preference and the devs generally only provide 1 option.
The majority of gamers will always be unskilled and wanting to play casually. Hand holding guarantees sales
That's certainly a driving factor for it
This is why i stopped playing horizon forbidden west after 47 minutes because she wouldn't STOP NARRATING EACH STEP
i used to think that i either was A, naturally talented at cuphead. or B. the tubers were dog water
i recently did a playthrough with cuphead and not ms chalice. i take back eveyrthing i thought before
Lmao. My friend and I played the whole thing in coop and some of the bosses destroyed us for hours. But he doesn't really play games and we both had a lot of fun so that's cool
You should really do a blind playthrough of darksouls 1.
Oh I've played a crap ton of Soulsbourne.
@@realtayo42 :)
Also people Reddit HOW THE F DO I FIND THIS PLACE? I hated elden ring my first souls game cuz I most of my time in this game was googling stuff in the background trying to find out where to go next. This is garbage feature and no one can change my mind.
Honestly I'm waiting for God of war ragnarok for pc despite having a ps4 just so i can skip the hints with mods
Modders will save the day again
Starfield got negative reviews for no hand holding 🤷🏿♂️
There's really no winning is there
Monster Hunter is annoying in this aspect. In order for me to know every move I could do, I had to go to a youtube channel and learn there.
I kind of get that, but in my experience I mainly used guides to optimize for endgame, not to beat the normal content.
right right, but I'm talking about the
Arekkz Gaming MHW weapon tutorials.
There are some moves you wouldn't EVER use or know about because monster hunter doesn't have a good tutorial for weapon use.
Sure, you could get through the game without those extra moves, but you're not experiencing the full potential of that weapon because Capcom can't make a good tutorial/practice area.
@@realtayo42
Then play games that don't do that or turn any tutorials off that do this in excess.
That's fair
Hogwarts legacy had an insulting amount of hints and you couldn’t even disable them. If you took more than 5s to perform any action someone would just tell you what to do without provocation.
As much as I liked it (and a lot of the games with this problem), that was definitely annoying.
Complaining gamers are insufferable.
Very true, have fun gaming in peace!
Go and play Dark Souls of you want cryptic stuff. Excessive handholding can be bad, not teaching game mechanics is 100 times worse.
I do play Dark Souls. I'm not advocating that every game here should be like Kingdom Come Deliverance or Morrowind, but the balance is off in terms of handholding vs. not explaining anything.
according to Quantum, games need to be "easier". 🤣
That fool lol
Finally your talking about this and this shit is rampant on the playstation Side horizon and God of war amongst others I'm so sick of this games with protagonist talking to themselves or one dumb side characters speaking to you every time this is because of the casual noob audience who can't play games without an arrow to guide them
It's really frustrating because they make really good games apart from that.