What is your favourite feature from a game and why? - The Bear and Badger

Scout

I'm applying for a job in the games industry and this is one of the questions. It's for a game design position. I think it's deliberately quite vague and it doesn't go into more specifics than that. Thought I'd throw it in here for a bit of inspiration. I've been playing Tunic recently and I'm considering writing about the clever implementation of the manual.

The second question is even more devious. What's your least favourite game and what would you do to improve it? I was instantly struck by how tricky it was to think of a list of my least favourite games as you don't tend to put much time into games you don't like.

RedDave2

Fairly certain Games Design peaked when you could tickle the bum of the photographer in North & South. Most games would be improved by adding this feature.

LivDiv

For question 2 maybe consider a disappointing sequel?
Mass Effect: Andromeda for example. Then state what what was wrong but how you would change it while still making it unique enough from the games before it.

Moot_Geeza

Wouldn't your actual no.1 least favourite game be beyond saving?

LivDiv

Animal Crossing but with more killings

afgavinstan

One that entered my mind right away is the drift/boost from MK & Burnout. Delicate ballet of triggers and sticks round the corner then boosting straight out. It never not feels so satisfying and rewarding.

One I hate is games that tell you it's saving progress after pressing start on the title screen. Dunno if either answer qualifies.

monkey

I suppose there's Worst Game Ever which is something so bad you only played it for a couple of minutes before turning it off forever. Least Favourite might be more like the terrible sequel to a game you loved. Can't think what mine would be.

Diluted Dante

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Wouldn't your actual no.1 least favourite game be beyond saving?

Improve, not save.

I would have the twist of Twelve Minutes be literally anything else.

RedDave2

afgavinstan wrote:

One that entered my mind right away is the drift/boost from MK & Burnout. Delicate ballet of triggers and sticks round the corner then boosting straight out. It never not feels so satisfying and rewarding. One I hate is games that tell you it's saving progress after pressing start on the title screen. Dunno if either answer qualifies.

Genuinely good shout

Also loved how in Burnout 2 the music kicked in when you hit Boost.

hylian_elf

The first thing that came to my mind is parry in combat. But that’s a mechanic and I guess feature is more encompassing and bigger? Dunno.

I have no idea what my least favourite game is.

Moot_Geeza

Scout wrote:

Thought I'd throw it in here for a bit of inspiration. I've been playing Tunic recently and I'm considering writing about the clever implementation of the manual.

You should do this.

b0r1s

The Map in Elden Ring.

The "thing" in Titanfall 2, spoilered...

Spoiler:

Least favourite was definitely the ending of Mass Effect 3, despite enjoying all three games up until that point. I may have built that up in my head over time and when I eventually get finished with the new edition play through I may not feel as strongly as I did at the time.

RedDave2

hylian_elf wrote:

The first thing that came to my mind is parry in combat. But that’s a mechanic and I guess feature is more encompassing and bigger? Dunno.

I have no idea what my least favourite game is.

Was kinda thinking this. I love the rewind in the forza games, really encourages me to try to nail corners without risk of ruining the race. Is it a game mechanic or a feature though?

Seriously though guys, any game where you can get a chuckle out of pinching a little man's arse while he tries to take a photo is a winner. Top feature.

monkey

Favourites I can think of - the through ball in Pro Evo, Outrun C2C drifting, the team power combos in Mass Effect 2, Vice City, the cape in Super Mario World, the ascend ability in TotK. But I'd probably go with the jokes in Monkey Island.

tin_robot

Scout wrote:

I'm applying for a job in the games industry and this is one of the questions. It's for a game design position. I think it's deliberately quite vague and it doesn't go into more specifics than that. Thought I'd throw it in here for a bit of inspiration. I've been playing Tunic recently and I'm considering writing about the clever implementation of the manual. The second question is even more devious. What's your least favourite game and what would you do to improve it? I was instantly struck by how tricky it was to think of a list of my least favourite games as you don't tend to put much time into games you don't like.

As Moot says, you should go with Tunic. (It always helps to talk about the thing you actually felt, if you see what I mean).

To answer your question though, I think my favourite, or certainly one of them, was realising that the puzzles in The Witness weren't limited to the obvious puzzles in front of you, but the very world itself. That single realisation also led to a wider understanding that The Witness is sort of a Metroid style game in so much as you go away and return to things with new abilities that allow you to progress. The difference being that the new abilities aren't actual changes to the game mechanics, or the character, but changes in me - newly learnt ways to think about the game itself. Every puzzle could be solved from the outset, but I had to learn new things to realise that. I think that's a pretty extraordinary "feature".

As for the least favourite game? Despite saying you should say what you feel, I think I would cheat on this and pick out a game that I felt could be readily "fixed" even if it wasn't my least favourite. (I'd acknowledge my deviousness) A near miss that left me feeling "if only they'd done this..." (Pretty much any game with a pointlessly difficult boss will do it for me. The dilemma being how to make a boss that feels like an achievement to beat, but which doesn't leave half the players feeling they've hit a road block and will never get to see the rest of the game they just spent their last few quid on.)

Moot_Geeza

Improving a near miss would be a mich more enjoyable question to answer for me. Below and Flinthook are the first two that spring to mind - both could have been absolutely superb.

Edit: Cursed to Golf gets a mention too.

Dark Soldier

Viewfinder, if you have played it, blew my mind just in videos. Could be a good one for option 1 and fresh in memory.

Coopers Green

1 - what do we mean by "feature"? I guess the question allows you to answer as you see fit but there are different interpretations here already.

2 - @boris explain what you mean re: the Map in Elden Ring!

b0r1s

I enjoyed the way the map showed so much, but as you explored and thought you were at the edge of the world, the map expanded. Most maps show you the scope of the map but obscure the detail, so you know the scale of the world. Elden Ring starts and you feel as you work through the first section the world feels not that big, then the UI scales as a new blank section loads. It gives you a feeling of not knowing how big the actual world is.

I also liked the marker mechanic, but felt this was better handled in BOTW.

Moot_Geeza

Death Tank Zwei hidden in the Saturn version of Duke Nukem 3D was neato. I think it was only accessible if you had an Quake/Exhumed save file? Also the playable loading screens in certain PS1 Namco games was a legit move. Perhaps not a feature as such, but Psycho Mantis pulling info from your memory card was a bit special too.

I'm in a 32-bit mood.

Moot_Geeza

Actually I'd probably just write about Sonic & Knuckles.

Coopers Green

Cool, I agree that increasing sense of scale was a brilliant take on the map!

Another good feature of Elden Ring is how it breaks you down mentally and forces you to go outside and breath for a while. Not that they'll put that on the box.

Moot_Geeza

Or back to 32-bits, the evolving music in NiGHTS

Dark Soldier

b0r1s wrote:

I enjoyed the way the map showed so much, but as you explored and thought you were at the edge of the world, the map expanded. Most maps show you the scope of the map but obscure the detail, so you know the scale of the world. Elden Ring starts and you feel as you work through the first section the world feels not that big, then the UI scales as a new blank section loads. It gives you a feeling of not knowing how big the actual world is.

I also liked the marker mechanic, but felt this was better handled in BOTW.

You could also have that lift in ER. Genuinely think it's my favourite moment ever. Just the realisation.

Coopers Green

Wasn't there some ps1 game where you had to put random cds into the console to discover/unlock monsters?

Coopers Green

Dark Soldier wrote:

You could also have that lift in ER. Genuinely think it's my favourite moment ever. Just the realisation.

https://youtu.be/LSyRf8rAjTs

Moot_Geeza

Coopers Green wrote:

Wasn't there some ps1 game where you had to put random cds into the console to discover/unlock monsters?

Vib Ribbon did something similarish.

Coopers Green

Coopers Green wrote:

Wasn't there some ps1 game where you had to put random cds into the console to discover/unlock monsters?

Monster Rancher

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Rancher_(video_game)

Moot_Geeza

Neat. Beats a Barcode Battler.

acemuzzy

Dark Soldier wrote:

b0r1s wrote:

I enjoyed the way the map showed so much, but as you explored and thought you were at the edge of the world, the map expanded. Most maps show you the scope of the map but obscure the detail, so you know the scale of the world. Elden Ring starts and you feel as you work through the first section the world feels not that big, then the UI scales as a new blank section loads. It gives you a feeling of not knowing how big the actual world is.

I also liked the marker mechanic, but felt this was better handled in BOTW.

You could also have that lift in ER. Genuinely think it's my favourite moment ever. Just the realisation.

Which lift? There were lots of lifts...

Moot_Geeza

World League Soccer '98 on Saturn had a hidden feature(/cheat) where they'd rerecorded all the names spoken by the commentator. Blew my mind that it was on the disc. Out the box you got the fake names that were all the rage at the time, after you put the code in you got the real McCoy/McCoist.

Disclaimer: there's a chance I'm misremembering this.

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