Unexplained Mysteries of Games

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Don't you hate it when games strip you from all your power-ups from game to game without any explanation? Metroid, Mega Man, Devil May Cry and lots of other games do this and everytime it happens, I get the urge to strangle the game developers. It is nicer to at least get some explanation, but even then, 99% of the time it is something lame like "random explosion disabled all your powerups." What the hell is with that shit. And what happens when it's unexplained? Do the heroes hoard them weapons like collector editions and decide to go fight evil demons in their underwear?

Here, we discuss unexplained or plain weird things in gaming that bugs us.

[Kaiser]

Why Gordon Freeman was in bed with Alyx in EP3's ending.

[Jockel]

Anything in Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy in the second half of the game.

[Shatterhand]

How can I get shot, die, and just get back like nothing had happened?

[Ruldra]

Killzone 2 made me lol when my AI teammate got shot countless times while helping me and went on like nothing happened, but during one cutscene he takes a single bullet and dies.

[CptRansom]

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Cover mechanics are stupid too. You have your head completely against a chest high wall and somehow you're able to see what's coming at you. These guys must be so amazing that they have X-Ray eyes on the back of their heads. Syphon Filter for the PSP even allows you to aim while blindfiring. Why the hell even call it blindfire then ?

[Klatrymadon]

The identity of the man outside Kraid's bedroom in Super Metroid, who is definitely not Armstrong Houston!

(I don't actually care about this at all. You wouldn't believe how many fans are adamant it must be someone important.)

[BulletMagnet]

Why do almost all shmup pilots lack the skill to turn their plane around? Especially since most of 'em manage to acquire unlimited ammo for shots bigger than the plane they're flying.

[ZOM]

There you have your answer. Why'd you want to turn around if you have unlimited quantities of shots bigger than the plane you're flying?

[Ed Oscuro]

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

I like that a bit better than the old-fashioned "got to get back to the beginning of the (now still empty) level to find some health" model, which is even more ridiculous. A little box of pills and bandages = traumatic brain injury or broken bone healing magic! And don't get me started on epic-length games that try to "intelligently" model damage to the player. Rainbow Six does make your operatives limp around when shot in the leg but the size of each mission makes it manageable, and it's much more fun to play without any fuckups anyway.

In terms of weapon loss, DOOM I and II did it pretty well - running about without any backup it'd be pretty easy to start with just a pistol. In many newer games you start without anything of value, like just a pistol, which is wretched.

As far as "weaponstrip" sequences go, Half-Life 1's is pretty reasonable. Makes no sense why the soldiers were able to ambush Gordon, but other than that it played out well, and the following sequences were cool too.

[BulletMagnet]

There you have your answer. Why'd you want to turn around if you have unlimited quantities of shots bigger than the plane you're flying?

To shoot stuff behind you?

[Drum]

Why does Kratos have a double jump? It doesn't make sense on any level, including the gameplay mechanics level. You semi-often hear people complain about double jumps and how they 'don't make sense' and yet are kind of common, but that's the only one that offends me how utterly extraneous and jarring it is.

[Matsunaga]

How does your plane in Ace Combat hold 60 missiles? If Mortal Kombat has fatalities, how are there so many sequels?

[Ruldra]

Obligatory: why didn't Cloud use a phoenix down on Aeris?

[Ex-Cyber]

Obligatory: why didn't Cloud use a phoenix down on Aeris?

It's a well-known fact:

There's a big difference between "mostly dead" and "all dead".

This explanation, of course, merely leaves us with the question of why cutscenes are so much more deadly than battle engines.

[Ed Oscuro]

There you have your answer. Why'd you want to turn around if you have unlimited quantities of shots bigger than the plane you're flying?

To shoot stuff behind you?

It's because the ammunition is gyroscopic. Attempting to turn the plane would subject its airframe to severe forces and the ammunition would continue moving along the same path, out the side of the plane. Hovering in place is okay. For data used in this explanation, see Gyrobus.

[CptRansom]

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

I like that a bit better than the old-fashioned "got to get back to the beginning of the (now still empty) level to find some health" model, which is even more ridiculous. A little box of pills and bandages = traumatic brain injury or broken bone healing magic!

Oh trust me, I wanted to rant about that too. I liked the idea in System Shock 2 with the med hypos and having them kick in over time. Didn't Deus Ex implement a limb-damage system? I seem to recall having my legs "blown off" by a proximity mine and being barely able to walk. I could be going crazy though.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Why does Kratos have a double jump? It doesn't make sense on any level, including the gameplay mechanics level. You semi-often hear people complain about double jumps and how they 'don't make sense' and yet are kind of common, but that's the only one that offends me how utterly extraneous and jarring it is.

Double jumps are kind of cheesy. They eliminate platforming challenge and it seems like every jump after you obtain the ability needs it. It drives me nuts at times. I rather have other ways of extending a jump like gliding or running to gain momentum before jumping.

[1up]

Why does Kratos have a double jump? It doesn't make sense on any level, including the gameplay mechanics level. You semi-often hear people complain about double jumps and how they 'don't make sense' and yet are kind of common, but that's the only one that offends me how utterly extraneous and jarring it is.

In my mid teens I actually had a friend I skateboarded with who was convinced that it was theoretically possible to do a second ollie in mid air to gain extra height

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

They had to figure of something when they finally realised that Health Packs / Medi kits were not scattered all over the place in WW2

[saucykobold]

Why is Phoenix Down so common? If the name is literal, then you probably shouldn't be able to buy the stuff in bulk at your convenience store.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Why does Kratos have a double jump?

Because gods of Olympus bestowed it upon him among other superpowers. I can imagine them having a good laugh about it. Kratos is a gods' plaything.

It doesn't make sense on any level, including the gameplay mechanics level. You semi-often hear people complain about double jumps and how they 'don't make sense' and yet are kind of common, but that's the only one that offends me how utterly extraneous and jarring it is.

Since when TPP slashers are supposed to make any sense? Have you played Devil May Cry?

[Lordstar]

Obligatory: why didn't Cloud use a phoenix down on Aeris?

Because it was super death. You can see this becuase it happend in a cut scene.

[Davey]

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

I like that a bit better than the old-fashioned "got to get back to the beginning of the (now still empty) level to find some health" model, which is even more ridiculous. A little box of pills and bandages = traumatic brain injury or broken bone healing magic!

Pffft, real video game heroes heal their battle wounds by eating large pieces of meat they find lying around.

[BulletMagnet]

Pffft, real video game heroes heal their battle wounds by eating large pieces of meat they find lying around.

Bonus if it's hidden inside of an oil drum or solid brick wall!

[gct]

Why video game villagers rarely find it alarming to have a band of armed strangers enter their homes. You can even keep pushing the daughter around and she keeps saying the same thing about some magical ruby or such.

[Ruldra]

Where all those chests filled with gold, equipment and other valuables come from? Why no one looted them before you? And more importantly, why I never found such a chest in real life?

Why video game villagers rarely find it alarming to have a band of armed strangers enter their homes. You can even keep pushing the daughter around and she keeps saying the same thing about some magical ruby or such.

http://static.funnyjunk.com/pictures/zeldarupees.jpg

[MX7]

A man clad in green stumbles through a wood. His arm is all but torn from his torso, and he clings desperately to the mass of sinew and bone with his free hand. As he looses his footing, a lazy parabola of blood arcs from his wound and he grunts as he falls to his knees. With the last of his strength, he uses his working arm to propel a sword through a group of small, surprisingly well-kempt bushes. Under the fourth is a mass of dark red gristle. Without thinking, he lunges at it and holds it aloft. It's a heart, still glistening and bleeding. He pushes the mass of muscle to his dirt covered face and bites into the tough, hard meat. Like an animal, he jerks his neck to rend and tear his discovery, and dark blood falls onto his green shirt. He gags once, halfway through, but keeps swallowing regardless as the cold fleshy bolus judders down his throat. With the final swallow, he feels his body convulse in peristaltic spasms. The agony in his arm is magnified to greater intensities than he ever felt were possible to endure. With an exhausted look of terror, he stares at his arm. In the wound, he sees capillaries writhe like maggots and tendons jump towards one another. His arm jerks upwards, triggering an agony that threatens to kill him there and then. As he vomits still cold chunks of heart, he watches in a mix of giddy revulsion and unalloyed euphoria as the wound tightens like the drawstring on a sack. With one final gut wrenching twitch, his injury is completely sealed. His body glistening in sweat, he hyperventilates on the forest floor, staring up at a break in the clouds. Then he runs into someone's house and smashes up some pots.

[moozooh]

That's why FPS games these days piss me off. "Oh, dammit, I got shot. Guess I'll go hide behind this rock for five seconds until it wears off." Where do these people get their magical healing powers?

Yeah, that's definitely unlike shmups. Fucking amateurs, can't get anything right. Brings my piss to a boil, etc.

[Dragoforce]

The plot in about every J-RPG.