Since there's a topic for what you look for in buying a game, what is most likely to make you put a game back, delete the demo, or otherwise not buy/download it? For me, i will most likely put a game back/delete the demo if: --the controls are unclear or too complicated --the story is boring or hard to follow, --there's too much to keep track of at once --it takes FOREVER to progress --the game relies too much on paid currency (I'm of the camp that an F2P game should be at least playable without the premium currency--so if you need a lot of it to even progress, we have a problem) --The characters are boring, annoying, or otherwise unlikable --the levels/areas are too hard even for a pro --I can't understand it due to a bad translation --the game didn't turn out to be what I thought it would.
Let's see: - a really bad story - bad graphics - a small amount of content - if the game is tedious - "pay to win" games, even if you don't need money to win So yeah, basic stuff
The tutorial taking to long (harvest moon: a new beginning and Fantasy Life) Games that talk down to those who play Pay to win or pay to play
-bad story -story too short -takes too long to progress (Rune Factory 1 is the only exception) -having to pay to progress -difficult to understand -difficult to read text -bad tutorials -hard to opporate -difficult to trigger final story arc (Rune Factory 4 is an iffy exception) -game play is tedious -game needs micro managing (I'm looking at you runies of rune factory frontier!) -music is bad -graphics are bad -game is vastly different than what I thought in a bad way -where do I f****** go to get X item/area?! I can't find it without heavy searching on the internet and I have to do this frequently! -have to pay to go online any one or a combination of any of these can make me say, "I'm not touching this thing with a 10 meter pole and a hazmat suit!"
I'm the queen of petty so if someone I hate is playing a game I won't touch it (the exception being Pokémon)
What turns me off in a game? The power button, mostly. Beyond that, there are a few things that really turn me off from a game, sometimes irreparably, no matter how the game may have been otherwise: :: Bad or unlikable story and/or characters. This is not always an issue when the focus is on the gameplay, and story and writing don't matter all too much, but for games in which the story is meant to be a driving factor, or is otherwise very important, this can really affect the game's reception for me. Fire Emblems 13 and 14 are basically the poster children of this. I know I pick on those games very often, but it's only because they exemplify what I'm talking about very well. :: Real-time combat, or something similar. I'm the type who prefers to think out its moves carefully and very methodically, pondering over all the possible options. When it's real-time, I feel like I have to worry about so much more, like timing when who does what attack, or just under pressure to get my moves done quickly. Half the time it becomes a race against the clock rather than to defeat whoever's in front of me. Actually, it's not just real-time combat. Real-time anything is a huge turnoff for me. This is why I have not, and never will play, any of the Civilization games or any games like them. It's not that I think real-time events are bad; my mind just doesn't handle them very well. :: Poor music. I play video games with my headphones on all the time (all the time) and the game's music can very often be a deal breaker. There are games that I've played before where the music was either bad or unmemorable, and when I struggle to remember what kinds of tracks came from them, I'm at a total loss. I sadly don't have an example of a game I can use for this, unfortunately, but I can say when things like dialogue or events get in the way of music, it disrupts my enjoyment of them. Many plot-related music tracks are good examples; I'm trying to listen and/or understand the plot, and this stupid supposedly sentimental tune is in the way. (By contrast, the inclusion of a sound room in a video game is usually a stronger selling point.) :: Lack of replay value, or perhaps too much replay value. The lack of replay value I'm sure many of you can understand, but the 'too much' replay value would be when a game has so many features, places, and other things to explore, that trying to go and remember them all over again on a second playthrough can be daunting. There might be another factor behind it as well, but it's usually that there's just too much to do. My example of this is Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - despite my having enjoyed the game very much, I haven't replayed it once because there's just so much stuff to take into account. :: Platformers. Really, 2D Sonic games are the only platformers I have ever had any interest in. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to change. :: Lack of clarity, especially in how to progress to future locations and areas. Thankfully I've only been the victim of this once or twice, and that 10 years ago or more. But, if all of the options appear to be closed off, or if the game due to a bug is just unwinnable by mistake, that is not okay. ...I really don't have much else to say on the matter. I used all my good points on the earlier reasons.
The biggest reason I put down the box again is because the game relies solely on some form of violence and nothing else, even if it's not too gorey (such as first person shooters). Essentially, I want to know that it 1. has aesthetically pleasing graphics/design and 2. it will have a substantial amount of play time content (so some form of completionism, aka medals, achievements, lists of items to collect etc,). Therefore games with only timed results such as racing aren't much good either. I want to ensure I get a feeling of progression. Reliance on plot can also be a hindrance for me, because I want the star part of the game to be it's interactivity and presentation, but I realise very few people would agree with that.
Badly executed plot. Really the one thing that really messes up my pleasure in gaming. If the game is full of plot point I find it just not worth to play any longer. Well, I guess I am against gore as well, but I seem to be developing a bit of resistance to it.
Not much, actually. If the game is cute or nice-looking/doesn't have dark graphics (like horror games) I can probably play and enjoy it. What I really can't stand are slow controls though.. /: Realized after playing HGSS that slow battle animations really put me off from replaying anything. I need fluidity in gameplay so going through the game isn't a sluggish chore. Also, no fanservice-focused games, please. It's the only reason I haven't played the Atelier series yet... it's 100% my cup of tea otherwise. Cute characters, pretty graphics.. but then comes that completely unwanted fanservice. =(
Honestly, gameplay is usually the main thing that matters to me in any game (Well, I make kind of an exception for story in RPGs, and even then, I can sometimes forgive it if it's fun, like Drone Tactics or Nostalgia), so if the gameplay is bad, I'm not gonna play a game all the way through... well, except for Sands of Destruction. That game's story was just good enough for me to overlook the broken combat.
dammit, someone made the joke before I could One of the main factors to a game is its plot to me, so if I find the plot to be disappointing, I often stop playing it. Other things that turn me off are level curves that are off (either it's too hard imo or too easy, I tend to enjoy playing games with some challenge but I still want to be sure that I'll win if I put in the effort I want to put in) and save rules (I hate games that bring you back to the title screen and reset themselves to their previous save point if you die somewhere halfway though a game).
The two biggest things for me are probably when the graphics/camera give me a headache or make me dizzy, and also if there's a boring storyline that I just don't care to follow, and therefore usually don't complete the game. Sometimes too much difficulty can be a huge turnoff too, but sometimes I'm willing to power through it if the story has me captivated and everything else in the game is good. Oh, and gore/extreme violence. I don't even bother with those games for many reasons.
I have a few, dunno if anyone feels the same xD - NOTHING to do on "post game" or "new game + " - Sloppy controls ( Too sensitive, too hard and nothing can be changed about it ) - Boring story - No good music soundtrack
For me personally the big thing that turns me off in a game is boss battles. For example overly easy fights or on the opposite end of the spectrum, boss fights that are difficult but for the wrong reasons (a certain attack, something that happened to one of the party members etc.)
Uninteresting characters and stupid fetch quests are usually what makes me get annoyed at a game. If I don'r care about the characters then I probably don't care about the game and fetch quests are just a hassle when done wrong.
The biggest game killer for me is a wonky level curve and/or too many random encounters (looking at you, Dragon Quest 7). No matter how much I enjoy the other aspects of the game, it just kills my enjoyment if the game play is more tedious than fun.
I am also one of the more open players that is very tolerant when it comes to these problems in a game, as long as the rest of the game is quite enjoyable or there are any alternatives around these obstacles. I can even play a lousy game rated by others and still like it regardless. What turns me off the most about these games are mandatory tutorials and annoying glitches. Since I love to play games over and over sometimes, I'd rather not want to go through the same basics I've already mastered. Then, glitches would be whenever they emerge somewhere in a game and making it nearly impossible to bypass. I remember a mission in GTA: San Andreas I always had the most trouble with due to buggy cutscenes. For those of you familiar with the game's storyline, it is the task where you throw some molotov cocktails into a house and then realize you have to rescue somebody. I've experienced the black screen of death numerous times during this mission, making it one of my least favorite assignments in the game.
Sometimes I'll play a game where neither the voice acting or writing were executed well, especially if it feels cheesy with no real thought put into the characters' personalities. And some voice acting just puts me off.