Why won't you let me be stupid?


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Why Won?t You Let Me Be Stupid?

I?m at the start of Alan Wake, and I have a problem to solve. The wife and I have arrived at an island in the middle of a lake. It looks idyllic ? although I know, thanks to the forehead-slapping foreshadowing, that it ain?t ? but when we get there, we find that the power?s out. It falls on me to figure out how to get it running and as I?m strolling around the island, checking out the scenery, and maybe poking around for collectible thermoses, the game gets impatient. The voice of Alan Wake ? my character, who?s also the narrator ? butts in. He tells me I should go check out that shed by the house. That?s where I?ll find the generator. Which means I (the protagonist) am telling myself (the player) what to do, and I?m doing it because I (the player) am too damn slow ?n stupid for myself (the protagonist) to bear.

This isn?t the first time that a game gave up on me. I?ve noticed that more and more AAA titles give us a puzzle, and then immediately hint at the answer. In BioShock 2, I was just loping around in Grace?s bedroom in Pauper?s Drop, searching for my target. And I guess I took five seconds too long, because the game told me to check behind a movie poster for the hidden switch. Uncharted 2 was all too helpful with clues when I was tracing wires around the wall in the museum in Istanbul, and if I blew a boss fight in Batman: Arkham Asylum more than a couple of times, the load screen would lean over and, like a sad-faced teacher telling me not to eat what I just found in my nose, explain exactly what I had to do to win.

More: http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/why-won%E2%80%99t-you-let-me-be-stupid

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Depends on the type of game, but in something fairly action-oriented such as Alan Wake or Uncharted, I'm not expecting to scan every corner of an area searching for interactive objects to solve puzzles. I would feel cheated into pointless grind.

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The wires in Istanbul (for Uncharted 2) was only the beginning; some of the later puzzles took me ages to figure out* with zero clues :pinch:

*which I eventually resorted to cheating via gamefaqs

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I'd rather they have such guides in-game, rather than have you be pulled out of the game due to loss of disbelief and/or looking at GameFAQs

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I don't mind games helping you if you're running around in circles for quite a bit (maybe with an option though to turn off hints), but Alan Wake practically holds your hand like a 5 year old with the constant narration.

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I usually overcomplicate a puzzle thinking it might actually be slightly complicated, and then discover it was far simpler than I first thought, anyone else always do that, lol.

Some games haven't so much been made easier for the more casual people as much as they just hold your hand all the way through, taking away the thought process required for actually playing said games, though a lot of confusion and guess work has simply been lost as games look and play far better than they use to.

I used to enjoy the Tomb Raider games for the puzzle experience and that it wouldn't be so obvious, but that has all been lost in recent games, which is unfortunate.

The wires in Istanbul (for Uncharted 2) was only the beginning; some of the later puzzles took me ages to figure out* with zero clues :pinch:

*which I eventually resorted to cheating via gamefaqs

I didn't think the puzzles in Uncharted 2 were difficult, and there were few puzzles too, lol.

Whether it would be clues or shoving the answer in your face, all you needed for the puzzle would be in Drakes book, and outlined it pretty pictures. :p

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I like guides, they I dont have to waste time.

nothing has made me waste as much time as fallout 3 :(. I beat all the DLC then found out my main story was bugged and I had to restart the game

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I wish games back then had little informative notes popping up all of the time. When I played Suikoden 2, thankfully gamefaqs existed else I would have broken the game and pooped on it.

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Hmmmm.. If only we had an in-game guide for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. Would of made my life a LOT easier unsure.gif

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Some games haven't so much been made easier for the more casual people as much as they just hold your hand all the way through, taking away the thought process required for actually playing said games, though a lot of confusion and guess work has simply been lost as games look and play far better than they use to.

I used to enjoy the Tomb Raider games for the puzzle experience and that it wouldn't be so obvious, but that has all been lost in recent games, which is unfortunate.

+1... I totally agree. Games used to be hard! You had to pay attention and figure things out! I like the idea Audioboxer had of being able to turn these options on and off. That wouldn't be too hard to do, and that way you appeal to both types of gamer: the casual player who just wants to get through the puzzles and on to the action, and us sadistic puzzle lovers who want to figure it out ourselves (or just be able to explore things at our own pace without it "giving up on you", as the OP put it).

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The way Uncharted 2 played I personally didn't find any of the puzzles to hard to do. Even the wires were easy once I realised what I was actually looking for.

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Half Life 2 uses this as well, but it's not so bad in my opinion. Sometimes your wondering what the heck you should do, especially if you weren't paying attention or didn't hear what's going on. Better than minimizing and looking for a walkthrough. I agree that some games hold your hand and that in itself is quite frustrating.

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I don't really mind this. What irritates more than not knowing what to do in a puzzle, however, is starting off wrong trying to figure it out and being unable to fix it. Yes, that means you Prince of Persia.

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