Very minor, almost never talked about things you appreciate in games.

[Ionic]

In Super Hexagon if you get frustrated by it and are ready to quit, mashing the escape key will navigate the menus and get you out in less than a second. In literally every game, mashing the escape key like an angry gorilla should allow you to quit to desktop instantly.

 

[Kamaros]

Visual atmosphere, ya know? Like weather effects setting the mood, wind going trhu scenery or god of war particles in Lake of Nine, you feel like you are there.

 

[whiteninja]

Open world games where rain actually stops when something's overhead instead of just clipping through it.

 

[LordGorchnik]

"Proudly Presents" at the beginning

"And You" after the credits roll.

 

[zoodoo]

Games allowing you to have control settings for one handed gaming. Not enough games do this.

 

[the-pi-guy]

Games where the character doesn't just clip through the stairs.

 

[Birdie]

The delay in the Donkey Kong Country series between rolling off an edge and being able to jump.

One of my favorite mechanics of all time. I believe Adam Brown termed it "Coyote Time".

 

[Dr Pears]

I hate collectibles scattered randomly around a huge open world map. But I hate it less when devs lets you track each and every collectible in a menu.

 

[defaltoption]

Loading/save icons that have cool little pictures, the silliest thing ever but I notice it all the time. One of my favorite series with this is Life is Strange series, from birds to cameras to cassettes.

 

[EinBear]

The fossil Pokemon you don't choose in Pokemon R/B/Y ends up being a Safari Zone attraction.

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WHAT!?

This just blew my mind.

 

[YellowBara]

Glyphs/Runes appearing below a character as they cast something.

The more ornate/extra/flashy the better

 

[currytan]

Weird Yakuza 0 music thing that I don't think anyone in North America knew about:

The Yakuza 0 Pocket Circuit racing music (which you can hear here) is a reference to the song Truth by T-Square (which you can hear here) which was Fuji TV's Formula 1 coverage theme in the 80's.

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I loved that reference. I learned about T-SQUARE years ago while looking gameplays about Formula1 arcades and one game's main theme was that song.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

The addition of Fairy type in the Pokemon franchise. It's made a lot of Pokemon more favourable.

Clefable, Azumarill and Gardevoir come to mind with this typing adjustment.

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You don't think anyone talks about this?

 

[King Kingo]

You don't think anyone talks about this?

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Not really. It got introduced in the same generation as Mega Evolutions so that might have something to do with it.

 

[almutama]

It's a small visual detail, but I really like seeing contact-hardening shadows in some recent games. Red dead redemption's 2 implementation made the game so much more immersive in my opinion:

You can see the building's shadows are soft, because the shadow is far from the base, the building, while the utility pole's shadow is pretty sharp, because the wall is close to it's base. It's quite noticeable when horse-riding through trees as well.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

Not really. It got introduced in the same generation as Mega Evolutions so that might have something to do with it.

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I'm saying, this is on par with saying no one talked about mega evolutions. It permanently changed the meta

 

[Dinjoralo]

Good button prompt icons.
When games have realistic "shadows-in-shadows" effects. Like, in real life when you're standing in the shadow of a building, you still cast a blurry shadow from all the scattered light bouncing around. The Yakuza games do this, it helps a lot with making the games look nice, and there's at least one other game I've played that does it.

 

[SapientWolf]

I know the title is a bit vague, but let me explain.

I am very bad with needles. Like, REALLY bad. Whenever I had to go get vaccinations I'd be shaking with fear and would start to cry prior. Through the years it has gotten better but I still really don't like them.

Insert Spider-Man PS4. In one of the last cutscenes, there is a moment where citizens of New York are waiting in line to get vaccinations. We get a close up of one citizen about to get his, the needle is visible, but it doesn't show the needle piercing the skin.

Now, I know very well that this might just be a coincidence. I really don't expect the devs to have thought ''oh, some people may be afraid of this, therefore, we won't show it''

But I like to think they did.

As you play a game it becomes very immersive. To the point that you feel like you are in that world at every moment. When that cutscene happened I was already getting a nauseating feeling as if I was about to get that vaccination. But when I saw that we didn't get to see the needle getting in, I put out a sigh of relief and suddenly I felt alright again.

For example, I could never play a game where the protagonist stab themselves to heal (I believe Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 did this?), I wanted to play Far Cry 5 as I thought it looked beautiful, and I was glad to know that the game did not have that mechanic (strapping bandaids around your arm instead).

So ERA, what are some of your very, very minor things that you appreciate? Preferrably ones almost never talked about, so not an obvious 'No MTX in X game'' etc.

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I guess you're not a huge fan of that Dead Space eye gif.

I like it when game music changes to reflect what's going on during the game. For example, the Battlefield theme starts playing right before a match ends. Seems like something almost every game would be doing by now but it doesn't seem very common.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

The delay in the Donkey Kong Country series between rolling off an edge and being able to jump.

One of my favorite mechanics of all time. I believe Adam Brown termed it "Coyote Time".

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Yeah roll jumping in DK is great

 

[treasureyez]

Animal Crossing is really making me miss being able to hold a button down to pick up multiple items.

 

[a_mad_bag_of_cats]

ascending/descending stairs animations
they're almost always an active detriment, but boy do i appreciate 'em

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I remember how nico ran down stairs back in GTA 4 and was impressed with how they handled his footsteps (almost sidestepping down)

 

[CountAntonio]

Good reload animations.

 

[TheBiInBilingual]

I guess you're not a huge fan of that Dead Space eye gif.

I like it when game music changes to reflect what's going on during the game. For example, the Battlefield theme starts playing right before a match ends. Seems like something almost every game would be doing by now but it doesn't seem very common.

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I have not seen it and I will not look it up. Thanks for the hint to never play Dead Space lol.

 

[Voytek]

Bug and animal sounds when outdoors. Crickets, frogs and such. Good mood setters.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Good reload animations.

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Those are hilarious. Are they real? What's the context of the hand-off one? Guy on your back?

 

[Huey]

Good inverse kinematics

 

[Reedirect]

In Max Payne 3, when you carry two guns at the same time, the second doesn't magically disappear, but Max carries it with his free hand.

 

[Feep]

Fast travel that's actually fast. I like it when a game doesn't try to glorify its fast travel system with a bunch of time wasting animations and overly complicated systems. You're going to be using this system a lot, so it should get to the point and feel fluid.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint really sucks with this. You'll be fast traveling every 10 mins in that game, and yet the developers felt the need to include this 5 second panning fly over camera at the area you just fast traveled to. On top of that, the only way worth a damn to get around in the world is in a helicopter. This means you need to rest at the fast travel point to spawn a helicopter, and you need to see the same fly over camera AGAIN before you can regain control. This entire process adds an additional 15 seconds to the process. It's all so damn clunky. The devs felt the need to polish the presentation of the fast travel system, but it ultimately just makes the entire game feel much worse.

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It's not exactly fast travel, but I literally stopped playing Animal Crossing for this reason. Every time I wanted to visit an island, it was an interminable 90 seconds mess of nonsense. Good lord.

 

[Bashteee]

Auto pickup for consumable items if you are within a certain range. So minor, but I fucking hate it if I have to pickup everything manually.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Pausing cutscenes.

Games that don't have it are awful.

 

[JigglesBunny]

When the time comes, you better have a smile on your face when a vaccination-filled syringe approaches your arm, OP!

 

[CountAntonio]

Those are hilarious. Are they real? What's the context of the hand-off one? Guy on your back?

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Two are from battlefield hardline.

 

[NateDog]

Good use of vibrations, but particularly for small movements. I appreciate them for bigger moments but it's hardly unique. ICO is the best example, when you hold Yorda's hand and particularly go over steps or jump, you can feel the slightest vibration but it is timed so well.

 

[evrythngwastakn]

I'm sure lots of games do it but what sticks out is the way Nathan Drake does little animations like reaching his hand out so his finger tips slide along a wall for guidance.

 

[Venture]

Interactive seating. Being able to walk up to an empty chair, bench or whatever and sit down and soak up the scenery.

 

[SapientWolf]

I have not seen it and I will not look it up. Thanks for the hint to never play Dead Space lol.

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I was hoping you would say "what gif is that?" but I can see that you're not new to the internet.

In Super Hexagon if you get frustrated by it and are ready to quit, mashing the escape key will navigate the menus and get you out in less than a second. In literally every game, mashing the escape key like an angry gorilla should allow you to quit to desktop instantly.

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Alt+F4

You're welcome.

 

[CKT]

In the dragon ball Z budokai tenkaichi games, on the loading screen there were a ton of little minigames that were essentially "mash the button to do the thing" and it was pretty fun. This one got harder as vegeta did more pushups iirc

In the original Budokai on PS2, you could actually move the dragon radar with the analog sticks while waiting for the game to load. My friends older brother thought that us doing that would break his PS2 as he thought it was controlling the disk read!

 

[MP!]

Now, I know very well that this might just be a coincidence. I really don't expect the devs to have thought ''oh, some people may be afraid of this, therefore, we won't show it''

But I like to think they did.

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it's probably more along the lines of not wanting to taking the time to animate that ... so they cut away saving hours of work... haha (I'm not fond of needles either)

What I love is a snappy menu. I love a menu that feels like it knows when I'm going to push the button. A lot of games try to get too fancy with their menu with the wooshing in and out of the windows... the fades and such... (DKCR and DKC:TF are sadly included in the sluggish menu category)
I love a good instantaneous menu system in a game. I REALLY appreciate it.

 

[Bomi-Chan]

To be able to skip text in games. It sounds so stupid, but it was a miracle to do that in the 90s or 2000s and to this very day, there are rpgs, which do not have that option.
Loading times during the last few generations. Even nintendo somehow gave it up. It somehow breaks the game-feeling for me, if i have to wait too long for a retry or a rematch.

There is one game which came to mind which made a huge thing bacl then= BLACK by criterion studios. They made RELOADING in FPS awesome. The first time a studio dedicated itself to such a minor feature.

 

[SirKai]

Glyphs/Runes appearing below a character as they cast something.

The more ornate/extra/flashy the better

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This shit right here!

 

[Aeana]

I love it when text appears with small pauses on punctuation, shorter on commas. Even better is when it is synced perfectly with the voice acting, as it is in Thronebreaker.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

When there's an NPC fishing, and they actually catch fish.

In AC: Origins I was watching an NPC fishing on the docks, and to my surprise not only did he catch a fish, he put it in the bucket and went back to fishing!

The other games where I've watched NPCs fish were RDR2 and HZD, and unfortunately there were no fish caught by NPCs in those two. In HZD the line wasn't even in the water lol.

Edit: I don't think NPCs catch anything in The Witcher 3 either.

 

[Wood Man]

Special 2D sprite animations for only one scene. For example in Suikoden when Flik is forced to hang out with Kimberly. It's a very minor scene but it's got animation not seen anywhere else in the game. Stuff like this just helps make the moment stand out

And the Neclord scene in Suikoden 2

 

[Stantron]

Commas in big numbers making information easier to quickly interpret in game.
example: 143485903 vs 143,485,903

 

[shoemasta]

Games allowing you to have control settings for one handed gaming. Not enough games do this.

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Now why would you be playing a game one handed? Huh?

 

[ThereAre4Lights]

it's probably more along the lines of not wanting to taking the time to animate that ... so they cut away saving hours of work... haha (I'm not fond of needles either)

What I love is a snappy menu. I love a menu that feels like it knows when I'm going to push the button. A lot of games try to get too fancy with their menu with the wooshing in and out of the windows... the fades and such... (DKCR and DKC:TF are sadly included in the sluggish menu category)
I love a good instantaneous menu system in a game. I REALLY appreciate it.

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RE3R is a recent one that does this well. Every menu is fast and to the point. Also, I hate white pause screens, they should be disallowed! Days Gone has a white menu screen, but it's very fast to use, especially with the swiping on the touchpad.

 

[Necron]

Lightbulbs that go out when shot.

 

[Arcana Wiz]

Special 2D sprite animations for only one scene. For example in Suikoden when Flik is forced to hang out with Kimberly. It's a very minor scene but it's got animation not seen anywhere else in the game. Stuff like this just helps make the moment stand out

And the Neclord scene in Suikoden 2

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In Suikoden 2 many of the 108 stars would have special animations at the HQ castle.

A popular place to see them its the pub, where many warriors would sit at the table to relax.
Others i remember is the big dog resting in some areas and some characters training in the barracks.

If the player dont explore often the HQ its probably that he wouldnt see half of them, but this really helped to sell the idea that your castle was a lively place.

 

[Chopchop]

FFXIV's visuals are designed to be fairly friendly towards colorblind people. Visual tells usually aren't entirely limited to color anymore, and there's usually more than one tell so that you're not looking for just one thing. This was a problem they found out about in the early expansions, and they've worked to get better about it since.

FFXIV's alternate standing/idle/sitting poses. You can pick between a few, and does help give you a bit more individuality and hints towards how you want your character to act.

Good 3rd person camera work. Like seamlessly making walls or objects between the camera and the character invisible, so that the camera doesn't suddenly go right up your character's ass without warning.

 

[djinn]

The fact I can kill spiders in almost every single game.

Also when thunder cracks after the lightning.