SIX THINGS THAT RUIN A GAME

Lots of money, time and energy goes into buying and playing a game. While a good game does compensate for these, these six things do nothing but make us feel frustrated and regretful of our purchase. 

6. Microtransactions
Microtransactions do more harm than good. In free-to-play games, microtransactions are used as a means of earning profit for the developers and that is excusable. However, it does not make sense when a game, that you already paid full price for, demands that you pay even more. Such an example of this would be the game Assassins' Creed Unity where certain chests can only be unlocked by paying through a companion app. 

5. Bad Optimization
Low frame-rates, stuttering, low-resolution textures and insane loading times ruin the gameplay experience and make you regret getting the game in the first place. There is no excuse for delivering a game that fails to run smoothly even on the best hardware, despite the challenges of optimizing games for all platforms. 

4. Weak Dialogues
Just like in any other art form, dialogues are extremely crucial for a video game. They help us get deeper into the story and give us something to remember the game by. Sometimes, however, video games are seen to have painfully weak dialogues plagued with racial stereotypes and forced puns. Finest examples of such poor writing would be Battlefield Hardline and Kingdoms of Amalur.

3. Tedious Gameplay
Fun and immersive gameplay can make hours feel like seconds. Tedious and boring gameplay, on the other hand, makes seconds feel like hours. Having to perform the same, boring tasks over and over for hours at a stretch just makes you want to give up playing the game. Batman Arkham Knight's repetitive Riddler puzzle sequences are an example of the type of gameplay elements developers should avoid implementing in their games.

2. Bugs and Glitches
Most common bugs/glitches are not being able to progress beyond a certain point, getting trapped within invisible walls, and the worst of them all – falling straight through the floor into an endless void. They often force you to restart your game from the last checkpoint. Sometimes, even restarting does not help and you have to wait till a patch is released. Assassins' Creed Unity and Batman Arkham Knight are two of the most recent examples of buggy games.

1. Terrible Endings
As I mentioned before, lots of money, time and energy goes into buying and playing a game. The ending of a game is supposed to be the big payoff that gamers deserve for their dedication. Lousy and unsatisfactory endings leave a bad taste in our mouths and fill us with regret. Mass Effect 3's ending not only spoiled the entire game, but the whole franchise.

Nony Khondaker is an introvert with immense passion for tech and music. Feel free to send your constructive feedback at nonykhondaker@live.com or follow him on twitter.com/NonyKhondaker