Mini games and button mashing

[SteveThaiBinh]

I've just been playing two games: GTA San Andreas, and Fahrenheit*.

I had mixed opinions about the mini-game in Fahrenheit. It was the first time I had ever encountered 'button-mashing' (which I guess says a lot about the kinds of games I usually play) and I thought it was an interesting attempt to vary gameplay. On the other hand, it was a shame that you couldn't sit back and enjoy the scenes properly because you had to focus your attention on the little coloured symbols.

[Pop]

Maybe it was because of the difficulty level I was playing on, but the QTEs in Fahrenheit were never more than leisurely for me, and it was pretty cool for awhile. But at some point in the game the mechanics that were prevalent at the beginning (the conversation system, the puzzles and most importantly, the time attacks) disappeared and the game became entirely QTE based.

[Tigranes]

Dice poker in Witcher is one of the best minigames I've played for a while. Nothing special, but it's fun, it's optional, and it hits the right balance of challenge. Same could be said, in fact, for FFVIII's card game (unless you wanted to collect 'em all, Pika).

[Nightshape]

The flying quests in Jade Empire make me want to gargle glass.

 

Can i watch?

[Pidesco]

Dice poker in Witcher is one of the best minigames I've played for a while. Nothing special, but it's fun, it's optional, and it hits the right balance of challenge. Same could be said, in fact, for FFVIII's card game (unless you wanted to collect 'em all, Pika).

 

 

Did you all only play it after the Enhanced edition? Originally, the AI made it almost impossible to lose. It was an infinite source of money.

[Amentep]

As long as the mini-game is ignorable I don't tend to care about it.

 

I've never spent vast amount of time playing most mini-games (like gambling or card games) anyhow.

[GreasyDogMeat]

I rather liked the quick time events in Tomb Raider Legend & Anniversary. They were slow enough to react to and if you failed a fairly hilarious/awesome death sequence played. Especially loved the motorcycle deaths in the Japanese level of Legend.

 

I generally hate button mashing though. If it has to be used, I prefer the San Andreas method where if you fail you just fail at something that will boost your character's stats, and not end up dead having to repeat the button smashing till you 'win'.

 

Think the worst example of both button mashing & quick time events were in Resident Evil 4. Absolutely love the game, but I friggin' hated watching the same $#!^ $@(& @(#@ cut scene over and over again after failing a button mash/quick time event challenge. Even worse, the PC version didn't tell you the right button to press in the events, using controller button prompts instead of the keyboard bound buttons.

[Tigranes]

Did you all only play it after the Enhanced edition? Originally, the AI made it almost impossible to lose. It was an infinite source of money.

 

What? Why did I lose so much then?

[Pidesco]

I really don't know. the AI had the habit of throwing away winning die, for example. Say, if you had a pair of fours, and the AI had three fours, it was perfectly possible, and even probable, for the AI to pick one or two of the fours to roll again. It was retarded.

[~Di]

Is hacking in F3 ever required?

 

Not really, even most safes offered the choice to pick the lock or hack a computer. And there was never anything really important in them.

 

And once your skill was high on lockpick, you could just force the lock if you disliked the mini-game.

 

I thought hacking was absolutely necessary! You learned the entire backstory of your father and mother and your birth, got a couple of quests that gave you a nice reward when you followed clues, found passwords that offered entry into key-required areas... and turned off those freaking turrets!... among other things.

 

Lockpick, once you skill is high enough, is so easy there's no reason to ever force the lock! Early on there was a distinct scarcity of bobbypins though, I'll grant you that.

[~Di]

Did you all only play it after the Enhanced edition? Originally, the AI made it almost impossible to lose. It was an infinite source of money.

 

What? Why did I lose so much then?

 

 

Yeah, I noticed that most of the "professional" players would keep the middle die and reroll all the others... even when they had the winning hand! Totally odd.

[Tigranes]

Hrm... see, I never really understood how that game worked.

 

I'm still disappointed beth didn't implement Thief's lockpicking mechanism. I guess people would have yelled at them, but still.

 

Even worse, I believe time doesn't pass while you pick locks. That kills all the tension!

[Amentep]

Lockpick, once you skill is high enough, is so easy there's no reason to ever force the lock! Early on there was a distinct scarcity of bobbypins though, I'll grant you that.

 

I had a bunch of bobbypins early on, but by late in the game I had...5 bobbypins.

 

Maybe I just wasted a bunch because I sucked at the minigame?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Even worse, I believe time doesn't pass while you pick locks. That kills all the tension!

 

How so? Does game time not pass while everyone goes about their merry way or does it freeze the AI like Deus Ex, where you would hack a computer terminal and NSFers would stand there waiting for you to log out to start shooting?

[Amentep]

In FO3, I was being shot multiple times by a mini-gun weilding Super-Mutants after clicking to unlock something (I ran forward and it came up the stairs and I had my back to the stairs), everything stopped while I picked the lock, then when I was done opening the lock, I resumed being shot.

 

I lol'd.

[~Di]

Lockpick, once you skill is high enough, is so easy there's no reason to ever force the lock! Early on there was a distinct scarcity of bobbypins though, I'll grant you that.

 

I had a bunch of bobbypins early on, but by late in the game I had...5 bobbypins.

 

Maybe I just wasted a bunch because I sucked at the minigame?

 

I dunno. I doubt you sucked, but if you didn't like it you probably weren't as patient as I was early on in learning how to quickly and safely find the sweet spot without breaking the pin. I didn't find it a difficult minigame... certainly nothing as infuriating as Mass Effects hacking/lockpick monstrosity! And I thought hacking kind of fun.

 

Different strokes, I guess.

[Tigranes]

They would both be great if time actually passed, and the interface didn't take up the whole screen. Right now you can rob someone dry if they only leave the room for a single second!

[Amentep]

I dunno. I doubt you sucked, but if you didn't like it you probably weren't as patient as I was early on in learning how to quickly and safely find the sweet spot without breaking the pin. I didn't find it a difficult minigame... certainly nothing as infuriating as Mass Effects hacking/lockpick monstrosity! And I thought hacking kind of fun.

 

Different strokes, I guess.

 

I didn't mind the lockpicking (or the hacking) in FO3, I think I was just too slow a lot of times to keep from breaking the pins.

 

Mind you I didn't mind hacking/lockpicking in Mass Effect either, so I'm just weird.

[Hell Kitty]

I didn't mind the lockpicking (or the hacking) in FO3, I think I was just too slow a lot of times to keep from breaking the pins.

 

Mind you I didn't mind hacking/lockpicking in Mass Effect either, so I'm just weird.

 

Exactly the same for me. Let's be best friends forever!

[~Di]

You guys must be kidding!! You thought trying to manuever through a bunch of wheels with blocks and moving red squares in a few short seconds using your left hand desperately whacking A, D, and W keys was FUN???

 

You're either deliberately messing with my mind, or you both played Mass Effect on a console!

[Pop]

Why were you using the keys? Use your mouse.

[~Di]

Why were you using the keys? Use your mouse.

 

Huh? The manual says to use the arrow keys or the WASD keys. You can actually grab that puppy with your mouse and move it???

[Hell Kitty]

Heh, I played ME on the 360, and the minigame was a simple simon says deal. I wouldn't say it was fun, but it was over quick enough that it was never annoying.

[Amentep]

Guilty as charged, I played Mass Effect on a console.