Good games that infuriate you!

I'm just playing Evil Under The Sun at the mo & I really like it in a lot of ways - the graphics are lovely, it has a compelling story, the characters are interesting (although some of the regional accents are way off!). I am trying very hard to play this without referring to a walkthrough, not succeeding & even then I'm getting stuck. There is a lot of walking back & forth, revisiting & to my mind a little bit of hit & miss! It's driving me mad!
Just wondered what other games you've really enjoyed but every now & again feel you'd like to take the disc out & use it as a frisby?

At least you can double-click on exits to get to the next screen immediately. So it doesn't take that long to get around.



Stauf's comments in 7th Guest.

The length of time it took to save or load a game in Nine.

The timed underwater "maze" in Loch Ness.

The mummy sequence in GK1.

The boar in Atlantis: Lost Tales.

The chores in Nancy Drew White Wolf (though even without the chores I don't know if I'd have enjoyed it much).

Dreamfall had a good story and characters, but the stealth, the bad combat sequences, the stupid timed matching game every time you had a door lock, the touchiness of the navigation system, and the scarcity of real adventure-type puzzles got me really annoyed with it. Then I came to the multiple cliffhanger at the end and that was quite possibly the biggest annoyance of all -- like the developer mooning you in the face.

Hi chrissie, Good topic

Oh Boy there have been several for me...

More recent one is Next Life..I just hated it...This was a game I thought would be a goody....was very disappointed...

Oh Well

Dreamfall and Broken Sword 3 are at the top of mt list. Primarily due to the awful interface combined with senseless fighting annoying stealth and one million crates. Both great games with serious handicaps.

I almost totally agree with you, oldmariner, except for the crates, I liked them. Weird, I know, but that's the way it was for me. I was always wondering what about those crates annoyed so many other players when I thought they were fun.

I love the crates too sierra, but then again I love sliders as well!

Ana

My list off the top of my head:

- The timed puzzles in Myst IV
- Dreamfall (running from the twins and running/hiding from the troll -- hated the controls as well)
- Broken Sword 3 (the stealth and running away sequences -- some crate puzzles were okay but it got old and boring for me)
- The wolf "maze" in GK 2
- The walking & back and forth in Limbo of the Lost
- Monkey Island 3 - the insult matches
- Monkey Island 4 - monkey combat and the stupid swamp sequence!

Hey chrissie

Many games. But for me is Broken Sword 3, Penumbra Overture(very action and combat for me).

First game that comes to my head is Next Life. The gameplay and the movement of Adam was very annoying.

I absolutely loved Dreamfall, one of my favourite games, but the stealth and subsequent running and hiding from Big Bad Troll in the underground caverns just about drove me crazy. The second time I played the game through I relied on one of my old saves to get me past this truly horrible bit - and thank goodness I still had them.

Putting out the forest fire in Silver Earring was a bit of a stinker, until I realised that clicking away like a maniac wasn't going to make Holmes move any faster. This took many, many tries to get through.

The Fox & Geese puzzle in ND White Wolf!!! Oh boy, don't get me started on this one.

I love Timelapse except for the rabafratzin Anasazi arrow puzzle. I was bald for weeks after that one.

Obsidian is another favorite but for the shifting button puzzle at the end. My eyes are still crossed because of it.

I liked the Omega Stone, but hated the mazes, especially the garden. I worked my way through school as a fry cook so you know which ND, makes me angery. Wasn't to fond of the game in Aztec, either. It's funny but I liked all of the above games, just hated parts of them.

Charllotte
I still haven't finished 80 Days because of the timed puzzle at the finish.

Hi

Dreamfall and Broken Sword III are most definitely amongst my list of good games marred by frustration

The controls, the action and the stealth .... with the timed bits just making matters worse

Cheers.

Mad

"The Awakened" is a good example:
- There is a documents inventory. Unfortunately the writing in these documents is so tiny that you can't read anything. I decided to let it go and use a walkthrough if I missed some hints. Then I reach a puzzle where you're supposed to work with a map that has the same tiny writing. It was impossible!
- There were a few stealth sequences where you could not know where you were supposed to go and where you would get cought. One of them was really bad - you had to go in the direction where you were clearly shown you couldn't go.
But the worst part of the game was:
- You have to put out a fire. So you find a bucket and go look for one barrel among several which contains water. You have no way to guess that this barrel has water, and all the barrels look alike so this takes a while. But the worst part of it is - you're on an island! you could just walk two feet to get water.

"Next Life" was a big disappointment to me. I couldn't wait to play it--then I was sorry I even bought it. Puzzles were annoyingly difficult.

When I think about it there seems to be very few games that don't have one aspect or another that infuriates somebody!

Out of the games mentioned that I have played I would agree with most of the 'annoyances'! - the troll cave & the twins in Dreamfall (I didn't mind so much the stealth & combat); timed & stealth sequences,crate puzzles in BS3; monkey combat in MI4 (but I did like the insults in MI3 ): the chores in White Wolf - also for me the skating pond puzzle, the snowmobile chase & the repetitive snowball fights but I did really like the fox & geese game! & the game overall. I didn't mind the wolf sequence in GK2 too much but hated the swinging axe ending to GK3.

I don't mind sliders & the only thing that stopped me loving The Awakened was the control system that made me feel nauseous.

There was a little too much wandering back & forth in Limbo of the Lost but to get back to the game that started this - Evil Under the Sun - for me the worst is wondering what you have to do or where to go to next to progress the game & having to keep going back & forth to different locations in the hope that you bump into the right person (or object):) The double-clicking to exit quickly from a scene does help!!

I hate it in an adventure, when I get really, really stuck because of some extremely small hotspot or a hotspot that was inactive at the time that I passed it, but got active when I do something in the game. Especially the last one I hate.

East Side Story for example. There is one hotspot which is not available when I first passed it. When I triggered an action, then there was a hotspot. I spend a few hours walking around, talking to people but I couldn't find it. As a last resort, I looked into a walkthrough. I hate walkthroughs, it is a way of cheating I don't like. Especially since it is not my lack of adventure skill.

The same goes for Time Stand Still. You can work on a puzzle, but until you do something else, it is impossible to solve it. I spend hours working on that puzzle. Again I used a walkthrough and I found out that I spend all those hours on a puzzle, I shouldn't even have access too.

But I love all four Carol Reed Mystery adventures. It is terrible that those things make me use a walkthrough.

Another example of a game I love with something I hate. The recent Wii adventure Zack & Wiki. I loved it, until the very last level. You have to use the Wii Remote to swing something around like a lasso and release it when it is at top speed. However, the controls to release it are very very broken. I just didn't work. It felt really random well it wasn't. Normally, to release a lasso, you throw it in the direction you want to throw it. Not in this level. You have point to left. Totally illogical and very difficult and frustrating to pull off. You can also do something wrong in the game, without it giving any feedback that you actually did messed up. Thankfully the levels are small. But there are a few levels that I forgot one thing in the beginning of the game, which resulted in me, spending a decent amount of time, wondering what I did wrong, well I was actually really stuck from the very beginning. Very bad. But I still love the game.

I probably have a lot more examples of games I love, but elements I hate.

You swing the Remote like a lasso? Really? Hmmm. It sounds wild!

My example of frustration in a game I otherwise enjoyed -- the timed maze with changing camera angles in Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses.

It should be great, but it just didn't work. And that's a shame in a otherwise great end fight.

The game that I loved in spite of frustration was Grim Fandango. It was the first keyboard controlled game that I played, and it was a shame that the controls were so hard to use. Poor Manny spent most of his time either turning around in circles or smashing into walls and doors!!

But the game was so good that I endured the frustration of trying to move Manny around--and by the end of the game I was moving a little better, I'll admit...

I think the absolute worst timed puzzle was the finale of Shivers II. You started the puzzle on one disc, then had to change discs to complete an imposssibly short timed mechanical puzzle. Of course, when you failed and it was "Game Over", you had to go back to the previous disc to load your saved game, then switch discs to try again. Needless to say I never finished
this puzzle.

Lady Kestral, how well I remember "Shoot straight as the wind blows". I was ready to kill that Indian, if only I could have turned around and found him.

SuMac -- you actually had to switch disks in the middle of a timed puzzle? Folks, I think we may have a winner here.

SuMac, that is an absolute winner for frustration, and here I was going to throw in the floating island puzzle in Journey to the center of the earth. I love that game though and keep a save on a floppy.

Was that actually timed while you were switching the discs? Or did the timer stop during the disc swap time? I remember Shivers 2 had a lot of timed puzzles.

At first in Dreamfall my desire to have more of the old game made me frustrated with the fighting sequences. (I have played shooters, but not hand to hand fighting games). Once I learned the keystrokes for DF I really got into it. My Vista liked it so much that I had to redo it on the XP. I'm currently replaying it on the XP and totally enjoying it. I sorta bad mouthed it at first, I think. In fact, it's up there with the original for me now. To me the first one was hurt by the talking trees, giants and mole-people. I won't discuss Abnathus, or whatever/whenever his name was.

Abnaxus. That guy could talk the hind legs off a donkey.

The final puzzle in Shivers II was activated on the first disc, and the actual solving of it took place on the second disc. You could not save your game once you changed discs and the timer started with the first click.

It was a puzzle where you had to set many little mirrors to the correct angle to reflect a light beam across a board to a final hot spot that triggered the "good" ending to the game. You had to move fast to set those mirrors ahead of the light beam. I never made it all the way through.

BTW, I loved the rest of the game. It was loaded with fun puzzles, and if they ever reissue it on one CD or DVD, I'd buy it again.

Two games that I really liked but got so frustrated with that I didn't finish them...

Atlantis Evolution - trying to escape from the Guardians in the forest had me tearing my hair out and hearing "Halt Deviant!" in my dreams! I just couldn't master that one even with a walkthrough.

Mysterious Journer 2 - the fog maze puzzle, could never get the hang of that one either.

I had so much FUN (said sarcastically) with that fog puzzle, I just wanted to disappear. THEN I got to that bridge puzzle. I'm beginning to think they (the lovely people who brought us Schizm and MJ2) don't feel a game is done until they have at least 2 baffling and agonizing puzzle. And I can hear them say, "but they're not sliders or mazes."


I agree, Becky. I liked the water\windy head puzzle a lot. I also love sliders.

I loved Mysterious Journey II -- didn't have any trouble with the fog puzzle, but I remember struggling with that water garden and the windy heads -- I guess I'm not much of a sailor.

Personally, I think it all depends on how each person's mind works.

I need to come clean ... I cheated .. yes I did ;-)
Had no choice but to look up the solution for Life and Betrayal (Judas' Malediction).
I ran around for hours trying to find the answer to this puzzle ... only to find out that the game had a little note book on the side (which I was aware of), but i never saw the arrow on the book to turn the page and see the other clues (which btw are needed to use with some objects).

After I saw this, the rest of the game was solved in 1 hour, but I felt very stupid for not noticing this before. All my ideas to solve were right, execpt for this [blip] little turn the page arrow.

I hate looking at walkthroughs, I always end up feeling guilty or stupid for not noticing such simple clues ... I miss the days of before the Internet. Back then, I had no choice but spend months trying to find the clues. Indiana Jones and Fate of Atlantis and First NMonkey Island come to mind ... spent over a year on it.

Belgar, I don't HAVE months to spend on one puzzle in a game. I loved Mysterious Journey 1 and 2, but the 2 sided bridge puzzle in 1 was kinda hard, but more fun than the one in MJ2. At first the fog puzzle was so confusing that I nearly gave up.

Back in the day, before the internet, would you be stuck for months, not having noticed the arrow, though?

I miss arrows that way all the time. Especially if they are beautifully designed arrows that look decorative instead of functional.

Give me an ugly, obvious arrow any day.

ahah well maybe, I would still miss the obvious!

If you get the game Belief and Betrayal, you will thank me for noticing the arrow.
You would think that I would be smarter after years of playing these games? They still manage to have me scratch my head.
I am now playing Reprobates, so far so good ... until the next arrow!

Yes, but in the old days (early 90's)... you had no choice w/o Internet. The only choice was to know someone who had the game, or stumble upon a magazine that had the walkthru.

In the old days if you had a modem you could get CompuServe and there was a Gamers Forum there that helped with the early, early games from the 1980s, like King's Quest for one. Of course, we also shared hints with friends. It was always fun when I was the first one in the group who found out what to do next when we were all stuck and so could help the others, what a high!

When I first started playing games there were no forums or walkthroughs that I was aware of, although it's certainly possible that some existed. However the game developer offered a "hint line", where you could call and ask for help. The catch: this meant a long distance charge--I don't know how helpful they were, or how quickly you got an answer because I was never willing to pay for the help. Then I discovered GameBoomers, and that settled the problem for me...

Hi Jenny, my first true AG was Broken Sword & the first part I got truly stuck was trying to get past the goat! No internet, no help anywhere & I was going to work & not concentrating because I had my mind on the goat all the time! After a week I sussed it out by myself! but got stuck again later. I resorted to an expensive phone line then found a place I could have the whole walkthrough faxed through! Only trouble is I had it faxed through to my work place - I arranged it with the very ameniable admin lady but just as the fax came through the manager turned up! Luckily she just laughed! Yep! I love GameBoomers!

Now that you mention it, I think I'd rather switch disks in the middle of a timed puzzle than meet that goat again. Evil incarnate.

I thought so - it led me astray when I should have been working!

I recall playing monkey island no walk through and I got so stuck and I d go bed thinking about this puzzal and in the middle of the night get an idea and start playing again .Then I found just adventure and some times you would wait days befor you got a reply .I mean there may have been walk throughs but I did nt know so when I first found that hints site .I thought it was so good and like when we were doing the demo Experiment 112 .How people get togeather and help each other .Some how I think we got our moneys worth so much more than we do today

A couple of years back i had that too (thinking of a game even when i went to bed). I'd finished many games without the slightest hint such us Tex Murphy - Pandora's tomorrow, Monkey island (all of them), Gabriel knight and a lot more. But back then i didn't have any other choice. I didn't have any internet connection...

When I first started gaming, I had Internet, but didn't even know there were such things as WT's. I spent weeks wandering around Myst Island without even visiting another Age, until my nephew told how to do it.

And then I got stuck in Beyond Atlantis, tried to order the Guide from Dreamcatcher (of course it was on back order) and a very nice young lady there told me I might find some help at a website called GameBoomers.com ....and the rest is history.

Oh, well I was just getting killed again and again by some level boss in a shooter. When I played my first adventure (Myst) I got a game guide with the game. Then when I got serious, I had a friend who had played Tex Murphy first. That was UAKM, then Pandora Directive and Buried In Time. Those three never frustrated me. Even with a guide Myst was baffling to me. Loved it and the sounds, but was still baffled. I never would have figured out the directions on that little rail car.

Bubba .... lol, yes I remember them.
[blip] I now feel old.

Remember the first cd rom game? the 7th guest and bad mojo. I never finished them.
I got so frustrated and stuck, that I just gave up.

Well, I sorta didn't start gaming that early, but I do remember DOS being on the PC. Most of the games I was playing were old by the time I got to them. I thought there were SO many adventure games! I could take my time and work through some confusing puzzles. The very first game I played NEW and got all the way through with no help at all was Mission Critical. That one stays on my mind a lot.

Hi all,

new to this board so I hope you don't mind me resurrecting an older thread
There are some games that I literally wanted to smash against the wall because they infuriated me so much. Some of them were good and I finished them eventually; some weren't worth the effort, and others were good but I never managed to finish them because of annoying features. Here goes:

- Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers. Loved that game until I reached the underground African temple and had to deal with the mummies. No matter how often and how hard I tried, I never managed to get past the [blip] things. Needless to say, I've never completed this game which is a real shame because I love the GK series. It's just that I do poorly at timed/action/stealth sequences; needless to say, the final sequence in GK 3 - Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned gave me a hard time too but nothing like those mummies...

- GK - The Beast Within. The final "maze" in the cellar was awful. Took me a while but finally, I managed to pass through it. Then I had a hard time finishing off the wolf but I did it. Great game. Have to replay it sometime

- Loch Ness. Overall, I didn't like the game much; in fact, I thought it was pretty boring and I couldn't care less for the main character. The underwater maze was a nice idea but I had to try several times before I beat it. I hate mazes...

- Broken Sword - The Sleeping Dragon. I'm a huge fan of the series; Broken Sword - Circle of Blood was the very first adventure I ever played and I'm still in love with that game. Still, the third installment of the series was a disappointment - not a major disappointment because it did have a good story, good dialogues, and George and Nico were still cool characters I cared about. But the controls were awful, especially during the action sequences because the camera angle would just change and all of a sudden, you're not running away from the killer but towards her. What a brilliant idea...
And the stealth sequences simply drove me mad - especially the one beneath Montfaucon. I don't know how many times I've tried and how often I almost reached the other side just to be shot again. I tried and tried and tried... searched for a walkthrough on the web and, to my dismay, had to find out that I'd have to complete that sequence yet two more times. That absolutely did it for me. I finished the game by loading a savegame I had downloaded from the web because I just didn't feel like trying hundreds of times in order to complete that stupid sequence. It really spoiled the fun for me. Up to that sequence, I thought the game was ok; not great, but ok. Because of that part (and the crates) I cannot help but think of it as the weakest game in the series even though it does have its great moments. Oh, and another moment in the game that nearly made me toss it against the wall: the final fight *argh* This game could have been so much better...

Jehane, welcome aboard. I agree with a lot of what you said, especially with BS3. As for GK1 if you still have the game I do have a save after the mummy if you would like it. Use of saves in those old games are a bit different but can be done. surprise but GK1 is still available, though used. Amazon resellers have it ranging from $18-$80 Who would pay $80? Prices are better at half.com ranging from $6 to $20.

They are still out there of course you are dealing with people you don't know but having bought several games from those sources I always got what I ordered and in the condition advertised.

Jehane, it is really easy to get past the mummies in GK1 if you use the tips in the walkthroughs posted on gameboomers. It tells you exactly where to go and what vine to grab to make it to safety.

The first time I played it, it took me a long time to get past that scene but I recently replayed it and read the walkthrough for that part first and it was a piece of cake.

I disagree. Without pictures I couldn't tell where things were that they were talking about in the game -- not until after the mummies had got me. It took me several tries to get past them. I wouldn't say it was easy. And I think you may need a slowdown program unless you're using the updated GK1 installer.

There's a GK1 installer? I still have the game, of course - took me ages to find it, I won't give that one away, ever Not even for $ 80 or more. It's part of the GK Mysteries Box including The Beast Within; Sins of the Fathers comes on CD, German texts but English voices - they're kind of stuttering since my computer seems to be way too fast, even when using DosBox I'll give the game another go as soon as possible; I'll have to start from scratch, though, because my saves for the game are on my old computer which crashed (or rather, something in there went *bang* and then it started to smell like sth burning...). I got a walkthrough as well (came with the box) but it was no use at this point; maybe with screenshots, I can pass the bloody mummies...

The GK installer is here
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/gkpatches/

Jenny, good point about the GK installer. I did use that when I played it recently and it was easy to get through that part (probably because it was slowed down).

Now the maze in GK2 was a different story for me. I did make it through (after many tries) years ago when the game was new and I still don't know how I did it back then. I replayed it recently and I just couldn't do it. I resorted to seeing the ending again in a You Tube video!

Hi Jehane, sounds like you have the similar boxed version of both games that I have. I've had GK1 for years, was able to play it, just about! (in a small screen), but was unable to save games so had to put it on hold.

I came across this wonderful XP installer & was able to play the game for the 1st time over a year ago! (with the option of playing in small or full sized very pixellated screen!!) - the mummy part was difficult but possible & thought the game was one of the best!!

I tracked down the link to the installer - Jenny100 has already posted it! - it's well worth downloading & there is also one for GK2 on the same link.

I was able to play GK2 quite a few years ago on XP but had to play it in a small screen - with the installer I could opt to have the full screen & the game ran smoothly.

Wow, cool Thanks guys I already have the installer for GK2 and also used it; seems to work fine on my computer except that my screen is not entirely suited for this kind of game - flatscreens seem to mess up the graphics a little, at least I get strange horizontal streaks.
As for the GK1 installer: I believe I have installed the game on my computer but without using the installer. Do I just delete the game and re-install it, using the installer?

@misa: The maze in GK2 is awful. I got through it like this: I made a screenshot, numbered all the rooms, started out in number 9 (I think - it's been a while), closed the doors after checking on the map that I had picked the right doors, i.e. those closing off the rear rooms with the exit. Saved after the first section, then went forward. I still got the notes for this part of the game; in fact, I wrote a whole walkthrough because I know I'll have forgotten how to do it next time I play the game

Edit: Just tried to run the installer. It's not working properly, telling me that it can't find certain .avi-files on the GK disc. I skipped that part and completed installing the game, but it won't start up. Guess it's DosBox after all for me..

Yet another edit: Turned out the installer and fiddling with DosBox aren't working but by pure chance I found a patch that solved all GK1-related problems for me. Now it's working and I'm happy as a lark