I’ve been thinking about the PS1 game ‘Driver’ a lot recently. It’s a game I spent a lot of time on during my youth, and whilst I’m sure it doesn’t hold up some 20 years later, it was still a highlight from my ‘gaming youth’.
As much as I know I enjoyed it however, I don’t remember all that much about it. Aside from pulling the perfect reverse hand-break-turn in order to leave the garage/lockup area and begin the game proper. I didn’t need to pull this manoeuvre of course, I could just, you know…drive out, but something felt so incredibly satisfying about it that I couldn’t stop myself.
Which brings me to this point of this thread. What’s something you do in a game for no reason other than it feels damn good?
So long as you don’t care for graphics, Driver still holds up in the feel department. Get a PSX emulator, rip/“acquire” the game and you’re good to go.
For me, it’s any game moment where the player is given manual control over a function that is usually automated or simply blocked off. For example: any game that gives you control over sheathing/holstering your weapon instead of waiting for your character to do it for you (a boon for RP in RPG games) or in GTA V when the right d-pad(?) button gives control over the gun’s flashlight or a car’s headlights and convertible roof. I’m not sure about earlier games in the series but Test Drive Unlimited even let the player roll down the individual front side windows of the car you were driving.
Edit: screw ups.
I recently bought red dead 2 and that feature took some getting used to. Especially because the controls are context sensitive and the button that starts a conversation when your gun is holstered is the same button that points that gun at a stranger if it’s out. I’m used to it now and compulsively holster my gun as soon as the shooting seems to be done, but for a while there was a lot of “Howdy partner. Fine weather we’re having ain’t…no wait wait sorry I didn’t mean…ah shit” and suddenly I’m in a shootout with the law and out $50 for my bounty when I just wanted to buy a bottle of whiskey.
I know the exact problem and unfortunately that’s just a staple of contextual buttons. I generally found I had a lot of problems with RDR2 so I can’t say too much inbiased and it’s not to bash R* (this time) but when button layout is handled well, it’s manual controls like I was talking about that make the experience feel that much better.
On the subject of contextual button commands, Gavin from Achievement Hunter made the joke comparison during a Hitman video (pretty sure it was Hitman). To paraphraae because it’s been so long, “Don’t you just hate it when you walk up to a window in real life and jump out of it instead of opening it because your angle was slightly off?”