Wait, DOOM's enemies can fight each other?
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00:00Innovating and experimenting with awesome new additions to the playstyle is how you
00:03make your titles stand out from the crowd.
00:06Seems obvious right?
00:07You'd think so.
00:08But why do some game studios craft really cool gameplay mechanics that are a struggle
00:11to use?
00:12How frustrating is it to know how cool a mechanic is but you just can't bring yourself to get
00:16it right?
00:17Difficulty is one thing, but over-complication, insane control schemes, demands for your time,
00:23these kinds of things make us feel like kids that have been shown a fancy new toy and then
00:27told to keep it in its box.
00:28I'm CypherWhatCulture.com and these are 10 awesome video game mechanics that are impossible
00:33to pull off.
00:34Number 10.
00:35Potion mixing.
00:36The Witcher 2.
00:37One of the great things about The Witcher games is just how much there is to do that you can
00:41totally get through each title and not have experienced everything.
00:44Except Gwent.
00:45We all played Gwent.
00:47Many players never bothered with the potion making and mixing in The Witcher 2 because
00:50they'd rather go monster hunting than ingredient gathering.
00:53Making a potion is a step-by-step process that requires finding a place to meditate, having
00:57read a specific potion formula, holding the ingredients to make whatever quality base you'd
01:02like, and then all the ingredients for the specific potion.
01:05Potions also use ingredients that can be crafted elsewhere, so it's all too easy to use something
01:09that you might need later.
01:11Video game material hoarders can attest to this concern.
01:14Potions are cool and can have numerous great effects such as status resistance, a higher chance
01:18of parry or making invisible enemies visible.
01:21But if you failed to craft something worthwhile your concoction would kill you, so do you really
01:25want to risk it?
01:26The importance of such things depends on your difficulty of choice of course, but if you're
01:30going for a casual jaunt through the world of Witcher 2 then you probably won't have
01:33much use for potions nor the time spent putting them together.
01:36Number 9.
01:37Monster infighting.
01:38Doom.
01:39These days it's commonplace for games to have multiple warring factions that just so happen
01:43to both be your enemies.
01:45Stumbling into a firefight between them and staying out of the way, or even using their animosity
01:49to instigate one is a legitimate strategy.
01:52The original Doom did a lot of good things for transforming the landscape of gaming, but
01:55some may not have ever been aware of monster infighting.
01:59Not only did many FPS games of the era not give enemies the ability to hurt each other,
02:03they certainly didn't make it possible for their victims to retaliate.
02:06Yes, if you can carefully avoid a monster's attack and that stray bullet hits another foe,
02:10the demon in question will get mighty upset about it and the two will usually wind up having
02:14a fight to the death.
02:15It's certainly one way to play conservatively, causing a demon civil war until only
02:19the strongest enemies remain, and then picking them off afterwards.
02:22It's not for everyone though, as it means not just getting in the line of sight of your
02:26opponents, but getting out unscathed so you can watch the carnage from a safe distance.
02:30Sometimes dodging shots to try and land them on a target you have no control over requires
02:35too much patience.
02:36Number 8.
02:37Animation Cancelling.
02:38League of Legends.
02:39Although its origins are hard to trace, if you've ever been part of a community for a fighting
02:43game or watched a tournament, you'll have no doubt heard of attack or animation cancelling.
02:48It refers to the ability to stop an animation midway through to get the benefits of something
02:52without having to wait for the character to stop moving before you act again.
02:56It allows for faster play and the ability to swap tactic as the situation changes.
03:01But it isn't just limited to fighting games and is in fact a part of the metagame of the
03:05biggest MOBA there is, League of Legends.
03:07While some characters fare better than others, it's champions such as Riven that benefit
03:11the most from animation cancelling.
03:13In fact Riot Games specifically designed Riven to play like a fighting game character, so
03:17it's not surprising that she takes so well to the concept.
03:20But animation cancelling isn't necessarily easy and it requires pinpoint timing to get
03:24right.
03:25Looking up Riven combat tutorials to get better at the game will tell you that you need to
03:29be able to use animation cancelling to get the best out of her.
03:32So if you can't get that input right, you're not getting the Riven that could take out
03:35an entire enemy team of five by herself.
03:38Number 7.
03:39Wave Dashing.
03:40Super Smash Bros. Melee.
03:41Smash Bros. is a wild and crazy celebration of gaming that is marketed by Nintendo as a
03:45party fighter.
03:46Its validity as a fighting game has always been a point of contention, depending on who
03:50you ask.
03:51But the fact of the matter is, Melee is the fastest and most challenging game in the series
03:54to master.
03:56This only got more intense when players realised that small jumps air dodged back towards the
04:00ground created sweeping movements that made the game even speedier.
04:04Wave Dashing, as it came to be known, changed the face of combat in the Smash Bros. Metagame.
04:09The discovery and subsequent mastering of Wave Dashing was what separated casual players
04:13from those who wanted to compete at the highest level.
04:15And it wasn't just being able to pull off the technique in isolation, it was finding
04:18your spots to use it mid-match and do so to your advantage.
04:22Comparing your own gameplay to what tournament level competitors can do is brain-melting
04:27stuff.
04:28It's not for everyone and simply getting the basics down is a headache, especially
04:31in a game as crazy and intense as Smash Bros.
04:34Sometimes it's best to leave the most nimble moves to the masters and just play the game
04:37at its most simple.
04:39Anyone for a Pokeballs only match?
04:42Number 6.
04:43Minecraft.
04:45Whether you love or hate Minecraft, you can't deny how successful it is as a creative outlet.
04:50Castles, cities and more that are feats of cube-based architectural design are just the
04:54tip of the iceberg.
04:56Minecraft has transformed through the last decade and the earliest signs that it could
04:59be more than just hunting for gold and hiding from creepers was redstone.
05:03A rare ingredient found at the bottom of the earth, redstone essentially can be used to
05:07create electrical currents.
05:08For the players that invested time into it, the possibilities became endless.
05:12Hooray!
05:13You've built a secret passage triggered by a switch.
05:15Well done you.
05:16Now take a look at this functional Gameboy built inside of Minecraft that can play Tetris.
05:22What makes building with redstone difficult is two-fold.
05:24First of all, even if you're following a pre-made guide, it's hard to get right and
05:28just like real wiring, if there's an issue somewhere, it can take an age to identify.
05:32Thankfully, much less dangerous at least.
05:34Secondly, if you're playing on the traditional survival mode, you'll have to farm like crazy
05:38to get everything you need.
05:40It's a time-intensive affair.
05:42Bless that one friend on the server who can outfit everybody with automated defence turrets,
05:46because some of us just don't have the brains for it.
05:495.
05:50Dark Souls
05:52You can tell if a mechanic is hard to pull off, if a game's community is separated into
05:56those who can do it and everyone else.
05:58From Software's reputation is games that are notoriously difficult in nearly every regard,
06:03but people flock to them because of their high quality.
06:05They're not just cheap for cheap's sake, and overcoming challenges in the likes of
06:09the Dark Souls series is one of the biggest rushes of serotonin modern gaming has to offer.
06:14What makes parrying attacks in Dark Souls so tough is just how precise you have to be
06:18with the right frames of animation.
06:20Mastering one parry is something special and truly feels like out-thinking your opponent.
06:25Trying to apply that same knowledge to another enemy is fruitless, however, as everything
06:28has its own timing.
06:30Becoming a counter-attack machine is therefore such a game-changer that only the most intensely
06:34talented players can brag about it.
06:37Dark Souls in general is a game about playing carefully and the combat centers around knowing
06:40when to duck and when to dive to avoid damage, but if you've had enough watching your player
06:45avatar roll from pillar to post and want to risk standing your ground, then prepare to
06:49get splattered a great many times along the way if you don't master that parry.
06:544.
06:55Shinespark – Super Metroid
06:57A staple of the Metroid series is Samus equipping herself with all of her classic side
07:01arms throughout her journey until she's all kitted up and ready to take on the
07:04final boss.
07:05It's a feeling of power every time to have a new ability on your side, as well as opening
07:09up new traversal options to delve deeper into the game's world.
07:13Super Metroid introduced the Shinespark.
07:15After equipping the speed booster, Samus can store the energy it creates by crouching.
07:20Following this, if players quickly get into position, they can unleash the Shinespark
07:23by propelling Samus' body like a rocket.
07:25Thankfully this ability is optional, and unless you're going for 100% completion, you never
07:30need to use it to beat the game's story.
07:32Why?
07:33Because it's incredibly difficult, so the timing is a kicker not just on storing the
07:36energy but getting into the right place to make it worthwhile.
07:40On top of this, Samus can Shinespark horizontally, vertically or even diagonally if you can pull
07:44it off right.
07:45Largely, the Shinespark is used to grab hard to reach items, and speedrunners make excellent
07:49use of the technique in getting through the game as safe and unharmed as possible.
07:53For us regular scrubs, however, it's something that has eluded a great number of us no matter
07:57how many times we've played this classic title.
08:01Number 3, Pro Guitar, Rock Band 3.
08:04Rock Band brought the rhythm genre to its next logical step when it introduced the guitar
08:07gameplay to bass, drums and karaoke vocals.
08:10Despite being the leader of the pack, however, it was still riding a wave that was sure to
08:14crash.
08:15In order to keep things lively, Rock Band 3 introduced a few new instruments.
08:19Whilst the keyboard was fairly straightforward, it was the pro guitar that really threw many for
08:23a loop.
08:24There were two peripherals associated with it.
08:25One was essentially a tricked out real guitar, but the other was a classic rock band plastic
08:30instrument with 102 buttons all down its fretboard.
08:33In ways, pro guitar is an excellent teaching tool, but after years of honing our chops on
08:37expert mode, it's a real reminder that those skills of nailing a red, green, yellow, blue
08:41and orange guitar solo doesn't transfer.
08:44The learning curve is steep, to a degree that it's almost like learning a musical instrument.
08:49You know, because it is.
08:51Whilst genuine guitarists can fare better on the thing, it's still a clunky and bizarre
08:55controller that takes some getting used to no matter what.
08:58The game's strange and confusing way of tracking notation and chords on screen certainly doesn't
09:03help.
09:04Using a video game to teach yourself guitar is awesome, but we expect this feature went
09:07largely unused at your everyday house party.
09:102.
09:11The controls.
09:12Getting over it with Bennett Foddy.
09:14Browser-based physics nightmare QWOP was a sensation because of just how different it
09:18was to the mainstream gaming space in 2008.
09:21On the cusp of the indie game revolution, it was a simple yet wildly addictive puzzle and
09:26test of tolerance.
09:28Developer Bennett Foddy went viral again in 2017 when he dropped Getting Over It that seemed
09:32like an extension of the same core concepts.
09:34Instead of trying to alternate four keys to make a sprinter actually run rather than faceplant
09:39at the start line, Getting Over It asks players to climb a mountain with only a sledgehammer.
09:44As such, the controls for the game are really the only mechanic it has, lining up that hammer
09:48to propel yourself forward, hoping to high heaven with each movement that it won't backfire.
09:53The controls are, of course, intentionally tough and you'll know within minutes if this game
09:57is for you.
09:58You can either quit out immediately or prepare yourself for the long haul of toughing it out
10:02to the end.
10:03The highs in overcoming a spot you've been stuck in for 15 minutes are unmatched, but
10:07the game will not make it easy for you.
10:09With no checkpoint system, mistakes can be so bad that even the chillest gamers will find
10:14out what rage quit really means.
10:171.
10:18Fatality.
10:19Mortal Kombat.
10:21Mortal Kombat is known as the game that was so violent it basically birthed the need for
10:24video game rating boards.
10:26At the centre of all the controversy was the fatality system, a character specific kill
10:31animation that is gratuitous and wonderfully deranged.
10:34It says it all that even 30 years into the franchise, the fatality remains one of its most
10:38important and beloved aspects, with each new title offering new twisted ways to add
10:43insult to injury when you've beat your opponent.
10:46Pulling off one of these however requires you to be more than just a casual player.
10:50We've all been there, you pick up Mortal Kombat with very little experience and if you
10:54manage to successfully put down your enemy, the match ends somewhat unceremoniously with
10:58your opponent wiggling in place for a moment before collapsing.
11:01You weren't going to button bash your way into the fatality.
11:05Perhaps more than any other fighter, Mortal Kombat rewards players for picking a character
11:08and learning every combination of button inputs, including and especially their coup de
11:13gras.
11:14If you think you've got it memorised, that small window of opportunity puts the pressure
11:17on and you'll still crack and mess it up.
11:19Sure, you might win a fight in Mortal Kombat, but it doesn't really feel like winning if
11:23your opponent's body is still in one piece now, does it?
11:27And that's the list.
11:28Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below as well as any other
11:31video game mechanics that you thought were awesome but just way too hard to pull off.
11:37Make sure you like this video, share it with a friend, subscribe and hit that notification
11:41bell.
11:42I've been CypherWattCulture and have a good week.