All The Small Things

[Meiscool-2]

Several small, unimportant, and rather easy to do things have been used in several games. And yet, most games don't make use of these little features. I am talking, of course, about the little things that games have in them that make you enjoy them.

What are some little features in games that made you smile? Some of mine:

Illusion of Gaia - Before every character spoke, a sound effect of the person's pitch would play. Also, each major character's speech was in a different color. I thought both of these were pretty cool and livened up the normally dull textbox.

Fire Emblem - Not many 2D games have facesets that actually move and blink while talking. The fact that the faces were not just solid, singular pictures made me enjoy seeing the faces all the more.

Chrono Trigger - This might be a bigger than small feature, but I loved it so much that your characters/enemies could change places during battles. In addition to that, many skills did various things pending on where your character is, and where your enemies are located. It made some otherwise weaker techs more useful in some places, and that is why I found it enjoyable.

So... on to you.

[ZeroKirbyX]

I don't know if this counts, but in Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast you could always hear the loud noises of disk reading before a battle appeared, so you could just rise above the clouds or open the menu to avoid that battle.

[Archem]

In Guitar Hero, you can hold down multiple keys at once, so long as the lowest key is the one you need to play (single notes only). This makes it a little bit more like a real guitar (just a tiny bit), and it makes some songs easier without being a necessary (or even commonly known) skill.

[Ben]

Honestly....Final Fantasy Tactics A 2...

Im really digging the Bazzaar feature in the shops.

[coasterkrazy]

I love how most games have completely correct spelling and grammar. I usually catch almost every mistake in those fields when it comes from another person, so I'm always glad to see that it's flawless. It makes everything so nice and professional. I actually caught a mistake in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. If I remember correctly, it was in the description of the Alucard Spear. I just tried to pretend it wasn't there! I think people very often take correct spelling, punctuation and grammar for granted. So many potentially good homebrew games are plagued by unsightly spelling and grammar.

[Archem]

I've noticed a handful of those types of mistakes in the Phoenix Wright games. It's hard to ignore, but I push through.

I enjoy that most games these days have autosaves. Let's face it; autosaves are unnecessary, but do they ever help out!

[ZeroKirbyX]

Oh god coaster, if grammar and spelling gets you NEVER play Lunar: Dragon Song. I actually took the game back due to a combo of the terrible grammar and spelling and a bad battle system. They actually spelled goddess as "gpddess" multiple times.

[Archem]

That's just awful!

[Moosetroop11]

I like how, in the DBZ budokai games, when it's possible that the two characters could have fought in the series, they talk to each other before the battle. Similarly, when you have two characters that know each other well in advance wars DS, they talk to each other during the victory message rather than just spouting their usual phrases.

[RuneBlade]

The way you could skip cutscenes in LoZ: Twilight Princess was IMO awesome, since you had to press twice to actually skip so you didnt by accident, and you didnt even have to watch the scene the first time either.

[Dominicy]

I tend not to notice grammar errors, but when I do I can't ever get over them XD  For example, not really grammar, but in Lufia 2 (I'm replaying it because I love the puzzles, bite me )) during one of the conversations, Selan says something along the lines of "Are you questioning my authority?" To the king, and then replies right back."Ofcourse not, sir!" XD  It just bugged the crap out of me.

[FFL2and3rocks]

In Etrian Odyssey 2, having three different floor colors for the map. The first game only had one, so it was annoying to label the conveyor belts and the damage floors.

In an old DOS game called Torin's Passage, you could spend points on hints. So if you ever get stuck, you can save, buy some hints, then load and get your points back. :p

[X_marks_the_ed]

I've mentioned this game too often this week.

Powerstone's variety of characters. Cowboy + Criminal + Chef + Some Robot.... boy.... thing.. + some preppy girl. Yes.

[ZeroKirbyX]

I really liked when you possessed Sligs in Abe's Odessey. You could just shout out commands and grunts to other Sligs just for kicks. Then you shoot them.

[coasterkrazy]

Wow, I can't believe Lunar was like that. I'm glad I decided not to get it.

I think easter eggs, secrets and sidequests are always nice. They often make me replay games. I also like split paths that FORCE you to replay games if you want to see them, like in Star Ocean 2. I replayed that game so many times to try all of the characters.