2007-12-06: Dance Dance Revolution Does Not Belong in Boss Fights

As I summarized here, I have been using Gamefly for a while, and I've used it to play the majority of games which have been made available on the PS3 platform since launch. I'm a bit behind, thanks to the December release glut, but overall I would say I've played the majority of games that've been released for the PS3. And so, based upon this experience, I've got a few pet peeves about the current generation of console gaming:

• Motion controls for motion control's sake! I realize that motion controls are 'hip' and 'new'. That doesn't mean that developers should scramble to find somewhere to stick them into their games, even if they're recognizably bolted-on afterthoughts which interfere with game mechanics. They were stupidly implemented in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and reached new heights of unplayable with Lair, but were reasonably well done in Call of Duty 3. I will say that Heavenly Sword made very good use of them (thrown weapon guidance), and that most games now include the option to turn them off entirely if you don't like them. For a while there, obligatory and forced motion controls were a complete blight on PS3 titles, and I'm glad to see they've been toned down.
• If I wanted to be playing Dance Dance Revolution, or Guitar Hero, I would be playing those titles. If I want to play a top-down fighting game (I'm looking at you, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance) or a first person shooter (Clive Barker's Jericho), I will choose that. When, while playing either of those games, I am subjected to irritating "press the button that appears on screen because we think you really wanted to play Guitar Hero instead", I am seriously annoyed. God of War also did this, but at least it had the good grace to allow you to repeat failed button-pressing sequences with more time each time, until you got it (assuming Kratos's health held up). For instance, the big sea hydra in the beginning moves slower after you've failed the DDR-ish sequence a time or two, presumably due to fatigue from Kratos shoving its jaws apart and stabbing it the past few times. GOW got it fairly right, by recognizing that these sequences were not the core gameplay and that people generally didn't want to play their beat-em-up that way. Now, for an idea how to do it entirely mind-bogglingly wrong, I submit Jericho. Jericho is an FPS with a bunch of fairly interesting monster designs by Clive Barker, and the only reason the demo convinced me that I would hate the game, is the DDR-ish button pressing sequences. They also manage to add in my first gripe, motion sensing, to add insult to injury. These sequences have about a third-of-a-second reaction time allowed for button presses, and if you miss a single press, you're summarily killed off and have to go through the whole annoying thing again, instead of "ok, we'll dock you some health, then you get to repeat the sequence with more time between presses". Minus these scenes, I would probably have at least found Jericho to be an enjoyable rent. As it stands, I'm avoiding the title entirely. Figure it out, game industry... some of us do not like DDR control schemes, and get annoyed when we get it foisted off on us in the middle of a game we do want to play. Until Jericho came along, Ultimate Alliance's sequences inhabited the top spot in my personal irritation list.

So, of the two gripes I have, the latter one has been relegated to a "watch list". However, the first one is an actively festering sore upon modern gaming as we know it. For those of us who hate those types of controls, an alternative means of resolving boss fights ought to be provided. Here's an idea: how about letting us beat the bosses to death the same way we beat them down to the point where the obligatory DDR-mimicking cutscenes show up?