Lazy game designers

So I've had my eye on this Dante's Inferno game for a while now. I realise that it's basically God of War only Christian, but it's that old school Xian hellfire and brimstone aesthetic that makes me want to play it. Hell, we're only a couple of weeks into 2010, and there's already several games that attract my love of violent angel destruction. I'm a very happy camper.

Then I saw this




So after all the violence, sex and bastardization of classic literature and mythology, the best you guys can do for Fraud is arena combat? Jeepers. This has almost single-handedly destroyed my interest in the game. In no way do I desire being stuck in one area until I can kill X number of enemies before the time runs out, or build up a combo of Y number or hits, or kill Z number of enemies with a specific attack. It's not fun. It's tedious and it only artificially lengthens the game's playtime.

The worst part is that this same mechanic is popping up in these other awesome angel killing games. Bayonetta is off the hook for this because it's arena challenges are just side missions that you actually have to go out of your way to find. Perfect. If someone wants them, then they are they to try. On the other hand, Darksiders forces you to complete these battles in order to progress. The weird thing is, that seems to be a really solid game so far. Why did they feel the need to add these mindless sections? I figure that I'm roughly half-way through that game, and I've already completed 2 sets of 4 challenges. I fully expect more to pop up, but hopefully I'm wrong about that.

Of course, the arena section is nothing new to games. It's been an rpg cliche for ages. Hell, depending on your origin choice, you might have an arena section twice of the course of playing Dragon Age: Origins. That doesn't mean it deserves to be here. I would love for the future of game development to not rely on this crutch. If you want your arena challenges, keep them optional. It worked for Batman:AA, and it can work for you. An ideal game lets the player get lost in the experience. There's not better way to drag them right out of that immersion than by adding a timer. So please, for the love of god, don't do it.