We Refuse to Play Any More Games Without These 5 Essential Quality of Life Features

Yes, gameplay and storytelling and worldbuilding are all very important, but for us these little touches just make all the difference. Put these quality of life features in your game and we'll probably love it forever.
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Outside Xtra is a companion channel to Outside Xbox, covering the wider world of gaming with weekly list videos, Let's Plays and shows with your hosts Ellen and Luke. Look for regular appearances by OG Outside Xboxers Andy, Jane and Mike, and generally more of the videos you love, about more of the platforms you enjoy, from a team now two people larger overall.
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[@nefarioushouseplant1429]

I think every single player game should have cut scenes you can pause. Life is unpredictable and you shouldn't have to miss important story stuff because something happened in the real world that needed your attention more. As it stands, the first time you try to pause a cut scene in a new game you have to be prepared that it might pause, it might skip the cut scene entirely, or it might do absolutely nothing and there's no way to know which one will happen until you try it.

[@Stratelier]

One simple design rule should be this: - Pressing any button does basically nothing but display the "skip" button prompt for a few seconds. - Only _while that prompt is visible_ can you press that button to skip the cutscene. Because skipping a cutscene is something you can't risk doing by accident.

[@jardex2275]

That's why I always press the home button instead. If the cutscene won't pause, I'll make the entire game pause instead.

[@btbarr16]

Yes! Being able to pause a cutscene and skip dialog should be mandatory. I especially love it when there is even an option in the settings menu to skip all of the dialog or a line of dialog at a time.

[@thephantomtimelord1613]

And also being able to save while a cut scene is paused! I can't tell you how many times I've needed to leave to go somewhere, so I try and get the game to a good stopping point, only for there to be a cut scene, which I don't want to skip because there will probably be important info in it, but now I REALLY need to get going!

[@wraithcadmus]

My take is that pressing Start/Esc/Hamburger should pause the cutscene, from there you can press and hold a specific button to skip. As a PC gamer this should also let you go into options, yes it's your big grand opening but if it looks like arse or is running at 4.5FPS it's going to leave a bad impression.

[@frodobaggins7710]

As soon as Jane mentioned about being able to hide helmets in games, I could sense Ellen was about to talk about KoA again, and I wasn't disappointed

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

I have no clue how she manages to constantly force in a bit about one of the most mediocre games of all time. It's like finding a way to work in a word about your vicious hemorrhoids during every conversation you have with coworkers.

[@nono-ch8oy]

I literally came to post this exact comment lmao.

[@josephrigley8974]

​@@ledumpsterfire6474 it's really not that bad, the music's good and the combat is varied enough where every build is viable. I don't want to play it again but I've def played far worse.

[@Banquet42]

It does the basics well and clearly did the reading in terms of quality of life requirements. The remake was apparently disappointing though.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

@@josephrigley8974 No, it's not horrible, hence why I said mediocre. Worth talking about in every other video though? Definitely not lol

[@B.J.Camire]

I love when games have the ability to manually save in multiple slots, an auto-save feature, AND your auto-saves cycle over multiple auto-save slots. Nothing dulls the pain of missing out on an achievement or one-of-a-kind item than going to the load menu and finding out you've got a save from 5 minutes ago you can use to try again.

[@whyjnot420]

How about nameable saves? Everything you said is fine, but doesn't help at all when you are trying to find a specific spot and have 700 saves to look through. Console/gamepad users really could benefit from dedicated quicksaves as well (Skyrim on PC for example doesn't have quicksaves if you are using a gamepad, don't ask me why someone would do this, but this is the way it works. Having a quicksave function in the save menu would work great rather than always either overwriting or creating new saves, I also remember talking to an xbox player who told me there was no quicksave feature at all in that version) caveat: I am actually 170 hours into a playthrough of Skyrim using a gamepad, but that is another story >_>

[@gossamera4665]

@@whyjnot420 And thumbnails showing a snapshot of where you're at.

[@justinlast2lastharder749]

​@@whyjnot420 The only thing I don't prefer a Game Pad for is Flight Simulators and RTS type games. Otherwise, give me a controller every time.

[@wenlock8069]

Skyrim is great with that, it even has quick saves. I think it's even possible to have the quick saves be turned into the auto save type

[@chriscantrell9012]

@@whyjnot420 I find when I get to name the saves all the saves get named Meow Meow.. and then later when sorting out what game to load I realize I have problem... and should probably stop naming them all meow meow.

[@sindrisuncatcher653]

I especially like the 'press a button to figure out where my main objective is' thing because any time I come to a fork in the road it allows me to confidently explore the wrong direction for hidden loot without being afraid that I'm actually going in the direction that leads to plot progression and makes the hidden loot inaccessible. I have a complicated relationship with helmets in video games, because in some cutscenes I really want the helmet to be off because you're having like, a heartfelt conversation with a romantic interest in a non-hazardous situation, but in other cutscenes I'm like 'why the hell aren't you wearing a helmet there's poison gas and bullets everywhere?'. So ideally, I would like there to be a dedicated button for toggling your helmet on and off, regardless of the situation.

[@kpopisthewaypop9992]

I'm exactly the same, I hate choosing the wrong direction and locking myself out of the optional path accidentally. So I really like when games have paths to objectives so I can explore everything else first. I dont like to miss out on loot and other stuff from side paths.

[@thesnep4757]

This, all of this. I never considered the helmet one, but that would be incredible, definitely. I totally agree with the press a button to figure out where to go though. I'm the sort of person that always wants to go in the wrong direction first when playing an RPG, because I want to explore every area of the instance-like place I am in, and only go the right way last because I want to explore/collect everything.

[@sleepykittyMMD]

Yeah or an additional option to hide it in casual cutscenes vs action ones

[@cadenseil5630]

Probably my favorite thing about Watch Dogs Legion is the fact that your character’s face is fully visible until you enter a restricted area where they could be killed or have their identity revealed, at which point they automatically put on a mask/helm!

[@breakingqueengrace]

I actually seem to recall some games specifically have a "hide helmets during conversations" option, so you can just pretend your character is taking it off before talking to someone. I can't recall any specific examples unfortunately, so I might be making that up. Regardless, I agree wholeheartedly with all the points in your post!

[@ArcaneOwlchemist]

"Sell All Junk" options in games. Even better is when you can create your own junk item list. Everything you mark as "junk" either sold all at once, or dismantled all at once. Love it!

[@davidmcgill1000]

And to add to that, have the game tell you when something is now useless.

[@coryvanbellen5787]

So like dragon age games.

[@StephenBain]

@@davidmcgill1000 Yes! I don't have the time or mental capacity to compare each of the 20 new guns that just exploded out of a dude to the ones I've already got equipped.

[@aardbei54]

You're never gonna guess which game also does that exact thing. That's right, it's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning!!

[@theprofessionalfence-sitter]

@@davidmcgill1000 That's one of the worst things about all games wanting to implement some form of crafting system: you never know, whether something is actually useless or if you need it to craft something down the line. Just get rid of crafting resources (bar things like blueprints to unlock crafting that thing) and have us 'craft' things with money, instead (especially in games where you're not crafting things, yourself, but the shop keeper crafts them for you, this also makes more sense - or have you ever had to provide materials for the things you want to get from a store, in real life).

[@travisspaulding5835]

Love having the whole crew in the room for a live audience effect. Same reason I like hearing the producers off-camera, it’s just funny when they make each other laugh

[@bunnyThor]

I do not agree. (I'm not saying your preference is invalid, but merely that other people can also have valid preferences.) I prefer my video listicles to be focused, punchy, and tightly edited. All the back-and-forth with the people offscreen feels like the whole thing is being excessively and pointlessly extended. If I wasn't already watch the video at 2x, I'd be slamming the speed button. It's ironic to hear the hosts talking about not wanting to waste time with unnecessary things, and then doing just that, instead of presenting things in their normal clean and concise format.

[@drummer2k5]

I do too, I loved chatty faces on what culture before covid. They did the same thing and I could hear them comment on each other's picks and it was great. During covid and they did chatty faces by themselves and I felt it lost some personal connection 😕

[@daltondavis8759]

These unscripted videos with everyone are my favorite.

[@errorx_x1063]

Sounds more like a short podcast

[@Funky-Monk-]

It does make every video that has it just instantly better!

[@BenMarcWilliams]

I see Jane's "hide helmets" option, and raise her one "hide helmets specifically in cutscenes" option. In combat, I'm not looking at the character's faces, I'm paying attention to the action. And it breaks immersion for me a little when characters are wearing full plate in combat, but no helmets. But in cutscenes, I want to see the characters facial expressions as they deliver their lines. Plus, it does make sense that the characters would take off their helmets to have a conversation.

[@ColonelSandersLite]

Maybe instead of magically hiding the thing, make the character... You know... Take it off and hold it. It's genuinely just not a whole lot of animation work.

[@justinlast2lastharder749]

It doesn't make sense that they'd take off their helmets for Conversations unless Indoors and that would be purely because it was Indoors. Being able to speak in your helmet is a pretty key feature for commands on the Battlefield. Thats why so many helmets have a little trapdoor type thing you can open to speak and eat... What's the point of even wearing the helmet if you are just going to be taking it off constantly? It's one of my gripes about 40k.

[@Soroboruo]

Thinking about how KOTOR and Dragon Age Origins have the fun "shields/effects you used in combat that haven't worn off are visible in cutscenes" mechanics. It's bad enough to kind of loop around to being really funny.

[@ColonelSandersLite]

@@justinlast2lastharder749 Yeah, it does. You can't hear shit in a full helmet. It's one thing to be yelling directions and hearing yelled directions in a fight. It's something totally different when you're trying to just talk to somebody in a normal conversational tone.

[@asmosisyup2557]

@@justinlast2lastharder749 Stop confusing real life with games. This is about aesthetics, not real life functionality.

[@pnutbuttercups]

The look on Jane's face when Ellen starts to talk about Kingdoms of Amular is why I I've been watching for years.

[@nunyabizness6553]

"Just let her finish..." I CACKLED

[@Keltaryn]

Loved her approach, too "She can't help it, just let her get it out of her system and we can keep going on" haha

[@ThankYouCityOfficial]

Jane immediately recognised what was happening and went defensively limp to let it pass 😂

[@KarmasAB123]

This might be controversial, but I like when a loading screen has something to read on it and it DOESN'T automatically go into the game when everything's loaded so I can FINISH READING.

[@jbw2109]

Yessssss

[@patrickj]

Sometimes they cycle through too fast in general, I've actually caught myself taking screenshots of loading screen tips to be able to read them...

[@KarmasAB123]

@@patrickj lol fr

[@420trippyhippie]

The interactive load screens were awesome. Like in Fallout 4 and Skyrim

[@HazeEmry]

A simple "Press X for next tip" and "press O to continue" would be so satisfying

[@cognitivefailure]

To append to Mike's request: I love loading screens that have a "press button to continue" at the end so you CAN keep reading/watching the tips/recaps if you like until you're ready to start playing the game. And while we're at it: a previous/next button so you can cycle through all the available info!

[@SolaScientia]

Agreed! I like that FromSoftware did that for Sekiro. It doesn't much matter in the other games, but I still struggle with Sekiro and I like the little tips it gives and that it lets me continue when I want. I also like that I can actually pause the game.

[@Sableagle]

One of the loading screens for _City of Heroes_ says: "By the time you've finished reading this, the mission has already lo-"

[@DragonSamurai182]

Lightning Returns does exactly that. I don’t recall if the other Final Fantasy 13 games do as well though.

[@TubususCZ]

Yes! I was about to suggest basically the same thing. The added benefit if the loading _does_ last a long time, especially in action games, is that if you decide to go do something else while it is loading, it won't automatically put you right in the middle of the action and you won't miss anything important (like getting killed or a cutscene) while you're away.

[@InterrogatingTheCat]

But make the "press button to continue" thing actually quite obvious. None of this small text in the bottom corner so I think it's just taking years to load

[@ethanchenoweth9720]

I really like the less formal videos where everyone gives their own honest opinion and story about the topic. It feels more genuine and it’s much more enjoyable.

[@squigglytext]

I was just thinking this video had a different vibe, and this is totally right! This is such a fun set up

[@Soroboruo]

Important QoL detail is the ability to replay cutscenes (with subtitles on or off!) from the menu. It's great not only for regaining context but also reliving your favorite moments. I think pretty much every game with cutscenes should do this.

[@chrisschack9716]

And then you get FFXIV with one MONSTER cutscene ... it's great, but if you didn't set an hour aside for it, you're in trouble

[@DipUniversal]

​@@chrisschack9716 when's that? Like what point in the game should people be ready for it?

[@chrisschack9716]

@@DipUniversal game literally warns you there's a long cutscene, take it seriously when it does

[@bewilderbeestie]

Or for when someone knocks on the door.

[@maxvel0city906]

Another brilliant thing Ghost of tushima did as well as the guiding wind is that the characters and NPC's changed their pace to the same as you so you never got to far away from them. Walk and they walk, run and they run. So you always arrive at the objective together. All games should do this from now on.🤞

[@steohara6353]

Red dead did that two years earlier just an fyi so it’s not something they introduced

[@SquintyGears]

But doesn't everyone love escort quests??? They're peek game design, climatic levels of enjoyment.

[@KarmasAB123]

The Skyrim mod Convenient Horses did that, too.

[@yugenheorte6828]

I always forget thats a feauture in Ghost of Tsushimi and wonder why were riding our horses so slowly til I remember they match your speed if you gallop xD

[@SorowFame]

@@steohara6353 I can only assume you mean 2 and that game has an annoying habit of slowing you to a crawl for cinematic purposes. Also generally in my experience they don’t even let you go faster than whoever you’re following. Besides, pretty sure Witcher 3 did it earlier, at least in some cases.

[@bretthake7713]

Subtitles should be available (at least an option) for ALL dialogue, not just cutscenes. I played Destiny 2 this week and there are entire exposition segments where NPCs speak/explain plot, but their dialogue doesn't match the text windows, and there are no subtitles... it leaves deaf/hard of hearing players trying to figure out what they missed!

[@CeilingNinja]

Also sounds! Like Minecraft. I use them because it helps me find caves.

[@3possumsinatrenchcoat]

and have said captions *NOT IN 0.2PT FONT* /glares at dragon age

[@dallydaydream]

Very much this! Not even as QoL, but just basic accessibility. Deaf, hard of hearing, auditory processing issues... There are so many people who miss out if they can't read what's going on. Plus people who can *technically* get by without subtitles, but find things a lot easier with them.

[@azathoth3700]

I'm not hard of hearing, but subtitles are a MUST for me nonetheless. There's a lot going on in many games and it's easy to mishear or entirely miss something being said when multiple sounds are being overlaid or I'm distracted by platforming or combat or the view...

[@michaelandreipalon359]

This. Even the likes of game playthrough makers like patologTV had to be forced to get viewer assistance so to have subtitled NPC dialogues in the likes of, say, the Metro games, Quake 4, and Doom 3.

[@jjcelever]

One of my favourite features that I don't see in a comment is Xenoblade Chronicles' approach to sidequests. It tells you in the sidequest log whether it is a quest that will expire after a major story event, a surprise quest (which will expire if you leave the area), and which quests are exclusive to one another, forcing you to choose. It seems like such an obvious player-first way of creating a quest log, but it's surprisingly rare and this is the only game I can think of that communicates this information in as much and as accessible detail.

[@Soroboruo]

Fire Emblem: 3 Houses will inform you if characters can't increase their supports until more time has passed, and will let you know if certain battles will expire and become inaccessible. It's not quite at that level, but it is nice to have, especially in such a long and dense game.

[@TheArtistLuna]

Greedfall has that

[@Abbyryan2030]

Ooh I'd love that!

[@alondite215]

Now if only the game wasn't 80% empty space with no gameplay, and shallow, linearly-optimized combat when there is gameplay.

[@jjcelever]

@@alondite215 Not sure if you're talking about the first game in the series or 2 there. I pretty much agree as far as 2 is concerned, but this doesn't describe 1 or even X at all.

[@d00dle31]

Games with character creation that have you play through a prologue and give you a chance to change any of your customizable features before going into the main game. Saves me from restarting the entire introduction (and character creation process) because I didn't inspect my character's cheekbones at the right angle or the in-game lighting changes the color palette. Adjusting skill points is nice too.

[@Soroboruo]

FF14 at least lets you change the locations so you can see different lighting (and allows some later character re-creation opportunities). I REALLY like what City of Heroes does with their character creator (technically the only part of the game I've actually used so far), which lets you play various animations and fine-tune effects. Which is great when you realize the effect-generation zone-color scheme you used makes it look like your character is peeing enemies to death :| It's a bit low on polygons given its age, but it's a legitimately great character creator anyways.

[@tippyc2]

Oh man im the exact opposite of this. I hate character creation with a burning passion. Just give me a randomizer button so i dont have to waste my time on that shit.

[@d00dle31]

​@@Soroboruo Oh nice! Both sound like they have good solutions for addressing coloring and lighting. Haha. I'm glad that you had that realization early in City of Heroes. It's exactly those kind of moments that would make it impossible for me to unsee and continue the game's storyline in serious manner. I'd have to turn my hero into a joke/silly play through if I couldn't edit them at that point.

[@d00dle31]

@@tippyc2 😮Omg! haha. I can get a bit obsessive with character creation, so, it's a bit strange to learn that others hate it. Tbh, there's a small part of me that wishes I didn't spend so much time on character customization. Do you at least go through a couple of randomizer options? Or is the first roll of the dice enough? Have you ever picked a random player design that you later regretted?

[@tippyc2]

@@d00dle31 If they give me the option, i'll hit the randomizer a few times until i get something that looks decent. I've never regretted a random character I created. There was even a couple times playing ARK:SE i deliberately rolled to get the ugliest character i could because i though it it was funny. I guess what it boils down to for me, is that I'd rather just jump straight into the game. Especially so if its single-player since there's nobody around to see my char. I kinda get why people like an in-depth character creation system, but I'm just not one of those people.

[@sergentboucherie9813]

Unlike Jane, when I create a character I usually end up needing a helmet to hide the character's face

[@FeiFongWang]

Elden Ring... I love the game but good Lord is the character creator flipping horrible.

[@hannarchy6554]

You just need the option! That way you're covered if you've got an ugly but high-stats helmet and a beautiful face, and also if your character's face looks suddenly horrible the second you leave character creator

[@Calekoflight]

The amount of times I've made a character that I thought looked good in creation that looked like the Elephant Man once they hit a cutscene...Dragon Age Inquisition is a prime example of that happening. That green light neutral character creator is awful.

[@kambor1578]

@@Calekoflight This is a bit of a tangent, but you got me thinking of another thing with character creation I wish more games did: multiple backgrounds and lighting presets you can switch between to see how your character looks in different situations *before* you start the playthrough and it's too late to change anything. Only game I can remember off the top of my head that does something like that is Final Fantasy XIV, but there might be others I can't remember or haven't played

[@Calekoflight]

@@kambor1578 Off the top of my head...Lost Ark does the multiple backgrounds in character creation. Another MMO.

[@ReverendTed]

Every game needs a pause menu option to Quit. Actual, straight-to-desktop quit. "Save and Quit," if it's appropriate. I don't mind having "Quit to Menu" as an option, but it shouldn't be _only_ option.

[@charliethemagpie523]

Yeah, I've been loving Yakuza Zero, but having to jump out to the main menu *and watch the unskippable bit where it tells me to use a controller* every time is a bit much. Just "quit to OS" please!

[@travisrolison9646]

@@charliethemagpie523 I was just gonna mention yakuza. I am new to seriesm I started and loved like a dragon and trying yakuza 0 now(i dont like the combat nearly as much as like a dragons turn based) and having to quit to menue then watch the cut scene then be able to quit is anoying.

[@suemccashland]

it drives me absolutely crazy when a game isnt clear about its save/quit features. i should never have to ask myself "am i going to have to redo the last 20 minutes of work if i go make food right now?"

[@Yesterzine]

It sounds like you're on a PC, almost universally Alt-F4 still works in games.

[@charliethemagpie523]

@@Yesterzine I mean yeah, but that feels rude

[@RedMcCarl]

To build off the hide helmet feature I want to see more games with cosmetic overrides where you can still wear the best gear you've currently found but it has a secondary slot for you to still look like whatever gearset you actually like the look of

[@HazeEmry]

Stardew kinda

[@slofff2784]

Terraria did this well

[@krullness3321]

Detailed maps and the ability to leave markers or comments you can then check later is the greatest thing ever in huge games. BotW left you put so many markers it helped when trying to remember what shrines had weapons you wanted to restock or remember a place of interest, Monster Sanctuary let you place markers with custom notes. Souls games would be amazing with maps that filled in as you explored. Few things more frustrating then trying to remember something you saw while exploring but couldn't get to because you didn't have a skill or needed to unlock a mechanic

[@jcbuckley7095]

I really appreciate in Fallout 4 that they didn't make us open every container and the contents just float above so you don't have to go into a different menu.

[@NottherealLucifer]

I used to really enjoy that but at this point I just manually open all of them so that he world stops turning and I don't get blasted by enemies while looting.

[@KarmasAB123]

YES

[@theisaacpigg27_32]

@@NottherealLucifer Kill the enemies first

[@Scarabola]

​@@NottherealLucifer I like that the world doesn't freeze. Adds tension like in RE5.

[@damiencouturee6240]

They made up for the saved time with the broken-ass VATS lol. Select target, hit fire, wait wait wait wait wait, shoot once, wait wait wait wait wait wait, reload, wait wait wait wait wait, shoot again, wait wait wait wait wait wait shoot again lol. I spent more time in VATS in that game just watching the character... Stand there, thinking I guess? Than actually shooting things lol.

[@Michael_Lindell]

Chapter Select: Andy: 0:33 Jane: 4:02 Luke: 6:35 Ellen: 10:25 Mike: 14:16

[@FeiFongWang]

Choose your fighter

[@Scarabola]

Mission select/replay

[@billyalarie929]

Heroism, I was (and am always wondering) if Jane is in an episode of OX.

[@AldoLop]

I love when someone takes the time to do a time table of videos like this, makes it easier to return or show a friend, ty.

[@anon_y_mousse]

Underrated comment that allows me to skip to Jane and watch her twice, or thrice.

[@VonBlade]

This style of video is still my favourite. Everyone in a room, banter off-screen, a personal list rather than trying to fit 7 examples in. Perfect. It could only be more perfect if everyone got an hour each :)

[@DawnIsNotCool]

One thing I love is that in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, there is the option to "Mark All As Read" when you get new tutorial bits, learn about a new place/person, or new weapons and equipment. It's SO useful because I'm not scrolling through tens or hundreds of items to find that one exclamation point that's showing me the notification that I have something new. Sometimes I don't want to read an entire encyclopedia to weed out stuff I already know!

[@Ylyrra]

And the complement to that feature is: just sort the unread stuff to the top already devs. If I want to read it, let me find it without scrolling. Popping up a "Press tab to read" jump to it for 3 seconds on-screen isn't sufficient especially when that 3 seconds overlaps with critical game dialog or an action sequence! Then I have to go back and hunt through and find what the thing was I was supposed to be reading.

[@Mariieebeee]

The best is when you can customize subtitles. As a hard of hearing person I cannot play games without subtitles, so games that have options for size, colour, ambiant sound toggle, and speaker tags are literal godsends. It’s all fine and good to subtitle your cutscenes but if I cant hear the ambiant sounds during actual gameplay and I’m not given a subtitle option for them, then that is a massive amount of the game world lost to me

[@davidhelmer9124]

The videos like this one, where the team give their personal opinions and experience are my favorites.

[@randyotte9599]

Yup, the off screen commentary makes them a lot of fun.

[@Fools_Requiem]

They used to do this more often before COVID.

[@marhawkman303]

@@randyotte9599 YESSS!!! I loved how Ellen pitched KoA... again. :D

[@blueguard61]

Absolutely. I really like the staged ones with the scripted jokes, but the personal ones show us that Oxtra are adorable even if it's not scripted.

[@thecoffeeisblack]

I like the feature to turn off the helm, but one that I like more is the feature to keep it on and it effects your voice when your character talks. Start Wars: The Old Republic does this and depending on what headpiece you have on it will sound differently. That's a rare one even for an MMO, and most MMOs do let you hide your headpiece, though where SWTOR loses points is making that feature unlockable only by paying to unlock it or paying the sub fee.

[@Pumpkin-Link]

Assassin's Creed Origins has that

[@bladestalker9365]

Love how Ellen will never let anyone forget about Kingdoms of Amalur. (Ps can confirm it's an amazing game.

[@jerrjohnpresti]

agreed

[@mckayleepugmire9947]

Dragon Quest 8 has this cool feature where the menu has an option to "Consult" which means your party appears on screen and has a conversation about what you're supposed to be doing. The game even tells you flat out to do this if you forget where you are in the story.

[@Sorain1]

That gives so much space for character to be shown! I like that a lot!

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

Yes, I love the party chat feature! I've seen it in an older RPG too, I think maybe Phantasy Star IV? I wish more games did it.

[@Nightfireblade]

The new pokemon game does that, and it's probably the easiest game to remember where to go that I've ever played. The objectives are all of the map. Crazy that some games don't do reminders.

[@dantechristensen273]

DQ 11 Does this as well. It also has a little splash page when you load it up where a party member gives you a brief reminder of what was going on last time you played.

[@coaltowking]

I'm playing Persona 5 right now. You can do that in the save rooms, and there's also a story recap in the menu.

[@Leon-yp8df]

Jumping on what Jane said, something I love that I don't see enough in games is having a "wardrobe" function, where you have an area that's your equipped armour which gives you all the stat bonuses and then you have the wardrobe where you choose what your character wears in game, and it doesn't affect the stats at all. That way you can equip the best armour and still look the way you wanna look. I really wish more games did that!!

[@TheBlackSeraph]

Seeing more variations on this - Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal had costumes (although P5R on PS4 costumes are all DLC). I also played a freemium Dissidia game on mobile (I don't like mobile gaming but I'm a sucker for Final Fantasy) which let you use whatever weapon you could equip but make it look like any previous weapon you'd previously mastered.

[@WolfHavenXIII]

Yeah Transmog in more games would be awesome.

[@torgranael]

I like an aspect of Diablo 3's transmog system where you could transmog to any item that character has used previously. That way I'm not a level 1 noob in ultra-legendary gold plate but can still change if I want. Unlike D3 though, it should be free and/or bound to a slot instead of an item. Either it'll take significant investment to get the perfect transmog over time, or the hassle of redoing it every time I get a piece of gear should come without the cost. It's not so bad on second characters onward as you have gold overflowing from your pockets. A brand new character can't keep up though.

[@phuzz00]

The recent AssCreed games let you choose the appearance of all the armour (etc) and pick any other item that you've picked up. So you can wear the flashy golden alien armour of whatever, but your character will still look like some bum who just woke up in a gutter (eg).

[@cyberra0180]

The layered armor in Monster Hunter. We have the actual armor that gives us stat bonuses and buffs, and then the cosmetic version of the same armor we can pull on over the top for cool, funky, or just freaky combos without altering the stats any

[@CDLJz]

The ability to skip dialogue. Absolutely great in a game you've already completed loads, especially if it lets you go back over the dialogue if you skipped too far (love you P5. You're the best).

[@Soroboruo]

Skipping dialogue and skipping cutscenes should be defaults and, crucially, should have the option of confirmation dialogues. Toggle-able confirmation dialogues would be extra nice, but just the confirmation that I do actually want to skip this really important story beat is very handy. I'm, uh. Old enough to remember the before times when PC game controls weren't standardized yet, and the agony of trying to open options to turn on subtitles because the opening movie didn't have them by default and didn't give you the option yet, only to accidentally skip the entire thing and jump right into gameplay... frankly, I want to press charges on some of those 😂

[@GenericUsername-qp1ww]

I'm sure Oxbox wish they could skip thru all of Ellen's ramblings about KoA, lol

[@torgranael]

There's a game that lets you reverse dialogue? I need this! Between accidental presses while adjusting position (or sneezing/coughing), family members that want to talk the exact moment something important happens, or even just an occasional spasm, I have lost count of the number of times I've had to reload to a save two hours prior just to find a single line of dialogue.

[@MazogaTheDork]

Great thing about mission replay is when you can redo the cutscenes in case you want to do it with your character in a specific outfit but missed your chance (examples: the funeral scene in Saints Row 2, the dinner scene at the end of FFXIV Heavensward)

[@MikeHughey728]

My favorite tiny QoL feature is when a load screen gives me a button prompt to continue once it's done instead of just jumping right back into the game. Loading screens aren't so bad when they become an opportunity to use the bathroom or grab a drink or whatever and then come back and press A when I'm ready to go -- instead of waiting all the way through the load time, THEN maybe sitting through a cutscene, THEN finally being able to pause.

[@azuredragoon2054]

As long as there's a big notice on screen saying "Press any button to continue" or something along those lines. A game I recently got into, Bladed Fury, has that but it's literally just a tiny button in the corner that's very difficult to see.

[@MikeHughey728]

@@azuredragoon2054 Yes! Or, even better, if every game did it we'd all just assume it and wouldn't need a big notice. Make it the rule, not the exception.

[@Stratelier]

I agree. By definition the duration of a loading screen is hardware dependent. For example, when starting a New Game in _Skyrim,_ the first loading screen is always the "Song of the Dragonborn" (which is a somewhat important foreshadowing for the prologue) but if you are running the game on a high-end PC with a SSD you don't get any time to _actually read it_ before the opening sequence kicks in.

[@mattpinter2143]

Code Vein's mini map!!! There are probably other games that do this but this is the one that sticks out to me. As you move about the world your character leaves a trail of dots on the the mini map. The dots even shrink as the trail gets older so you have and idea of when you were there. Such a simple thing but it makes navigating so much easier. Especially if you get into a fight and end up all turned around and lost from dodging and what not.

[@skiller5034]

Mini maps! An option to choose whether the mini map rotates so the character is always facing up, or the minimap stays aligned northbound. Also if the character and the camera are independant, *I want a cone of light to show me which direction I'm looking toward on the minimap.* Rune Factory 5 does NOT have the cone of light and it bothers me so much.

[@eelepage]

Backend options like selectable mission replay is an amazing thing for quality of life. Sometimes I just want to hop in a game for 20-30 minutes and wreak havoc or work on a specific achievement. Doom is a perfect example, certain levels make the weapon upgrades super easier

[@Soroboruo]

The QoL detail of level selects showing you what you're missing in that area is also super nice.

[@MWSin1]

The reminder of what you're supposed to be doing is really useful when you load a saved game. Obviously, your character remembers what they were doing ten seconds ago, but for you it was two months.

[@Veelofar]

To second Luke’s point, if it IS loading time, I’ve seen a few games that have a progress indicator in one corner while things are playing and give you the option to skip the remaining things once it’s loaded. It’s a MAJOR improvement with that simple addition of TELLING US if the animation is playing over essentially a loading screen so we know.

[@torgranael]

Mass Effect Legendary Editions elevators. The option to skip the news broadcasts and party dialogue only appears once it's loaded. It's nice having the choice, and it serves as an indicator of load times as well. I love it.

[@hitmanforhire1698]

A bit of an older game that did this wonderfully is the original mw2 with the sort of mission debrief loading screen. You'd have the progress bar at the bottom and once it's filled you can skip at any time

[@torgranael]

@@hitmanforhire1698 I loved that feature in CoD: World At War's mission intros.

[@Tawnos_]

There's a tradeoff regardless. The speed at which initial animations plays favors as little code between game launch and video playback. Tracking how far various assets have loaded has a computational cost that can substantially slow down the loading of those assets. An indeterminate loading bar that is cleared after loading is completed and then allows for the fast-forward seems the best design in terms of the performance/UI tradeoffs.

[@Veelofar]

@@Tawnos_ a bar isn’t required to do the thing. It’s just a matter of having a “loading” indicator and a skip when the load is over.

[@thedocilefish]

I don't know if it falls into 'quality of life', but the ability to respec a character. Keeping your character design, loot, and all that good stuff while allowing you to try a new playstyle can extend my playtime for an insane amount of time.

[@Densoro]

This, and in addition: the ability to save different loadouts. Warframe is goated imo for letting you save 3 configs for each character and weapon you own (and buy 3 more for each), AND letting you combine them into full loadouts.

[@jariolavilipponen3500]

While it would be fun, it also would only work in very limited games. The ability to freely re-spec your character would basically make the character's stats inconsequential. Imagine if in Souls games you could re-spec your character every time a new piece of loot drops, suddenly that difficulty spike is a lot less spikier.

[@thedocilefish]

@@jariolavilipponen3500 that's fair. I feel games like Borderlands and Skyrim had a good system for it. A nominal cost to respec, and many of the abilities were action based, rather than direct stat adjustments. I've never played any FromSoft games, so I'm not familiar with their stat systems.

[@revolver265]

[insert Ellen's explanation of being fateless in KoA and being able to respec anytime]

[@mediumvillain]

It is QoL but it also has mechanical implications. Some game design philosophy doesnt care and you're free to respec, but in some RPGs etc. you could just change your whole character's 'training and specialization' specifically for each challenging encounter and the entire game becomes trivial. If the devs really care about immersion or challenge or replayability & ppl learning from their mistakes they tend to at least limit how much you can respec. Or on the worse end if it's some kind of live service game they wanna make you grind (or sell you) a type of currency you have to use to respec lmao.

[@johnsledge44]

I enjoy it when you have a journal in the option screen that you can go back and read. You can read as much or as little as you need to to keep up with what you have done and what you still need to do. Something similar to morrowind and oblivion

[@Formoka]

My favorite small thing is literally just a jump button. When I first jumped in Dragon Age Inquisition, I squealed. Like… I cannot understate how freeing a jump button is and how confining a lack of one feels.

[@KeithFraser82]

I'm now imagining you singing "It's time to try defying gravity!"

[@Butchcavalier]

the second you give me the ability to jump i'm immediately on my way to get myself stuck in the silliest of places, ESPECIALLY on horseback

[@notproductiveproductions3504]

What about air dodge?

[@midaBR]

code vein

[@Soroboruo]

Even if jumping doesn't actually achieve anything in-game! It's like the lack of a jump button feels like a restriction from the devs. A small amount of control over your environment or actions can make an enormous difference.

[@scottlil01]

Ellen and Mike's entries very neatly sum up the quality of life things I enjoy in games. The amount of times I've wanted to replay certain boss fights, but can't without replaying the whole game again.

[@ironwolf5802]

I love being able to re-watch the videos in the game if I want to. Like sometimes I'm playing and someone just has to walk in and talk thought the whole thing, I couldn't hear something, or I accidently hit something and skip the whole thing.

[@docette2015]

Yeah, I'm totally vibing with Jane's "hide the hat" demand -- my own Fallout 4 character picked up a really nice Synth helmet from Fort Hagan that helps keep him alive, but I keep forgetting to take it off in the cutscenes because, well, I mainly play in first person. Something that auto-deequipped it for talking to people would be nice! And yes, being able to replay specific parts of a game to reexperience the wonder (or get necessary footage) is pretty awesome. :)

[@larshoffmann2594]

Once upon a time there was this pretty common feature called Quicksaving in nearby every PC game, by the press of one button, you could save your game. And reload it with a different button. That feature is nearly extinct and replaced by awkward checkpoints, fixed savepoints, autosaves that ruin the framerate, respawn points in areas of the map you never visited before (Far Cry) and rogue-like recreating the whole map. Or digging through a ton of menu screens to manually save. I miss those ancient times.

[@Ylyrra]

And on a related note: F5 to quick save, F8 TWICE to quickload so you didn't do it accidentally.

[@Erikcleric]

Yep. Totally agree. Having quicksaves is always the totally better option. Checkpointers or purists can just save alot less, while us manual/quick savers can save when we please. We're talking single player, it's not a "contest" that some people make everything out to be! It's funny how good old Wolf 3D can quicksave back in 1992 but then the big flashy reboot sequel New Colossus can't... Same with Doom of course. Quicksaves rule.

[@CyberKnight1]

Kind of related to mission replay and recaps, games should have a replayable tutorial that you can jump to without altering your save state, so that when you jump back into a game you haven't touched in a while, you can re-familiarize yourself with that particular game's controls. Some games will have a "movement list" in their menus, or controller options that at least show you what the buttons do, but a way to test them out would be ideal (without having to start up a new game and replaying the tutorial levels anew).

[@AthAthanasius]

Yup, in some games it's a (possibly virtual even within the game world) training room. No consequences chance to refamiliarise yourself not only with the game controls, but also the specific build you were using.

[@The_QuestionIRL]

Tracking where you found items on the map. The Resident Evil and Metroid games do this, and it's amazing that more games don't do it. You might have forgotten where that Magnum ammo was, but Leon remembered and put it on the map so you know exactly where to go. If only real life had this feature, so I could find my stuff as easily.

[@hitmanforhire1698]

Customization of the game. A good example of what I mean is breakpoint where you can choose difficulty aspects you'd like to be included instead of a slider which over half the time you have no idea what it's doing to make the game harder or easier. I also love the toggle of gear level where you can have the items you pick up just have the basic stats of any gun or you could turn on the rarity colored loot system.

[@kiiper13]

I’ve been playing a lot of strategy and sandbox games lately, and the thing I really appreciate is being able to really go into detail with difficulty and game set up. Sometimes I want a relaxed game or a head start in a game, other times I want to crank the difficulty up in a certain way but leave the rest normal. Giving me the power to make it perfect (or completely screw it up) is great

[@SuigetsuIsArt]

I like games that default to subtitles on. Similarly, something that really impressed me when I first played Bioshock was that they also had an option to toggle subtitles for signage around the city. Other than that, being able to pause and skip cutscenes is absolutely essential IMO. Especially pause. And make it clear you can! There are games where I'm surprised to learn there's an option to pause cutscenes because I was too scared to try anything that might skip it instead.

[@fakjbf3129]

At a minimum, you should be able to turn subtitles on before the game starts. For a lot of games the first time you open it they will try and drop you into the game immediately instead of showing you the main menu, or if there is a main menu it doesn’t include the options section. So then you have to start the game, sit through a cutscene which you don’t want to skip but don’t have subtitles for, and then finally after several minutes you can open up the pause menu to turn them on.

[@valiroime]

Ironically, subtitles are the first thing I turn off. Just don’t need it.

[@SuigetsuIsArt]

@@fakjbf3129 Yeah this is my main gripe. Fine if they want to do that, but make subtitles on an industry standard.

[@collingss3357]

It's a very small thing but I really appreciate when games have ladders that my character automatically grabs onto if I jump at them.

[@AthAthanasius]

But please avoid the Assassin's Creed "cat-itis" where running even vaguely near something you could jump up on causes you to do so. The AC characters apparently want to always be perching.

[@Ylyrra]

@@AthAthanasius Hah, so true, the number of times I've screamed at the screen "I just wanted to run down the street, not climb the walls". The other related peeve I have is the trend for games to put sprint on the same binding as "mantle". I just wanna run fast to get across the map, I don't want to keep stopping to do a 2 second animation to hop over a fence I brushed against.

[@xcab66]

I just want to say that you are all wonderful people. You're the only channel I have found (that creates scripted/plalnned content) where you all seem to get on and are sincere in your optimism. You're one of the best things to watch on YT for that reason, and sometimes I really need that.

[@guscampbell3221]

the thing that make me feel good about the game from the start almost every time is if i can sit down on most of the chairs or benches or lean on a wall or anything of that nature,i feel like it adds alot for me idk why lol

[@glam4663]

Gives a sense of realism. I still remember in the older pokemon games, you had to stand on the cushion to sit, or clip yourself in the middle of the bed to lie down.

[@CeilingNinja]

Any accessibility feature - whether it's as simple as subtitles or as complex as Celeste's multiple options to make the game easier - is always appreciated.

[@punkrocker1377]

Colorblind mode has been so alleviating in most new high definition games

[@piercedsiren]

i agree for subtitles. wether its a foreign language and it can help to read, or its your language but it's hard to understand what they're saying with everything else going on, or because you're deaf.

[@Mulbert]

I'm not hard of hearing but I always turn on subs so I don't miss anything, I especially like it when they include background NPC dialogue

[@1993rnicholson]

​@@Mulbert yeah subtitles are always useful no matter how good your hearing, its easy to mishear something.

[@Xazyv]

@@Mulbert all of this yes, plus sometimes you get amusing descriptors for sounds that just adds to the fun

[@travisrolison9646]

They should do a list of easy things games remove that they shouldn’t. Like what happened to naming your saves?.? How else am I supposed to keep track at key points and decisions? Like if I want to change my mind about who to join or ,big decisions? A profile name and a date is not useful for that. Much easier to have saves like faction choice before you pick or before the massacre etc

[@xstarsystemsx]

And then there's me who, given the option, names her saves as 1, 11111, 11112. 😔 But, yeah, I think that might be a symptom of console gaming that bled into PC gaming. Like having limited slots for your skills when you could just use them all with the num keys, without having to choose what to leave out, even after spending skill points on them. (Looking at you, Dragon Age Inquisition)

[@travisrolison9646]

@@xstarsystemsx whatever keeps you organized. Sometimes i just say choice, or some letters or whater as well. Usually for quick saves i can reload to see what the choices do, or test out weapon or gear to see if i like it More permenent saves or bookmarks for later replays i do name better though Anyway the point is the game just saving with your profile name, date and such is BS

[@Soroboruo]

On one hand, having to come up with a new name for a new save every time gets annoying fast. On the other hand, just having a date and time (sometimes not even a profile name!) is the worst. It's nice when games reference the location and some other details when you check the save! Like, "Robin, Miretown, 52 hours" is a lot more context than "Feb-2-2023: 10:04 PM"

[@travisrolison9646]

@@Soroboruo for onrs used like quick saves i just type a letter or something. Saves i make before decisions after hard sections or want to keep i actaully name. Like decision factions or before the massacre etc

[@Ashley6100]

Nothing better than a big arrow showing me which way I should be going... so I can then turn around and go in the opposite direction. This was basically my entire Bioshock Infinite experience.

[@Ylyrra]

Ah, the old "they're telling me to go this way, so that means they've hidden the good stuff THIS way" philosophy.

[@cutsceneentertainment6706]

Yeah unfortunately though I think that gameplay feature is patented 😒

[@bellarmire]

A really small one: in Octopath Traveller there’s a menu option to instantly equip the best stuff. No more trawling through the list to find the armour with the best numbers, the game does it for you. Persona 5 has a variant where if you find a better weapon in a chest, the relevant character will give you an option to automatically equip it to them rather than go through the menu.

[@_Lunaria]

That only works if the game is very basic. Like weapon only has Dmg number and Armor only has Defence stat. Otherwise it would be impossible to know which item is " best " Like if you have multiple stats on gear that all are good on their own way. Like what if you have 2 helmets, other has higher defence, lower mana regeneration and 2% faster running speed, and other helmet has lower defence, higher mana regen and 3% slower hunger rate.. which one is "better" ?

[@bellarmire]

@@_Lunaria Pretty sure Octopath has a few variants, the Optimise button just goes for the best offense/defence (note it's been a few years since I played so I don't remember exactly). Like if you want to think in depth about all the various numbers involved, more power to you, but JRPGs are already pretty dense and can be inaccessible, so something that casual fans can use to streamline the process is useful.

[@_Lunaria]

@@bellarmire Yeah okay if it has some "sorting" options like Sort by Highest Defence / Agility / Mana Regen etc, then i guess it could work.

[@Soroboruo]

It can be tricky in games with gear that has enough differing stats that you might disagree with what the game calls "best", but yes, optimized gear is such a good option. I think if a game has a Set Bonus for gear it should also take that into consideration, at least asking if you want to go with the technically-weaker Set Bonus or not instead of dismantling the results of five hours of gear hunting for 5 extra Strength or whatever.

[@9brannana]

"When you're kind of exploring yourself it feels quite nice to sort of figure things out as you go" Andy 2023

[@efnfen]

I noticed that too

[@aardbei54]

I mean, he's right

[@ElderWand100]

I like when if you have to collect stuff, they tell you what you have collected in each level. That way if you miss something in a particular level, you can just go back and get that item(s). Instead having to run around each level again trying that one collectable you missed in some corner.

[@youtube-kit9450]

Yeah, loved it in e.g. TLOU or god of war that they just tell me what is in each area/level.

[@The1AndOnlyGoldenboy]

You know what I like? When a game has a difficulty setting that's just "Are you here for the story? We'll make this super easy for you then". Not everyone wants a brutally hard, immensely frustrating experience when they play video games.

[@Soroboruo]

I remember some horror game came out with an invulnerability mode so you could play for the story and honestly it might compel me to actually play a horror game.

[@KarmaTube5]

I do easy solely because you can’t get tutorials on the hardest difficulty

[@Chloe_Zana]

The Great Ace Attorney had that, and while I personally didn't use it, I loved having the option.

[@LinaBoeckwurm]

Any time the game let's you fiddle with character design even after the original creation, so you're not locked into having that hair colour (and preferably, not even the gender) you choose at the start! I love switching stuff up constantly, and I sometimes like to adjust stuff depending how the story goes! Also, the option to wear and have any type of available feature/clothing regardless of gender.

[@broceollomon]

It's incredibly frustrating that games don't let you edit your character whenever you want. The Black Emporium in Dragon Age II and Inquisition is a brilliant example. Why it wasn't added as a quality of life improvement in Mass Effect Legendary Edition is beyond me.

[@glam4663]

I like games that have slightly different versions of the same outfit depending on the gender of the pc.

[@Senka9]

When Jane started talking about hiding helmets, I remembered how with Xenoblade Chronicles 1 you could change the appearance of the outfit. There was no inner conflict to decide if you wear the armor that looks cool or the armor that has better stats, you just equipped the armor with better stats and change the appearance to the cool-looking armor.

[@Xazyv]

Yes! Add this to the list! I should never have to choose between the outfit that looks best and the armor that is three times better but looks like a metal bikini

[@0MidnighttheDragon0]

As an extension of the 'when you can press a button to know which way to go ' I also like this for when you can use it if there's a fork in the road to be 'oh okay that's plot? I'm going this way then to explore so I don't miss anything '

[@Xazyv]

This is generally how I used that feature in Dead Space

[@0MidnighttheDragon0]

@@Xazyv that's how I use it in basically all games that have it!

[@skiller5034]

YES! or at the very least a cue to know which way is progress and which way is optional so I don't have to backtrack.

[@jboy55]

Having played a game to around the 1/2 way point, then a new hotness game comes out, I find myself finishing that game, then starting from the old save. Some games, I'm generally lost as to what I was supposed to do, or where I was supposed to go. Having that button would help so much to just orient yourself again.

[@chrisfox961]

A critical QOL feature is the ability to name your saves. Nothing is more frustrating than playing a great game and having moments that you want to go back to and seeing pages of saves with generical time/date information - like I am going to remember exactly when I was about to go into the amazing fight and look at the saves from months ago.

[@persephoneunderground845]

This one being missing in more and more games lately is just weird too. It takes so little effort to fill in a default name in the input box but let the player delete and replace it if they want. Especially weird when it's missing from a PC game.

[@TheTrickTrackx]

I play a lot of RPGs where you have a party and i really love it when the whole squad just have a common item back. It's so annoying when you have to pick a sword, transfer it to the item pocket of you member just so he can use it or you can equip it. Thank you for your videos, i love them very much! Greetings from germany!

[@bossfight1]

-Release the official game soundtrack on the same day of the game itself; it’s criminal how many games have absolute banger soundtracks, but we have to do some digging to listen to them outside the game. *shoots sideways glance at Nintendo* -Skippable *and* Pausable cutscenes; I want to be able to pause one cutscene to go to the bathroom, and skip another because I’ve already died to this boss five times and I don’t *NEED* to hear all that exposition again. -Dialogue Logs; “oh, sorry, zoned out for a second, mind repeating that?” -Auto-follow the NPC that’s leading you somewhere

[@ReverendTed]

Yes, right there with you on the ability Skip OR Pause cutscenes. Maybe someone walks in to ask me a question during a cutscene and I don't want to have to decide between skipping it or inviting them to watch it with me.

[@DavidWeinehall]

I also want rewatchable cutscenes. Some games allow you to watch the cutscenes again (typically from some "Extras" menu). I love this. Sometimes I end up missing something, sometimes the cutscene is just so cool that I want to see it again.

[@SorowFame]

Pausable cutscenes are a must, cannot stand not being able to pause to do things if things come up.

[@penname8441]

+

[@woodysmith2681]

For soundtrack releases, it wouldn't be a problem IF *IF* someone at the studio, not involved in the project, should double-check against spoilers. Imagine seeing a soundtrack track called, "Verbal Kent is Keyser Soze revealed".

[@GloomyYumi]

I love when the objectives are written in a notebook the character has with them. I do that too so it seems realistic to me

[@danbalderson4977]

I really like the Arma for this, the objectives are written in a pad or drawn on the map screen

[@PaigeLTS05]

Bravely Default.

[@Buff_Weeb]

I love being able to hear y’all’s responses when the person on the chair gives their opinions👏🏽👏🏽 please keep doing it it’s great 😂💯

[@ShadowQuickpaw]

My favorite qol feature also is in Dragon Age Inquisition: a single button on your controller setup to instantly open the world map and/or fast travel system, instead of opening up the pause menu, then the map menu, then the world menu, then the fast travel menu.

[@aSinisterKiid]

Saving games anywhere, anytime, without any constraints or limits. No bonfires or having to wait until I reach some checkpoint far off in the distance. I should be able to save my game within 2 or click button presses and just keep it moving. Any game that allows me to save whenever I want, immediately gets a more positive reception from me.

[@Aftershk]

Honestly, even in games where the ability to only save at a checkpoint (such as a bonfire) is a part of the difficulty mechanics of the game, they should still have a "Save and Quit Game" option that saves your game state at that moment, and then deletes that save once you've loaded it the next time you boot the game and load your last game state, thereby disallowing "save-scumming" to lower the difficulty, while still respecting your time and your life outside the game.

[@phyllissmith9426]

Absolutely! Great point.

[@ferd617]

@@Aftershk One semi-fortunate consequence of the double-edged sword that is the always-online game experience, is that it discourages stingy checkpointing. A studio that's decided to tether their game to an inherently-unreliable, always-online service can ill afford to double down on that pain by losing all of the player's progress every time the server link glitches. (I'm sure plenty still do, because game studios are run by morons... but the _less_ stupid ones at least treat connectivity as a potentially unreliable resource.) The _almost-smart_ ones take a mobile-networking approach to connectivity and checkpointing: design everything around the assumption that random disconnects WILL occur at any moment, for any reason, and last for any length of time, and build the game to handle that without penalizing the player. ...And if sometimes the disconnect reason is you realizing you've got a bus to catch, so you switch off the console *immediately* and walk straight out the door... well, I hardly see how that's any of their concern. (Not that I'm saying this is a fair tradeoff for the pains of always-online. It isn't, not even remotely.)

[@fakjbf3129]

That’s very game specific. For example in Alien: Isolation the developers originally had a save anywhere system but found that it removed the tension as people would just take stupid risks and know they’d only lose a couple minutes of progress. By making it so you can only save at specific locations the player feels like there are actual stakes which reinforces the horror atmosphere the game it trying to project.

[@Ylyrra]

@@fakjbf3129 Respecting my time isn't part of the "creative vision". That's like saying movies shouldn't be pausible on home viewing, because it ruins the director's artistic vision for how the film should be consumed: it was designed to be watched in a cinema where if you decide to go the toilet halfway through you should miss part of the film, IT'S PART OF THE EXPERIENCE, SHUT UP AND LET US REMOVE THE PAUSE BUTTON ON YOUR NETFLIX. I'm sorry but no, the ego and limited life experience of some 20-something game dev doesn't get to dictate the constraints and realities of how I fit gaming into my life.

[@Chris_Sizemore]

As a left handed, PC gamer who prefers keyboard and mouse, I like it when a game lets you reassign every control. Console ports frequently don't have an option to reassign keys. Many games that let you reassign controls have button prompts that refer to the default keys instead of the reassigned key you choose. Fortunately its becoming more common for games that let you reassign keys to recognize and use the new key in the tutorial prompts. And its a pleasure when a game lets you create custom buttons that let you do button combinations, or a short macro so you can create shortcuts for common activities. So you can say do a special move in a one button press, or skip a merchants dialogue to get straight to the buy/sell menu when you want to.

[@Xazyv]

Any game that uses the arrow keys to move feels so out of place for me every single time, I love using this feature specifically to change movement to WASD

[@ThomasstevenSlater]

I am quite urked when the instructions are tell you what button to press on the previous port of the game. E.G. xbox / PS controls on the steam version.

[@Ozuhananas]

As someone afflicted with the curse of being French and therefore using a different keyboard layout, I wholly agree with you, if I can't remap keys, I can't play the damn game because my physical keyboard and doesn't match the keys

[@HasekuraIsuna]

So many PC ports have stuff hardbound to or do not let you bind anything to the Tab key...

[@mortisCZ]

@@Ozuhananas Exactly that for Czechs too. My row of keys just under the line of Fs looks like "+ěščřžýáíé" and I use QWERTZ as a standard layout. I can switch to US keyboard setting anytime I start a gime but I should not be forced to.

[@marscaleb]

The first time I ever saw that was in Brave Fencer Musashi on the PS1. Whenever you bring up the start menu, there is a portrait of Musashi with a simple text quote reminding you of what your next objective is. SO helpful, and not at all obtrusive.

[@uliwitness]

Return to Monkey Island is great for this: Whenever you load a game, you get a screen with Guybrush and a kid, and him explaining what had happened so far and what objectives you had when you saved (yes, it's skippable). They also have a to-do list where Guybrush notes down the main objectives in text form. And yeah, mission replay in every game would be great. I want to see all of your game, but I don't have the time to re-play the start over and over again. But so many games make it impossible due to lack of save slots. Because if decisions in a re-played mission would have consequences on later missions, you want to save it and have the option to continue the next quest with these consequences (I'm looking at you, VtM: Swansong with your 3 save slots).

[@seraphonica]

Ellen really shocked me. I was expecting her to say "being able to pet the cats".

[@GriffinWolf]

Playing RDR2 at the moment, the ability to stop and just start patting animals is my favourite thing.

[@matthewbarratt4935]

This is tiny QoL improvements. Cat petting should be pretty much it's own subgame, so doesn't fit here.

[@Ylyrra]

That's not QoL, that's a fundamental gameplay loop.

[@zombietoothache]

Prey (2017) was great for these. Everytime I thought "realistically I should be able to do X" the game would let me do it. Like go prone under elevated platforms or turn into a cup and go through the mail slot on a security booth. Everytime it happened, I smiled and gushed about how good it is

[@Soroboruo]

Maybe I should play Prey.... I love it when there's no disconnect between "I should be able to do this thing" and "I can do this thing" in games, it really feels like the devs put in the effort.

[@MidnightDStroyer]

When it comes to having long loading screens, I think the default condition should be to summarize the story up to the point since the latest save-point...but if you still remember all of that (for whatever reason) there's an option to skip the loading screen & go right to the main menu. Make it a matter of choice rather than an absolute.

[@kikixchannel]

All games I played (that I can recall) with a recap loading screen just load the game to full, and when it's loaded, the "Now Loading" mark just turns into "Push X to continue" (or the like). Basically the recap is a feature, like a part of a dialogue, not a throwaway. Are there games that don't actually od it like that? It seems like the most obvious thing in existence (for whoever it was that actually thought of including the feature itself or in any way interacted with it) in my eyes.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

First time the game is played.. Intro waffle is fine... Every other time, after I load the game to play, straight to main menu please! :) I want to return to my keyboard with a drink and see the main menu, not a noisy intro I've seen a thousand times before.. But the rest of the 5 essential QOL features don't apply to most games I've played...

[@Mikebumpful]

I love these «banter» episodes with the whole crew in the studio!

[@Soroboruo]

Right? I like the lists, but they're a little polished and feel a bit more static in comparison to everyone doing a round table of their opinions and favorite moments. It's really fun to see them interacting like this.

[@enlongjones2394]

I love when an RPG gives you the option to turn off random encounters. Getting exp is nice, but it’s very nice to be able to turn encounters off if you’re going back through an area to snag some treasure or to do a story mission hours after the first pass through. Bravely Default lets you turn off encounters, gold, exp, AND job points if you really want. It’s great to have that level of control.

[@Kleyguerth]

Yakuza games don't give an option on the menu, but during the game you eventually get accessories that serve the same function. There's an accessory to disable random encounters, one to increase random encounters, one to increase the difficulty of those encounters, one to make them easier... It's just annoying that they take inventory space on the older games

[@christoffereinan1449]

expanding on janes headgear hiding, i also need it to be variable across different characters, sometimes i want viviennee and cole to wear their hats, but still want to see my inquisitors face that took ages

[@Calekoflight]

At least 1/4 of Cole's or Vivienne's personality is their unique hats.

[@beastmode-ht8ou]

YES

[@angryeevee9243]

This this this let us hide hats individually!

[@thatgdkayess]

This gave me war flashbacks to Cole's hair. I kept headgear turned on and just took the hit to my Inquisitor's stats to wear something less awful looking but suboptimal, rather than have to endure Cole's bared head.

[@_aj.j_]

Misson replay is great as a perfectionist and achievement hunter. Playing through Life is Strange, I missed a few of the optional photos, but the game breaks each chapter down into smaller sections so it's so easy to go back and get them. However, when I had to go back and get the achievements I missed in Fran Bow, I had to play through each chapter in its entirety to get the achievement I missed at the very end, even when the chapter was also split into part one and part two. God, that was so annoying.

[@dermeseti]

Similar to the hide helmet options, I like games that do layered armor where you can wear the cool epic armor but layer it to look like whatever fashion armor you like. Monster Hunter Rise/Sunbreak is a good example of this mechanic.

[@FredCDobbs-rd5wi]

What about Bioware's feature that allows you to import a character from the save file of one game into its sequel/successor? Nothing makes you feel immersed in the events of a game better than the return of the exact character that you created in the previous game of that series.

[@OptimusSledge]

I'm sure if that had worked it would have been great.

[@Soroboruo]

Right? You'd think it'd be more common given how connected everything is to the internet and how much cloud saving is around these days, yet it seems to be dying out. It's a great little way of lending some charm to a new installment. Semi-related, I love it when Demos let you start the full game with your demo file still intact.

[@DanStaal]

The Arkham games actually let you pull up the 'story so far' loading screens on demand if you want. So you get them at load, but if you've forgotten - just go to the pause menu and go to that section, and there's your recap.

[@SinnerChrono]

Ellen laughing in the background was all i needed in this moment of life.

[@dhivydhimanth1960]

Yakuza like a dragon has an optional button to see a recap of every chapter that you've completed and it is such a life saver

[@Smurfaliscous]

I love the idea that Mike is just lost and confused at all times irl. He just shows up, goes "alright, who are you, what's happening?" and then proceeds to just be chaos incarnate. Also, the first time I played the Witcher 3 I was able to do a pretty big binge at the beginning and then next time I came back and saw the recap thing for the first time, I was actually a little sad that I missed out on other recaps from points that I had blown past. They're just that good

[@SorowFame]

They’re kind of neat but it’s really annoying they’re unskippable even after seeing them 50 times. Yes game, I know where I’m at, I was playing just yesterday.

[@Smurfaliscous]

@Sorow Fame that is definitely fair

[@HazeEmry]

So a toggle in settings to ask if you want a prompt to show a recap?

[@GriffinWolf]

@@SorowFame This was exactly what I was thinking in Mike's segment. I played a few dozen hours of W3 last year, didn't actually finish it, but the slow loading times combined with the incessantly repetitive summaries was hugely frustrating.

[@yt_Ajay_]

Every horror game should have a dedicated quick turn button or shortcut. In real life, when I hear something crash behind me, I can turn immediately. It's just more immersive than jamming the analog stick to one side and waiting. It just makes the camera controls snappier and less frustrating especially in tense situations. Also quick turn is already a thing, like in God of War.

[@Emil_Stoltz]

Resident Evil also has that.

[@vira-siegkaiserreinhafro1670]

About recaps in RPGs: I was amazed by my own memory. I recently came back to Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur. I hadn't play KoA since April 2021, Skyrim since May 2022. I couldn't tell what I was doing, but as soon as I loaded and took a look on the active mission, I remembered everything. I got really involved in these games stories, so my brain got back on them quickly (even the muscle memory), but I don't always do and I think it would be really cool for games to have a recap you can activate if you need. Even Pokemon did it. At least Diamond, Pearl and Platinum had a journal function which told you the last things you did when you load your save, and can take a look in your bag as well. I can't remember if the remakes had it as well, tho. It's a shame they didn't keep it in other games.

[@ethanrobyn2399]

The worse version of non-hidden helms is creating the best custom character possible and only being able to see it when you're looking at something reflective because it's a first person game

[@TheWretchedOwl]

Talking about how helpful a guiding line in real life would be makes me want to see a list video of game features that would be super helpful in real life. My personal favorite may be quick saves. 😅

[@Ascarion1234]

I'd love to have some Graphics options, everything's all blurry!

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

You have no idea how many people I would've beaten to a bloody pulp by this point, knowing I can just reload after I've gotten all my frustrations out, and they're perfectly fine again. lmao Although, sometimes you are so used to saving that you eventually forget once and don't realize soon enough, so I'd probably wind up in prison anyway.

[@cebbi1313]

Double jump

[@Scarabola]

The Vat of Acid Episode

[@dallydaydream]

My unconscious mind seems to agree with you, given I sometimes find myself quick-saving while I'm dreaming

[@theubiquitouspotato]

On Jane's point I think cyberpunk did it well so you could equip whatever was best but have looks saved.

[@meatchuck6984]

The transmog system is a godsend. Same patch also unified/color-coded the clothing outlets to better rep their areas/gangs.

[@theubiquitouspotato]

@@meatchuck6984 yeah seems like people are picking it up, I believe it's in the game that shall not be named, and I heard starfield is adding it to.

[@MikeHughey728]

Cyberpunk did another, related thing badly though (and The Outer Worlds did it even worse): it let you go through a million character customization options and spend an hour crafting the perfect look, then barely showed the character in the game at all. No third-person view option, no cutscenes with V on-screen -- why did you even give me the option of picking this specific haircut, game?

[@theubiquitouspotato]

@@MikeHughey728 yeah they missed so many opportunities in that game, why can't I spray paint my mantis blades? Tattoos, car costomistion, street racing Brain dances for entertainment. The world still excites me but its so damn empty, honestly I don't know if I'm ever going to forgive CDPR for how badly they fucked it.

[@marhawkman303]

@@theubiquitouspotato Str Trek Online, Champions Online, and DCUO don't even have equipped gear as your costume, you edit that in the tailor the same as your face.

[@Metrion77]

1. Autosaves 2. Autosaves 3. Armor transmogrification (to borrow the WOW term) 4. Stack to nearby chests and work from attached chests in crafting games 5. Autosaves 6. Creative modes like forge in Halo, and 7. Autosaves

[@birkinsmith88]

The best place I found the Recap feature used in was in the original Pokemon Diamond and Perl. Cant begin to tell you how many times ive restarted a pokemon game because i dont know these creatures but the recap jogged my memory in a big way and it was like i never left.

[@psygaud]

Me and my best friend play elder scrolls together. I gave her my old computer when I upgraded and was setting things up for her. I started the game to make sure all the add ons were working properly and all that, so I skipped through all the intro screens. She lost her mind, "I DIDNT KNOW YOU COULD SKIP THOSE!" it made her do happy lmao

[@DragonSamurai182]

Final Fantasy 13: Lightning Returns does exactly what Mike wants. It’s EVERY loading scream though. So moving from one major location to another you get an update on the last major story beat and a little info on what you might want to do next.

[@ishura19]

And FF12, when you press Select, gives a map with a marker of where you need to go and a one-line summary of what you're supposed to be doing. Fifteen years later, that still isn't standard.

[@TheWorldsStage]

Being able to write custom notes on the map. Ultima Underworld was the only game I have ever seen with that simple mechanic and it came out in 1992. Every game, at least every RPG, has to have this ability to make custom notes on the map. "Don't go here, large enemy" or "Return to this area after the ***** quest" or whatever. It should be very easy to put it in but for some reason no games do.

[@garyprice7512]

I have 2 comments, both for whoever edited this video. 1) using Dead Space (2011) gave me an existential crisis, as I could swear I was playing it in 2008. 2) Arthur Morgan’s fake moustache was comedy gold.

[@toreadortheexploreador9327]

Had the same thought about Dead Space (10:06 even shows copyright 2008 at the bottom) so I looked it up and it seems there was a mobile spinoff with the same name in 2011.

[@Thrythlind]

Midnight Suns has a setting for each character where they will cycle through their casual outfits, changing at the start of each game. I just love that touch to make it feel like you're an actual person with a real wardrobe.

[@JoeMH1995]

Would be better if you could disable outfits after you realise that they look horrible though. I don't need to see St. Patrick's Day Dr. Strange on a serious mission.

[@Thrythlind]

@@JoeMH1995 Oh, it made my day when Blade showed up to a story briefing in a Book club shirt. Absolutely loved it.

[@badgerdunby]

I like when you have the option to turn on/off helmet, but ALSO the option to have it be on or off in a cut scene. Especially if they have transmog available. I went to the effort of making my character and their clothes/armour look like this, I want to be able to enjoy it always. Oh! Also, going to default setting in cut scenes, I hate that. I guess it all has to do with a flinching moment of "who is that?"

[@hellraiser217]

I prefer glossaries over recaps personally. I like the concept of having something like an in game journal or encyclopedia which you can visit and get both an overview of events so far and little tidbits of lore about characters you've talked to and places you've visited. The extra little details are appreciated. Thank you to the people who do these.

[@guyman1570]

I hate some of the glossary implementations though. Like subnautica would have a "ping" for every unread entry (same problem in Kingdom Hearts too!). And it won't go away until you have clicked on every single entry at least one (or three times lol)

[@hellraiser217]

​@@guyman1570 This is also true. Some games handle it much worse than others and pings can be annoying when they're intrusive. Personally though, I take more issue with the times when the glossary adds absolutely nothing at all to the game beyond stuff you already know. I like these things conceptually because they allow the game to open the door to things more difficult to show the player visually or audibly. When they fail to do that and solely function as a recap it always feels to me like a missed opportunity to do something cool with it.

[@evilintheair7212]

Sortable lists! Also, the lists are made up of actual words. And they're in alphabetical order! I can't believe how rare this can be, or how much of my life I've spent flitting through identical icons in Monster Hunter. Or visually distinguishing between the icon for the fried shrimp dinner that heals you and the fried shrimp dinner that revives fallen characters in Genshin.

[@MarteaniArt]

Monster Hunter sins twice because decos have names separate from the skills, and even if you switch between them you still can't put them in alphabetical order. Why is Speed Sharpening only called Grinder HERE?

[@Soroboruo]

Inventories that make the effort to have enough pockets/types to elegantly sort your stuff instead of putting, like, 40 kinds of potion in the same pocket with all of your food, stat-ups, and battle items because they're all consumables, or something of that nature. And a dedicated Key/Quest item pocket! If something is only usable in One Single Plot Location, it does *not* get a spot in the core inventory, even if it's not technically taking up space.