Another day, yet another sin: Putting collectibles right in front of a checkpoint, during a forced scrolling section.

Also: Not allowing the player to exit stages that have been previously completed - you have to get to the end if you want out.

I just thought of another one, which happens in Dragon Quest 7 (PSX):

At the same time:
1. The game traps you in an area; you can't go back to earlier areas to restock or level up
2. There is a difficulty bump, resulting in this area being considerably more difficult than the area right before

Hence, you can't continue because the enemies are too strong, and you can't go back and level up because the game doesn't let you at this point (when the game does usually allow you to do so; it just doesn't happen this one time).

The only redeeming factor is that you have a temporary party member who is invincible (like all temporary characters in that game) and has an ability that has a chance of reviving a dead party member. (Note that you can't control this character, but the ability has no cost, and even if it did, he probably has infinite MP anyway.)

I think I might have read that the 3DS remake puts a warp on the world map that allows you to leave the area, but I am not 100% sure, as I haven't played that version.

cut scenes you cant skip and when you finally get control off your character you take 5 steps and the fucking game wrests control from you for another 10 minutes of unskippable cutscenes !

How about:

Cutscenes with invisible triggers in unexpected spots that, in addition to taking control from you, leave you in a place you can't backtrack from, causing you to miss any treasures that you didn't get because you decided to explore that path first.

Also (and I've seen this in Baldur's Gate 2), cutscenes that trigger either at random times or after a certain amount of time, interrupting you when you are trying to do something else, like shopping or managing your equipment and spells. (This is one of the big reasons I have never finished BG2.)

i give you yakuza dead souls
you only get something to do after 15 fucking minutes of cut scenes and thats just the tutorial

If a game is going to have minigames, especially mandatory ones where you actually have to do well, the minigame should have a restart button.

Then again, I actually consider the use of minigames that do not fit the genre to be a cardinal sin, particularly when an otherwise turn-based game requires an action sequence to continue with the next part of the game. This can cause problems for gamers who can't handle action gameplay (perhaps due to a disability), but enjoy turn-based games.

One highly praised game that I find myself dreading to replay because of this sort of mandatory mini-game is Chrono Trigger; there is one part of the game where you have to button mash to continue (and can't even exit out to save if you keep failing). Who thought *that* would be a good idea in a game that is supposed to be an RPG?

(It's worth noting that even Ultima 1 had a mandatory action minigame.)

I've probably asked before but how is that game?

Anyway, reminds me of Old World Blues, one of the DLC/Expansion Packs for Fallout: New Vegas. It starts off with a REALLY long conversation, it feels like a solid half hour of pure dialogue. Luckily it's pretty entertaining stuff but still...

Not allowing the player to save for an extended period of time.

Arc the Lad 2, for example, has a lengthy dungeon that could take nearly 2 hours to complete (IIRC), and there are no save points in the *entire* dungeon.

Even worse, the game actually provides at least one place to rest in the dungeon, but doesn't provide a place to save. Why?

Not everybody can find a big block of time to play the game.

(Also, the game didn't give a warning that there wouldn't be a save point for a while, making the situation even worse.)

If I replay that game, I am going to use emulator save states.

Forcing a horse into it, unless it is either Mount & Blade, or Two Worlds II.

Being so homophobic as to writing Dethmold of The Wicher 2.

But in case horrid stands for a badge of honour: never could replay The Witcher 2 because I do not like homophobia in gaming. And paid about 40 sterling for that single play-through...So troll lvl 81 gog or such like! ;-)

If you are a fan of the movies it is a MUST HAVE! The cut scene thing sucks, and the extortion stuff can be a little confusing, but it's still a lot of fun. I probably wouldn't recommend it to a full blown GTA freak who's never see the movies because then it will just be a poor man's GTA.