The unfair advantage

In a lot of games you´re usually someone with a special ability or at least you´re not an average person, at least most of the time you´re someone chosen or just the right man (or woman) for the job. This usually means that you can do something others can´t or it just takes more shots to kill you, so in a way you have an unfair advantage on the other characters in the game. But let´s not forget the continue button, I think it´s game over for every other character in the game when they go down but the player can always retry. At least if the player doesn´t destroy his or her controller because of frustration!

But you don´t always start strong or with those special abilities, often you have to earn them by going through dungeons or beating enough people to unlock that. I actually like that in games, this rpg element where you become stronger over time. You unlock new skills and your health increases with each level. This really gives me the idea that you´re on a quest and actually improving your character, instead of running in a room and just shoot the shit out of everyone. It´s still fun though, but it takes the depth in a game away. I think one of the games that is very good with the path of a hero is the legend of Zelda: the ocarina of time. Not just by going in dungeons and earning new equipment, but also the side adventures that can give you valuable items like the empty bottles. This makes it very rewarding to actually explore the world, instead of just following the path that is laid out in front of you. All of these things make you as a character in a game more powerful then other characters in the game, but what if the roles are turned around?

Games that often give you the most frustrations are games that take away those special benefits, where your character is as weak or as strong as the rest. Which means that it doesn´t take much for your character to die, especially games where one hit is enough to kill your character. I can understand if people don´t like to play these type of games, they can be very annoying when you´re stuck and you´re just not good enough to get past that point. I´ve had moments like that in Ninja Gaiden, especially the boss fights could be so annoying and where you would just die when the boss was almost defeated. But to be honest, you do get some awesome skills in Ninja Gaiden but the trick is to learn them and use them correctly against your enemies. Mistakes are severly punished, which makes it very frustrating whenever you make one. But even in GTA Online you´ll encounter the unfair advantage, I think everyone that has had the police after him or her knows what I´m talking about! It´s difficult to shake them off when they keep teleporting in front of you or the worst case scenario where they actually teleport right next to you when you´re critically wounded. That´s another thing, you die so quickly and even with armor it doesn´t take much for them to kill your character. In a way that makes the game more challenging but to be honest I just find it annoying, games are meant to be fun and not a constant struggle trying to survive in a hostile world. But maybe that´s another case for a matter of taste in games, what one likes the other hates. I guess it´s not easy making games that everyone will like, well it´s probably impossible. So maybe that´s why it´s a good thing you have so many different games! Then it´s up to you if you want to have the unfair advantage or if you think you can finish a game without it.