5 Quality-of-Life Features We Wish Were In Every Game

The gaming landscape is full of titles pushing innovation's boundaries. These innovations are often what allows a title to stand out against its competition and often come in the form of unique gameplay mechanics or next-generation graphics. However, some innovations are taken for granted and are highly underrated, but are always the most welcome—quality of life features. Join us as we highlight our five favorite quality-of-life features in video games that we wish were in every game.

GUIDING WIND

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

From Suckerpunch Productions via Polygon

In the multitude of open-world games, players often get lost in the vastness of their gaming environment. Most open-world games address maps and markers, but Ghost of Tsushima upgrades this into something better—Guiding Wind. With a push of a button, Guiding Wind shows the direction the players need to go without having to open the map or constantly looking at the mini-map. This unintrusive feature allows players to take in the beauty of Ghost of Tsushima to its fullest when traversing the island.

HIDE HELMET

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

From Electronic Arts Official Website

Modern RPGs have extensive character creation screens that allow players to fully customize their playable character. Some players can even spend hours trying to create the perfect look for their character. After all that work, the game then forces you to hide that custom face with some headgear unless you choose to lose the beneficial stats from said equipment. Dragon Age: Inquisition curbed this annoying predicament by allowing its players to just simply “Hide Helmet.” In the overall enjoyment of the game, being able to hide headgear is a cosmetic feature and won’t really affect much. Except maybe lowering the possibility of players getting annoyed by how goofy their character looks with the headgear on.

CHANGE ARMOR APPEARANCE

GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK

From Santa Monica Studios via Polygon

Games that implement RPG elements often require its players to sacrifice aesthetics in order to maximize the stat boosts they acquire from equipment. Players looking to min/max their build can’t afford to complain about mismatched armor sets, as long as their characters can hit like a truck or can tank almost any hit. Santa Monica Studios saw this small area for improvement and asked why its players couldn’t have both. With its feature to “change armor appearance,” players can choose any armor set that fits their playstyle and make it look like their preferred armor cosmetically. It may seem like a small thing, but being able to enjoy form and function in video games isn’t as common as you might think.

PAUSE CUTSCENE

DEATH STRANDING

From 505 Games

Modern games have become much more cinematic. With the advancements in motion capture and graphical capabilities of our devices, some games are akin to interactive cinematic experiences. When it comes to cinematic storytelling in games, no one is probably more famous than Hideo Kojima. The creator of the Metal Gear series enjoys weaving intricate narratives in his games, presented via cutscenes. The problem is playing games at home isn’t like watching a movie in theaters. Real-life concerns can often force our attention away from a cutscene. Thankfully, Kojima knew the importance of his cutscenes and allowed players to pause them so that they wouldn’t miss the story in case something came up. Not every game allows gamers to pause cutscenes; or worse, allows them to skip them entirely without confirmation. So this quality of life feature is definitely something we wish was an industry standard.

SPEED UP FEATURE

FINAL FANTASY XII: ZODIAC AGE

From Square Enix via PC Invasion

Grinding is a part of every game. Whether it’s to meet a certain level requirement for progression or in order to acquire some desired loot. Grinding can be incredibly tedious and repetitive; if the grind gets too long, it can be boring. Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age doesn’t fully remove the grind with its “Speed Up” feature, but it does… speed things up. Allowing players to choose between 2x and 4x speed while traveling and battling monsters, the grind becomes less time-consuming than it would have been at normal speed. Not every game needs the speed-up feature during the initial playthrough, but it is something we wish most games had during a second playthrough.