What turns you off from a game?

[TheRollinSpheal]

Hopefully this doesn't come off as what everyone else said, but there are a few things that really turn me off of a fan game.

-Lack of Originality
Please, developers, have unique features! Whenever I start a fan game, that's probably the thing I look for most. I can forgive a few games if the plot is amazing, but otherwise it really turns me off. Add something that really stands out to your game. Your game doesn't have to be based around it, but something just like a custom pause menu really stands out to me. (IE: pause screen, custom items, Fakemon that look good, etc).

-Gen 3 Tile-sets
This is probably just me, but I hate gen 3 tile-sets when I'm not playing FR/LG or RSE. I guess I just like that modern feel to a game. And please, PLEASE don't gen mix! I would rather have old tile-sets than a mix. It's worth it to spend time to redo tile-sets, in my opinion anyway.

-Plot and Sidequests
Personally, I like exploring when I'm in a fan game. I don't want to be stuck in the same town for a few hours. Side-quests often add a lot to a game (aesthetic wise) and I love them soooo much!
Also, plot. I'm fine with a classic style of beating the 8 gym leaders with a rival that appears occasionaly, but please have something other than a team going after a legendary Pokemon. Environmental and other issues can be used as well.

That's my take on it, anyway!

 

[Lacheruu]

>Poorly created Fakemon
>Repettetive Plot
>Poor Graphics especially on the MC

 

[SightlessReality]

Lack of Fakemon & a lack of all Pokemon
Yeah, maybe I'm just one of those people who don't care how absurd it is to have all pokemon confined to one region but hell if I care. I wanna catch them all. \o/
And Fakemon is a must, don't have to be an all fakemon game but having some to me doesn't hurt.

 

[gr3ygho$t28]

Horrible grammar and dialog.

 

[choppadakid]

When the levels jump but the pokemon in the grass to low of level to grind

 

[NewMew]

a High Level curve is a major turn off for me, i hate grinding. And also if theres too many generic trainers. Ohh and storylines that are boring. Sure keep the 8 gyms one rival and an evil team but try to make it interesting. Who wants to play the same game over and over >.>

Graphics arn't a problem to me. I love seeing old graphics as well as new. If the storyline is top notch it could look like an Atari 2500 game and i wouldn't care.

 

[DataLeecher]

The biggest dealbreaker generally involves the game trying to be edgy, usually with a Dark, Mature Plot™ being highlighted as a main feature. Generally, those are telltale signs thereof:

-random swear words everywhere
-cloaked cultists
-stuff blowing up
-unnamed characters being killed right after introduction
-Shadow Pokémon or variants thereof

 

[Mana1]

a High Level curve is a major turn off for me, i hate grinding. And also if theres too many generic trainers. Ohh and storylines that are boring. Sure keep the 8 gyms one rival and an evil team but try to make it interesting. Who wants to play the same game over and over >.>

I agree a bit @levelcurves, but I guess it depends on the style of gameplay. Something that is very story heavy I prefer if I don't have to grind as it drags things out unnecessarily but I don't mind if light-hearted/less story-orientated games have a high level curve to add challenge.

 

[NewMew]

The biggest dealbreaker generally involves the game trying to be edgy, usually with a Dark, Mature Plot™ being highlighted as a main feature. Generally, those are telltale signs thereof:

-random swear words everywhere
-cloaked cultists
-stuff blowing up
-unnamed characters being killed right after introduction
-Shadow Pokémon or variants thereof

You Just described pokemom insurgence lol

 

[sharzin]

_getting totally impossible all of a sudden(ahem...pokemon...ahem...insurgence...ahem)
_ being literally unplayable due to some glitch (lightning yellow. im looking at you)
_bad sprites
_that bw pack (its about sprites dont take it hard)

 

[Linyit]

Fakemon. No story at all. Unnecessary grinding.

 

[Adnihil]

In this order :
Not being able to battle or trade with other players.
Easy to obtain legendaries (and/or too much legendaries). Actually, best would be no legendaries at all until the end of the game, after the last league.
Bad spelling, but above that bad punctuation.
Fakemon.
Labyrinths or caves that are too large/hard.

 

[SpartaLazor]

In this order :
Not being able to battle or trade with other players.

That's setting a pretty high standard, don't you think?

 

[immacksg]

For me, a huge deal breaker is the game trying too hard to be darker and "adult."
I hated the stupid Cult thing in Pokemon Insurgence, and I hate the overly apocalyptic themes in games like Pokemon Reborn, Pokemon Resurgence, and Pokemon Snakewood.
I'm fine with a Pokemon fan game trying to have some darker tones, but I wish it went for a more Black and White approach rather than something like those fan games. To me, it just comes off as super Edgy. It just bothers me. As with constant swearing in Pokemon fan games. It annoys me for the same reason. The edge is too cringy.

 

[Trev]

Graphics

I am a big stickler about graphics. At the very minimum, I expect updated Pokemon sprites, especially if the Pokemon you're using have quality sprites available (spoiler alert: they do). It just seems lazy to not at least update the Pokemon. I also loathe when people draw over-top of the original sprites and don't put in the effort to make them look not awful. It's so painfully obvious which parts the hacker drew and which parts were Gamefreak designs, and they always stick out like a sore thumb.

Anime characters/Ash

God almighty do I hate this. I don't want to play a Pokemon hack just to play as freaking Ash. He's never interested me as a character, and he never will. I may also be biased because almost every hack I've played with Ash in it has been really low quality done by a really young hacker that gets adored by a young audience who seem to think that Ash and Pikachu are the best things about Pokemon.

Bad grammar/English

I get it, English isn't everyone's first language, and I don't think that language should prevent ROM hacking. I just prefer not to play games that don't have perfect English. I want to understand the game when I play, y'know? But that isn't nearly as bad as incorrect grammar/spelling. I usually won't play games that can't understand that one exclamation mark is enough and that capitalization is mandatory.

386+ Hacks

I just don't like having a bunch of Pokemon crammed into a game for me to catch. It's an overwhelming amount of options. I prefer a customized Regional Pokedex with adequate distribution over "LUK AT DEZ CHOYCEZ !!!! !! !1!!1!!!" It allows me to pick out my favorites from the options, which always ends up being a more fun experience.

 

[immacksg]

^ You brought up some other things that actually turn me off from certain fan games that I dislike, so good job @Trev.
I really dislike playing as Ash unless the focus is to recreate the anime, so seeing him in some fan created world seems wrong to me.
I hate when people either don't edit Red's sprite at all so I still play as Red or when it's just a slight recolor, like the hat being blue or something. I get it, not everyone's good with sprites. But there's definitely some better options out there.
I'm perfectly fine with 386+ kind of stuff, but only when it's not done in such a childish way. I hate just randomly finding starter pokemon in the wild as it makes the starter I took feel less special.

 

[Adnihil]

That's setting a pretty high standard, don't you think?

Idk, to me the multiplayer aspect is like the entire point of the games. If I can't trade or battle my friends it feels like I'm putting time and effort into creating a strong team for nothing.

 

[Crizzle]

I like having a unique(or at least interesting) concept or story in a fan game. It's hard to motivate myself to play a game that merely imitates what GameFreak makes.

 

[Purist of Black Water]

What turns me off from a game more than anything else.
The gameplay. I don't mind if it's unoriginal in ways, I can live with that.
If I don't get any fun out of it, then I will just let it gather dust.

Which means a bad storyline and annoying character cliches don't phase me a much, as other gamers.
I am probably too forgiving in that regard, now that I think it over some lol

 

[Woah]

Bad grammar, imbalanced levels, unnecessary edginess, among others.

But, one thing that I don't think others have mentioned enough is the rigid league structure. Why, with all the resources given to them, do game designers still choose to stick with the classic eight gym challenge instead of creating something new? If I wanted to give myself fever dreams, I'd play the literal grind that is the official games (at least those have the benefits of proper grammar).

Unfortunately, resources or not, trying to avoid this structure in your game usually necessitates a lot of scripting, which is really hard. Speaking of things that are really hard, revolutionizing your graphics is also really hard. If someone casually makes a game because he's got a real solid story idea, his game shouldn't be turned down solely because he's used 3rd gen graphics. Since gen 6's amazing graphics, you're gonna have to settle for less in regards to fan games :)