Summary
In most video games, fun comes through overcoming adversity of some kind, whether an abstraction, such as time, or more tangible targets like shambling zombies, oversized monsters, or the soldiers on the other side. For more seasoned players, the more adversity (as in, the tougher the challenge), the more fun is to be had.
However, there’s a fine line between giving players a breath of euphoric relief after smacking down a big bad and making them blue in the face with frustration after their tenth reload. These hair-tearing, teeth-pulling, time-wasting terrors turn what is supposed to bea cozy game night chill seshinto a frothing frustration fest.
Not all annoying enemies appear as such because of bad balance or unfair game mechanics. For instance,Minecraft’s creeper is a perfectly visible target, and there is even an audio tell that lets the player know that they are about to die, have a chunk blownout of their precious designer base, and there is nothing they can do about it.
The creeper exists as an obstacle to the player’s self-directed goals of cultivating a beautiful build with the resources they can find around them. The creeper’s job is to give the player setbacks and to remind them to build walls out of obsidian next time.
Most annoying enemies are either overpowered, HP sponges, or cheaters. However, the Like-Like fromThe Legend of Zeldaseries is much more subtle. Rather than inflict death and a quick reload, they eat Link’s shield, forcing the player to hoof it back to town to buy a new one, which also eats into the player’s time (so long as they can resist the urge to save scum).
Running around without a shield isn’t the worst handicap imaginable, but it can be especially annoying in the games that require a shield to tackle other enemies, such as deku scrubs or the soft-bellied spiked beetles. Suddenly faced with the realization that a puzzle is impossible without the ability to flip enemies while knee-deep in a dungeon is not something that anyone likes to experience.
While there’s blitzing an enemy with a machine gun barrage and icily blinking baddies out of existence with a pistol, there’s nothing quite like sneakily taking out fools from behind the scope of a sniper rifle. However, whether being on the other side of that power dynamic is fun or not should be self-evident. For those in the back of the class (that snipers can still see), the answer is: it’s not.
Jackal snipers fromHalo 2might be the best example of a video game enemy who can most accurately recreate theconditions of an immersive, real-life war. Namely, the feeling of coming under fire from invisible crack shots from every direction and being a second away from death.
Most of the time, when a player dies in a FromSoft game, they know exactly what they did to deserve it. The odds may be overwhelming, but the game never pulls a fast one by cheating. However, there are plenty of enemies in theDark Soulsor Soulsborne series that fit the criteria of “most frustrating enemy. In fact, annoying enemies inDark Soulscouldbe a list all on its own. However, the one that most likely comes to most players' minds is the Basilisk.
These bug-eyed goofs expel a curse-tainted gas that turns the player to stone after standing in it too long. The solution isn’t just “stay out of the gas.” Not only do basilisks tend to hang around in big, spread-out groups, but the range that their gas spreads is about as large as their eyes are freakishly big.
5Zubat
Pokemon (Bats! Bats In General)
In games with random encounters, it can be a pain to have to encounter constant interruptions (set to epic battle music) all because of some measly bat monster. Doubly so inPokemon, when a player might be scouring a cave for loot, a rare rock-type pocket monster, or, most typically, the exit.
Zubat probably isn’t the worst Pokemon to interrupt a trainer in their quest to catch ‘em all, as there are plenty of otheruseless Pokemon begging to be noticed, but they are both bats (one of the most annoying video game enemy archetypes) and the one that most veteran players (or at least those who have playedPokemon RedorBlue) will remember for their appearance as the most purposefully pesky resident of Mt. Moon.
Skyrim. Mountains, pines, and white, white snowfields. It makes sense that the creatures there have evolved to blend in with their environment. That being said, it’s strange that this invisible-against-snow creature hasn’t dominated the entire province with its ability to passively freeze its bewildered and flailing prey while it floats around in an erratic dance pattern.
That sort of camouflage and kill combo should place it right at the top of the food chain. Thankfully, Ice Wraiths are only found at the farthest reaches of Skyrim, at points on the map that take a good half an hour of travel time to reach (or return to after a reload). If Ice Wraiths were somehow able to weld a bow and learn archery, they would likely be the most powerful life form in Tamriel.
Tough to kill, ailment dealing, and frankly, horrifically ugly to look at, Malboros have endured presumably thanks to their (inexplicable)popularity throughout almost the entire seriesofFinal Fantasygames, beginning withFinal Fantasy 2. Their signature move, Bad Breath, which first appeared inFinal Fantasy 4, spreads status effects that can wipe a party in only a couple of rounds without the esuna spells or remedies stocked.
Throughout the series, they have been known to ambush players, stopping them from being able to proactively cast preventative spells or even run from the encounter. Despite their sluggish-looking appearance, some malboros have been known to be able to float and dangle their toxic tentacles down onto their prey’s backs or faces. Pure nightmare fuel.
Fans of Bethesda games, after hearing such high praise forThe Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowindmay be tempted to give the classic RPG a try. However, soon after being awoken from a shiver-inducing dream by a shirtless Dunmer named Jiub (then failing every single attack against a silkworm after getting lost in a swamp), would-be-Nereverines are likely to hear for the first time a cry from a monster more fearsome than any dragon roar or draugr scowl: the shriek cliff racer.
Cliff Racers are airborne, coordinated, and infinitely persistent. It’s plausible that the player character could have been dreaming about being hunted by a swarm of these monsters before being released onto the island of Vvardenfell.Morrowindfans were so vocal about their dislike of these shrieking sky stalkers that BethesdatreatedOblivionplayers to a lore tidbitabout their eventual demise at the hands of Jiub, who went on to become a saint for his efforts in exterminating them all.
