The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Cheating Computer 9567.png|link=Hearts of Iron|frame|Most games aren't [[Difficulty Levels|this honest]].]]

 

*** All things considered, though, only a handful of Chrono Cross bosses were unfair. The secret boss from whom you obtain the Mastermune is the only character in the game that will instantly counter literally any element you throw at him, based on his own system of preset counters that will *always* immediately follow any element you use. Not knowing this ahead of time and attacking normally is a very speedy return to the main menu, but you are given no warning whatsoever of this unique ability a single enemy in the game has. On the plus side, once you figure out what he's doing, it's very easy to [[AI Breaker|game the AI]] and turn it into a cakewalk.

* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'', some enemies can use Psyenergy, and generally have huge amounts of PP. Now, you have an ability called ''Bind'' that seals it off and a Djinn that can do the same thing, but this only stops attacks that start with the word ''casts'', and not with ones that start with ''used''. Not to mention that attacks that start with ''used'' are more frequent that ones that start with ''casts'' and aren't tied to PP. Did I mention that some enemies can seal off '''your''' PP and you have no abilities that can be used after that?

** At the same Tournament, the mechanics mean that the player must maintain a small range to use power attacks, wait several seconds between using them, and execute slow, ponderous turn after one of said attacks. The AI can execute pinpoint turns (on HORSES), to execute both attacks at the same time while outside of attack range and immediately stop to attack you again.

** The Faction Champions encounter of the actual Argent Tournament raid pits you against 6-10 randomly-assigned race/spec combo NPCs that typically adhere to a set of [[PvP]]-ish aggro rules (ignoring threat to focus-fire people with lower health/armor, etc.) While this would be fine on its own, to drive the point home, you are subject to the rapid diminishing returns on crowd-control spells typically employed in player encounters... and they are not. It's not uncommon to have such a spell last 2–3 seconds if its target hasn't already been rendered outright immune, while people on your side can be locked down for 30 seconds or more at a time by the enemy's spammage of the same skill.

** Mobs have a tendency to use moves that a player of their equivalent class can't use at that level. For instance, the naga mages in Blackfathom Deeps can use the spell Blizzard at around level 23 or 24. Player mages don't learn Blizzard until ''level 52''.

** Mobs can also be race-class combinations that are not available to players, for instance, the human shamans in Stranglethorn or the undead paladins found in certain areas in Lordaeron.

* The RPG ''[[Metal Hearts]]: Replicant Rampage'', is just this trope incarnate. When the player gets to the first part of civilisation they will note the following: By moving, the PCs will be penalised and completely lose their dodge bonus to range attacks, and when the guards are moving, the player will almost never hit. Small scorpions with poison at the start are easier to hit lying down from about 10 metres away with a handgun than point blank with a shotgun, SMG, or Sniper Rifle. Allies with firearms are less likely to hit than the players, but they tend to have weapons and gear that give bonuses to marksmanship, have the weapons strong enough to hurt evil guards. The players can't use those weapons due to stat requirements.

* Whilst technically not an RPG, the ''[[UFO]]'' series use RPG mechanics for pretty much everything in the first 2 games, ''UFO: Aftermath'' and ''UFO: Aftershock''. The computer cheats when it comes to pretty much anything explosive. Grenades in Aftermath are chancy but if the character's Throw skill is high enough it can clear entrenched hostiles, but the character is still going to be using the shotgun as the grenade throws fail in spectacular ways. Most often the player's soldiers will fumble the grenade and drop it under them, throw it behind them into the civilians being evacuated, overshoot the target by half the map, Lob onto a higher floor inside a building behind them, with no windows or doors on their side. This applies to rocket launchers, unless the user is in a heavy exo-skeleton, which is a waste as there are better Machine guns that can only be fired with those suits and don't run the risk of failing the mission by destroying the objective and entire team in one shot. In Aftershock, these effects are applied 2 at a time and also to rocket launchers and grenade launchers (Actually by adding an underbarrel grenadelauncher to any weapon the player will have corrupted the savegame their running, and also result in a more explosive fumble when the character drops it from a fricking launcher). Needless to say the aliens, mutants and cultists from the second are immune to this and can be reliably expected to incapacitate if not kill at least one character a shot.

** CT-2 is very harsh. There's no offside, so if a goalie catch the ball you throw at him, he'll send it directly to an offside player that you can almost never catch up.

** [[MOTHER 1]] has this happen in [[Death Mountain|Mt. Itoi]]/[[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon Holy|Loly Mountains]]. There's a mook named Satania that, should it attack in threes, have a potential to cast [[HP to One|PK Freeze γ]] and another in the group that ''almost always'' attacks with PK Freeze Ω . You better hope Ninten and Ana don't perish from the area of effect attack, or you're pretty much screwed.

 

=== Simulation Games ===

** ...and Matrix shooting the player from behind. In a miniature golf game.

* Cartoons often have games cheating to exaggerate how hard they are. Especially if they're coin-guzzling arcade machines.

* Teal'c encounters this trope in a season 8 episode of [[Stargate SG-1]]. He says a computer simulation is too easy and the computer takes him at his word. Hijinks ensue.

** Notably the computer cheats so blatantly and repeatedly that in the end they resolve the situation by doing what any self-respecting gamer would do: [[Good Bad Bugs|exploit a bug in the program]] to cheese the system, sending Daniel in to help while granting him tactical precogniton.

 

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[[Category:Robot Roll Call]]

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