97 pieces of a 100 piece puzzle
One of the most common criticisms that I have when playing games, and that I have heard from others, is centered on feelings of frustration when it is unclear how to proceed. There's nothing worse than that feeling of "ok I finished that what now?" Frequently this is because the player is unable to identify or locate the elements needed to proceed. You clear out a room reach a door, and its locked. Ok you think what's the puzzle? What do I need to do? No puzzle nor challenge left in this room. The room is empty and it's time for you to start backtracking to figure out what you missed. Oh what fun. Overcoming a difficult challenging is the most rewarding aspect of playing video games. However, when the challenging is simply finding the different elements of a puzzle I often find challenge is either unrewarding in success or frustrating and arbitrary in failure. Having your progress stopped because there was a hidden switch in some random corner, that you miss...