Over the years, we have grown accustomed to seeing recurring little design devices in our games.  Exploding barrels, QTEs, a princess that needs rescuing–these cliches (I use that term in a loving sense by the way) have ingrained themselves into the fabric of the pastime.

What are your favorites?  Join the roundtable in the comments and maybe get yourself a mention on the podcast!

Dave:  Boss fights aren’t a cliche–they’re a genre necessity.   But the cliche  I enjoy the most within the boss fight is, of course

The Boss Graciously Exposing His or Her Vulnerable Weak Spot to You in the Heat of Battle

Maybe it’s a blinking red light on the robot’s head or the fleshy underbelly of a heavily-armored zombie pterodactyl or the bulging groin of a roid-raging commando, but when you’re neck deep in a hectic boss battle that shout-out from your opponent (“Hey there, whatever you do, don’t hit me here with your shotgun!”) is much-anticipated and much-appreciated .

I was reminded of this go-to staple of boss-fighting in the multitude of epic showdowns in Resident Evil 5.  The Capcom designers love themselves some exposed weak points in their boss designs, making me think that if the Uroboros Virus was really all that big of step in the evolutionary process, natural selection should have been considerate enough to kill off the gene that dictates “Show your fleshy pod after you take five gunshots to the head. ”

Don't get up into my business.

My favorite such boss fight: Revenge of Shinobi, when you’re fighting the brain-controlled super-computer at the end of the military installation stage.  The brain is nice enough to stick itself out for you to pummel with shuriken, with only a glass jar to protect it.  Thanks stupid brain!

Erich: You could tag any number of games for this, but since I’m nearing the end of Resident Evil 4, I’ll use it as an example of the video game cliche of items hidden in breakable objects. RE4 is all about tension caused by running low on ammo. Still, it’s nice to know that the priceless Ming vase sitting on that antique table over there probably has a single box of shotgun ammo waiting inside it. Sure, you could gently reach in and pull it out but why bother when smashing it with a knife is so much easier? Besides, the guy who owns the castle is a complete tool so breaking his heirlooms is kinda satisfying. Don’t even bother trying to figure out why he’d hide ammo and boxes of gold all over the place. I choose to believe it’s some weird European version of an Easter egg hunt. You might as well ask how a creepy item vendor can be so many out-of-the-way places at once, or where he bought all those typewriters.

Steve: The “Angry loner” video game persona, usually accompanied by a driving hard rock score, angry bellowing or raspy voice, and copious amounts of blood, snot, and femme fatale’s with ginormous funbags and metal thongs. Yeah, these should stop.Now. Please. Look at the Prince in Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The sands of time, or hell, the most recent entry, simply Prince of Persia; these are awesome, likeable characters. I’m sick of Wolverine clones, rueful vengeance engines and wise ass  killing machines. If i hear Kratos shout, “ARES!!!” at the top of his lungs one more time I’m gonna make him swallow his loincloth. Cue the Godsmack! On an ironic note, Ubi’s own Prince of Persia is probably the most guilty perpetrator of this particular cliche, as seen in the sequel to Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. Ugh. God.

Methinks the Prince is suffering from Puppy loss....