reprinted from 1UP BaD blog:
I went back to Tales of the Abyss yesterday and attempted the sneaking section again. The good news is that once you fail 3 or 4 times it lets you fight your way through. This is a good thing similar to that sneaking section in the Shinra building (FF VII). Without the ability to bypass things like this I probably wouldn't finish many RPGs.
It's kind of strange that years ago I was able to complete FF IX but last year when I went back to replay it I had to quit after failing the stupid sneak up on the guard and grab the key mini game over 10 times.
The fishing game in Nier almost stopped me cold but somehow I finally managed to catch the required fish after many failures.
The one on one duels in Suikoden V are a crapshoot for me too. Ok when my opponent says "can I have the rest of the afternoon off, I'd like to change my library book?" does that mean he's going to attack, defend or use a super attack? This is compounded by having to remember what I'm supposed to do in order to counter said action.
Anyway those are a few of the things that piss me off in RPGs. Do you have anything to add?
Sound off after the Panda!
One thing that pisses me off is, why does 1 arrow kill a pegasus in Fire Emblem.
Fetch Quests...
Dammit...
I would add Final Fantasy 8. The whole game. 
Somehow you completely read my mind :)
Have to agree there. I have tried to play that game so many times. It's just a mess.
huh, so true 
Really long battles can be a drag. I loved Baten Kaitos but man, those battles could go on for friggin' AGES.
I especially hate long boss battles when you can't tell how close you are to beating the boss. Some of the battles at the end of Nocturne seemed to last for hours.
You hit my big gripe with RPGs right there. The other one I hate is timed sections, especially when the clock doesn't stop when a random encounter starts.
My three least favorite recent mini-game segments are a sneaking section in Ni No Kuni, a two-stick race over a narrow path in Ni No Kuni, and that horrible boss battle with the lasers in Blue Dragon.
Hey Tami, glad you're back to your original avatar. Yep, let's put timed sections on the list too
Damn, you read my mind. I hate mandatory mini games. Blue Dragon comes to mind. Stupid moons.
Good ol' pandas.
As 1up and now Pixlbit's resident guy who's the only one to raise his hand and say "I don't play these, may I be excused?" when RPGs that don't involve Nintendo characters get brought up, let me give you a list:
random battles
taking turns
math
grinding
keeping up with a complex inventory
math
that fucking grid thing from FFX that one time I rented it, cause it looked pretty
math
entering a command, then watching a character stab something, when I'd prefer to just control him during the stabbing
math
Ok, so the math is really basic, and I'm making a big deal out of it for comedic effect (and it was always my worst subject), but I'm not an RPG guy. lol I mean no offense, to each their own, and I wish I could get into RPGs as so many others love them and they are very substantive and compelling in many ways, but you asked for gripes, and I gave you gripes. lol
I actually liked the Sphere Grid but I can appreciate why you don't like these things Joe.
I don't like random battles much but as long as they aren't every 5 seconds I can handle it.
I like grinding because in my case it helps me finish the game. I like being able to get past a previously nasty boss by levelling up so they drop like a stone.
The draw for me in RPGs is being able to poke around and find secrets and hidden stuff. I like to explore and I love puzzles.
The reason I don't do well at many other games is because if I can't beat a boss I will just stop playing after 3 or 4 failures.
That happens in some RPGs too. I ran into that in Nier. Fighting the boss in the junk heap has 3 sections to it and seemed to go on forever.
I can make it to the last part just fine but then I have to pick up bombs and throw them back at the boss and I just die over and over. There's no way to strategically beat that section and no amount of grinding will help. I'm uncoordinated and there the story ends. LOL
Lately this stuff bothers me, but it didn't "back in the day". Now that I have limited play time, when I have to do some side mini-game or frustrating section (like sneaking) it drives me nuts because I just want to get to the good stuff.
Back when I was still in high school, I was the king of Triple Triad in FF8.