Alright (insert game here), how the FUCK was I supposed to know that?!

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Strangely enough that never happened to me. I went around the office for a good two hours...and everything was ok.

Well, one died, but that's another story.

Strange. That event is (supposed to be) on a timer and not a particularly generous one either. AFAIK it's the only one of its kind in the game. The idea was that if the player took too long getting to the VTOL to start the mission, it would be too late to get the good outcome. Maybe t'was a bug in your case as everyone else I know who played it had the same experience as I did first time thru.

As for the one that didn't make it, they probably had it coming :-D

 

[Reaper195]

Metal Gear Solid 1. "Meryls number is on the back of the game case."
...but I don't have that in my inventory..wtf? *Spends hours scouring game for a game case, look up online*
You mean not in the actual game? But...it's '98! You're not allowed to break the fourth wall like that yet!

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Strangely enough that never happened to me. I went around the office for a good two hours...and everything was ok.

Well, one died, but that's another story.

Strange. That event is (supposed to be) on a timer and not a particularly generous one either. AFAIK it's the only one of its kind in the game. The idea was that if the player took too long getting to the VTOL to start the mission, it would be too late to get the good outcome. Maybe t'was a bug in your case as everyone else I know who played it had the same experience as I did first time thru.

As for the one that didn't make it, they probably had it coming :-D

Haha, well, what deficulty were you on? I usually start my first play through on easy, because I like to experience a story first.

Maybe that was the reason? Makes some sense to me.

(and that one person was because I let the robber go out of my good mind)

 

[Lugbzurg]

I think your Sonic 3 example is a good one. And no, you're not the only one who got held up at that point. Me, and all my friends, always had trouble with it too.

Well, I could spout the names of several different adventure games and call it a day (Riven, in particular, jumps out at me), but I've got another good one.

In one of the X-Men games for the Genesis (I forget exactly which one it is at the moment), when you get to the end of the game, you basically reach a dead end, with no way to proceed. The solution? Hit the reset button on your console. THAT will take you to the final screen.

What in the flying name of FUCK would lead you be believe that would work?

that one reminds of one from Metal Gear Solid...specifically when you're fighting the psychic guy that cheats by knowing every button you press and reacts accordingly, making him invincible.......unless you plug your controller into the player 2 slot.

Now I've never played MGS (I played MGS 2, but by all accounts that's one that is best left forgotten ) so I don't know if there's any hints or tips that you have to plug your controller into the 2nd player slot. But if there isn't, I can't imagine how the hell you're supposed to think to do that.

You know how you were supposed to know that? Because, the Colonel actually tells you how to do it, straight up! The only way you could not know how to do it is if you were to mute the game and turn the captions off!

Anyway, I can remember a bit in Half-Life where I seemed to be at a dead end (and this happens dozens of times). My path was blocked by a gigantic hole with fanblades at the bottom. Somewhere, you're actually able to turn this fan on. And the blades move a bit slowly. So, how was I ever able to know that I was supposed to jump into the fan's wind current and it would blow me up to the ceiling where I could crawl into an air vent!? It didn't look in the slightest like that fan could lift Gordon Freeman's weight!

Captcha: No way. Wow... That seems to be almost true here.

 

[Noswad]

Minecraft, not going to name individual things, just the entire game.

 

[Jaeke]

I literally JUST posted this in another thread but I'll repeat:

Mass Effect 3 Reaper fight on foot on Rannoch: I was not aware that you were supposed to barrel-roll out of the way when it went into slow motion when the reaper got really close.

Damn I must have tried around 15 times, I felt like a real dumbass after I figured it out.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

Every point and click adventure game ever made ever. . . yup that about sums it up.

 

[JediMB]

Besides Sonic 3, what comes to mind is some of the point-and-click adventure games. I only have some very vague memories of playing Day of the Tentacle as a child, and never really got that far, so now that I've finally had the chance to play the game for real... I'm completely lost.

I have an inventory full of stuff I'm not sure what to do with, and three different characters at different points in time to control. This just makes the second Monkey Island game look like a cakewalk.

At the beginning of Metroid: Other M you're explicitly told you can't use Power Bombs. Throughout the game you're told or prompted when new abilities are available. In the final boss fight you get sucked into the boss's stomach and can only kill it with Power Bombs.

My problem with that boss segment is that I was certain I did what I should to activate the Power Bomb, but the game just refused to do so. Took me another half hour of trying all sorts of things before I gave the Power Bomb another chance... and then it just worked.

 

[JediMB]

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/Metal_Gear_Solid_ntsc-back.jpg
Fucking christ.

I am sorry i was like 13 at the time and was not used to this 4th wall breaking bullshit.

"check the back of the CD CASE" I HAD A BLOODY CD IN MY INVENTORY! i spent hours banging my head against a wall on this shit >:C

Yes im still mad and bitter about this -_-

I believe they said "jewel case" rather than CD case, which confused me further. I had no idea that CD cases were referred to as such, so I figured there might be a box of jewels somewhere in the game.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Phantom Hourglass. At some point in the Temple of the Ocean King, you come across one of the four maps you need to proceed in the game. Thing is, the map's mounted on the wall, upside down and mirrored. I tried everything to get it; frantically tapping it all over with the stylus, tapping every button combination, using all my items on the map. Nothing worked.

It wasn't until I'd shut my DS in exasperation to put it into sleep mode and gone and done something else that I solved the puzzle. Yes, that's right; you had to 'stamp' the map onto your own map by closing and opening the DS. What.

The exact thing happened to me. I worked at it for a half hour or so. I got frustrated and decided to close it, set it down to go to the bathroom, and maybe come back to try it again. I come back and open it and "ding'a'ling ling ling", "What the hell, THAT was the solution!"

 

[woodaba]

A great majority of the plot-critical items in Ultima VII: Serpent Isle can be actually lost forever very easily, forcing a complete restart.

What's that? That beer I picked up is essential to the plot? THEN DON'T FUCKING LET ME DRINK IT!

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, almost at the very end. Seriously, how the fuck am I supposed to know that being seen when I'm naked meant I couldn't progress from the big tunnel? I played that game so many times and there was no indication about that at all. The Colonel even says to turn of the console, like an asshole.

 

[DeathStreamer]

I think your Sonic 3 example is a good one. And no, you're not the only one who got held up at that point. Me, and all my friends, always had trouble with it too.

Well, I could spout the names of several different adventure games and call it a day (Riven, in particular, jumps out at me), but I've got another good one.

In one of the X-Men games for the Genesis (I forget exactly which one it is at the moment), when you get to the end of the game, you basically reach a dead end, with no way to proceed. The solution? Hit the reset button on your console. THAT will take you to the final screen.

What in the flying name of FUCK would lead you be believe that would work?

that one reminds of one from Metal Gear Solid...specifically when you're fighting the psychic guy that cheats by knowing every button you press and reacts accordingly, making him invincible.......unless you plug your controller into the player 2 slot.

Now I've never played MGS (I played MGS 2, but by all accounts that's one that is best left forgotten ) so I don't know if there's any hints or tips that you have to plug your controller into the 2nd player slot. But if there isn't, I can't imagine how the hell you're supposed to think to do that.

Maybe the fact that Psycho Mantis was a crazy and irrational boss was supposed to make you think and/or act crazy and irrationally to beat him?

 

[RaikuFA]

SPOILERS FROM SO3 AND PERSONA 1 AND 4

Spoiler

Taken from TV Tropes:

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was full of this. The best example was perhaps the list of 300 "Battle Trophies" that the player must acquire by completing certain tasks in battle. If some of them are instinctive and/or will be earned sooner or later anyway (doing a certain number of battles, for example), others will require you to beat the final boss with a party of level 1 characters, or to stay in battle for 2 whole hours. ◦ Another one worth mentioning: the best available weapons in the game (without using the nonsensical crafting system, in itself another Guide Dang It, or going to the bonus dungeon that only unlocks after beating the game once)is to go into a house you never need to enter otherwise, and give two people directions to the previous town. This happens very early on in the game, and once missed is Lost Forever. Then, you have to do it twice more, and if you give them the wrong directions, guess what? No weapons for you. ¡ Not to mention the whole business about your last 2 party members...

◦ Also this game probably gave the WORST directions possible when it told you where to go next; if it actually gave you directions. Best line ever "It's past the pointy rock!" EVERY ROCK IS POINTY DUE TO LOW POLYGON COUNTS! Thanks old lady...

Also, the hospital scene in P4 where you confront that person in their bed. One wrong move and BLAM worst ending.

Also, in P1 you have to do the sme thing with a little girl and if you get it wrong its a boss bttle.

 

[esperandote]

Silent Hill Homecoming, kept fighting some of the bosses for several minutes beating them to the ground several times before finding out you had to hit them in certain way to kill them.

 

[auron200004]

Northern Undead Asylum, Painted World of Ariamis, Great Hollow/Ash Lake all of which are difficult to figure out how to reach. Although, there's a part where the Crestfallen Warrior mentions something about how he saw the crow fly off with someone in its claws. Hinting that you can get it to do that with you, you just gotta get up there. As for Great Hollow...I never knew that place existed until I was told about it. Smack a wall behind a chest in an obscure area with no hint you should smack that wall, only so you can smack the one BEHIND it and THEN you can access Great Hollow. Now that's a wtfmoment.

I agree with all but the Painted World (actually finding it, disregarding the bit requiring Northern Undead Asylum). During the game, the loading screens would show a picture of the doll and say its story, including mentioning the painted world. Once you find the doll, which I do agree is hard to find requiring you to first find the way back to the Asylum, it's easy to assume that the enormous painting in the back of an otherwise empty room (save for the chandelier) would be the way in. It would be a real kick in the teeth if it was one of several paintings, or required you to gesture or some crap. But, provided you've been to the Asylum the second time, it's not hard to figure out at all.

 

[vkola]

I decided to go to the next area. Cue cut scene, get out of the tent and BAM! Level 8 boss monster! Or something like that, it was of a level sufficiently high enough that no one in my party could really hurt it and it could almost one shot my guys. I tried different party combinations, different tactics but in the end I realised that I was boned no matter what I did.

You are not supposed to win that battle if it was the one with the flying monster in the Church where you follow the nuns or whatever.. Memory fails me a bit, was a long time since I played that game..

 

[deathzero021]

Carnival Night Act 2.

lmao right when i read that i knew what you were talking about xD
yeah for years as a kid i could never get passed that without skipping the whole stage. until one day i read a guide online and found an EASY solution to it lol.

and yeah i've had moments like this too many times in the gaming world. MOSTLY with older games but every now and than something like this will still show it's face in newer games. i can't recall any thing in particular but let's just say 80's~90's RPGs were famous for these...

oh and Castlevania II for the NES -_-
if you don't know how to pass the room full of water, hold down for 15 seconds and a magic staircase will appear. simple right?

 

[Zio_IV]

While I can agree with a number of examples in this thread (wtf Zodiac Spear???), my personal favorite Guide Dang It moment is trying to get the true ending in Valkyrie Profile. Try doing it without a step-by-step walkthrough. You will never succeed unless you play the game over dozens of times, taking note of every little discrepancy between phases, and even then, it's not certain you'll figure it out.

Oh, and even if the stars aligned to see your path along to the true ending, if you gave up Lucien to Asgard before seeing his special cutscene, you can kiss all of it goodbye. Keep in mind, there is no indication that sending him up early or later will have any consequences whatsoever. Another thing to think about is that to activate this special cutscene, your Seal Rating has to be low. If the game told us what the Seal Rating even is, or how to manipulate it, this could've been mitigated, but they don't. The only time you see it fluctuate is when you make Odin happy by sending him warriors and such. Doing this:

a). Raises your Seal Rating, not lowers it.
b). Is what the game says you should be doing.

There's a couple other reasons, but the point is, Valkyrie Profile's mechanics and storytelling not only never clue you in to anything regarding the true end, but in some cases, the game actively tries to sabotage your attempts, without giving the player reason to doubt its judgment.

...Still LOVE this game, though, lol.

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It took me forever to find the Hookshot, because I don't remember any indication of having to go to the graveyard and pull back a certain tombstone.

captcha: nautical phrases. Now I kinda wish I had one for Windwaker.