Best Plot Twist in a Game EVER

[SushiJaguar]

I think one of the better plot twists I've seen in a video game would probably be in Metal Gear Solid 2. If you've beat the game, you'll know what I'm talking about. Freaking AIs, man.

I also liked the fairly obvious plot twist in Might and Magic: Messiah on the 360.

Ooh, ooh, and the big reveal in Operation Winback for the PS2! That was great.

Also in Shadow of Memories (Destiny in the USA) where you have to assemble all of the different endings to piece together the true one, and the MASSIVE plot twist it creates.

This is a weird one, but

Spoiler

In Tony Hawk's Underground, remember how that douchebag kid from your home town set himself up as the performer of all your sweetest moves, getting himself onto the pro skate team and completely screwing you over? Damn that one was great! excellent motivation for getting blistered fingers trying to top his score at the end.

 

[RubyT]

What's so great about the BioShock twist? Did I miss something?

 

[wrightguy0]

What's so great about the BioShock twist? Did I miss something?

Probably all the rage and raw anger in Ryan's "A master chooses, a slave obeys" speech.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

For me, it would be the following:

Spoiler: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

That Harry Mason was really dead, and his daughter was the one who really needed help. (And speaking as a bit of an admitted "Daddy's Girl", that hit me pretty hard...)

Spoiler: Infamous

It turns out that Kessler was really Cole from the future trying to make him tough enough to face the danger still to come...

Spoiler: Prototype

Not only is Alex Mercer the guy who caused the outbreak to begin with, but he's dead, and you've been playing as the freaking now-sentient virus itself the whole time!

 

[omicron1]

I'll second Jade Empire. Also Dishonored - not so much for the twist itself, but for the way it's introduced.

Spoiler

I was caught off guard by the fuzzy flashes after drinking the poison... Thought it was some sort of Outsider-related element... Then, boom - poisoned.

 

[roushutsu]

Here are some of my personal faves:

Spoiler: Bioshock

I know it's been mentioned a bunch of times already, but it really was a surprise. I predicted that Atlas wasn't all that he was cracked up to be and was probably leading you on the whole time, so I was expecting him to just be a masterful liar. But I was not expecting Jack to be a sleeper agent built specifically to take down his father...and Andrew Ryan knew all along.

Spoiler: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

It's a classic. It was the first time we really got to see Zelda be badass in a game. Course now it's not so much a twist as EVERYONE knows about Sheik.

Spoiler: Persona 4

Adachi was the LAST guy I would have thought about being the murderer. He's so damn nice and naive, and then suddenly BAM! An evil mastermind!

 

[Scarim Coral]

Knights of the Old Republic hands down.

Spoiler

You are Revan. The amnesiac leader of the Sith. Mind Blown!!

Spoiler: I agreed

I should of see it coming as I did wonder why my character is able to used the force since they did mention that force user are usually first found as a child, not an adult.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

1. Bioshock
2. Planescape
3. Silent Hill 2

I'll even give a slight nod to Anders...activities...in DA2, I can legitimately say I did not see that coming.

Jade Empire for some reason was telegraphed a mile away, for me.

I don't know if some of the things that happen in To The Moon qualify as plot twists so much as reveals, but I just like talking about To The Moon.

 

[Mikejames]

I think the one in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is pretty neat. Gives me a lot more closure than other Silent Hill games.

Spoiler: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

That Harry Mason was really dead, and his daughter was the one who really needed help. (And speaking as a bit of an admitted "Daddy's Girl", that hit me pretty hard...)

The way that was delivered and the build up to it made it one of my favorite narrative moments in a game.

Spoiler: That last bit-

"You've been with me for so long..."
"And I always will be."

Manly tears were shed.

 

[Tallim]

I'm a bit surprised no one mentioned Star Ocean 3's plot twist yet:

Spoiler

Our universe turns out to be an MMO run and played by Fourth-Dimensional Beings.

Because the topic is "BEST plot twist" and Star Ocean 3's was terrible, game took a nose dive at that point.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Spoiler: Three simple words...

 

[excalipoor]

You know, I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed.

...that nobody has mentioned Final Fantasy VII yet. I'm talking about the lifestream sequence, and what really happened in Nibelheim on that day, five years ago. No twist has blown me away like that since.

Bioshock is a distant second. Many horror games have pretty good twists, but they get a little predictable once you play enough of them.

 

[Driekan]

Going for a classic, and something that is probably easy to under-appreciate nowadays.

Baldur's Gate 1.

Spoiler

After all the foreshadowing and hinting, which I was probably too dumb to catch, finally everything came to a head and I had the confirmation that I was the son of Bhall... My brains painted the wall

 

[kyogen]

Okami

Spoiler

After defeating Orochi for the first time maybe 15-20 hours in, I was very happy with the characters, story, art, and gameplay, but I was also disappointed with how short the game was. I really wanted a lot more of this world. And then I found out with the rest of the celebrating village that there are greater evils in Nippon...Hurrah! 60+ hours instead!

 

[Snydeclyde]

FFX

Spoiler

Not so much the deal with Tidus, but the fact that Auron was dead and was an unsent, which explains why he didn't go up to the farplane when everyone else did

Also Shadow of the colossus

Spoiler

when lord Eamon showed up, i thought i was meant to be the good guy!

 

[SweetLiquidSnake]

I dont know how to use spoiler tags, so I'll be vague.

The good:
Bioshock's would you kindly revelation
Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC Revelation
Arkham City's ending revelation in the theatre

The bad:
When you realized Halo 2 wasn't the finale
When you find out you got magical shouting powers in Condemned 2

 

[varulfic]

Spoiler: InFamous

Kessler is actually Cole from the future and is trying to make Cole stronger so he can save the world

Yep Infamous, I kind of saw it coming but that one is by far the best.

How in the world could you see that coming? It was totally out of left field.

 

[icythepenguin]

My personal favourite.

Jade Empire

Spoiler

You Sensei is really the emperors brother who used you in his plans to take the throne back

I agree Jade Empire had a great twist including:

Spoiler

That throughout the game every opponent you beats says that there is a discernible flaw in your technique but no one can exploit it except your sensei. So he not only trained you to kill his brother but also made sure he could kill you without any problems.

 

[anian]

But personally The Walking Dead game, more specifically Episode 4 (warning heavy spoilers):

Spoiler

Clementine has just been taken/run away at the end of the episode and you go outside to try to find her, when you find her walkie-talkie you get attacked by one Walker, it seems like no big deal but you find out that Lee/you have been bitten by a Walker. It's just so insanely unpredictable and it shocked me so much considering all you've been through.

There are of course some things you see coming and you know things are gonna get worse or that somebody will help you along and almost every zombie jump scare is predictable (except those that are kind of random and not that logical, like the one in ep4 with the TV).

But then there's lots of times when I couldn't have guessed some things are gonna happen and when you think about it, they were more than logical, but you were just busy with thinking about other stuff...that's the kind of twists that keep reactions realistic and understandable.
The example at end of 4th episode that you wrote is the perfect example, it could've happened before in the series, but now it had the perfect timing and I really didn't think it could happen till it happened, just because so much else was happening.

Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised at how many twists there are in this game(s), almost as much as the dragging out of their publishing schedule. I'm also surprised at how much I don't hate the characters or how almost no stupid/unreasonable actions are made.

 

[Vegosiux]

Portal 2 and KotOR ones?

Called them before they happened.

Planescape: Torment is 1 giant plot twist.

You could dedicate an own thread just to discuss which of Torment's plot twists is the greatest.

Yeah, they keep coming back for more, though once you see the pattern, you can predict that there is going to be another twist...but when it comes it still leaves you minblown. Anyway,a couple of mine.

Spoiler: Baldur's Gate 2

Imoen being a Bhaalspawn herself. It didn't really come as a "suprise", the hints where there, but it was one of those where you go "Nah..." but it happens anyway.

Spoiler: Alpha Protocol

Omen Deng being on your side. After that, figuring out that Scarlet was the real assassin isn't that difficult, but without Deng's involvement that one would have been a doozy too. And let's not forget that if you don't play your cards right you might not ever find out that Surkov was the real bad guy in Moscow after all. And Madison being Parker's daughter. Gotta hand it to AP, it does have a few twists.

Spoiler: Bastion

Zia wasn't kidnapped, and Rucks was even more personally involved in the Calamity than one might suspect.

Spoiler: Braid

For all the pretentiousness of this one, it does have a neat twist. Problem is, it can't decide what it wants the twist to be.

Spoiler: Terranigma

The strict-yet-mild-mannered village elder is actually Dark Gaia. And you are the closest thing that world has to a true god.

Spoiler: Persona 3

Ikutsuki. Just...I mean, sure he seemed fishy from the beginning, but I wouldn't suspect him to be that much of a nihilist.

And honorable mention:

Spoiler: Command&Conquer Tiberium universe

Whenever Kane doesn't pop up five minutes after being allegedly killed.