Most Over-Used Plot In Games.
- Thread starter TehIrishSoap
- Start date
Recommended Videos
The mentor, the one who taught you all your fighting skills/magic/whatever gets killed protecting you.
World War 2. Never has an actual historical even been recreated and edited so much (God how many alternate history Nazi plots have there been? We just needed more Nazi's to kill I guess). It started with comic books as soon as WW 2 ended, and hasn't slowed down a bit.
By far the most overused video game plot is the "unethical scientific experimentation gone awry" story. I can forgive Half-Life, because it was just a bunch of scientists who thought they were at a world-revolutionizing breakthrough accidentally precipitating an invasion from another dimension; what I'm talking about are mostly the ones where there's some obviously evil scientific organization or scientist who is creating monsters or letting monsters into the real world or whatever for no discernible reason other than to give the player something to shoot at.
I'm with the amnesia crowd on this one.
Also, WW2 shooter plots because it is of course so d@mn predictable where you have to kill Nazis and Japs to save the world. Not to mention history books are total spoilers for these kinds of games.
Also, the organization you're working for turns out to be the bad guys all along.
Also, WW2 shooter plots because it is of course so d@mn predictable where you have to kill Nazis and Japs to save the world. Not to mention history books are total spoilers for these kinds of games.
Also, the organization you're working for turns out to be the bad guys all along.
This thread is a horrid mishmash of plot, characters, tropes, cliches, and settings.
Post-Apocalyptic games, that's a setting. Fallout 3's 'plot' was about a son or daughter trying to find their father while simultaneously trying to make their way in the world, eventually either culminating is saving or damning the world. S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs plot was about an amnesiac soldier searching for another missing soldier named Strelok (not giving spoilers), and his attempts to survive and explore the phenomenon related to the second Chernobyl disaster and eventually making a important decision.
Specifically, the plot is the 'path' the protagonist takes, like this:
Learn the difference!!
Specific elements or tropes, such as amnesia are again, are not the plot, but can be used as elements of such from which to expand the plot. Many times, yes, it's used poorly and is a shoddy way to explain why a character is a blank slate, and so they don't have to be given much backstory. I'd guess, this is mainly to provide the player a sense that this is a 'role' they're playing of themselves. But, amnesia can be used to great effect as well, take Planescape Torment for example, about a nameless amnesiac immortal searching for the truth about his own past and seeking a way to finally die. A lesser game would have simply dropped the player in and left them to make their own way with a random assortment of quests, Torment provides an extensive history and background for The Nameless one, and yet still offers players the freedom to determine the outcome of his story.
Post-Apocalyptic games, that's a setting. Fallout 3's 'plot' was about a son or daughter trying to find their father while simultaneously trying to make their way in the world, eventually either culminating is saving or damning the world. S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs plot was about an amnesiac soldier searching for another missing soldier named Strelok (not giving spoilers), and his attempts to survive and explore the phenomenon related to the second Chernobyl disaster and eventually making a important decision.
Specifically, the plot is the 'path' the protagonist takes, like this:
Learn the difference!!
Specific elements or tropes, such as amnesia are again, are not the plot, but can be used as elements of such from which to expand the plot. Many times, yes, it's used poorly and is a shoddy way to explain why a character is a blank slate, and so they don't have to be given much backstory. I'd guess, this is mainly to provide the player a sense that this is a 'role' they're playing of themselves. But, amnesia can be used to great effect as well, take Planescape Torment for example, about a nameless amnesiac immortal searching for the truth about his own past and seeking a way to finally die. A lesser game would have simply dropped the player in and left them to make their own way with a random assortment of quests, Torment provides an extensive history and background for The Nameless one, and yet still offers players the freedom to determine the outcome of his story.
Save the world, guy!
Pretty much every plot in games revolves around saving something larger than your own body. With Mario it's Princess Peach and by extension 'the kingdom', in Metroid it's 'the entire galaxy', in Zelda it's Hyrule. In Half-life it's 'the earth', in Halo it's 'the earth', in Doom it's 'the earth'. In Final Fantasy it's Gaia/the earth/the planet. In Dragon Age it's Ferelden, in System Shock it's reality...
Do I really need to go on? Essentially most every plot in games revolves around saving the locale from destruction by the big bad.
Pretty much every plot in games revolves around saving something larger than your own body. With Mario it's Princess Peach and by extension 'the kingdom', in Metroid it's 'the entire galaxy', in Zelda it's Hyrule. In Half-life it's 'the earth', in Halo it's 'the earth', in Doom it's 'the earth'. In Final Fantasy it's Gaia/the earth/the planet. In Dragon Age it's Ferelden, in System Shock it's reality...
Do I really need to go on? Essentially most every plot in games revolves around saving the locale from destruction by the big bad.
An evil corporation/government has taken control of the earth and is oppressing the people! It is down to our silent hero, who for this example shall be called Bolt Vanderhuge, to join up with the underground revolution (which is suspiciously made up exclusively of 20-something and generically attractive college students) to bring down 'da man', the leading lady of the revolution will develop 'feelings' for our man and will more than likely need to be rescued at some point and the only old guys on the good guy side are doomed to plot related deaths so you're really mad at the bad guys.
Games like this are: Half Life 2 (almost exactly), Armored Core has elements of this, as does Aliens (we get it, Weyland Yutani are evil), Timeshift did it, Saints Row 2, Lost Planet, Time Crisis 3 and many, many others.
Games like this are: Half Life 2 (almost exactly), Armored Core has elements of this, as does Aliens (we get it, Weyland Yutani are evil), Timeshift did it, Saints Row 2, Lost Planet, Time Crisis 3 and many, many others.
Where the person that was helping you all along turns out to be the bad guy. Seriously, it's like playable videogame characters are unable to make friends with honest, trustworthy people.
Have you actually played Half-Life 2? You must have had that mod that turns all the downtrodden, sunken eyed, middle-aged rebels into '20-something and generically attractive college students', also:Iron Mal said:
Only Eli died. Kleiner, Magnusson and Cubbage are all still very much alive, in fact, arguably so is Dr.Breen.
Can't argue with Alyx though, but all I can say is, I always found her 'attraction' to Freeman as more in the vein of an Uncle/Niece relationship, (eww, but bear with me), as it's intimated that they both had a similar kind of relationship when Alyx was a child, and that as an adult, this comes across as a romantic attraction. Which, while may be true from Alyx's perspective, may not necessarily be one that Freeman himself reciprocates. Not that it matters, since Freeman is almost devoid of character, being instead a small collection of characteristics rather than possessing any real characterisation.
they have / killed, my wife / daughter.
sometimes there will be some amnesia or PMC mixed with this
sometimes there will be some amnesia or PMC mixed with this
I HAVE one of those! It's an original Xbox title called Breakdown. Massive difficulty curve, and the ending will throw you for a loop!Urialanis said: