History FormulaBreakingEpisode / VideoGames

** ''A Safe Place'': [[spoilerThis is the first game in the anthology to focus entirely on MundaneHorror with no supernatural elements whatsoever.]]

* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' is normally bright, upbeat, and about as far away from anything scary as you can possibly get. Even the resident HalloweenTown level is only about as scary as an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' and all the "horror" of it is entirely PlayedForLaughs like a possessed toilet or made to be cute. Then you go into Queen Vanessa's Manor and [[MoodWhiplash everything goes to hell]]: it becomes a StealthBasedMission, Queen Vanessa isn't even remotely cute or lovable being a shambling ranting psychotic {{Yandere}} HumanoidAbomination who lurches about hunting for you, and even Hat Kid ''herself'' trembles and looks terrified throughout the entire level. For reference, [[https://i.imgur.com/39zNwgI.png here]] is the average title card for a mission in this game, and ''[[https://i.imgur.com/H8iu9Yy.png here]]'' is the title card for Queen Vanessa's Manor.

** The final case of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll Justice For All]]'' breaks with series tradition in one very jarring manner- namely that [[spoiler:the client you're defending is actually ''as guilty as hell'', and forces you to continue defending them even after you realise this by threatening the life of your sidekick]].

** The second case of ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorneyAdventures'' is the only one in the franchise where the crime is solved without any trial (excluding the ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Investigations]]'' spin-offs, although even they still featured discussions that were mechanically similar to trial sequences). Naruhodo manages to solve the crime purely by investigating the scenes and questioning witnesses.

* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' is normally bright, upbeat, and about as far away from anything scary as you can possibly get. Even the resident HalloweenTown level is only about as scary as an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' and all the "horror" of it is entirely PlayedForLaughs like a possessed toilet or made to be cute. Then you go into Queen Vanessa's Manor and [[MoodWhiplash everything goes to hell]]: it becomes a StealthBasedMission, Queen Vanessa isn't even remotely cute or lovable being a shambling ranting psychotic {{Yandere}} EldritchHumanoid who lurches about hunting for you, and even Hat Kid ''herself'' trembles and looks terrified throughout the entire level. For reference, [[https://i.imgur.com/39zNwgI.png here]] is the average title card for a mission in this game, and ''[[https://i.imgur.com/H8iu9Yy.png here]]'' is the title card for Queen Vanessa's Manor.

* The ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series typically involves clearing sets of micro-games made by the staff of [=WarioWare=] Inc., as they deal with incidents that occur during their daily lives, with some silly general premise tying them all. ''[=WarioWare=]: Get It Together!'' twists the usual formula by having the staff ''[[TrappedInTVLand sucked into]]'' Wario's latest game, which is corrupted by glitches, and you actually clear the micro-games by playing as the staffers themselves.

* ''Videogame/{{MOTHER}}:'' The first two games in the series, ''Videogame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''Videogame/EarthBound'', star an [[TheAllAmericanBoy All-American Boy]] and his friends saving a [[{{Eagleland}} fantasy pastiche of America]] from an AlienInvasion. ''Videogame/MOTHER3'' [[spoiler:takes place AfterTheEnd in an entirely different world, has a message lamenting the encroaching of technology onto the natural world with a heavy dose of CyberneticsEatYourSoul, and the plot involves the protagonists trying to stop their world from being destroyed in a cataclysm the villains intend to cause.]]