History GenreDeconstruction / VideoGames

* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' has all of the standard RPG conventions; you recruit party members who follow you forevermore, an Obi-Wan equivalent who explains everything, and you gain XP, levels and new abilities through combat. [[spoiler: And then several important characters ''call you out on all of this,'' saying, "Have you ever stopped to ''think'' about how you get stronger by killing everything? Don't you ''wonder'' why these people follow you without question? Has it ''occurred'' to you that your Obi-Wan only knows so much about both us and the villains because she's ''worked for both?''" It turns out that these standard RPG conventions aren't GameplayAndStorySegregation at all, but rather, things that actually happen in the plot, caused by the plot's AwfulTruth. The standard aspects of the genre we as the player take for granted are seen by the people involved not because [[BreakingtheFourthWall they can see through the fourth wall,]] but because any sane person would look at this behavior and realize that it's not the way reality should work, even the reality of StarWars.]] Light or darksided, it says something about the Exile that she doesn't even notice it.

* The ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' trilogy, despite what the MisaimedFandom will tell you, is a deconstruction of jingoistic military shooters. The games are set in a more tumultuous version of the 2010s wherein Russia suffers a second civil war that ends with an extreme "Ultranationalist" movement--founded by rogue military leaders--taking over the nation, which leads to a second Cold War between NATO and Russia. Across all three games, several tropes familiar to the genre are deconstructed in a manner which paints [[GreyAndGreyMorality both sides of the conflict with shades of grey]] (though the Ultranationlaist-led Russia is still portrayed as being more in the wrong than NATO):
** The first game juxtaposes typical American posturing about freedom/democracy/"restoring stability to the region" with unsettling hints that the Middle Eastern country being invaded was an oil-rich U.S. puppet state, and contrasts [[{{Eagleland}} the macho, cowboy attitude of the American grunts]] with a [[MisaimedFandom U.S. Army tank named after a famous anti-war song]], [[Music/BlackSabbath "War Pig"]], and levels named after anti-war movies like ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/DrStrangelove'' (which, like the American campaign, ends with [[spoiler: massive nuclear devastation]]). While you're playing, the Americans ''seem'' like good guys championing peace and stability (due to your player character being on their side), but there remains an implication that, to the other side, it's an imperialist bully which can only be defeated with nuclear weapons. By the end, any player not under the sway of ConfirmationBias will be left feeling like the game world is just a bunch of political structures throwing propaganda at each other to cover up the void where the truth should be. [[TruthInTelevision Sort of like real life]].

* The ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' trilogy, despite what the MisaimedFandom will tell you, is a deconstruction of jingoistic military shooters. The games are set in a more tumultuous version of the 2010s wherein Russia suffers a second civil war that ends with an extreme "Ultranationalist" movement--founded by rogue military leaders--taking over the nation, which leads to a second Cold War between NATO and Russia. Over the course of all three games, several tropes familiar to the genre are deconstructed in a manner which paints [[GreyAndGreyMorality both sides of the conflict with shades of grey]]:
** The first game juxtaposes typical American posturing about freedom/democracy/"restoring stability to the region" with unsettling hints that the Middle Eastern country being invaded was an oil-rich U.S. puppet state, and contrasts [[{{Eagleland}} the macho, cowboy attitude of the American grunts]] with a [[MisaimedFandom U.S. Army tank named after a famous anti-war song]], [[Music/BlackSabbath "War Pig"]], and levels named after anti-war movies like ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/DrStrangelove'' (which, like the American campaign, ends with [[spoiler: massive nuclear devastation]]). While you're playing, the Americans ''seem'' like good guys championing peace and stability (due to your player character being on their side), but there remains an implication that, to the other side, it's an imperialist bully who can only be defeated by nuclear weapons. By the end, any player not under the sway of ConfirmationBias will be left feeling like the game world is just a bunch of political structures throwing propaganda at each other to cover up the void where the truth should be. [[TruthInTelevision Sort of like real life]].
** The sequel goes even further. It starts with a U.S. task force performing [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror three separate acts of unilateral action]], but things quickly sour when the Russian military invades the U.S. in response to a botched CIA operation that resulted in Russian civilians dead and an American soldier's finger on the trigger. But to the American grunts fending off the invasion, it's obvious they're the victims. The two sides, inflamed by nationalism, fight to avenge their countries with PatrioticFervor, [[spoiler: unaware that this is ''exactly'' why a ranking American general purposefully botched the CIA op. In-game, the war is portrayed as a power fantasy between aggrieved nationalists looking to restore their nations' former jingoistic glory while wearing a mask of righteousness, while the human beings on the front lines--actually fighting for their countries--are treated as disposable pawns by their leaders.]]
** The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic AmericaSavesTheDay tone, but still doesn't betray the anti-jingoistic attitude. [[spoiler: The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia portrayed as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on both sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when a coalition of Russian, American and British special forces rescue the Russian president from ultranationalist captors so that he can order the military to stand down (though not before the ultranationalists still manage to instigate chemical attacks across every major capital city in Europe to clear the way for an invasion). The trilogy ends with NATO in disarray, along with countless civilian lives lost and nearly every player character or fellow soldier dead, having fought and died for the sake of ending a war which--as stated above--was only ever instigated for the pettiest of reasons.]]

** The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic AmericaSavesTheDay tone, but still doesn't betray the anti-jingoistic attitude. [[spoiler: The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia portrayed as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on both sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when a coalition of Russian, American and British special forces rescue the Russian president from ultranationalist captors so that he can order the military to stand down (though not before the ultranationalists still manage to instigate chemical attacks across every major capital city in Europe to clear the way for an invasion). The trilogy ends with NATO in disarray with countless civilian lives lost and nearly every player character or fellow soldier dead, having fought and died for the sake of ending a war which--as stated above--was only instigated for the pettiest of reasons.]]

** The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic AmericaSavesTheDay tone, but still doesn't betray the anti-jingoistic attitude. [[spoiler: The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia portrayed as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on both sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when a coalition of Russian loyalists and American special forces rescue the Russian president from ultranationalist captors so that he can order the military to stand down--though not before the ultranationalists still manage to instigate chemical attacks across every major capital city in Europe in order to clear the way for an invasion. The trilogy concludes with countless civilian lives and nearly every player character or fellow soldier dead, having fought and died essentially for nothing.]]

** The sequel goes even further. It starts with a U.S. task force performing [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror three separate acts of unilateral action]], but things quickly sour when the Russian military invades the U.S. in response to a botched CIA operation that resulted in Russian civilians dead and an American soldier's finger on the trigger. But to the American grunts fending off the invasion, it's obvious they're the victims. The two sides, inflamed by nationalism, fight to avenge their countries with PatrioticFervor, [[spoiler: unaware that this is ''exactly'' why a ranking American general purposefully botched the CIA op. In-game, the war is portrayed as a power fantasy between aggrieved nationalists looking to restore their nations' former jingoistic glory while wearing the mask of righteousness, while the human beings on the front lines--actually fighting for their countries--are treated as disposable pawns by their leaders.]]
** The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic AmericaSavesTheDay tone, but still doesn't betray the anti-jingoistic attitude. [[spoiler: The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia treated as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when a coalition of Russian loyalists and American special forces rescue the Russian president from ultranationalist captors so that he can order the military to stand down. The trilogy then concludes with nearly every main character or soldier whom the player either controlled or fought alongside dead, essentially for nothing.]]

* The ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' trilogy, despite what the MisaimedFandom will tell you, is a deconstruction of jingoistic military shooters:
** The first game juxtaposes typical US government posturing about freedom/democracy/"restoring stability to the region" with unsettling hints the Middle Eastern country was an oil-rich US puppet state, and contrasts [[{{Eagleland}} the macho, cowboy attitude of the American grunts]] with a [[MisaimedFandom US Army tank named after a famous anti-war song]], [[Music/BlackSabbath "War Pig"]], and levels named after anti-war movies like ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and ''Film/DrStrangelove'' (which, like the American campaign, ends with [[spoiler: massive nuclear devastation]]). While you're playing, the United States seems like a good guy championing peace and stability (obviously due to your player character being on their side), but the implication that to the other side it's an imperialist bully who can only be defeated by nuclear weapons remains. By the end, any player not under the sway of ConfirmationBias is left feeling like the game world is just a bunch of political structures throwing propaganda at each other to cover up the void where the truth should be. [[TruthInTelevision Sort of like real life]].
** The sequel goes even farther. It starts with a US task force performing [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror three separate acts of unilateral action]], but things sour when the Russian army invades the United States over a botched CIA operation that resulted in Russian civilians dead and an American soldier's finger on the trigger. But to the American grunts fending off the invasion, it's obvious they're the victims. The two sides, inflamed by nationalism, fight to avenge their countries with PatrioticFervor [[spoiler: unaware that that's exactly why a ranking American general purposefully botched the CIA op. In the game, the war is treated as a power fantasy between nationalists wearing the mask of righteousness. The human beings on the front lines, actually fighting for their country, are treated as disposable pawns by their leader.]]
** The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic AmericaSavesTheDay tone, but doesn't betray the anti-nationalist attitude. [[spoiler: The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia treated as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on both sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when American special forces rescue the Russian president from Russian extremist nationalists so he can order the military to stand down.]]

** Both it and the very similar mod ''VideoGame/ThousandWeekReich'' do this to the AlternateHistoryNaziVictory scenario. Even in a world where the Nazis managed to achieve all of their goals in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and reign supreme as the master of Europe, that doesn't change the fact that national socialism was a fundamentally broken system that was completely dependent on military conquest, plunder, slavery, and [[VetinariJobSecurity the willpower of the Fuhrer]] to hold together. They [[WonTheWarLostThePeace lose the peace]] as decisively as they won the war, plunging into economic meltdown in TheFifties that they remain mired in by the game's start in 1962 and can only truly recover from with massive economic reforms. And when UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler dies in 1963, all the petty politicking and backstabbing that he had cultivated to thwart any challengers to his absolute authority immediately explodes, plunging the Third Reich into civil war. Events go a bit differently in ''Thousand-Week Reich'', with Hitler dying in 1953 instead and it being possible to avoid an outright civil war, but the BroadStrokes of Germany's postwar malaise are all still there.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' as a franchise deliberately takes the RaygunGothic and DieselPunk genres and rips them to pieces by showing [[CrapsackWorld just how]] ''[[CrapsackWorld awful]]'' [[CrapsackWorld such a world would be in reality]]. Set in an AlternateHistory where the transistor was never invented and TheFifties likewise never ended, the world of ''Fallout'' gave way to technology our timeline could only dream of with laser and plasma weaponry, robots, power armor and a wide variety of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]''-esque technology dominating the time period... complete amid the terrifying threat among the Cold War between China and the United States, the rabid opposition to "communism" leading to the United States becoming a fascist autocracy in all but name, and a cutthroat corporate plutocracy at the top of things that'd make the average classical CyberPunk setting look like a paradise by comparison. [[FromBadToWorse It all gets worse too]], when the biggest problem manifests in the setting's crippling overreliance on fossil fuels leading to them depleting fossil fuels ''even faster than in our timeline,'' leading to the world tearing itself apart for the last scraps of oil, culminating in atrocities such as the United States annexing and [[RapePillageAndBurn pillaging]] Canada and Mexico, the United Nations disbanding and Europe and the Middle East going to war, and finally, [[WorldWarIII a global nuclear exchange between the United States and China]] that, predictably, results in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and the survivors of the exchange either being put into Vaults that are designed with inhumane experiments in mind, or those lucky (or unlucky) enough to have survived the Great War now have to deal with a newly-minted DeathWorld of mutated animals and [[WasOnceAMan (former)]], killer robots, and savage AlwaysChaoticEvil raiders. Frankly, it should be telling that this current state of the world is noted as an ''[[AWorldHalfFull improvement]]'' by virtue of the slate being wiped clean, and doubly telling that attempting to return things back to [[GoodOldWays the way they were]] actively makes everything ''WORSE.''

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' as a franchise deliberately takes the RaygunGothic and DieselPunk genres and rips them to pieces by showing [[CrapsackWorld just how]] ''[[CrapsackWorld awful]]'' [[CrapsackWorld such a world would be in reality]]. Set in an AlternateHistory where the transistor was never invented and TheFifties likewise never ended, the world of ''Fallout'' gave way to technology our timeline could only dream of with laser and plasma weaponry, robots, power armor and a wide variety of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]''-esque technology dominating the time period... complete amid the terrifying threat among the Cold War between China and the United States, the rabid opposition to "communism" leading to the United States becoming a fascist autocracy in all but name, and a cutthroat corporate plutocracy at the top of things that'd make the average classical CyberPunk setting look like a paradise by comparison. [[FromBadToWorse It all gets worse too]], when the biggest problem manifests in the setting's crippling overreliance on fossil fuels leading to them depleting fossil fuels ''even faster than in our timeline,'' leading to the world tearing itself apart for the last scraps of oil, culminating in atrocities such as the United States annexing and [[RapePillageAndBurn pillaging]] Canada and Mexico, the United Nations disbanding and Europe and the Middle East going to war, and finally, [[WorldWarIII a global nuclear exchange between the United States and China]] that, predictably, results in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and the survivors of the exchange either being put into Vaults that are designed with inhumane experiments in mind, and those lucky (or unlucky) enough to have survived now have to deal with a newly-minted DeathWorld of mutated animals and [[WasOnceAMan (former)]], killer robots, and savage AlwaysChaoticEvil raiders. Frankly, it should be telling that this current state of the world is noted as an ''[[AWorldHalfFull improvement]]'' by virtue of the slate being wiped clean, and doubly telling that attempting to return things back to [[GoodOldWays the way they were]] actively makes everything ''WORSE.''

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' as a franchise deliberately takes the RaygunGothic and DieselPunk genres and rips them to pieces by showing [[CrapsackWorld just how]] ''[[CrapsackWorld awful]]'' [[CrapsackWorld such a world would be in reality]]. Set in an AlternateHistory where the transistor was never invented and TheFifties likewise never ended, the world of ''Fallout'' gave way to technology our timeline could only dream of with laser and plasma weaponry, robots, power armor and a wide variety of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]''-esque technology dominating the time period... complete amid the terrifying threat among the Cold War between China and the United States, the rabid opposition to "communism" leading to the United States becoming a fascist autocracy in all but name, and a cutthroat corporate plutocracy at the top of things that'd make the average classical CyberPunk setting look like a paradise by comparison. [[FromBadToWorse It all gets worse too]], when the biggest problem manifests in the setting's crippling overreliance on fossil fuels leading to them depleting fossil fuels ''even faster than in our timeline,'' leading to the world tearing itself apart for the last scraps of oil, culminating in atrocities such as the United States annexing and [[RapePillageAndBurn pillaging]] Canada and Mexico, the United Nations disbanding and Europe and the Middle East going to war, and finally, [[WorldWarIII a global nuclear exchange between the United States and China]] that, predictably, results in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and the survivors of the exchange either being put into Vaults that are designed with inhumane experiments in mind, and those lucky (or unlucky) enough to have survive dealing with a newly-minted DeathWorld of mutated animals and [[WasOnceAMan (former)]], killer robots, and savage AlwaysChaoticEvil raiders. Frankly, it should be telling that this current state of the world is noted as an ''[[AWorldHalfFull improvement]]'' by virtue of the slate being wiped clean, and doubly telling that attempting to return things back to [[GoodOldWays the way they were]] actively makes everything ''WORSE.''

* ''VideoGame/Fallout'' as a franchise deliberately takes the RaygunGothic and DieselPunk genres and rips them to pieces by showing [[CrapsackWorld just how]] ''[[CrapsackWorld awful]]'' [[CrapsackWorld such a world would be in reality]]. Set in an AlternateHistory where the transistor was never invented and TheFifties likewise never ended, the world of ''Fallout'' gave way to technology our timeline could only dream of with laser and plasma weaponry, robots, power armor and a wide variety of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]''-esque technology dominating the time period... complete amid the terrifying threat among the Cold War between China and the United States, the rabid opposition to "communism" leading to the United States becoming a fascist autocracy in all but name, and a cutthroat corporate plutocracy at the top of things that'd make the average classical CyberPunk setting look like a paradise by comparison. [[FromBadToWorse It all gets worse too]], when the biggest problem manifests in the setting's crippling overreliance on fossil fuels leading to them depleting fossil fuels ''even faster than in our timeline,'' leading to the world tearing itself apart for the last scraps of oil, culminating in atrocities such as the United States annexing and [[RapePillageAndBurn pillaging]] Canada and Mexico, the United Nations disbanding and Europe and the Middle East going to war, and finally, [[WorldWarIII a global nuclear exchange between the United States and China]] that, predictably, results in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and the survivors of the exchange either being put into Vaults that are designed with inhumane experiments in mind, and those lucky (or unlucky) enough to have survive dealing with a newly-minted DeathWorld of mutated animals and [[WasOnceAMan (former)]], killer robots, and savage AlwaysChaoticEvil raiders. Frankly, it should be telling that this current state of the world is noted as an ''[[AWorldHalfFull improvement]]'' by virtue of the slate being wiped clean, and doubly telling that attempting to return things back to [[GoodOldWays the way they were]] actively makes everything ''WORSE.''

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' features Caesar's Legion as one of the two main powers in the Mojave Wasteland. As the name suggests, they are essentially the Romans [[RecycledINSPACE placed into]] a post-apocalyptic setting, and without any of the good parts. As the progenitor of modern Western civilization, the glory of Rome is often seen through an intense NostalgiaFilter. You get to see some of Roman culture up close in this game, and it is [[DeliberateValuesDissonance ugly]]. There are probably no more monsters in the Legion than most other factions, but the slavery, misogyny, and sheer brutality of the Caesar's Legion makes it the [[BlackAndGreyMorality black to the NCR's grey]].

* Fitting for a game inspired by ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' deconstructs ''many'' [=RPG=] tropes, but perhaps the most prominent and unique version of this is [[spoiler:what they did to a simple [[SavePoint game mechanic]]]]. It was transformed into a CosmicHorrorStory of [[spoiler:an outside entity that can reset time at will, and is able to control a potentially all-powerful avatar - I.E. the Human Child - and operates on a different morality than the characters.]] At many points you are discouraged from playing the game ''by'' the characters, be it by [[YouBastard speech]], [[SNKBoss frustration]], or [[LevelGrinding pure boring-ness]].
** It also deconstructs experience points and levels. [[spoiler:EXP and LV in Undertale stands for Execution Points and LOVE; Levels of Violence. Your character doesn't get stronger when they kill. It simply becomes easier to hurt people the more you do it.]]

* The ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' trilogy, especially ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' acts as a deconstruction of the EasternRPG genre. Mainly, it is Itoi's meditation on what games are, why they are fun, and the logistics of applying JRPG logic to the real world. For example: Who designs dungeons? And why do people instinctively know to loot them? Admittedly, the series' mythos got a little deeper with each game, though critique and analysis of the JRPG genre and heavy amounts of {{Surprisingly Realistic Outcome}}s are still in full effect. Also, several common genre tropes are deconstructed, often in a light-hearted way but not always. For example, the "heroes going up against a massively powerful FinalBoss" - in the first two games, [[spoiler:the characters [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm Cannot Grasp The True Form]] [[TropeNamer of Giygas' attack]], to the point that in the second game the player has to be called in to defeat it. While a large amount of [=RPGs=] do have powerful beings for final bosses, the second game in particular frames it like the CosmicHorrorStory it would be.]] In the third game, the antagonists (human this time) are so powerful that the game would have a DownerEnding if it didn't have a GainaxEnding. It also deconstructs the protagonists from the first two games, by having a depressed hero weighed down and crushed by the events of the game, instead of the unfazed and cheerful Ninten and Ness.

* ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' and its follow up ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'' deconstructs the against all odds spaceship shooter. Like most shooters, the storyline is about a great technology (The Stone-Like) that becomes a powerful threat to the human race. However, unlike most space shooters, [[spoiler: the heroes don't destroy the threat in the end of Silvergun, but possibly die trying. And the hero at the end of Ikaruga, does finally destroy the Stone-Like, but [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] in doing so in epic fashion. The point being, that in a real against all odds situation, you're likely not going to come out of it alive, no matter how good you are. Silvergun's story mode even has a lighthearted Anime opening, but things get serious quick.]] The gameplay can also be seen as a deconstruction, because unlike most spaceship shooters, where you gain powerful weapons and just spam the enemies on screen, in both games you have to uses tactics and strategy in order to do well. Just spamming only leads to a quick GameOver.

* The first half of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' deconstructs the main conventions of the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series. Like most Fire Emblem games, the main hero, Sigurd, leads a BadassArmy to invade "evil" countries and kill their tyrannical kings and nobles. ''Unlike'' most Fire Emblem games though, said countries end up ''worse'' off from the invasions rather than better, as the massive power vacuum left after the removal of their rulers leads to them being royally screwed up, which Sigurd's friend Eldigan calls him out on early on. Said friend also examines the realistic consequences of MyMasterRightOrWrong and DefectorFromDecadence that are often used in the series, as expressing his doubts to his corrupt king causes said king to immidiately have him excecuted before he can defect to your army. In the end, Sigurd is involved in a massive political conspiracy he had no idea about, and becomes the UnwittingPawn to ''his'' nation's corrupt nobles as a result. The game also deconstructs HeroicLineage by showing how ensuring the continuation of such a bloodline involves a lot of [[IncestIsRelative incest]], as was the case with real life royalty.

* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' could be considered as a deconstruction of the more typical SurvivalHorror games where the main character is given all sorts of weapons and ammunition to cut down a near endless stream of monsters. The most Fiona can do herself is kick the enemy, and she relies on her pet dog to keep the enemy at bay as long as she can. The game also has a feature where the main character panics and gets harder to control the more she's hurt, like most real people would do if they were being chased around by psychopaths.
** ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' uses very similar gameplay -- and was originally intended as a sequel -- to the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series, the first part of which was [[OlderThanTheyThink published for SNES in 1995]], before survival horror had [[UnbuiltTrope established itself as the genre it is today]]. Perhaps a better example of a survival horror deconstruction would be the original ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'', which takes what at first glance seems to be a fairly typical zombie scenario, but instead of handing you lots and lots of guns and a character with a visible health bar, you get a cast of very average people who are clumsy in combat, have a very limited access to weapons (and no access to healing items whatsoever), and die very easily. Instead of fighting everything with wild abandon, you need to be stealthy and avoid close encounters, much like the average joe would have to do in such a situation. The sequels have been gradually slipping into a more conventional, combat-oriented style of gameplay.

* The ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron IV'' mod ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'', as explained in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/ldohc7/goerings_germany_is_the_pinnacle_of_hoi4_modding/ this Reddit post,]] does this to its base game and to the grand strategy and FourX genres in general through Hermann Göring's run as leader of Germany. Göring believes that, to restore German national pride after the death of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, it needs to go back to what made Germany a global superpower: military conquest, the player's goal in any number of strategy games. Crushing the remaining independent states in Europe, then conquering the rest of Russia, and finally facing off against the world's other superpowers, the United States and Japan... and at every step of the way, you are shown the staggering human cost of what it would be like to live in, fight for, or be conquered by an empire built upon a dream of [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]], especially when that empire is the Nazis, one of the exemplars of the tendency among real-life conquerors to engage in a pattern of RapePillageAndBurn wherever their armies went. And, since the game takes place in an AlternateHistory 1960s during a ColdWar that's kept frozen by the threat of MutuallyAssuredDestruction, going forward with [[WorldWarIII the final phase]] of Göring's plan for world conquest can only end [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt one]] [[AfterTheEnd way]].

** Lilly, the ProperLady, [[spoiler: and the MarySue. Nobody ever questions her decisions, so when she is forced into something she really doesn't want to do (ie emigrate, leaving everything she knows behind), no one is willing to call her out on it.]]

* The VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/CrossChannel'' can be seen as a deconstruction of the numerous charecter archetypes found in anime in general and eroge games in paticular. Sure we have a cast full of tsunderes, cloud cookoolanders, emotionless girls, genki girls and what not. But where to do they all go to school? A special school for young people that cannot function in society.

* The ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron IV'' mod ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'', as explained in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/ldohc7/goerings_germany_is_the_pinnacle_of_hoi4_modding/ this Reddit post,]] does this to its base game and to the grand strategy and FourX genres in general through Hermann Göring's run as leader of Germany. Göring believes that, to restore German national pride after the death of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, it needs to go back to what made Germany a global superpower: military conquest, the player's goal in any number of strategy games. Crushing the remaining independent states in Europe, then conquering the rest of Russia, and finally facing off against the world's other superpowers, the United States and Japan... and at every step of the way, you are shown the staggering human cost of what it would be like to live in, fight for, or be conquered by an empire built upon a dream of [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]], especially when that empire is the Nazis, who, like most would-be conquerors, engaged in a pattern of RapePillageAndBurn wherever their armies went. And, since the game takes place in an AlternateHistory 1960s during a ColdWar that's kept frozen by the threat of MutuallyAssuredDestruction, going forward with [[WorldWarIII the final phase]] of Göring's plan for world conquest can only end [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt one]] [[AfterTheEnd way]].

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'', as explained in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/ldohc7/goerings_germany_is_the_pinnacle_of_hoi4_modding/ this Reddit post,]] does this to its base game, ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIronIV'', and the grand strategy and FourX genres in general through Hermann Göring's run as leader of Germany. Göring believes that, to restore German national pride after the death of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, it needs to go back to what made Germany a global superpower: military conquest. Crushing the remaining independent states in Europe, then conquering the rest of Russia, and finally facing off against the world's other superpowers, the United States and Japan... and at every step of the way, you are shown the staggering human cost of what it would be like to live in, fight for, or be conquered by an empire built upon a dream of [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]], especially when that empire is the Nazis. And, since the game takes place in an AlternateHistory 1960s during a ColdWar that's kept frozen by the threat of MutuallyAssuredDestruction, going forward with the final phase of Göring's plan for world conquest can only end [[WorldWarIII one way]].

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'', as explained in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/ldohc7/goerings_germany_is_the_pinnacle_of_hoi4_modding/ this Reddit post,]] does this to its base game, ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIronIV'', and the grand strategy and FourX genres in general through Hermann Göring's run as leader of Germany. Göring believes that, to restore German national pride after the death of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, it needs to go back to what made Germany a global superpower: military conquest. Crushing the remaining independent states in Europe, then conquering the rest of Russia, and finally facing off against the world's other superpowers, the United States and Japan... and at every step of the way, you are shown the staggering human cost of what it would be like to live in, fight for, or be conquered by an empire built upon a dream of [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]], especially when that empire is the Nazis. And, since the game takes place in an AlternateHistory 1960s during a ColdWar that's kept frozen by the threat of MutuallyAssuredDestruction, going forward with the final phase of Göring's plan for world conquest can only end [[WorldWarIII one way]].

* ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' deconstructs WideOpenSandbox games such as ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' [[RealityEnsues by showing the consequences of living the gangster life]]. Among these include: [[PrisonEpisode prison time]] for stealing gas stamps in early mission, causing a MobWar to erupt thanks to going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and [[CycleOfRevenge the relatives of the enemies you've killed attempting to get revenge themselves]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' trilogy, especially ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' acts as a deconstruction of the EasternRPG genre. Mainly, it is Itoi's meditation on what games are, why they are fun, and the logistics of applying JRPG logic to the real world. For example: Who designs dungeons? And why do people instinctively know to loot them? Admittedly, the series' mythos got a little deeper with each game, though critique and analysis of the JRPG genre and heavy amounts of RealityEnsues are still in full effect. Also, several common genre tropes are deconstructed, often in a light-hearted way but not always. For example, the "heroes going up against a massively powerful FinalBoss" - in the first two games, [[spoiler:the characters [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm Cannot Grasp The True Form]] [[TropeNamer of Giygas' attack]], to the point that in the second game the player has to be called in to defeat it. While a large amount of [=RPGs=] do have powerful beings for final bosses, the second game in particular frames it like the CosmicHorrorStory it would be.]] In the third game, the antagonists (human this time) are so powerful that the game would have a DownerEnding if it didn't have a GainaxEnding. It also deconstructs the protagonists from the first two games, by having a depressed hero weighed down and crushed by the events of the game, instead of the unfazed and cheerful Ninten and Ness.

** Another article along the same lines from ''The Onion'' suggested that the next ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' would be a hyper-realistic military sim with over 10000 hours of gameplay... whereof half an hour would be spent in combat. The rest would be spent doing vehicle maintenance, gun cleaning and guard duty, interspersed with the occasional stealth mission to sneak off to the PX to buy cigarettes and discussions about which of the Jessicas ([[Creator/JessicaSimpson Simpson]], [[Creator/JessicaBiel Biel]] or [[Creator/JessicaAlba Alba]]) is hottest.