History HopeSpot / VideoGames

*** [[spoiler:Kirumi's]] execution. [[spoiler:She attempts to escape from the school and avoid being executed, but she gets stopped by a lynch mob. Kirumi is then given a long, thorny vine which she climbs in order to escape. After getting viciously slashed by buzzsaws, she finds a hole glimmering with light...only to find out that there is no exit, it's a drawing taped to the ceiling. The vine then snaps, and Kirumi falls to her death.]]

** The game mechanics themselves create one in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' at the end of the Rannoch plot arc if you sided with the Geth and could neither persuade nor intimidate the Quarians into a ceasefire. After the Quarians are wiped out by the Geth, a [[BreakTheCutie crying Tali]] takes off her mask and turns to Shepard to say "I'm sorry..." before [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide falling backwards over a cliff]], in slow motion, while Shepard runs toward her with a '''Paragon Interrupt''' flashing in your face. If you trigger it, Shepard dives for her... but even then Shepard can't catch her.]]

** Lots in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', given the sheer militaristic and magical might of the [[EvilEmpire Palamecian Empire]] as compared to...well, everything else, especially LaResistance. The most striking example, though, is probably the whole affair with the Cyclone. AsYouKnow, the game's story starts with the core of the party fleeing their hometown of Fynn as it is taken and occupied by the Empire. Near the end, though, LaResistance, headed by [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses the Fynn princess Hilda]], marches on Fynn and actually ''succeeds'' in ousting the garrison and freeing the city, managing to subvert DoomedHometown Syndrome with a ''vengeance.'' This is, of course, the Emperor's cue to unveil his latest weapon of war, the Cyclone, and use it to ''pulverize the rest of the civilized world''. And there is nothing the player can do about it.

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'': Yay, you shot down the belkan bombers carrying nuclear weapons and prevented a disaster ! "Read'em and weep, Belkans!" indeed! But then, the music stops, a sudden flash blinds you, then [[ItsQuietTooQuiet silence for a few seconds]] as time freezes. Then your {{HUD}} gets all fuzzy, your radio is scrambled, the only thing you hear is a strange humming noise and a incredibly strong wind starts blowing. [[spoiler:There were seven more nukes.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', the plans of the [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Triumvirate]] was effectively to enslave the Earth under God's orders. After they're taken care of two-thirds of the way through the game, you learn that this wasn't God's plan at all and He never supported the villains. [[spoiler:His true plan was to ''destroy'' the Earth. At this point, God/YHVH becomes the Big Bad and is fought on all endings, even on the one where you carry out His plans due to His Dragon, whom the Hero is working with, realizing that his master just crossed the Moral Event Horizon.]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar 2'' has one early on when Zeus betrays Kratos. As Zeus comes in for the finishing blow, you get a PressXToNotDie. Surprise, [[HopelessBossFight Kratos dies no matter what you press]].

* ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'' has had one case in each game where someone is murdered, and then a second victim turns up soon after, just to give the players an unpleasant surprise when a body turns up and they think one of their favorite characters is safe for the time being.
** ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' has two executions utilize this: [[spoiler:Pekoyama's and Chiaki's. The former has her under attack by an army of Monokuma samurai, but she manages to hold her own against them while Kuzuryuu rushes in to try and save her, until Pekoyama accidentally wounds him and the Monokuma samurai finish her off in the middle of her MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. The latter is more of a meta example, as the game keeps repeating general plot points from the previous game, and Chiaki's execution coincides with when Naegi was successfully rescued from his own execution. The game takes advantage of this by dragging it out for as long as possible, stacking Hope Spot on top of Hope Spot before finally executing her for real.]]
** [[spoiler:Komaeda]]'s death is a pretty sadistic use of this as well. [[spoiler:It turns out that his murder was actually a ''very'' elaborate suicide (meaning no one is going to get executed,) and just when everyone is about to cast their vote, they realize that it was actually an ''assisted'' suicide, designed in such a way that the accomplice would have no idea they even killed someone, and that since the accomplice was the one who dealt the finishing blow, they are still guilty of the murder.]]
** [[spoiler:Sakura]]'s death in the first game is also pretty similar. [[spoiler:Her death was also a suicide (an ''actual'' suicide, no overcomplicated assisted suicide,) so there isn't anyone to execute. But Monokuma reveals that he knew all along about the existence of Alter Ego, the AI Chihiro created to try and help the group escape, and that they were trying to keep hidden. And since he can't execute any of the students this time around... It's ultimately a subversion, though, as a copy of Alter Ego had already been uploaded to the school's network at that point.]]
** [[spoiler:Kirumi's]] execution in ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3''. [[spoiler:She attempts to escape from the school and avoid being executed, but she gets stopped by a lynch mob. Kirumi is then given a long, thorny vine which she climbs in order to escape. After getting viciously slashed by buzzsaws, she finds a hole glimmering with light...only to find out that there is no exit, it's a drawing taped to the ceiling. The vine then snaps, and Kirumi falls to her death.]]
** A non-death example: In Chapter [[spoiler:5]] of ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'', the remaining students [[spoiler:manage to make their way through the Despair Death Road thanks to Miu's electrohammers. They reach the school's exit, and the door to the outside world gets unlocked...but it turns out that [[CrapsackWorld the outside world isn't so lovely.]]]] [[spoiler:The cutscene of the door opening also makes you think Kaito, Kiibo, and Tsumugi are going to be survivors...but later on in the chapter Kaito murders Kokichi and is then sent off to be executed, Tsumugi is revealed to be the BigBad and is killed during the final execution, and Kiibo makes a HeroicSacrifice by self-destructing in order to save the remaining students.]]

** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', the P3 female protagonist encounters S.E.E.S in the start of the movie ''A.I.G.I.S''. She goes in to greet them, only to [[spoiler:have none of her "S.E.E.S comrades" recognize her even though she can recognize them perfectly. In reality, they are "{{Doppelganger}}s" serving the male protagonist, and none of the female protagonist's S.E.E.S comrades joined her. In fact, she was the only Persona user who entered the movie world alone.]] This apparently lifted the female protagonist's StepfordSmiler facade, since she values her comrades a lot. While this might be heart breaking, thankfully S.E.E.S are [[spoiler:nice people and are willing to help her overcome her loneliness through the side quests of the game.]]

** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', the P3 female protagonist encounters S.E.E.S in the start of the movie ''A.I.G.I.S''. She goes in to greet them, only to have none of her "S.E.E.S comrades" recognize her even though she can recognize them perfectly. In reality, they are "{{Doppelganger}}s" serving the male protagonist, and none of the female protagonist's S.E.E.S comrades joined her. In fact, she was the only Persona user who entered the movie world alone. This apparently lifted the female protagonist's StepfordSmiler facade, since she values her comrades a lot. While this might be heart breaking, thankfully S.E.E.S are nice people and are willing to help her overcome her loneliness through the side quests of the game.

** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', the P3 female protagonist encounters S.E.E.S in the start of the movie ''A.I.G.I.S''. She goes in to greet them, only to have none of her "S.E.E.S comrades" recognize her even though she can recognize them perfectly. In reality, they are "{{Doppelganger}}s" serving the male protagonist, and none of the female protagonist's S.E.E.S comrades joined her. In fact, she was the only Persona user who entered the movie world alone. This apparently lifted the female protagonist's StepfordSmiler facade. While this might be heart breaking, thankfully S.E.E.S are nice people and are willing to help her overcome her loneliness through the side quests of the game.

** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', the P3 female protagonist encounters S.E.E.S in the start of the movie ''A.I.G.I.S''. She goes in to greet them, only to have none of her "S.E.E.S comrades" recognize her even though she can recognize them perfectly. In reality, they are "{{Doppelganger}}s" serving the male protagonist, and none of the female protagonist's S.E.E.S comrades joined her. In fact, she was the only Persona user who entered the movie world alone. While this might be heart breaking, thankfully S.E.E.S are nice people and help her to overcome her loneliness through the side quests of the game.

** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', the P3 female protagonist encounters S.E.E.S in the start of the movie ''A.I.G.I.S''. She goes in to greet them, only to have none of her "S.E.E.S comrades" recognize her even though she can recognize them perfectly. In reality, they are "{{Doppelganger}}s" serving the male protagonist, and none of the female protagonist in fact, entered the movie world alone. While this might be heart breaking, thankfully S.E.E.S are nice people and help her to overcome her loneliness through the side quests of the game.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', after reducing the true final boss [[spoiler:Izanami-no-Okami to zero HP, she does not, in fact, go down, but instead starts using an attack that seems to ''drag you down to Hell.'' She targets the Protagonist, but his party members [[TakingTheBullet push him out of the way to take the attack instead, one by one.]] Their [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] seem to mean nothing, as when the Protagonist is left alone, Izanami simply laughs at the futility of their actions and hits him with the attack anyway, as the MissionControl desperately pleads for them to return. Later subverted, when the Protagonist obtains the [[CombinedEnergyAttack power to defeat Izanami]] from the [[ThePowerOfFriendship bonds he has forged.]]]]

* ''Franchise/AceCombat'':

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'': Yay, you shot down the belkan bombers carrying nuclear weapons and prevented a disaster ! "Read'em and weep, Belkans!" indeed! But then, the music stops, a sudden flash blinds you, then [[ItsQuietTooQuiet silence for a few seconds]] as time freezes. Then your {{HUD}} gets all fuzzy, your radio is scrambled, the only thing you hear is a strange humming noise and a incredibly strong wind starts blowing. And then... You notice in the distance a second sun, strangely big and close to the ground... [[spoiler:There were seven more nukes.]]

* In MarioVsDonkeyKong Mini-Land Mayhem, once you beat DK at the end of the first level, triumphant music starts playing and the Minis begin to celebrate only for Donkey Kong to get up, grab Pauline, and run off to the next level. In levels 2-8, the minis know they haven't really won so they hold off on the celebration, but the dramatic music that played after 1-DK makes a cameo after winning 8-DK, letting you know that the final battle is up ahead.

* The player can make one in ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' in the ending [[spoiler: where there is a squad sent to pick up Walker. It all seems like that Walker will lay down his weapon and go home...then he opens fire onto the men sent to rescue him...]]
* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'': Adam's remarks in the [[spoiler: Taggart ending. Adam mentions that if the Illuminati are as effective as they say they are, the world will be better off for it. [[VideoGame/DeusEx The original game says hello...]]]]

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'': Yay, you shot down the belkan bombers carrying nuclear weapons and prevented a disaster ! "Read'em and weep, Belkans !" indeed ! But then, the music stops, a sudden flash blinds you, then [[ItsQuietTooQuiet silence for a few seconds]] as time freezes. Then your {{HUD}} gets all fuzzy, your radio is scrambled, the only thing you hear is a strange humming noise and a incredibly strong wind starts blowing. And then... You notice in the distance a second sun, strangely big and close to the ground... [[spoiler: There were seven more nukes.]]

** After helping the town of Crescent Hill with its problems the village elder rewards you with the key. Opening it up, you find inside [[spoiler: an ancient dwarven machine]], something you have no experience with, but which is obviously broken.
** Things seem to be looking up in Catckara forest. There you manage identify it as a [[spoiler: spirit separator]], get it repaired by Mentaro, and powered by Augustus. Then just as they are about to hand it to you [[spoiler: another Envoy]] swoops in and snatches it.
** After jumping through a few more hoops you manage to recover it, [[spoiler: [[YankTheDogsChain only for it not to work on you]].]]

* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness''. You defeat [[TheDragon Pious]] just as the [[EldritchAbomination Ancient]] you summoned finishes ripping the BigBad apart, when you suddenly see into the mind of the winner and see that it's just as evil as the one that you spent all game trying to defeat, and that now that you've summoned it, it plans to enslave/slaughter every living thing it can. [[spoiler: Partially subverted as Edward's spirit manages to reverse the summoning spell and banish it, but leaving Alex with the knowledge that these horrors are out there, just waiting for a chance to break through and destroy everything.]] [[spoiler:Then beat the game for the third time; turns out each play-through was in an alternate, simultaneously occurring timeline, [[GambitRoulette plotted by Mantorok to rein in the three other chaotic gods]]. All is well and the balance is restored, leaving only Mantorok itself... [[AndIMustScream trapped, rotting but never dying]], scheming, plotting...]]

** In ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'', it seems like everything is finally OK - you as Gordon Freeman have saved the day, Alyx survived, and you've stopped the Combine from completely overwhelming Earth. Then [[spoiler: as you're about to board a helicopter to head onto a new mission, Advisors crash through the ceiling, immobilize you and Alyx, grab her father Eli (who you've known since Black Mesa and the original game) and kill him via brain probe. Alyx is sobbing over her dead father's body and the game fades to black.]]

*** The final mission, Game Over [[spoiler: You stopped the nukes from reaching the U.S and you and your squad are chased by the Russians through the mountain road with a assault chopper constantly dogging you. After a lengthy on road fire fight, the chopper seems to have backed off and given up the chase and you have no more pursuers after you...then the chopper appears ''ahead'' of you and blows up a bridge , over-tipping your truck.]]

*** After defending a house in the wilderness against dozens of attackers for what feels like an eternity, most of your team is dead and you have to run over lots of open space to your extraction point, with a horde of {{Mooks}} in pursuit. 30 meters from the extraction point, there's still no rescue in sight and you get clipped by a mortar. You're barely conscious as your last surviving ally drags you away from the following Russians, as a [[GunshipRescue gunships]] flies over your head and mowes them down with its miniguns. You get dragged back up on your feet and stumble towards the waiting transport helicopter where your commander is allready waiting for you. [[spoiler: And after he takes the stolen data from you, he pulls his gun and shoots you and your comrade in the chest. You're still alive and somewhat conscious as your bodies get thrown into a ditch and another soldier empties a can of kerosene over you. You know what's going to happen as the General slowly approaches you with a cigar in his mouth. By the way, you get to watch yourself burn for awhile as well.]]
*** Happens again in the final mission twice. After [[spoiler: taking down the Pave Low that was transporting Shepherd and falling down a waterfall, you wake up after the fall, dazed and barely conscious. You slowly walk towards the crashed and burning Pave Low and suddenly, you see Shepherd stumbling out of the helicopter, appearing to be exhausted and hurt from the crash. As he leans up against a car to catch his breath, you rush over to him and thrust your knife at him, thinking you're about to kill him and end the game. Nope. It turns out he was only pretending to be tired and hurt to lure you near him, as he grabs your arm, slams your head into the car, and stabs you with the knife]]
*** [[spoiler: The second time in the mission is, when Shepherd and Price are duking it out, you see Shepherd's gun lying on the floor next to you. You slowly crawl over to the gun as fast as you can, hoping to reach the gun and kill Shepherd with it. Nope. Shepherd notices this and kicks the gun away, right before kicking you in the face. He then starts to beat Price to death. Fortunately, Soap is so bad-ass that he rips the knife ''out of his chest'' and throws it into Shepherd's eye.]]

** Hell even before all this craziness, [[spoiler: It seems that Wheatley was killed early, but surprise, he survived and proceeds to help you sabotage [=GLaDOS=]'s traps so when you finally confront her, she's got nothing to kill you with. You extract her from the main core, put in Wheatley and all seems right with the world. You're finally free to leave this godforsaken lab... oh nevermind. Wheatley's [[DrunkWithPower gone mad with power.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'': Dr. Andonuts becomes determined to recover from his madness as his past is explored. [[spoiler: It ends badly.]]

** This also happens quite a few times [[spoiler: during the mission to meet the blacksmith after Daisy Fritzroy and the Vox take the ''First Lady'' airship from Booker. They find the Blacksmith, only to discover that he's been dead for hours, and the torture film that Booker and Elizabeth come across while searching for him was on an endless loop. Elizabeth creates a tear to a time when the Blacksmith is still alive, only to discover that people whom are killed in the other world, are mindless in the new world, unable to do anything. So Elizabeth creates a third tear where the Vox rise up to overthrow Comstock and Booker is the main hero of the revolution. Seems like things will finally workout, right? Nope, Daisy Fritzroy decides that Booker is a better symbol for the revolution if he remains dead (since he died in the third tear version a martyr) and has the Vox turn on him.]]

* One of the endings to ''{{VideoGame/Obsidian}}'' has protagonists Lilah Kerlins and Max Powers escape from the artificial worlds they've been trapped in for most of the game. [[spoiler: However, as the presence of the [[AIIsACrapshoot villainous AI]] CERES' avatar, the Conductor, and the dramatic camera zoom-out show, CERES' dream of a [[DeadlyEuphemism 'rebooted']] Earth have been realized.]]

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' - Has a tragic DownerEnding example. Gabriel Belmont is told that he can bring his wife back to life if he defeats the Lords of Shadow and obtain a special mask that can bring back the dead. After a long epic adventure, Belmont defeats the Lords of Shadow, [[spoiler: only to get betrayed by Zobek who lied to him about the true purpose of the mask. He's then forced to watch as Zobek brings Lucifer into the world. And after Zobek gets betrayed by Lucifer and Belmont defeats the fallen angel, he then learns from his wife's spirit that the masks only lets you see into the spiritual world, but can't bring a person's soul back into the physical world. Depressed by this, Gabriel Belmont loses his faith in God and descend into darkness over the years until he becomes the very Dracula the Belmont decedents have to fight and kill every one hundred years. Which players have been doing since the original ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|I}}''.]]

** [[spoiler: The win over the first Final Ferris Wheel can also be called that. And then suddenly DK grabs Pauline and you're forced to play in Plus mode which is a dusky version of the original levels where you have to get the minis out in a certain order, not too hard at first but quickly gets tiresome. The true ending can only be gotten after beating Final Ferris Wheel Plus.]]

** ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' has two executions utilize this: [[spoiler: Pekoyama's and Chiaki's. The former has her under attack by an army of Monokuma samurai, but she manages to hold her own against them while Kuzuryuu rushes in to try and save her, until Pekoyama accidentally wounds him and the Monokuma samurai finish her off in the middle of her MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. The latter is more of a meta example, as the game keeps repeating general plot points from the previous game, and Chiaki's execution coincides with when Naegi was successfully rescued from his own execution. The game takes advantage of this by dragging it out for as long as possible, stacking Hope Spot on top of Hope Spot before finally executing her for real.]]
** [[spoiler: Komaeda]]'s death is a pretty sadistic use of this as well. [[spoiler: It turns out that his murder was actually a ''very'' elaborate suicide (meaning no one is going to get executed,) and just when everyone is about to cast their vote, they realize that it was actually an ''assisted'' suicide, designed in such a way that the accomplice would have no idea they even killed someone, and that since the accomplice was the one who dealt the finishing blow, they are still guilty of the murder.]]
** [[spoiler: Sakura]]'s death in the first game is also pretty similar. [[spoiler: Her death was also a suicide (an ''actual'' suicide, no overcomplicated assisted suicide,) so there isn't anyone to execute. But Monokuma reveals that he knew all along about the existence of Alter Ego, the AI Chihiro created to try and help the group escape, and that they were trying to keep hidden. And since he can't execute any of the students this time around... It's ultimately a subversion, though, as a copy of Alter Ego had already been uploaded to the school's network at that point.]]
** [[spoiler: Kirumi's]] execution in ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3''. [[spoiler: She attempts to escape from the school and avoid being executed, but she gets stopped by a lynch mob. Kirumi is then given a long, thorny vine which she climbs in order to escape. After getting viciously slashed by buzzsaws, she finds a hole glimmering with light...only to find out that there is no exit, it's a drawing taped to the ceiling. The vine then snaps, and Kirumi falls to her death.]]
** A non-death example: In Chapter [[spoiler: 5]] of ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'', the remaining students [[spoiler: manage to make their way through the Despair Death Road thanks to Miu's electrohammers. They reach the school's exit, and the door to the outside world gets unlocked...but it turns out that [[CrapsackWorld the outside world isn't so lovely.]]]] [[spoiler: The cutscene of the door opening also makes you think Kaito, Kiibo, and Tsumugi are going to be survivors...but later on in the chapter Kaito murders Kokichi and is then sent off to be executed, Tsumugi is revealed to be the BigBad and is killed during the final execution, and Kiibo makes a HeroicSacrifice by self-destructing in order to save the remaining students.]]

* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'': The cinematics in the original game are a huge Hope Spot as Marius narrates his adventure to a cloaked man whom he believes to be the archangel Tyrael. [[spoiler: It was actually the Prime Evil Baal, and Marius was doomed the moment he set foot in that room.]]

** Near the end of the Neutral path, [[spoiler: if you spare King Asgore, he'll offer to let you live in the Underground with him and his ex-wife Toriel. Then Flowey shows up, finishes Asgore off, destroys his soul so you can't absorb its power and pass through the barrier, ''and'' steals the souls of the other six fallen children, becoming the final boss Omega Flowey.]]
** Near the end of the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist path]], [[spoiler: Toriel interrupts the battle with Asgore, all your friends show up, and it looks like things are going to be resolved peacefully. Then you learn Papyrus was told by "a talking flower" to gather everybody together... surprise, it's Flowey again, and he's absorbed the 6 human souls. This is then subverted when, even though he has tied up your friends, they are still able to use their attacks to defend you while giving messages of support, followed by ''every'' monster in the game coming to support you.... but this gets subverted ''again'', as it only allows Flowey to absorb the soul of every monster in the Underground on top of the six human souls, returning him to his original form of Asriel Dreemur right before he goes OneWingedAngel and becomes [[TrueFinalBoss the "Absolute God of Hyperdeath"]].]]

* ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'': [[spoiler: The apparent demise of the Wither Storm in Episode 3]], somewhat tainted by the image on the episode select screen for Episode 4.

** A non-death example: In Chapter [[spoiler: 5]] of ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'', the remaining students [[spoiler: manage to make their way through the Despair Death Road thanks to Miu's electrohammers. They reach the school's exit, and the door to the outside world gets unlocked...but it turns out that [[CrapsackWorld the outside world isn't so lovely.]]]] [[spoiler: The cutscene of the door opening also makes you think Kaito is going to be one of the survivors...but later on in the chapter he murders Kokichi and is then sent off to be executed.]]