History LateArrivalSpoiler / VideoGames

* The ''Earthbound'' fangame ''VideoGame/CognitiveDissonance'' spoils the entire [[VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings first game]] by necessity, including that Giegue is the FinalBoss and Queen Maria is Ninten's grandmother Mary. It also spoils that Porky is a major antagonistic force and that Giegue ends up losing his mind and becoming the EldritchAbomination Gigyas from ''Earthbound''.

* The [[http://images.nintendolife.com/games/ds/solatorobo_red_the_hunter/cover_large.jpg European boxart]] of ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' shows both Red's [[HalfHumanHybrid Hybrid]] Trance form (though it doesn't identify it as anything) and advertises the fact that you uncover the "mysterious origins" of the world. Both of these do not even ''show up'' until the midpoint of the game - before that, Red has no idea he can Trance and the world simply "is".

* Mostly averted with most franchises/movies represented in ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'' (such as ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' for example) except in moments that are very much ItWasHisSled moments. (Such as [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Syndrome]].) However, there are two big moments (relating to ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'') where it's played straight: A ''Zootopia'' based Power Disc enables Nick Wilde to wear the police officer outfit he gains at the very end of the movie, and the ''Finding Dory'' Play Set is clearly set after the events of the movie itself, thus former Marine Life Institute residents Destiny, Bailey, and Hank are already living at the Great Barrier Reef with Nemo, Dory, and the others.

** The ending of ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3'' briefly features a picture showing, among other characters, spoiler:Pyra and Mythra, now existing in separate bodies, effectively spoiling the ending of ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2''. The same picture also reveals that Azurda regains his adult Titan form eventually.

** Midway into ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'', it's revealed in a rather dramatic fashion that one of your party members is a Blade who covered up her Core Crystal to pass as a normal human spoiler:(or more accurately a Gormotti). Said character returns in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3'', wearing an outfit that exposes her Core Crystal.

** Upon release, the fact that beating the Elite Four was only the halfway point in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' was a mind-blowing revelation, as was Red's existence as an {{Superboss}} when you complete the Kanto half of the game. These days, expect those two things to be brought up whenever a Pokémon fan starts talking about why they love the Johto games. The Nintendo DS remakes didn't even bother to hide the former reveal, as your map now allows you to view Kanto from the start, and [=NPCs=] will talk about the neighboring region regularly.

** Upon release, the fact that beating the Elite Four was only the halfway point in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' was a mind-blowing revelation, as was Red's existence as an OptionalBoss when you complete the Kanto half of the game. These days, expect those two things to be brought up whenever a Pokémon fan starts talking about why they love the Johto games. The Nintendo DS remakes didn't even bother to hide the former reveal, as your map now allows you to view Kanto from the start, and [=NPCs=] will talk about the neighboring region regularly.

** Many of the spirits in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' reference certain plot points from their games of origin, such as [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Paz]]'s spirit battle having the occasional rain of Bob-ombs, and her ability allow the player to spawn with one Bob-omb equipped, both in reference to her death by surgically implanted bomb. But the most blatant examples are the ones that can be enhanced, with a lot of these enhanceable spirits gaining a form that spoils a major plot twist in their original game, such as [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} Rodin]] transforming into his OptionalBoss form.

** Many of the spirits in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' reference certain plot points from their games of origin, such as [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Paz]]'s spirit battle having the occasional rain of Bob-ombs, and her ability allow the player to spawn with one Bob-omb equipped, both in reference to her death by surgically implanted bomb. But the most blatant examples are the ones that can be enhanced, with a lot of these enhanceable spirits gaining a form that spoils a major plot twist in their original game, such as [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} Rodin]] transforming into his BonusBoss form.

** Upon release, the fact that beating the Elite Four was only the halfway point in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' was a mind-blowing revelation, as was Red's existence as a BonusBoss when you complete the Kanto half of the game. These days, expect those two things to be brought up whenever a Pokémon fan starts talking about why they love the Johto games. The Nintendo DS remakes didn't even bother to hide the former reveal, as your map now allows you to view Kanto from the start, and [=NPCs=] will talk about the neighboring region regularly.

** Being the TropeNamer for SamusIsAGirl, the series manages to combine this with ItWasHisSled. [[VideoGame/Metroid1 The original NES game]] had multiple endings, with the reveal of Samus Aran's gender being hidden behind the best ones. Almost every installment afterwards has similar endings where you see her outside of her PoweredArmor, but are also pretty open with communicating that Samus is a woman during gameplay itself (feminine grunts when she takes a hit, occasional glimpses of her face through her visor, her suit dematerializing when you die, etc) and the manual for the [[VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus second game]] outright states Samus's gender [[note]]the first game's manual used male pronouns in the manual to make the reveal a surprise[[/note]]. The 2004 remake of ''Metroid 1'', ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'', even goes as far as adding a new {{playable epilogue}} where most of it is spent as Samus outside of her armor in a lengthy StealthBasedMission.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' assumes that you've already played ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' and know that the AI for Samus's ship contains [[BrainUploading the brain and personality of her former commanding officer, Adam]]--one of the biggest twists of the latter game.

** Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/SquareEnix ''both'' promoted the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' by referencing the SignatureScene of Sephiroth (through Jenova's shapeshifted body) killing Aerith in the Temple of the Ancients. Granted, [[ItWasHisSled even people who've never played the game know about this part]], but it ''was'' originally intended to be a shocking moment.
*** Granted, its advertisment campaign in the United States when it came out in 1997 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDz9A4ByHIQ also spoiled that in one of the TV spots,]] so this has been the case there since before they could play the game.

** The series takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas NewbieBoom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this bit of trivia around, and it proves so integral to the plot of [[VideoGame/Splatoon3 the third game]] that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore players had to go out of their way to find.

** Despite being a remake of the first game in the series, ''Etrian Odyssey Untold'' has late arrival spoilers for the series. The intro features scenes of futuristic technology, and early on in the story mode you visit a ruined high-tech facility, and Raquna reveals she's from Ontario -- which is heavily implied to be exactly where it sounds like. The fact that series is set in a post-apocalyptic future Earth was originally a twist revealed ''extremely'' late in the first game.
** In ''Etrian Odyssey IV'', there is a secret class available in the last quarter of the game, the Imperial class; the name of the class is a reference to the Empire of Yggdrasil where people of this class come from and which is the highly-advanced aggressor country in opposition to the civilizations and races of the other three lands. ''Etrian Odyssey Nexus'' has this class available to recruit right from the start, with their position in the class list (classes are organized by debut game) making it clear which game they're from.

** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]]'' casually mentions that Soma is Dracula, which is a late-game spoiler for ''Aria of Sorrow''.

* Preview material and [[SpoilerCover the back of the box]] for ''VideoGame/LiveALive'''s 2022 VideoGameRemake doesn't bother hide the existence of the game's unlockable eighth chapter and its protagonist.

** ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Naoto Shirogane [[SamusIsAGirl is a girl]]. This was a major twist at the time, but quickly became one of the first things fans learn about Naoto, or even the series. Merchandise, ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'', and the psuedo-canon light novel sequel ''LightNovel/PersonaXDetectiveNaoto'' don't shy from this fact.

** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'': [[{{Bifauxnen}} Naoto Shirogane]] [[SamusIsAGirl is a girl]]. This was a major spoiler, but one of the first things fans learn about Naoto, or even the series, is this. Merchandise, ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'', and the psuedo-canon light novel sequel ''LightNovel/PersonaXDetectiveNaoto'' don't shy from this fact.

** As for ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', Teddie is happily frolicking through trailers in his [[BecomeARealBoy human form]]. Blonde, blue-eyed {{Bishonen}} Teddie was a spoiler on-par with Naoto's reveal in the original game, to the point that the game's opening even attempted to disguise the fact that Teddie was going to be a fully-fledged party-member even though [[SpoilerOpening the opening demo most definitely didn't]]), but in ''Persona Q'', it is treated as an incidental quirk of his character.
** In the FightingGame SpinOff, ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', every character from ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is playable, except for the protagonist and Shinji, since both of them suffer {{Plotline Death}}s during 3's story. The story mode also blatantly states who the murderer was in ''Persona 4'' on several occasions - the only way they could have given it away any further was if said murderer managed to be a playable character in the game. [[PromotedToPlayable Oh, wait.]]
** Said murderer is also a DLC character in ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight''. While the game doesn't ''quite'' spoil their identity, their playability ought to raise some alarm bells that they're not all they seem at first glance.

* The ''{{VideoGame/Sam and Max|FreelancePolice}}: Season Two'' (a.k.a. Beyond Time and Space) [[http://www.telltalegames.com/images/productshots/s2_seasondisc_boxart.png Collector's DVD cover]] spoils what T-H-E-I-R spaceship really looks like. The box art for the Wii port also shows the spaceship too.

** The fact that Callie and Marie, the IdolSinger duo that host the first game, are Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon was already a minor plot twist that most players would consider a CaptainObviousReveal. But since they go on to only appear in the single-player campaigns after that installment, later games have no qualms with ''immediately'' letting newcomers know their mission control also have day jobs as celebrities: ''Splatoon 2''[='=]s Hero Mode campaign starts with Marie getting annoyed when your player character turns out not to recognize her as a famous pop singer, while ''Splatoon 3'' has them call their base camp in Alterna "''Squid Sisters'' Station" and casually chat about future plans for music collabs and podcast episodes.
** The final Shifty Station level ("M.C. Princess Diaries") assumes that you've beaten the ''Octo Expansion'' DLC campaign, because the stage is located off the coast of Inkopolis, right in front of the wreckage of that mode's final boss. Said wreckage can still be seen in the city's waters five years later as well, visible from ''Splatoon 3''[='=]s version of Hammerhead Bridge.

** The fact that Callie and Marie, the IdolSinger duo that host the first game, are Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon was already a minor plot twist that most players would consider a CaptainObviousReveal. But since they go on to only appear in the single-player campaigns after that installment, later games have no qualms with ''immediately'' letting newcomers know their mission control also have day jobs as celebrities: ''Splatoon 2''[='=]s Hero Mode campaign starts with Marie getting annoyed when your player character turns out not to recognize her as a famous pop singer, while ''Splatoon 3'' has them call their base camp in Alterna "''Squid Sisters'' Station".

** The series takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas NewbieBoom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this bit of trivia around to the point that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find.

** The fact that Callie and Marie are Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon is a minor plot twist that most would consider a CaptainObviousReveal, but ''Splatoon 2'' does not bother to hide this twist when you first start the Hero Mode campaign, with Marie directly introducing herself and getting annoyed when your player character turns out not to recognize her as a famous pop singer. ''Splatoon 3'' cares so little about keeping the surprise for newcomers that it outright calls their base camp in Alterna ''Squid Sisters'' Station.
** The final Shifty Station level ("M.C. Princess Diaries") assumes that you've beaten the ''Octo Expansion'' DLC campaign, because the stage is located off the coast of Inkopolis, right in front of the wreckage of that mode's final boss. Said wreckage can still be seen in the city's waters a few years later as well, visible from ''Splatoon 3''[='=]s version of Hammerhead Bridge.

** The series takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas NewbieBoom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this factoid around to the point that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find.

** The fact that Callie and Marie are Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon is a minor plot twist that most would consider a CaptainObviousReveal, but ''Splatoon 2'' does not bother to hide this twist when you first start the Hero Mode campaign, with Marie directly introducing herself and getting annoyed when your player character turns out not recognize her as a famous pop singer.

* Happens at the last minute in ''[[VideoGame/AnotherCode Another Code: R]]'', the sequel to ''Another Code: Two Memories'' ("Trace Memory" in America). The plot of ''Two Memories'' revolved around the murder of Ashley's mother, Sayoko, and the big reveal at the end concerns who her murderer was. Although ''R'' talks about the murder of Ashley's mother right from the start, as well as the fact that her killer recently got found out, they step-around revealing who her killer was. Her killer even gets their own profile, where they are identified as the "Sayoko's killer", but the name is kept as "???" and they are given the generic "unseen male" silhouette. That is until right near the game's climax, where [[spoiler: Bill Edward's]] identity as the killer is very bluntly dropped into conversation, as though they had given up with trying to keep first game unspoiled.

** Gloria is actually [[spoiler:Trish in disguise]]. Later installments or related media casually revealed it because this game's ''[[UpdatedRerelease Special Edition]]'', ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' have {{Palette Swap}}s of dark-skinned [[spoiler:Trish]] in white clothes (matching Gloria's colors) as unlockable cosmetics or DownloadableContent. It's also revealed in one of the Pachislot spin-offs' cutscenes.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'': The trailers for the Special Edition don't bother to hide ''any'' of the big plot twists or spoilers from the story, most notably the revelation that [[spoiler:Vergil finally returns in a fully canon capacity]], but also stuff like [[spoiler:V being part of Vergil, Dante's Sin Devil Trigger, and biggest late-game spoiler of all; Nero is Vergil's son and he unlocks his own true Devil Trigger at the end of the story when Dante and Vergil are fighting.]]

** One of the Funko mini figures for ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' is of [[spoiler:Curie after her consciousness is uploaded to a Synth body]].
** Also in ''4'', practically everybody knows by now that one of your companions, Nick Valentine, is a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot synth]], even people who haven't played the game. This is actually a minor twist that the game conceals prior to you meeting him, and can make for an awesome surprise for any player lucky enough to avoid this particular spoiler. Fortunately, the same has not happened with the ''other'' secret synth in your party ([[spoiler:Paladin Danse]]), whose reveal is much more impactful on the plot.

** Speaking of ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'', just immediately before the FinalBoss, the player is treated to a cutscene in which [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Kor]] explains his plan to [[BigBad Kaeden]] that he will masquerade himself as an elderly man should the Metal Bugs fail to take over Haven City]], which means that one of the major spoilers in [[VideoGame/JakII the sequel]] is un-spoiled should someone choose to play this game after ''[[VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy The Precursor Legacy]]'' but before ''Jak II''.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has pretty much everything in the game, be it trophy descriptions, spirit abilities, Snake Codec/Palutena's Guidance conversations, or even a character's moveset as potentially this. Some examples include:
** Nintendo doesn't seem to consider Sheik's identity in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' as much of a spoiler (to the point it reached ItWasHisSled status), what with Zelda's ability to turn into Sheik in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]''. This was mitigated somewhat from the fourth game onwards, when the removal of transformations made them [[DecompositeCharacter separate fighters]] on the roster, but Sheik's trophy description in that game still gives it away, her Palutena's Guidance has Pit ask the rest of the ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' cast if they're actually going to pretend that the character isn't just Zelda dressed as a ninja, and in the fifth game, one of the loading screen tips mentions this. That said, people who learned this information from ''Smash'' are surprised to learn that ''Ocarina of Time'' is the only mainline game where Zelda disguises herself as Sheik.

** The series takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas NewbieBoom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this factoid around to the point that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find. It even gets mentioned as part of the Palutena's Guidance on Inkling in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
-->'''[[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Viridi]]''': Yep. The [[FantasticRacism monkeys]] were eradicated! BOOYAH!
** The fact that Callie and Marie have a SecretIdentity as Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon is a minor plot twist, but ''Splatoon 2'' does not attempt to hide this twist when you first start the Hero Mode campaign.
** The final Shifty Station level "M.C. Princess Diaries" assumes you've beaten the ''Octo Expansion'' DLC campaign, because it takes place in front of the wreckage of that mode's final boss. Said wreckage can still be seen in the city's waters a few years later as well, visible from ''Splatoon 3''[='=]s version of Hammerhead Bridge.

** The final Shifty Station level "M.C. Princess Diaries" assumes you've beaten the ''Octo Expansion'' DLC campaign, because it includes spoiler-heavy content from the game's final act.

* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas newbie boom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this factoid around to the point that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find. It even gets mentioned as part of the Palutena's Guidance on Inkling in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' takes place [[ApocalypseHow thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was originally only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 first game]]'s single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas newbie boom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this factoid around to the point that it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find. It even gets mentioned as part of the Palutena's Guidance on Inkling in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

* The first ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' had the revelation that the game [[ApocalypseHow takes place thousands of years after humanity wiped itself out]], which was only mentioned through the [[StoryBreadcrumbs Sunken Scrolls]] in the single player campaign. At least until the announcement for the 10th North American [[FictionalHoliday Splat]][[CavemenVersusAstronautsDebate fest]] (Past vs. Future), wherein Callie mentions wanting to meet an "odd 'human' thing" from the past. This was also the first Splatfest after the Christmas newbie boom. By [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], the series had no problem throwing this factoid around to the point where it's easy to forget that it started as hidden background lore you had to go out of your way to find. It even gets mentioned as part of the Palutena's Guidance on Inkling in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.