History Main / EasingIntoTheAdventure

* ''VideoGame//VocaloidStory'' begins with Miku having breakfast with Rin and Len and then visits Kaito and Meiko. After that, she goes to the Net Road Temple to do the song requests. Later in that night, everything goes to hell as hordes of Bugs suddenly attacks and the Vocaloids are forced to flee as they're greatly outnumbered

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', you start with [[ScenicTourLevel a pleasant monorail ride into work]] and a few chats with your workmates, before things [[GoneHorriblyWrong Go Horribly Wrong]].
* The first few levels of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' are normal (for the camp) lessons in basic psychic techniques, with the only abnormality being Raz's stellar natural talent. Then Dogan's brain goes missing and things start to get serious.
* Every Pokémon game ever made does this. Notably in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', you're on an errand and initially have a Pokémon as protection rather than ToBeAMaster.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', where the main character starts the game as an experienced trainer with evolved Pokemon and having just performed a successful heist. This is hopefully not what his typical day looks like.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' starts on the Destiny Islands, with Sora waking up from a confusing dream to find everything seemingly normal...apart from a run-in with a creepy hooded figure who says his world has been 'connected'.
** More aggravating is Roxas' ''three-hour tutorial'' in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' opens with Link getting his green tunic and a telescope for his birthday before the action with the Helmaroc King dropping Tetra kicks off.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' starts with Link and Zelda going through a festival in Hyrule Castle Town on their way to deliver a shield.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' starts out by making you close up the barn and help out a few villagers.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' starts off with Link preparing for a [[GiantFlyer Loftwing]] race and doing various tasks for the people of Skyloft.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' starts with Link delivering a sword to soldier.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' starts off with the hero and his two best friends trying to unravel the mystery of the ruins nearby his hometown. After about two and a half hours of exploring and puzzle solving, you finally fight your first enemy. [[spoiler:It's a [[SeriesMascot slime]].]]
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has you go around helping your neighbors in your home village prior to starting your adventure and meeting the king. There was also the coming-of-age-ceremony you went through with your childhood friend.
* In ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure 2'', you could potter around your hometown indefinitely (if you were easily amused). It was only once you'd completed the first mission and found something for the Weather Wizard so he could dispel the storm that aliens would land and the plot started.
* Most of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games start out with Lan and Mega Man either a) performing an errand on the net or b) just playing there. This helps you get used to the way the net is set up.
* The first ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' campaign begins as "the last day dawns over the [[DoomedHometown kingdom of Ascalon]]." Players have found ways of getting to the [[{{Cap}} maximum level]] without leaving this special area. This is even encouraged, within reason, by the existence of the [[BraggingRightsReward "Legendary Defender of Ascalon" title]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}}'':
** The first ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' game plays it completely straight, right down to the childhood friend and the JerkJock.
** In ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'', the main character, Ryudo, has already left home and has the life of a Geo-Hound (read: mercenary). The lead female, Elena, however, has this experience before going off to save the world. Funnily enough, though, Ryudo does return to his village, filling us in on in motivations and shutting up the local JerkJock.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', Fei is told to run around and help with a close friend's wedding, during which he'll talk to villagers that will instruct him in game mechanics (up to and including [[TheCameo Lucca Ashtear]] from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.) The reason he leaves [[DoomedHometown Lahan]] and goes up the mountain in the first place is because he was sent up to Citan's house to borrow his camera.
* After a brief prologue showing a battle between the Homs and Mechon in the past, ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' goes into this, focusing on the daily lives of Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora before things get ugly. There's a surprisingly large amount of exploration and sidequests available to do before the game's plot kicks off proper, some of which does involve roughing up the local wildlife, though.
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' does let you walk around your hometown a bit (and killing rats, ordinary rats)
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' begins with the player waking up in an academy for RPG adventurers, and eventually graduating the same day, until [[spoiler:the place is suddenly attacked by assassins.]] Likewise, the ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' tutorial starts you out in the harvest festival. It is, however, skippable, and you'll even get the two levels that you would get by playing the the tutorial anyway. You do miss out on a couple of not-bad items if you skip, though.
* In a way, ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' is like this. When it first starts everything seems like some normal series of puzzles you have to complete with no real story behind it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' games tend to do this, letting the player get acquainted with (and attached to) the cast and experiencing their normal lives before they start getting caught up in the plot. In particular, ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' spends its first few ''hours'' developing the Prince, the rest of the royal family, their loyal servants, the noble families, other important people they meet... with a few brief periods of action/combat before getting into the real ''meat'' of the plot. [[TearJerker And it]] ''[[PlayerPunch works]]''.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio's story starts with his birth. It then cuts to 17 years later with Ezio getting in a minor scuffle with his family's rivals, doing errands for his parents, racing his older brother around Florence, finding eagle feathers, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick having sex with a girl he fancies]].
* The Origin stories in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Of course things get worse pretty quickly in each of them, leading your PC to be recruited into the Grey Wardens. Subverted in the Mage Origin story. The first thing you have to do in the game is survive The Harrowing; the final test to determine whether an apprentice has the discipline to be a true mage. Failure usually leads to DemonicPossession followed by Death By Templar. The demon your PC faces also happens to be [[spoiler:one of the most powerful demons of the Fade, a Pride Demon. Fortunately it doesn't try to possess you by force. Apparently he was in on the whole "test" thing.]]
* The tutorial for ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' involves guiding Ethan Mars through his morning routine.

* ''VideoGame/DiscworldMUD'' has Pumpkin Town, the newbie area for players to get used to the interface and commands in the game and to learn to listen to signs.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'': The only action at the beginning is a slow snowball fight that serves as the combat tutorial.
* ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'': For the Roman factions and the more powerful factions lucky enough to be far away from Rome such as Egypt and Parthia. There are typically a few unaligned "Rebel" cities conveniently close by that you can likely capture with your starting forces alone. While a few of your neighbors may declare war on you, none are particularly threatening and there is ample opportunity for establishing Trade Relations and Alliances with other nearby factions.
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' starts off very gently, as the player leisurely explores Catie's hometown, meeting her friends and getting a feel for her daily life. Even the first day of her ship voyage is peaceful – the plot doesn't kick into high gear until night falls, and the storm clouds roll in...
* ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' starts with you waking up and running late for your graduation. Once you get there, things go south and you're catapulted into adventure. This prologue is also skippable (although you'll miss out on a few unique items).
* ''VideoGame/{{Kolibri}}'''s first level takes place in Kolibri's home meadow, where the player can get used to the basic controls before initiating the game proper by having a sip of nectar.
* ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'': The first land eases you into the [[AGodIsYou existence of a newborn god]] with a ready-made town of followers, limited duties, and no significant opponents. You don't even learn of the BigBad and the driving conflict of the game until late in the land's main quest line, soon before you leave for the second land.

* OlderThanRadio: In ''Literature/{{Kidnapped}}'' (1886) by Creator/RobertLouisStevenson and ''Literature/TheBlueSword'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the hero is kidnapped from their home. Most of [=McKinley's=] novels follow the same template, so one way or another, the misfit heroine gets dragged into the magical world against her will.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; there are those who [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump at the Call]], those who [[RefusalOfTheCall Refuse the Call]], and those who MissedTheCall. Whether reluctant or adventurous, stories with these heroes can start Easing into the Adventure by introducing the hero well before they get their [[WithThisHerring wooden sword]] and very first FetchQuest in their peaceful hometown; with a young Bob doing chores, playing with friends, running to school ([[ToastOfTardiness a slice of toast being an optional accessory), having a heart-to-heart promise with Alice, fighting and losing to the JerkJock who teases them, and so on and so forth. The usual.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; there are those who [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump at the Call]], those who [[RefusalOfTheCall Refuse the Call]], and those who MissedTheCall. Whether reluctant or adventurous, stories with these heroes can start Easing into the Adventure by introducing the hero well before they get their [[WithThisHerring wooden sword]] and very first FetchQuest in their peaceful hometown; with a young Bob doing chores, playing with friends, having a heart-to-heart promise with Alice, fighting and losing to the JerkJock who teases them. The usual.

* ''Film/DieHard'' opens with John [=McClane=] flying [[note]]he's afraid of flying[[/note]] into LA for Christmas and to see his estranged family. The first half hour is dedicated to this, setting up exactly what a New York cop is doing attending this particular Christmas party across the country, before the terrorists attack.

This helps us see the hero "before" and better appreciate CharacterDevelopment, provide exposition, and generally build up slowly rather than quickly to the story's actions. In video games, it can [[JustifiedTutorial Justify The Tutorial]]. It also makes their motivations for adventuring, returning home, and [[TooHappyToLive fear of losing]] (or pain at [[DoomedHometown having lost]]) their hometown all the more poignant.

* This trope was invoked by [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] when it first opened. The "Main Street USA" part of the Magic Kingdom is the first part of the park any guest will see, intended to be familiar and well-recognizable before guests get to the more exotic places like Adventureland and Tomorrowland. It was especially needed when the park first opened since, at the time, nobody had seen anything like Disneyland before. Thematically, it can be understood as entering and exploring the world of young Creator/WaltDisney before traveling to the places his imagination took him -- the other lands come from a mind that started on Main Street, so your journey into them begins there as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'' spends about 15 minutes showing the audience how Liana and Alexa live before they find [[SealedGoodInACan the magic mirror]] which leads to [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive their home getting destroyed]] and the rest of the plot.
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieOfSwanLake'' has about 20 minutes before Odette is turned into a swan.

* After a brief prologue showing a battle between the homs and Mechon in the past, ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' goes into this, focusing on the daily lives of Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora before things get ugly. There's a surprisingly large amount of exploration and sidequests available to do before the game's plot kicks off proper, some of which does involve roughing up the local wildlife, though.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' starts off with the hero and his two best friends trying to unravel the mystery of the ruins nearby his hometown. After about two and a half hours of exploring and puzzle solving, you finally fight your first enemy. [[spoiler:It's a [[SeriesMascot slime]].]]

* A few ''Zelda'' games have done stuff like this, most notably ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', which started out by making you close up the barn and help out a few villagers.

** Averted in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', where the main character starts the game having just performed a heist. This is hopefully not what his typical day looks like.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The first minute or two of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose "Rose"]] is like this, but the other post-2005 companion introduction episodes more or less involve the Doctor straight away.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' begins with [[GoodMorningCrono Crono's mother waking him up in the morning]] so he can go to the fair and meet his friend. It even starts off with a lovely little tune called "Town Life."