History Main / GamePlayAndStorySegregation

* In the ''[[LegoCrossoverGame Lego]] {{The Lord Of The Rings}}'' game, it repeats Gimili's "You'll have to toss me - don't tell the elf." part during the Battle Of Helm's Deep, which is well and good... expect for the fact that ''throwing Gimili is a gameplay mechanic'' (you even ''defeat a boss'' using it), and by that point Gimili has most likely been thrown all over the place by all manner of characters.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', a big deal is made about how Khajiit are ''strictly'' forbidden from so much as setting foot in a Hold's capitol city. If the player is of either race, they can freely enter and exit even ''Windhelm'' (where even Argonians aren't allowed) without any trouble aside from the occasional rude comment.

*** Then again, it has been speculated that at least a few of the Pokedex entries are either exaggerated or made up.

There are three types listed here; straight examples, aversions (that you could term gameplay and story integration), and back-and-forth examples, where a game includes major straight examples and major aversions at the same time.

!!Aversions

If the story is instead well-joined, the inversion is the {{internal subtrope}} '''Gameplay And Story Integration'''.

If the story is instead well-joined, the inversion is '''GameplayAndStoryIntegration.'''

* According to the backstory of ''DefenseOfTheAncients'', some of the heroes should be nearly invincible, and most of them should all already have tons (in some cases, literally eons) of battle experience. Yet they all start at level 1 with almost no spells available.

** Adell is the only human being in [[{{Disgaea2}} Veldime!]] Except for, you know, those humans that his sister [[{{DLC}} summoned.]] But they don't count, nor are they turned into Demons by the Curse.

* It's a plot point in ''{{STALKER}}: Call of Pripiyat'' that anomalies move. In the game itself, however, none of them ever leave their positions.

* Averted rather oddly in DragonBallZBudokai3 with Yamcha. Likely as a shoutout to his death in the manga, and a similar death in the story mode, Yamcha is programmed to die instantly during a fight if a Saibamen opponent manages to use it's SuicideAttack on him regardless of his health, while every other fighter will survive it if they have enough health. This is also the only attack in the game which will instantly kill the person it was used on like it did in the anime.
** A recurring factor in any DBZ game that has a story mode is that you have to play through most of the fights that happen in the series. The issue is that it's entirely possible that the difficulty won't match what "should" happen: your character should be able to win the fight in their sleep but it's [[ThatOneBoss infuriatingly difficult]] only to then continue on like nothing happened; alternately, you win a fight in 13 seconds with a "PERFECT!" rating, only to immediately view a cutscene with your character on the edge of death and the enemy wondering "Is that all?"

*** This problem is addressed somewhat in some later quests involving healing NPCs, in which you are given items that can heal their wounds, but also told you can use your healing skills if you so desire.

** Similar to the ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' example above, the Quarian fleet only allows Tali, Shepard and one other squadmate[[hottip:note:Standard for a loyalty mission; the squadmate in question must be present]] to board their flagship. You know, the race known for being the most extreme germophobes in the universe? Shepard has to wear his/her helmet at all times, and most of the squadmates do the same - except for a select few (Jack, Samara, Miranda, Jacob) that are apparently able to waltz onboard with nothing more than a breathing mask, walk around without anyone commenting and sit in the middle of the crowd during Tali's exile hearing.

* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', according to the story[[hottip:*:which comes from WordOfGod rather than being in the game ''or'' the manual]] the only things that [[spoiler:demons]] can't bust through are [[spoiler:semi-molten rock and raw [[{{Unobtanium}} adamantine]]]], since that's what [[spoiler:the gods used to trap the demons in hell]]. However, once you [[spoiler:release the demons from hell]], walls made of anything will stop them short (even walls made out of ''soap'').

* In ''DeadRising'', during the second boss fight an {{NPC}} ally can handily survive dozens of hits from a rifle that, in real life, is known to be able to tear a man in half with one shot.[[hottip:note: It's an anti-materiel rifle, which means it's meant for use against things like jeeps or tanks, and is thus ludicrously overkill against unarmored humans like your ally.]] In the cutscene immediately after said fight he is shot in the leg with a pistol and unable to walk, and the very next task set for the player is to acquire a first aid kit to treat him - for a ''fever''. Which becomes '''lethal''' if you don't find the first aid kit in time.

** Semi-averted in this case. You have to use a MacGuffin to be able to crack the boss in question's barrier, and if you don't do that, his attack remains just as lethal as it was the first time you fought him - One shot, one kill. Of course, anyone killed in this manner in ''this'' fight can be just as easily brought back, hence only semi-averted.

** During gameplay, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII the Emperor]]'s ground Flare is a [[PainfullySlowProjectile painfully slow]], [[HomingProjectile homing]] projectile, yet in Chapter 4 of the 12th cycle in ''Dissidia 012'', he fires one at Yuna during a cutscene that flies out ''much'' faster than usual. If that's how the Flares worked gameplay-wise, the Emperor would easily be one of [[GameBreaker the most broken characters in the game]].

* This trope is a common criticism of the [[BaseBreaker fourth edition]] of DungeonsAndDragons, which is chock full of effects where the rules text ("crunch") doesn't match the descriptive text ("fluff"). For instance, an inspiring speech that gives you a buff even if you cannot hear it; an InstantDeathAttack that deals exactly as much damage as other attacks of the same level; a particular swordfighting maneuver that you can only do once per day for no reason, and can never learn to do twice; an infamous spell that lets you teleport an enemy into hell, but only if you teleport him right back (again, doing exactly as much damage as other attacks of the same level); and numerous archery moves and bolt spells that allow you to shoot at two creatures, but never at the same creature twice. That some people mind this and other people don't is precisely why it's a BaseBreaker, of course.

* At the end of the second part of ''ArTonelico: Melody of Elemia'', Lady Shurelia sings Suspend, a spell that shuts down the Tower except for basic environmental and self-maintenance, and Aurica and Misha confirm that they can no longer use song magic. Shortly thereafter they HandWave magic as simply "much weaker," but even when you do use it in Phase 3 before reawakening the Tower, spells are no less powerful than before and you can even still use one that involves painting a target lock for the Tower's own energy cannons.

* Crushingly averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', where the party members attempt to use the strongest healing items and spells at their disposal on a character who has been KilledOffForReal to no avail. Fighting at 0 HP rendered him DeaderThanDead.
** On the other hand, it's possible for characters in that cutscene to try to use Curaga and Raise on [[spoiler:Galuf]] even if they haven't gained a single level in any White Magic-related jobs. Or to use Pheonix Downs even if you don't currently have any in your inventory. As for how they got that far out without white magic...[[UnwinnableByInsanity who'd actually try that?]]
*** [[FridgeBrilliance They can]] [[JobSystem change jobs at will]], remember?

** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', when you use [[WaifProphet Ion's]] extension of Luke's first mystic arte, he'll waver and collapse instead of just disappearing. If Anise is in the party, [[GuiltBasedGaming she calls for him, and he stutters "I-I'm... fine..."]].
*** Additionally, if you don't have Luke and Jade in your party, when Anise uses Final Fury, she yells "I'll kill you bastards!" Instead of the usual "O ravaging tragedy!"
** A minor but rather powerful aversion in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': When Colette loses her voice for plot reasons, she stops [[CallingYourAttacks Calling Her Attacks]] in battle as well, and the victory quotes for her aren't shown.
*** Another subtle one is in the AI - Tropers have actually noticed that Kratos actually loves to spam healing and support spells on Lloyd the most - and this isn't an issue of him being the tank; even if Colette is in melee range, he'll use it on Lloyd first. [[spoiler: Because it's actually an act of a father-looking out for his son]].
*** A somewhat lighter version from Symphonia with [[TheCasanova Zelos Wilder.]] Story-wise, his reputation for [[MemeticSexGod debauchery and seduction]] are known throughout Tethe'alla, as pointed out by Regal. Gameplay-wise, you can abuse this as a Personal EX Skill; if Zelos is your onscreen character, women will give you ''healing items, food, and money just for talking to them.''

This trope occurs whenever there is inconsistency in how things work or behave between the gameplay and storyline sections of a video game, the latter of which consists of {{cutscene}}s and dialogue. While this trope is generally forgivable due to technological limitations, {{egregious}} instances can result in the shattering of the player's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. (Of late, games journalism has taken to calling this feeling "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness ludonarrative dissonance]].") Typically, it's done to try and make a more interesting game, since simply hitting OneHitKO all the time like in that cutscene would be utterly boring, while having a person who actually ''can't'' open doors like in that last cutscene would make the game [[FakeDifficulty needlessly frustrating]]. Accordingly, it's sometimes excused by AcceptableBreaksFromReality, but by no stretch does that justification cover all of the flat-out weird mismatches perpetrated by game makers over the years.

The technical term for this is "ludonarrative dissonance": ludonarrative is the portion of the story told through the gameplay, so ludonarrative dissonance is when there are logical inconsistencies between what is conveyed through the gameplay and what is conveyed through the story, or when the gameplay is presenting one message while the story is presenting another.

* In {{''Demonophobia''}}, a game with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou a lot of]] [[{{Gorn}} interesting ways]] [[TrialAndErrorGameplay to die]], [[spoiler: you don't 'die and respawn' in the usual way; instead, the protagonist is revived some time later, with no memories of her deaths. This becomes important at the end of the game, where these memories are [[DespairEventHorizon returned to her]].]]

* In ''Demonophobia'', a game with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou a lot of]] [[{{Gorn}} interesting ways]] [[TrialAndErrorGameplay to die]], [[spoiler: you don't 'die and respawn' in the usual way; instead, the protagonist is revived some time later, with no memories of her deaths. This becomes important at the end of the game, where these memories are [[DespairEventHorizon returned to her]].]]

** In a reversal, cutscenes after the player acquires the Solid Eye will almost always show Snake wearing it even when the player doesn't actually have it equipped.