History Main / GamePlayAndStorySegregation

* One of the mechanics of mobile game ''Klondike Adventures'' is clearing obstacles both to gain resources and move forward. The primary means of doing so is spending energy, but sometimes an NPC named Larry will land his hot air balloon in the area the player is currently exploring. He will offer the player the option of using his explosives to destroy obstacles in exchange for watching ads and/or spending PremiumCurrency. Where this trope comes into play coupled with AntiFrustrationFeatures is the fact that Larry - balloon and all - can fly into and help out in areas one would think impossible for him to reach, such as an underground hall with a small opening and the Spirit World.

** In lore, Cathayan wizards associate the eight main lores of magic with elemental themes that are often very distinct from those that these have in other lands, since most other factions ultimately derive their magical lore from the Old Ones (who taught magic to the Slann, who taught it to the early Elves, who influenced Old World human magical traditions), while the Cathayan dragons had their own preexisting understanding of magic in addition to being overall hostile to the Old Ones and their servants. In-game, however, since creating entirely new spell lists for all eight lores is in neither especially feasible in practice nor very good for game balance, Cathayan wizards use the same spells as their counterparts in other factions. Thus, for instance, astromancers use storm-, wind- and lightning-based Lore of Heavens spells despite Cathay associating it with the element of stone.

** "The War Within" and "The New War", major storyline quests, both involve Teshin as an important character. But at the time you're able to do these quests, all Teshin can do is manage the game's PvP modes (he later runs the Steel Path Honors shop, but that's only unlocked long after these quests). These game modes are notoriously unpopular, to the point where most players never even touch these modes, and thus it's possible, even likely, that you'll never have spoken to Teshin more than once to see what he does. And yet, these quests will always have you and Teshin acting as if you know each other very well.

** Verdash is stated to have FertileFeet but the No. 2 Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the sole place they naturally spawn is a barren wasteland.

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': The BioweaponBeast {{mon}} Shadowbeak was stated to be the single success of PlayingWithSyringes by [[MadScientist Victor Ashford]]. Not only can you breed one — no horrific experiments needed —, they can be found in the wild.

** ''TabletopGame/StarWarsRolePlayingGame'': For purposes of game balance, the game doesn't allow Jedi to deflect blaster bolts with their lightsabers, something they do all the time in the movies. You ''can'' buy the Reflect talent, which negates ''some'' of the damage from a blaster attack, but buying enough levels to completely negate even a simple blaster pistol bolt would require mastering several lightsaber combat talent trees. Padawans regularly deflect blaster bolts in the movies. Deflecting something like a speeder bike's repeating blaster is pretty much out of the question. Luke deflected several shots from one in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

* ''VideoGame/MythTheFallenLords'': The ending cinematic cutscene shows an explosion in the site of the final mission and several body parts flying towards the point of view, including the head of Alric - or at least an avatar but he was the only one left at that point. However, the final mission didn't involve him at all, having stayed on the field of the second-to-last mission after teleporting his soldiers thousands of kilometers away, and the sequel shows that he is alive.
* ''VideoGame/MythIISoulblighter'': At the end of Mission 22, the Deceiver kills Shiver who in the process magically explodes, [[TakingYouWithMe killing also the former on spot]]. Despite the Deceiver being a major character, his death is not referenced at all in the following briefings. Possibly justified in the case of Mission 23 since it takes place on the same day and the narrator likely doesn't know the outcome of the duel yet; but the level depicts an assault that, according to the briefing for Mission 22, was planned to be launched only after Shiver's death. And there is still no mention in Mission 24 or even the Epilogue.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar3'': The Retro Lancer. According to the story, it was abandoned because of the bayonet's tendency to break when used, or its inability to pierce armor. Gameplay-wise? The bayonet never breaks and that armor part is solved by the bayonet charge. In fact, it was considered a top-tier weapon, due to its excellent mix of ranged damage, accuracy, and capability to counter the infamously overused Gnasher shotgun.

** You always start with 50 Stress upon landing on Vertumna, [[spoiler:even if you unlocked the option to recalibrate the ''Stratospheric'''s shields, wherein you ''don't'' lose Stress in that sequence of events.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}: The BioweaponBeast {{mon}} Shadowbeak was stated to be the single success of PlayingWithSyringes by [[MadScientist Victor Ashford]]. Not only can you breed one — no horrific experiments needed —, they can be found in the wild.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' is similar. Alex Mercer is depicted as somewhat heroic and willing to risk his life to protect people during the cutscenes and comic book tie-in, and willing to let people live and just tell him what he wants to know, In gameplay, he can [[ImAHumanitarian kill people for a sliver of health]] or just for fun, exclusively gathers info [[EatBrainsForMemories by eating people]] instead of just asking around, and generally never seeks a non-mass-murderous solution to his problems. Indeed, most of the unarmed moves and combos have zero practical purpose and are just there to let Mercer beat on civilians in amusing ways. The sadism is so blatant that the writer of the sequel (who wasn’t involved with the first game) interpreted him as TheSociopath and made him a [[RogueProtagonist supervillain]], which was not the original game’s intent.

** In general, it's somewhat common for the player's client to still get a Guilty verdict even ''after'' it's been decisively proven that they couldn't have done the murder. While this is usually because [[GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty the true murderer still hasn't been found]], it occasionally results in situations where even ''after'' the defendant is cleared and another suspect is being tried, running down the penalty bar will still result in your client getting a Guilty verdict. Examples include 2-4 (namely, after [[spoiler: [[ProfessionalKiller De Killer]] falsely testifies that Adrian Andrews hired him]] and 3-5.

* ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Megamix'' may be the first game in the series to have a story, but it makes no attempt whatsoever to tie the stages themselves into the story, only that they need to be cleared in order to progress. Considering that the stage can be about anything and can have you playing as anyone and anything (one moment you could be a high school girl performing her cheerleading routine, and the next you could be a cat clapping to get some fish), there isn't really a way to tie any of these together anyway.
* In [[AnotherSideAnotherStory PaRappa's playthrough]] of ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'' the story and gameplay have NOTHING to do with each other. That, combined with the choppy framerate of cutscenes, makes it very easy to assume the game is glitched and skipping over the plot.

** A character being playable or not isn't dependant on the story in the slightest, only on whether or not the player has unlocked her [[note]]A character that becomes playable will usually feature proeminently in the chapter/story event happening along with her release, but that's it[[/note]]. It is perfectly possible to play as [[ActionMom Mizuki Shiranui]] in the story chapters that happen before she joins the Task Force, and [[AxCrazy Oboro]] and [[NobleDemon Ingrid]] only appear as enemies and bosses in-story, but both are playable (including against themselves if one plays the corresponding chapters)[[note]]Ingrid does pull an EnemyMine with the heroes in some story events, but they're always temporary.[[/note]].
*** Some story events take it a step further by having ''the entire "Task Force"'' (that is to say, all your canonically playable characters) being unaviable, leaving [[AssistCharacter the support staff]] as the ones explictly doing the work. Despite that, gameplay doesn't change, and you still use the normal playable characters.

* In ''VideoGame/StickyBusiness'', the amount of in-game time taken to make a sticker is the same no matter how long in real time you actually take to create it; whether you slap on a few sticker parts or take a real-world hour designing an intricate sticker, it'll always consume the same-sized segment in the timer.

* In ''VideoGame/{{APICO}}'', you're still stuck on March 2, 1994[[note]]the date on Nana Beelia's postcard is written in DD/MM/YY format[[/note]], the day you arrived on APICO Islands, even if you receive Director Bumblemore's letter about your first rehabilitated solitary bee species several in-game days later, because it's dated on that same day.

** Overusing the Private Slots will get you reported for using it to scam customers into buying their items for cheaper, even if you've been using them to hide cards that ''lower'' their appraisal value, especially towards customers who refuse to accept them even if they're correct.