History Main / NotActuallyCosmeticAward

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has alternate champion models that can be unlocked for real cash. While having no impact on gameplay (except for a certain Annie skin that makes the "[[OhCrap stun ready]]" particle [[FakeDifficulty hard to see]]), when you are on a team with zero skinned characters and the enemy team has three or four, you pretty much assume you will lose.

* A very subtle example is found in the ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' multiplayer mode. As you ramp up your scores, you will soon receive a RankUp or ten. While your fancy online rank insignia are pretty much useless in ''hard'' gameplay terms, they give you an unexpected but significant "soft" bonus in the extremely teamwork-oriented online mode of the game: on public servers, random players are much more inclined to follow a [[ColonelBadass Colonel]] or [[FourStarBadass General]]'s orders, giving your side a higher degree of coordination and team play which translates into a significant advantage over a largely disorganized opponent.

* The Brown Facepaint and Green Facepaint in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', one of which can be "awarded" based on a question you answer at the beginning of the game, have the secondary ([[GuideDangIt and unmentioned]]) ability of giving you unlimited O2 and Grip.
* Obtaining the Assassin Emblem in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' earns you the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Costume]], which unlike the other costumes in the game, automatically makes [=non-PMCs=] friendly toward you. [[DiskOneNuke It is well worth finding]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' has the Quartz Charm, a piece of equipment that you get for beating the BonusBoss, Culex. It's description doesn't mention anything specific, other than it's apparently shiny. It also doesn't seem to give any stat boost when equipped to a character. However, what it ''does'' do is give you a strength and defense up boost when starting the battle, [[GuideDangIt even though it doesn't play the boosting animation when you do]], making it a very useful piece of equipment against enemies who can't debuff characters.

* Obtaining the Assassin Emblem in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' earns you the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Costume]], which unlike the other costumes in the game, automatically makes [=non-PMCs=] friendly toward you. [[DiskOneNuke It is well worth finding]].

* A''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}'''s achievement titles grant stat boosts whether they have been equipped or not. It might be worth going around and kicking 100 gnolls to death, if it will give you +1 STR.

* Both of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games feature a selection of Achievements (and later Trophies) with immediate and potent effects, such as increased XP-gain, boosted powers, access to new abilities, or any number of other benefits.

* ''{{VideoGame/Zombidle}}'''s achievements boost damage or increase skulls gained by a very small percentage. Death Medals are obtained for obtaining ever-greater amounts of orbs, hugely increasing damage, skulls or amount of orbs dropped.

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', there are challenges a player can do which are usually skill or weapon-based (kill enemies X times with a particular weapon, use a certain item x times, etc.). When these challenges are completed, you'll actually get XP and sometimes minor perks. Most of the UsefulNotes/{{PS3}} / UsefulNotes/XBox360 / Creator/{{Steam}} achievements are tied to either the above challenges or major quests, so when you hear that [[CosmeticAward bleep,]] you're probably getting a big pile of ExperiencePoints, too.

* Many {{MMORPG}}s nowadays attach small stat bonuses to their Titles. Developers occasionally get carried away. A special mention goes out to ''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}'', whose titles grant stat boosts whether they have been equipped or not. It might be worth going around and kicking 100 gnolls to death, if it will give you +1 STR.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'': Beating the game once gives you a CosmeticAward of new outfits for your characters. Beating the game a second time gives you an additional outfit for each character, but this time your [[EscortMission charge]] Ashley's new costume is a suit of armor that makes her immune to bullets.

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* While many characters in ''VideoGame/CrossyRoad'' are purely cosmetic, a few are not: many characters also change how the playing field looks, and characters such as VideoGame/PacMan and {{Music/Psy}} add new gameplay mechanics, which are often tracked separately.

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* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', there are challenges a player can do which are usually skill or weapon-based(kill enemies X times with a particular weapon, use a certain item x times, etc.). When these challenges are completed, you'll actually get minor perks.
** And most of the UsefulNotes/{{PS3}} / UsefulNotes/XBox360 / Creator/{{Steam}} achievements are tied to either the above challenges or major quests, so when you hear that [[CosmeticAward bleep,]] you're probably getting a big pile of ExperiencePoints, too.

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** There's also the −1 damage to Leona's Sunlight spell that all skins with sunglasses provide.

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* ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' has unlockable costumes. While most of them are purely cosmetic, the "Sprinter" outfit gives you infinite Stamina, letting you run for as long as you want without getting tired.

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* ''Franchise/StarOcean'' series:

* Collecting Marks Of The Gods in ''VideoGame/{{Outland}}'' mainly unlocks some concept art for the game, but they also give you the ability to cling to walls longer, mark all treasure urns on your map and double the strenght of your melee attacks if you collect enough of them.

** Battle Trophies in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' appear to be for show, but acquiring enough of them unlocks various [[AndYourRewardIsClothes costume changes]] for the player characters, as well as the harder difficulty settings ([[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels Universe and 4D]]) and a special "manual" battle option that lets you perform attacks where your character is positioned instead of having the automatically move to a predetermined distance from the enemy, allowing you to use your moves quicker and in new ways but making it much easier to miss with them.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitness'': [[spoiler: Completing the Challenge nets the player the final hexagonal puzzle for the projection room, which unlocks a ''58-minute lecture'' on batteries, Shakespeare, and the concept of awe. Over a video of a ''solar eclipse.'' Which is part of an environmental puzzle. And you thought the cloud in ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}'' was bad....]]

* ''VideoGame/GotchaForce'' features palette swaps of various [[PlayerMooks borgs.]] [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority Being toys and all,]] different colors give different stats.Gold and Silver borgs in particular.

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