History Main / PlotCouponThatDoesSomething

[[folder: Action Adventure ]]

[[folder: Action Game ]]

[[folder: Action Role Playing Game ]]

[[folder: First Person Shooter ]]

[[folder: [=MMORPGs=] ]]

[[folder: Puzzle Game ]]

[[folder: Real Time Strategy ]]

[[folder: Roguelike Game ]]

[[folder: Role Playing Game ]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', some skills are CastFromHitPoints, requiring a set percentage determined by your maximum HP. You can't use them if you don't have enough, of course. [[spoiler:The EleventhHourSuperpower used against Nyx in the final battle costs ''all'' of the main character's hit points, as he's using his soul to seal her. He dies in the ending.]]

[[folder: Simulation Game ]]

[[folder: Stealth-Based Game ]]

[[folder: Turn Based Strategy ]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

* [[AbilityRequiredToProceed Items that you use to get past obstacles but serve no other purpose]]. There can be overlap here too, though: the EquipmentBasedProgression in the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Metroid}}]]'' games (and much of the wider {{Metroidvania}} genre) features many items that not only get you across a specific type of BrokenBridge, but also serve as {{Utility Weapon}}s or have MundaneUtility like speeding travel in the overworld or giving you an edge in certain minigames.

* [[AbilityRequiredToProceed Items that you use to get past obstacles but serve no other purpose]]. There can be overlap here too, though: the EquipmentBasedProgression in the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' games features many items that not only get you across a specific type of BrokenBridge, but also serve as {{Utility Weapon}}s or have MundaneUtility like speeding travel in the overworld or giving you an edge in certain minigames.

* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series always had UnusableEnemyEquipment, {{handwave}}d or justified a different way every game. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' guns are "ID Locked", and this time, the plot is centered around a struggle for control of this ID system. The local arms dealer Drebin can help for a fee by... er... "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall unlocking]]" guns for you.

* The ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' games are made of this trope. In every Metroid game starting with the original, each PlotCoupon is a new weapon which is not only a new offensive tactic against enemies, but also unlocks further gameplay. For example, the Missiles or Super Missiles are stronger than your ordinary weapon, but they are also required to open color-coded doors. The simplest example is the High Jump and/or Space Jump upgrade, which grants better maneuvering and also allows the player to reach new paths. And there's a symbiosis between upgrades and bosses: new upgrades allow you to reach and defeat bosses, and defeating bosses provides new upgrades, continuously until the final battle.

* Like it's 2D predecessor, the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' is made of this trope, where each upgrade both enhances combat/gameplay and unlocks new areas of the world.
** There are exceptions, though. The 12 Relics at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', which do nothing and are a PlotCoupon played straight. (It's also a FetchQuest that requires the player to revisit every area of the game.)

* The Soul Cube in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' and the Artifact in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and [[LifeDrain transfers all of its remaining health to the player]]. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[BulletTime slow down time]], [[QuadDamage increase the power of your weapons]], and [[InvincibilityPowerUp make the player temporarily invulnerable]].

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow''. Soma's soul-collecting ability was worked into the plot in both games; it was actually central to several of ''Dawn'''s twists.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'',:
** Everyone in Castle Trodain has a curse cast upon them... except for the hero, who is, for some unknown reason, immune to it. There is a "Curse" status ailment in the game, which temporarily disables whoever it's inflicted upon. The hero is immune to this particular ailment. He can also freely equip and unequip cursed equipment, which usually [[StuckItem binds itself to its wearer until removed at a church]].

* The Soul Cube in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' and the Artifact in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and transfers all of its LifeEnergy to the player, healing him/her. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[BulletTime slow down time]], [[QuadDamage increase the power of your weapons]], and [[InvincibilityPowerUp make the player temporarily invulnerable]].

* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series always had UnusableEnemyEquipment, {{handwave}}d or justified a different way every game. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' guns are "ID Locked", and this time, the plot is centered around a struggle for control of this ID system. The local arms dealer Drebin can help for a fee by... er... [[BreakingTheFourthWall "unlocking"]] guns for you.

* The Horadric Cube in ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' is needed to transmute several pieces of useless crap into a larger piece of useless crap just so you can get to the bosses of Acts II and III. However, you can continue to use it to transmute VendorTrash into better items that are both more useful and more valuable. It also doubles as a mini-BagOfHolding, taking up 2x2 space in inventory while having a 3x4 space for items.

** The Gym Badges have three uses. They actually gave a slight stat boost (don't ask how) to your {{mons}} in the first three generations, they act as "licenses" for [=HM=] field moves (though in some games, like [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite those of the fifth generation]], this isn't the case), and they force obedience from all {{mons}} below a certain level, above which they will disobey you if they are traded. In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', there aren't any badges- instead you earn Z-Crystals for clearing trials (and at other points in the game); the level limit is instead enforced based on how many grand trials (major boss trainers) you defeat. They can be equipped to Pokémon to give them access to a powerful FinishingMove.
** Also, in both [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Generation IV]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]], the level and quality of items available in shops is dependent on how many badges a player has (basically the same progression as the old games, but neatly [[AvertedTrope averting]] the odd issues with some stores selling much more advanced items than others).

* [[DummiedOut At one point in the development of]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the medallions you get from the sages upon clearing each dungeon]] would have been equippable as items and had some effect.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Nethicite and the Espers.
*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'': [[SummonMagic Yarhi]].

* In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', you'll spend most of the game searching for the parts of the [[CoolSpaceship Lor Starcutter]] - the wings, oars, topsail, and the "emblem" (more accurately, a figurehead). Exactly why the emblem is so important remains a mystery until the end of the game - [[spoiler: after you defeat the final boss, Kirby and friends are trapped in a disintegrating subspace dimension until the Lor fires a beam from the emblem, opening a portal to Dream Land and whisking the heroes to safety.]]

* Halfway through ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', you obtain the Lordvessel, which is required to [[spoiler:open the gateway to the Kiln of the First Flame to kill Lord Gwyn and succeed him by linking the fire]]. Before filling it with Lord Souls to accomplish that, you can use it to warp between bonfires- a skill that's very useful when you defeat the late-game bosses whose fights end with you trapped in their arena with only a bonfire for company.

* In ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'', you spend about half the missions gathering pieces of a [[{{Precursors}} Xel'naga]] artifact. In the final mission, the artifact is assembled, and requires you to defend it while it charges up to [[spoiler:cure Kerrigan]]. In the meantime, you can use it every three and a half minutes to fry every Zerg in a half-mile radius. Once it finally charges up to do that thing in the spoiler tags, it fries all the zerg again, just for kicks.

* In ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'', you spend half the game searching for the pieces of a legendary blade called the [=PasSWORD=] - the only thing capable of piercing the Firewall surrounding the final dungeon. But when you finally gather all the shards and reforge the sword, you get to use it as a weapon in ordinary battles, too. It’s very powerful, and even has a unique ability that instantly dispels enemy shields!

** It's not just the Earth Key - the Dark Key and Light Key [[InUniverseGameClock turn the overworld clock to nighttime and daytime]], respectively.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' has the Spirit Monk amulet as a PlotCoupon. As you collect more pieces, you are able to utilize gems that enhance your abilities. [[spoiler: By the time Sun Li steals it from you, it turns out to be a MagicFeather - you're now powerful enough to use the gems without the amulet]].

** In ''[[VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV End of the Millenium]]'', the Eclipse Torch is a holy artifact the party needs to get past a forest of carnivorous trees, and which they have to retrieve after it's stolen. Once they do, though, the Eclipse Torch is in the party inventory and can be used in battle to produce the same purifying holy flame used to incinerate the trees in the cutscene.

* In ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'', writing wishes in The Sacred Tome is not only what the whole story's about (Zetta using it to recover his netherworld) but is also a central part of the game as it's used to create new facilities, random dungeons, reincarnate characters and unlock bonus content.

* Plots where GottaCatchEmAll for potential party members or useful items is a goal for OneHundredPercentCompletion but not vital to the plot, as in Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile, or VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}. Characters that make themselves useful aside from being one of the six mages needed to restore the seal on the gates of doom, or pieces of a DismantledMacGuffin that each provide a benefit along the way can count for this trope, however. The distinction is that they must be both vital to the advancement of the plot and have some use outside of that purpose.

** Its SpiritualSuccessor ''[[VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}} Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' has the Monado, the SwordOfPlotAdvancement that [[CombatClairvoyance gives the wielder visions of the future]]. As well as being important to the plot, it also occasionally warns the player of attacks that will incapacitate or severely injure a character. The player can take steps to weaken or even stop the attack from happening, or straight-up warn the victim-to-be to use a move to counter it.

* In ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'', you spend about half the missions gathering pieces of a [[ThePrecursors Xel'naga]] artifact. In the final mission, the artifact is assembled, and requires you to defend it while it charges up to [[spoiler:cure Kerrigan]]. In the meantime, you can use it every three and a half minutes to fry every Zerg in a half-mile radius. Once it finally charges up to do that thing in the spoiler tags, it fries all the zerg again, just for kicks.

** Everyone in Castle Trodain has a curse cast upon them... except for the hero, who is, for some unknown reason, immune to it. There is a "Curse" status ailment in the game, which temporarily disables whoever it's inflicted upon. The hero is immune to this particular ailment.

** The MAGI in ''[[VideoGame/SaGa2 Final Fantasy Legend II]]'' is used to upgrade your characters, sometimes even granting bonus attacks to the limited 8-slot system, but are also central to the plot as they have a bad habit of turning evil people into pseudo-Gods.

** The first major quest in ''[[VideoGame/MakaiToshiSaGa The Final Fantasy Legend]]'' is to gather a legendary sword, shield, and suit of armor to restore a statue. These items turn out to be extremely powerful this early in the game, but the player only gets to use them for as long as it takes to return to town where the statue is.