History Main / PressXToNotDie

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro: Dawn of the Dragon'' features several, both in the form of "Press X To Not Die" and "Button Mash X To Not Die." Some of them come during boss fights, meaning if you fail, you'll have to do a portion of the boss all over again.

* ''VideoGame/Mother3'' has a brief optional one in Chapter 4 when first going through the Railway if Lucas proceeds to run straight along on the train tracks. Your character will take notice as a train comes in view, and you're given the choice to dodge the train using any direction the D-pad. Failing to move out of the way in time won't result in a game over however, but rather sends your character flying across the screen and ends up with them landing back in Tazmily Village where you started, with a Mr. T lookalike mentioning how he had warned you to watch out for trains before and even calling you "Squashed Flat Man."
** In Chapter 3, there is also some quick-time event sequences where Salsa must follow the correction buttons. Missing them won't result in your character dying, but rather getting shocked until you get them right.

* ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]''. In the PC version, you have to press numbers from 1 to 4 to hijack vehicles, hack computers, and generally do anything mission-relevant. It's particularly annoying when you're trying to jack a helicopter because the sequence takes time, and all the while the cops are shooting at you and damaging the chopper.

** That said, the Wiimote sometimes has trouble registering which direction you're swinging it, especially left or right, which makes some fights (the Shamans in particular) a rough time.

* The Wii version of ''VideoGame/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' includes a lot of these. The required ones just start again if you miss a button (or Wiimote waggle), but lots of sidequest ones become [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]] if failed.

* Although the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series has mainly Action Commands, it does occasionally have Quick Time Events as well.

* Although God of War has mainly Action Commands, it does occasionally have Quick Time Events as well.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has this happen in the ''Stormblood'' expansion in the battle against Susano where the tank gets into a BladeLock against the boss and the rest of the party has to wail on the blade or it becomes a total party kill.

* ''Webcomic/CinemaSnobReviewsFrozen'' (a fan comic where ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob'' reviews ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'') compares part of the climax of ''Frozen'' to a quick time event. When Kristoff and Sven are dodging the tilting ship, Snob shouts out button presses.

-->Text: "Hold (button) to evade landmines!"

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' has a similar mechanic, forcing you to draw the proper pattern on the touch-screen to kill a boss once it reached 0 health. Fail, and the boss regains 25% of its life. Made a ''lot'' less irritating by how you always know what pattern you need (it opens the door to the room), and are allowed to practice the patterns beforehand (or even ''during'' the fight) until they become second nature. Even so, the mechanic is generally reviled for being completely unnecessary otherwise, and numerous speedrunners consider drawing the seal ''more difficult than fighting the boss''.

[[caption-width-right:320:[-Rock falls, you die... unless [[IndyEscape you act fast enough]].-] ]]

* ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]''. In the PC version, you have to press numbers from 1 to 4 to hijack vehicles, hack computers, and generally do anything mission-relevant. It's particularly annoying when you're trying to jack a helicopter, because the sequence takes time, and all the while the cops are shooting at you and damaging the chopper.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' had several sequences where the player had to perform certain actions at certain times to help a certain character. The only reason few people noticed it was this trope was because it's done with brushstrokes instead of buttons.

* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan3'' was filled with these, usually unexpectedly popping up during a dramatic cut-scene after the button flashes for a 1-0.5 sec warning. Or between twitchroid Simon-says exercises, just when enough action has passed that you can believe it's over and you can just enjoy the rest of the show--whoop, there's another one! Fortunately you don't die, you simply reload to slog through the prior crap for another iteration.

** At one point, the player character is looking for his son Jason in a busy mall; beside movement, the only option the player can do is to press a button to make the character shout for Jason. This has been mocked on gamer forums as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qetfKHFIPIg Press X to Jason]]".

* All of Telltale's game have this, to an extent. Some allow you a bit more flexibility in choosing how to deal with situations, especially in games based on more action heavy properties such as ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' and ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs''; you will often get two options to choose from with very little time to decide what to go for. The end result is often the same, with slight variations.

** The original game has a few of these, sometimes during cutscenes, sometimes during bosses. Failing some of them causes massive damage, and a few nasty ones cause instant death. Some of them have very unforgiving reaction times, too; making them effectively impossible to see coming for a first-time player. Thankfully, the buttons are not randomized, so after the first failure the player can at least see them coming.

* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'', from the same creator as ''Bayonetta'', adds [[SymbolDrawingInterface drawing [=QTEs=]]] to the mix of familiar button prompts and button mashers. These are prompted by a character [[CallingYourAttacks shouting the name of their attack]], giving the player a handful of seconds of slow-mo to draw it before failure. They're woven very well into gameplay, and in addition most of them have an unique and humorous failure animation, and only cause some slight damage if failed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'''s single player campaign has tons of them, and in many cases are often in a series which requires you to press different buttons, and very often in unexpected places. You will soon learn to get ready to press something after opening a door. Unfortunately, they're almost all a literal case of "Press <whatever> To Not Die," but succeeding frequently results in your player character returning the favor, especially if it's the end of the level:

** The final level of the game [[spoiler:start off with a QTE. Then mid way another QTE. Finally, near the end, Solomon shoot Monte before aiming his handgun at the player]]: if the player misses the QTE, then [[spoiler:Solomon fires and kills Blackburn]], but if the player pulls off the QTE, then [[spoiler:it's empty]] and [[spoiler:Blackburn handcuffs Solomon to himself so as to choke him with his own arm wrapped around his neck]]; there's a QTE or two more after that as they brawl on a car before finally succeeding at the last QTE has [[spoiler:Blackburn bashing Solomon unconscious with a brick to the head]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' features Quick Time Events in some cutscenes. Fortunately the time window for pressing them is very generous, and the buttons you're required to press always correspond to the actions your character is trying to perform on screen (i.e. pressing the jump button to jump up to a helicopter). Furthermore, due to the way cutscenes are woven into the game, the player is always able to continue looking around with the mouse, so you'll pretty much always have your hands on the controls ready to Press X.

** The dogs are coupled with fanatic Japanese soldiers using bayonets instead of biting you in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar''. They're actually possible to consistently defeat without dying, however. The animation for killing them when you're down is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and you are invisible to other enemies in the mean time.

* The final battle between Turok and Kane in 2008's ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' was like this. Somewhat justified in that it was an extension of the game's previous ActionCommands gameplay, and not a last minute UnexpectedGameplayChange completely out of left field. Also, missing a Press X to Not Die prompt often didn't kill you, but merely changed the course of the fight to one less advantageous to you (you had to lose multiple prompts in a row to actually die).

* ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' in its Zelda attraction. The archer receives quick-time event prompts for any enemy that can't be resonably disposed of before they can get an attack off ({{Giant Mook}}s and archers, basically). This is necessary because you have absolutely no control over your movement, and without it avoiding damage (and thus mastering the level) would be impossible. [[NintendoHard Depending on who you ask, it might be impossible anyway]].

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' has optional ones during certain cutscenes. You don't die if you miss them, the cutscene just goes a slightly alternate direction (for instance, Ezio won't...[[HandsomeLech remove the woman's dress]], or won't hug Leonardo, or will get hit in the head with a vase). It's a bit more strange than most other games, as most other games have quick time events when something dramatic and sudden happens. This game however, has quick time events for... [[MundaneMadeAwesome shaking your friends' hands]]...

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' where an ''InterfaceScrew'' claims you were supposed to push X not to die, but when you select to retry [[spoiler:[[FissionMailed Batman instead rises from his own grave as a zombie and continues his fear gas induced hallucination where it left off.]]]]

* Used in ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'', mostly in the Raincoat Killer sequences. He's usually generous enough to give you a second chance if you miss the first prompt...usually. The boss fights also include quicktime events, but failing them only results in taking damage rather than instant death.

** Returned with a vengeance in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', though it did mix up the actions a bit and at least included timers on a few of them this time. Some were the standard "press to break free from zombie" action where failure just meant damage to your health. But some now included doing mundane things like looking at panels and whatnot to operate a vehicle that was in danger (i.e zombies attacking it, a plane going down, etc) or trying to pry open something during a zombie attack. And of course you got the usual one shot KO cutscenes if you fail. To the game's credit, they were much more exciting then [=RE5's=], but the timing window will frustrate first time players, especially on co-op.

* In a series that's been otherwise free of them, ''[[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Metroid Prime 3: Corruption]]'' introduces one in the form of "Phazon overload," which you have to burn off by frantic mashing of the firing button. Not doing so fast enough earns you a NonstandardGameOver. The first and last time it happens, it's a Press A To Not Die; in all other instances it takes the form of an ActionCommand. Usually overload works in your favor as it's basically a free Hypermode, but it can be overdone to cruel effect on the hardest difficulty setting.

* ''VideoGame/SewerShark'' on the Sega CD has one of the most patently unfair examples: In one cutscene, your player character commands you to fire your gatling gun...and the game expects you to hit the fire button exactly then, with no button prompt or any other indication for actual interactivity. And if you don't fire on his mark, it's an instant Game Over and you have to start all over.

* In ''VideoGame/InfinityBlade'' ''III'', if you see a wide open area with no enemies in sight, be prepared to do this. Otherwise, [[spoiler:a huge dragon]] is gonna roast you for half of your life.

* The Early Access Steam game VideoGame/PressXToNotDie, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voF-p-jEzuw as demonstrated by MegaGWolf]], is basically a modern day VideoGame/DragonsLair when it comes to how much it adheres to this trope. It's the freaking title for crying out loud. [[spoiler:It's {{justified}} and even {{exploited}}, as the reason why the protagonist is able to see the buttons is because he is infected with a drug that hardwires his brain to tie even the most simplest of actions down to two button presses.]]

* ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'' was a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game released in the mid-nineties. It was an animated adventure that gave the player ChooseYourOwnAdventure style choices that would guide the cutscenes. Every once in a while, in the middle of a cutscene, arrows would flash on the screen and you'd have one second to choose a direction, hit the D-Pad, and dodge a surprise attack.

* Starting with ''Escaping the Prison'', every game in the VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries features a route in which the player must [[ChooseYourOwnAdventure choose how to proceed]] within a given time frame, often just a couple of seconds, otherwise they die. Some of the options [[PressXToDie will also kill you]]. ''Fleeing the Complex'' adds timer bars so you can see how much time you have left to make your choice, [[spoiler:and also subverts it with the final set of choices, all of which result in your death; [[RewardingInactivity doing nothing and letting the timer run out]] will net you the "Presumed Dead" ending]].

** Simon-Says style [=QTEs=] are also used to decide the outcomes for several one-time-only events (a boxing match, a basketball match, etc) for which developing an entire minigame would be a BizarroEpisode, a DifficultySpike and a waste of time, both the players' and the developers'. TropesAreNotBad!

** ''VideoGame/GodOfWar 2'', where [[spoiler:rapid shoulder button mashing is required to keep Atlas from literally squashing Kratos between his fingers long enough for [[EnemyMine Two Angry Bald Men to realize they both hate Zeus and want to kick his ass]]]].

* ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'', what with being VideoGame/GodOfWar [[RecycledINSPACE in ancient Asia.]]

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* Brought into ''Franchise/MassEffect'' as a {{Reconstruction)) of the idea, appearing during dialogue and cut scenes. Instead of it being a matter of survival these are more in line with [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII press a button and something awesome happens,]] allowing optional scenes and outcomes depending on whether you want to play paragon or renegade, the results being everything from headbutting a shark toad jerkass or beating down a scientist who tortured his autistic brother to forcibly stopping a ally from making a heroic sacrifice.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has an interesting subversion of this where the X that you need to press causes Shepard to perform actions that affect his/her {{karma|Meter}} rather than killing him/her. They are also up on the screen longer to allow some thought to be put into it. Not that it matters for most gamers. Since you get NoPointsForNeutrality, they'll hammer it the instant it comes up. It's basically [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Press X To Be A Jerkass]] or [[VideoGameCaringPotential Press X To Be A Nice Guy]].
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the final ten minutes has a straight version when you confront [[spoiler:The Illusive Man]]. If you cannot talk him into suicide, you have two quick-time events in which you shoot him to death. If you don't press either of those, he shoots Anderson and then you, and you need to reload to the last checkpoint.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} 2'' does this every time you try to hijack an enemy vehicle, and [[CutsceneBoss the final boss fight]] is a quick time event.

* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'', from the same creator as ''Bayonetta'', adds [[SymbolDrawingInterface drawing QTEs]] to the mix of familiar button prompts and button mashers. These are prompted by a character [[CallingYourAttacks shouting the name of their attack]], giving the player a handful of seconds of slow-mo to draw it before failure. They're woven very well into gameplay, and in addition most of them have an unique and humorous failure animation, and only cause some slight damage if failed.

* ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'': The TropeNamer, alluding to a running gag that Yahtzee mentions this line word-for-word in his videos every time he complains about quick time events. One video has him appear on-camera to speak directly to the audience and game developers about why QTEs are so annoying, during which he himself is subjected to a quick time event. It also shows up when he alludes to his potential future as a serial killer: police are investigating a murder scene where the trope name is scrawled in blood on the wall above a corpse.

Largely originating with ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' (though pre-dated by the obscure ''The Driver''), the gameplay of which consisted entirely of these; it was pretty much a cartoon where you had to press buttons at the right time for the story to continue. (''Exactly'' the right time, [[TrialAndErrorGameplay often without any sort of prompt.]]) ''[[Franchise/DieHard Die Hard Arcade]]'' and the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast game ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' as well as ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage'' on the same console introduced them to the action genre.