History Main / SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration

** Junpei finally [[spoiler:being in control and solving the sudoku puzzle by himself without the help of past!Akane]] is represented by the sudoku puzzle being displayed upside-down, forcing the player to rotate their DS, so the touchscreen is at the top.

** Junpei finally [[spoiler:being in control and solving the sudoku puzzle by himself past!Akane]] is represented by the sudoku puzzle being displayed upside-down, forcing the player to rotate their DS, so the touchscreen is at the top.

** Even the NewGamePlus (and the narrative flowchart in the ''Nonary Games'' [[UpdatedRerelease rerelease]] that lets you jump to specific points in the story) is integrated into the story, as [[spoiler: past!June is having visions of every possible future during the current Nonary Game. In fact, one of the bad endings is ''required'' to get the good ending, as past!June conveys information gained during that ending to Junpei, allowing him to [[SequenceBreaking Sequence Break]] his way past a keypad lock.]]

** Why is there GameplayGrading that gives out a points currency? [[spoiler:As revealed in the P-2 lore terminal, the terminals you keep finding in Hell are from a previous expedition into it, and when the link between the terminals and Earth got cut off the terminals somehow developed something similar to boredom. Without any new stimuli to stave off monotony, they resorted to trading with the other abandoned machines in Hell for video footage of their battles for survival. Machines that provide high-quality videos - i.e., more "stylish" footage - receive more "points" to exchange for new weaponry.]]

* ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' begins with Knuckles stealing the chaos emeralds and you have to enter special stages to retrieve them. The subtext is that Knuckles hid them in the special stages. After the stage where Robotnik betrays Knuckles there is no more special stages.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series is one of the few that actually gives an explanation for each game's ArtEvolution, and why even staple equipment and character designs change in subtle and not so subtle ways between games. The Covenant are stated to have a whole "[[https://www.halopedia.org/Design_pattern design pattern]]" doctrine, where their equipment is made from templates whose creation is under immense bureaucratic scrutiny and dogma, and which have a habit of self-mutating. The Forerunners have multiple architectural styles that are inspired by the needs of their caste system and location, while the UNSC are shown to have a massive network of defence contractors offering equipment that evolves with time.

* In ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike]]'', Olaf and Lash have a Tag Power penalty due to the latter [[DoomedHometown destroying the former's hometown]] in the previous installment.

* ''TabletopGame/StarWarsArmada'': Darth Vader's officer version is designed to [[YouHaveFailedMe kill off friendly officers when their ships roll badly]], giving them rerolls. Multiple officers are designed to have limited use windows so you can get the full benefit from them and then sacrifice them when they inevitably [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness]]...and Admiral Ozzel and Captain Needa have abilities that take effect ''right at the start of the game'' and cannot be reused, making them some of the most likely officers for Vader to kill off - just like he did in the movies.

** ''Breath of the Wild'' has the Yiga Clan, who are a group of evil ninjas on the side of the BigBad. Their scouts can be encountered in the field under the disguise of a traveler or merchant. When you defeat their leader, he vows that his gang will follow you everywhere no matter where you go. He is not kidding. Defeating the leader only makes the clan more bold and they will start appearing out of nowhere at anytime to attack you on sight.
** Speaking of the Yiga Clan, the members that are encountered in disguise in the overworld only attack Link when he speaks with them directly. In the DLC memory Champion Urbosa's Song, they do the same. [[spoiler:Except that instead of talking with them, she challenges them to fight her, knowing that they were disguised Yiga.]]
** Also from ''Breath of the Wild'', Daruk's journal in "The Champions' Ballad" DLC mentions that Link was appointed as Zelda's personal bodyguard after he used a pot lid to deflect a Guardian's laser -- a difficult, yet completely possible feat to accomplish in game.
** One common problem with open world games is memory overflow--every time you pick something up or kill an enemy, the game has to remember it, and eventually it starts causing problems like long load times. ''Breath of the Wild'' solves the problem and integrates it into the plot with the blood moons, when Ganon's power turns the moon red, resurrects all the dead monsters, and resets everything else in the world except for a few permanent things like shrines and dungeons.

** ''Tears of the Kingdom'' opens with Link being attacked by [[TheCorruption pure gloom]] from the freshly revived Ganondorf and being left severely crippled, which is shown to the player (and justifies the BagOfSpilling) in the form of all of Link's hearts in his maxed out health meter visibly breaking. Whenever you upgrade Link's health or stamina, it's explicitly described by Hylia as cleansing the gloom corruption affecting him, and wisps of the gloom visibly shed off of Link when he receives one. [[spoiler: When you fight Ganondorf again, all of his attacks cause gloom, and when he decides to stop playing around and assumes his Demon King form, being touched by his gloom will permanently (for the fight) destroy a heart container, just like his attack in the prologue.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure,'' [[PetInterface Chao]] who are properly cared for are granted BornAgainImmortality and come back to life as babies at the end of their life cycle, out of sheer love for their owner. This crops up in the game itself when we see that [[spoiler: Chaos' Chao friends have been successfully resurrecting through the years since Chaos was sealed -- and when Sonic returns him to his normal form, they finally get to play with their favorite caretaker again]].

** The stages' themes and gimmicks match what is going on in the story. Upgrades about exploration are found in stages were getting somewhere, like Lost Colony, or leaving, like Mission Street, is the point of the level and upgrades involving combat and breaking down obstacles give weapons to break through like Eternal Engine. Amusingly, the upgrades that have the most effect on defeating down enemies easily are found in the first stages to show how little they matter now that you have learned how to play the game.

** ''Tears of the Kingdom'' opens with Link being attacked by [[TheCorruption pure gloom]] from the freshly revived Ganondorf and being left severely crippled, which is shown to the player (and justifies the BagOfSpilling) in the form of all of Link's hearts in his maxed out health meter visibly breaking. Whenever you upgrade Link's health or stamina, it's explicitly described by Hylia as cleansing the gloom corruption affecting him, and wisps of the gloom visibly shed off of Link when he receives one. [[spoiler: When you fight Ganondorf again, all of his attacks cause gloom, and when he decides to stop play around and assumes his Demon King form, being touched by his gloom will permanently (for the fight) destroy a heart container, just like his attack in the prologue.]]

** ''Tears of the Kingdom'' opens with Link being attacked by [[TheCorruption pure gloom]] and being left severely crippled, which is shown to the player (and justifies the BagOfSpilling) in the form of all of Link's hearts in his maxed out health meter visibly breaking. Whenever you upgrade Link's health or stamina, it's explicitly described by Hylia as cleansing the gloom corruption affecting him, and wisps of the gloom visibly shed off of Link when he receives one.

*** Faye is the only character in the game with a support bonus having a negative impact on her stats, being that if she is near Alm she has a reduced chance of avoiding an enemy attack. Faye has a huge crush on Alm, to the point of it [[AmbiguousDisorder severely damaging her mental health]]. The implication is the decreased avoid chance effect is because she gets so distracted watching Alm that it allows an opening for the enemy to attack. That, or she's so focused on killing the enemy to impress Alm that she disregards her own safety.

* Sorcerers have slightly more access to cantrips than any other caster, including the master of the arcane wizard class. This access to resource free spells plays in to their MadeofMagic nature.

* In the winter chapter of ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'', you can open Ellie's backpack and find that she stole a picture of Joel and his deceased daughter from his sister-in-law several hours before she gives it to him in the story itself.

* In the UpdatedRerelease for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', during the "Flight From The Ruins" DLC, Clair seeks out a ring that bestows immunity to magic to protect her brother Clive, who has "a weakness to magic," something that he actually does have in the game. That said, considering that Clive [[TierInducedScrappy is not a very strong unit]], Mathilda's reassuring Clair that Clive is "the strongest of the world's strongest knights," [[InformedAbility rings hollow]].