History StrictlyFormula / VideoGames

** The party will always be a GenderEqualEnsemble. Most party member will be in their teens or twenties, except for one who is much older, being at least in their thirties. There will also often be one party member who is a child and/or a TeamPet.

* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series almost always sticks to two basic plots;

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has a similar plot for each game: some BigBad [[RousseauWasRight (who is never really evil)]] causes some incident that gets the protagonists' attention, protagonists go out and beat up unrelated bosses for a few stages (usually two), until finally encountering someone related to the incident at hand (typically a minion of the Big Bad, but not always), which sets them on the track towards resolving the incident. The Big Bad's BattleButler [[TheDragon is fought on Stage 5]], [[FinalBoss the Big Bad herself on Stage 6]], then everyone [[DefeatMeansFriendship has a tea party]]. In the Extra Stage, the protagonists wind up fighting [[BonusBoss someone who had absolutely no relevance to the events of the main game]], but is usually related to the Big Bad (family, friend or sometimes enemy). This boss is typically presented as more powerful than the Big Bad herself. Some subversions do occur occasionally: In ''Unidentified Fantastic Object'', for example, the first boss is immediately relevant to the story (though the second is not). In ''Double Dealing Character'', meanwhile, [[spoiler:the Big Bad is beaten first, in stage 5, while her UnwittingPawn is the FinalBoss]].

** in ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'', Erusea just simply acts out of dickery with no outside influence. In ''VideoGame/AceCombatXSkiesOfDeception'', the war itself was just a ploy for loads of money by the other country's leader, and no enemy squadron acts as Gryphus 1's counterpart, save for the [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment almost-throwaway]] Alect squadron.

*** ''XV'' has the three roles, but gives them to three male characters (mean, sexy Gladio; childish and innocent Prompto; and Noctis, who like his predecessor in ''XIII'' with whom he is meant to [[ContrastingSequelMainCharacter contast]], combines the strong-hearted prince(ss) role with the boy hero part.)

* Creator/TelltaleGames became fairly notorious for this in their post-''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' years, and internal documents released after the company folded show that it was company policy in a vain effort to recapture the magic (and success) of ''The Walking Dead'' -- a darkly-toned episodic adventure game based on an existing license that largely ditches traditional inventory puzzles in favor of a focus on choices and QuickTimeEvents, characters occasionally remembering prior decisions, and a big climactic ending where the main character has to make a major choice.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** The series is always some variation of "a UAC base is overrun by demons during the middle of a teleportation experiment, and [[FeaturelessProtagonist the Doomguy]] must kill them all". The series is really ambiguous as to whether or not a given ContinuityReboot (''Doom RPG'' series, ''Final Doom'', the first two novels, etc.) is taking place concurrently or on its own timeline, with the exception of ''Doom 3'' which is most certainly its own timeline.
** Most 32-map long {{Game Mod}}s for ''Doom II'' ape the original game's level progression: the first third of the levels is set in a futuristic high-tech base; the second third is set in cities, castles and other "Earth" locations; the final third is set in Hell. Also, map 7, just like the original, typically involves killing Mancubuses and Arachnotrons, and the final level typically involves a boss fight against something that launches monster-spawning cubes and which requires precisely-aimed rockets fired down a shaft of some sort to damage it. The only real deviation from the formula is that the secret levels are actually connected to whatever bare-bones ExcusePlot the mod has, rather than the completely random ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' interlude from the original game.

** Samus Aran lands on a planet or space station on a mission from the Galactic Federation. Sometimes you might get an explanation for that game's BagOfSpilling, but in any case, Samus must make her way through the various areas and locales presented to the player by using the power-ups she gains by defeating bosses. At some point, generally at the end of the game, you fight a LoadBearingBoss; if it ''is'' at the end of the game, you get Samus barely escaping an EarthShatteringKaboom. Cue credits and our heroine gracing the player with her face [[{{Speedrun}} if they beat the game fast enough]] (or a SequelHook if you're playing the ''Prime'' games).

* In all ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' games except the fourth and sixth, you're the guide of a new team of explorers determined to delve into the secrets, wonders ''and'' dangers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Whether you're climbing it upward or going downward varies, but in all cases you're exploring six strata, with the first five being mandatory to finish the adventure and the sixth being a formidable BonusDungeon only for the bravest (or craziest) team. The fourth game shakes it up by having the team travel across the world ''towards'' the fabled tree, venturing through four overworld lands (each with its own stratum) in the process. The sixth game does the same thing except the explorers are going ''around'' the tree before getting in.

*** ''Sun and Moon'' also introduced another twist to the formula that returned in later games, having the villain team actually be secondary threats in favor of a HiddenVillain.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' takes the modern Zelda formula and smashes it with full force against the wall. Whatever sticks is tossed into a blender with [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the very first game]]'s nonlinear, open-world formula and some SurvivalSandbox elements such as BreakableWeapons and ItemCrafting (cooking food in this case). The result is an ''[[Franchise/TheElderScrolls Elder Scrolls]]''-esque [[WideOpenSandbox open world]] where you can tackle the quests and dungeons in any order you want, just like in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first game]]. No more finding special items and gadgets, those are given to you from the get-go after a few tutorials. And the Master Sword is no longer a SwordOfPlotAdvancement, just a good (and unbreakable) sword. It's also optional; in fact, you can skip it, the quests and the dungeons and just dash straight to the FinalBoss right after the tutorials, in your underwear armed with a few sticks.

* The ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series to an extent. New reploids are introduced and they turn out to be evil or just backstab people. Usually Sigma is involved. In fact, [[spoiler:it's a plot twist in the last game when [[HijackedByGanon he really wasn't secretly behind it]] all]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' added in a few extra points such as a lead villain who is an EvilCounterpart hellbent on getting revenge on the hero, and sequences involving breaking panels with a Nikita missile to rescue a hostage. As ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' are just as much ''remakes'' of ''Metal Gear 2'' as they are sequels, they both play the plot structure very straight.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' have different plots, although the latter incorporates a lot of mostly superficial InternalHomage.

* Creator/TelltaleGames became fairly notorious for this in their post-''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' years, and internal documents have suggested it was company policy -- a darkly-toned episodic adventure game based on an existing license that largely ditches traditional inventory puzzles in favor of a focus on choices and QuickTimeEvents, characters occasionally remembering prior decisions, and a big climactic ending where the main character has to make a major choice.
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has a similar plot for each game: some BigBad [[RousseauWasRight (who is never really evil)]] causes some incident that gets the protagonists' attention, protagonists go out and beat up unrelated bosses for a few stages (usually two), until finally encountering someone related to the incident at hand (typically a minion of the BigBad, but not always), which sets them on the track towards resolving the incident. The Big Bad's BattleButler [[TheDragon is fought on Stage 5]], [[FinalBoss the Big Bad herself on Stage 6]], then everyone [[DefeatMeansFriendship has a tea party]]. In the Extra Stage, the protagonists wind up fighting [[BonusBoss someone who had absolutely no relevance to the events of the main game]], but is usually related to the BigBad (family, friend or sometimes enemy). This boss is typically presented as more powerful than the BigBad herself. Some subversions do occur occasionally: In ''Unidentified Fantastic Object'', for example, the first boss is immediately relevant to the story (though the second is not). In ''Double Dealing Character'', meanwhile, [[spoiler:the BigBad is beaten first, in stage 5, while her UnwittingPawn is the FinalBoss]].

* Many ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' platform games (among them ''Kirby's Adventure'', ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land'', and ''Kirby Triple Deluxe'') follow a distinct formula. Popstar, or occasionally a series of other planets, is endangered or inconvenienced in some way and Kirby heads off to stop it. The first world is always a grassland world, and island and snow worlds are also commonly seen, with an average total of about six worlds. Levels are usually connected via a HubLevel. In most cases, the world names are alliterative and spell out a plot-relevant acronym (V-I-B-G-Y-O-R, C-R-O-W-N-E-D, F-L-O-W-E-R, etc). In the later games, the last world will end in a battle against TheDragon, followed immediately by the BigBad introducing themself and a fight against them. After defeating what appears to be the final boss, the plot begins to thicken and it turns out that Kirby's attempts to fix things have actually made them significantly worse. The player, sometimes after an UnexpectedShmupLevel, then goes to the PostFinalLevel and faces the real final boss, which ends with a CoupDeGraceCutscene with quicktime events, and the day is saved and everyone goes home. But an optional BossRush holds the TrueFinalBoss at the end, a souped-up version of the regular final boss who, instead of the CoupDeGraceCutscene, will have an extra, unique phase to them.

* Many ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' platform games (among them ''Kirby's Adventure'', ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land'', and ''Kirby Triple Deluxe'') follow a distinct formula. Popstar, or occasionally a series of other planets, is endangered or inconvenienced in some way and Kirby heads off to stop it. The first world is always a grassland world, and island and snow worlds are also commonly seen. Levels are usually connected via a HubLevel. In most cases, the world names are alliterative and spell out a plot-relevant acronym (V-I-B-G-Y-O-R, C-R-O-W-N-E-D, F-L-O-W-E-R, etc.) After defeating what appears to be the final boss, the plot begins to thicken and it turns out that Kirby's attempts to fix things have actually made them significantly worse. The player then faces the real final boss, sometimes after an UnexpectedShmupLevel, and the day is saved and everyone goes home.

*** Kid gets a [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Fire/Water/Grass starter]] and a Pokédex from the local professor, then leaves their small town to go on a journey to collect eight Gym badges, defeat the region's [[BossBonanza Elite Four and Champion]], and cement themselves as one of the strongest trainers around. Oh, and in the middle of all this, encounter an evil team and find yourself as the only one capable of stopping their plans, which tend to involve you having to fight a legendary Pokémon or two.

* In all ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' games except the fourth and sixth, you're the guide of a new team of explorers determined to explore the secrets, wonders ''and'' dangers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Whether you're climbing it upward or going downward varies, but in all cases you're exploring six strata, with the first five being mandatory to finish the adventure and the sixth being a formidable BonusDungeon only for the bravest (or craziest) team. The fourth game shakes it up by having the team travel across the world ''towards'' the fabled tree, venturing through four overworld lands (each with its own stratum) in the process. The sixth game does the same thing except the explorers are going ''around'' the tree before getting in.
* Similarly, the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series follows a similar set of story beats: the hero - usually but not always a Vault Dweller - must leave their home which, through external circumstances, they cannot return to. They must travel through the Wasteland, recruiting companions along the way, to find what they're looking for: either something that will save their home or a lost family member, or both. They can help struggling towns, join themed factions, and complete a number of side quests. Along the way, a larger threat presents itself, and by the time the hero finds what they're looking for, it in some way has been rendered invalid by the larger conflict. Ultimately, the hero takes charge of whatever faction they choose and decide the conflict once and for all. Of all the games, only ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' strays from this, and even they keep the main beats (searching for an artifact, side quests, goofy side factions, larger conflict) but changes up the details.

** Kid gets a [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Fire/Water/Grass starter]] and a Pokédex from the local professor, then leaves their small town to go on a journey to collect eight Gym badges, defeat the region's [[BossBonanza Elite Four and Champion]], and cement themselves as one of the strongest trainers around. Oh, and in the middle of all this, encounter an evil team and find yourself as the only one capable of stopping their plans, which tend to involve you having to fight a legendary Pokémon or two.

*** Oddly enough, ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''(a mainline entry in the series) completely abandoned the formula of those games in favor of following the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' spin-off formula. The only major difference from the PMD formula after making the appropriate human/Pokémon substitutions is [[spoiler:that you don't return back to your original time period at the end of the game]].

** In most games, the heroine lands on a planet or spacestation and something happens to her powers: They're either lost, damaged, or simply absent, so she has to rebuild her gear gradually, and make her way through the various areas and locales by using the powerups she gains (often by defeating big bosses) until meeting the final boss.
** Each game in the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' follows a sub-formula on its own. [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime The first game]] is more or less like the 2D games in terms of progression, as you're randomly exploring a world that just happens to be divided into visually distinct regions, occasionally fighting bosses. In [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes the second game]], the objective in each of the three main areas is to find a temple, located in the DarkWorld counterpart of said areas; each temple is locked and three keys scattered through the areas are needed to get access to them, and inside lies a MarathonBoss that guards a large percentage of sacred light, the game's PlotCoupon. In [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption the third game]], the objective is to disinfect entire planets, [[RuleOfThree three of them again]], and each planet has a Phazon-infected bounty hunter as a MiniBoss; in addition, the three planetary bosses are fought in nearly identical chambers. Last, but not least, each of the three console ''Prime'' titles culminates with a FetchQuest of 9-12 items related to the access to the final stage, where the FinalBoss awaits. ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'', being a GaidenGame, breaks the formula by presenting the fetch quest as the ''primary'' objective in the game, and the locations are explored with the purpose of collecting the Octoliths in mind from the get-go.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' seeked to change the formula in various aspects, like being more story-centric (a trend first seen in ''Fusion'' and ''Corruption'', but never to this extent), and Samus having all of her powerups since the beginning, but only using them when she's given the permission to do so (or decides she needs them, in one case).

*** There is some flexibly with how the "evil team" plot affects your Pokémon League challenge. Most entries have you foil their plans or make their leader see reason between the last two Gyms, but others mix-it up a bit. For example, ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' have the villain's plot preempt or interrupt the fight against the Champion, with the former [[spoiler:even having the credits roll once you beat them, leaving the Champion fight as part of the post-game]]. There are also occasionally post-game storylines that serve as epilogues for the events of the main story, such as the Sevii Islands in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen FireRed and LeafGreen]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'''s "Delta Episode."

*** ''Sword and Shield'' foregoes a standardized Elite Four in favor of the Champion Cup: a single-elimination knockout tournament against [[BossRush your rivals and previous Gym Leaders]].

*** Oddly enough, ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''(a mainline entry in the series) completely abandoned the formula of those games in favor of following the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' spin-off formula. Just swap out "human turned into Pokémon" with "human displace in time-and-space" and your Rescue Team partner for your standard party of Pokémon. The only major difference from the PMD formula after you substitute Pokémon for humans where necessary is [[spoiler:that you don't return back to your original time period at the end of the game]].

** Here's the setup for the main series games: kid gets a [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Fire/Water/Grass starter]] and a Pokédex from the local professor, then leaves their small town to go on a journey to collect eight Gym badges, defeat the region's [[BossBonanza Elite Four and Champion]], and cement themselves as one of the strongest trainers around. Oh, and in the middle of all this, encounter an evil team and find yourself as the only one capable of stopping their plans, which tend to involve you having to fight a legendary Pokémon or two.
*** There is some flexibly with how the "evil team" plot affects your Pokémon League challenge. Most entries have you foil their plans or make their leader see reason before you get your final badge, but others mix-it up a bit. ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' have the villain's plot preempt or interrupt the fight against the Champion, with the former [[spoiler:even having the credits roll once you beat them, leaving the Champion fight as a post-game challenge]].plot credits roll once you beat the evil team, and the Champion fight is only in the post-game]]. There are also occasionally post-game storylines that serve as epilogues for the events of the main story, such as the Sevii Islands in ''[VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen FireRed and LeafGreen]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'''s Delta Episode.

*** ''Sword and Shield'' foregoes a standardized Elite Four in favor of a single-elimination knockout tournament against [[BossRush your rivals and previous Gym Leaders]].

** Kid gets his or her starter and Pokédex from the local professor, battles his or her rival whose starter has [[ElementalRockPaperScissors a type advantage]], goes on a journey to get all 8 badges and become champion, runs into an evil team a couple times and defeats them between the 7th and 8th Gyms, maybe fights a few legendary Pokémon, and finally defeats the Elite Four and current Champion.
** By the time ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' came around, the developers caught on. The games’ story is a {{Deconstruction}} of the classic Pokémon formula, and breaks from the the norm during the endgame. [[spoiler:The climactic battle is with the evil team leader, who has already defeated the Champion by the time the player has beaten the Elite Four. You also have to best TheManBehindTheMan before the credits roll, and the Champion fight is only in the post-game]].
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' zigzag this trope. The story is only about 70% done when you beat the Elite 4, after which it starts an AdaptationExpansion with the Delta Episode. Said Delta Episode's climax involves getting [[OlympusMons Rayquaza]] to destroy an oncoming Meteorite to prevent it from [[ColonyDrop destroying the planet.]] Said Meteorite also contains [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Deoxys]] inside it. This was originally the climax of [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team.]]
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' departs from the Gym system and instead implements the Trial system, which involves performing trials and fighting a powerful "Totem Pokémon" at the end. Much like ''Black and White'', the game is also much more story and character based.

* Creator/BioWare's {{RPG}}s from ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' onward have had mostly identical structures: a Semi-TutorialLevel, an [[CallToAdventure event that sets up initial quest]], the initial quest [[PyrrhicVictory succeeds at high cost]], the status quo is shaken up and [[OpeningTheSandbox leads to a new, more open area with more sidequests]], the PlayerCharacter attains full status in whatever HeroesRUs [[PurelyAestheticGender s/he]]'d enlisted in (Jedi, Spirit Monk, Spectre, Grey Warden) and receives a [[GottaCatchThemAll larger task to gather]] [[PlotCoupon four clues/allies]]. Each part of TheQuest occurs in a separate zone and in multiple stages that can be [[StoryBranching solved in different ways]], with numerous {{Side Quest}}s in each area. Progress in each area, however, will be completely useless towards completing the others, except in terms of equipment and party members recruited there to aid you in combat. A fifth area will open up after three of them are complete, and you may or may not be [[PlotTunnel forced to complete it immediately]]. [[BranchAndBottleneckPlotStructure Once all five are done]], the plot will continue in a linear fashion to the final area, [[PointOfNoReturn generally without sidequests]], and culminate in a cinematic conclusion. Deviations from the formula include:

* Creator/BioWare's {{RPG}}s from ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' onward have mostly identical structures: Semi-TutorialLevel, [[CallToAdventure event that sets up initial quest]], initial quest [[PyrrhicVictory succeeds at high cost]], status quo is shaken up and [[OpeningTheSandbox leads to new, more open area with more sidequests]], the PlayerCharacter attains full status in whatever HeroesRUs [[PurelyAestheticGender s/he]] enlisted in (Jedi, Spirit Monk, Spectre, Grey Warden) and gets [[GottaCatchThemAll larger task to gather]] [[PlotCoupon four clues/allies]]. Each part of TheQuest involves a separate zone with multiple stages that can be [[StoryBranching solved in different ways]], with numerous {{Side Quest}}s in each area. Progress in each area will be completely useless towards completing the others, except in terms of equipment and party members recruited there to aid you in combat. A fifth area will open up after three of them are complete, you may or may not be [[PlotTunnel forced to complete it immediately]]. [[BranchAndBottleneckPlotStructure Once all five are done]], the plot will continue in a linear fashion to the final area, [[PointOfNoReturn generally with no sidequests]], culminating in a cinematic conclusion. Deviations from the formula include:

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' intentionally averted the formula, instead opting for a DashedPlotLine with more of a TV season structure. [[BrokenBase This (among other things) was... not very well received]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' added in a few extra points such as a lead villain who is a NotSoDifferent EvilCounterpart hellbent on getting revenge on the hero, and sequences involving breaking panels with a Nikita missile to rescue a hostage. As ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' are just as much ''remakes'' of ''Metal Gear 2'' as they are sequels, they both play the plot structure very straight.

** [[ArchEnemy Bowser]] [[DamselInDistress kidnaps the princess]], [[ExcusePlot go save her]]. Eight worlds. Starts with a [[GreenHillZone grass world]], then usually a [[ShiftingSandLand desert world]] and a [[UnderTheSea water themed world]]. Various other stock location themes in the middle, such as [[SlippySlideyIceWorld ice]], [[BubblyClouds sky]], and [[DeathMountain mountains]]. Ends in [[{{Mordor}} a volcanic world]], fight through [[SupervillainLair Bowser's Castle, defeat Bowser]], [[SaveThePrincess save princess]]. And in each world, expect to find a fortress guarded by a MiniBoss, as well as a Castle housing the local Boss at the end. This formula becomes more noticeable in the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' subseries, as the only old-school game to faithfully follow it is ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.[[note]]Neither ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' nor ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'' have any explicitly-themed worlds, nor bosses or minibosses other than Bowser and his copies; ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' was the first to have most of the usual themed worlds as well as its own recurring miniboss, but its story and antagonist are different; ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' has it the other way around by having the familiar story and villain, but the settings and themed worlds are different; lastly, both ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins games]] are different in nearly every regard, even between each other.[[/note]]