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  • The Chrono Trigger opening, which spoils such events as the Epoch getting its wings. It also shows 1999AD's world erupting and being split apart and Lavos appearing. Chrono Cross follows in the same tradition, showing off many of the scenes from the final act in the game, although some without context, including the Dragons gathering together to form the Dragon God, Serge sailing to the Terra Tower, and Serge as Lynx being reborn in his own body.
  • Lunar: The Silver Star:
    • The opening for the original game for Sega CD also heavily implies that Ghaleon is the main big bad.
    • The opening of Lunar: Silver Star Story for PlayStation give some spoilers, like Alex turning into a Dragon Master, Nall's transformation into a White Dragon and the only party members that will stay with you until the end of the game.
    • The new playable intro from the PSP remake, Lunar Silver Star Harmony, gives huge hints towards all of the game's biggest spoilers, including Ghaleon's Start of Darkness and Luna's role as Althena incarnate.
  • Tales of the Abyss:
    • The opening is littered with spoilers, most notably Asch looking exactly like Luke, Luke fighting Asch, Luke having cut his hair (which is very symbolic in Japanese media), Luke and Natalia being surrounded by soldiers (from the land which Natalia is princess of) and the appearance of the final dungeon, among other things.
    • The theme song itself, which lays out the relationship between Luke and Asch throughout the entire game, right through the epilogue. Well, it's pretty moot if you don't know Japanese, and the English version took out the lyrics...
    • Tales of Symphonia:
      • Looking at the opening, you couldn't tell that Regal does a Heel–Face Turn.
      • And why is Lloyd reaching for his sword in apparent opposition to Kratos?
      • Basically, every scene depicted in the opening actually happens at some point in the game; but without context to put it in, you can't tell what it's about. (Such as Sheena preparing to activate the Mana Cannon.)
      • The first shot of the opening fades in the image of a blond person in white. Most players who are still in the early stages of the game would assume that it's Colette, but after later reveals, it becomes obvious that the figure is actually Yggdrasil.
      • If you just so happen to be watching the Anime of the game, without playing it, don't worry the opening will helpfully inform you of all the major characters. Not that the show itself is very subtle but still...
    • Tales of Phantasia's PSX opening featured Fujibayashi Suzu prominently - she was a minor character in the Super FamiCom incarnation of the game, but had been upgraded to a semi-secret playable.
    • And in the opening for Tales of Legendia why do we see, among other things, Chloe stabbing Senel?
    • Tales of Rebirth mostly avoids this, since the opening only shows a) Minor spoilers (Shaorune), or b) Scenes that don't happen in the game (Annie attacking Eugene and Mao blocking it). An exception would be Agarte being listed as one of the good guys, something she doesn't become until 3/4 into the game.
    • In Tales of Graces if you're at the very beginning of the game during the childhood prologue, the opening contains some major spoilers of what happens after the prologue.
    • Happens again in Tales of Xillia. You get to see Gaius hanging out with the chimeriad... and then the main character (whichever one you pick) fighting Gaius in the rain. It also shows Agria with the chimeriad, despite her being part of it not revealed until much later in the game. It also shows several shots of the characters in a snowy modern city, an end-game location.
    • Tales of Xillia 2 shows Ludger fighting his brother Julius, both in advanced Chromatus. It also contains shots of a Milla without the characteristic green hairstrand, implying she's a different Milla, but also showing the actual Milla in the opening. And neither of them is shown in the same scene, hinting that the former disappears for the sake of the other's appearance.
  • Final Fantasy III on the DS has an opening cinematic that show off many of the elements that would appear later in the game, such as the airship and the exterior of the final dungeon. By the looks of it, IV will follow suit. Though, in their defense, the originals had been released, what, seventeen years previously?
    • In a similar vein, Final Fantasy VI had an FMV cinematic on the PS Porting Disaster that showed off most of the characters, although it didn't exactly spoil their role in the game. But it did contain some key elements, such as the coin toss between Edgar and Sabin. This example also some what spoils a major plot twist due to what it doesn't show. Emperor Gestahl is the big bad for half the game before being replaced by Kefka yet he does not get a single appearance in the trailer while Kefka appears in every third scene.
    • Both the PS port and DS remake of Final Fantasy IV spoil Cecil becoming a paladin and adult Rydia, and the PS version also spoils Palom and Porom petrifying themselves.
  • Baten Kaitos... well, let us put it this way. If you wish to enjoy the actual plot, hit Start the instant the opening begins.
  • Baten Kaitos Origins took a unique approach to this. The scene depicted in the opening is actually one of the game's most pivotal moments. But it is depicted with no context whatsoever; the artstyle is changed, there is no dialogue, and all of the characters except Marno (who is never actually seen in-game) are given generic Faceless designs so the player doesn't recognize them when they show up in the story. So even though it's a massive spoiler, the player probably won't figure out what's going on until they get to that point in the game.
  • Persona
    • The PSP Updated Re-release of the original Persona features the imagery of a head and a town springing from it and the end shot shows Maki standing over the town. The presumed Alternate Universe is just a dream world of hers that's slowly starting to take over.
    • Persona 3
      • The opening to the original PS2 release spoils a few things if you're paying close attention. Most glaringly, it shows the texts "Remember you are mortal" and "Memento Mori." Granted, it doesn't make sense in context. It's only after you beat the game that you realize it flat out told you the main character would bite it before you ever started playing.
      • The opening to Persona 3 FES, however, spoils the death of the main character in a subtle-yet-not-so-subtle way. Mainly by showing scenes from The Answer, where Aigis is the main character. FES has a minor Musical Spoiler in its opening as well, if you can speak Japanese. The first verse of the theme is sampled from Kimi No Kioku, the ending theme of The Journey. Though it's difficult to interpret the meaning of the song through a single verse, Kimi No Kioku is a song about a person coping with the death of a loved one.
      • Persona 3 Portable's Opening also has the obligatory spoilers. Memento Mori is still there, but the very last shot of the opening features both protagonists preparing to use their Evokers while a field of Dark Hour Coffins rush by in the background. Just before the final shot, each protagonist aligns perfectly with one of the coffins, looking as though they are resting in them. Of course, anyone whose played the original knows that the new girl is doomed to the same fate as her male counterpart, so it's only a spoiler if you've never played it on the PS2.
    • Persona 4
      • The game has two openings, an animated one which shows clips of all the party members, which isn't so spoilery in itself. The second opening is much more spoilertastic, not only showing Teddie's Shadow and Persona, which isn't much of a spoiler for anyone whose played Persona 3, as the Mission Control character always eventually joins the main party. But it also spoils the fact that Naoto is a Sweet Polly Oliver, by showing her speaking in a clearly feminine voice.
      • Naoto being playable could have actually been quite the spoiler if it wasn't thrown right in your face with the opening since, unlike other party members who get involved in the plot right before they join, she's the only one introduced a long time before joining and acts as the closest thing to a rival.
      • There's also spoilers in the opening of the Updated Re-release Persona 4 Golden, showing both that there is a third victim of the serial killings (and the corpse's face is hidden... by a checkerboard necktie, a rather distinctive accessory that allows observant viewers to tell it's King Moron's corpse), as well as showing the final dungeon of the game at the end of it.
    • The pre-game loading screen for Persona 5 shows every single playable character in the game, including Akechi, who only briefly joins very late in and is treated as a villain for most of the game. Given that Akechi did not get a trailer, unlike every other playable character, it seems him being playable was meant to be a spoiler, although it serves to hide the bigger twists surrounding him.
  • Neverwinter Nights 2 has a spoiler opening that's rather cleverly masked because it's without any context whatsoever. It depicts Shandra Jerro's ancestor Ammon Jerro (who you're lead to believe was a jolly and kind mage) fighting against the King of Shadows (who you're lead to believe is Ammon Jerro) while using a sword that breaks into numerous silver shards THAT YOU'VE BEEN HUNTING DOWN THE ENTIRE GAME.
  • In Guardian's Crusade, the opening credits spoil simultaneously both the Heroic Sacrifice and the Love Confession of the sexy sidekick/romantic interest, which both take place in the Final Battle against the Big Bad
  • Most of the Naruto video games tend to spoil hidden characters during the introduction sequences.
  • The Samurai Shodown II intro briefly shows the secret character Kuroko.
    • But then again, he's in every match as the referee in the background, so no one is gonna guess that this secret character is actually playable.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn have an opening cinematic of some of the game's plot. While it technically has minor spoilers (e.g. Ike fights the Black Knight, what a shock), everything happens so fast that one is more likely to be confused than spoiled if they haven't played the respective game.
    • A particularly notable case, in the opening for Radiant Dawn, there's a section showing various characters in the game; one of the characters shown is Renning, Elincia's uncle and former leader of the Crimean Army, who was supposedly killed early on in Path of Radiance. While it was a popular theory that this character was the true identity of Bertram of Daein's Four Riders, him being still alive after you 'killed' him is a plot point that only comes up near the end of the game.
    • Path of Radiance's intro also clearly shows Leanne, spoiling her survival and the revelation that Reyson and his bedridden father are not the only remaining herons.
    • Radiant Dawn's opening subverts this regarding Ike and the Greil Mercenaries. They don't appear in the initial opening, but reaching the point in the story where they enter unlocks an extended opening movie featuring new scenes involving them.
    • Fire Emblem: Awakening's intro contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it spoiler: Near the end of the cinematic, Risen are shown emerging from a Swirly Energy Thingy from the future. Looking closely, the players will see that among them is the Player Character's future self, travelling back in time.
      • The very first actually playable part of Awakening counts too. It shows the Avatar killing Chrom after fighting Validar. The final fight with Validar takes place in one of the last few levels, though the PC manages to avoid killing Chrom when this happens for real. The reason being that the Premonition stage—the one where the Avatar kills Chrom—is the Avatar's very first memory after their Laser-Guided Amnesia, giving them ample time and opportunity to prepare for the moment and subvert it.
    • In Fire Emblem Fates, aside of the obvious conflict between Nohr and Hoshido, there are scenes that show Azura dancing for King Garon (which is portrayed differently depending on the path) and the existence of the Kingdom of Valla, which will be only properly revealed in the Golden Path.
    • Fire Emblem: Three Houses spoils Byleth and Sothis fusing, Jeralt's death, and the Imperial siege of Garreg Mach during the end of Part I.
  • The opening for The Thing (2002) spoils the fact that your boss is The Man Behind the Man.
  • The title screen of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest displays five crystals, four of which are depowered. Avoiding spoilers, the existence of a fifth still-functioning crystal doesn't come up until very late in the story.
  • The Opening of Space Channel 5 Part 2 gives you the pretty obvious hints of Jaguar being Shadow and Purge being the Big Bad.
  • Kingdom Hearts:
    • It has a good opening and song to go with it, but you notice certain things, especially when playing the game over. The entire thing seems to be symbolism. You see odd, somewhat creepy looking, white-haired teen holding out a hand as the brown-haired protagonist hesitates and looks somewhat scared. A wave goes to engulf white-haired teen and brown-haired kid runs out finally, trying to help him. The wave crashes down, washing away brown-haired boy, but the white-haired boy is still standing, smirking. This is telling you that Riku is going to be "evil" and Sora afraid of that darkness. In fact, the scene in the game is almost exactly like this, but there is actual darkness rather than a wave. It also says who the three original main characters are and who of your friends on the Island won't be appearing again. Kingdom Hearts II shows the entire plot of the previous two games, hot older Kairi in the costume that doesn't appear for about half the game, an odd connection between Kairi and Namine, and connection with Sora and Roxas, for all those people who didn't play the first one or Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories or are just getting into the series? Well, there you go, everything told for you and you didn't even have to try. Of course, it somewhat manages to avoid this with a good about of symbolism.
    • Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep does this one straight AND inverts it. In a typical fashion, the opening is symbolic of the events that transpire (though most of the symbolism will likely go over your head until beating it), but the true spoilers come from the credits. The game is split into three stories, however they can be done in any order. The cast listing reveals Richard Epcar as Terra-Xehanort and Haley Joel Osment as Vanitas. This gets even more ridiculous as the former only appears in Terra's story (not counting the Final Episode), and Vanitas's actor corresponds with his face, which is only revealed in Ven's, so there is no order to play the story in that avoids this. Thankfully the credits are skipable and (apart from the Final Episode's) lacks "Simple and Clean."
    • The opening to Kingdom Hearts coded features brief scenes in the beginning of Aqua, Terra, and Ven as of the ending of Birth by Sleep. Each scene is only maybe a second long, but at the time coded came out Birth By Sleep was only about a year old.
    • Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] has a recap of ALL 6 previous games.
  • In Thief: Deadly Shadows some file names contain spoilers (for example: gamalls_treachery_engl_none_30.bik). They are displayed on the screen during the game installation.
  • The World Ends with You does this magnificently, in that anyone who has beaten the game will notice that the opening goes through the entire plot. It shows Joshua, the two Shikis, Rhyme's fate (and hints at the reason for her and Beat's deaths), Kitaniji's plan for Instrumentality, the reason for (and place of) Neku's death. Meanwhile, anyone new to the game will simply think it's cool.
  • The attract mode for Sin and Punishment shows Saki's transformation scene in full.
  • In Skies of Arcadia, if you wait long enough on the "Press Start" screen, a different intro will begin to play. Unlike the first, this one consists entirely of actual scenes from the game, many of which are spoilers. Some aren't spoilers unless you know the context, but many spoil huge plot twists that happen fairly late in the game. Such as the Valuan attack on Crescent Isle, and the Rains of Destruction falling down on Valua.
  • Last Battle on the Sega Genesis — a license-less port of Fist of the North Star — gives away the entire plot in the introductary scrawl.
  • Pokémon intros tend to give away little things you should know if you watch the commercials or look anywhere on the box. However since Platinum, they have been giving away the villains:
    • Done cleverly in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs: Lugia's silhouette can be seen looming in the background of the opening cinema, but is quite easy to miss.
    • Pokémon Black and White spoils the fact that N is the Big Bad. Only he's not.
    • Pokémon Sun and Moon:
      • The introduction after naming/creating your character nullifies the shocking twist of the Aether Foundation being the villains by having the two employees chasing Lillie make obvious "menacing angry bad guy" scowls while pursuing her, as opposed to their usual friendly demeanor.
      • If you're at all familiar with Pokémon evolutions, you'll know that at least some of them have very similar cries throughout each stage. You may also notice that the little Cosmog accompanying Lillie has a faintly similar cry to that of the legendary Pokémon on the title screen (it's more obvious if it's Lunala), which you'll hear every time you start the game. It doesn't take much brainpower afterwards to guess the two may be related.
  • In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, the characters discover at one point of the story that a member of the exploration team will have to be left out from the expedition to the Great Glacier. Can't wait to find out who is it going to be? Watch the intro, and you'll notice that, when the characters are surrounded by ice, Emolga isn't with the rest of the team.
  • Hyperdimension Neptunia spoils us in the opening sequence when a jet comes by while Neptune is being shown. Most of us would said Cool Ship already if it weren't for the fact that later on, Neptune herself transforms into that jet plane for one of her attacks.
  • The opening of Nier is chock full of spoilers, revealing, among other things, Weiss's connection with the Shadowlord, Kaine's half-Shade nature, Fyra's death, and the Twins' betrayal. All in a montage set to the final boss theme.
  • The opening to the console version of the first BlazBlue game heavily implies that Hazama isn't just another NOL officer. The arcade version of Continuum Shift's opening all but flat-out states that he's a major villain. Later, the opening to Continuum Shift II hints at Litchi's Face–Heel Turn, and depicts Noel turning into Mu-12.
    • The opening of Chrono Phantasma Extend features Ragna, Noel and Jin team up against Saya's Gigant Take-Mikazuchi, Izayoi nearly becoming nuts, her Heel Face scene where Tsubaki is freed from Saya's spell, returned to his old uniform and stared the Embryo at the sky above the Master Unit Amaterasu.
  • If you don't want to be spoiled on some of the mechs and battles in Vanguard Bandits, you'd better not watch the Openings.
  • The very first cutscene shown on the opening screen of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is from a key "surprise" moment very late into the game.
    • Also, the title screen clearly shows Adult Link riding Epona.
    • The UK special edition/pre-order box sleeve for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has to be the most ridiculous example of this ever, because it features the final boss battle on the front cover. Keep in mind that at the start of the game, you technically don't know Ganon is in it, don't know Tetra is Zelda, don't know the Light Arrows exist and don't know about flooded Hyrule. Here's the artwork in question.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess does it too, in an artwork in the instruction manual. Alongside the main characters, you can see Zant and an unknown young woman. Zant is revealed relatively early on, so it's not much of a spoiler, but the young woman is a spoiler: That's Midna's true form.
  • The only movie unlocked before you beat any of the team's stories in Sonic Heroes (which also sometimes plays as soon as you start up the game, before you even see the title screen) has a couple shots of Neo Metal Sonic. You don't see him outside of the Last Story. Granted, the fact that he was in the game was highly advertised, but...
    • The opening video in Sonic Adventure spoils Chaos's final transformation and the destruction of Station Square, which are events that don't occur until the end of the game.
  • The third part of the City of Heroes "Who Will Die" storyline opens with your character being assigned to either bodyguard or kidnap a character. The loading screen for all missions in the arc features Statesman, the character's father, grieving over a toe-tagged body. Sure enough, the character is killed in the course of the arc.
  • Deus Ex:
    • The game begins with an introductory sequence involving a character who is more-or-less stated to be in an executive role at FEMA, and the Big Bad himself, talking about a plan to deliver a vaccine to swaths of the world that have been infected with a virus — with the dialogue all but stating that the virus was deliberately launched against the population. In the same conversation, a woman who appears to be in the same sphere as the villains walks past the frame, a government entity called "UNATCO" is heavily implied to be corrupted (as it has a puppet leader in place), a man named "Savage" is going to a place called "Vandenberg" and is in a disagreement with the Big Bad, that the conspirators are investing in electronic sentience, and the main character is all-but-stated to be a clone (a "secondary unit") that has been grown in a tank and will be "operational" within six months. This opening appears to have been rendered before the game's plot was completed, as the events of the first few levels expect viewers to be surprised when both of the characters seen in this intro are initially set up to be altruistic characters.
    • The Conspiracy, the PS2 port of the game, takes steps to minimize the spoilers by having the characters never clearly show their face, Retcon several lines of dialogue and move the action away from the open hall the original takes place in to a conference room displaying feeds of rioting going on around the world, making the connection much less straightforward.
  • Project × Zone is egregious with this example. You see a Humongous Mecha during the opening after the city was blown up. For awhile, you don't seem to see the guy till the intermission where you finally get all your units and supports. It's then revealed that he's the Final Boss.
  • The opening for Corpse Party spoils among other things Seiko's death by hanging.
  • In Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, The Stinger at the end of the trailer shows a gigantic serpentine monster at a lake letting out a low-pitched roar. Said monster is Dire Miralis, the final boss of the game's guild quests.
  • Final Fantasy XIII: The opening ends on Vanille, alone, standing looking at Cocoon hanging in the sky above Pulse. This spoils the fact that yes, you will eventually get to leave Cocoon and go to Pulse. What it doesn't spoil is the subtle hint behind Vanille being alone in this scene; she is from Pulse, unlike the others (except Fang).
  • Metal Gear:
  • Like the trailers, the opening of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle displays some of the plot twists and battle climaxes from the manga, though too fast for a viewer to really understand all the details at first.
  • Phantasy Star Universe, among other things, shows that Renvolt Magashi will be a main villain and driving force later on in the story, as the final shot shows (an injured? winded?) Ethan kneeling before Magashi and then charging in to face him in mortal combat. In all fairness, this is by no means a big spoiler given the heroes' first encounter with Magashi.
  • Valkyria Chronicles, after showing Selvaria in combat in Valkyria form several times throughout the intro, it shows a close up of Alicia in Valkyria form, but it's so short and close up that those who haven't played the game might assume it's Selvaria again.
  • Himalayan Mysteries, a fan-made Tomb Raider Level Editor project, spoils its mid-game twist if you stick around on the title screen long enough; it will shift from Lara warming herself by a fire, to Lara resting in a monastery, and finally, to Lara and an alien conversing on his space ship. The first alien is shown during the fourth level (though it's not given much emphasis), and that particular scene doesn't happen until the penultimate level.
  • The intro to the Devil May Cry HD Collection spoils key plot points for each game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening in particular is spoiled the most, as it shows Arkham taking the form of Sparda, Vergil's supposed suicide, and even has Dante's final line from the game.
  • Flonne's appearance in Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten is kept a secret in the plot until late into the game - and back to being an angel, no less - but she is impossible to miss in the animated intro. It makes it pretty obvious who the mysterious Archangel Vulcanus works for is.
  • Lufia & The Fortress of Doom has a very subtle example during the prologue, which plays a part in The Reveal. Doesn't that statue of Erim look an awful lot like Lufia?
  • The intro to Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule GB reveals that the Millennium Ring has possessed Kaiba, something the characters don't learn until just before the final RPG world.
  • If you do not want to be spoiled by the game, then do not watch the opening of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I and II.
    • The first game alone shows off the Panzer Soldats, the party members fighting against a boss halfway through the game, the Imperial Liberation Front members, the Courageous which only appears in a very late chapter of the game, the setting of what appears to be the Climax Boss, and Celine being associated with Emma.
    • Meanwhile, the second game, in addition to the spoilers from the first game, it shows where most of Class VII is at which is your objective for the first act of the game, Crow being your enemy, where the Zemurian Ore is at, Valimar getting a katana which is a plot line that happens just beyond halfway through the game, the awakening of Vermillion Apocalypse Testa-Rossa which happens late in the game, and Towa being the captain of the Courageous and Angelica's presence considering she was Put on a Bus in the previous game.
  • Super Mario Party: The opening cutscene shows all of the secret playable characters together with the default ones, making it immediately clear who all of them are.
  • Stella Glow: The game's opening spoils two revelations: that Mordimort is the Earth Witch and not Niki as the game proper initially leads you to believe, and suggesting that—via the Witches' tuning cutscenes briefly shown at the start of the opening—the main antagonist for the first 2/3's of the game, Hilda, would join Alto at some point.
  • SHODAN's presence in System Shock 2 would probably be more surprising if she weren't on the game's cover. She also provides narration for the intro cutscene, which recaps the events of the first game.
  • There was a game for LeapFrog's Leapster called Spider-Man: The Case of the Sinister Speller, the intro for which spoils every major plot point in the game, right down to the titular villain being the Green Goblin.
  • The default box cover of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus features BJ with his new body. If you look close enough, you can even see the neck piece that connects his head to it, but it's easy to mistake as a necklace.
  • One of the attract demos for Descent takes place in Secret Level 1, showing off endgame weaponry and the Fusion Hulk. Another that plays in Level 10 reveals the hidden (and first in the game) Fusion Cannon in the huge arena just past the entrance.
  • The intro of 2009 A Boy and His Blob game shows various powers the blob can have, plus most of the bosses.
  • Pre-Dragon Engine Like a Dragon games have intros that use gameplay and cutscene footage. Although the footage is often spliced and cut in confusing ways to throw off players (like making it look like Majima is about to demolish the orphanage in Yakuza 3), spoilers still slip through. Notably, Yakuza Kiwami's intro makes it pretty clear that Nishiki is a villain, which is pretty shocking for players who started with Yakuza 0.
  • Elden Ring: The opening cinematic brazenly spoils a good chunk of the game's plot, though it's hard to figure out on a first playthrough; Marika is Radagon and shattered the Elden Ring, Mohg kidnapped Miquella, Margit was a player in the Shattering (making him likely a demigod), Rykard fuses with the God-Devouring Serpent, and Godfrey is Hoarah Loux.
  • Nobody Saves the World: The opening "Press Start" screen, as well as game's header on Steam and other digital markets, spoil all of the Forms that Nobody can unlock. The fact that Nostramagus is also there is a major hint towards the mid-game twist.

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