Moments where the game messes with you

My favorite little details in games are the ones that seem to be designed specifically to mess with the player's head. Not in a way that screws them over, of course, just in a way that surprises them and catches them off-guard in a way that's still fair.

For example, I grew up in the N64 generation, and so I missed a lot of games that were considered classics in the NES-SNES era. When I started hearing all sorts of praise for these games online, I was quick to buy them off the Wii's Virtual Console service (I don't like emulators, but that's for another topic.)

One off the first games I bought was Super Mario Bros 3. It seemed like a fairly typical platformer to me, albeit an exceptionally well-made one, I guess I didn't realize how revolutionary the design was for its time. Anyway, I got to World 2, the Shifting Sand Land world, and I entered a stage that wasn't represented by a number, but by what seemed to be a mass of quicksand.

While playing the level, I saw that there was an angry-looking sun in the background. It was a nice touch, but I paid it no mind, since it was part of the level's background, and it wasn't like it was going to come to life and attack me or anything. Anyone familiar with the game is probably laughing their ass off right now, and even if you're not, you can probably guess what happened next.

Long story short, the moment the angry sun in Super Mario 3 attacked me was the moment I realized how freakin' brilliant the game was.

Does anyone else have any favorite moments like this? (I get the feeling there might be a lot of Eternal Darkness mentions in this thread...)

So, you've playing a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee lately...

edited 15th Nov '11 8:33:45 AM by NEO

So you're playing a Batman Arkham Asylum, enjoying being the goddamn Batman. All of a sudden, the game crash !

But wait, the game start back from the beginning? Wait, what is the joker doing THERE, and I'm not supposed to be THERE. What! He killed me?! "Use the middle joystick to avoid the shot"?

What's going on!

...

Oh, you clever bastards.

Skyrim. Searching for the master of a "madman". You enter the building, there's nobody inside, no quest marker...

WHOOSH! Suddenly you're INSIDE THE MIND OF THE GOD OF BEING BAT-SHIT CRAZY. No armor, no weapons (except a magic staff the master gives you) and three tests to go back into the real world, including thinking outside the box.

That. Fucking genius, that. Very convincing videocard failure effects, BTW, hair-pullingly so =)

Ah, yes, the classic Fission Mailed. Another epic example of Interface Screw made work of art =) And before that... "You like Castlevania, don't you?"

Off the top of my head? The Nostalgia Level in System Shock 2. If you're one of the people who played the original before the sequel you might genuinely cream your pants at this point, either from nerdgasm or High Octane Nightmare Fuel, depending on how sane you are. Maybe both at the same time.

Max Payne 2, in the TV series. Bricks will be shat, yes, when you realize they are ALL reinterpretations of the game's plot via different genre-specific tropes. Also, the theme park, because it's a well-done theme park... also, because it furthers the brick-shitting from the other one =)

Wasteland. The entirety of Finster's Head, an optional Bonus Dungeon with an optionally optional Bonus Boss (you can take the dungeon, and survive and leave, and not even touch the boss) that demonstrates the effectiveness of scripted scenes is not exclusive to games that have more than 16 colours in their palettes. Yes, even the Speak Friend and Enter puzzle was brilliant at the time. Hell, it still is. It was also cool in that it was a one-person solo dungeon in a game geared towards party adventuring. The thing could take you totally unawares.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories was supposed to be a game-long session of messing with you, and it succeeds, but, sadly, not throughout; and to be really messed, you need to have played through (or at least intimately familiar) with the original Silent Hill for the PSX.

edited 15th Nov '11 10:36:16 AM by Noelemahc

Eternal Darkness has so many of these that it would be an ordeal to list them all. My personal favorite is when it pretends to erase all your saved games.

Maybe it's just me but no matter how many times Eternal Darkness pranked me, I always fell for it. Little Ninja Bros faked the standard 'jumbled NES screen' that you get from a dirty cartridge at a key point in the game. Doesn't really have the same effect on an emulator, but playing it on an NES, omg, rage and terror.

The sign lover in Zelda: Oracle of Seasons gets pissed off and pretends to have reset the game if you break 100 signs.

Damn signs had it comin' to 'em. Telling me what to do and where to go. Those assholes.

edited 15th Nov '11 11:48:26 AM by hnd03

RAIDEN, TURN OFF THE CONSOLE.

That is all.

For me, any time in Quest 64 that an enemy uses a spell not of their element.

For example: Blue Man, a Water Monster, using Fireball 2 and 3.

Probably the most well known example too. Or most talked about. Anyway, there's always the Camera Screw on Shadow The Hedgehog that happens in Hard Mode sometimes.

Tranquility Lane in Fallout3. I tried to open the inventory, and I get Vault Boy staring at me with a dumb grin from my useless wristwatch.

I fell for it more than once.

I like those rare instances where the game guesses what the average player will try to do, and reacts accordingly. In Neverwinter Nights 2, for example, there's a scene near the end where the characters' current loyalty to you determines whether they will defect to the villain or not. If you know they're gonna defect and strip them of their valuables before this happens, he will congratulate you for this clever but pointless action, and he will give the people who defected new equipment.

edited 15th Nov '11 5:28:24 PM by Fluid

That section is my favourite part of the game so far.

Also, my dad walked in on me playing Portal and said "This game fucks with your mind!"

While not nearly as clever as some of the other examples (Thirding the Arkham Asylum one, by the way), the place behind that one Demon Door (I cannot remember the name) in Fable II where, once you reach the house in the winter wonderland... hoo boy.

edited 15th Nov '11 8:00:02 PM by Oblivion4568238

The Princess trolling you at the end of Super Mario Bros 3.

Lolololol sign lover. I Remember him.

I like this too. The cleverest part of the original DS version of New Super Mario Bros was the final battle.

Basically, it's sort of like in the first Super Mario Bros, where you have to run past Bowser and hit a switch to make him fall into lava, only Bowser's giant and you have Bowser Jr. pestering you.

Mario veterans will do what they did in the NES game, run straight into Bowser as big Mario, letting the Mercy Invincibility trigger, and go right through him to the switch. Try that this time, though, and you'll find that running into Bowser will bounce you back to the left side of the boss room.

Also, one I recently encountered: the browser MMO Billy Vs Snakeman adds an extra challenge to a certain quest line for players in season 2 or higher. Since this is not a game that bothers much with any sort of fourth wall or even a story, it makes it explicitly clear that this is for the people who think they can just coast through this with their game-breaking New Game Plus powers. Naturally, it's a challenge that doesn't involve any of your stats or equipment.

I NEED SCISSORS!!!! 61!!!!

I was No offense to you, but it was funny. And yes that is a brilliant game.

edited 16th Nov '11 10:48:19 AM by MoeDantes

I was terrified of that sun as a kid.

I was terrified the day I saw a ghost in Metal Gear Solid

Everything past the first hub in Pandemonium 2 is like playing somebody's deranged drug trip, especially "Lick The Toad" and "Rub The Buddah".

Oh, and "Zoul Train".

edited 16th Nov '11 1:57:31 PM by OmegaKross

Sonic Generations, Crisis City Classic.

+These two.