History AllThereInTheManual / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'':

** The various SimX game manuals LOVED to provide massive amounts of information on the subject they were simulating. ''VideoGame/SimAnt'' 's manual was a couple of hundred pages long, but only 20-30 of those pages were about how to play the game; the rest of it was a small introductory textbook to the field of Myrmecology.

** And in 2012, the ''Robot Master Field Guide'' was released, featuring detailed bios on every single RM to date as well as the series' main characters, in an attempt to compile as much supplementary material as possible in ''one'' '''''English''''' manual.

* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'', in the deluxe addition, comes coupled with an illustrated "casebook" of Alice from the insane asylum she's staying in. It gives many details about the causes of particular events in the corrupted Wonderland, as well as giving hints about proper ways to defeat certain enemies and bosses.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': much of the background for characters like Jean and Barbara's parents and the story of Collei's time in Mondstadt was only in the webcomic, which few players know about and for a long time was not translated to English.

* The [[http://wiki.mfgg.net/index.php?title=Super_Charisma_Bros wiki article]] of ''VideoGame/SuperCharismaBros'' clears up a lot of things that are never explained in-game - the events of Charisma 4 were actually a nightmare that Dudim had traveling through a time vortex, and that Dudim was sent back in time after the battle with Brynn due to "excess levels of [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Bazingonium.]]"

** The only way that one can find out the actual names of the Special Attacks for all of the characters is by either reading the instruction manual (which is incomplete as it lacks certain characters) or visiting the aforementioned official website. This is averted for the original ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', however, as animations accompanied by the Special Attack names are briefly shown at intervals when one reads the biographies found in the Data section.

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' started with a literal version in the Usefulnotes/PlayStation1 version, where the only story were backstories told through rather tiny text written on the outer edges of the pages over the course of the entire instruction manual insert in the jewel case. The second game wasn't much of an improvement; while there are now cutscenes between the fighting, they're incredibly short and only provide the bare minimum of the plot. Kasumi's story mode is particularly egregious: Something about a Kasumi clone, Hayabusa wants her to stop her mission, Ayane wants to eliminate her, Kasumi thinks Hayate is her brother... all rather perplexing if you just go by what the game presents you with.

* The notorious 1985 flop ''The Great Space Race'' for the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum came with the back-story for every character in a series of comic strips (which actually looked like first-drafts drawn with marker pen) in the manual. This kind of thing was common in the 8-bit era as memory and cassette/disk space was limited and traditional media was often used to provide background and atmosphere for game worlds.

* The NES version of ''VideoGame/{{Hydlide}}'' had an opening screen in which a demon casts a spell and turns a princess into three fairies. The full explanation of this was left to the manual. The UsefulNotes/PC88 version at least had a screen of text at the beginning of the game.

* Bad or hasty localization can also cause this. The UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube version of ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'' only had the basic story outlined in the manual. Everything else was supposedly in game... but it was removed and not even the Japanese remains. Granted, you'd be lucky to even read half of it before it disappeared, but at least it was ''there'' in the other versions.

* The instruction book for the original ''VideoGame/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1989}}'' UsefulNotes/{{NES}} game states that the Turtles' main mission in the game is to capture Shredder's [[strike:Retromutagen Ray generator]] Life Transformer Gun, with which they can turn Splinter back to a human. This is why, at the end of the game, Splinter is restored to his human form; the game itself makes no mention of the transforming gun.

* Several significant plot points in the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series are, for various reasons, only mentioned in the game manuals. The manual for the UsefulNotes/XBoxLiveArcade game ''Arena'', "[=Star*Soldier=]", fleshes out the game in a way the then-limit of 50MB on game size didn't allow. (The limit was bumped to 150MB while ''Arena'' was in development.)

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' also featured a fictional novel titled ''In The Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth'', a tell all account written by Nastasha Romanenko exposing the true events of the Shadow Moses Incident from her perspective. This novel elaborates a lot on the Shadow Moses Incident from the support group's end.

* The manual for ''VideoGame/SpudsAdventure'' offers more detail to the game's story; the King is named Vegitan the 5th, and Devi is the Lord of the Far Tower who commands the Kitchen Army.

** ''Donkey Kong Land'' one-ups it: Not only is the backstory of the game explained in the manual, all of the worlds and level names are covered there. The latter, understandably, is because of the hardware limitations on the Game Boy.

--> Fizzco scientist guy, Zander Scotts, will be explaining all the dweeby science things that make OverCharge a liquid revolution. His complicated diction will go over your head, but into your hearts.\\

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series has several examples, to the point where you should probably [[TheWikiRule see]] [[http://halo.wikia.com this]] and/or [[http://www.halopedia.org this]] for all the details.

* The instruction book for the original ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' UsefulNotes/{{NES}} game states that the Turtles' main mission in the game is to capture Shredder's [[strike:Retromutagen Ray generator]] Life Transformer Gun, with which they can turn Splinter back to a human. This is why, at the end of the game, Splinter is restored to his human form; the game itself makes no mention of the transforming gun.

** The manual for ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' explains a bit more about the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Hard-Boiled Heavies]], including their names, personality traits, and [[ViewerGenderConfusion even their genders]]. It also refers to the game's MineralMacguffin as the Phantom Ruby.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

*** The ARK was shut down because the GUN higher-ups did not trust Gerald or his research. [[spoiler:When they heard about the violent tendencies of the Biolizard, they used it as a cover-up for their massacre of the personnel, placed the blame on Gerald, and forced him to continue working under their scrutiny before executing him]]. This is only explained in full in the Japanese version of the strategy guide.

*** ''The Maiden Who Travels The Planet'' is a short novella published in the Ultimania Omega guidebook that shows Aeris' perspective from the point in which [[spoiler:she is killed by Sephiroth to her spirit using Holy to drive back Meteor at the end of the original game]].

* ''Bust A Groove'', a little-known rhythm game for the PSX, was a game entirely about having dance battles with people ranging from twelve year olds and disco playboys to a thirty-foot tall robot and twin aliens. The game itself offers absolutely no explanation for these battles, or the characters themselves for that matter. The manual reveals that the characters are battling one another in order to receive their heart's desire using Dance Power. These wishes are vaguely alluded to in each character's ending cinematic, but never stated outright due to ever character being a SilentProtagonist.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', it's revealed that Poké Balls themselves don't [[NoConservationOfEnergy convert Pokémon into energy for storage]]; they're all {{sizeshifter}}s who [[InexplicablyAwesome do that on their own]]. This was only ever previously mentioned in the 1996 guidebook ''Pocket Monsters Encyclopedia''.

** Minor example: the first ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' is the only game in the series whose instruction booklet lists the characters' ages. Liu Kang, despite being TheHero, is actually the youngest Kombatant in the game at 24 years old. Kano, at 35, is the oldest of the human characters, and this means he's ''60'' in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' due to its 25-year TimeSkip.