History GuideDangIt / Adventure

* Many of the Stray Beads in the [=PS2=]/Wii game ''{{Okami}}'' are like this.
** Some of the animal feeding locations are like this too.

* Many puzzles in the ''TombRaider'' series, particularly the PuzzleBoss fights.
** One of the most {{egregious}} examples was in the very first game. Most of the "secrets" were stashed in hard to spot but easy to reach areas, or were sitting obviously on ledges the route to which were difficult to see. Towards the end of the game, however, was one that was nigh on impossible to see because it was ''floating in the air on an invisible platform'' (the one and only single solitary invisible platform in the entire game), and required a massive leap of faith in exactly the right direction to reach.
** The second game has two really bad GuideDangIt moments within two levels in a row. If the player chooses Nevada as their last choosable location, they will lose their weapons in the second mission. There is no way of knowing that you should have picked this location first because you can't get some of the weapons back. The next level, a guard sees you shortly into the level. If you don't kill him before he presses a button, he activates a laser that blocks off the [=MP5=], one of the game's best weapons. There is no way to unactivate this laser.
*** Similarly, in Lud's Gate, you must kill a certain guard before he sees you, otherwise one of the secrets will be LostForever. The High Security Compound has two switches that both open a secret room much earlier in the level; if you throw both switches, it permanently closes.

* ''SuperMarioSunshine'' uses this trope in the form of blue coins, 10 of which equal 1 shine in exchange with an NPC. While they are not needed to beat the game, they will drive 100% completionists batty as they will search every nook and cranny, squirt water at anything that moves or doesn't move, and do all this for '''EVERY EPISODE IN EVERY LEVEL'''.
** Also, to get one of the shines, you have to stand at a certain point in one of the levels, look straight up, and ''spray water at the sun''. After you spray it, a shine will pop out.
** In another mission in the same area, you need to find a certain point and spray water at the ''moon''. Both of these are hinted at by villagers, but still.
** In addition, a secret Shine involves going into a remote corner, finding a tiny yellow bird and spraying it for several minutes (since it's moving and flying about constantly) before it transforms into a Shine. There is absolutely NO indication that you ever need to do this.
*** Once you've figured out the general pattern (spraying blue birds with water gets you blue coins, spraying yellow birds gets you shines, and in one level, spraying a red bird gets you a red coin), you can find all of the related secrets pretty easily. It still counts as a GuideDangIt, however, because nowhere in the game is it ever indicated that spraying birds with water has any kind of point to it.
*** Other blue coin Guide Dang Its: Yoshi can eat the bees that emerge from the beehives in certain levels. This in itself is something that a player is likely to discover. However, to get a blue coin, you have to knock down the beehive with Yoshi juice and then have him eat all ''those'' bees as well, which is ''not'' something that's likely to occur to the average player.
* In ''SuperMarioGalaxy2'', they barely mention Grandmaster Galaxy or how to unlock it. They also never hint at where any of the Green Stars are. For the ones that aren't sort of hidden in plain sight or just out of vision but still audible, good luck finding them.

* Lampshaded in ''DonkeyKongCountry 3''. One NPC will periodically give you hints as to the location of the game's LostWorld. If you solve the riddle before he gives you ''any'' hints, however, he accuses you of using the player's guide (which is where he got his information in the first place).
** Getting the LastLousyPoint for 102% completion in ''Donkey Kong Country 2''. Made much worse when you actually play with a list of every bonus game and DK coin's location, because the last percent comes from visiting the colleges in each world that has one. Most people tear their hair out trying to speedrun 102% completion because their level-by-level guides turn out to only get them 101%.
** ...and it goes all the way back to the original DKC. To get 101% completion, you must first access a well-hidden bonus room in Kremkroc Industries, beat a BonusRound in the level "Platform Perils" in a specific order (get three single bananas, which is considered the worst bonus combination in the game), which will then give you a barrel. You then have to break open a random wall to unlock ''a bonus room within a bonus room'', which you must ''also'' win. Nowhere in the game is this alluded to or even mentioned.

* Even the thorougly nonserious Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People had its share of these. But the absolute worst by a long shot was the way to get the ninth "expression of affection" in Baddest of the Bands. First off, it's an ''in-game hint'', which means that hints have to be turned on. Then 1. you have to sabotage Two-O-Duo and Pom Star (just those two, ''not'' Cool Tapes) 2. DON'T do the Teen Girl Squad comic, and 3. go to the Two-O-Duo stage, which is the only place Strong Bad will give the hint that serves as the expression of affection, and wait until he does. I'm glad that sites like GameFAQs exist; I guarantee you that I wouldn't have figured this out on my own in a million years.

** ...and it goes all the way back to the original DKC. To get 101% completion, you must first access a well-hidden bonus room in Kremkroc Industries, beat a BonusRound in the level "Platform Perils" in a specific order (get three single bananas, which is considered the worst bonus combination in the game), which will then give you a barrel. You then have to break open a random wall to unlock ''a bonus room within a bonus room'', which you must ''also'' win. Nowhere in the game is this alluded to or even mentioned. The best part? If you mess up, you can't access it again (unless you saved your game beforehand). Rrrrrrrr!!!!

* ''Manhunter: New York'' and ''San Francisco'' are the worst. You have to get a game over a specific way, and then you are given a name to search for later in the game. Normally, a game over in these games are something you try and ''avoid''. Especially since they would often either say "rest in peace" or a silly message. Meaning you probably would not think to take these as a hint - ''especially'' since a lot of those snarky death endings often say "That wasn't a good move!" or "Here's a hint: Don't do what you just did!"

** The MostTriumphantExample is (probably) a bug: at one point in the game, you need to use an object by ''right-clicking.'' Nowhere else in the game is this required.

* ''{{Quake}} II'' has many secrets hidden behind nondescript walls that must be shot, with no hints whatsoever. A bane to those looking for the LastLousyPoint.

* [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames The NES adaptation]] of ''{{Platoon}}'' lives off this. Most of the game is a nondescript forest maze, with various objectives strewn about, and practically no in-game hints, although the manual offers a few clues.

** As an added bonus, each mission requires you to warp to a specific star system. You do this by opening up the Star Chart and choosing your destination. The kicker? The stars aren't labeled on the screen, only in the instruction manual. Choose the wrong destination and you get attacked by Klingons or space pirate.

** How many people guessed that if you opened an unmarked coffin in the mausoleum, flesh-dissolving green slime poured out and filled the hallway, making it impossible to proceed with the game?
*** Actually this only cuts off one path, you can still go around another way, it is just inconvenient. Still stupid though.

** In ''KingsQuest II'', a [-[[MemeticMutation pOIsonous]]-] snake blocks one path and getting too close will make it bite and kill Graham. What do you do? Throw a bridle on the snake, which transforms it into a flying horse.

** In ''KingsQuest II'', a poisonous snake blocks one path and getting too close will make it bite and kill Graham. What do you do? Throw a bridle on the snake, which transforms it into a flying horse.

* If you want to get any closure out of RedDeadRedemption, then you need to have a few things: [[spoiler: You need to know that John Marston's death is not the defacto end of the game. You need to know that the Play-As-Jack section of the game ''isn't'' an ordinary PlayableEpilogue. You need to know that there is now a secret Stranger Mission "Remember My Family" waiting for you in Blackwater. You need to know that this stranger mission leads to the actual end of the game. Instead? The game dumps you in the Jack section of the game without ''any guidance'', not a tooltip or a waypoint. Apparently, you're just supposed to [[LuckBasedMission accidentally trip over the quest-giver while you're going for 100% completion.]] ]]
** Alternatively, just pull up your map, the mission marker will be there, plain as day.

** The third is just as bad, with three big puzzles that each seem to be some form of MoonLogicPuzzle. The first one tasks you with escaping a cell. [[spoiler:Trade an expensive watch with the man in the opposite cell for a sink handle, turn on the sink, stop up the drain ''with a coin'', block the floor drain with a blanket, and call the guard so he slips on it.]] The second one requires you to find evidence. [[spoiler:Click on a random spot on the wall to open an alcove, put a nail in a single-pixel hole above the alcove, use the toilet seat(!) you had to remove earler as a hammer, put a lamp in the alcove and turn it on, hang a picture with a pinhole over the lamp, look for the light spot on the opposite wall, and click on the wall to open an alcove with evidence in it.]] The final one? [[spoiler:Remember the colors of the previous two rooms (and if you don't remember them, good luck guessing because you can't go back), use color-coded microchips to change the color of a ventilation shaft ''(WHAT!?!)'', change it to brown to get a key and green to get a combination, and use the key and the combo to open a safe.]] Your reward? A lame, Narm filled, AssPull ending. It isn't even particularly funny Narm.

**** Well, the wand does have a picture of a snake on it... And it's not a statue of a snake, it's a real live snake.

** The third is just as bad, with three big puzzles that each seem to be some form of MoonLogicPuzzle. The first one tasks you with escaping a cell. [[spoiler:Trade an expensive watch with the man in the opposite cell for a sink handle, turn on the sink, stop up the drain ''with a coin'', block the floor drain with a blanket, and call the guard so he slips on it.]] The second one requires you to find evidence. [[spoiler:Click on a random spot on the wall to open an alcove, put a nail in a single-pixel hole above the alcove, use the toilet seat(!) you had to remove earler as a hammer, put a lamp in the alcove and turn it on, hang a picture with a pinhole over the lamp, look for the light spot on the opposite wall, and click on the wall to open an alcove with evidence in it.]] The final one? [[spoiler:Remember the colors of the previous two rooms (and if you don't remember them, good luck guessing because you can't go back), use color-coded microchips to change the color of a ventilation shaft ''(WHAT!?!)'', change it to brown to get a key and green to get a combination, and use the key and the combo to open a safe.]]

** The third is just as bad, with three big puzzles that each seem to be some form of MoonLogicPuzzle. The first one tasks you with escaping a cell. [[spoiler:Trade an expensive watch with the man in the opposite cell for a sink handle, turn on the sink, stop up the drain ''with a coin'', block the floor drain with a blanket, and call the guard so he slips on it. The second one requires you to find evidence. [[spoiler:Click on a random spot on the wall to open an alcove, put a nail in a single-pixel hole above the alcove, use the toilet seat(!) you had to remove earler as a hammer, put a lamp in the alcove and turn it on, hang a picture with a pinhole over the lamp, look for the light spot on the opposite wall, and click on the wall to open an alcove with evidence in it.]] The final one? [[spoiler:Remember the colors of the previous two rooms (and if you don't remember them, good luck guessing because you can't go back), use color-coded microchips to change the color of a ventilation shaft ''(WHAT!?!)'', change it to brown to get a key and green to get a combination, and use the key and the combo to open a safe.]]

* [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames The NES adaptation]] of ''{{Platoon}}'' lives off this. Most of the game is a nondescript forest maze, with various objectives strewn about, and practically no in-game hints, although the manual offers some hints.

* [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames The NES adaptation]] of ''{{Platoon}}'' lives off this. Most of the game is a nondescript forest maze, with various objectives strewn about, and barely any in-game hints.

* Even the thorougly nonserious Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People had its share of these. But the absolute worst by a long shot was the way to get the ninth "expression of affection" in Baddest of the Bands. First off, it's an ''in-game hint'', which means that hints have to be turned on. Then 1. you have to sabotage Two-O-Duo and Pom Star (just those two, ''not'' Cool Tapes) 2. DON'T do the Teen Girl Squad comic, and 3. go to the Two-O-Duo stage, which is the only place Strong Bad will give the hint that serves as the expression of affection, and wait until he does. I'm glad that sites like GameFAQs exist; I guarantee you that I wouldn't have figured this out on my own in a million years.

** Not to mention the Prima guide refers to the Whomp King as genderless. Uh, isn't a king, you know...MALE?

* Even the thorougly nonserious Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People had its share of these. But the absolute worst by a long shot was the way to get the ninth "expression of affection" in Baddest of the Bands. First off, it's an ''in-game hint'', which means that hints have to be turned on. Then 1. you have to sabotage Two-O-Duo and Pom Star (just those two, ''not'' Cool Tapes) 2. DON'T do the Teen Girl Squad comic, and 3. go to the Two-O-Duo stage, which is the only place Strong Bad will give the hint that serves as the expression of affection, and wait until he does. I'm glad that sites like GameFAQs exist; I guarantee you that I wouldn't have figured this out on my own in a million years.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fighting]]
* FightingGame example: ''GuiltyGear XX'' and its Story Mode paths. Some of the requirements are impossible to figure out on your own. Several paths require that you win a specific fight by time-up, with no sign you should. Jam's Story Mode hinges ''entirely'' on how you win the first fight (time-up, standard, or [[OneHitKill Instant Kill]]). One of the most horrible is Baiken - unless you defeat Anji with more than 30% health remaining, you're locked into her third ending. Several of the endings require you see a ''different'' character's ending before you can even try at them. Nothing in the game hints at anything remotely like this.
** Pretty standard for most fighting games. Particularly when it comes to seeing divergent endings, unlocking [[SecretCharacter secret characters]] or battling the TrueFinalBoss. And then there all those unpublished move lists, with Mortal Kombat's whatever-alities being the king of this trope. The DBZ: Budokai series and it's successors are fond of this.
* Unintentional example in the {{Bleach}} DS fighting game series. Money can be unlocked using three passwords that are written on the touch screen, which in the second game are either an open jar, a pawprint, or a poorly drawn rabbit. For people outside of Japan, there's no way of knowing what the password is, as it was in a Japanese magazine exclusive. Furthermore, the game reads the markings on the screen with an incredible lack of accuracy. However, [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish making random scribbles will actually count as having the password before even drawing it.]]
* [[SoulSeries Soul Calibur 3]] has forking paths in the story mode in the form of a choose your own adventure style story. There is exactly one path each character can take to see the true ending, the paths are not all the same between characters, and there is no way to know what path it is unless someone's already done it. Furthermore, each fight gets progressively harder as TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, which makes the following two stipulations, also entirely unstated, near impossible: You cannot lose, at all. You can have a maximum of ''one'' ring-out for the entire story. Make even one mistake on the path and you have to start all over.
** Actually, that's partly false - there's exactly two fights you are not allowed to perform a ring-out victory on: the one that leads you into the dungeon that leads to Olcadan, and [[SNKBoss Night Terror]] (who cannot be defeated by ring-out anyways). you can ring every other person out and still get it. You can also lose when fighting [[SNKBoss Night Terror]], but not before.
** You can lose after beating Olcadan. The Olcadan fight is a "Prepare To Defend Yourself!!" bonus battle, which only appear if you got that far without losing a single fight and in which the story progresses whether you win or lose. After you've beaten Olcadan, you're free to lose as much as you like.
* Soul Calibur IV Tower of Lost Souls mode. I know, you would think that you could complete all of the hidden requirements without needing a guide, right? However the clues are so vague, and can apply to so much, that if you want all of the hidden items, you're better off 1) buying the guide, or 2) buying the items as DLC. Examples of such vague clues are "Use your ultimate attack without hesitation." If I didn't read from the guide that this means [[spoiler: to critical finish everyone on the stage, confusing because a CF isn't really an attack in and of itself]], I would probably never ever figure this out. What is my ultimate attack anyway: unblockables, just frames, the attack that does the most damage, the critical finish? Then there are the clues that, even if you know what they mean, not much help is given in understanding how to accomplish them. Two clues on the same stage are "Become a shield to repel the blade," and "The best offense is a good defense." These mean that you should [[spoiler: block 3 and 10 consecutive attacks]] respectively. There is no way that anyone would know how long to perform the required actions unless they were looking at the guide, as opposed to some other random amount. Furthermore, on the last clue, the end boss has a habit of doing everything he can to prevent you from fulfilling this goal, which is all the more frustrating because it's [[LuckBasedMission dependent on something the opponent does instead of you]]. Only in the last 10 seconds (out of 250) of the match do you really have any chance of fulfilling the requirements, due to the computer going berzerk.
* Rumble Roses XX. There's a lot of Guide Dang It in this game, ranging from merely annoying to complete progress stopping, and most reviewers have already caught it all, so I'll just go over the big ones.
** Title Matches: you would think that in order to get a title match, all you'd have to do is to fight so many people and win so many times until you get a shot at the belt. Unfortunately in this game it doesn't quite work like that: there are a few basic rules to getting title matches, but most title matches require that you're fight certain characters with other characters, with certain people either on or off your tag team.
** Unlocking Characters: see Title Matches. In order to get certain characters, you're generally going to need to get title matches against them. For some characters, this is as easy as just beating up on people until you get your shot, however for most characters it involves having title matches as certain characters against certain characters. If one wanted character Y as a playable character, it isn't enough to play a title match against them, you have to be playing a title match against them as character Z. Not to mention there's the characters where you have to win X matches against them or LOSE X matches against them to get said character. And in the whole game, there's nothing like a hint system, a meter, or even in game dialog to let you know how close you're getting to your goal. Even the old arcade game Wrestlemania told you how many more matches you had until your title shots. Here you could conceivably fight and beat a hundred people and never get a title shot because you aren't fighting with the right tag partner in the right outfit and you didn't beat the right person the right amount of times.
** The character strength and flexiblity system may as well not exist. Basically, when you add muscle, you get less flexible and submissions do more damage. You get more flexible by escaping from submissions, which lessens the damage you take from those holds, however the damage system is so iffy in this game: rather than start out at 100 for optimum health and go down to zero for no health, damage gauges start out at around 50, and go up to 120+ . Characters don't have visible stats or anything: beyond going up to each character in 2 player mode, and doing moves to random body parts until the numbers won't go up anymore, you have no way of knowing where or what a character's damage limit is. Nor is there a gauge or any set system for determining how flexible you are. You might be at 10% of your maximum flexibility, 80%, 100%, and you would never know, because there is nothing that indicates otherwise.
* In Mortal Kombat, how exactly are you supposed to figure out how to do fatalities on your own? The time frame you're given to do it is so small, even if you know the command, and the exact distance from your opponent, you're still likely to fuck it up.
* ''[[RivalSchools Project Justice]]''[='=]s branching paths in its story mode are rather obtuse to get. In particular, the Taiyo High story, you have to go through specific steps in order to get Burning Batsu:
** 1. Choose Batsu as your main fighter out of the 3 characters that are available.
** 2. Lose the first round against Akira in chapter 2.
** 3. Win the match. You can switch back to Batsu between rounds, and win subsquent rounds with him, but losing to Akira in round 1 is the only necessary part.
** Cue Akira calling out on Batsu for not fighting at his best, and he ends up running away. He comes back 2 episodes later, went through massive training, and it [[TookALevelInBadass shows]].