History Main / JustifiedTutorial

* ''VideoGame/IronHarvest'' puts you in the child shoes of future Polanian [[LaResistance resistance]] hero Anna Kos during the winter snows, as she tries to involve herself in a snowball fight with the local village boys. During the course of the "battle", the game teaches you about movement and its ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' inspired cover system, and later introduces unit special abilities during a deer hunting sequence with her brother, Janek Kos. The game picks up again 5 years later at the armistice of 1920+ WW1, where constant practice in the woods around her home has honed her into a world-class Sharpshooter.

* The MMO ''VideoGame/FallenEarth'' begins with the player character freshly decanted from a cloning tube, after being [[CloningBlues cloned, mindwiped, and killed for hundreds if not thousands of cycles of life and death]], and thus justifiably unsure of how to walk. It goes downhill from there.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 3'' begins with a brief training mission -- after which you are bundled into a van and driven straight into a warzone.

** '''VideoGame/CallOfDuty1'' begins with a pretty detailed training mission set in Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where the 506th Regiment, Pvt. Martin's unit, was trained with regards to basic training and weapons handling.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'' plays with this. The first level takes place during the Battle of Seoul, and walks the player through basic movement and weapon skills as they work to combat enemy forces and destroy a missile battery. The ''second'' mission (after the "funeral scene") has Jack Mitchell seemingly taking part in an operation to rescue the President of the United States, which goes awry when his newly-installed mechanical arm acts up. At that point, it's revealed that the "mission" was a simulation, you get a tour of Atlas and are introduced to various aspects of the "exosuit", and you get to redo the simulation with your newly-learned abilities and skills.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' has a tutorial for the Strike Force levels that is justified as a systems and operability check for a base that had just been attacked by SDC forces; the first real level has you defending it from a second wave.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' does something similar. The first mission has as little tutorial as possible, only pointing out how to do some of the basic new stuff like sliding, while you watch your {{cyborg}} teammates pull off superhuman feats. Then your character gets horribly maimed after a failed extraction and undergoes surgery to become a cyborg like them, with the second level acting as a tutorial for all the cool new stuff you can do like hacking into drones, [[LeParkour running along walls]], and ripping through entire train cars full of the kind of robot that crippled you in the first mission like they're made of cardboard.

** In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', the training was seamlessly integrated into the game's opening; players had to pick up and manipulate objects with the basic controls before they were given a gun or an HEV suit. The acquisition of the Gravity Gun partway through the game also worked in a tutorial on how to use it by having you navigate the junkyard behind Black Mesa East, while also [[{{Foreshadowing}} sneaking in]] a tutorial on how to deal with a later enemy by having you and [[RobotBuddy Dog]] play catch with a deactivated version of that enemy.

* ''Call of Duty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' has your character as a new SAS member; after passing Selection, it's his first day in the Regiment. As such, he has to go through some weapons familiarization (aka target practice) and a timed close quarters battle (CQB) drill... in a plywood mock-up of the beginning area of the first mission. This is not as useful as the real thing, since you're doing this solo instead of as a fire team in the real mission, where the AI teammates tend to beat you to the front of the line and thus block your fire while killing the tangos themselves... thus negating the point of that CQB drill. ''Modern Warfare 2'' includes a similar tutorial, justified as a demonstration for recruits in Afghanistan, with a similar drill as a test of your character's skill in preparation for a special mission.

** ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'': Daxter is helping Jak escape from prison after being experimented on for two years so he's kind of rusty ("Do you remember how to jump?").

* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', a marine says, "Permission to speak freely, sir? I don't really think you know what you're doing." and proceeds to explain the two basic modes of movement. As one is new to the job of being the local magistrate, it's understandable. In addition, one can skip this mission. They integrate further minor tutorials into the first missions of the Zerg and Protoss campaigns as well (chiefly to explain the quirks of each faction).

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII has the action tutorial take place while Ellie and her girlfriend Dina have a snowball fight with some children in the playground of Jackson, Wyoming.

** ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening'' has an optional tutorial which is given to you as an option by Sector Commander Hawkins in the very first level. Should Dalton take the offer, he'll proclaim "I could use a refresher", and the next level has him going through the TCA Tutorial Course under the guidance of Raff, where he learns the basics of movement, some weapons, and ends up with a repeatable 1-on-1, 5-frags Deathmatch fight against Raff's hologram form.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' justifies it by making it optional. The tutorial is given by Champion Leon on route 2 instead of route 1. If the player reaches route 2 without catching any Pokémon, then he thinks you could use some advice and starts the tutorial; if the player catches any Pokémon on route 1 then Leon acknoledges that you don't need it.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' presents player tutorials as cyberspace simulations, and in-universe they're actually recruitment aids for the government's three military branches. According to the manual, the protocol droid stationed at the recruitment center's entrance is there to keep local teenagers from using the tutorials as a free arcade. The Von Braun, which occupies roughly 3/4 of the game, is a tutorial for the ''U.S.S. Rickenbacker''.

** TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu has used "The Haunting" for introducing new Investigators and new Keepers to every edition of the game since 1981. With the simple premise (investigate the haunted house), streamlined design (there's only a handful of important locations and named NPCs), and multiple plot hooks which can be expanded into a full campaign, this scenario is a classic for a reason.

** ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift Blue Shift]]'': The Black Mesa body armor needs a little work getting used to so the guards are asked to run through an obstacle course.

** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' both start with your character performing basic movements like walking around and using the camera controls so that the technicians can calibrate his suit. Your reactions to prompts like "look up" also allow the game to guess your control preferences.

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' had an interesting take on this trope, as the tutorial takes place out in the middle of the jungle. Having jumped from a spaceship and fallen several kilometers, Master Chief's armour needs recalibration, because it is still "in partial lockdown" after having taken the brunt of his impact. A medic stands in front of you in your crater and holds up a little card, saying "look up here... now down here..."

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', the Kokiri and the elements that make up Link's home village perform a tutorial as they speak to Link: One Kokiri asks him to use his sword to cut the grass, another (sitting on a ledge) teaches him to use his new fairy to speak at a distance. You can also simply ignore them altogether and just dive right into the game.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' has Link engage in a sparring match with elderly wise man Orca at his cottage; doing so will obtain the sword needed to progress through the first half of the game. Players can also return much later to engage in a harder sparring challenge to earn some particularly nifty rewards.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', Link's friends ask him to show off the slingshot and wooden sword he acquired, shortly before they chase after a monkey and Link gets his first taste of real enemies chasing after them. More advanced sword moves are taught to Link by the ghost of the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Hero of Time]].
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' has the sparring hall, which while it is optional, allows the player to get used to the new motion controls, while being able to get the feel of the enemies seen in the game. They also justify the flight tutorial with two reasons: one, Link's just been gliding with his Loftwing recently (right before a ceremony which requires great control over a Loftwing); and two, said Loftwing was very recently imprisoned, and Zelda wants to make sure nothing's overly wrong.

* ''The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk: [[VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction Ultimate Destruction]]'' begins with a soldier wearing a VR helmet to "simulate" being the Hulk, in order to learn his techniques and how he smashes.

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' does this quite smoothly -- the player character's recent accident is mentioned, and so you have to show your operator that you're back in shape. The training serves as an introduction to both a vital {{NPC}} and the game's unique [[LeParkour play style]]. Plus it can be skipped at any time.

* ''The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk: [[VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction Ultimate Destruction]]'' begins with a soldier wearing a VR helmet to "simulate" being the Hulk, in order to learn his techniques and how he smashes.
* The ''Batman Begins'' LicensedGame starts, like [[Film/BatmanBegins the film]], with Bruce getting trained by the League of Shadows.
* The first "level" in the PC version of ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' involves Fred and George Weasley guiding Harry through part of the school. This teaches the player how to run and jump, to watch out for certain pitfalls, and about the importance of Bertie Botts' Every-Flavour Beans (the game's currency). The built-in WizardingSchool premise allows you to be taught how to do spells by the, well, teachers. While in the Playstation version of the game, the tutorial hits as Malfoy steals Hedwig, causing Ron and Harry to chase after him, Ron teaching Harry how to run and jump as well as everything else covered in the PC tutorial. The later ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'' games, by which time Harry really should know basic magic, find a roundabout way to do this. Generally, when the game wants to teach you how to do X, a character will ask Harry, "Can you teach me how to do X?" with the explanation actually being for your benefit and your attempts to do the spell being Harry's "demonstration" for the other character.
* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain: Soul Reaver'', Raziel gets toasted by the bossman Kain and thrown into hell. When he is revived, he is still a bit torn up (wings shredded, lower jaw missing, etc.), and many of his abilities have changed. His new benefactor is kind enough to walk him through the use of his new abilities.
* Roughly a third of the gameplay of each ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' game consists of Minion and strategy tutorials. The [[VideoGame/OverlordI first game]] does it so well that it's hardly noticeable - [[VideoGame/OverlordII the sequel]], unfortunately, is much less subtle about its tutorials.

* ''Videogame/AvencastRiseOfTheMage'': Given that the protagonist begins by taking final exams in WizardingSchool, the tutorial fits perfectly.
* ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'':
** The tutorial takes place immediately after the protagonist signs a pact with Grimoire Weiss, so it's him learning how to use magic to fend off Shades. This is important for a few reasons; it takes place 1300 years before the game proper, it serves as a TasteOfPower for the spells you can get and [[spoiler: it's actually the Shadowlord's origin]]. You can even do it again later as a part of a sidequest and get the [[ImprovisedWeapon pipe]] you used back then.
** ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'': The menu tutorial at first appears inexplicable, [[NinjaProp but reveals itself to be]] 9S guiding [[PlayerCharacter 2B]] through the DiegeticInterface as she comes back online.

* The ''VideoGame/IronMan1'' game's tutorial is when Tony first puts on the armor to escape the cave he was held in. The tutorial proceeds as Tony gets used to controlling the armor, continuing in the second mission when he upgrades it to include flight capabilities and tests them out. [[VideoGame/IronMan2 In the second one]], his armor is damaged at the beginning of the game and he only has limited systems available. It self repairs, however, and more functions return as the tutorial goes on.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' starts her [[CharacterTitle self-titled game]] waking up six months after an AlienInvasion and implanted with some of their nanomachines. Her brother [[MissionControl Dan]] explains to her how everything works via logbooks he left behind, which can be skipped. Hidden skills are explained in other logbooks throughout the game.
* Many, if not all, of the ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'' games had a boot camp level and in the case of ''Air Tactics'', ''Air Attack'' and such, flight school.
* ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' used this in the form of a training run set up by Giles.
* ''VideoGame/ReservoirDogs'' has a tutorial sequence where Joe Cabot trains Mr. Orange (the newest member of his gang) on the basics of armed robbery before the big jewelry store hold-up. The training sequence has the gang using paintball bullets and setting up a training simulation in an empty warehouse, with the other criminals sarcastically acting out the roles of cops and civilians.
* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has this, since Neo needs to learn to fight in a series of tutorials, with Tank acting as MrExposition and explaining how to do everything.

* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor''
** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorPacificAssault'' has Conlin and his future squadmates go through boot camp, complete with DrillSergeantNasty. They take courses in obstacle clearing, basic and specialized marksmanship training, squad tactics, and basic first aid.
** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'' opens with Travers and other paratrooper trainees going through advanced parachute training in North Africa a few months prior to the Sicily landings.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'':
** [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 The first game]] features an optional Hazard Course section in which Gordon Freeman must learn how to use his HEV suit using an assault course in the Black Mesa labs. Broken versions of the Hazard Course turned up as parts of levels in the ''Opposing Force'' and ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeDecay Decay]]'' [[ExpansionPack expansions]].
** ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce Opposing Force]]'' details the HECU force preparing to leave for Black Mesa, and a crash course on how to utilize your [[PoweredArmor PCV]] vest and the new sniper rifle.
** ''Opposing Force'' also has Shepherd end up in a section of the Hazard Course, with the hologram reciting part of the tutorial in-universe (without references to keyboards).
** ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift Blue Shift]]'': The Black Mesa body armor needs a little work getting used to so the guards are asked to run through an obstacle course.
** In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', the training was seamlessly integrated into the game's opening; players had to pick up and manipulate objects with the basic controls before they were given a gun or an HEV suit. The acquisition of the Gravity Gun partway through the game also worked in a tutorial on how to use it by having you navigate the junkyard behind Black Mesa East, while also [[{{Foreshadowing}} sneaking in]] a tutorial on how to deal with a later enemy by having you and [[RobotBuddy Dog]] play catch with a deactivated version of that enemy.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' both start with your character performing basic movements like walking around and using the camera controls so that the technicians can calibrate his suit. Your reactions to prompts like "look up" also allow the game to guess your control preferences.
*** Cleverly, in the first level of Halo 1 the game will keep track of what controls you are using, and if you don't use one the game will present a challenge that requires it, with on-screen instructions as to which button to push. For instance, if you're not meleeing you will find a jammed door that needs to be forced.
** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' had an interesting take on this trope, as the tutorial takes place out in the middle of the jungle. Having jumped from a spaceship and fallen several kilometers, Master Chief's armour needs recalibration, because it is still "in partial lockdown" after having taken the brunt of his impact. A medic stands in front of you in your crater and holds up a little card, saying "look up here... now down here..."
** In ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', your "tutorial" is just the Rookie activating some explosive blots to release his pod door open.
** {{Averted}} in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'': The game checks to see if you want to invert the look controls or not, then dumps you into the campaign. You still get a chance to get used to looking around in the opening to the first level, where you are encouraged to look at two separate locations from the passenger seat of a Falcon. Games under the watch of Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries have skipped even that part altogether.
** [[{{Parody}} Parodied]] in the E3 2019 trailer for ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'', in which the dropship pilot begins Master Chief's armor check as in ''1'' and ''2'', but Chief just ignores him, as if to say, "Yeah, by now, we know how to play the game. Let's just get to it."
* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'':
** The first game does it in a similar way to ''Halo'': After you jump out of the plane with the rest of the squad, an attack causes your parachute to fail. Luckily, you are in a supersuit, and [[SoftWater you land on water]]. You survive, but are miles away from the team who get scattered due to the attack. The suit resets, and your commander runs you through a series of suit checks as the tutorial.
** In ''Crysis 2'', you have just been outfitted with the Nanosuit 2.0 by the suit's previous owner. Since said owner is now dead, the suit itself teaches you its functions over the course of the first level.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' had a few tutorials presented as various training rooms in the heroine's home base.
* ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' presents player tutorials as cyberspace simulations, and in-universe they're actually recruitment aids for the government's three military branches. According to the manual, the protocol droid stationed at the recruitment center's entrance is there to keep local teenagers from using the tutorials as a free arcade. The Von Braun, which occupies roughly 3/4 of the game, is a tutorial for the ''U.S.S. Rickenbacker''.

* ''Call of Duty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' has your character as a new SAS member; after passing Selection, it's his first day in the Regiment. As such, he has to go through some weapons familiarization (aka target practice) and a timed close quarters battle (CQB) drill... in a plywood mock-up of the beginning area of the first mission. This is not as useful as the real thing, since you're doing this solo instead of as a fire team in the real mission, where the AI teammates tend to beat you to the front of the line and thus block your fire while killing the tangos themselves... thus negating the point of that CQB drill. ''Modern Warfare 2'' includes a similar tutorial, justified as a demonstration for recruits in Afghanistan, with a similar drill as a test of your character's skill in preparation for a special mission.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' has a tutorial for the Strike Force levels that is justified as a systems and operability check for a base that had just been attacked by SDC forces; the first real level has you defending it from a second wave.

* ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod'' is set in a virtual reality, and the main character is said to have not logged into in two years. The tutorial is set up to be an upgrade system that shows returning users how to use the new features in the simulation. Gameplay wise, the tutorial assumes that the user knows about the basic Deus Ex controls, and is just trying to show off the new features the mod has.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' starts out with Samus exploring a mostly-derelict Space Pirate vessel. Whenever she encounters anything that must be done, a message pops up on the screen telling the player how to do it (so, when she encounters a console that must be scanned, the ''player'' is told about the scan visor, while it's assumed Samus herself already knows how to use it). The tutorial mostly ends when Samus gets the BagOfSpilling.
* ''VideoGame/AmericasArmy'' includes a well done tutorial based on real-life Basic Training, with movement being taught on the obstacle course, combat covered during weapons familiarization and MOUT, etc. It famously includes some [[http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/01/americas-army-t.html First Aid information]]. Which is infamously delivered to the player by making his character sit in a classroom and listen to a long lecture. Which, as anyone who has been through Basic Training knows, is [[TruthInTelevision a very common teaching style in the military]]. The information given there is also real info given out to real medics. So much so that a man who had played the game used the info he learned there to save another man's life after a traffic accident.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce'' has a training mode that is obviously set on the holodeck. The sequel justifies it even further, since the protagonist is now a hardened veteran: Starfleet regulations supposedly require annual recertification with phasers and tricorders and other equipment.

* ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick: VideoGame/EscapeFromButcherBay'' has an extremely clever justification for the tutorial level and the 'Press this for that' button warnings. A daydream on the way to prison...
* ''VideoGame/FarCryEvolution'', a sequel, has an interesting handwave. Apparently sitting in a bar for three months knocking back drinks doesn't do so well for your ancient-predator skills. So you need to go to some island and knock some fools around. Or something. After the hand-wave it makes little sense.
* A significant portion of ''VideoGame/TheConduit'' tells the story in a HowWeGotHere perspective, with the very first tutorial level starting right in the middle of the action. The player character gets up off the ground after having apparently been knocked down by an explosion, and much of the tutorial consists of the VoiceWithAnInternetConnection telling the character to perform several actions to check if his PoweredArmor is still functioning correctly.
* ''[[VideoGame/KillSwitch kill.switch]]'' has a bog-standard tutorial level even though the main character is supposed to be a super soldier. It's justified in-game as being a test of the new neural interface technology rather than of his basic combat skills.

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' teaches players about the use of weapons and Vigors with the mini-games at the Columbia Fair and Raffle.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'' has the protagonist's friend Spider hacking Rex's interface and forcing him through an incredibly annoying and tedious tutorial as a prank.
--> '''Tutorial voice:''' To look around, [[CaptainObvious look around]].
* ''VideoGame/Payday2'' justifies its tutorial heists by Dallas returning to the PAYDAY gang following the events of [[VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist the previous game]], and the tutorials are Bain testing Dallas to see if he still has what it takes to be in the gang.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'' the tutorials are part of the story. The monster tutorial is about a newly hatched monster, one that's still figuring out the whole "corporeal form" thing and thus learning things as the player is, in one of the opening attacks on Shear. The hunter tutorial follows Markov tracking the monster in the wake of the monster tutorial, with Bucket providing information in the form of tactical advice for tracking the monster and surviving the wildlife of [[DeathWorld Shear]].
* In the [=iOS=] game ''VideoGame/NearOrbitVanguardAlliance'', your character was a veteran soldier who had been discharged for some time, but is literally shanghai’d for this mission. He is rusty and therefore needs a primer.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' originally averted this trope by dumping a brand new player in his starting city with a coupon worth 50 gil, visible body armor and a weapon and, if you matched up the correct race with the correct city, a special ring. They later added a tutorial quest series that starts when you trade the coupon in, provided your character was created after that particular update.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' works the initial main story quests as a tutorial of sorts. When you first start out, the very first quest teaches you the basic controls by having you go to a specific spot in the starting city in an isolated environment so you're not distracted by the other players in the game. The quests afterwards are mostly to let you get a feel for combat in a more freeform approach. But at level 15 or so, you're given the option to learn at the "Hall of the Novice", which teaches you about what role your class plays in dungeons. As an incentive for doing all of the tutorials, you get a set of armor that will carry you through quite a few levels.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' holds your hand and tells you how you're supposed do everything during the first quest, to get you started. The quest is, appropriately, given to you by the puneriffic Toot Oriole.
* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixOnline'' has a fairly well-integrated tutorial sequence, in which you, as a new Redpill, have to calibrate your in-world HUD (presented within your field of view directly by The Matrix) and are taught about combat.

* The MMO ''VideoGame/FallenEarth'' begins with the player character freshly decanted from a cloning tube, after being [[CloningBlues cloned, mindwiped, and killed for hundreds if not thousands of cycles of life and death]], and thus justifiably unsure of how to walk. It goes downhill from there.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has an optional tutorial in which you play the part of a new hero who has just arrived in [[CityOfAdventure Paragon City]]. You are sent to help contain a chemical outbreak that is turning street punks into mindless killers. You are then taught how to use [[PowerSource Inspirations]] and [[SocketedEquipment Enhancments]], how the Mission system works, and how to determine an enemy's level by the color its name is. The actual control system is displayed in a window that shows whenever you start a new character. The Villain's tutorial teaches all the same things, but the setup is even more justified. You are [[CardboardPrison breaking out of jail]] and have to recover your powers, beat up guards, and plant a bomb before you can get away. With the advent of ''City of Heroes: Freedom,'' both heroes and villains start in the same tutorial, helping the Freedom Phalanx fight off magic meteor creatures before deciding which side you will join.
* In ''VideoGame/EarthAndBeyond'', to learn new abilities, you would have to complete a short mission in which the use of that ability was required to succeed, ensuring that the player actually knew how to use said ability.
* The online, MMO portion of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' handled its (optional) tutorial mission, "SEED-Form Purge," this way. All new player characters were assumed to be new employees of the GUARDIANS Security Corporation, fresh from its academy. Any actual explanation of gameplay mechanics was done through text on screen rather than through the characters, with character dialogue giving the impression that equivalent in-universe explanations were given to the player character.
* ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'' begins with your newly-empowered character escaping from one of Brainiac's ships and fighting off robots, with the guidance of [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Oracle or Calculator]] (depending on your alignment) teaching your how to use your powers.

* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', a marine says, "Permission to speak freely, sir? I don't really think you know what you're doing." and proceeds to explain the two basic modes of movement. As one is new to the job of being the local magistrate, it's understandable. In addition, one can skip this mission. They integrate further minor tutorials into the first missions of the Zerg and Protoss campaigns as well (chiefly to explain the quirks of each faction).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'', the player character begins as a master wizard, for whom a tutorial would be rife with AsYouKnow. Instead, the tutorial/prologue has the player control a different character, a novice wizard who appears in the game proper as an {{NPC}}.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Desperados}}'' the game begins as the main hero meets his old-time buddy in the middle of a town festival and is invited to participate in some healthy and editorial activities, like flowerpot-shooting and knife-throwing. Each new member of the team later gets his/her own personal level to show off their abilities. Notable, that the tutorials for the last two members are done in full-blown combat conditions and can get them killed.
* Almost half of ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''[='s=] story mode is one giant tutorial for the multiplayer aspects of the game, but split up across different events. Team positioning is Eddie setting up the rules to the headbangers on how they'll function as a team.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' has a [[Recap/AgeOfEmpiresIIWilliamWallace whole tutorial campaign]], setting you as a supporter of William Wallace's [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry rebellion against]] [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I "Longshanks" of England]]'s occupation of Scotland. (''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' [[UsefulNotes/TheNineties had only come out a few years earlier]].) New and more complex topics are introduced over the course of the campaign, which is justified by the storyline of a band of rebels waging a guerrilla war while gathering the strength to fight the kind of pitched battle needed to send the occupiers packing.
* ''VideoGame/IronHarvest'' puts you in the child shoes of future Polanian [[LaResistance resistance]] hero Anna Kos during the winter snows, as she tries to involve herself in a snowball fight with the local village boys. During the course of the "battle", the game teaches you about movement and its ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' inspired cover system, and later introduces unit special abilities during a deer hunting sequence with her brother, Janek Kos. The game picks up again 5 years later at the armistice of 1920+ WW1, where constant practice in the woods around her home has honed her into a world-class Sharpshooter.

* The game pictured is a part of the ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' series. Each game features a different set of characters, including the playable character(s), and all of the playable characters must learn how to catch Pokémon, which can be HarderThanItLooks even for players who are very familiar with the series. ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen]]'' came with a comprehensive easy-access manual so integrated into the game that you could access it while you were saving your game progress.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and their remakes add an extra layer of justification; ''You're'' not being shown how to catch a Pokémon directly, instead, you're sent to watch over a rival and make sure ''he'' catches the Pokémon alright. It still plays out the same way as other catching tutorials, so the intent is pretty clear, but at least it's not shown as someone holding your hand through something that many players already know.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' justifies it by making it optional. The tutorial is given by Champion Leon on route 2 instead of route 1. If the player reaches route 2 without catching any Pokémon, then he thinks you could use some advice and starts the tutorial; if the player catches any Pokémon on route 1 then Leon acknoledges that you don't need it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' handles this in an unusual fashion. Your character's formative years are used as the framing device for both the tutorial and character creation. The character's gender, name, and appearance are determined during your character's birth, the last by the protagonist's father looking at a computer simulation of his child's growth. The movement tutorial and stat assignment portion involves you sneaking out of your crib as a toddler and reading a children's book called "You're SPECIAL" (SPECIAL being the game's stats system). The menu, dialogue, and combat tutorials involve you getting a BB gun and a Pip-Boy 3000 wrist computer at your tenth birthday party. At the age of sixteen, you take [[IneptAptitudeTest an aptitude test]] to help determine your three tag skills. Finally, stealth, hacking and lockpicking are learned when [[spoiler:you have to sneak out of the vault at age 19.]] Or, if that's still too much for you (or if you've made a bunch of [[AltItis alternate characters]] and are tired of the tutorial), you can make a save file [[spoiler: just before you exit the vault]], at which point you can remake your whole character from top to bottom in about five minutes. There are a few decisions regarding hostile characters that may require you to replay from the beginning, but nothing major.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has your character just recently recovered from being shot in the head twice, prompting Doc Mitchell to make sure your faculties are in check, asking you some questions about your personality that determine your initial skills. Afterwards, he directs you to Sunny Smiles to set you up to be able to actually survive the Mojave. It's pretty useful to go through the tutorial for a few free items, but it's not necessary to actually do.

* The tutorial in ''VideoGame/{{Fable|I}}'' is made up to present the Hero being trained from childhood to young adulthood in a warrior's academy.
* Both of the first games of the ''[[VideoGame/DotHackGUGames .hack]]'' series (''Infection'' and ''Rebirth'') feature the main character first starting to play The World and being taught to play by other characters. Also subverted in Rebirth when, after Haseo gets changed from level 133 to 1, a group of characters try to give him a tutorial ''again'', causing an annoyed Haseo to explain that he knows everything already.
* A couple of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games half-justify their tutorials by framing them as lessons or homework from Lan's school. ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' has something similar, but since Geo really is new to all this, it's not the same thing. There's still the pulsing in tutorial (justified, as usual, by it being repair work), but the tedious battling tutorial is skippable. The tutorial in ''Mega Man Star Force 2'' is skippable, but you still have to do the three virus fights.
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' has Neku waking up with full amnesia, having no clue what the things are that are attacking him, how the {{Phlebotinum}} pins he has work, or any of that. (Plus the little fact that he ''can't'' fight without a partner initially.) While the game does go out of the fourth wall to simply screendump you several times, it's made clear that he's learning things from scratch as much as you are - once you know the rules, he does as well. (That said, your knowledge and his aren't equatable after this point.)

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** With the exception of its [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall second installment]], the series integrates its tutorials into your character's escape or release from prison. This began all the way back in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', where your guide is the ghost of [[BigBad Jagar Tharn's]] Empire-loyal apprentice.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' has a tutorial dungeon where the protagonist wakes up after being washed ashore in a storm and has to fight their way up to the surface (just how exactly the "storm" pushed them some 100 meters underground is HandWaved). To add injury to insult, the tutorial is bugged. Out of eleven parts, the player will typically only encounter eight and "tutorial 9" will never load. [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Tutorial The remainder tips do exist, so it's not just a psychological trick of some sort.]]
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has a very subtle one that amounts to a few text pop-ups regarding movement instructions, inventory use, and the various menus. It is neatly tied into character generation and can be completed in about five minutes. An area just after character creation has some additional optional tips (and can also be taken advantage of to pick up some stuff which won't count as stolen). ''Morrowind'' actually draws some criticism from those who say the tutorial is ''too short'', as it has the toughest EarlyGameHell in the series and doesn't explain some key elements (like how successful hits are calculated in combat).
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' does a very fine job of blending the tutorial mission, the story premise, and the implicit class choice at once: you start off as a prisoner who escapes his cell by following the Emperor who is fleeing the city through underground passages. The game runs you through some basic interaction with the environment (melee combat, shooting, lockpicking), then the Emperor is killed shortly before escaping (kicking off the main quest), then one of his guards finalizes your character creation by suggesting what class you'd be best off with ''based on how your playing style was during the tutorial dungeon''.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' works the basic features of the game into you escaping a dragon attack (and your own execution). After a chaotic runaround above ground for basic movement and interaction, you head underground for combat. Once [[OpeningTheSandbox the sandbox opens]], there are several people in various towns who will give you instructions on smithing, alchemy, and enchanting. In Whiterun, for instance, you can help a smith out at her forge as she walks you through the process step-by-step, and you even get a helmet and dagger out of the deal.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
** In the first game, you have to escape from a ship boarded by the Sith with Trask Ulgo (fellow soldier and ExpositionFairy) holding your hand most of the way.
** ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords KOTOR II]]'' has a sequence aboard a disabled ''Ebon Hawk'', with you playing T3-M4 trying to repair the ship enough to get to safety.
** If you choose to skip the tutorial before you finish it, any items you've collected during it remain in your inventory when the game proper begins. You can use this combined with a glitch in the mine-disarming part of the tutorial to start with up to sixteen minor frag mines that you can then use or break down for parts.
* The first chapter of ''VideoGame/DungeonSiegeII'' is a chapter of tutorial, which has you go in a quick training just before being shoved into warzone. If you're replaying the game in higher difficulty, the game skips to the second chapter immediately.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher's'' Prologue is a tutorial integrated with the plot, establishing character and over-arching motivation for the rest of the story. Practically every element of the rest of the game is smoothly introduced in justified contexts.
* In the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', Luke has no idea how to buy and sell things, due to living a sheltered life on his father's estate. HilarityEnsues when he grabs some food from a shop early in the game, not knowing that he has to pay for it. Van Grants, who is Luke's sword master, delivers the battle tutorial early in the game. While it's completely justified, it's awkward to hear someone [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits talking about "attack buttons" and "the Artes menu"]], in fully voice acted dialogue, as if they're perfectly normal aspects of swordplay.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Due to a Subversion of HealerSignsOnEarly: Early on, your BlackMage companion uses the party's current lack of a healer as an introduction to Cooking as a backup healing source.

* The opening mission of ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII'' was meant to function as one of these, and beautifully so since it doesn't seem contrived or forced (it gets a lot of mileage out of having the characters be new visitors to the isle, opening for covering asking about the purpose of building types as asking where they are in this little town). New players will spend enough time hanging around [[NoobCave Noob Island]] to learn the ropes of the game, while veteran players will either have fun blasting through it in a few minutes flat or try to wrestle a DiscOneNuke out of the island's resident dragon.

* In Episode 1 Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'''s Story Mode, Karen teaches Ethan about forming parties and how mission points are earned. It's done fairly well, presenting a plausible in-universe system that justifies several gameplay mechanics that come up during online play.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has one of these. It's you in a neglected, derelict prison scrounging around for any available weapons and gear and an escape, trying to deal with the few other escaped prisoners, and the Asylum Demon. the tutorial is rather brilliant. it teaches you the basic controls and subtly shows you that the direct option is not always the best. unless you want to wail on the Asylum Demon with your straight sword hilt and get stomped, you need to run from a scripted fight, explore your environment for tools, and talk with [=NPCs=] to learn more about the world, your goals, and get free stuff.
* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' presents the tutorial as a "surprise" evaluation scenario to see how quickly [[PlayerCharacter Mike]] recovers from heavy sedation (necessary to ship him to Alpha Protocol's secret base), and how he reacts to unexpected events (violently). They're followed by more overt tutorials from the initial MissionControl characters to make sure he's up to speed on the tools Alpha Protocol uses. If [[CharacterCustomization Mike is a veteran]], they're double-checking that his capabilities line up with his credentials, while if he's a rookie they have to make sure he can learn.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' starts off with Commander Shepard [[spoiler:being brought back from the dead and]] awakening in an unfamiliar space station. [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Miranda]], Jacob, and Wilson merely guide the way for Commander Shepard through the station, as they're perfectly aware that Shepard knows how to handle combat. The first mission on Freedom's Progress also includes a brief tutorial for ordering squadmates to position in preparation to fight a heavy mech.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' likewise begins with Commander Shepard escaping [[spoiler:the Reaper invasion of Earth]] with Anderson, who orders Shepard to follow him and take out any hostiles in their way. The game's expanded melee combat system is introduced once Shepard runs out of thermal clips. The mission on Mars also introduces the player on moving between cover when Shepard has to run past an automated turret.
* The "tutorial"--a big mess of darkspawn and one pissed-off ogre--in the first five or ten minutes of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is [[UnreliableNarrator Varric]] at his finest. When Cassandra tells him to knock it off and tell the truth, the gameplay shifts into normal mode and the battles become harder to fight.
* The player in ''VideoGame/FantasyLife'' is new to any job it ends up taking and will be instructed by a master.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' and ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' have characters who bring the hero to a simple dungeon to teach them about dungeon obstacles and solving puzzles.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' gives tutorials for characters' special abilities by having the characters themselves explain how their abilities can be used to overcome whatever obstacle the heroes have come across.
* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', the Djinn tutorial is given by Isaac, the hero of the previous game.
* In several games in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, the protagonist is a fresh rookie to the world of demon summoning and hunting, and as such needs to be taught the basics of how to fight and how to get demons to join them.
* The opening of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has Flowey the Flower teach you the basics of movement in battle and that your HP increases with your LV, but is simply a disguised attempt to kill you (his flowery demeanor starts to crack if you choose to dodge his "[[BlatantLies Friendliness Pellets]]"). After [[MeaningfulName Toriel]] shows up and saves you from him, she gives you a more direct tutorial on how you can ACT and SPARE enemies, as well as that you'll have to solve puzzles-- but she ends all fights before you can really do anything and solves all the puzzles for you, at one point ''literally'' holding your hand (taking control away from you) through a puzzle whose solution is already written down for you. All this makes sense: from Toriel's perspective you're JustAKid, and she has no intentions of letting you leave the RUINS,[[note]]Not to mention that she's already watched six other humans-- [[DeathOfAChild some of whom were presumably children]]-- leave only to be killed by ASGORE.[[/note]] while her condescending and restrictive attitude serves to make you want to leave her care ASAP.
* ''VideoGame/StartAgainStartAgainStartAgainAPrologue'': Upon encountering your first Sadness inside the Castle, the Housemaiden has a mild anxiety attack, needing a moment to talk herself through battle strategies in order to psych herself up. As Siffrin, you can opt to encourage her or tune her out. [[GroundhogDayLoop You've heard it all before...]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Bonfire}}'': The party banter throughout the tutorial quest serves as a primer on their basic abilities and strategies: Hildie will remind the {{Squishy Wizard}}s to let her protect them from hits, Ephrem will inform the player of MaximumHPReduction, and Zivko will explain how his charges work. This is used continually throughout the game, with many of the tactics quests (tutorials on advanced strategies) being introduced by the heroes discussing them in-universe, and misplays like letting Zivko's charges expire or healing characters who don't need it get pointed out via party banter as well.

* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TIEFighter'' justified things (at least story-wise) with the player character (at least according to the book) getting to be a full-time pilot instead of a starfighter mechanic after he [[spoiler:jumped into a TIE fighter and fended off four Rebel starfighters attacking an Imperial admiral's shuttle]].

* Creator/NipponIchi occasionally justifies the use of tutorials.
** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' has Laharl waking up after oversleeping for two years, so his mind and body need a bit of a workout.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' has Rozalin, who is a princess and obviously has no battle training at all, being given a crash course in fighting by Adell.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' has Mao's butler Geoffery handling the tutorial like he does [[CrazyPrepared all the time for his master]] along with plenty of {{Lampshading}} and overly polite snark.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'' has Seraphina learning from Killia as [a] Seraphina has no idea how to fight, [b] her Prinnies all got annihilated and [c] Killia threatens to abandon her if she refuses. The Geo Symbols tutorial later on has Red Magnus join in on the fun.
** ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'' has pre-transformation Zetta duke it out against Raiden and some mooks, and he mentions that he's mumbling to himself. You're also given the option to ignore it completely.
** ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' starts with a still alive Ash fighting off several enemies just to show the basics. When the game starts proper, you still have to sit through a few fights' worth of lessons regarding confining, lifting and throwing.
** ''VideoGame/LaPucelle Tactics'' has Sister Alouette teach Prier and Culotte the basics, because Prier is a very bad student.
* The [[Creator/FiraxisGames Firaxis]]-developed ''VideoGame/XCom'' games all give you a choice in the beginning to either play a scripted tutorial mission, or a standard mission in its place. All of the tutorial missions are relevant to the story:
** ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' has a stellar example with the tutorial mission, utilizing Central Officer Bradford as a way to teach the player about cover, attacking, grenades... and just how stupid it is to blunder into unseen space with the very last soldier on your squad, since only 1/4 of the soldiers on that mission survived it. While the tutorial is entirely optional (if disabled in the Settings, it is replaced with a standard non-scripted mission), it does provide some interesting {{Foreshadowing}} for the alien species to be encountered in the future. ''Enemy Within'' has its own optional tutorial mission meant to teach the player how to find and collect the new [[GreyGoo Meld]] substance. Unlike the original tutorial, this one is not fully scripted, as all it really requires you to do is get the Meld canisters.
** The tutorial mission of ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' features a squad lead by Bradford rescuing the [[PlayerCharacter Commander]] from an ADVENT blacksite, teaching the player many of the same lessons as the first game did, alongside the more involved objectives to complete and the new mechanic of extracting at the end of the mission. It justifies characters being railroaded into critical mistakes an experienced player wouldn't make, since the Commander isn't yet the one giving orders. Notably, one of the MauveShirt members of your squad in the tutorial, Jane Kelly, was popular enough to be given more screen time in the game's expansions, and became an AscendedExtra in the next game, ''[[VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad Chimera Squad]]''. If you decide against playing the tutorial, you are instead given a standard randomly-generated mission, albeit one where the objective will always be to destroy an Etherial statue as a signal of XCOM's return.
** ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'' opens with a mission in which you must rescue Mayor Nightingale, who has been taken hostage at a museum by unknown forces. Her death at the end of the mission puts the story in motion. Skipping the tutorial means that Chimera Squad never even got to make an attempt at saving her.

** [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 The first game]] features an optional Hazard Course section in which Gordon Freeman must learn how to use his HEV suit using an assault course in the Black Mesa labs. Broken versions of the Hazard Course turned up as parts of levels in the ''Opposing Force'' and ''Decay'' [[ExpansionPack expansions]].
** ''Opposing Force'' details the HECU force preparing to leave for Black Mesa, and a crash course on how to utilize your [[PoweredArmor PCV]] vest and the new sniper rifle.

** ''Blue Shift''. The Black Mesa body armor needs a little work getting used to so the guards are asked to run through an obstacle course.

[[folder:Four X]]
* The ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series has its share of justified tutorials.
** ''VideoGame/XBeyondTheFrontier'' integrates its tutorial into you putting an [[XtremeKoolLetterz xperimental]] combat shuttle through its paces (teaching you how to shoot, having you PassThroughTheRings to learn maneuvering/test the shuttle's systems, etc.). Then your jumpdrive goes haywire and you end up several galaxies away with no way home.
** In addition to the obvious (and optional) "Flight School" tutorial, ''X3: Terran Conflict's'' first plot (there's nine altogether) is effectively one long tutorial, with "Press X for Y effect" popping up on your HUD.
[[/folder]]

* The opening of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has Flowey the Flower teach you the basics of movement in battle and that your HP increases with your LV, but is simply a disguised attempt to kill you (his flowery demeanor starts to crack if you choose to dodge his "[[BlatantLies Friendliness Pellets]]"). After [[MeaningfulName Toriel]] shows up and saves you from him, she gives you a more direct tutorial on how you can ACT and SPARE enemies, as well as that you'll have to solve puzzles-- but she ends all fights before you can really do anything and solves all the puzzles for you, at one point ''literally'' holding your hand (taking control away from you) through a puzzle whose solution is already written down for you. All this makes sense: from Toriel's perspective you're JustAKid, and she has no intentions of letting you leave the RUINS,[[note]]Not to mention that she's already watched six other humans-- [[AdultFear some of whom were presumably children]]-- leave only to be killed by ASGORE.[[/note]] while her condescending and restrictive attitude serves to make you want to leave her care ASAP.