History UnbuiltTrope / VideoGames

** Cloud wasn't [[TropeMakers the first]] stereotypical spiky-haired angsty JRPG hero, but he is most certainly [[TropeCodifier the first one people think of]]. However, viewed backwards, Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a deconstruction of that exact stereotype, in that while his serious issues are treated sympathetically, his attitude is supposed to come off as being adolescent and irritating, and the other characters view it as an annoyance or a big joke if they buy into it at all. The sheer absurdity of his {{BFS}} and AnimeHair comes across as parody, especially in his {{Character Tic}}s using them. While his AngstComa is dramatic, it's played for slight BlackComedy, and results in him spasming in a wheelchair rather than any more romantic or pretty visual. Then there's the main twist: [[spoiler:he's not even ''supposed'' to be TheHero; that guy (Zack) got killed, and now his friend (Cloud) is trying to take his place. He's [[ThisLoserIsYou literally role playing a hero to escape from his own self-loathing]]]].
** Cloud Strife is [[DeadUnicornTrope frequently viewed as]] the TropeCodifier of the angsty pretty-boy JRPG hero, but his dialogue is a lot less angsty in his game than many remember. If anything, [[MsFanservice Tifa]] or [[BigBad Sephiroth]] wear their neuroses on their sleeves much more openly than the protagonist.
** Similarly, Cloud is credited with kicking off the tendency for JRPG leads to be amnesiac and/or {{phlebotinum rebel}}s, but he actually reads like a deconstruction of how those tropes usually go down. His [[FakeMemories memories are screwed up]], but when the truth comes out, rather than turning out to be some sort of plot-relevant badass, he was a {{mook|s}} before the plot went down. He got experimented on, which gave him the SuperSoldier augmentations that allow him to wield his preferred weapon type properly, but also fed into his delusion that he was the experienced badass he presented himself as instead of the common nobody grunt he actually was. The cost of the augmentations was deteriorating mental health that later became outright insanity because of the psycho-emotional trauma he endured, and the ability to be mind-controlled by the BigBad. Contrast with Tifa, a [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower super powerful martial artist]] that wasn't augmented at all and seems like she can more than match the augmented SOLDIER members, and it just seems that the cost for the abilities Cloud wanted for years just weren't worth the suffering he had to go through in the first place. And his amnesia? His memories weren't rewritten by the BigBad at all. He did it to himself as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he had to endure for four years, capped with the death of his best friend before either could reach Midgar. To say that Cloud was a mess is an {{Understatement}}.

** Its more popular successor ''Videogame/{{Doom}}'' is also this trope, perhaps moreso. People who know old-school FPS only by reputation come in expecting balls-to-the-wall action, hoards of enemies, and LudicrousGibs. And while the game has its fair share of that, the overall experience is far more tactical. Ammo and health packs are limited, and your marine can't take much damage either. On the "Ultra-Violence" difficulty (hard mode; considered "proper" by fans and canon by the devs) you're constantly scrounging for supplies[[note]]except for shotgun shells, which are everywhere[[/note]], and it's very important to know which weapon is best in each situation. While later games at least have free pistol ammo, a ''Doom'' player might get stripped down to the GoodOldFisticuffs, which, without power-ups, are no more useful than in RealLife. The player needs to take advantage of easy kills through sniping and [[SetAMookToKillAMook infighting]], and sometimes just running for it is the best strategy. When you do get in to a pitched battle, it's only half thrilling setpiece -- the other half is a harrowing ordeal that ends with you barely alive and low on ammo. Secret areas and pickups can often feel mandatory to find, and instead of being in out-of-the-way dead-ends or little easter eggs they're mostly hidden inside [[SpotTheThread false walls]], many times [[MonsterCloset with monsters]]. In many ways the game seems more like ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' than its own imitators.
** ''Doom'' single-handedly created and codified ASpaceMarineIsYou. When this trope is played straight in later works, the player usually starts the campaign as a member of TheSquad, while [[EverybodysDeadDave the friendly NPCs are killed off during mid-game.]] In ''Doom'', the player character is however the last man standing ''as the campaign begins''. Though CoOpMultiplayer is available, the game got its lasting appeal through the CompetitiveMultiplayer, which contradicts most SpaceMarine tropes, and nullifies the plot.
* ''[[VideoGame/PennAndTellersSmokeAndMirrors Desert Bus]]'' viciously picks apart and deconstructs both the idea trying to make video games realistic and of [[DeconstructionGame taking video games so seriously]] long before either became trends; it predates games like ''Spec Ops: The Line''. It points out how ignoring both AcceptableBreaksFromReality and the NecessaryWeasel just makes a boring and miserable game that the player probably won't waste their time on it.

** Team Rocket is the first of several villainous Teams, antagonistic groups that come into conflict with the player over the course of their journeys. Unlike later groups their ambitions are purely criminal, and while they apparently have some sort of master plan it never gets a chance to start due to the player's interference, unlike later villainous teams who continue relatively unhindered until the plan's gotten to critical levels.

* Some of the original cast of ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', the first 3D fighting game, already broke the mold when the game was released. The resident Jeet Kun Do fighter, Jacky, was ''not'' a BruceLeeClone, but a blond American. The main character, Akira, a Japanese man in a Karate gi, did not practice karate or even another Japanese martial art, but a specific style of Chinese kung fu, Baji. On top of that, despite being the main character, he is by far [[DifficultButAwesome the most difficult to play effectively]], and is often a MidBoss in the arcade modes.
* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', released in 1999, featured an [[RelationshipValues influence mechanic]] long before [[Franchise/DragonAge more]] [[Franchise/MassEffect mainstream]] role-playing games picked up on it. It also portrays such a mechanic as deeply screwed up, the result of a protagonist who bears a cursed seal, the Mark of Torment, which [[MagneticHero draws other tormented souls to him]]... and that's when he hasn't spent a lifetime [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating them]] into following him.

** One huge critique of the Modern Military Shooter genre is that it acts as essentially little more than a Power Fantasy for Western Gamers to enact vengeance on caricatures of Middle-Eastern terrorists, when TheWarOnTerror is far more complicated than a black and white situation, and portrays the player character as always being in the right, despite the many questionable actions they could be partaking in. Imagine then, a game meant to deconstruct the genre. This game would have the player character complicit in the murder of innocent civilians, with said action not only being condemned by the game itself, but also end up as the catalyst for even worse situations in the story. America would find itself having its famous monuments and areas desecrated; [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything essentially being the ones who must suffer under an invasion being portrayed by the opposing force as "righteous vengeance"]]. Better still, the main villain would be an American general who allowed all this to happen to drum up patriotism, with the theme being that PatrioticFervor is ultimately a tool used to manipulate the masses, and killing in the name of it leads to countless suffering that may not have been justified. Indeed, the game would be filled with many quotes speaking out against such ultra-nationalist viewpoints. Such a game exists, even being made before ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' was released, ''and it's none other than ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 2]]'', the game that [[TropeCodifier popularized the genre]] even moreso than its predecessor.''

* Franchise/{{Pokemon}}
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' spawned many concepts and ideas for both the franchise, and the {{Mon}}s genre. It also comes off as a subversion of some of these ideas, before they were really set in stone:
** Team Rocket was the first of several villainous "Teams", antagonistic groups that come into conflict with the player over the course of their journeys. Unlike their successors, they are portrayed dead seriously (while most [[{{Mooks}} grunts]] in future games are played largely for laughs), they are not involved with the Legendary Pokémon in any way (though adaptions did make them responsible for Mewtwo), all their operations are criminal in nature (compared to the more cult-like/terrorist organizations that followed them), and, while they are defeated before you can get all 8 badges like most Villainous Teams, their story doesn't end there; the final Gym Leader is their boss, Giovanni.
** Everyone knows you're supposed to fight the Champion after the EliteFour, but the fact that you have to do so was intended as a ''twist'', previously, the Elite Four was built up the final challenge. In addition, the Champion is TheRival, someone who usually battles you ''before'' the Pokemon League.
** OlympusMons were introduced to the world with Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon. The first ones were impressive, three powerful birds with a FireIceLightning motif (Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos), the clone of the progenitor of all Pokémon (Mewtwo) and said progenitor itself (Mew). However, they weren't made out to be outright ''deities''.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' also introduced several concepts to the franchise, albeit in a way that seems like a subversion.
*** Mascot [[OlympusMons Legendaries]] got their start here, with Ho-oh and Lugia being on the box art of ''Gold and Silver'' respectively. However, they were ''not'' exclusive to the game they star in, they could be found in both, with the non-mascot being encountered at a later point then the mascot. In addition, they are not the center of some subplot or even ''mandatory to encounter'', that didn't come into play until ''[[UpdatedRerelease Crystal]]'' with ''it's'' mascot Suicune. And even then, it was completely unrelated to the Team Rocket subplot.
** Also introduced were [[CoDragons Admins]], direct subordinates to the Team Boss that serve as {{Recurring Boss}}es throughout the game. Except that any one who's played the game knows that the Rocket Executives were the [[DragonAscendant main villains]], with their ultimate goal basically amounting to finding [[GreaterScopeVillain Giovanni]] and handing him back the reins.

* In the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, AmericansHateTingle because he's a selfish, greedy ManChild. This hatred stems primarily from his role in ''Wind Waker''; he was hated a ''lot less in his debut game ''Majora's Mask'' because A) his weird behavior fits with the game's running theme of SurrealHorror, and B) Tingle's own father criticizes Tingle for how he acts.

** Similarly, Cloud is credited with kicking off the tendency for JRPG leads to be amnesiac and/or {{phlebotinum rebel}}s, but he actually reads like a deconstruction of how those tropes usually go down. His [[FakeMemories memories are screwed up]], but when the truth comes out, rather than turning out to be some sort of plot-relevant badass, he was a {{mook|s}} before the plot went down. He got experimented on, which gave him the SuperSoldier augmentations that allow him to wield his preferred weapon type properly, but also fed into his delusion that he was the experienced badass he presented himself as instead of the common nobody grunt he actually was. The cost of the augmentations was deteriorating mental health that later became outright insanity because of the psycho-emotional trauma he endured, and the ability to be mind-controlled by the BigBad. Contrast with Tifa, a [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower super powerful martial artist]] that wasn't augmented at all and seems like she can more than match the augmented SOLDIER members, and it just seems that the cost for the abilities Cloud wanted for years just weren't worth the suffering he had to go through in the first place. And his amnesia? His memories weren't rewritten by the BigBad at all. He did it to himself as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he had to endure for four years, capped with the death of his best friend before either could reach Midgar. [[{{Understatement}} Yeah, Cloud was a mess.]]

** Also introduced were [[CoDragons Admins]], direct subordinates to the Team Boss that sever as {{Recurring Boss}}es throughout the game. Except that any one who's played the game knows that the Rocket Executives were the [[DragonAscendant main villains]], with their ultimate goal basically amounting to finding [[GreaterScopeVillain Giovanni]] and handing him back the reins.

* In the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, AmericansHateTingle because he's an obnoxious greedy ManChild. This hatred stems primarily from his role in ''Wind Waker''; he was hated a lot less in his debut game ''Majora's Mask'' because A) his obnoxious greedy ManChild behavior fits with the game's running theme of SurrealHorror, and B) Tingle's own father criticizes Tingle for being an obnoxious greedy ManChild.

** Relatedly, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' bought CameraLockOn to the mainstream, InUniverse, this was accomplished through [[ExpositionFairy Navi]]. [[InterfaceScrew She was unable to help you when the]] FinalBoss was actively repelling her, and despite her {{annoy|ingVideoGameHelper}}ance for a lot of players, her departure at games' end was a TearJerker that leads directly to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the sequel]], where Link trying to find and reunite with her. Navi and her successor Tatl were their games' main character after Link, being talkative {{Foil}}s to his SilentProtagonist. Good luck finding a game since where the control scheme double as {{Deuteragonist}}s whose loss emotionally effects the protagonist.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonI'' was the first BeatEmUp to include CoOpMultiplayer. It was also a legendary ''subversion'' of the trope. Two brothers are fighting to save the DamselInDistress...[[spoiler: but only one can get her, so after they bring down the bad guys, they fight to the death to be the one who gets to claim her.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'', one of the first [=RPGs=] ever written, contains a flood of unbuilt tropes, before works like ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' congealed and built up the tropes to what we know of today.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' spawned many concepts and ideas for both the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} franchise]], and the {{Mon}}s genre. It also comes off as a subversion of some of these ideas, before they were really set in stone:
** Team Rocket was the first of several villainous "Teams", antagonistic groups that come into conflict with the player over the course of their journeys. Unlike their successors, they are portrayed dead seriously, they are not involved with the Legendary Pokémon in any way (though adaptions did make them responsible for Mewtwo), all their operations are criminal in nature, and, while they are defeated before you can get all 8 badges, the final Gym Leader is their boss, Giovanni, whom you battled twice before.

** OlympusMons were introduced to the world with Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon. The first ones however, weren't literal deities, they were three powerful birds with a FireIceLightning motif (Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos), the clone of the progenitor of all Pokémon (Mewtwo) and said progenitor itself (Mew).

* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' spawned many concepts and ideas for both the [[Franchise/Pokemon franchise]], and the {{Mon}}s genre. It also comes off as a subversion of some of these ideas, before they were really set in stone:

* Those used to the later games in the series would be surprised to learn that Team Rocket in the original ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games were a ruthless, fairly competent Mafia-like organization that are all but stated to have ''killed'' multiple Pokemon. It wasn't until later games that the series started going the TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily route it's now famous for (and Team Rocket's later portrayal might also have been due to [[CanonImmigrant influence from the anime]]). ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'' comes off as heavily DarkerAndEdgier to those used to the newer games, but it's actually a fairly faithful adaptation of ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''.

* In the ending of''VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge'', Creator/TakeshiKitano basically takes a jab at people who dedicate so much of their time just to finish a video game and find all of its secrets no matter how bad the game is. This is before the time of players that play to find every hidden EasterEgg and developers making their games catering to that type of behavior.

* Contrary to popular belief in some circles, the ''Fate'' series does not feature an ImprobablyFemaleCast consisting of MsFanservice [[GenderFlip female versions of male heroes]]. For a long time the only such character was [[spoiler: VideoGame/FateStayNight Saber]], whose case was actually a heavily DeconstructedTrope. However, newer entries in the series such as ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Koha-Ace, and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' have played the trope straight with increasing frequency and increased levels of {{Fanservice}}.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is one of the first shooters on the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} console, and the {{Trope Maker|s}} for several first person shooter cliches. However both the games and the expanded universe are far more serious then you'd expect from a Sci-Fi FPS. Many of the aliens you fight are not actually malicious, but rather simply trying to [[PunchClockVillain not get in trouble with their Prophets]]. Nearly every game has a BittersweetEnding, with Master Chief losing his friends and allies. ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' even [[spoiler: ends with almost the entire team dead, including ''you'']]. The "good guys" are willing to kidnap children and forcefully make them {{Super Soldier}}s, and the psychological effects of warfare are addressed. Most victories come from lucky flukes (Like [[EnemyCivilWar the Elites starting a rebellion against the Covenant]]). The ExpandedUniverse also shows that having a OneManArmy on your side is little consolation when your enemy can [[OrbitalBombardment glass planets]].

* The idea that putting a FinalBoss at the end of a game would make it feel too much like a video game and less like a story (which is why there was no FinalBoss at the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' and ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'') was torn to shreds by the Wachowski sisters themselves in a fourth-wall breaking interruption at the end of ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' where they explain that:
-->'''Lilly Wachowski:''' ...at this point, it's Martyr time. Now that may work in a movie, but in a video game, the Jesus thing is, well...\\
'''Lana Wachowski:''' Lame.\\
'''Lilly Wachowski:''' ''Really'' lame.
** They then explain that the player is probably expecting a boss fight against some sort of giant monster Smith. Which is exactly what they're giving the player.

* The idea that putting a FinalBoss at the end of a game would make it feel too much like a video game and less like a story (which is why there was no FinalBoss at the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' and ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'') was torn to shreds by the Wachowski brothers themselves in a fourth-wall breaking interruption at the end of ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' where they explain that:
-->'''Andy Wachowski:''' ...at this point, it's Martyr time. Now that may work in a movie, but in a video game, the Jesus thing is, well...\\
'''Larry Wachowski:''' Lame.\\
'''Andy Wachowski:''' ''Really'' lame.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'', one of the first [=RPGs=] ever written, doesn't require you to fight [[EverythingTryingToKillYou every encounter you run into]], as there are actually good monsters that do not mind your company. It is also possible to luck into some of the best equipment early, some of said equipment (including the InfinityPlusOneSword) can break at any time, and the SquishyWizard trope turns out to apply to characters who are generally immune to it, not least of which is ''the last boss in the game.''

** Cloud wasn't [[TropeMakers the first]] stereotypical spiky-haired angsty JRPG hero, but he is most certainly [[TropeCodifier the first one people think of]]. However, viewed backwards, Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a deconstruction of that exact stereotype, in that while his serious issues are treated sympathetically, his attitude is supposed to come off as being adolescent and irritating, and the other player characters view it as an annoyance or a big joke if they buy into it at all. The sheer absurdity of his {{BFS}} and AnimeHair comes across as parody, especially in his {{Character Tic}}s using them. While his AngstComa is dramatic, it's played for slight BlackComedy, and results in him spasming in a wheelchair rather than any more romantic or pretty visual. Then there's the main thrust - he's [[spoiler:not even ''supposed'' to be TheHero; that guy (Zack) got killed, and now his friend (Cloud) is trying to take his place. He's [[ThisLoserIsYou literally role playing a hero to escape from his own self-loathing]]]].

*** Between its [[NintendoHard unreasonable difficulty level]] and brutal death count, this 1988 game takes the usually cheerful standard 90s JRPG story of LaResistance out to fight TheEmpire and makes it as gritty as the NES can. Your plucky orphans are depressed young adults who have nowhere else to go, no idea what they're doing, and admit it, while the other resistance members insult your characters for it. The heroes win many important victories against the Empire, but once the Emperor gets his hands on the Cyclone, he devastates much of the world before the heroes can stop him, unlike other main antagonists, who might be thwarted before they do any significant damage. Part of your quest involves arming the kingdom with a spell so powerful that it's a clear analogy for a nuclear weapon. Even at the end of the game, Maria fails to reunite with her brother, and Firion, rather than trying to stop Leon from leaving, says the war has changed them, although he holds out hope for Leon's return. This was the first ''Final Fantasy'' game that had a proper plot and defined characters.
*** Note also that the ''Final Fantasy'' gender roles appear subversive here, with a male White Mage (who's even given a plot about sacrificing himself to unseal a spell that would be later associated with romantic heroines like Aeris and Yuna), and Maria a warrior with the kind of subplot about her evil brother that would later be exclusively associated with {{Mangst}}y male heroes like Cecil and Basch - but only because the gender roles hadn't been written yet.
*** Mechanically, this is one of the first games with "improve by doing" system. So how do you improve your HP? By hitting each other.
*** Everyone knows you're supposed to talk to everyone in a JRPG. Not so much in ''FFII'', where most early areas are populated by genuinely dangerous guard enemies who will slaughter you for talking to them.

** Similarly, Cloud is credited with kicking off the tendency for JRPG leads to be amnesiac and/or {{phlebotinum rebel}}s, but he actually reads like a deconstruction of how those tropes usually go down. His memories are screwed up, but when the truth comes out, rather than turning out to be some sort of plot-relevant badass, he was a {{mook|s}} before the plot went down. He got experimented on, which gave him the SuperSoldier augmentations that allow him to wield his preferred weapon type properly, but also fed into his delusion that he was the experienced badass he presented himself as instead of the common nobody grunt he actually was. The cost of the augmentations was deteriorating mental health that later became outright insanity because of the psycho-emotional trauma he endured, and the ability to be mind-controlled by the BigBad. Contrast with Tifa, a [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower super powerful martial artist]] that wasn't augmented at all and seems like she can more than match the augmented SOLDIER members, and it just seems that the cost for the abilities Cloud wanted for years just weren't worth the suffering he had to go through in the first place. And his amnesia? His memories weren't rewritten by the BigBad at all. He did it to himself as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he had to endure for four years, capped with the death of his best friend before either could reach Midgar. [[{{Understatement}} Yeah, Cloud was a mess.]]

* ''Videogame/SimCity'' is arguably the TropeCodifier for ConstructionAndManagementGames. However, much of the lasting appeal of the classic 1989 title, as well as the sequels, comes from the disaster scenarios, and the ability [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential to unleash disasters upon a thriving city]]. Most later titles in the genre (at least not city-builders) play the concept straight, and neither have disasters, nor the humor of ''SimCity''. ''VideoGame/SimCity'' is, literally and figuratively, a GenreDeconstruction made by the first widespread game of the genre.

* Some of the original cast of ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', the first 3D fighting game, already broke the mold when the game was released. The resident Jeet Kun Do fighter, Jacky, was ''not'' a BruceLeeClone, but a blond American. The main character, Akira, a Japanese man in a Karate gi, did not practice karate or even another Japanese martial art, but a specific style of Chinese kung fu, Baji. On top of that, despite being the main character, he is by far the most difficult to play effectively, and is often a MidBoss in the arcade modes.

** Relatedly, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' bought CameraLockOn to the mainstream, InUniverse, this was accomplished through [[ExpositionFairy Navi]]. [[InterfaceScrew She was unable to help you when the]] FinalBoss was actively repelling her, and despite her {{annoy|ingVideoGameHelper}}ance for a lot of players, her departure at games' end was a TearJerker that leads directly to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the sequel]], where Link trying to find and reunite with her. Navi and her successor Tatl were their games' main character after Link, being talkative {{Foil}}s to his SilentProtagonist. Good luck finding a game since where the control scheme double as {{Deuteragonist}}s who's loss emotionally effects the protagonist.

** One huge critique of the Modern Military Shooter genre is that it acts as essentially little more than a Power Fantasy for Western Gamers to enact vengeance on caricatures of Middle-Eastern terrorists, when TheWarOnTerror is far more complicated than a black and white situation, and portrays the player character as always being in the right, despite the many questionable actions they could be partaking in. Imagine then, a game meant to deconstruct the genre. This game would have the player character complicit in the murder of innocent civilians, with said action not only being condemned by the game itself, but also end up as the catalyst for even worse situations in the story. America would find itself having its famous monuments and areas desecrated; [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything essentially being the ones who must suffer under an invasion being portrayed by the opposing force as "righteous vengeance"]]. Better still, the main villain would be an American general who allowed all this to happen to drum up patriotism, with the theme being that PatrioticFervor is ultimately a tool used to manipulate the masses, and killing in the name of it leads to countless suffering that may not have been justified. Indeed, the game would be filled with many quotes speaking out against such ultra-nationalist viewpoints. Such a game exists, even being made before ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' was released, ''and it's none other than [[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 2]], the game that [[TropeCodifier popularized the genre]] even moreso than its predecessor.''
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is one of the first shooters on the Xbox console, and the {{Trope Maker|s}} for several first person shooter cliches. However both the games and the expanded universe are far more serious then you'd expect from a Sci-Fi FPS. Many of the aliens you fight are not actually malicious, but rather simply trying to [[PunchClockVillain not get in trouble with their Prophets]]. Nearly every game has a BittersweetEnding, with Master Chief losing his friends and allies. ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' even [[spoiler: ends with almost the entire team dead, including ''you'']]. The "good guys" are willing to kidnap children and forcefully make them {{Super Soldier}}s, and the psychological effects of warfare are addressed. Most victories come from lucky flukes (Like [[EnemyCivilWar the Elites starting a rebellion against the Covenant]]). The ExpandedUniverse also shows that having a OneManArmy on your side is little consolation when your enemy can [[OrbitalBombardment glass planets]].

** They then explain that the player is proably expecting a boss fight against some sort of giant monster Smith. Which is exactly what they're giving the player.
* Contrary to popular belief in some circles, the Fate series does not feature an ImprobablyFemaleCast consisting of MsFanservice [[GenderFlip female versions of male heroes]]. For a long time the only such character was [[spoiler: VideoGame/FateStayNight Saber]], whose case was actually a heavily DeconstructedTrope. However, newer entries in the series such as VideoGame/FateExtra, LightNovel/FateApocrypha, Koha-Ace, and VideoGame/FateGrandOrder have played the trope straight with increasing frequency and increased levels of {{Fanservice}}.

** Relatedly, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' bought CameraLockOn to the mainstream, InUniverse, this was accomplished through [[ExpositionFairy Navi]]. [[InterfaceScrew She was unable to help you when the]] FinalBoss was actively repelling her, and despite her {{annoy|ingVideoGameHelper}}ance, her departure at games end was such a TearJerker that [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the sequel]] was kicked off by Link trying to find and reunite with her. Navi and her successor Tatl were their games main character after Link, being talkative {{Foil}}s to his SilentProtagonist. Good luck finding a game since where the control scheme double as {{Deuteragonist}}s who's loss emotionally effects the protagonist.

* Cloud wasn't [[TropeMakers the first]] stereotypical spiky-haired angsty JRPG hero, but he is most certainly [[TropeCodifier the first one people think of]]. However, viewed backwards, Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a deconstruction of that exact stereotype, in that while his serious issues are treated sympathetically, his attitude is supposed to come off as being adolescent and irritating, and the other player characters view it as an annoyance or a big joke if they buy into it at all. The sheer absurdity of his {{BFS}} and AnimeHair comes across as parody, especially in his {{Character Tic}}s using them. While his AngstComa is dramatic, it's played for slight BlackComedy, and results in him spasming in a wheelchair rather than any more romantic or pretty visual. Then there's the main thrust - he's [[spoiler:not even ''supposed'' to be TheHero; that guy (Zack) got killed, and now his friend (Cloud) is trying to take his place. He's [[ThisLoserIsYou literally role playing a hero to escape from his own self-loathing]]]].
** Cloud Strife is [[DeadUnicornTrope frequently viewed as]] the TropeCodifier of the angsty pretty-boy JRPG hero, but his dialogue is a lot less angsty in his game than many remember. If anything, [[MsFanservice Tifa]] or [[BigBad Sephiroth]] wear their neuroses on their sleeves much more openly than the protagonist.
** Similarly, Cloud is credited with kicking off the tendency for JRPG leads to be amnesiac and/or {{phlebotinum rebel}}s, but he actually reads like a deconstruction of how those tropes usually go down. His memories are screwed up, but when the truth comes out, rather than turning out to be some sort of plot-relevant badass, he was a {{mook|s}} before the plot went down. He got experimented on, which gave him the SuperSoldier augmentations that allow him to wield his preferred weapon type properly, but also fed into his delusion that he was the experienced badass he presented himself as instead of the common nobody grunt he actually was. The cost of the augmentations was deteriorating mental health that later became outright insanity because of the psycho-emotional trauma he endured, and the ability to be mind-controlled by the BigBad. Contrast with Tifa, a [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower super powerful martial artist]] that wasn't augmented at all and seems like she can more than match the augmented SOLDIER members, and it just seems that the cost for the abilities Cloud wanted for years just weren't worth the suffering he had to go through in the first place. And his amnesia? His memories weren't rewritten by the BigBad at all. He did it to himself as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he had to endure for four years, capped with the death of his best friend before either could reach Midgar. [[{{Understatement}} Yeah, Cloud was a mess.]]
** Lightning in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' was designed to resemble Cloud and her game contains multiple lines and details pointing this out ("You were a soldier, weren't you?"), but she's presented seriously as the kind of cold-hearted badass Cloud [[IJustWantToBeBadass wished he was]] rather than TheMentallyDisturbed dork that Cloud actually is. The result is that Cloud comes off as a {{Deconstruction}} of her, even though ''he's'' the character ''she's'' based on. Pointed out in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' where Cloud tells her he sees her as 'the real warrior' when compared to himself.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'':
*** Between its [[NintendoHard unreasonable difficulty level]] and brutal death count, this 1988 game takes the usually cheerful standard 90s JRPG story of LaResistance out to fight TheEmpire and makes it as gritty as the NES can. Your plucky orphans are depressed young adults who have nowhere else to go, no idea what they're doing, and admit it, while the other resistance members insult your characters for it. The heroes win many important victories against the Empire, but once the Emperor gets his hands on the Cyclone, he devastates much of the world before the heroes can stop him, unlike other main antagonists, who might be thwarted before they do any significant damage. Part of your quest involves arming the kingdom with a spell so powerful that it's a clear analogy for a nuclear weapon. Even at the end of the game, Maria fails to reunite with her brother, and Firion, rather than trying to stop Leon from leaving, says the war has changed them, although he holds out hope for Leon's return. This was the first ''Final Fantasy'' game that had a proper plot and defined characters.
*** Note also that the ''Final Fantasy'' gender roles appear subversive here, with a male White Mage (who's even given a plot about sacrificing himself to unseal a spell that would be later associated with romantic heroines like Aeris and Yuna), and Maria a warrior with the kind of subplot about her evil brother that would later be exclusively associated with {{Mangst}}y male heroes like Cecil and Basch - but only because the gender roles hadn't been written yet.

** Cloud (from ''VII'') and Squall (from ''VIII'') were two of the first 'cool'-type JRPG protagonists, abandoning more idealistic, fantastical character flaws in favour of dressing in punkish modern outfits and acting like [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece modern]] [[EmoTeen edgy teens]] - something [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny shocking and innovative at the time]] and [[FollowTheLeader done to death ever since]]. However, both Cloud and Squall use their cool mannerisms as an affectation (Cloud is [[ADarkerMe presenting a false image]] and Squall is [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation pretentious and lonely]]), and are presented as being flawed, ridiculous {{Jerkass}}es rather than characters you're supposed to want to emulate. The romantic, aspirational "''[[EscapistCharacter chuuniyoubu]]'' [[EscapistCharacter character]]" approach associated with this character type only began to appear in TheNoughties (with an early example being both Cloud and Squall's cameos in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'').

* The 1988 game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', between its [[NintendoHard unreasonable difficulty level]] and brutal death count, takes the usually cheerful JRPG story of LaResistance out to fight TheEmpire and makes it as gritty as the NES can. Your plucky orphans are depressed young adults who have nowhere else to go, no idea what they're doing, and essentially say as much as their argument when trying to convince the princess to let them join. The heroes win many important victories against the Empire, but once the Emperor gets his hands on the Cyclone, he devastates much of the world before the heroes can stop him, unlike other main antagonists, who might be thwarted before they do any significant damage. Part of your quest involves finding a spell so powerful that it's a clear analogy for a nuclear weapon. Even at the end of the game, Maria fails to reunite with her brother and Firion, rather than trying to stop Leon from leaving, says the war has changed them, although he holds out hope for Leon's return. This was the first ''Final Fantasy'' game that had a proper plot and defined characters. Note also that the ''Final Fantasy'' gender roles appear subversive here, with a male White Mage (who's even given a plot about sacrificing himself to unseal a spell that would be later associated with romantic heroines like Aeris and Yuna), and Maria given the kind of angsty subplot about her evil brother that would later be exclusively associated with {{Mangst}}y male heroes like Cecil - but only because the gender roles hadn't yet been written in the first place.
** Mechanically, this is one of the first games with "improve by doing" system. So how do you improve your HP? By hitting each other.

* Cloud wasn't [[TropeMakers the first]] stereotypical spiky-haired angsty JRPG hero, but he is most certainly [[TropeCodifier the first one people think of]]. However, viewed backwards, Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is a deconstruction of that exact stereotype, in that while his serious issues are treated sympathetically, his attitude is supposed to come off as being adolescent and irritating, and the other player characters view it as an annoyance or a big joke if they buy into it at all. He has masculine complexes about being strong and protecting the girls, but the female characters aren't interested in his StayInTheKitchen attitude and they both end up saving ''him'' in the end, not the other way around. The sheer absurdity of his {{BFS}} and AnimeHair comes across as parody, especially in his {{Character Tic}}s using them. While his AngstComa is dramatic, it's played for slight BlackComedy, and results in him spasming in a wheelchair rather than any more romantic or pretty visual. Then there's the main thrust - he's [[spoiler:not even ''supposed'' to be TheHero; that guy (Zack) got killed, and now his friend (Cloud) is trying to take his place. He's [[ThisLoserIsYou literally role playing a hero to escape from his own self-loathing]]]].

** One huge critique of the Modern Military Shooter genre is that it acts as essentially little more than a Power Fantasy for Western Gamers to enact vengeance on caricatures of Middle-Eastern terrorists, when TheWarOnTerror is far more complicated than a black and white situation, and portrays the player character as always being in the right, despite the many questionable actions they could be partaking in. Imagine then, a game meant to deconstruct the genre. This game would have the player character complicit in the murder of innocent civilians, with said action not only being condemned by the game itself, but also end up as the catalyst for even worse situations in the story. America would find itself having its famous monuments and areas desecrated; essentially being the ones who must suffer under an invasion being portrayed by the opposing force as "righteous vengeance". Better still, the main villain would be an American general who allowed all this to happen to drum up patriotism, with the theme being that PatrioticFervor is ultimately a tool used to manipulate the masses, and killing in the name of it leads to countless suffering that may not have been justified. Indeed, the game would be filled with many quotes speaking out against such ultra-nationalist viewpoints. Such a game exists, even being made before ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' was released, ''and it's none other than [[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 2]], the game that [[TropeCodifier popularized the genre]] even moreso than its predecessor.''

* The idea that putting a FinalBoss at the end of a game would make it feels too much like a video game and less like a story (which is why there was no FinalBoss at the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' and ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'') was torn to shred by the Wachowski brothers themselves in a fourth-wall breaking interruption at the end of ''VideoGame/MatrixPathOfNeo'' where they explain that:

They then explain that the player is proably expecting a boss fight against some sort of giant monster Smith. Which is exactly what they're giving the player.

* The ''Videogame/{{Civilization}}'' series got the ball rolling on the FourX genre: Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate. It's that last one that's unbuilt. No matter how fun it might be, going to war in any of the Civ games is ''incredibly'' costly, and will almost certainly set back any of your other goals the longer you're in one. Going into war unprepared can even cause your empire to fall apart from bankruptcy or civil unrest, and that's assuming you ''[[PyrrhicVictory win]]''.