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The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at the Trope Launch Pad.

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DAN004 Since: Aug, 2010
2014-12-11 15:30:47

I believe it's some kind of Side Quest

MAX POWER KILL JEEEEEEEEWWWWW
SolipSchism Since: Jun, 2014
2014-12-11 15:38:47

No, not side missions in general. I'm talking specifically about when the game says "...but you must do it in this specific way," when there's no real narrative reason for it. Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 3/4 both encourage the player to choose whatever approach they want to use. You can be stealthy, you can be Ax-Crazy, you can be a long-distance sniper or an up-close-and-personal Knife Nut. But then there are missions that completely defy that and say "You have to use a shotgun," or "You have to kill the target with a knife," or "You have to do the entire quest naked."

I also just remembered while I was writing that last example that the Updated Re-release of the original Fable does the same thing with "Boasts", which offer extra rewards if you complete the basic missions with extra restrictions, such as doing the mission naked, or not letting your ward on the Escort Mission take any damage, or doing the mission in a chicken suit.

I guess the most obvious name for it would be Obtional Objectives.

I.e., to complete the mission, you just have to do X. But this trope is when a game adds on, "...but if you want a little extra reward (in the form of anything, really, including nothing but bragging rights), you have to do it in this specific way."

EDIT: I guess I'm also talking about two tropes that are practically the same thing but have a thin line between them.

  1. Trope 1: Optional Objectives. "You have to kill Alice to win, but you'll get some kind of extra reward if you kill her with a poison dart instead of any other method."
  2. Trope 2: Arbitrary Mission Restriction. "You have to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest... using this specific axe, rather than the quite-possibly-much-better axe that you already have. If you don't use this specific axe, you'll fail the mission."

Edited by SolipSchism
SolipSchism Since: Jun, 2014
2014-12-11 15:55:23

I'm going to YKTTW Arbitrary Mission Restriction with Optional Objectives as a common variant. Not right away, though, I don't have the time.

EDIT: Never mind the last bit, I just added a YKTTW. No examples yet, but I summarized them in the first comment and will add them later.

Edited by SolipSchism
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