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I used to link this as Restart At Level One, but that page has been turned into a disambiguation hub with a pile of links that don't match what I'm looking for.
I'm looking for the page about resetting an experience level or similar in exchange for a bonus, resulting in a temporary loss of power returned and surpassed once the experience is recovered. Examples include Call of Duty's prestige, Payday 2's infamy, Warframe's forma and Mabinogi's rebirth.
Of the links on Restart At Level One, it's definitely not Bag of Spilling, Class Change Level Reset, Continuing Is Painful, or Overrated and Underleveled. Level Drain is very, very broad, but seems to be more about wholly negative events, mostly Dungeons and Dragons wight attacks and the like.
Thoughts?
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What trope would apply to this example:
- Despite containing monsters and dragons, there is no magic in Monster Hunter. No matter how outlandish their powers, every monster can be (and often is) explained by science. The fire-breathing Rathalos? Not magic, it produces flames in a special organ. The Zinogre's lightning? Caused by massive quantities of bio-electric fulgurbugs that live in its fur. Even more freakish things, like the rage-inducing "Frenzy" caused by the Gore Magala have explanations; it's not the "winds of evility" from wyverian legend, it's a virus contained in the dragon's scales.
I had it as Doing In the Wizard, but that apparently involves a series having magic and then removing it via retcon.
It's not Sufficiently Advanced Alien because they're not aliens and no one thinks they're gods, and because, well, they're not advanced, they're just using their own innate abilities.
It's not Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane because it's never in question.
Edited by wrm5openNo Title Videogame
Is there a trop for the following? I've usually encountered this in jrpgs, but I don't see why it couldn't be in other game genres/mediums.
There's a more knowledgeable character associated with the hero. This character suspects something or has an epiphany related to the plot and says something out loud, usually a non sequitur or an incomplete thought. When another character asks him about it, they respond with "It's nothing" or "Forget it." The hero's party either doesn't question it or brushes it off as the character being weird/quirky. Whatever is said is either explained by the character further in the game or is understood the second time through the game.
Edited by maliasopenNo Title Videogame
Is there a gaming trope for when the gameplay across a large part of the narrative arc of an RPG is a relatively minor segment of the game? I'm thinking of FFX and X-2, where most of the gameplay is located outside the narrative and the primary reason for going through the narrative gameplay is to prepare for the *non*-narrative gameplay. ("Narrative gameplay" being your standard RPG grinding to prepare for storyline events and "non-narrative gameplay" being things like boss rush, bounty hunts, monster arenas, stat maxing, etc.)
Edited by IsaacsLaughingopenNo Title Videogame
A very strong enemy (Beef Gate / Boss in Mook Clothing level) that gives out huge amounts of money and experience, but has so much life and armor it's basically a Marathon Boss. However, it's extremely susceptible to a particular attack, which can take it out in a few seconds if the player's skills are set up correctly (so while it'll catch first-time players off-guard, veterans will get rid of it nearly instantly by using the correct Elemental Rock–Paper–Scissors attack). Does it qualify as a Metal Slime or not (most attacks are ineffective against it, it gives a huge reward, but it's still an all-around superstrong enemy that happens to be weak to one attack)?
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Do we have these ones? Obvious tropes, but I can't find either. Enemies that use a simple pattern: 1)Melee enemies that always dumbly move directly towards the player, no matter what; 2)Shooting enemies that shoot slow (at least so slow that they can be dodged) projectiles directly at the player, so constant movement would make sure you're not hit.
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What is the trope for when there is a glowing item drop? In Resident Evil 4 for example, items on the ground are dropped by enemies or barrels. This also happens in Castlevania 64. I can't think of any other games that do this at the moment but I'm sure I've seen it in an arcade game of some kind before. Does this have a name? I couldn't find it mentioned on either of these two games and couldn't find any matching results with a search that mentions this.
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I;m looking for someone familiar with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (AKA Gateway to Glimmer), After getting 100% Completion, Spyro gets access to a permanent Superflame Powerup, one so permanent that it carries over to a new game in the same slot. Now is this intentional or simply a Good Bad Bug?
Edited by MorningStar1337openNo Title Videogame
I'll say video games, though it could happen in something else as well, I suppose, like superhero comics, or a show or something.
The main characters, or somebody on their side is fighting the Big Bad, or at least they, think they are. After a nice little battle for a while, everyone's happy and everything, then... "You Fool! Did you really think you could defeat me?! That was just my shadow!"
I can think of at least two examples:
- Kefka: So... ...you think you hit me?! That was simply my shadow! And how did you like my Gestahl? I should've been on the stage!
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories:
- Donald: Is he gone?Marluxia: You could say that. However, what you destroyed was merely an illusion of me.
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I can't even conceive of there not being a trope for when a video game subverts a players expectations—for example, a 2D platformer having a deathtrap or dead end to the right of the start and the way through the level to the left when all previous levels have followed the convention of going right to clear the level. But what is it CALLED? O_O

Is there a trope for when it's actually easier to take on the hardest challenges of a game first? I'm thinking of Kingdom of Loathing and other ascension-based games, in which it's advisable for players to go through the hardest runs they can manage or tolerate in order to build up powers which will then be less likely to leave them should the player decide to switch difficulty.