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 You Know That Show and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
Fixed path enemy Videogame
Whats the trope for when an enemy can only move along a fixed path (usually a roughly circular path, but not always), and cant actively chase the player like most enemies? I can think of three examples:
In Hexen, the Death Wyvern (first boss), can only fly in a circle around his cave. As such you can just go out of the cave if you need to use healing items and the like.
In the second Expansion Pack for Quake, the dragon can only fly in a circle in the big area of his cave. You can kill him relatively easily by staying in the antechamber where you start the level and only peaking out to shoot the dragon when it's facing away from you.
In Duke Nukem3d The pig cops in flying vehicles also have a fixed path (although they aren't bosses like the first two.) they tend to have a wider range of movement than the first two examples.
I asked about this before but no one knew. Should I take this to the TLP?
Change of art direction for sequels Videogame
When a series goes for a brighter and more cartoony aesthetic, what is it called (and the inversion of that while we're at it)? Closest I can think of is Lighter and Softer (but a media can still have dark story elements while being cartoony looking), and Art Evolution (but the series changes artists every installment or so, so it is expected for the aesthetics to change)
MMORPGs - Player base has an immensely positive reaction to an event Videogame
something like Ensemble Dark Horse or Breakout Character, except for a particular in-game event instead of a character. do we have anything like that?
was thinking of something along the lines of Germans Love David Hasselhoff (the example i have in mind really only took off in specific regions) but most examples i see of that pertain to the entirety of a work, not just parts of it.
Going back to find respawned enemy Videogame
Do we have a trope where if you're in a sidescroller, you go backwards only to find that the enemies have respawned there for some reason? This also applies if you go backwards, and then go fowards to find them respawned.
Locking the enemy into an attack loop Videogame
Do we have a trope where when to attack a boss it resets their attack pattern, making it easy to predict their attacks? The Mega Man series is the best example of this I can think of.
Freefall Level Videogame
A level or section of a level in a in a platformer game where the player is required to take a Leap of Faith (or less so) and then either glide down or fall down. Often avoiding hazards or gathering resources on the way down. The opposite of a vertical level where you just climb up a sheer fall in some way.
Removed Gimmick Videogame
A gimmick or ability that's purposely removed temporarily.
Only player character uses something readily available Videogame
What's the trope where only the PC uses high quality equipment that anyone can get but don't?
For example, in Fable, plate armor is readily available & provides great protection but no one else wears it.
Diagetic Character Creation Videogame
I'm genuinely not sure this trope exists, despite having found several references to it. The idea is that instead of creating your character through a menu system, you are presented with questions from in the game world where your answers shape your character.
Examples include: System Shock 2 - at the start of the game, you arrive at the carreers office which offers you several batches of choices. each choice is followed by an explaination of what happened as a result of that choice, and gives your character experience in a certain area
Final Fantasy XV: Comrades - While you get to choose your appearance through acenstories, the character creation takes the form of remembering your past. as you progress through the game, you are given choices where your responces shape your character and attributes.
Unvowed - so much of this game changes based on what you respond at the start of the game. from being asked if you are man, woman, or demon, to how your respond to being asked what you do changes your flashbacks and your relationships to other characters.
Always Sometimes Monsters - I know that your choices are diagetic in this, but not actually played it.
Before I go to the Trope Launch Pad, I do want to see if anything exists like this already. Closest i could find was the TTRPG Traveller having "Death by Origin Story"
Fake exit/level ending Videogame
What would the trope be for a fake Level Goal? Example, in the original Doom the level "Halls Of The Damned" has a fake exit that looks just like a real one, once you try to open the door however a bunch of walls slide open and you get ambushed. Would this count as a Hope Spot?
Conditional Invisibility Videogame
A video game allows you to become invisible, but there a catch: you can't interact with any objects or seeing you weapon or anything or the invisibility immediately wears off.
The not noodle incident Videogame
"As a boy, I was chased around the palace by a goose. I had stolen it's egg, you see. Once I returned it, the goose and I became firm friends!"
This story is being told by a sane man. I'm serious, he's not a Cloudcuckoolander, which makes it even funnier. It would trope this as a noodle incident, but since he explains what happened I don't think it applies. What could be a fitting trope?
Edited by Lyefyre
Stats evaluator Videogame
Think the IV checker from Pokémon, except applied to every other game.
Dystopian video game genre? Videogame
Do we have a trope for a subgenre of video games that involves dark themes and an oppressive tone? So far, I listed out:
Inverted game mechanic Videogame
Trope searched for: When a game mechanic's purpose becomes flipped around, usually to the player's detriment.
Long-winded explanation: In the Match Three Mobile Phone Game Family Guy: Another Freakin' Mobile Game, at the middle and end of each stage you have a boss fight. In these, you have a limited number of moves to fill a set count of board spaces with white, which you do by making matches. The catch is that if you don't make a special item with matches within a few moves, the boss will attack you. Their attack wipes out a random row or column of pieces on the board, which clears off any spaces you've filled in that area. Also, as pieces are dropping into those empty spaces, if any special items are created anywhere on the board and end up in a match, they will also clear out filled spaces as they go off, instead of filling them like they normally would. The last bit is what I'm talking about.
Edited by Willbyr
Enemy counterparts in gameplay Videogame
Is there a trope where the bosses are all essentially the same archetypes/classes as the playable characters, only more broken because they're enemies?
Death by Dizzyness Videogame
Is there a trope for when you can beat an enemy by running in circles around it, which, after a couple revolutions, causes it to fall over or disappear. Examples would include the giant eyeballs and snowmen from Super Mario 64 and the "sparky" robots from Descent 3 (although the latter case is explained in-universe as being due to them having a faulty gyro stabilizer so that if they spin too much they start spinning out of control and crash.) I've only ever seen this in video games but I suppose other media could have it as well.
Content impossible to do on your own Videogame
Content in a game that requires collaboration of multiple players; not necessarily in a multiplayer game.
This can range simply from tracking statistics and reflecting progress by devs changing something in the game, to having players try to solve cryptic puzzles that are pretty much impossible to solve on your own (unless you're some Man of Renaissance), be it an AR game or in the actual game. Maybe they're actually impossible because in-game each player gets only some parts of the puzzle, and you need to find someone else who has the other clues.
Might be a one-time opportunity when, once the thing is done, newer players won't be able to experience it the original way.
Edited by PinkCelebi
Game shows the badguys doing horrible things to make you feel better about killing them Videogame
What trope best applies to this?
Color Coded Character Names Videogame
- Klonoa: In the Wii game, whenever someone says a hero's name, it's colored blue. When someone says a villain's name, it's colored red. When talking about The Good King Seadoph while he's Brainwashed and Crazy, his name is in purple. All other dialogue text is black.
Which subtrope of Color-Coded for Your Convenience would this go under? Color-Coded Characters?
Edited by DrNoPuma
Skills that don't interrupt current animation Videogame
A unique skill/move that can be performed without making you stop whatever you're currently doing, unlike a Lag Cancel. (Usually, if they're performed while you're doing nothing, your body wouldn't move at all as the skill comes out)
I'm wondering if we have something like this.
Video gaming trap trope? Videogame
Trying to find an example for Lemmings Revolution of a trope for this entry I want to add:
- There are spinning logs with metal spikes that manage to float mid-air, as a lethal menace for the lemmings, yet, it defies real-world logic, since a log shouldn't have the ability to float and spin.
Race against regeneration Videogame
This is a fight gimmick in video games where the opponent has some means of regularly healing themselves in combat, forcing the player to defeat them faster than they can heal or find some way to halt their healing powers. I'm thinking of the Witch Queen in Ōkamiden for the latter, as the strategic element of the fight involves stopping her supply of healing fairies, and the Master Mode gimmick in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild where every monster and boss gradually regenerates health. This is not After Boss Recovery; the gimmick is that the enemy heals during the fight.
Detective Mode Videogame
The player can trigger a mode in which they can detect things that would otherwise go unnoticed and highlight interactuable objects. Most of the time, they are necessary for completing sections from the main campaign, if they are in an open world.
- X Men Origins: Wolverine has the Feral Senses, which can be used to find invisible cameras and enemies(even bosses) and find the plotted line(represented by a white haze). The diference with the other three is that this one has a cooldown.
- The Batman Arkham Series has the Detective Mode (hence the title) where you can detect the enemies beyond walls, as well as their emotional state and other stuff. It has also been used for campaign-wise uses, such as tracing down Harley Quinn in Arkham Asylum.
- Watch_Dogs has the Profiler, and as it name implies, it profiles people around the city. It can intercept calls, look for weaknesses and detect crime probability, which would go unnoticed without it. It also plays an important role in campaign missions.
- Spider Man: Shattered Dimensions uses the Spider Sense both as a warning of an upcoming attack or a mode where you can ubicate enemies, bosses and other mission-related objects.
Edited by UserName989