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 You Know, That Thing Where.
Find a Trope:
open(Puzzle Videogame) activate/deactivate mechanisms by inserting/removing a power source Videogame
A video game level where you have a handful of mechanisms. You can activate a mechanism by inserting an item in it (typically a power source), or deactivate it by removing the item. Of course, the puzzle resides in the fact that you have less power sources than mechanisms, so you must choose how to use the power sources.
openGraphics quality dissonance Videogame
Long-running old games can suffer from this when their visual is a mish-mash of crude poorly textured boxes and highly detailed effects, like realistic water and such. Probably the most notorious offender is the first Half-Life which now runs on Source engine and after several updates the graphics kind of clash in the game.
openSelectively enforced stealth Videogame
Would there be a trope for the situation in video games where, during a stealth mission, some enemies will throw you out of wherever you're sneaking around if they spot you without letting you fight them, while other enemies will let you fight them? I noticed this in Golden Sun (where the only difference between the guys you have to avoid and the ones you fight is what color hats they're wearing), and then remembered seeing it in some other games like The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (where the guards found in the castle grounds will throw you out immediately, but the ones inside will attack instead).
openClearing/making a path for your vehicle. Videogame
In a vehicular sequence in a videogame, you have to get off your vehicle every now and then to clear a path for it. Examples may include lowering a drawbridge or removing some rocky debris blocking you way.
This trope is quite prominent in older First-Person Shooters which featured vehicular sequences e.g. Gunman Chronicles or Half-Life: Invasion.
openNo such thing as "overkill damage" Videogame
FTL: Faster Than Light - The Zoltan Shield provides a non-regenerating 5-HP shield that blocks all attacks. If the ZS has 1 HP remaining and you hit it with an single attack that deals 4 damage, it takes all the damage. But if you hit it with 4 attacks dealing 1 damage each, it will absorb 1 attack, the other 3 attacks will pass through.
Fate/Grand Order (turn-based game): "Break Bars" are basically ways to represent boss phases, and multiple HP bars. A boss with 1.5M HP could hypothetically be taken down in 1 turn (and has been done before), but a different boss with 1M total hp (5 break bars of 200K HP each) would require 5 turns minimum to defeat.
resolved Something from a series' later game/installment being used in a remake or interquel? Videogame
I was wondering if there was a trope for this, as something I did always think of is how Xenoblade Chronicles 1's Nintendo Switch remake did something like this.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 introduced a meter of how much longer an enemy would have a Break/Topple/etc status effect on it, showing the player how much time was left before it wore off. This wasn't present in the first game, but was added to the UI when it got remade.
- Similarly, I saw this used in a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fanfic, where a later installment started referring to Stand names in brackets, which was retained for an interquel that was made.
openTrope about perspective puzzles Videogame
The Room Mobile Game series often has perspective puzzles involving the eyepiece. Is there any trope that covers this?
openSpells with additional effects (which require additional cost) Videogame
For example, Kicker mechanic from Magic: The Gathering. Dunno if EX Special Attack can count in tabletop games.
Edited by ExaskliriopenTrope about physical element (NOT as an Non-Elemental) Videogame
Update: As of Jan 21 2024 (5 replies) the candidates are:
- Damage Typing (which is about damage typing in general)
Before answering Non-Elemental, note that this is a game where plenty of enemies are weak to Physical.
Honkai: Star Rail has this.
Edited by ExaskliriopenLoses in All Timelines Videogame
What's the trope for a character having an unhappy ending in all timelines. They are not destined to fail, but whatever happens they always will fail their goals. This isn't to say *everyone* loses, but this one characters goals are failed, leaving them dead or miserable.
openTropes about restricting opponent moves Videogame
Usually in RPGs.
Examples:
- Pokémon:
- Taunt (prevents them from using status moves)
- Disable (blocks opponent's last move for 4 turns)
- Heal Block
- Honkai: Star Rail enemies:
- Guardian Shadows imposes bans on either Basic Attack or Skill to the entire party. Using a banned move makes them launch a Counter-Attack to the violator.
- Aurumaton Gatekeeper has a meter to enter Super Mode that increases whenever your characters use an offensive Skill or Ultimate.
openTroops being disparate in background and sophistication of equipment Videogame
In Act of War, the Consortium uses as its private army a "large number of armed groups around the world — terrorist organizations, armed militias, freedom fighters, mercenaries", with the more basic troops having low-tech but still effective gear (such as Kalashnikov rifles and self-propelled mortar) and the elite troops having very high-tech gear (e.g. optical camouflage-equipped soldiers and railgun-armed stealth tanks).
In Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the Brotherhood of Nod's army is comprised of large numbers of hastily-trained, low-tech militias hailing from the 50% of Earth's regions that have fallen to social collapse and anarchy, backed by a smaller core of highly trained elite soldiers equipped with high-tech weapons and equipment.
Is there a trope for an army's troops being so eclectic and disparate in both background and the sophistication of their equipment?
resolved Knockout/Kill Bonus Videogame
Knocking out or killing an enemy in a video game grants a temporary power-up.
For a specific example, Fell Stinger is a move in Pokémon that grants an increase in Attack if it is used to knock out an opponent.
TIA!
openElite Mook Volunteers to Test Opponents Videogame
Whilst I would've loved to just do one big Trope Finder post with all the tropes I needed, I believe that is against the rules, so I'll have to take it one at a time.
So, in this case, we have an Elite Mook whose Boss is planning an invasion of an area. The Elite Mook volunteers to go ahead, act as a scout, test out the inhabitants' strength personally. Upon being defeated, he happily recognizes that his opponents are strong, before unironically musing "Isn't it great?"
What tropes fit this particular situation? Tried to glance around at Test Tropes, but found nothing that didn't have to be stretched beyond acceptable levels.
openAll your favorite girls have a route. Videogame
It applies mostly to visual novels, but I suppose also for any videogame. Any girl has a route, with romantic relationship. No girls liked by fans of that game is left aside.
openItem can only be used once for no apparently reason Videogame
An item can only be used once, and there's no logical reason why. Something like a healing potion wouldn't count, as you can only drink a potion once, whereas something like a magic wand that heals people and is used up after one use would count. Usually this is a videogame trope, but could theoretically appear in any kind of story-telling medium.
Edited by BootlebatopenWalking -> NPC -> Running Videogame
What is this trope called where NP Cs that the player has to accompany tend to move at speeds that is faster than player's walking speed but slower than player's running speed?
openChecking a previously visited area for a reward Videogame
You've defeated a boss, you move on per the plot, and later (can be immediately after if you have the chance to go right back or after some other plot event) you return to the scene of the battle. If you check the spot where the boss was standing, you can pick up an item. There's no plot reason for your return, it's something you just have to choose to do. Often it's an item related to that boss, like a special dropped weapon/item that they used.
Do we have anything for this scenario? I looked through Video Game Rewards and Rewarded with an Index but didn't see anything that quite covered it. It's not an Easter Egg as it's a legitimate item not especially well hidden (in games that have invisible items, it might be one of those). It might be the general ballpark of something like Always Check Behind the Chair, but in this case, it's not a Pixel Hunt through mundane objects to find it, there's meaning to it's placement.
A prime example comes from the Pokémon games where you can often find items where Pre-existing Encounters Pokemon were battled (at least in the generations before pre-existing encounters became the standard) like Sacred Ash where Ho-oh stood or Leftovers where Snorlax was.
openTwo characters with comm links are misunderstood by a third party who thinks there's only one person Videogame
In Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism, the player character (who can be either Reimu or Marisa) investigates an underground city and uses fantasy Comm Links to stay in contact with a Mission Control partner who remains at the surface.
A recurring source of humor throughout the game is how the bosses hear both the player character and her partner, but only see the player character and don't realize that she's using a device to talk to a third party, so they end up believing she's talking to herself, giving out contradictory information, or something else along those lines.
Would this be Sustained Misunderstanding, a variation of Funny Phone Misunderstanding, or is there some other trope that fits better?
P.S. One instance has one of the bosses recognize the partner's voice, but then see Reimu and go "You've changed a lot, you look just like a human shrine maiden". Maybe there's also a trope about mistaking people for other people that fits for that one?
Edited by yokaipinata
A Mook that mimics whatever the player is currently doing. Unrelated to Mirror Boss; a Mirror Boss has all the powers of the player character and will use them autonomously however it wants to, while a Copycat Mook doesn't necessarily have all the same powers as the protagonist, it only needs to respond to the player's action with an equivalent action of their own. A common way to beat them is to exploit this, making them copy movement that will subject them to level hazards like pits or spikes. Examples: