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.
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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 ExaskliriopenTropes 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.
openLoses 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.
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!
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 yokaipinataopenDenied Their Happy Ending Videogame
Our heroes have defeated the Big Bad, and he seems to be dead. They are celebrating, and are eager to live the rest of their days in peace. But oh wait, the Big Bad is still alive, and since he is such a Sore Loser, he still tries to screw with the heroes and deny them their happy ending in his weakened state, all just because Evil Is Petty. For example, Dragalia Lost ends with the heroes defeating Xenos, and are creating a new world to replace what Xenos has destroyed. However, just when they think that they're home free, Xenos is still alive, and is using the last of his strength to prevent the heroes from creating their world. This encourages Euden to confront Xenos all by himself, and only then is he killed once and for all. Is there a trope for this? Thank you!
Edited by cwallace135openI Already Know Videogame
I've tried looking for this one, but haven't found anything that covers it: It's a love confession scenario where Bob starts to reveal his feelings to Alice, who usually interjects by saying she already knows how he feels about her. I've seen it multiple times in movies, romcoms, and video games.
Do we have this one? It wouldn't be Everybody Knew Already, 'cuz the important distinction here is that Alice herself is the one who knows. With EKA, Bob's feelings for Alice would be common knowledge to everyone who knows him.
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.
openEarth People Videogame
A race of people who are made out of rocks or dirt, or have rocks or dirt incorporated into their biology. I was thinking Rock Monster, but that mainly applies to golems and the like, which usually don't have sapience. I'm talking about a race of people who are as intelligent as regular humans, but are made out of rocks. An iconic example would be the Gorons, a race of rock-like people who live around mountains and volcanoes and even eat rocks as their diet. Their backs are even very clearly rocks. Another example would be the Urayans, who, while looking mostly like humans, have rocks protruding from their skin. Is there a trope for this? Thank you!
Edited by cwallace135openDisliked plot contrivance for the sake of the game's tutorial at the beginning of the story Videogame
In this case rather than a trope, I'm looking for an audience reaction.
In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All, the second game in the series, the first case's culprit knocks out Phoenix by hitting him on the head with a fire extinguisher and causes him temporary amnesia, as narrative justification for the game's tutorial (namely, this makes Phoenix forget how to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, so that another character can explain it to him and thus to the player).
Many fans disliked this for being such a blatantly forced way to shoehorn the tutorial by bending the plot over backwards. (Later games dodged the issue either because the player character is a newcomer, e.g. Apollo Justice in his own game; or by making it so the player character is the one explaining things to someone else, like in Spirit of Justice where there hasn't been a proper trial in Khura'in in years, so Phoenix can either remind the Judge how cross-examinations work, or simply demonstrate, thus also letting veteran fans skip the tutorial).
At first I was thinking this might count as an Ass Pull, but that audience reaction's page seems to indicate it's specifically about plot twists, reveals and such that have no proper setup, which isn't quite what's going on here.
So, is there an audience reaction for this example?
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.