8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel Tricks On Players
We're just trying to learn!
Transcript
00:00 From introducing you to an overview of the plot to outlining basic controls and gameplay,
00:04 tutorials are supposed to be the thing you trust - a more forgiving environment to learn
00:08 the ropes, before in FromSoftware Games' case, you're then strangled by them.
00:12 While most games are content with giving players the space they need to brush up on their skills,
00:16 there are some titles which take full advantage of the player not realising something unexpected
00:21 is right around the corner.
00:22 I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com and these are 8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel
00:26 Tricks On Players.
00:28 Number 8 - Elden Ring It's completely missable.
00:31 As brutally difficult as Elden Ring is, even the cruel and genius developers at FromSoftware
00:36 weren't heartless enough to throw players into the lands between without a crash course
00:39 in the basics.
00:40 However, getting to the tutorial in Elden Ring wasn't a straightforward task.
00:45 In fact, so many players missed the tutorial completely that FromSoftware signposted it
00:49 better in an update, shortly after the game's release.
00:52 Upon awakening in a cavern after being annihilated by the game's first boss, players will see
00:56 a ghostly figure sitting by a precipice.
00:58 Previously, the game didn't inform players that getting to the tutorial area required
01:02 jumping into this hole that would otherwise spell death in most games.
01:06 Without being equipped with the fundamentals, players were wandering out into the world
01:10 less prepared than they should have been, only to then get flattened by the tree sentinel.
01:14 Number 7 - Sheepdog and Wolf Game Over
01:17 A nostalgic gem that doesn't get as much recognition as it deserves, Sheepdog and Wolf
01:21 also known as Looney Tunes Sheep Raider is a puzzle game that sees players take on the
01:25 role of Ralph Wolf, as they figure out how to steal sheep from under the watch of Sam
01:30 Sheepdog.
01:31 Players will spend most of their time sneaking around disguised as a bush and using items
01:34 to solve increasingly complex puzzles to stealthily snag their quarry.
01:38 There's a lot to learn, but thankfully a very polygonal Daffy Duck is there to assist.
01:43 And after the cartoon duck whisks Ralph to the set of the titular game show, it's time
01:47 for the tutorial.
01:48 Being a Looney Tunes game, the start of this tutorial is one big gag.
01:52 Players are greeted with three signs warning them not to play, with the final one instructing
01:56 players to cross the white line in front of them to begin.
01:59 Doing so instead results in a cutscene where Ralph is hit by an anvil, run over by a van
02:04 and hit by a falling piano before you're then given a game over screen.
02:08 Thankfully Daffy does eventually come to your rescue and the real tutorial can begin.
02:12 Number 6 - Prey
02:14 It's all a simulation.
02:16 After players select which version of protagonist Morgan Yu they'd like to play as, Prey opens
02:20 in Morgan's apartment, with them ready to begin another day of work.
02:23 At this point players are free to poke around their home, inspect their computer and learn
02:27 that they can pick up most objects.
02:29 When players do decide it's time to take a helicopter to work, they'll spend the proper
02:33 portion of the tutorial participating in a series of tests.
02:36 Here you learn how to complete tasks like moving boxes out of a circle, hiding behind
02:40 a chair, jumping over a small obstacle and completing a psychiatric assessment.
02:44 However, interactions between the observing scientists suggest that something isn't quite
02:48 right, and when a mimic disguised as the doctor's coffee cup ambushes him, Prey pulls out the
02:53 rug from under your feet.
02:55 Morgan once again wakes up in their apartment, but this time things are different.
02:59 It's revealed that everything players have just experienced has been a simulation.
03:03 In reality, players have been part of an experiment on the Talos space station which has been
03:08 overrun by aliens.
03:09 All of this sets up a grand mystery and it's up to you to uncover the truth.
03:14 Number 5 - Yomawari - Night Alone
03:16 You're just walking your dog.
03:18 Yomawari - Night Alone is a creepy little indie horror gem that sees players wandering
03:22 around a ghost-infested Japanese neighbourhood in search of the protagonist's sister when
03:26 she doesn't come home one night.
03:28 Gameplay is as minimalist as it gets.
03:30 Armed only with a flashlight which players can use to see the ghosts, you're limited
03:34 to basic movement and item interactions as you roam the night streets.
03:37 Even with such a simple setup, this title still has a tutorial with the express purpose
03:42 of scarring you for life.
03:44 Beginning innocently enough with a small girl taking her adorable dog Poro home after their
03:48 walk, it's here that you're shown how to walk, run and tiptoe while making your way
03:52 down the road.
03:53 This section also teaches you how to interact with objects when the girl spots a pebble.
03:57 You naturally pick up the pebble and view it in your inventory, but when trying to interact
04:01 with it further, the girl throws the pebble onto the road.
04:04 Your dog Poro then chases after it and is immediately run over by a truck in a horrifically
04:09 shocking turn of events.
04:11 Number 4, Dark Souls, The Surprise Boss.
04:14 Answers down in the comments as to the cruellest trick a From Software game has played on us
04:18 as a collective because I'm putting The Asylum Demon as one of the worst, primarily
04:23 because if this was your first Souls game, it really effed you up for the rest of the
04:26 series.
04:27 When the player's freshly created character escapes their cell in the undead asylum, messages
04:31 on the ground teach you the fundamentals like attacking and locking onto enemies.
04:35 At this point you're only equipped with a broken weapon, but that's all that's
04:39 needed for the enemies so far.
04:40 As millions of us found out though, stepping through a large door still with your broken
04:45 weapon leads to being ambushed by Dark Souls' first proper boss.
04:48 Utterly unprepared mentally or through equipment, you literally have to learn that the only
04:53 way forward is to run right past the demon altogether.
04:56 Whether you figured that out for yourself after 10 tries or were told though is something
05:00 else entirely.
05:01 Number 3, Dead Space 2, The Necromorph Chase.
05:05 Usually horror video games offer players a moment of relative safety at the beginning
05:09 so they can learn the controls and mechanics without any added stress getting in the way.
05:13 Even Resident Evil Village allowed Ethan to explore his house before he's ambushed by
05:16 a horde of werewolves.
05:18 Alongside acting as tutorials, opening sections in horror games are likewise the perfect place
05:22 for developers to establish tone and start building suspense.
05:25 However, one game that doesn't honour this unspoken grace period is sci-fi horror masterpiece
05:30 Dead Space 2.
05:31 Taking place three years after the events of the first game, the sequel opens with protagonist
05:35 Isaac Clarke being released from an asylum on the Sprawl space station.
05:39 However, before rescuer Franco can explain what's happening or release him from his
05:43 straitjacket, he's immediately killed by a necromorph right in front of you in grisly
05:47 AF fashion.
05:49 Without a moment to digest anything about what's going on, players must helplessly
05:52 flee from all the swarming aliens, the button prompt to run being your only guidance on
05:56 what to do.
05:57 Ironically, with a tutorial as unexpectedly nerd-shredding as this, it has prepared you
06:02 pretty well for what's to come.
06:04 Number 2, Blair Witch Screwing you over from the beginning.
06:08 Developed by Bloober Team, Blair Witch sees players return to the eerie Black Hills forest
06:12 two years after the spine-chilling events of the Blair Witch Project movie.
06:16 Instead of being a student filmmaker though, players take on the role of former police
06:19 officer Ellis, who alongside his faithful canine sidekick Bullet journeys into the woods
06:24 in search of a missing child.
06:25 It doesn't take long for Ellis' experience to turn into a hellish nightmare though as
06:29 he becomes tormented by the malevolent witch who calls this forest her home.
06:33 During the tutorial, one of the first things the players encounter is a wooden carving
06:37 sitting on a fence.
06:38 Being one of the first collectibles you can find, naturally you'll want to examine everything
06:42 you can get your hands on, especially during this part of the game when you're supposed
06:46 to be exploring.
06:47 However, this is a clever trick played by the developers.
06:50 Turns out the Blair Witch wants Ellis to collect these items, and curious players fell right
06:54 into her trap.
06:56 Collecting any of the dolls or falling for various other sneaky tricks across your playthrough
07:00 actually locks you into the bad ending, where you're trapped in the forest for good.
07:07 Opening of acclaimed sci-fi horror shooter Bioshock sees protagonist Jack stumble upon
07:11 a lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after surviving a plane crash.
07:15 Upon entering the structure and ascending into the ocean's depths in a bathysphere,
07:19 the protagonist and the player are introduced to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture
07:23 where things appear to have gone very wrong.
07:25 When the player arrives in this ominous city, a friendly Irish voice asks if Jack would
07:29 kindly pick up the radio so they can talk.
07:32 The voice introduces himself as Atlas and courteously walks Jack through the first part
07:36 of the game, informing them about the basics of exploration and combat before tasking them
07:40 with saving their family.
07:42 Bioshock's tutorial section is like every other game, however it's not until much later
07:46 when players realise that they are the ones who have been played this whole time.
07:51 In one of the best twists in gaming set in motion across the tutorial, it's later revealed
07:55 that the phrase "would you kindly" wasn't Atlas being polite, but a trigger to brainwash
07:59 the protagonist and you into doing their bidding in what became a legendary example of analysing
08:04 player agency.
08:06 And those are our picks for 8 video game tutorials that played cruel tricks on players.
08:11 Let me know your favourites down in the comments below and please subscribe to the What Culture
08:14 Gaming Podcast.
08:15 For now I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com and I'll catch you soon.