8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel Tricks On Players

WhatCulture

We're just trying to learn!

Transcript

00:00From introducing you to an overview of the plot to outlining basic controls and gameplay,

00:04tutorials are supposed to be the thing you trust. A more forgiving environment to learn the ropes,

00:09before in From Software Games' case, you're then strangled by them.

00:12While most games are content with giving players the space they need to brush up on their skills,

00:16there are some titles which take full advantage of the player not realising

00:20something unexpected is right around the corner. I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com,

00:24and these are 8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel Tricks On Players.

00:28Number 8, Elden Ring. It's completely missable.

00:31As brutally difficult as Elden Ring is, even the cruel and genius developers at From Software

00:36weren't heartless enough to throw players into the lands between without a crash course in the

00:40basics. However, getting to the tutorial in Elden Ring wasn't a straightforward task. In fact,

00:45so many players missed the tutorial completely that From Software signposted it better in an

00:50update, shortly after the game's release. Upon awakening in a cavern after being annihilated

00:54by the game's first boss, players will see a ghostly figure sitting by a precipice. Previously,

00:59the game didn't inform players that getting to the tutorial area required jumping into this

01:03hole that would otherwise spell death in most games. Without being equipped with the fundamentals,

01:08players were wandering out into the world less prepared than they should have been,

01:12only to then get flattened by the tree sentinel. Number 7, Sheepdog and Wolf. Game over.

01:17A nostalgic gem that doesn't get as much recognition as it deserves, Sheepdog and

01:21Wolf, also known as Looney Tunes Sheep Raider, is a puzzle game that sees players take on the

01:25role of Ralph Wolf, as they figure out how to steal sheep from under the watch of Sam Sheepdog.

01:30Players will spend most of their time sneaking around disguised as a bush and using items to

01:35solve increasingly complex puzzles to stealthily snag their quarry. There's a lot to learn,

01:39but thankfully a very polygonal daffy duck is there to assist, and after the cartoon duck whisks

01:44Ralph to the set of the titular game show, it's time for the tutorial. Being a Looney Tunes game,

01:49the start of this tutorial is one big gag. Players are greeted with three signs warning

01:54them not to play, with the final one instructing players to cross the white line in front of them

01:58to begin. Doing so instead results in a cutscene where Ralph is hit by an anvil, run over by a van

02:04and hit by a falling piano before you're then given a game over screen. Thankfully,

02:08Daffy does eventually come to your rescue and the real tutorial can begin.

02:12Number 6, Prey. It's all a simulation. After players select which version of protagonist

02:18Morgan Yu they'd like to play as, Prey opens in Morgan's apartment, with them ready to begin

02:22another day of work. At this point, players are free to poke around their home, inspect their

02:26computer and learn that they can pick up most objects. When players do decide it's time to

02:31take a helicopter to work, they'll spend the proper portion of the tutorial participating

02:35in a series of tests. Here you learn how to complete tasks like moving boxes out of a circle,

02:40hiding behind a chair, jumping over a small obstacle and completing a psychiatric assessment.

02:44However, interactions between the observing scientists suggest that something isn't quite

02:49right, and when a mimic disguised as the doctor's coffee cup ambushes him, Prey pulls out the rug

02:54from under your feet. Morgan once again wakes up in their apartment, but this time things are

02:58different. It's revealed that everything players have just experienced has been a simulation.

03:03In reality, players have been part of an experiment on the Talos space station which

03:07has been overrun by aliens. All of this sets up a grand mystery and it's up to you to uncover the

03:13truth. Yomawari Night Alone

03:16You're just walking your dog. Yomawari Night Alone is a creepy little indie horror gem that

03:21sees players wandering around a ghost-infested Japanese neighbourhood in search of the

03:25protagonist's sister when she doesn't come home one night. Gameplay is as minimalist as it gets.

03:30Armed only with a flashlight which players can use to see the ghosts, you're limited to basic

03:34movement and item interactions as you roam the night streets. Even with such a simple setup,

03:39this title still has a tutorial with the express purpose of scarring you for life.

03:44Beginning innocently enough with a small girl taking her adorable dog Poro home after their

03:48walk, it's here that you're shown how to walk, run and tiptoe while making your way down the road.

03:53This section also teaches you how to interact with objects when the girl spots a pebble.

03:57You naturally pick up the pebble and view it in your inventory, but when trying to interact

04:01with it further, the girl throws the pebble onto the road. Your dog Poro then chases after it and

04:06is immediately run over by a truck in a horrifically shocking turn of events.

04:114. Dark Souls The Surprise Boss

04:14Answers down in the comments as to the cruelest trick a FromSoftware game has played on us as a

04:19collective because I'm putting The Asylum Demon as one of the worst. Primarily because if this

04:23was your first Souls game, it really effed you up for the rest of the series.

04:27When the player's freshly created character escapes their cell in the undead asylum,

04:31messages on the ground teach you the fundamentals like attacking and locking onto enemies.

04:35At this point you're only equipped with a broken weapon but that's all that's needed for the

04:39enemy so far. As millions of us found out though, stepping through a large door still with your

04:44broken weapon leads to being ambushed by Dark Souls' first proper boss. Utterly unprepared

04:50mentally or through equipment, you literally have to learn that the only way forward is to

04:54run right past the demon altogether. Whether you figured that out for yourself after 10 tries or

04:59were told though is something else entirely. 3. Dead Space 2 The Necromorph Chase

05:05Usually horror video games offer players a moment of relative safety at the beginning so they can

05:09learn the controls and mechanics without any added stress getting in the way. Even Resident Evil

05:14Village allowed Ethan to explore his house before he's ambushed by a horde of werewolves. Alongside

05:18acting as tutorials, opening sections in horror games are likewise the perfect place for developers

05:23to establish tone and start building suspense. However, one game that doesn't honour this

05:27unspoken grace period is sci-fi horror masterpiece Dead Space 2. Taking place three years after the

05:33events of the first game, the sequel opens with protagonist Isaac Clarke being released from an

05:37asylum on the Sprawl Space Station. However, before rescuer Franco can explain what's happening or

05:42release him from his straitjacket, he's immediately killed by a Necromorph right in front of you in

05:47grisly AF fashion. Without a moment to digest anything about what's going on, players must

05:52helplessly flee from all the swarming aliens, the button prompt to run being your only guidance on

05:57what to do. Ironically, with a tutorial as unexpectedly nerd-shredding as this, it has

06:01prepared you pretty well for what's to come.

06:05Blair Witch Screwing you over from the beginning.

06:08Developed by Bloober Team, Blair Witch sees players return to the eerie Black Hills Forest

06:12two years after the spine-chilling events of the Blair Witch Project movie. Instead of being a

06:16student filmmaker though, players take on the role of former police officer Ellis, who alongside his

06:21faithful canine sidekick Bullet journeys into the woods in search of a missing child. It doesn't

06:26take long for Ellis' experience to turn into a hellish nightmare though as he becomes tormented

06:30by the malevolent witch who calls this forest her home. During the tutorial, one of the first

06:35things the players encounter is a wooden carving sitting on a fence. Being one of the first

06:39collectibles you can find, naturally you'll want to examine everything you can get your hands on,

06:43especially during this part of the game, when you're supposed to be exploring.

06:47However, this is a clever trick played by the developers. Turns out the Blair Witch

06:51wants Ellis to collect these items, and curious players fell right into her trap.

06:56Collecting any of the dolls or falling for various other sneaky tricks across your playthrough

07:00actually locks you into the bad ending, where you're trapped in the forest for good.

07:05Bioshock, would you kindly. The opening of acclaimed sci-fi horror shooter Bioshock

07:10sees protagonist Jack stumble upon a lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after surviving

07:14a plane crash. Upon entering the structure and ascending into the ocean's depths in a bathysphere,

07:19the protagonist and the player are introduced to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture,

07:23where things appear to have gone very wrong. When the player arrives in this ominous city,

07:28a friendly Irish voice asks if Jack would kindly pick up the radio so they can talk.

07:32The voice introduces himself as Atlas and courteously walks Jack through the first part

07:36of the game, informing them about the basics of exploration and combat before

07:40tasking them with saving their family. Bioshock's tutorial section is like every other game,

07:45however it's not until much later when players realise that they are the ones who have been

07:49played this whole time. In one of the best twists in gaming set in motion across the tutorial,

07:54it's later revealed that the phrase would you kindly wasn't Atlas being polite,

07:58but a trigger to brainwash the protagonist and you into doing their bidding in what became a

08:03legendary example of analysing player agency. And those are our picks for 8 video game

08:08tutorials that played cruel tricks on players. Let me know your favourites down in the comments

08:13below and please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast. For now,

08:16I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com and I'll catch you soon.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended