8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel Tricks On Players

Australian Cinephile

We're just trying to learn!

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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. While most games are

00:13content with giving players the space they need to brush up on their skills, there are some titles

00:17which take full advantage of the player not realizing something unexpected is right around

00:22the corner. I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com and these are 8 video game tutorials that played

00:26cruel tricks on players. Number 8, Elden Ring. It's completely missable. As brutally difficult

00:32as Elden Ring is, even the cruel and genius developers at From Software weren't heartless

00:37enough to throw players into the lands between without a crash course in the basics. However,

00:41getting to the tutorial in Elden Ring wasn't a straightforward task. In fact, so many players

00:46missed the tutorial completely that From Software signposted it better in an update, shortly after

00:51the game's release. Upon awakening in a cavern after being annihilated by the game's first boss,

00:56players will see a ghostly figure sitting by a precipice. Previously, the game didn't inform

01:00players that getting to the tutorial area required jumping into this hole that would otherwise spell

01:05death in most games. Without being equipped with the fundamentals, players were wandering out into

01:10the world less prepared than they should have been, only to then get flattened by the tree sentinel.

01:15Number 7, Sheepdog and Wolf. Game over. A nostalgic gem that doesn't get as much recognition as it

01:20deserves, Sheepdog and Wolf, also known as Looney Tunes Sheep Raider, is a puzzle game that sees players

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

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

01:34items to solve increasingly complex puzzles to stealthily snag their quarry. There's a lot to

01:39learn, but thankfully a very polygonal Daffy Duck is there to assist. And after the cartoon duck whisks

01:45Ralph 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 gap. Players are greeted with three signs warning them not to

01:54play, with the final one instructing players to cross the white line in front of them to begin.

01:59Doing 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 Daffy does

02:09eventually 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 Morgan

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

02:23of work. At this point players are free to poke around their home, inspect their computer, and

02:27learn that they can pick up most objects. When players do decide it's time to take a helicopter

02:32to work, they'll spend the proper portion of the tutorial participating in a series of tests.

02:36Here you learn how to complete tasks like moving boxes out of a circle, hiding behind a chair,

02:41jumping over a small obstacle, and completing a psychiatric assessment. However, interactions between

02:46the observing scientists suggest that something isn't quite right, and when a mimic disguised

02:51as the doctor's coffee cup ambushes him, Prey pulls out the rug from under your feet.

02:55Morgan once again wakes up in their apartment, but this time things are different. It's revealed

03:00that everything players have just experienced has been a simulation. In reality, players have been

03:05part of an experiment on the Talos space station which has been overrun by aliens. All of this sets

03:10up a grand mystery and it's up to you to uncover the truth.

03:145. Night Alone

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

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

03:26sister when she doesn't come home one night. Gameplay is as minimalist as it gets. Armed only

03:31with a flashlight which players can use to see the ghosts, you're limited to basic movement and item

03:35interactions as you roam the night streets. Even with such a simple setup, this title still has a

03:40tutorial with the express purpose of scarring you for life. Beginning innocently enough with a small

03:46girl taking her adorable dog Poro home after their walk, it's here that you're shown how to walk,

03:51run and tiptoe while making your way down the road. This section also teaches you how to interact

03:55with objects when the girl spots a pebble. You naturally pick up the pebble and view it in your

04:00inventory, but when trying to interact with it further, the girl throws the pebble onto the road.

04:04Your dog Poro then chases after it and is immediately run over by a truck in a horrifically

04:09shocking turn of events. 4. 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 was

04:24your first Souls game, it really effed you up for the rest of the series. When the player's freshly

04:28created character escapes their cell in the Undead Asylum, messages on the ground teach you the

04:33fundamentals like attacking and locking onto enemies. At this point you're only equipped

04:37with a broken weapon but that's all that's needed for the enemies so far. As millions of us found

04:42out though, stepping through a large door still with your broken weapon leads to being ambushed

04:46by Dark Souls' first proper boss. Utterly unprepared mentally or through equipment, you literally have

04:52to learn that the only way forward is to run right past the demon altogether. Whether you've figured

04:57that out for yourself after 10 tries or we're told though, is something else entirely.

05:013. 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 to

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

05:28period is sci-fi horror masterpiece Dead Space 2. Taking place three years after the events of the

05:34first game, the sequel opens with protagonist Isaac Clarke being released from an asylum on the sprawl

05:38space station. However, before rescuer Franco can explain what's happening or release him from

05:43his straitjacket, he's immediately killed by a necromorph right in front of you in grisly AF fashion.

05:49Without a moment to digest anything about what's going on, players must helplessly flee from all

05:53the swarming aliens, the button prompt to run being your only guidance on what to do. Ironically,

05:58with a tutorial as unexpectedly nerve shredding as this, it has prepared you pretty well for what's to

06:03come. Number 2 Blair Witch Screwing you over from the beginning

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

06:13the spine-chilling events of the Blair Witch Project movie. Instead of being a student filmmaker though,

06:17players take on the role of former police officer Ellis, who alongside his faithful canine sidekick

06:22bullet, journeys into the woods in search of a missing child. It doesn't take long for Ellis'

06:27experience to turn into a hellish nightmare though, as he becomes tormented by the malevolent witch

06:31who calls this forest her home. During the tutorial, one of the first things the players encounter is a

06:36wooden carving sitting on a fence. Being one of the first collectibles you can find, naturally you'll

06:41want to examine everything you can get your hands on, especially during this part of the game,

06:45when you're supposed to be exploring. However, this is a clever trick played by the developers.

06:50Turns out the Blair Witch wants Ellis to collect these items, and curious players fell right into

06:55her trap. Collecting 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.

07:04And number 1 Bioshock Would You Kindly

07:07The opening of acclaimed sci-fi horror shooter Bioshock sees protagonist Jack stumble upon a lighthouse in the

07:12middle of the Atlantic Ocean after surviving a plane crash. Upon entering the structure and ascending

07:17into the ocean's depths in a bathysphere, the protagonist and the player are introduced to

07:21the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, where things appear to have gone very wrong.

07:26When the player arrives in this ominous city, a friendly Irish voice asks if Jack would kindly

07:30pick up the radio so they can talk. The voice introduces himself as Atlas, and courteously walks

07:35Jack through the first part of the game, informing them about the basics of exploration and combat,

07:40before tasking 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, but a trigger to

07:59brainwatch the protagonist and you into doing their bidding in what became a legendary example of

08:04analysing player agency.

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