-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
The best plot twists
- Thread starter Kalmakov
- Start date
Absolutely floored me first time I played it. Still one of the best endings in a game.
I think that one of the reasons it hits so hard is that the structure of the story is set up so that you're not even expecting a twist at that point. The gameplay has ended, the story is wrapping up, major plot threads have resolved, the story can already stand on its own... and then all of a sudden it hits you with this small piece of information that fits in perfectly while completely changing the significance behind the main story beats.
Usually plots twists offer an explanation for something that was previously unexplained, but in this case the story bluffs that
the lack of explanation for what Boss does is the whole point, before fundamentally changing the context of her actions.
1. KOTOR You are Revan
2. Bioshock Would you kindly?
3. Infamous Cole is Kessler
4. Batman Arkham City Joker reveals the ending in the clock tower
5. Infamous 2 Evil ending loops back into Infamous 1, revealing that Cole is The Beast, making this the only (?) game to have both of its endings canon.
2. Bioshock Would you kindly?
3. Infamous Cole is Kessler
4. Batman Arkham City Joker reveals the ending in the clock tower
5. Infamous 2 Evil ending loops back into Infamous 1, revealing that Cole is The Beast, making this the only (?) game to have both of its endings canon.
A few that popped into my head:
KOTOR 1
inFAMOUS 1
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Second Sight
the various endings in Shadow of Destiny
MGS1
MGS3
Horizon Zero Dawn
Batman: Arkham City
I'm sure there are a lot more, but these are the ones that I felt jumped out at me and that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I'd have added Bioshock to the list, but thanks to the internet, and their penchant for running things into the ground seconds after it becomes a thing, so the whole (spoiler phrase)
( end spoiler phrase) had me piecing the plot twist together long before I even got there, since so many people were fucking quoting it over and over again. When I finally reached the end, it didn't have that "Oh my fucking god!" impact that it was probably intended to have. So, yeah. Thanks, internet.
KOTOR 1
inFAMOUS 1
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Second Sight
the various endings in Shadow of Destiny
MGS1
MGS3
Horizon Zero Dawn
Batman: Arkham City
I'm sure there are a lot more, but these are the ones that I felt jumped out at me and that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I'd have added Bioshock to the list, but thanks to the internet, and their penchant for running things into the ground seconds after it becomes a thing, so the whole (spoiler phrase)
"Would you kindly,"
Last edited:
Which one? The one where
Drake's brother invented the whole jailbreak scene? That was so goddamn cheap. You actually played through something that never happened to make you believe it did. The cheapest kind of narrative twist a game can use.
:O
Seriously. So disappointing. It's generally why I tend to try and avoid the internet when a game with a heavy narrative element comes out. It doesn't always work, and I've been spoiled for what could have been really awesome plot twists because of the internet, but I still try my best. The culture has a way of running this type of shit into the ground, not really considering that everyone is on the same gaming time table as everyone else, and can't always play the games day one, or even month one. I didn't play Bioshock day 1 (didn't have a good enough PC, nor an Xbox, so it took me a few months to finally get to play it, but by then it was too late as far as that particular spoiler goes).
I feel like we can put all of Yoko Taro's work here.
DOD3/ Drakengard 3 was really odd, esp as someone who didnt play DOD 1/2. The gameplay really didn't do it justice.
DOD3/ Drakengard 3 was really odd, esp as someone who didnt play DOD 1/2. The gameplay really didn't do it justice.
Brother one. Zero being the "original" who tried to kill herself but ends up creating the other five. And apparently she's the last boss of the first one? Accord. (Wish we knew more about her/her background) That final stage.
It's so good. I love that game to death, and what was so great about it is that I genuinely didn't see it coming. Like, while playing it, my brain wasn't even thinking about the story as being setup for any kind of twist at all. Such a well executed narrative.
How they did it was cheap, I'll give you that, but I think the right developer could really exploit the concept of the unreliable narrator. This concept really hasn't been explored other than really bad "plot twists."
Danganronpa V3
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest III
The main character is actually Erdrick and the dark world is Alefgard
And the after-mission visits with Beard. It also helps to figure out the significance of Richter and Biker in the story. HM2 clears things up.
Probably my favorite would be from the Ace Attorney spin off "Ace Attorney Investigations 2"
The reveal of the mastermind is absolutely brilliant. Everything from the game up to this point coalesces into a grand reveal that sheds the light on who's been secretly puppeteering the whole game. Every single case is connected and relevant to what this is. The best part about this character is that they aren't the usual Ace Attorney main villain where they have power and status that they're flaunting around to get out of going to jail for their crimes, instead, it's a victim of several of these types of characters who hatches such an insane and sprawling revenge scheme that it's a sight to behold. Another interesting aspect of them is that, while their plan is so grand, they still mess up and are forced to think on their feet several times to try and fix these mistakes, which just really makes everything that happened feel natural and not forced. It's just a great twist for the one of the best Ace Attorney games.
Back when MGS/Kojima actually attempted to write a decent plot!
Hm maybe you're right, but to me there'll always be the problem of interacting with something that never happened. There was the concept of hallucinations in Dead Space 3, I'd be ok with something like that. When you as a player can't be sure if something is real, and this sort of thing works as a twist, too. But when a character, with his own motivation, is lying and the dev makes you play through that lie to make you believe it happened, the gameplay part and the narrative part lose all meaning. It feels like ND mistook gameplay as the same effect a cutscene has.
I don't remember any plot twists in Horizon Zero Dawn, just a bunch of pretty cool reveals and a main character smart enough to deal with them. Nothing so twisty on the level of Bioshock or KOTOR or Infamous or GOW 2018 (no, not Atreus)
The latest one I liked very much was with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) where:
it turns out the weird guy selling you all the weapons was alternate you all along trying to help.
Because we've somehow gone 4 pages without anyone mentioning it??!
Xenoblade Chronicles Ending spoilers
So cool and so bananas. I love it.
Xenoblade Chronicles Ending spoilers
The reason why you can use the amazing sword that controls time, is because you are possesed by the soul of the god who created the world you live in. You were a corpse that just happened to be there and you were a convenient host, nothing more. You aren't special, even your skill for creating/ engineering things probably came from him. Also, the god was a scientist on earth who fired up an experimental device and destroyed the entire universe leaving nothing but him and one other scientist reborn as the "gods" (and the world) of the new world.
Just like most other people are saying, KoTOR had the best plot twist of any game I've ever played. I played it as a kid on the XBOX and it blew my mind completely.
Star Wars in general has had some crazy plot twists such as Luke's father and finding out who Darth Sidious was. All of those combined made me think SW was the best thing ever when I was a kid lol.
Star Wars in general has had some crazy plot twists such as Luke's father and finding out who Darth Sidious was. All of those combined made me think SW was the best thing ever when I was a kid lol.
Would you kindly? Was the last one that really shook me. I'd put it ahead of many many movies as well.
Prey?
Just trying to think of examples not already posted in the thread. I know the very last plot twist was something I did not see coming in that game.
Just trying to think of examples not already posted in the thread. I know the very last plot twist was something I did not see coming in that game.
Holy hell I'd forgotten about this one. Very nice comparison as well.
I don't think it's hidden from you, but it's a largely meaningless point... until it suddenly isn't. Up until that point, you're basically attached to the protagonist, making choices for what they do in combat, seeing the story from their perspective, and then you realize that this protagonist actually has thoughts, motivations, and goals that aren't your own.
It's been a very long time since I've played it, maybe a couple decades at this point, but using that as a way to pivot the story on you as the player really took me by surprise and is still something I recall fondly.