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Great examples of foreshadowing used efficiently in games
- Thread starter SolVanderlyn
- Start date
Heavy Rain is like the opposite of good foreshadow. Most things make no sense like Ethan blackouts and the origami killer's inner thoughts
Do they foreshadow that at all? I think Saria is the only character who has that when she tells you she thinks the Forest Temple is going to be an important place for the two of you which is like the worst executed kind of foreshadowing.
I guess I never really saw that as foreshadowing. It's like the prologue of Wind Waker talking about Hyrule. Is that really foreshadowing that you will go to Hyrule? It really just seems like it's setting up the premise of the story.
He keeps making the most out of touch, Uchikoshi-ish jokes too, which makes it so much better.
Xenoblade Chronicles has my favourite foreshadowing in any game ever:
Ending spoilers for Xenoblade 1:
Ending spoilers for Xenoblade 1:
Early on, this conversation happens:
Shulk: "In my head, there are two versions of me. One of them is saying that. It's telling me, 'Listen to what Dunban said.'"
Reyn: "And what about the other one?"
Shulk: "It keeps shouting 'Make them pay!' 'Destroy every single one of them!' And it won't stop getting louder."
Reyn: "That doesn't sound like you. Sure it ain't my voice in there?"
Which at the time sounds like Shulk fighting his own lust for revenge, actually its Zanza in his head.
Also when fighting Xord, he keeps talking about eating people, and Reyn says "We're not just food for some beast!" or something to that effect.
But at the end of the game, we find out thats exactly what they are.
Even some camera moves in certain scenes imply future events. Its nuts.
I guess it makes sense tho considering its a game about seeing the future :D
Shulk: "In my head, there are two versions of me. One of them is saying that. It's telling me, 'Listen to what Dunban said.'"
Reyn: "And what about the other one?"
Shulk: "It keeps shouting 'Make them pay!' 'Destroy every single one of them!' And it won't stop getting louder."
Reyn: "That doesn't sound like you. Sure it ain't my voice in there?"
Which at the time sounds like Shulk fighting his own lust for revenge, actually its Zanza in his head.
Also when fighting Xord, he keeps talking about eating people, and Reyn says "We're not just food for some beast!" or something to that effect.
But at the end of the game, we find out thats exactly what they are.
Even some camera moves in certain scenes imply future events. Its nuts.
I guess it makes sense tho considering its a game about seeing the future :D
I don't think that's actually foreshadowing since there really wasn't much of an indication of the significance until after the revelation.
There's some more good stuff that you would be unlikely to notice or remember until a following playthrough
- When Atreus is climbing out of the basement after the first Stranger fight, you can barely see part of the wrapped up blades of chaos, and Kratos's gaze lingers on them for a moment before he shuts the trapdoor.
- While climbing inside the mountain,
Of course she knew that, and her request was exactly as complicated as she foresaw
- When Atreus finds out he's a god he asks, " Can I… turn into an animal?" Turning into an animal is one of Loki's signature abilities
End Layer was hype too. Just finished Bravely Second and it was a lot better than BD, really polished game.
It definitely counts. It's a type of foreshadowing that only works in a video game though. It's kind of a 4th wall thing. We're conditioned to follow the instructions of other characters in game because obviously that's what progresses the game and the story. It's a natural instinct. In Bioshock, Would You Kindly is used in the exact same way, as a prompt to continue the story. When we get the reveal, it's a meta twist and works on more than one level. It's why that original twist is so prominent for so many people.
One of the stupidest, if not THE stupidest, twists in gaming or any medium.
I guess that's a fair way to frame it, it's not really a conventional "foreshadowing" but it does fit in the context of a meta-commentary on how games function.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain has a fuckton of those:
- Ariel's murder in the intro. The murderer's identity seems to be a mystery at first, but on a replay you'd immediately notice it's clearly Mortanius's silhouette.
- Ariel warns Kain of the "Unspoken", and later you find a scroll talking about human possession and an ancient demon called "Hash'ak'gik", which is the entity that possessed Mortanius and made him commit the murder of Ariel, in order to corrupt the Pillars and upset the Balance. (The "Hash'ak'gik" name was later retconned somewhat in the sequels, though.)
- The Oracle of Nosgoth being secretly Moebius, the Pillar of Time who is manipulating events by travelling through various time periods. You can see evidence of this well before the reveal, from the Oracle's "museum" with various tokens from different time periods.
- Related to the above, Vorador's execution is foreshadowed by one of the items in the Oracle's museum: "a guillotine, its blade still wet with blood".
And that's not even counting everything else from the Soul Reaver games.
- Ariel's murder in the intro. The murderer's identity seems to be a mystery at first, but on a replay you'd immediately notice it's clearly Mortanius's silhouette.
- Ariel warns Kain of the "Unspoken", and later you find a scroll talking about human possession and an ancient demon called "Hash'ak'gik", which is the entity that possessed Mortanius and made him commit the murder of Ariel, in order to corrupt the Pillars and upset the Balance. (The "Hash'ak'gik" name was later retconned somewhat in the sequels, though.)
- The Oracle of Nosgoth being secretly Moebius, the Pillar of Time who is manipulating events by travelling through various time periods. You can see evidence of this well before the reveal, from the Oracle's "museum" with various tokens from different time periods.
- Related to the above, Vorador's execution is foreshadowed by one of the items in the Oracle's museum: "a guillotine, its blade still wet with blood".
And that's not even counting everything else from the Soul Reaver games.
Probably will be hated on since Era strongly dislikes the game, but I loved Bioshock Infinite's coin flip by the Luteces. For being so early on and unskippable it had to be a bit on the nose, but there was absolutely a "lightbulb" moment later on when the significance is revealed
man, what a masterpiece...imagine a remake just like RE2 was remade.
Another one being in the very first cinematic, the woman that sleeps next to you on the train is your psychologist who is actually constantly watching you everywhere, who actually is part of the Illuminati. She talks later how she has been watching your progress and what not.
Also, dive into this thread if you dare:
What about when at the the beginning of the game
Mr. Jefferson tells you exactly what is going to happen
I think they are a bit more reluctant to hint at plot twists, but all the stuff about the white paint being made with moon dust was great.
I think that's my favorite example, actually.
"I thought you people were supposed to be so much more enlightened than us... so muchsmarter." If I remember correctly the trailer was edited with that line partly playing over the scene of Kratos looking at the Greek pot. Played us like a damn fiddle.
Oh yes, that game had crazy good foreshadowing. I also kinda liked it in Twilight Princiess: during the first hour in Ordon Village you have to block an escaping goat. That's the same move you're going to use with the final boss.
Red Dead Redemption 2
You see Arthur getting sicker and sicker before he falls off his horse and goes to the doctor. I didn't know what what was happening but he looked liked shit.
NieR: Automata, especially Ending A:
But my personal favorite is Persona 5:
2B choking 9S seems like she's putting him out of his misery due to the virus corruption, but in realitt it is just a perfect moment to execute her duties as 2E as revealed in Route C.
But my personal favorite is Persona 5:
the different voice for Igor, you do not like it and think it is weird but oh well it's just a change in voice actors and then BAM he is actually a fake Igor. Mindblowing.
I took a note of this and was very proud when I realized who the culprit was upon seeing the true crime scene! All the red stuff had not been cleaned up!
999 & VLR has a load.
MGS1 with Master Miller (try calling him whenever you are fighting Liquid) and Naomi.
Silent Hill 2 all the way through from the start.
MGS1 with Master Miller (try calling him whenever you are fighting Liquid) and Naomi.
Silent Hill 2 all the way through from the start.
Outlast and the figure in the window at the start of the game, I was already halfway out at that point.
Heavy Rain leans heavily into the unreliable narrator trope, not making sense is by design.
Danganronpa V3 has one of my favourites, since it's less foreshadowing and more fore-blocking-out-the-fucking-sun.
Not sure it's efficient, but it's fun. Definitely fresher than a bunch of cryptic hints, they just outright tell the player what's up so blatantly that they don't even think about what that means.
The game just straight up opens on showing you what the plot twist is, but it's so absurd and nonsensical that when it's finally revealed it still comes as a surprise.
Not sure it's efficient, but it's fun. Definitely fresher than a bunch of cryptic hints, they just outright tell the player what's up so blatantly that they don't even think about what that means.
DS did foreshadowing extremely well, it's one of the few games that managed to rival SH in terms of how well done it is.
I don't remember the details because it's been a long time since I played it, but
wasn't there a moment when Shelby had to run and you could notice how he made the same sound that the little kid from the flashbacks?
When you're one year old in Fallout 3 and playing in your makeshift playpen/crib, your dad says this to you:
"Listen, kiddo, I know you don't like it when Daddy leaves you alone, but I need you to take care of yourself for a minute."
That turns out to be the understatement of the century when, moving forward eighteen years later to the end of the tutorial, your dad leaves the vault, forcing you to make a desperate escape (lest the Vault's now-hostile security force kill you) and fend for yourself in the wasteland beyond. Oof.
The Bible passage in your family's quarters (Revelations 21:6) is very foreshadowy as well. 216 is the purifier activation code, and the whole Alpha/Omega thing represents how the game literally starts with the protagonist's birth and ends (at least originally) at the "fountain of the water of life".
"Listen, kiddo, I know you don't like it when Daddy leaves you alone, but I need you to take care of yourself for a minute."
That turns out to be the understatement of the century when, moving forward eighteen years later to the end of the tutorial, your dad leaves the vault, forcing you to make a desperate escape (lest the Vault's now-hostile security force kill you) and fend for yourself in the wasteland beyond. Oof.
The Bible passage in your family's quarters (Revelations 21:6) is very foreshadowy as well. 216 is the purifier activation code, and the whole Alpha/Omega thing represents how the game literally starts with the protagonist's birth and ends (at least originally) at the "fountain of the water of life".
Yep.
The foreshadowing as to why Akane got all of those fevers is a stroke of genius. It's seriously clever, mind blowing stuff!
I love when I think it's Alice, tells him something like "you must've been studying for a long time" when he says he's in college.
Identity of Flame Emperor in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is quite well-foreshadowed, and as a result the reveal made sense and wasn't a huge shocker.
Both also excellent examples :D
Immediately I was tripping and got upset no one said anything until the huge reveal :P
Foreshadowing in survival horror is everything. I think developpers relay on that, on that feeling of "I just told you, but you didn't listen". That's extremely scary.
Also Bioshock:
Built into a game mechanic, too; it's only when you start thinking about it you might stumble on the realisation that "Hey, why are these Vita-Chambers resurrecting me... and only me?"
thanks!
I legit never noticed about
about Madam Photographe being there at the station or during you and Vega's conversation at the LIMB Clinic. Damn.
I had read about Auzenne's appearance at the start, however. Blew my fucking mind. Kinda funny that I never "fully" trusted her (especially after the Megan Reed situation in DXHR) but her full-blown Illuminati shit still made me angry hahahaha
I had read about Auzenne's appearance at the start, however. Blew my fucking mind. Kinda funny that I never "fully" trusted her (especially after the Megan Reed situation in DXHR) but her full-blown Illuminati shit still made me angry hahahaha
In Twilight Princess after the 3rd temple, Midna accuses Zant of abusing their tribe's magic for evil. Zant responds:
"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is... our old magic? Now THAT is a joke! This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it!"
A little bit after this scene, Midna tells Link about when Zant took over the Twilight Realm:
"It's clear to me now that he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe."
The foreshadowing here is interesting because most people miss it and tend to think Ganondorf is dropped into the plot at the last second.
Another little foreshadowing moment is in the beginning of the game, if you go into Rusl's house a short blade and a helmet can be found on the shelf. It's the same items he has later as a Resistance member.
"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is... our old magic? Now THAT is a joke! This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it!"
A little bit after this scene, Midna tells Link about when Zant took over the Twilight Realm:
"It's clear to me now that he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe."
The foreshadowing here is interesting because most people miss it and tend to think Ganondorf is dropped into the plot at the last second.
Another little foreshadowing moment is in the beginning of the game, if you go into Rusl's house a short blade and a helmet can be found on the shelf. It's the same items he has later as a Resistance member.
Yeah the foreshadowing here is really good. There's another moment in the Colony 9 attack at the beginning of the game:
Metal Face receives that signal to retreat but before he does, he takes a moment to stare down Dunban. The camera work makes it super clear that he is looking at Dunban, not Shulk and Reyn. This is because Metal Face is Mumkhar and he hates Dunban personally from his life as a homs.
The Persona games are pretty good at this, but I'll just mention the gas station attendant in Persona 4.