Desperation Attack: Difference between revisions

Line 11:

The problem with video games, though, is that the progress of the hero is directly tied to the skill of the player. And a player who's bad enough to start losing is probably bad enough to continue losing. [[Critical Existence Failure|While video games rarely simulate the negative effect that injuries have on fighting prowess]], this still makes video game fights more similar to reality than the heroic mano-a-mano battles seen in movies.

The solution is to make characters more powerful when they're near death, to make the [[Comeback Mechanic|dramatic comeback]] a possibility. Hence the Desperation Attack, abilities or equipment that power up as the player character starts losing. Which, for most games, usually means when their health gets really low.

Occasionally, this leads to a situation where the best strategy is to run around on the edge of death for the massive bonuses it gives you.

Line 34:

== [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]] ==

* ''[[Art of Fighting]]'' and ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' introduced the Desperation Move, which can only be used when the player's health is under about 1/3rd. This was retained in future SNK [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]].

** ''The [[King of Fighters]]'' combined this with the [[Limit Break|Super Move]] to form the Super Desperation Move, which was performed with both low life and a full super meter.

** Also, some SNK games (and certain Grooves in [[Capcom vs. Whatever|Capcom vs. SNK]]) would allow the player to perform unlimited Supers if their health was critical.

* In [[Super Smash Bros]] Brawl, [[Pokémon|Lucario's]] attacks get more powerful as he gains percentages, peaking out at 168%. This is invoked in an event match where you have to play as Lucario starting out with high percent (182%).

* In [[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl, [[Pokémon|Lucario's]] attacks get more powerful as he gains percentages, peaking out at 168%. This is invoked in an event match where you have to play as Lucario starting out with high percent (182%).

** Related: If a character is down several points or stock, they automatically gain [[Limit Break|Final Smash]] powers the next time they drop down onto the stage.

* In the doujin [[Fighting Game]] ''[[Eternal Fighter Zero]]'', each character has a unique "Final Memory" move, which is a level 3 super that is only accessible when the character is down to their last 1/3 health. These range from extremely damaging attacks to special effects like freezing time or granting hyper armor. In many cases, the attack models the [[Canon]] scene [[Utsuge|in which the character dies]], hence the name.

Line 101:

** ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' introduced actual Desperation Attacks to the series, incredibly powerful attacks that can randomly occur when a character with critically low HP is given the "Fight" command. However, they occur ''so'' rarely that most people have never actually seen one. Plus the Valiant Knife which does more damage the lower Locke's HP gets.

** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has the ''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Final Attack]]'' materia, with which almost every spell materia can be paired. Equipping it on someone lets that character [[Taking You with Me|cast one last spell upon their demise]], but the right combination can bestow functional immortality. {{spoiler|Phoenix}} is recommended; Scan is not. (Unless you want to have your possessions identified, in which case, you've been playing too much [[Nethack]].)

** ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'''s Limit Breaks. The availability of the Limit Breaks is predicated on how much HP there is left ''proportional to your total HP'', so if your health stats were high, you'd still be able to access your Limit Breaks with a reasonable number of points. The game lets you know exactly when you can use them by turning the stat display yellow, and you can reset the ''Fight'' option an unlimited number of times per turn with the circle button until it changes to ''Limit''. This feature makes them your ''primary'' mode of attack, not a desperation attack, and all but renders them [[Game Breaker|Gamebreakers]].

** ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' has Steiner's Revenge ability.

*** And the Blue Magic Limit Glove, an otherwise unremarkable spell which is guaranteed to do 9999 damage if (and only if) Quina has exactly 1 HP left when using it. Mostly useless because of this limitation, but with proper element cancellation...

Line 108:

**** Savvy players will knock Quina out in a battle, then go to a save point and revive him/her repeatedly (resetting each time) until s/he has 1 HP. Perfect for taking out that tricky boss in one shot! It's also available extremely early (from the [[Disc One Nuke|moment you get Quina]], in fact), letting you lay the smackdown on the rest of disc 1 and most of disc 2 (by disc 3 more reliable means of violence become available). By extension, it's also a valuable skill to have when doing the [[Speed Run|Excalibur II challenge]].

** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has Auron's [[Infinity+1 Sword]], which does more damage as his health gets lower.

** Several items in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'', such as the Sorcerer's Ring or the Rasetsu armor set, have effects that only activate when the wearer's HP drops below a certain percentage.

** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has the Meatbone Slash Reaction Ability, which deals your max HP in damage when your HP is critically low. It also has several other Reaction Abilities that function on the "Critical HP" principle, usually bestowing healing or auto-life effects. Finally, there are several attacks that utilize differences in your HP or MP to do damage.

** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has several "Last" abilities that cast a specific spell on the character at low health, such as Berserk.

** In addition, several of the games have skills that do a set amount of damage equal to a character's maximum HP minus their current HP.

Line 118:

** Considering that this is Final Mix+ , those two really help with the Critical Mode.

** [[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|The original game]] and [[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories|mid]][[Updated Rerelease|quel]] have the ability Berserk, which does indeed increase attack at critical health levels (the latter game and its remake requiring the use of the Hades enemy card).

** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358 Days ~~Over 2~~|358/2 Days]]'' has the [[Limit Break|Limit Breaks]], which can only be activated once your HP falls to 25% (50% with the right panel equipped). However, the threshold keeps getting smaller with each use, making each Limit Break riskier than the last.

** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days|358/2 Days]]'' has the [[Limit Break|Limit Breaks]], which can only be activated once your HP falls to 25% (50% with the right panel equipped). However, the threshold keeps getting smaller with each use, making each Limit Break riskier than the last.

*** All the same, as they can create a nearly minute-long attack that can deal upwards of hundreds of times your normal damage output, they will often be your method of choice for dispatching tough enemies. That said, the effects--and therefore the effectiveness--differ from character-to-character. Some have to charge, while some just go berserk, some hit in a radius around them, some only strike forward, some are granted temporary invincibility, some are frozen in place, etc.

* The Crisis Arm, one of Robo's final weapons from ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', claims to work this way, but actually depends on the last digit of your HP. There are actual desperation attacks in the form of Frog's "Frog Squash" tech and Ayla's "Dino Tail" tech.

Line 133:

* ''[[Xenogears]]'' has an equippable item which increases your attack power ridiculously when near death. If you give it to Fei, he can do 19998 damage every turn when not inside his Gear... and being outside his gear means most of the time gear-sized enemies miss him. He becomes a gear-destroying machine.

* ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'' gives Cless one when he equips a certain title.

* ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' has the Over Limit form which cuts damage in half and prevents the character from flinching when hit. It activates when a character's invisible Tension gauge is filled, which can be done in many ways, but the one you'll probably fill it up with the most is taking damage. Or cooking.

** Also, Lloyd's Falcon Crest, his deadliest attack, can only be used when his health is at 16% or less. In addition, Sheena's most powerful techs, the Summon Spirits, can only be performed while she is in Over Limit mode (Double desperation?).

** Most of the other characters can also only use their most powerful attack when in Overlimit or at low HP.

* Atton Rand from ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'' has "Fighting Spirit," which causes his saving throws to increase as he takes more damage.

* [[Troubled but Cute|Fenris]] from ''[[Dragon Age 2]]'' has the Veneer of Calm ability, allowing him to do increased damage as his health drops.

Line 143:

== [[Shoot'Em Up|Shoot Em Ups]] ==

* In [[Touhou Project|Subterranean Animism]], the game throws a full powerup at you to boost your shot power to maximum as soon as you're on your last life.

* ''[[No More Heroes]]'' has at least desperation attack for most bosses. Some bosses, mainly in the first game, gained a [[One Hit KO]] when they were down to about half health.