Interface Spoiler: Difference between revisions

 

 

Like many meta-expectations, this is an interesting form of [[Spoiler]], because it generally gives something closer to hints or [[Foreshadowing]] rather than actual details. You can see the [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]] moment coming when you've got half your equipment missing, but you still won't know exactly when or why it happens.

This may be partly excusable in the tutorial and early sections, where the game is still gradually introducing new mechanics, and the player shouldn't be messing with them beforehand.

 

 

Pretty much any "[[Cosmetic Award|Achievements]]" list will give things away about the game to come; for example, the names of certain bosses, levels, etc. However, others may avert this and leave any story-related achievements hidden until they're achieved or only give them vague descriptions like "Defeat the [[Final Boss]]."

In games where characters' names (or lack thereof) are revealed in the dialog box or by selecting them, the player can learn people's names before the player's character does, [[Nominal Importance|and the player can use this to determine which characters will be important.]]

 

 

== General ==

 

 

* The ''Zelda'' series typically has inventory screens with each slot reserved for a specific item, and by the end of the game the player will have acquired most of them.

*** ''Ocarina'' also has an outline of the Triforce in the inventory screen. [[Urban Legend of Zelda|You can't get it.]]

* Again avoided in ''[[Kid Icarus: Uprising]]'' with Palutena's Treasure Hunt, styled in a similar way to the challenges in [[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]. The 120 individual challenges censor the names of potential spoilers until you've reached that point. (e.g. Defeat ??? using the ???) And then it goes one further: {{spoiler|It only features challenges related to the first 9 chapters, supposedly the entirety of the game, so it will seem to be near completion by the time you reach the "final boss". There's actually a second batch of challenges called Viridi's Treasure Hunt, which doesn't even appear until you meet her in the story. There's also a third set that won't appear until you've beaten the game, but there are no spoilers to hide at that point.}}

* You can tell the [[Disc One Final Dungeon]] of ''[[Okami]]'' just from the fact that you don't have all the brush techniques yet (and seriously, what kind of final dungeon has you making an appetizer for the boss?), but if that didn't tip you off, the fact that your equipment screen looks so empty is likely to.

* In general, going online in any fighting game before unlocking everyone and facing someone using a secret character.

* ''[[Soul Calibur]] IV'' was released for the [[Xbox 360]] and [[Play Station 3]], and, like SCII, each platform had it's own [[Guest Fighter]], this time from the [[Star Wars]] universe: Darth Vader for [[Play Station 3]] and Yoda for the Xbox (and [[The Force Unleashed|Starkiller]] for both). Many people figured that they would release the other system's character as DLC, but Namco didn't confirm nor deny. The suspense (if there was any) was ruined when the game had a single suspiciously empty square on the character select screen once everything was unlocked.

 

== First Person Shooter ==

 

* ''[[Half Life|Half-Life 2]]'' and its episodes show some of their story achievements but hide others - for instance, in Episode 2, "obtain the Muscle Car" is shown, but {{spoiler|"survive the White Forest Inn ambush"}} is hidden.

** As Delta and Eleanor head up the elevator right after the final battle, the achievement "Heading To The Surface" pops up on-screen. Players can immediately pause the game and read the achievement, which reads, "Head to the surface {{spoiler|on the side of Sinclair's escape pod}}", thus spoiling the surprise a few seconds later when {{spoiler|the explosives detonate}}.

* In ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', "Data leak on sub-level 9" (from the loading screen) hints towards the ending.

** ''[[Metroid|Zero Mission]]'' also flubs on a major spoiler point when {{spoiler|it states the certain power-ups are incompatible with your ''current'' suit.}} A simple one-word omission would have defeated an otherwise dead giveaway, though they could never have completely taken away from the fact that they wouldn't give you powerups that you could never use...

* The ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' arcade [[Rail Shooter]] game concludes with a battle against two T-Rexes while the player is riding on the back of a vehicle. When you beat the final T-Rex down to a third of his health, the creature flees and the vehicle continues driving towards the gate, leading people to assume the game is finished...but the T-Rex's health bar is still present on-screen, spoiling his eventual reappearance.

 

 

* Most ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' achievements are fairly spoileriffic, but the achievement for the Trial of the Crusader raid hides the name of the final boss, only showing it as "Complete the Trial of the Crusader". The final boss is {{spoiler|Anub'arak, after the Lich King breaks the floor of the Coliseum and makes you fall into the Nerubian tunnels below it}}.

** A simpler example would be one quest of Sven's Revenge, when you are given clues to a person's identity. The person, obviously, then shows up on your minimap as a quest complete icon.

*** This happens with a decent number of quests, where you're sent to find someone who has gone missing, and the quest objective will show "<character's> corpse found 0/1", showing that he's dead before you even find the corpse

 

== Platform Game ==

* The ''[[Ratchet and Clank|Ratchet & Clank]]'' games tend to do this too, if you look deeply enough into the menus. The Skill Point lists tell you which planet each is found on, effectively spoiling every level in the game and making it easy to see [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]] moments coming. A particularly egregious example from ''Up Your Arsenal'': It's pretty obvious a certain character isn't really dead when you know you'll later visit a place called {{spoiler|Qwark's Hideout.}} Another possible one from that game is "Crash Site." {{spoiler|Although ''what'' exactly crashed may not be immediately obvious.}}

** There's also arena challenges such as "Defeat all enemies using only the Rift Inducer", which appear long before said weapons are available.

* The challenge achievement for beating the game in both ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] 9'' and ''10'' say "Whomp Wily!", despite the plotlines of both leading you to believe otherwise.

** Throughout the franchise, the menu screens almost always have exactly enough room for every weapon and item in the game. When you get one Sub-Tank, for instance, you can see where the Sub-Tanks appear on the menu, how much more room there is, and therefore how many more Sub-Tanks are in the game (generally a total of four).

* ''[[Jumper (video game)|Jumper Two]]'''s unlockables menu blatantly spoils the existence of "secret" levels. Chances are that you will see said menu ''long'' before finishing the last sector (one requirement for secret stage 1. The other is getting total record time below certain threshold.)

* ''[[Psychonauts]]'' presents all the minds you can enter as doors. Already from the start, you can see how many minds you get to enter over the course of the game.

 

* In ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'', the new game menu appears to spoil the number of levels. {{spoiler|Then you find out that the entire second half of the game doesn't show up on said menu.}}

* Subverted in ''[[Professor Layton and the Unwound Future]]''. The mysteries panel gradually fills up with "SOLVED" markers as the game reaches a climax... only for {{spoiler|three of the mysteries to be re-solved, this time with "The Whole Story".}}

 

== Real Time Strategy ==

 

* In ''[[Brütal Legend]]'', entering the multiplayer menu plays a tutorial cutscene which spoils {{spoiler|Ophelia turning villainous.}}

** Less blatantly, there's the empty unit and solo slots.

 

== Role Playing Game ==

 

** Also, you'll find claws for Gabi on sale long before you even meet her. And equipment for Rufus is available in only one town (Although by then you've already met him, and he offered to join your party more than once), but unless you backtrack immediately after he joins {{spoiler|he gets killed by Gideon before you ever get the chance to shop for his equipment}}.

* ''[[Children of Mana]]'' has a similar situation: there are slots in your equipment screen for several weapons that you don't start with, and the gem inventory screen can rather taunt you with its emptiness.

* ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'': The game's subtitle ("Legend of the Seven Stars") is already a [[Spoiler Title|clue in and of itself]], but the Star Piece screen nonetheless displays seven specific slots, one for each piece you collect.

** A more blatant one comes when Baigan joins the party. That brings the party total to six, which is more than can even physically fit in the menu screen, so it's no surprise when he turns out to be lying.

** In the sequel ''The After Years'', checking the Hooded Man's equipment shows he uses his left hand to hold his sword, which is a huge hint on who he really is.

** Also, the battle menu, specifically the discrepancy between Terra and every other party member. At first, she can only use magic, and there's a gap where her special ability would be. Similarly, characters like Locke and Edgar have their special abilities, and a gap where the magic would be. Think people will eventually be able to cast spells, or that Terra will develop a secret power?

* In ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', Faris is [[Bifauxnen]]. You learn it early, but it's spoilered even earlier when you change jobs first: Faris uses female sprites (especially noticeable in the [[White Mage]] and [[Black Mage]] jobs)

* ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' has a fairly subtle one; four of your starting characters have two ATB slots and get a third when they become [[Touched by Vorlons|l'Cie]]. Vanille, however, already has three slots before this happens, because {{spoiler|she already was a l'Cie before supposedly getting transformed alongside the rest of them, a fact also hinted at by her relatively high starting stats compared to the normal humans.}}

** ''[[Persona 3]]'' does get around the "list expansion" business - there are no individual slots, just blank space. (Then again, in that game, your Persona headcount is set by your level, not the plot.)

** Also, in ''[[Persona 4]]'', you {{spoiler|are still at Level 9 for the Fool social link when you get to a point which pretends to be the ending, giving away that it's a Bad Ending and there's still more plot to go. The link doesn't reach level 10 until you've found the path to the real ending. Plus, you haven't even unlocked the Judgement link until then, and it won't max out until you've beaten the "Final Boss".}}

* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' has a major one during a flashback, if you're paying attention: When Frog is recalling Cyrus' demise at the hands of Magus, Ozzie's dialogue is prefixed with OZZIE's name in all-caps, as you'd expect of an NPC, but Magus' dialogue is prefixed with a very PC-looking 'Magus'. Hmm... The DS version rectifies the problem.

** The worst offender is the DS version's "Dojo", which shows Magus in tech ''screenshots'' and it shows his two techs. ''Before'' you get him. The Item Encyclopaedia also shows weapons, which includes a portion of the list with scythes. Now who do we know that uses that type of weapon?

* In ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'', you can tell if a companion will join your group permanently because their character and inventory screens have an approval bar, while those of temporary followers do not. Temporary followers also don't gain any experience.

** They try to avert this in ''[[Expansion Pack|Awakening]]''. {{spoiler|Mhairi}} will never survive {{spoiler|her Joining}}, but will acquire experience and gain/lose approval in the brief time she's with you. But it's revealed anyway: if you check the character info screen, you'll notice her contribution to party damage stays at 0% no matter how much damage she's done to enemies.

* ''[[The World Ends With You]]'''s save stats {{spoiler|shows your current partner. Towards the beginning of the game this will spoil that you get more than one party member.}}

* In ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'', the records screen shows the names of all your party members, including a guest, right from the beginning.

** In Baticul, one of the citizens mentions that Princess Natalia is a master of the bow. The store in Baticul sells bows. None of your other party members can equip bows.

** The [[Disgaea]] character creation/reincarnation screen also "spoils" the existence of class tiers once you start unlocking them, though the levels needed for each tier to unlock varies with each class, and there are certain classes that don't unlock unless you meet special requirements. Ditto [[Makai Kingdom]].

** In [[Phantom Brave]], however, character creation occurs on a [[Ring Menu]] where new choices expand the ring.

* In ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', the first time the player meets a future member of the party, an entry about him/her appears in the journal (in a specific "Party members" section). It is a kind of spoiler, because some of them join the player's party late after the first meeting.

* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' you finally reach what seems to be the end of your quest in {{spoiler|The Tower of Salvation}}. Then {{spoiler|Remiel tells you the only reason Colette was brought there was to die and become the new body for Martel. Colette then proceeds to complete the transformation into a lifeless being}}. This would be an emotional scene if not for the fact that {{spoiler|right after Colette completes the transformation and is supposedly dead you get a message that says "Colette Learned Judgement!"}}.

** Also, since the developers didn't bother/weren't able to make it possible to change the names of NPCs on-the-fly and weren't willing to outright lie to the player, you can tell that someone's going to try and deceive you about their identity if the overhead label that appears when you mouse over them says something vague, like "Man", instead of their actual name.

** The identity of the main enemy of act one, the Githyanki, is revealed to the player by the interface almost immediately, but it takes most of the act for the characters to learn

** When you go into the Collector ship and find out the truth about them, the dialogue wheel, as usual, pops up before [[The Reveal]] has actually been said, and one of the dialogue options reads {{spoiler|"The Collectors are Protheans!"}}

** If you go and customize your armor after the first mission (post-resurrection), you're allowed to pick what clothes you wear on the ''Normandy'', which at this point is totally illogical given that the ship was destroyed in the tutorial level. Thus, the appearance of the second ''Normandy'' is somewhat less surprising.

* The "fill-in-the-blanks" party menu also appears in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' and ''[[Jade Empire]]''. Basically, [[BioWare]] is '''very''' fond of this.

** In ''[[Jade Empire]]'', Wild Flower has ''two'' portraits, one for each spirit possessing her. When Ya Zhen (the evil spirit) reveals that he may aid you in return for your support, it comes as little surprise.

* ''[[Suikoden I]]'' has a somewhat subtle one in that Sanchez, who you go to to change your team, is not listed on the Tablet of Stars, which reveals which of the 108 Stars of Destiny you've recruited. {{spoiler|It's because he's not on your side; he's [[The Mole]].}}

* ''[[Suikoden V]]'' avoids this by taking a while before it gives you the Tablet of Stars. {{spoiler|In doing so, it hides that one of your allies, Sialeeds, is set to betray you.}}

* About halfway through Chapter 3 of ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', rumors begin appearing in bars stating Marquis Elmdor recently died in battle. But his biography still has his age listed, and it's only removed from anyone who dies, which means? {{spoiler|Easy to miss, but he ''was'' undead the next time you saw him.}}

** Avoided with the class system though. The available classes are in a circle that expands as you unlock more (unlocking classes is done by getting class levels in other classes, per character), so you never know which classes you haven't unlocked yet, or which specific classes you need to level up in for the next class.

 

== Visual Novel ==

* [[Batman: Arkham City]] has deliberately cryptic and vague trophy descriptions to avoid spoiling the plot. {{spoiler|Defeat Grundy}}? "Stop the unstoppable - '''Wrecking Ball'''". {{spoiler|Defeat Ra's al Ghul}}? "We are legion - '''Sandstorm'''". '' {{spoiler|Defeat the [[Final Boss]]}}?'' "All the world is a stage - '''Exit Stage Right'''".

* When the protagonist of the first ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' expansion ''[[The Lost and Damned]]'' was revealed to be Johnny Klebitz, players noticed that completing a mission featuring him and Niko unlocked the "Impossible Trinity" achievement, a blatant hint that the protagonist for the ''second'' expansion also appeared in said mission. They quickly came to the conclusion that it had to be Luis Lopez, since he was the only character in that mission whose fate was ambiguous. Much later, Luis was confirmed to be the protagonist of ''[[The Ballad of Gay Tony]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Spoilered Rotten]]

[[Category:Video Game Interface Elements]]