Playing the Player: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]''. The plot of the game is a [[Deconstruction]] of how [[Misaimed Fandom|some people]] played [[Metal Gear Solid|its prequel]] as [[I Just Want to Be Badass|a power fantasy]]. Oh, so you wish you were just like Solid Snake huh? {{spoiler|Well, [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] barely describes what this game does to the player. After hours of having the [[Audience Surrogate|player]] [[This Loser Is You|proxy]] Raiden [[Butt Monkey|humiliated, beaten up, and annoyed by his girlfriend]], the player eventually gets their [[Wish Fulfillment]]... during a segment of the game that takes place in wireframe with the specific purpose of reminding the player that they are playing a video game rather than actually kicking ass. And then, the game reveals that every event preceeding this was actually part of a mind-control experiment designed to turn Raiden/the player (its deliberately ambiguous) into Solid Snake; explaining why several areas and sequences within the game are copies of parts from the original game. Basically, the game shows you exactly what it would be like to be a deceived, manipulated, backstabbed and controlled [[Blood Knight]] [[Super Soldier]]. [[Captain Obvious|It would not be fun]].}}

** It gets better than that. {{spoiler|The ultimate goal of the villains is to demonstrate that they can control human thought and behaviour. Thus, they created a scenario very similar to that of the previous game in the series and placed Raiden in the middle of it, hoping to prove that by putting someone in the middle of an extreme situation and providing the appropriate context for his actions, they can make him do whatever he wants. Thus, for most of the game Raiden (and by extension the player) believes that he is a member of a FOX-HOUND sent in to resolve a crisis very similar to that of the first game, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary - they have only the villains' word that this is the case. Even after it's revealed that Raiden has been acting under the orders of the villains for the entirety of the game, he ''still'' goes along with their instructions - and so does the player. The fact that neither Raiden nor the player has any choice but to follow their instructions is one of the major points of the game.}}

** Doubly clever, since the player mindlessly {{spoiler|follows Atlas' orders}} under the assumption that they're the only way to progress in the game, as one does in nearly every video game. However, the game takes a usual video game [[Acceptable Break From Reality]] and then ''repapers'' the fourth wall to explain in-game why Jack is {{spoiler|doing everything this guy he barely knows and has never met orders him to do.}}

* ''[[Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'' has you playing as a man named Harry Mason as he searches for his lost daughter Cheryl. In a major plot twist, it's revealed to both Harry ''and'' the player that {{spoiler|Harry (or at least the one you play as) doesn't even exist, and he's only a delusion in Cheryl's mind. The real Harry died many years ago in a car accident.}}

* ''[[Last Scenario]]'' lies to the player in the opening [[Info Dump]], so as to make [[The Reveal]] all the more shocking.

* ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' reveals rather early on that there is a [[The Mole|mole]] in the player's party, but who they are is ambiguous. Potential candidates include [[Tall, Dark and Snarky|Volke]] and Nasir, based on the timing of the reveal, but when [[The Lancer|Soren]] confronts the latter over the possibility during a mid-game conversation, Nasir basically shrugs him off and implies that ''Soren'' is hiding something. It turns out to {{spoiler|have been Nasir all along}}, but the game does a ''really'' good job of making it ambiguous as to who the real one is: to the extent that you may not be using either of the playable units under suspicion until it all clears up for fear of them backstabbing you mid-chapter.

* Arguably the campaign of ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' could also count as an example. While the main protagonist, Mason, isn't silent or faceless, the player is still encouraged to identify with him, as almost all the missions take place from his POV. Throughout the game, you constantly see and interact with Reznov, one of the main characters from ''[[World At War]]'', as he encourages Mason to take out the three main villains at any cost. The player, who can only see what Mason observes, unless they are playing as Hudson, simply take Reznov's word for it, like Mason. However, there are subtle hints throughout the game that not all is as it appears, as no one else, minus the interrogater, {{spoiler|who is Hudson,}} even acknowledge Reznov's appearance. One even asks what is wrong with you. As it turns out in the big reveal, {{spoiler|Reznov was never by your side. He had instead hijacked a brainwashing attempt on you in order to take revenge on the three main villains, hence his constant quote, "Dragovich, Kravchenko, Steiner. All must die", whenever he appears, and why only you acknowledge his presence. Indeed [[But Thou Must!|you were just simply following his commands]], not unlike the protagonist from ''[[BioShock (series)]]'', when you thought you were in complete control.}} It's quite a [[Mind Screw]].

* Being of the mystery genre, it's no wonder the [[Ace Attorney]] series pulls this from time to time. The most shining example is the final case of the second game: apart from your assistant being kidnapped, its set up like a petty formulaic case, all the evidence points to your client, but they really don't look the type to commit murder. Meanwhile you have a witness who seems to know a lot more than she's letting on. There's a dark secret hidden behind everything, which could form a plausable motive for her. Pretty typical, you'd probably be thinking. {{spoiler|Except your client really IS guilty this time, and not only that, he's one hell of a [[Complete Monster]]. You confront him in prison and he taunts you by casually revealing everything, but also saying you'll never get him because he had your friend taken hostage. He's so succesful at being a [[Magnificant Bastard]] that not only Phoenix, but also the PLAYER feels like he played them. Meanwhile, that witness I mentioned? Completley and utterly innocent. Not only that, but she has some pretty crippling co-dependancy issues, making her all the more of a Woobie. But you've done such a convincing job of revealing her frame-up, (basically, the thing you've been doing for the last game-and-a-half) you've utterly convinced the court that ''she's the prime suspect''! And you have to keep it up, otherwise your friend will be killed. To further drive the point home, late in the case, Phoenix is given a choice of whether to plea guilty or innocent for his client. He is interrupted by a [[Big Damn Heroes]] either way, so the choice doesn't impact the plot at all. So, basically, the [[Sadistic Choice]] is posed to the ''player'': would you rather have a [[Complete Monster]] go free and an innocent woman convicted, but save your friend, or would you see justice is served but effectively condemn said friend to death? Needless to say, the entire case is one big [[Heroic BSOD]] for Phoenix, even though it ends well.}}

[[Category:Examples Need Sorting]]

[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]