Ability Required to Proceed: Difference between revisions

 

Sometimes, the item, ability, or skill isn't needed again. But in other cases, it becomes a key part of the main character's inventory, and gets used all the time. When this happens, the rest of the game effectively has an '''Ability Required to Proceed''' sign attached to it. (For example, you can't get to the other island without a ship, so any plot event that happens on the other island can ''assume'' you have a ship. Thus, the game developers suddenly start throwing quests at you that require you to hop back and forth between islands like a bored tourist, and continue to do so for the rest of the game.) In extreme cases, the entire game dynamic may change after you obtain this one critical item or ability, because you are now well-equipped/powerful enough to handle challenges that would have been insurmountable before.

 

'''Ability Required to Proceed''' is a subtrope of [[Broken Bridge]]. While Broken Bridges railroad you to the plot by requiring that you complete certain tasks before new areas open up, this trope is about railroading you to the plot by requiring that you have the necessary skills and abilities to move forward and open up new areas. This trope is a staple of the [[Metroidvania]] genre of video games, though it shows up in other genres as well.