Plot Coupon That Does Something: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
m Mass update links |
m Mass update links |
||
Line 52:
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]: Outbreak'' series integrates [[The Virus]] into the gameplay for the first time in the series. All of the players are infected, and the infection (represented by a %) ticks up to force the players to keep moving, and increases very fast if they are grievously wounded.
* In ''[[Paper Mario (Video Game)|Paper Mario]]'', and ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]'', your Star Powers are tied directly to the [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]] - Star Spirits or Crystal Stars, respectively. When you collect a [[Plot Coupon]], you receive one additional unit in your Star Power meter, and learn a new ability.
** In ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'', collecting a Pure Heart doesn't give you any extra abilities in gameplay, it just opens a door to the world where you can find the next one. However, at the end, the whole set is needed to give the main characters the [[Eleventh
* ''[[Astro Boy]]: Omega Factor'' integrates its stage select system into the plot, in the form of time travel. {{spoiler|The majority of the game is spent going from stage to stage, fixing all the disasters which happened in the first playthrough.}}
* ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]'': The secret reports make EVERYTHING plot relevant (except the fashion bonuses and the food.) Neku's ability to use multiple pins? Plot relevant. Super charged fusion attacks? Plot relevant. The dual screen fighting system? PLOT RELEVANT.
Line 59:
** The same goes for the Bow of Light in ''[[Spirit Tracks]]''; it's significant to the plot in that it's crucial for removing Malladus from Zelda's body and is the entire reason Link goes to the Sand Temple, but it's also a very useful ranged weapon.
* [[Borderlands (Video Game)|Borderlands]] does this in part with the {{spoiler|Eridian Artifacts}} being both plot-critical concepts, and the most common way to bolster your Action Skills. {{spoiler|And include a bunch of rare/interesting weapons to boot.}}
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', some skills are [[Cast From Hit Points]], requiring a set percentage determined by your maximum HP. You can't use them if you don't have enough, of course. {{spoiler|The [[Eleventh
* In Flash-based MMO ''[[Gaia Online|zOMG!]]'', all of your powers come from special Rings. These Rings are the only things that can harm [[Everything Trying to Kill You|The Animated]]. They can be powered up by powerful emotions, can only be leveled in a special room, and can be made more powerful by [[Socialization Bonus|spending time with other people]]. ''ALL OF THIS BECOMES PLOT RELEVANT''.
* The Horadric Cube in ''[[Diablo]] II'' is needed to transmute several pieces of useless crap into a larger piece of useless crap just so you can get to the bosses of Acts II and III. However, you can continue to use it to transmute [[Vendor Trash]] into better items that are both more useful and more valuable. It also doubles as a mini-[[Bag of Holding]], taking up 2x2 space in inventory while having a 3x4 space for items.
* In ''[[The 7th Saga]]'', each of the 7 runes you're trying to collect has a special effect when used in combat; most boost one of your stats, and one heals you a modest amount. They can be used an infinite number of times and are crucial for making it through this [[Nintendo Hard]] game, {{spoiler|to the point that the game can become unwinnable about two-thirds of the way through when the plot takes them away from you and suddenly teleports you back in time and gives you much stronger enemies to deal with.}} It's not a kind game.
** On the bright side, {{spoiler|you get them back at the end... in order to [[Stable Time Loop|use them on the Big Bad in exactly the same way they were originally used to seal his powers in the first place.]] Turns out the Runes were the sealed powers of this game's version of Satan, and HE was the one who sent you to find them in the first place so that he could have his powers back. So the powers you've been using to keep yourself alive [[Fridge Horror|were the residual strength of the embodiment of evil.]] Kind of disturbing, isn't it?}}
* The most obvious example from ''[[Billy vs. SNAKEMAN]]'' is the Witching Hour, which centers around your ability to [[New Game
* Eight magical orbs in [[Silver]]. Ultimately used to destroy the ''[[Big Bad]]'''s source of power but also work wonders (literal and very harmful wonders) on the ordinary enemies.
* Many quests in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' involve bringing items back to a questgiver NPC who asked you for them, whether to prove you killed the target or because it's something valuable to the NPC. Probably more than 90 percent of these are nothing but [[Plot Coupons]]; they can only be picked up if you have the quest and they can't be used for anything or even sold to a vendor. However, a few here and there can be [[Plot Coupon That Does Something|used as equippable items before returning them to the questgiver]], or even instead of returning them if you want the item more than whatever the quest reward is. They are generally below-average quality for their level because they aren't intended to be kept, but some have unique abilities or effects that fit the storyline of the quest and are hard to get anywhere else.
Line 90:
* With each of the Seven Needles that Lucas pulls in ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'', his PK Love attack gets upgraded, as the result of the magic from {{spoiler|the Dark Dragon that sleeps beneath the earth}} awakening the ability within him. It is possible that the same thing is happening with [[Enigmatic Minion|the Masked Man]], as he reaches three of the Needles no matter what you do, and can use all levels of PK Love.
* The path to [[ADOM]]'s ending involves collecting all the [[Artifact of Doom|Orbs Of Chaos]] and inserting them into a keyhole on the final boss's front door. You can actually ''equip'' these orbs for stat boosts. Although [[Evil Is Not a Toy|it's not a good idea]] to use their special powers.
* Played with in [[Planescape Torment]]. The player is forced to seek out a small, bronze sphere to get information from a stubborn old man who collects cadavers. The item seems completely useless, and yet the servants of the opposition are seen immediately killing the old man. The player doesn't need to get the [[MacGuffin]] at all, not even to get the [[Golden Ending]], but if he goes back for it, it lets him talk the Big Bad to death and makes achieving the [[Golden Ending]] even easier. {{spoiler|The protagonist is immortal but forgets himself; he gave the [[MacGuffin]] to the old man in one of his past incarnations, claiming it granted immortality, so that the old man would keep it safe when the protagonist's corpse turned up. Sure enough, the current incarnation of the protagonist doesn't know that, and the sphere contains the protagonist's memories of his name. And 2M experience points.}} So it seems to be a [[Plot Coupon]] which anchors a [[Batman Gambit]], only to turn out to bestow [[Eleventh
* In [[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim]], you are the [[I Am Who?|Dragonborn]]. What does this mean in terms of gameplay? You can [[Your Soul Is Mine|eat the souls of the dragons you slay]] and [[Instant Expert|instantly understand the words of the]] [[Make Me Wanna Shout|Thu'um]] you may have picked up on your travels; a process that takes normal people not given such divinely gifted powers years to achieve.
* In ''[[Prince of Persia]]: The Forgotten Sands'', the experience points system is explained as the Prince drawing the souls of defeated sand monsters into his amulet. This becomes a plot point when it is revealed that the Prince's brother also has the same ability, and is being driven mad by the amount of levelling he has done.
Line 98:
[[Category:Video Game Items and Inventory]]
[[Category:Plot Coupon That Does Something]]
|