Biggest/Favourite Twists in games?

Timmyctc

Me, I love a good Mindfu*k
Whats your favourite twist in gaming history; be it the shocker when it was revealed that the Princess was in another Castle in Mario or something much more mundane. (Also there may be a Spoiler or two below)

While it wasn't massive I'd say my favourite twist of sorts would be in Spec Ops: The Line

Okay I'm downplaying the twist for those who haven't had the honor of playing it yet but Imo that ending was like *head explodes* Probably the most enjoyable narrative in a game I have ever played though. The multiple choice endings were excellent and the choices you're given of "killing Konrad", letting him "kill" you or killing yourself was so well done. The game wasn't afraid of depicting war as barbaric which is avoided too often in gaming imo.

CoD MW2 When Sheppard Betrays Ghost is pretty shocking too. I Never thought I could have had an emotional attachment to a CoD character till that fateful day

Anyone have any favourites?

Kirby

"Would you kindly?"

Perhaps not my favourite but it's the one that always pops into my head when I hear people talk about twists.

Kiith

The big one in Knights of the Old Republic was good. Definitely didn't see that coming when i played it originally.

marshbaboon

The darkness. You know the scene I'm talking about...

First time I'd shed a tear over a videogame since Aeris.

Mr E

The Shodan revelation in System Shock 2. Very well set up and executed.

Gokei

Wesker, the bastard

gimli2112

FFVII Aeris wtf??? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mitch Connor

gimli2112 wrote: »

FFVII Aeris wtf??? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

that isn't a twist.

Penn

"Snake, you've been talking to..."
"Me... dear brother"

Metal Gear Solid 1. Probably the first game I ever played where I realised the story was important in games.

Kirby

Mitch Connor wrote: »

that isn't a twist.

Of course it was.

Killing a main character like that might happen more nowadays, but storytelling in gaming was in it's infancy back then and it was fairly shocking. You expect the characters that you play as and control to stay alive for the whole game. That's just how things worked back then.

Mitch Connor

Kirby wrote: »

Of course it was.

Killing a main character like that might happen more nowadays, but storytelling in gaming was in it's infancy back then and it was fairly shocking. You expect the characters that you play as and control to stay alive for the whole game. That's just how things worked back then.

No.

A twist will make you think differently about the previous hours of gameplay.

Aeris dying was a shock, and a great story moment, but it is not a twist. It doesn't 'twist' the story.

Cloud being a clone and his memories being fake was a twist.

Timmyctc

While not massively a twist the RAT PATROL 01 thing in MGS4 being an anagram was pretty cool. That and who big mama actually was (It wasn't exactly hidden from the player for too long tbf still a twist nontheless) Two highlights in what was ultimately a somewhat let down of a story.

Mr Freeze

I thought the twist early on in Assassin's Creed 3 was great.

For those that have played it, were you expecting something awful to happen to Connors father making him become an assassin, but then Haytham turns out to be a Templar and one of the main bad guys of the game, did not see that coming. Good move, making us like him, then twist, he is the bad guy

Randall Floyd

Silent Hill 2, what James did.

krudler

"Would you kindly" for me too, that was excellent.

Zero-Cool

Randall Floyd wrote: »

Silent Hill 2, what James did.

Yes....Yes this wins. Still think about that mindf*ck of an ending every now and then.

Sephiroth_dude

Metal gear solid

when you find liquid is master miller in the first metal gear solid

my poor stomach did somersaults!

Retr0gamer

Kirby wrote: »

Of course it was.

Killing a main character like that might happen more nowadays, but storytelling in gaming was in it's infancy back then and it was fairly shocking. You expect the characters that you play as and control to stay alive for the whole game. That's just how things worked back then.

It was actually very derivative at release... if you lived in Japan. That moment in FFVII was a reaction to the phantasy star series and Dragon Quest which pulled off similar twists, and did them a whole lot better might I add. FFVII was playing catch up.

Phantasy Star was never popular here and the west didn't see a Dragon Quest game after 4 until 8 on the PS2 so for most westerners, myself included, it was quite a shock.

Timmyctc

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

when you find liquid is master miller in the first metal gear solid

my poor stomach did somersaults!

:pac: whats the sense in spoilering the post without mentioning which game its a spoiler for. I read that with total fear it would spoil a game I've yet to play :P
I was so young when I played that but I still had a mindplosion moment :P

Sephiroth_dude

Timmyctc wrote: »

:pac: whats the sense in spoilering the post without mentioning which game its a spoiler for. I read that with total fear it would spoil a game I've yet to play :P
I was so young when I played that but I still had a mindplosion moment :P

forgot to put it in

Timmyctc

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

forgot to put it in

Don't worry. I still love you brochacho

Retr0gamer

Etrian Odyssey:

The labyrinth was a post apocalyptic Tokyo!

Deadly Premonition:

Just the whole end of the game when all the bizarre craziness actually starts making sense.

Nier: The way new game + completely changes your view of the story.

You were pretty much destroying humanities last hope of survival and committing genocide.

Xenoblade Chronicles: The ending was just superb.

The whole revelation about how the world was created was brilliant.

richymcdermott

Metal gear solid 1 and 2

: fight with pyscho mantis was a complete mind**** with his mind powers changing your channel and rumbling your controller and everything about mgs 2 how its basically a lead to confuse and anger raiden and the player into believing you are saving the president from terriorits but in truth in was just a snake simulator mission and kojima trolling you.

Silent hill 2:

what james did

Braid:

you are thinking you were saving the princess but in truth you were the monster

Pac1Man

Kirby wrote: »

"Would you kindly?"

Perhaps not my favourite but it's the one that always pops into my head when I hear people talk about twists.

I'm still peeved that this twist was revealed to me about 2 hours before actually experiencing it myself so sadly I can't really call it a twist. I've only myself to blame though having only played the game for the first time this year.:o

SeantheMan

Metal Gear 2 :

Who is this Blonde guy ? Why am I not Snake ?!

Recently Far Cry 3 :

Kill your friends = sex with hot lady...good times !!...then she kills me...wtf !!...didn't see that coming

Kirby

SeantheMan wrote: »

Recently Far Cry 3 :

Kill your friends = sex with hot lady...good times !!...then she kills me...wtf !!...didn't see that coming

To be fair everything you knew about her and the islanders led me to believe that's exactly what would happen. I think most people were dubious and wary at the point. If that came as a surprise than I'm not sure you were paying attention throughout the game. They were f*cking crazy. :P

tok9

Most of my past favourites have already been mentioned but from this year I would say the whole last 15 - 20 mins of Bioshock Infinite. My mind was blown after that.

“There’s always a lighthouse. There’s always a man. There’s always a city”

Edit: Just thought of another two. Virtue's Last Reward is full of twists.. far too many to go through and yet still has a story that works

And Shadow of the Colossus where you slowly begin to realise

You are the bad guy

and it reveals

It's link to Ico

ProjectColossus

Perhaps less of a twist and more of a plot development, but the part in Beyond Good and Evil where

the lighthouse sanctuary is attacked/destroyed and all the orphans are kidnapped

was quite a surprise, and very well executed. The game had more traditional plot twists - double agents, secret identities and the like, but the spoilered part had proper emotional impact and was a major highlight in a great game.

SeantheMan

Kirby wrote: »

To be fair everything you knew about her and the islanders led me to believe that's exactly what would happen. I think most people were dubious and wary at the point. If that came as a surprise than I'm not sure you were paying attention throughout the game. They were f*cking crazy. :P

But I loved her....

Not The Real Scarecrow

The bit in Pacman where

he eats the differently colored dot and eats a ghost.

Totally changed my whole perception of reality:pac:

GarIT

Pong, where you are having a nice casual relaxing game and suddenly s*** gets real fast.

Grimebox

richymcdermott wrote: »

Braid:

you are thinking you were saving the princess but in truth you were the monster

I love that game. I have no idea what its about though.

Retr0gamer

Grimebox wrote: »

I love that game. I have no idea what its about though.

The Manhattan Project apparently.

I'm not making it up and I'm also just as confused.

Grimebox

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The Manhattan Project apparently.

I'm not making it up and I'm also just as confused.

I read that explanation too. Still don't get it

CiDeRmAn

That bit, about half way through TloU, and something horrible happens to a character you have grown attached to.
And the worst thing is its prefaced, innocently with a conversation that sounds so innocuous beforehand, but a mere minute later becomes one of the saddest things I have ever come across in any media, a thing that will probably stay with me a long time.
Bring a tear to a glass eye.

Timmyctc

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

That bit, about half way through TloU, and something horrible happens to a character you have grown attached to.
And the worst thing is its prefaced, innocently with a conversation that sounds so innocuous beforehand, but a mere minute later becomes one of the saddest things I have ever come across in any media, a thing that will probably stay with me a long time.
Bring a tear to a glass eye.

Its so weird I was gonna post about TLOU in this as I'm playing through it again but I was gonna mention

the ending. Was full on sure that we were letting Ellie go for a stage. Is it Tess you are on about?

CiDeRmAn

No, the part of game that knocked me for six, was when

Sam having the chat with Ellie, about what happens to peoples souls when they are bitten, are they still in there or are they just gone, and she replies that, underneath it all, she thinks they are just gone, and with that she leaves Sam, who then, alone, examines a bite from an infected on his leg, then we see the next morning and the sight of Ellie finding Sam turned and what ensues from that moment. The horrible thing wasn't Sams execution at the hands of his older brother, and Henry's subsequent suicide, but the way the conversation the previous night took on a whole more desperate tone, a child looking to know if his soul would live on somehow, or would it be trapped inside a monster or be just gone, and getting no comfort from another child who had no idea, then Sam spending his last night as himself alone

, it still makes me shiver and marks the point in the game, for me, when it went from being another survival horror, Resident Evil/Uncharted mashup to being something far more grown up, a game that asks a lot more of the audience than a tolerance for gore and jump scares.

Also, the scenes with Ellie as the explorer in the snow were amazing, I could have played an entire game like that, reminded me of the film Hanna.

sarumite

While not the greatest twist, I didn't see the end of dead space coming.