Twists are a large a part of any supply of fiction, and video video games are not any exception. Whereas some are telegraphed hours upfront, others sit with you, and make you concentrate on the sport far after it has been accomplished.
These twists can happen at any time and in any style of sport and sometimes reshape your complete sport narrative. The masters of the twist cement their video games in historical past whatever the precise sport high quality, so it is necessary that when a sport goes for the twist, it nails it.
With that in thoughts, let’s take a look at a few of gaming historical past’s most memorable and surprising twists.
Spoilers: Whereas apparent, it nonetheless warrants mentioning. I can be spoiling and revealing main plot factors in iconic video video games. So, if you do not need these ruined for you, now’s the time to go!
10
Spec Ops: The Line
The Reality Revealed
Spec Ops: The Line has some of the surprising twists in any sport. On the floor, it is your typical conflict sport, with the primary character killing hundreds of enemy troopers on a mission to liberate a international land. Besides in Spec Ops: The Line, one thing is off. The troopers you are killing are supposedly in your facet however have defected.
To make issues weirder, all through the journey, because the horrors you commit worsen and worse, your group begins to doubt when you’re the heroic chief you appear to be.
Drawn by the voice of the PTSD-ridden Col. Konrad, you might be pushed additional and additional into the center of the town, and while you lastly confront him, he is lifeless.
Not solely that, however he is been lifeless for a very long time. The voice you had been listening to was your personal. You had been by no means liberating anybody; you had been the enemy.
These troopers you killed weren’t rebels; they had been making an attempt to cease you. It is a horrifying and good realization that raises an in any other case common sport into one thing of a masterpiece.
9
Nier
The Lengths We’re Keen to Go
At first of the sport, Nier places you within the footwear of Nier, a father who’s making an attempt to assist his sick daughter and, within the course of, will get caught up with preventing off monsters referred to as Shades.
Then, you seemingly make it by way of that impossible-looking ordeal and seem in a land far completely different from the one you began the sport in.
All through the sport, you might be confronted by the chief of the Shades, The Shadowlord and the Shades all converse in indecipherable methods while you encounter them.
You, after all, haven’t any alternative however to struggle them. The massive twist comes on the finish of the sport while you discover out that The Shadowlord is the Nier you had been enjoying as originally of the sport.
It seems he and all the opposite people underwent a strategy of eradicating their souls to outlive and creating copies of themselves to reunite with sooner or later to outlive the virus.
It is a gorgeous realization, and subsequent playthroughs allow you to hear every boss speak, and also you lastly get to see that perhaps there have been no good guys or unhealthy guys within the story in spite of everything. It is one other twist that elevates an in any other case first rate sport.
8
God of Conflict
Your Son Is not Who You Suppose
God of Conflict was a improbable revival of an outdated sequence that introduced a mature and measured feeling to an over-the-top motion franchise.
The sport is easy sufficient, as you and your son journey to the very best level within the land to unfold your spouse’s ashes, however on the finish of the sport, a twist hits out of full nowhere.
You discover out that your son, Atreus, has one other title from the Large’s language. It interprets to Loki. The speedy scene raises chills in your physique, because the boy you fought to guard all sport is destined for one thing horrible due to that title.
Now, there are many arguments that the sequel utterly dropped the ball with this plot level (they did), however on the time, it was a large twist that reshaped your complete journey and made the considered the sequence’ future a really murky one certainly.
It Was Liquid All Alongside
Metallic Gear Strong was a groundbreaking sport in some ways, however the story is the factor that can at all times be remembered. The massive twist within the sport takes place close to the top of the sport. All through the mission, you are periodically given recommendation by a group of individuals, one in every of whom being Grasp Miller.
He is there to assist in a number of cases and looks like he is utterly in your facet. Then, the second hits. He takes off his sun shades, and lets his hair down, and it is none apart from Liquid Snake, your nemesis and important villain of the sport, who’s revealed to have killed Miller and has been guiding Strong Snake alongside a rigorously ready path simply as he deliberate.
It is one of many first “AHA” moments in gaming for a lot of and although the sequels went for related huge twists, none hit fairly nearly as good as that first one.
6
Horizon Zero Daybreak
The Previous is Actual
Horizon Zero Daybreak is among the PS4’s finest video games and whereas the gameplay is improbable, the large twist within the story is what makes it the long-lasting second in gaming historical past that it represents at present.
You play as Aloy, a girl warrior of a tribe seemingly caught prior to now. Besides, one thing is amiss, as robotic dinosaurs are roaming the world and, from that time on, the large query is how did issues get this fashion?
The revelation comes later within the sport the place you uncover that the world has basically ended attributable to an AI-powered navy invasion and the world was remade by way of know-how and Alloy is definitely a reincarnated model of the scientist who created that know-how.
It overshadows the primary story of the sport and is so intricate and engaging in its execution that you simply simply have to face up and applaud the writers.
It is a genius twist and the remainder of the sport helps each piece of the lore. The sequel was nice too, however it did not hit this identical excessive and that is because of the unbelievable twist.
5
Last Fantasy VII
Cloud Is not Who You Suppose He Is
Last Fantasy VII has its justifiable share of twists, however the greatest one comes with the invention of Cloud’s true identification. He’s propped as much as be this elite warrior the entire sport, a former a part of SOLDIER, First Class.
You consider it too, and Cloud’s badass persona sells it nicely. Within the latter half of the sport, although, you make the invention. Cloud is a lie.
He’s not a former member of SOLDIER, First Class. He was a lowly peon, and the precise individual he was portraying was Zack Truthful.
It was his sword, his garments, his all the things that Cloud, who was brainwashed with Mako on the time, satisfied himself he was.
Zack died and Cloud assumed his identification. From that second on, the facade falls, Cloud adjustments as a personality and discovers who he actually is earlier than the ultimate showdown to finish the sport.
Again in 1997, this was an enormous revelation and nonetheless stands as among the finest twists in JRPG historical past, and we won’t wait to see what they do with this within the subsequent a part of the Last Fantasy VII Remake sequence.
4
The Final of Us 2
Say It Ain’t Joel
It is 2020. The actual world is experiencing its personal plague and The Final of Us 2 has simply been launched, marking practically 7 years for the reason that authentic got here out. You begin the sport as Joel, as anticipated, after which, not even an hour or so into the sport, it occurs.
Joel, after serving to a seemingly harmless lady in Abby, is brutally murdered in entrance of Ellie with a golf membership. It occurs that quick.
That nonchalant and the invention that it was her father who you killed (or did not kill relying on the participant) within the authentic Final of Us and she or he and her individuals had been out for revenge on Joel, destroying humanity’s final hope for survival.
Even when the ends justify the means, it is simply….woah. The primary character was killed immediately. It is a whirlwind for the participant and Ellie’s brutal screams watching it occur are simply heartbreaking. Polarizing? Sure. However as surprising of a twist as you may have in a sport.
3
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Solas…No
We’re throwing this in right here as a result of, in a couple of weeks, we will get our decision on this prop thread. In Dragon Age Inquisition: Trespasser DLC, we get the large revelation that Solas, in truth, is the Dreadwolf, an outdated Elven god who’s answerable for destroying the temple on the very starting of the sport.
Solas is just about one of the best pal of the Inquisitor for many gamers and is well essentially the most compelling character within the sport.
For him to change into the true villain all alongside was past surprising, because the breadcrumbs had been so nicely hidden that you simply’d want numerous YouTube movies to see all of them.
It is a terrific twist, as the sport lacked a real villain with Corypheus being just about a non-factor when it got here to an intimidating presence.
Solas has that after which some although, and from what we have seen in early gameplay footage of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it appears like we lastly get to unveil his true intentions and see if he actually is the enemy in spite of everything.
2
Star Wars: Knights of the Outdated Republic
The Darkish Lord is Revealed
Star Wars is a sequence identified for its numerous twists, however there may be none higher than the twist that takes place within the first hit Star Wars online game.
All through Star Wars: Knights of the Outdated Republic you might be pursuing Darth Malak, a Sith Lord, who was the apprentice of the mysterious Darth Revan.
With this thriller of who Revan is looming all through the sport, you hear increasingly concerning the atrocities he dedicated and the way he’s the last word evil, till the ultimate moments of the sport strike.
You confront Darth Malak and discover out Darth Revan is you and that Malak tried to usurp you earlier than the sport began.
Revan was injured throughout a battle, and rescued after which had his mind wiped by the Jedi council to be repurposed as a Jedi weapon.
For a lot of, it surpasses the “I’m your father” twist from the films. It is as surprising and as impactful on each stage, and it comes on the very finish of the sport in order that shock would not fade. It sits with you lengthy after the credit roll.
They pulled the last word twist off, made it make good sense, and made it serve the story completely within the course of.
1
Bioshock
Would You Kindly?
Probably the most good twists in gaming are ones that reframe your complete expertise. There are a lot of on this checklist. Nevertheless, there’s one that may by no means be topped.
In Bioshock, you’re a survivor of a airplane crash who has no alternative however to journey downward and discover the underwater dystopia that’s Rapture.
Alongside the way in which, you might be contacted by a person named Atlas, who’s a pleasant British fellow who helps you out each step of the way in which.
He has a behavior of claiming “Would you kindly?” earlier than each request. You assume nothing of it although, and observe by way of in your duties like a very good little gamer ought to.
It is not till the top of the sport that the reality is revealed. “Would you kindly” is a code phrase, and you have been manipulated your complete time, by Atlas who, in fact, is Frank Fontaine, the person making an attempt to deliver down Rapture’s founder Andrew Ryan and finally, the primary villain of the sport.
This easy however good twist reframes your complete sport within the participant’s thoughts. What had been you actually doing? Had been you only a puppet all together with no free will?
And it is not simply the gamer asking the character that, however they themselves. It is a genius breakdown of following instructions in video games and stands at present as essentially the most surprising and well-delivered twist in gaming historical past.
