Current Events > What video games have characters reference game mechanics?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like, the character breaks the fourth wall without really being aware of it.

Like in Tales of Symphonia when the mole summon things criticizes you for having to fight 4v1.

Oh that one NPC in Final Fantasy 8 who commends your group for walking in single file line.

Stuff like that.

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Seems like a very Paper Mario thing.

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Splinter Cell;
Fisher: Don't tell me: Three alarms and the mission is over?
Lambert: Of course not. This is no video-game, Fisher.


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Nacen posted...

In KOTOR, there's a character (Trask something) in the game's intro/tutorial who does this a lot, at one point literally saying "You have to use me to unlock the door" and stuff like that.

I feel thats blatantly breaking the fourth wall though. Unless he isnt aware and I just dont get the context.

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Oh, stuff like that.

In Super Mario RPG, one of the toads comments "Hey Mario, what's with the silent treatment?"

Shepard in ME2 comments on the new versions of the weapons, "you might as well go back to having ammo."

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Any tutorial that explains how to fight by actually specifying a button.

Bob: how can I hit an enemy in the air?
Martha: you can swap weapons with the triangle button. Swap to a bow and hit an enemy now.
Tutorial: hit the flying enemy

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DevsBro posted...

In Super Mario RPG, one of the toads comments "Hey Mario, what's with the silent treatment?"

Ohhh, that is neat lol!

Though I think mentions of literal buttons is too blatant. A lot of MGS has blatant references in that way. But its odd in that everyone pretends its normal.


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Bioshock spoilers

A man chooses. A slave obeys. Would you kindly?

The twist works because of it's a commentary on video game design.

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So spec ops the line starts the game with a flash forward sequence, like Uncharted 2. When you finally get back to the part again later in the story Walker is like "shit not again!" And Lugo is like "what do you mean again?" And Walker's like "haven't we done this already?"

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GTA Online constantly notes that you don't talk and how weird that is.
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Mr Resetti from Animal Crossing.

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In Mafia II, you're an unkillable superman. When you get shot, you just take some cover and you heal back up. Lots of gunfights so it's pretty standard gameplay. You only heal to like 80% health though and need to eat food to top off your health.

There's one part where a side character is shot, so you have to drive your friend Joe and the injured character. At one point in the ride, Joe says "This doctor will heal him right up, not like what you need. You're a fast healer; must be your diet!"

For some reason that just totally broke the immersion for me for the rest of the game.

Saw ToSymphonia and immediately thought about the time you revisit a tower with the function to skip ahead disabled for some reason. Lloyd comments on this and everyone is like wtf are you talking about lol

Bard's Tale

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Undertale.

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DuranOfForcena posted...

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/106230834951901810/4A4ECFF2309207BA83081DC22D33CF7EA216AAAA/

Wtf lol? What game is this?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DpkW7OUVjM

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Balthier explaining gambits to Vaan in FF12.

It's so weird having a character you're supposed to see as an actual person teaching another character to manipulate his AI.
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Sunset Overdrive.
I recall Saints Row the Third or 4 doing it as well.

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MGS series frequently has people on the comms tell you to "press the action button" to interact/use whatever item you have.

Also the torture scene of MGS1 was pretty blatant 4th wall breaking:
"press the circle button repeatedly to regain your strength, when you've had enough press the select button"

lol

MOTHER 3 has characters explaining things that confuse the main characters, and then says that the "being" watching over them would understand.

Late in Saints Row 4, after you lose all your weapons, if you open your weapons screen, the Boss will comment on the sad state of the weapons screen (actually calling it that).

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SpaceBear_ posted...

Mr Resetti from Animal Crossing.

PMarth2002 posted...

Undertale.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



cuttin_in_farm posted...

Like, the character breaks the fourth wall without really being aware of it.

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Do the kids in Link's Awakening count?

They say things like "Use the Start button to open the menu. But what does that mean? I'm just a kid!"

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Conker's Bad Fur Day

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cuttin_in_farm posted...

Though I think mentions of literal buttons is too blatant.

Musourenka posted...

Do the kids in Link's Awakening count?

They say things like "Use the Start button to open the menu. But what does that mean? I'm just a kid!"

This is a nice subversion that I will allow lol.

Though tbh, a lot of theses examples make me think yall dont get what I mean.

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I think the nonstandard game over in Hotel Dusk might count.

Normally, the game over involves Dunning kicking you out of the hotel, while the screen goes white as Kyle Hyde thinks to himself "I shouldn't have done that.... Damn..."

In the nonstandard game over, the part with Kyle mulling to himself happens (making you think you are getting kicked out), then Dunning interrupts "What the hell are you talking about? Let's have a drink!" And then you get a Game Over for spending the whole night drinking.

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Musourenka posted...

I think the nonstandard game over in Hotel Dusk might count.

Normally, the game over involves Dunning kicking you out of the hotel, while the screen goes white as Kyle Hyde thinks to himself "I shouldn't have done that.... Damn..."

In the nonstandard game over, the part with Kyle mulling to himself happens (making you think you are getting kicked out), then Dunning interrupts "What the hell are you talking about? Let's have a drink!" And then you get a Game Over for spending the whole night drinking.

I thought I saw every game over lol.

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DevsBro posted...

I thought I saw every game over lol.

https://youtu.be/5-NpERXxzeY

I thought you can trigger it at the diner, too, but I don't remember.

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I believe the Pokemon games do this a few times.

There's of course the blatant ones like the Game Freak developers talking about the game, so it doesn't count per TC's specifications.

A good example typically involves a character mentioning how you get a specific item or other reward for having played/beat a previous game in the series. A good example is in Pokemon Sword/Shield where a character gives you either an Eevee or Pikachu if you have a save file for Let's Go Eevee or Pikachu, but says it in a way where she doesn't quite understand what she's saying. I don't remember the exact words, but she says something like "you can only have this pokemon if you have a special bond with it from a previous adventure" or something like that.

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Does the training hall in ffvii count, where they teach you about limit breaks?

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seems like the stanley parable was made for this.

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Guide posted...

Seems like a very Paper Mario thing.

Meanwhile, in Mario RPG...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFQX2YsjjBk

Solid_Seb posted...

MGS series frequently has people on the comms tell you to "press the action button" to interact/use whatever item you have.

Also the torture scene of MGS1 was pretty blatant 4th wall breaking:
"press the circle button repeatedly to regain your strength, when you've had enough press the select button"

lol

I was fucking legit stuck for days on "check the back of the CD case"

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Final Fantasy 5.

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The-Apostle posted...

Sunset Overdrive.

"I didn't even have to check gamefaqs!" ~ actual voiced line from Sunset Overdrive protagonist

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Prollu already been mentioned, but I feel like the last 30 mins of mgs2 did this on quite a few occasions, what with the whole simulation thing n all.

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Shara Ishvalda at the end of Monster Hunter World Icebourne has large, spooky eyes that track the camera rather than the hunter. Shara Ishvalda is Buddhist ascension themed and can look through dimensions, knows it's in a video game, and looks directly at you, its slayer, rather than your in game avatar.

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Bubsy talks about how the game is a platformer

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Monster Hunter World does have a exchange near the end thats just

You gotta tell me why you came here to begin with!
.....
Ha, fine. Ill find out eventually.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

"I didn't even have to check gamefaqs!" ~ actual voiced line from Sunset Overdrive protagonist

Fucking love this game and it's a crime that there's no sequel.

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Conflict posted...

That's not referencing a video game mechanic

Yeah I realized that but I figured it was sorta in the spirit of the question in that Mario is mute because he is the player avatar.

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Frolex posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DpkW7OUVjM

MGS 3 has something like that too, in New Game+ you call Sigint with the Patriot equipped and he goes over the modifications, then gets to infinite ammo and "The feed lips are shaped like an infinity symbol" (somehow...) and Sigint's like "Yup, that'll give you infinite ammo" (somehow...)
There's also the Russian Glow Caps and how little sense it makes that they recharge your batteries. (the equipment ones, not metaphoric)
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