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[User 479360]

So brutal legend but not ass

Was going to bring this up.

The RTS gameplay was shit, but the rest was pretty fun.

 

[nailbombxx]

Really? I don't recall a major shift in the game, and I finished it.

Its very gradual, culminating shift, but upon first appearance the early game is all about traditional gothic horror tropes like beast hunters, werewolves, witches, etc you have little reason to expect that the game eventually goes full on

Spoiler

cosmic horror: elder gods, eldritch abominations, the blurring of reality and dreams, etc.

Not a sudden change by any means, but what the game becomes is very different than its first impression.

 

[Two Words]

Its very gradual, culminating shift, but upon first appearance the early game is all about traditional gothic horror tropes like beast hunters, werewolves, witches, etc you have little reason to expect that the game eventually goes full on

Spoiler

cosmic horror: elder gods, eldritch abominations, the blurring of reality and dreams, etc.

Not a sudden change by any means, but what the game becomes is very different than its first impression.

I don't think that really qualifies though. Not all shifts are equal.

 

[Manu]

The Unfinished Swan did this, changing the puzzle mechanics from level to level.

 

[StaffyManasse]

A FPS from this gen kinda does this. Not 100% what OP wants, but still. game name:

Spoiler

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Spoiler

Starts with semi-stealth semi-realistic first person nazi killing, with emphasis on careful picking of officers and sometimes avoiding big enemies. Then, at the 2nd act it suddenly goes full occultic nazi zombie horde mode.

I believe it was kinda hinted at the marketing, but I somehow managed to keep it as a surprise. Was pretty cool.

 

[Two Words]

A FPS from this gen kinda does this. Not 100% what OP wants, but still. game name:

Spoiler

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Spoiler

Starts with semi-stealth semi-realistic first person nazi killing, with emphasis on careful picking of officers and sometimes avoiding big enemies. Then, at the 2nd act it suddenly goes full occultic nazi zombie horde mode.

I believe it was kinda hinted at the marketing, but I somehow managed to keep it as a surprise. Was pretty cool.

Imagine a new WWII FPS shooter franchise starting the first half as a super realistic shooter with a serious story, and halfway through it suddenly becomes about occult Nazi experiments on aliens and ancient mystical powers that plays at a Serious Sam pace.

 

[Ferrio]

F

Spoiler

rog

Spoiler

Fractions.

 

[StaffyManasse]

Imagine a new WWII FPS shooter franchise starting the first half as a super realistic shooter with a serious story, and halfway through it suddenly becomes about occult Nazi experiments on aliens and ancient mystical powers that plays at a Serious Sam pace.

Where can I preorder?

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Kind of feel like the Space Harrier segment of the final boss battle of Devil May Cry qualifies.

 

[Lys Skygge]

Another film example would be Sunshine. From simple scifi to

Spoiler

slasher film

. A lot of people didn't like it but I thought it was interesting.

I would love for a game to do something similar. Maybe go from basic fps to survival horror halfway through.

 

[Brakke]

Only examples I can think of -- Brutal Legend and Frog Fractions -- already called. Final Fantasy XIII very barely does this by introducing quests and changing the flow of the overworld when you go to Space Australia but I wouldn't go to bat for that as an example here.

 

[rauelius]

So like if the Panzer Dragoon Trilogy was one cohesive game, the switch up from shooter to RPG could have jarring, but I remember it being oddly natural given that universes aesthetics and how the turn-based mechanics ended up working out.

I guess another good option for a sudden change is StarFox Adventures on the Gamecube. It starts off as an on-rails shooter, then becomes a Zelda-style RPG, to only end up as an on-rails shooter again.

Also, would one consider AssCreed IV as a big switch? It starts off all typical AssCreed sneaky sneaky kill kill, but then ends up being a high-seas adventure.

Good thread!

 

[Come to Butt-Head]

Arkham Knight with the cop sequence?

 

[Two Words]

Arkham Knight with the cop sequence?

That would be a good example if the whole game became that instead of a small segment.

 

[The Last Wizard]

I'd like to play a game like this.

I've wanted to see a show pull something like this off for awhile now.

 

[ShadowOfTheIco]

Nier does this a little bit. The shift in game design between the different dungeons. And the story, somewhat.

 

[Mrjellybeanct]

SNES Pilotwings did this with the helicopter missions after the flight school. I was pretty blown away seeing that for the first time. Would love for more games to do this.

 

[striferser]

Crysis count right?

Spoiler

at first you figting north korean army, then suddenly, alien.

 

[Here For The Free Feed]

people dont play games long enough to get to halfway these days

 

[Bergerac]

Doesn't the average COD campaign do this about 12 times? LOL You go from blowing up a sub to 'Suppressors On!' to being a fighter pilot to a Ghillie Sniper to a Mountain Climber etc etc...

 

[Veal]

The NES game Paris-Dakar Rally Special does that. Driving, mild simulation, puzzle, side-scrolling platformer. It's just all done terribly. Arino challenged it on Game Center CX and the episode has been subbed. Worth a watch.

http://www.sa-gccx.com/episode/paris-dakar-rally-special

Such a great episode. I couldn't believe this game when I saw it. The music probably still haunts Arino haha

 

[Shaanyboi]

That's more of a further revelation of the story. The tone of the game is still the same. And the gameplay is still the same. I'm talking about a game turning into an entirely different genre of game.

I mean it's not like the Raiden reveal changes the genre

 

[20cent]

i wish a AAA developer had the balls to misrepresent their product like that

I don't think they or any other clickbait-journalist would keep the twist secret.

When I went to see From Dusk Til Down on day 1 with my parents (lol) I knew exactly what was the movie about, actually I was surprised by the first boring half as I didn't expect it to be that long.

 

[Kinsei]

Conker's Bad Fur Day does this. The game starts out as a platformer but the last third of it is a third person shooter.

I'm fine with it as long as the quality doesn't drop because of it.

 

[jdw_b]

I feel like i'm part of an extensive focus group with all these "How would you feel" and "How much would you pay for..." questions

On topic, as long as it didn't suddenly go shit then I don't care

 

[Messofanego]

Imagine a new WWII FPS shooter franchise starting the first half as a super realistic shooter with a serious story, and halfway through it suddenly becomes about occult Nazi experiments on aliens and ancient mystical powers that plays at a Serious Sam pace.

Do we get to go to the moon?

 

[mocoworm]

Brutal Legend

/thread

 

[hooijdonk17]

Evoland counts?

 

[autoduelist]

Uncharted.

Spoiler

supernatural out of nowhere

Tone shifts to some degree, though not as much as FDTD.

 

[abracadaver]

Part 1 is 3rd person action
Part 2 is a rail shooter
Part 3 is racing

 

[Omnistalgic]

Came in for the Salma Hayek Gifs...

'-)

 

[CloudWolf]

Conker's Bad Fur Day kinda does this. It starts off as an ordinary platformer, but halfway through it changes to a horror game and later a third person shooter.

 

[MikeDip]

Big yes! Love the Shift in FDTD. Damn what a good movie.

Bring it video games, I am ready and willing.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I think a comedy game would good for this without pissing people off. Maybe a game with entires portions developed/directed by different companies/people.

 

[Mman235]

As others have said I think the closest modern equivalent to this is Dragon's Dogma, such that it's hard to mention without spoiling everything. Technically the gameplay stays the same but the context it's used in is very different.

Spoiler

It goes from an epic high fantasy open world adventure with a light story to an apocalyptic dark fantasy dungeon crawler with a bunch of philosophical themes

 

[GOOCHY]

I just wanted to come in here to say that Salma Hayek was the hottest woman on the face of the earth at that time, in that movie.

 

[Acquiescence]

Fear Effect did this to me when it came out... sort of. From what I recall it was largely marketed as a sci-fi action game with some influence from John Woo. I knew it had fantastical elements and revolved around Chinese mythology, but I had no idea how much it would veer into gnarly, fucked up territory. The last environment in that game

Spoiler

(Hell)

scared the shit out of me on my first playthrough.

 

[Two Words]

I mean it's not like the Raiden reveal changes the genre

I didn't say it did. I used Raiden as an example of something that is not a good example of what I'm talking about.

 

[PSqueak]

So brutal legend but not ass

First thing that came to my mind.

Plotwise, Final Fantasy Tactics, although the game stays true to its genre all thru, the story shifts from "medieval political intrigue" to by the number "Stop ancient evil from destroying the world" near the end of the game.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

I've always wondered how well it would be received if we marketed a game as a lighthearted RPG and then it transformed into a horror game.

 

[Barry Burton]

The Darkness, maybe?

Spoiler

It's still an FPS all the way through, but the otherworld/WWI-era levels in the second half of the game are a sharp contrast from the modern NYC portion of the game, in terms of pacing, design, structure and tone. Not to mention that I wasn't expecting the game to shift like that going in.

 

[Meccanical]

I've always wondered how well it would be received if we marketed a game as a lighthearted RPG and then it transformed into a horror game.

I've always wanted a game that gradually shifted into a horror game while being advertised as something else.

 

[jackissocool]

I've always wanted a game that gradually shifted into a horror game while being advertised as something else.

Me too. Marketed as a space marine badass shooter but halfway through the game you get stripped of your weapons and armor and the true horrible threat reveals itself. Then it's a first person horror game where you can barely fight back.

 

[Violence Jack]

Technically, From Dusk Till Dawn wasn't even the first movie to do the whole 'hidden vampires in a strip club" plot twist. It was done 10 years earlier in a movie called Vamp. But FDTD is definitely the more popular occurrence of this happening.

Back on the subject, I always thought the Alice games were really close to pulling this off. However, Until Dawn did a masterful job.

 

[PSqueak]

I've always wondered how well it would be received if we marketed a game as a lighthearted RPG and then it transformed into a horror game.

Undertale's True Lab section was very well recieved, so i think there is room for something like this, pretty much would work the same but extended to half the game rather than one dungeon.

 

[TheBear]

Bloodborne with it's

Spoiler

shift to aliens.

Wait what??

 

[Bits N Pieces]

I've always wondered how well it would be received if we marketed a game as a lighthearted RPG and then it transformed into a horror game.

I would absolutely love that! But you've blown it now that I know you're going to do it

In all honesty though I think that's one of the things that still separates games from other mediums, the fact you even have to ask is all wrong. In a book or film it would just happen.



Please do that in your next game and don't tell anyone though, push those boundaries

 

[Stallion Dan]

Spoiler

Uncharted

did this, and I loved it.

Absolutely this. I went into that game blind even after release and it was great.

 

[j-wood]

I remember watching From Dusk Till Dawn the first time. Only went in knowing Tarentino and Clooney were in it.

When the switch happened, I was legit shocked and to date, it's still one of the only movies that has given me a complete WTF moment. I would love it a game did that.

I think MGS 2 came close with it's switch.

 

[theDeeDubs]

I would love it. Breakdown on Xbox was the first thing that came to mind. It's not the best example, but I remember a moment in it that felt like a drastic shift to me at the time.

Dark Sector also did it to an extent.