Fair warning for those about to listen, there might be a spoiler or two for the first Hellblade at the beginning of this episode. Also, there’s vagueness around some possible spoiler stuff for Guardians Of The Galaxy as well – not the ending, mind you, but just a section of the game.

The reason I’m throwing out that warning is because we talk about some video game tropes. Two, specifically, and I don’t want to throw them out here because maybe you’re trying to avoid ANY kind of spoilers for either of those games. Having said that, however, it’s going to make it a little difficult to write about here, but I’ll try.

…10 minutes later…

Okay, so that’s pretty difficult. Anyway, sometimes tropes work. Sometimes building a mechanic that strays away from the usual gamer mentality (and I don’t mean that in a general sense but more in the habits of how we play and have played games) can be a good thing. We brought up examples from Eternal Darkness, X-Men on the Genesis, and Metal Gear Solid 2. There are elements of these games that play with the player. It’s really very creative.

One that isn’t creative, and this isn’t a spoiler for any game at all, is the one where you start the game completely upgraded and then at the end of the level it’s all taken away. You spend the rest of the game getting back to that point only to enjoy it for maybe not even a level before the game ends. I hate that trope. And underwater levels. And time trials.

There’s more to it, but you get the idea. I’m curious what video game trope annoys you the most. Or maybe there’s one you absolutely love. Let us know.

As long as we all agree to hate escort missions.

Another trope I can’t stand is when game companies NEVER do anything with good properties…Ubisoft, it’s been 3,126 days since the last Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, or VR exclusive).