10 Irritating Video Game Tropes That Refuse To Die

10. Amnesiac Protagonists

Of all the nasty afflictions we humans are susceptible to, amnesia's a relatively rare one, but in video games, it's an epidemic plaguing a very specific demographic.

Is it genetic? A hereditary trait? Perhaps a result of one too many benders after a hard day's work kicking ass? No, those three backstories - which took 10 seconds to conjure up - would actually give our forgetful heroes somewhat of an excuse for misremembering literally everything about their lives (except the name, that's conveniently always spared) and that's no good. What room would that leave for scriptwriters to take the lazy route to storytelling?

After all, why bother wasting fresh ink coming up with meaningful exposition and world-building prologues when the best way to bond a player with its vessel is via making them both as clueless as each other.

On the upside - were it not for the yawn-inducing premise, Ken Levine wouldn't have been able to blow our puny minds with BioShock's tongue-in-cheek jab at the trope.

Now, would all amnesiacs kindly vacate the writer's room? Thanks.