10 Tired Video Game Plots Everyone Is Sick Of Seeing
7. The Noble With Amnesia
If youve just stumbled into a peasant village after weeks of wandering in a fantasy wilderness, or youre a kind-hearted mercenary with a mysterious locket and a strange birthmark, theres good news and theres bad news. The bad news and theres no easy way to say this is that you have amnesia. That wandering lifestyle youve been leading, working as a roguish mercenary and building up a fearsome reputation? Its just a cover for your utter lack of memory; you dont know who you are, why you came from or where you learned to fight. The good news? You are absolutely, one hundred percent guaranteed to be of noble lineage or royal birth. Those fighting skills are from hours of fencing and practicing with your tutors before someone, probably your fathers oldest confidant, slaughtered your parents and left you for dead. So, chin up - at least theres an inheritance to look forward to once everythings sorted out! The thought of a common fishmonger or barmaid with amnesia is ludicrous. Amnesias such an overused plot device, particularly in RPGs, because its useful. It gives players the freedom to imbue characters with their own traits and personality, but also allows the character a history and involvement with the world that a blank slate protagonist wouldnt reasonably expect. The minute a character admits that they dont remember their past, you might as well head for the palace with a Sorry Youre Evil card ready so you can be reunited with your relatives. The character may have amnesia, but the player doesnt, and its hard to feign interest in this tired old gaming cliché.
