10 Video Game Tricks Players Fall For EVERY Time
4. Thinking You Can Win When You Can’t
Video games are filled with obstacles that need to be overcome to progress the story and provide a cathartic sense of accomplishment. Of course, these burdens can involve enemy encounters, timed QTEs, complex puzzles, prolonged chase sequences, and in-depth quests.
Obviously, it’s implied that these moments can be completed successfully, but that isn’t always possible. In fact, there have been – and continue to be – many instances of gamers repeatedly trying to beat certain segments before discovering that they were never meant to be won.
The Beatrix battles in Final Fantasy IX are a prime example of this trick since she can’t be conquered by depleting her HP. When that happens, she’ll simply cast a catastrophic spell on your party and end the match early. If the player decides not to harm her, she’ll stop the battle after about a dozen turns anyway.
Other scripted losses include the showdowns against Genichiro Ashina in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Lavos in Chrono Trigger, and Urizen in the Devil May Cry 5 prologue.
As for examples outside of boss fights, there’s the unwinnable Rescue mission in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, the staged kidnappings in Far Cry 5, and the automatic failure of the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Clearly, gamers need to do a better job of realizing when defeat is inevitable.