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00:00 From introducing you to an overview of the plot to outlining basic controls and gameplay,
00:04 tutorials are supposed to be the thing you trust, a more forgiving environment to learn the ropes,
00:09 before in From Software Games' case, you're then strangled by them. While most games are content
00:13 with giving players the space they need to brush up on their skills, there are some titles which
00:18 take full advantage of the player not realising something unexpected is right around the corner.
00:22 I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com and these are 8 Video Game Tutorials That Played Cruel Tricks
00:27 on Players. Number 8, Elden Ring. It's completely missable. As brutally difficult as Elden Ring is,
00:33 even the cruel and genius developers at From Software weren't heartless enough to throw
00:37 players into the lands between without a crash course in the basics. However,
00:41 getting to the tutorial in Elden Ring wasn't a straightforward task. In fact, so many players
00:46 missed the tutorial completely that From Software signposted it better in an update, shortly after
00:51 the game's release. Upon awakening in a cavern after being annihilated by the game's first boss,
00:56 players will see a ghostly figure sitting by a precipice. Previously, the game didn't inform
01:00 players that getting to the tutorial area required jumping into this hole that would otherwise spell
01:05 death in most games. Without being equipped with the fundamentals, players were wandering out into
01:09 the world less prepared than they should have been, only to then get flattened by the tree sentinel.
01:15 Number 7, Sheepdog and Wolf. Game over. A nostalgic gem that doesn't get as much
01:19 recognition as it deserves, Sheepdog and Wolf, also known as Looney Tunes Sheep Raider,
01:23 is a puzzle game that sees players take on the role of Ralph Wolf, as they figure out how to
01:28 steal sheep from under the watch of Sam Sheepdog. Players will spend most of their time sneaking
01:32 around disguised as a bush and using items to solve increasingly complex puzzles to stealthily
01:37 snag their quarry. There's a lot to learn, but thankfully a very polygonal daffy duck is there
01:42 to assist, and after the cartoon duck whisks Ralph to the set of the titular game show,
01:46 it's time for the tutorial. Being a Looney Tunes game, the start of this tutorial is one big gag.
01:52 Players are greeted with three signs warning them not to play, with the final one instructing
01:56 players to cross the white line in front of them to begin. Doing so instead results in a cutscene
02:01 where Ralph is hit by an anvil, run over by a van and hit by a falling piano before you're then
02:06 given a game over screen. Thankfully, Daffy does eventually come to your rescue and the real
02:11 tutorial can begin. Number 6, Prey. It's all a simulation.
02:15 After players select which version of protagonist Morgan Yu they'd like to play as, Prey opens in
02:20 Morgan's apartment, with them ready to begin another day of work. At this point, players are
02:24 free to poke around their home, inspect their computer and learn that they can pick up most
02:28 objects. When players do decide it's time to take a helicopter to work, they'll spend the proper
02:33 portion of the tutorial participating in a series of tests. Here you learn how to complete tasks
02:38 like moving boxes out of a circle, hiding behind a chair, jumping over a small obstacle and
02:42 completing a psychiatric assessment. However, interactions between the observing scientists
02:47 suggest that something isn't quite right, and when a mimic disguised as the doctor's coffee
02:51 cup ambushes him, Prey pulls out the rug from under your feet. Morgan once again wakes up in
02:56 their apartment, but this time things are different. It's revealed that everything
03:00 players have just experienced has been a simulation. In reality, players have been
03:05 part of an experiment on the Talos space station which has been overrun by aliens.
03:09 All of this sets up a grand mystery and it's up to you to uncover the truth.
03:14 Number 5 - Yomawari, Night Alone You're just walking your dog.
03:18 Yomawari, Night Alone is a creepy little indie horror gem that sees players wandering around
03:22 a ghost-infested Japanese neighbourhood in search of the protagonist's sister when she
03:26 doesn't come home one night. Gameplay is as minimalist as it gets. Armed only with a flashlight
03:31 which players can use to see the ghosts, you're limited to basic movement and item interactions
03:36 as you roam the night streets. Even with such a simple setup, this title still has a tutorial
03:41 with the express purpose of scarring you for life. Beginning innocently enough with a small
03:46 girl taking her adorable dog Poro home after their walk, it's here that you're shown how to walk,
03:51 run and tiptoe while making your way down the road. This section also teaches you how to interact
03:55 with objects when the girl spots a pebble. You naturally pick up the pebble and view it in your
03:59 inventory, but when trying to interact with it further, the girl throws the pebble onto the road.
04:04 Your dog Poro then chases after it and is immediately run over by a truck in a horrifically
04:09 shocking turn of events.
04:11 Number 4 - Dark Souls - The Surprise Boss
04:14 Answers down in the comments as to the cruelest trick a From Software game has played on us as
04:18 a collective because I'm putting The Asylum Demon as one of the worst, primarily because if this was
04:23 your first Souls game, it really effed you up for the rest of the series. When the player's freshly
04:28 created character escapes their cell in the undead asylum, messages on the ground teach you the
04:33 fundamentals like attacking and locking onto enemies. At this point you're only equipped
04:37 with a broken weapon but that's all that's needed for the enemies so far. As millions of us found
04:42 out though, stepping through a large door still with your broken weapon leads to being ambushed
04:46 by Dark Souls' first proper boss. Utterly unprepared mentally or through equipment,
04:51 you literally have to learn that the only way forward is to run right past the demon altogether.
04:56 Whether you figured that out for yourself after 10 tries or were told though is something else
05:00 entirely.
05:01 Number 3 - Dead Space 2 - The Necromorph Chase
05:05 Usually horror video games offer players a moment of relative safety at the beginning
05:09 so they can learn the controls and mechanics without any added stress getting in the way.
05:13 Even Resident Evil Village allowed Ethan to explore his house before he's ambushed by a
05:17 horde of werewolves. Alongside acting as tutorials, opening sections in horror games are likewise the
05:22 perfect place for developers to establish tone and start building suspense. However,
05:26 one game that doesn't honour this unspoken grace period is sci-fi horror masterpiece Dead Space 2.
05:31 Taking place three years after the events of the first game, the sequel opens with protagonist
05:36 Isaac Clarke being released from an asylum on the Sprawl space station. However, before rescuer
05:40 Franco can explain what's happening or release him from his straitjacket, he's immediately killed by
05:45 a necromorph right in front of you in grisly AF fashion. Without a moment to digest anything about
05:50 what's going on, players must helplessly flee from all the swarming aliens, the button prompt to run
05:55 being your only guidance on what to do. Ironically, with a tutorial as unexpectedly nerve-shredding as
06:01 this, it has prepared you pretty well for what's to come.
06:03 Blair Witch Screwing you over from the beginning.
06:08 Developed by Bloober Team, Blair Witch sees players return to the eerie Black Hills Forest
06:12 two years after the spine-chilling events of the Blair Witch Project movie. Instead of being a
06:16 student filmmaker, players take on the role of former police officer Ellis, who alongside his
06:21 faithful canine sidekick, Bullet, journeys into the woods in search of a missing child. It doesn't
06:26 take long for Ellis' experience to turn into a hellish nightmare as he becomes tormented by the
06:31 malevolent witch who calls this forest her home. During the tutorial, one of the first things the
06:35 players encounter is a wooden carving sitting on a fence. Being one of the first collectibles you
06:40 can find, naturally you'll want to examine everything you can get your hands on, especially
06:44 during this part of the game, when you're supposed to be exploring. However, this is a clever trick
06:49 played by the developers. Turns out the Blair Witch wants Ellis to collect these items, and curious
06:54 players fell right into her trap. Collecting any of the dolls or falling for various other sneaky
06:58 tricks across your playthrough actually locks you into the bad ending, where you're trapped in the
07:03 forest for good. And number one, Bioshock. Would you kindly. The opening of acclaimed sci-fi horror
07:09 shooter Bioshock sees protagonist Jack stumble upon a lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic
07:13 Ocean after surviving a plane crash. Upon entering the structure and ascending into the ocean's
07:18 depths in a bathysphere, the protagonist and the player are introduced to the dystopian underwater
07:22 city of Rapture where things appear to have gone very wrong. When the player arrives in this ominous
07:27 city, a friendly Irish voice asks if Jack would kindly pick up the radio so they can talk. The
07:32 voice introduces himself as Atlas and courteously walks Jack through the first part of the game,
07:37 informing them about the basics of exploration and combat before tasking them with saving their
07:41 family. Bioshock's tutorial section is like every other game. However, it's not until much later
07:46 when players realise that they are the ones who have been played this whole time. In one of the
07:51 best twists in gaming set in motion across the tutorial, it's later revealed that the phrase
07:56 "would you kindly" wasn't Atlas being polite, but a trigger to brainwash the protagonist and you
08:01 into doing their bidding in what became a legendary example of analysing player agency.
08:05 And those are our picks for 8 video game tutorials that played cruel tricks on players.
08:11 Let me know your favourites down in the comments below and please subscribe to the
08:14 What Culture Gaming Podcast. For now, I've been Scott from whatculture.com and I'll catch you soon.