Board 8 > What's the most well-known/impactful spoiler in gaming?

(+) Yeah! (+)

(Refer to the game title primarily and put the spoiler itself in spoiler tags so people can actually read this topic)

Excluding FF7, cause, yeah.

First thing that comes to mind for me is Bioshock. After that Undertale kinda. Silent Hill 2 among certain circles.

...Doki Doki Literature Club?

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Super Mario Bros.

Your princess is in another castle.

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Metroid Samus is a girl

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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Super Mario Bros.

Your princess is in another castle.

I almost put a disclaimer n the opening post telling people to answer the spirit of the question and not just regurgitate this specific line, but didn't, as I figured it would cause people to post the line even more. I was a fool.

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I'd say either:

Ocarina of Time
Zelda is Shiek

Final Fantasy X
Tidus is a dream OR the summoner dies at the end of their journey OR Jecht is Sin

Fallout 4
Your Son is Father

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I don't get these questions when you already feel like you have the answer. EXCLUDING WHAT I THINK IS THE ANSWER WHAT'S THE ANSWER
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OoT's I thought about I think it fails the 'impactful' test. When you compare it to Metroid's example, people cared way more about that instance.

FFX's is known only by people who've played that game and hasn't entered the mainstream at all.

Fallout 4 one I also don't know if anyone actually cares about.

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Turducken posted...

I don't get these questions when you already feel like you have the answer. EXCLUDING WHAT I THINK IS THE ANSWER WHAT'S THE ANSWER

"Hmm, I'd like to hear some examples beyond the obvious #1, but if I don't exclude the obvious #1 that's all that will be posted."

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TomNook posted...

Metroid Samus is a girl

I mean I took the question as "Most impactful to the story" not "most culturally impactful" Otherwise we have the obvious Mario Bros. answer.

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KamikazePotato posted...

"Hmm, I'd like to hear some examples beyond the obvious #1, but if I don't exclude the obvious #1 that's all that will be posted."

Right, so you want to hear what you think is the second-most blah blah blah. Why not just say so in the topic title?
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Dancedreamer posted...

Final Fantasy X
Tidus is a dream OR the summoner dies at the end of their journey OR Jecht is Sin

Why did I hover this even though I didn't play the game and didn't know this lmao

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Turducken posted...

Right, so you want to hear what you think is the second-most blah blah blah. Why not just say so in the topic title?

This is a bizarre thing to argue about, and feels like arguing for the sake of arguing.

If he did that, then you'd just make the case that what he posted isn't the most known, and you can't answer the 2nd most known because the first most known hasn't been posted.

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Portal

GlaDOS trying to kill you

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KRATOSBEINGLLOYDSDAD

No? Okay then

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Saying "excluding FF7" is like saying "excluding Empire Strikes Back"

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TomNook posted...

This is a bizarre thing to argue about, and feels like arguing for the sake of arguing.

I suppose it is. I'll retract my nitpicking.
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Revan was what immediately came to mind but im playing kotor2 for the first time recently so im a bit biased.

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pxlated posted...

Revan was what immediately came to mind but im playing kotor2 for the first time recently so im a bit biased.

This was definitely the most impactful for me. Like I legit could not sleep that night, it blew my mind.

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thinking of other ones...

Link's Awakening of the Wind Fish

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Underleveled posted...

Saying "excluding FF7" is like saying "excluding Empire Strikes Back"

the harry potter ones might just be more well known anyway

Revan is a good one. That one was huge back in the day.

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Metal Gear Solid 2

You switch to Raiden

For a recent one:

The Last of Us Part II

Joel dies

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UF8 posted...

the harry potter ones might just be more well known anyway

They aren't.

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I think FF7 is the only one that really fits this criteria

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Leonhart4 posted...

They aren't.

i'm just saying i think it's possible considering their viral statuses. i don't think the X DIES spoiler archetype would be nearly as big a thing without them

also thanos snap would def be in the discussion now too

It statistically does not exist yet. The medium is still relatively new and if we presume future growth and wider audiences reached, it stands to reason a game will finally come along that would render anything we could name here into a fantasy. When that day comes, even should it take seven decades or more, the medium will be like a mature heiress who dyes their hair to look younger to appeal to everyone.

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Empire Strikes Back is definitely the most well-known spoiler of all time. It's been parodied in countless works. It's been referenced by other works as the thing you should never spoil for anyone. You can say the words "I am your father" in a deep voice to anyone in America (or most other English-speaking countries) and there's probably greater than a 90% chance they know what you're referencing even if they haven't seen the movie. Nothing else even comes close.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

Metal Gear Solid 2

Shocked this didn't come up sooner, maybe it's faded from memory for most but this was huge at the time.

Also in that vein, Halo 2 Playing as the Arbiter.

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The problem with trying to decide this is that you need a story moment that (a) is from an extremely well-established game and (b) has a story deep enough that can have a big shock moment to resonate with everyone.

There are very few games in the same weight class with FF7. Yet, I don't think anything that is less renowned than FF7 is fair to even discuss in this context. Looking at wikipedia's list of best-selling games, the closest I can come to finding something that is going to be impactful on any level at all is maybe -- depending on your ability to understand literary framing devices -- that your rival is the Elite Four's champion for Pokemon RBY. And that's not exactly a big deal.

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UltimaterializerX posted...

Metroid, and thats #1 even if you include FF7 on the list.

Joke aside I think this is true

The only way you argue otherwise is with the approach that not enough people actually played or know vanilla Metroid for it to be an actual spoiler

But it's impactful and known that's for sure

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Only things coming up in my head are Metroid and Portal when excluding Aerith fucking dying holy shit guys. Stuff like MGS2/Undertale/DDLC are nice, but too elaborate for the general populace to really fit in a short and simple quip. Samus is a girl and The cake is a lie are much easier to digest while still being a big twist for their time.

tgs2 posted...

Samus is a girl

Metroid is a girl

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Maybe im crazy but the OoT i never thought of as a spoiler.

I played it at release and immediately knew it was Zelda. I still think of it as a "everyone knows but Link" trope >.>

I feel weird even putting it in spoiler tags because its just the plot...

Edit - and by everyone I mean the audience/gamers

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It almost feels like "Samus is a girl" doesn't even qualify as a spoiler anymore because of how widespread Zero Suit Samus has become due to Smash.

although I guess if you're looking for an answer that's so ubiquitous that anyone would know it like Vader being Luke's father that's probably about as good as it gets, even if it's self-evident to a lot of gamers

I'd probably go "Samus is a girl" = "Rosebud was his sled" and "FFVII spoiler" = "Vader is Luke's father" in terms of resonance though.

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LeonhartFour posted...

It almost feels like "Samus is a girl" doesn't even qualify as a spoiler anymore because of how widespread Zero Suit Samus has become due to Smash.

I wouldn't even say "anymore", I don't think it ever was. It can't be a spoiler if it doesn't spoil anything, and I highly doubt anyone's enjoyment of Metroid would be affected by knowing it. It's more of a fun fact than anything

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FF7 and Bioshock came to mind far before anything else, and they were both mentioned in the first post

I want to throw a personal HM to Marx's true form in Kirby Super Star

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Samus being a girl was more of just a surprise than a spoiler imo

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What are you talking about? Female Samus is totally a spoiler. The entire non-existant plot of Metroid changes with Samus being female. It calls upon her motherly instincts, which become evident in later games when she's all "BUT THE BABY!!"

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nah, I'd say FF7 is a much bigger one than Samus. Samus was a "...huh" moment, but it didn't really impact anything since it was just an action character in a game with no dialogue and not much backstory (maybe there was something in the manual, but eh)

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Turducken posted...

I suppose it is. I'll retract my nitpicking.

I don't think you need to. Topic title could easily be "What are some of the most well-known/impactful spoilers?"

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Super Mario Bros. 2

It was all a dream.

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azuarc posted...

What are you talking about? Female Samus is totally a spoiler. The entire non-existant plot of Metroid changes with Samus being female. It calls upon her motherly instincts, which become evident in later games when she's all "BUT THE BABY!!"

I can't tell if you're being serious <_<

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As mentioned, Bioshock and KOTOR are probably some of the biggest ones excluding FF7 and Mario. Undertale Genocide is probably up there too

Just for some extra mentions that aren't as well known and more in the story impact sense:

Nier
The truth about the shades and how things have gone down throughout the whole game along with the implications

The Witch's House
You were the villain the whole time

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KOTOR (caps)

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Trying to think of a few that haven't been mentioned yet (thinking more well-known than impactful personally. The two are very different categories IMO.)

MGS3
The Boss's true mission.

Final Fantasy VI
Kefka succeeds in destroying the world/World of Ruin

Pokemon GSC
Red as the Secret Boss

I think this kind of skirts the intent of the topic but Mass Effect 3 because of how the ending controversy kinda propelled it into the broader consciousness.

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ME3 is a good answer as a negative reaction actually

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You know, it might be ||Would you kindly|| from Bioshock. While Samus is certainly the best-known, its impact doesn't feel like it matters much since it's just taken as a given now, some decades later.

Sorry if that sentence didn't make sense, I'm in school-finals-induced-delirium at the moment.

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