Video games are a boundless source of interactive entertainment. They don't need to have mind-blowing twists in their stories, as long as they've got something to offer in terms of gameplay, visuals, and controls. However, plot twists are a powerful tool; they can either totally elevate or totally diminish a game.
Whether a plot twist is good or bad, though, what really matters is the staying power they have in your memory. Memorable plot twists can be so unforgettable because they're that stupid or that groundbreaking. But as long as they've done their job of shocking you, chances are you're going to remember them.
This article contains major spoilers
6 Bioshock – More Than Just Kind Words
As an experienced gamer, you're probably used to having to follow characters' instructions on what to do to proceed with the game. Even if you think what they're asking of you is strange or doesn't make sense, you don't usually have a choice if you want to continue playing. Bioshock takes this concept and deconstructs it in a way you don't see coming.
Whenever a character in this game asks you to do something and prefaces or ends it with "would you kindly," you think they're just being polite, even when they're asking you to kill someone. But it's eventually revealed that "would you kindly" is a mind control phrase that makes the protagonist, Jack, obey any command. It's been programmed into his brain since he was a little boy, and he has no control over this. This is evidenced when you see the creator of this program, Dr. Yi Suchong, ask a young Jack to break his own puppy's neck, which he only does after Suchong inserts "would you kindly" into the command.
5 Star Ocean: Till The End of Time – Gameception?
Star Ocean's infamous plot twist can make or break your opinion of the game. There is no consensus; people either love it or hate it, and it's easy to see why. The story follows Fayt and his companions in their battle against the Executioners, who want to destroy the universe. On their journey, they enter a place called 4D Space, where everyone looks relatively normal compared to the heroes, and someone even refers to their clothes as "weird".
After meeting a boy named Flad in this 4D Space, he mentions the Eternal Sphere. The party questions what that is, and that's when Flad casually reveals something life-altering for the group: the Eternal Sphere is a universe inside a simulator, and Earth – where Fayt is from – is one of the planets within that universe. Additionally, Flad literally tells the group that they're characters from this simulator. Even more, the Executioners they've been fighting against? Essentially anti-viruses that were sent to fix bugs within the Eternal Sphere.
4 Portal 2 – How The Tables Have Turned
In Portal 2, Wheatley is your robot companion for the entire game in your quest to escape Aperture Science. He's a funny and unassuming personality core, which makes the upcoming plot twist hit you even harder. Like in the first Portal game, GLaDOS is the antagonist for the majority of the sequel. Wheatley's aim is to shut down and replace GLaDOS, which Chell, the protagonist, is happy to help with.
They manage to finally confront GLaDOS after going through various, seemingly unending tests. With Chell's help, Wheatley is eventually able to stop and replace GLaDOS as the one who controls Aperture Science. This is supposed to be a good thing. Except, now that Wheatley is much bigger and has much more power, he promptly puts GLaDOS into a potato battery and turns on Chell, throwing her and GLaDOS down an elevator shaft. Now Wheatley is the one forcing Chell to go through tests with GLaDOS as her (temporary) companion.
3 Danganronpa V3 – The Deadliest Show
Danganronpa V3's premise is similar to the first two games: a number of students with Ultimate talents are forced to participate in a killing game, then they must participate in a class trial to figure out the culprit behind every killing. Besides that, another big part of the game is the mystery behind who put them into this situation and why. The answers to these questions aren't something you see coming in any of the games, but the one in Danganronpa V3 is particularly shocking.
In V3's final chapter, it's revealed that Danganronpa has become an actual show within their universe that people tune into. In other words, there's been a knowing audience watching them kill each other this whole time, purely for entertainment. To add to that, the students in these games are willing participants who had their memories erased before entering the game to make things more interesting. Their supposed Ultimate talents are fake. And the 'V' in V3? It's revealed to be the Roman numeral for the number five, making it the 53rd season of this show.
2 Little Nightmares 2 – A Friend In Need Is…?
In Little Nightmares, protagonist Mono and his companion Six are chased by various enemies as they try to reach their destination. However, the main antagonist that goes after them is a lanky, creepy entity called the Thin Man. Mono saves Six more than once throughout the game even though he's only recently met her, speaking to his kindness. At the end of the game, after Mono has finally defeated the Thin Man, and they're only a few steps away from their destination, their surroundings start to crumble around them. Six runs towards the exit, with Mono following close behind, but the ground breaks, forming a gap between the two.
Mono makes a leap of faith and manages to grab onto the edge of the platform. He reaches for Six to pull him up, and she takes his hand. But she seems to hesitate. And after a few tense seconds, she lets go, resulting in Mono falling to his doom as she continues to the exit. This betrayal is shocking enough, but the game keeps going by showing that Mono survives. Instead of trying to escape where he's fallen to, though, he sits down on a chair, clearly resigned. The game then shows time passing, and Mono slowly morphs and changes with it, until… he becomes the Thin Man who chases you during the course of the game.
1 Undertale – C'mon, We Just Got Started!
Undertale is a unique game with a few twists and turns along the way. Usually, games tend to throw curveballs at you during the middle or end of the game, Undertale even has one at the very beginning. It could be that this twist works so well because it's at the very start of the game. Shortly after you start, you meet a cute-looking flower named Flowey.
He basically acts as a tutorial for the gameplay, explaining the board you use to move around during encounters, and instructing you to collect the "friendliness pellets" that appear. If you do as he says, however, Flowey's demeanor immediately changes and his face warps. He calls you an idiot, among other berating words, and tells you that it's "kill or be killed" in this world before trying to do just that. His mask of friendliness also preemptively drops if you dodge his "friendliness pellets" instead of running into them. He calls you "braindead" and yells at you to "RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!" before "bullets" is changed back to "friendliness pellets."
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