Did Not See That Coming

**Xanatos** · 05-06-2016, 02:12 PM

I'm a huge fan of films with twists at the very end, so much so if I was a filmmaker I would most certainly be M. Night Shyamalan, doing both terrible films and twists just for the sake of doing twists. Films aside, I've played my fair share of games with unpredictable and shocking turns of events, one of the better ones quite recently which in fact inspired me to make this very thread. Without further ado, what would you say were some memorable twists/unpredictable turns of events you personally witnessed in a video game?

Dragon Age Inquisition is still fresh in my mind, but I think I'll go with the very first Witcher. The game itself is bit rough around the edges, but it's well worth a playthrough just for that twist alone at very end. Spoilers ahead, of course...

SPOILER!!:

In short, the child you save at the very beginning and pretty much foster turns out to be the main villain, all grown up and from one point in time no less, future most probably.

As crazy as it may sound it actually makes perfect sense, there are lot of subtle clues pointing to this through out the game that you're bound to miss on your first playthrough. Alvin, the child you save, has potential to be one of the most powerful mages ever to be seen, according to Triss. She even gave him a medallion to subdue his power. You get to teach Alvin certain values, interact with him in an interesting manner. Alvin disappears in Chapter IV by opening a portal to save himself from Elves never to be seen again. In one of the last Chapters you get to met Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Aldersberg, your main adversary as you soon find out, who incidentally saves you. Jacques is not a nice person, not only does his Order fight Elves religiously but he experiments on humans, trying to elevate them to a level of a Witcher, although he does have a somewhat valid reason for the second one but I won't go into details right now.

You eventually defeat Jacques after which on his body you find the exact same medallion Triss gave to Alvin, just older with signs of wear. That's when things start to click, start to make sense as to who Jacques is and why he does what he does. When you first met Jacques, after he saves you, he says he's merely returning the favor, but Geralt never met him, or so he feels, but you did however saved Alvin on more than one occasion. Another subtle, but brilliant clue is if you let Alvin have a dog to take care of you'll see Jacques in a company of a dog. Jacques's conversation changes depending on what you thought Alvin as a kid, especially in final battle, that's why Jacques sounds all too familiar sometimes but it's done so well that you can never ever pinpoint why. It also explains why Jacques hates Elves, funny enough Alvin would always chose to be the Grand Master while playing with other kids, even the Wild Hunt suggests that you once knew Jacques by a different name. I could go on listing dozen of tiny details that makes this twist ever so great but frankly my memory is bit foggy right now.

It makes for a pretty great second playthrough because you notice great deal of subtle clues and signs you would never do on your first playthrough. A lot of games managed to shock/surprise me in many ways but none blew my mind like the very first Witcher.

**Coff9** · 05-06-2016, 03:42 PM

I probably won't read this thread too closely due to spoilers, but I have an offering.

Morrowind had a "twist" in it; if you've played it, then you'll know what it is. And I did not see it coming.

But honestly, I contest it. There's not really any evidence that the twist is actually the case. Sure, your character can claim that it is so, the gods can claim it is so, even the indigenous tribes can claim it is so, but there's no direct evidence.

Person A: "My first question is: *spoilers*."

Person B: "I know no more than you do."

Person A: ""What a world.... Perhaps we shall never know."

Also, there's the whole thing about how prophecies can be rigged and that quote at the beginning of the game: "Each event is preceded by Prophecy. But without the hero, there is no Event."

It makes me feel like that part of the plot was just one big comedy of errors. I think it makes the game more interesting if you view it this way.