- 3 years ago
Trust Hideo Kojima to make it onto this list. Twice.
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00:00 a video game needs to keep players fully immersed
00:02 in its story, characters, and gameplay
00:04 for potentially dozens, even hundreds of hours
00:07 without letting the mask slip.
00:09 But as we've seen so many times over the years,
00:11 even the best games can't always avoid
00:14 serving up scenes and moments
00:15 that feel incredibly out of place.
00:18 I'm Jess from WhatCulture,
00:19 and here are the 10 most out of place scenes
00:22 in gaming history.
00:24 Number 10, Chris Redfield versus a boulder,
00:27 Resident Evil 5.
00:30 As much as the Resident Evil franchise started out
00:32 with two feet firmly planted in the realm of survival horror,
00:35 it's never really taken itself all that seriously,
00:39 what with the campy B-movie inspired tone
00:41 of the earlier games before the shift
00:43 into Michael Bay on steroids action schlock.
00:45 Resident Evil 5 might well feature
00:47 the single most infamous moment
00:49 of the entire series though,
00:51 an action beat of such preposterous thigh slapping absurdity
00:55 that even the franchise's most permissive,
00:57 action hungry fans deemed it a little bit too much.
01:01 We're talking of course about the scene
01:02 where during the final battle with Wesker in a volcano,
01:06 Chris finds himself blocked by a gigantic boulder.
01:09 A QTE sequence follows,
01:11 resulting in Chris hilariously punching the boulder
01:14 until it finally agrees to move out of the way.
01:17 Even with Chris getting a yoked redesign for the game,
01:20 it was still absolutely implausible
01:22 that he'd be able to shift such a large object
01:24 with his mere fists,
01:26 leading to widespread ridicule
01:28 that the series had well and truly finally jumped the shark.
01:31 Despite this, the incident was unexpectedly referenced
01:34 in the recent eighth main game, Resident Evil Village,
01:38 where villain Heisenberg referred to Chris
01:40 as a boulder punching arsehole.
01:42 No other moment in the series is more emblematic
01:45 of its frustrating departure from horror to action,
01:48 which thankfully has been rectified in recent installments.
01:51 Even for how generally action-heavy Resident Evil 5 is,
01:55 this is a sheer cartoon.
01:57 Number nine, "Fithraga's Death,"
01:59 The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.
02:02 The Elder Scrolls games are renowned
02:04 for the richness of their storytelling,
02:06 characters, and world-building,
02:08 though this is often braced up
02:09 against some ill-advised tonal choices.
02:12 This is evidenced in the Mages Guild quest,
02:14 "Liberation or Apprehension,"
02:17 where upon entering the Ayleid Ruin,
02:19 you'll come into contact with the one surviving battle mage
02:22 in the ruin known as Fithraga.
02:24 Fithraga wants to help the player
02:26 reach the Necromancer informant,
02:28 but within seconds of running ahead,
02:30 poor Fithraga triggers a trap,
02:32 causing the large stone tile he's standing on
02:35 to quickly raise upwards into a set of spikes on the ceiling.
02:39 When the stone column returns to the floor,
02:41 we're left to observe Fithraga's mangled remains.
02:44 What should be a shocking and unpleasant moment
02:47 is actually unintentionally hilarious.
02:50 The gusto with which he bounds forward
02:52 only to fall into the most rudimentary of traps
02:55 is likely to make players consider
02:56 how truly idiotic the other battle mages must have been
03:00 for him to be their final surviving one.
03:02 If Bethesda wanted to instill fear in the player
03:04 and make them worry about the many hidden dangers
03:06 within the ruin,
03:08 this absolutely was not the way to do it.
03:11 Number eight, Dante and Agnes go full Shakespeare,
03:14 "Devil May Cry 4."
03:16 Much like their "Resident Evil" series,
03:18 Capcom's "Devil May Cry" franchise
03:20 doesn't ever take itself particularly seriously.
03:23 Yet even the action-adventure franchise's
03:25 trademark goofiness left fans unprepared
03:28 for the utter unhinged insanity
03:30 of "Devil May Cry 4's" 17th mission.
03:33 This mission sees Dante once again battling Agnes,
03:37 and the pre-fight cutscene between the two
03:39 has more theatrical posturing and ridiculous one-liners
03:42 than your average WWE promo.
03:44 From the ultra-dramatic poetic line readings
03:47 to the moody stage-like lighting and haunting music,
03:51 it feels like we're watching a Shakespeare play
03:53 hammered home by the fact that Agnes
03:55 even literally monologues while holding a damned skull,
03:59 Hamlet style.
04:00 If you assume that the cutscene actually informs
04:03 the character's conflict and subsequent boss fight,
04:05 think again.
04:06 This is totally random and never even remotely explained,
04:10 which really only makes it that much funnier.
04:12 It's clearly supposed to be funny,
04:14 but that doesn't make it any less out of place
04:16 compared to the style and tone of the rest of the game.
04:19 Number seven, "Quiet Dancing in the Rain,"
04:22 Metal Gear Solid V, "The Phantom Pain."
04:25 The first of two Hideo Kojima entries on this list,
04:28 because he's just that damn weird,
04:30 is from his final contribution
04:32 to the Metal Gear Solid franchise.
04:34 Even before the fifth game was released,
04:36 there was considerable controversy
04:37 over its depiction of Quiet,
04:39 the scantily-clad female support character
04:41 who's kitted out in laughably impractical revealing attire
04:45 for anyone in a combat scenario.
04:47 Kojima promised players that they would, quote,
04:49 "feel ashamed of their words and deeds"
04:51 once the reason for Quiet's lack of clothing was explained,
04:55 though fans were largely left unconvinced
04:57 when it turned out that she breathes
04:59 and drinks through her skin,
05:01 hence the amount of flesh showing.
05:03 It was clearly a half-baked attempt by Kojima
05:05 to explain away his horny indulgences
05:08 while giving the game a sexy, eye-catching mascot/cosplay
05:12 character, and yet this is really just the tip of the iceberg
05:15 as the character's portrayal goes.
05:17 Though Quiet is at least an extremely formidable fighter,
05:21 Kojima couldn't resist but include
05:23 a blatant fan service scene
05:25 that unambiguously reduced her to a sheer sex object.
05:29 We're talking, of course,
05:30 about the infamous "dancing in the rain" scene,
05:32 which can be triggered by having
05:34 at least an 80% bond with Quiet
05:36 while heading back to base from chapter two onward.
05:39 The scene is exactly what it sounds like,
05:42 two minutes of Quiet stripping down
05:44 and writhing around amid the pouring rain,
05:46 all while some ethereal music tries to give the impression
05:49 it's anything more than a leery, pervy fan service scene.
05:53 Kojima's games are admittedly pretty horny in general,
05:56 but given that you're most likely viewing this sequence
05:58 moments after completing a high-octane mission,
06:01 it couldn't feel more out of place.
06:04 Number six, did somebody mention the door to darkness?
06:07 Kingdom Hearts II.
06:09 As a crossover with countless beloved Disney properties,
06:12 the Kingdom Hearts games are relatively lighthearted
06:14 for the most part,
06:16 though do nevertheless take their wildly convoluted lore
06:19 dead seriously.
06:20 This results in a multitude of tonally jarring moments
06:23 that come off much funnier than intended,
06:26 perhaps most memorably in Kingdom Hearts II,
06:29 when King Mickey Mouse sneaks up on Sora
06:31 and the assembled heroes and asks,
06:33 "Say, fellas, did somebody mention the door to darkness?"
06:37 Everything about this scene is totally out of place
06:39 and hilariously wrong.
06:41 Mickey Mouse ever saying a line like this,
06:43 his strangely menacing face when he appears in frame,
06:47 and even the ominous music that plays out
06:49 for all of two seconds.
06:51 As soon as Sora and company realize it's Mickey,
06:54 the scene's tone abruptly shifts to one of joy,
06:57 in what's left fans dying of uncontrollable laughter
07:00 ever since.
07:01 Number five, Spider-Man's QTE fail, Spider-Man 3.
07:06 If you want conclusive proof
07:08 of just how far Insomniac's Spider-Man game
07:10 has brought the character,
07:11 look no further than the 2007 video game adaptation
07:15 of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3.
07:17 The game received mixed reviews upon release.
07:20 Its use of quick time events was notably divisive,
07:23 and more importantly, unintentionally, very funny.
07:26 The most infamous example occurs
07:28 in the game's opening tutorial level,
07:30 when Spidey has to rescue civilians from a burning building,
07:34 and players must take part in a QTE sequence
07:37 to save a woman strapped to a bomb.
07:39 However, players who screw up the QTE
07:41 will be rewarded with a gut-bustingly funny cutscene
07:44 where the web slinger falls flat on his face
07:47 before the bug-eyed woman immediately says,
07:50 "I'm going to die."
07:51 It's an absolute gift of a scene
07:53 that lives on today as a meme,
07:54 but as a serious attempt at conveying mortal peril
07:57 to the player, it's an absolute car crash.
08:00 Number four, Lucas and Carla's sex scene, Fahrenheit.
08:04 Fahrenheit, aka Indigo Prophecy,
08:06 was basically a prototype for Quantic Dream's
08:09 more advanced interactive drama games that followed,
08:12 Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and Detroit Become Human.
08:15 The game also suffered through a difficult production,
08:18 with large chunks of the story's third act being cut
08:21 due to both time and budgetary constraints.
08:23 As such, both the more heightened supernatural elements
08:26 and the love story between protagonist Lucas Kane
08:29 and Carla Valenti ended up falling rather flat.
08:32 This culminates in a cringe-worthy sex scene
08:35 between straight arrow cop Carla and a now undead Lucas,
08:39 which between its hideously awkward visual presentation
08:42 and Carla's out-of-nowhere declarations of love for Lucas,
08:46 feels like it belongs in an entirely different game.
08:49 It's clear that a massive chunk of story
08:51 and character development was missing,
08:52 such that basically no attempt was made
08:55 to sell players on this love story.
08:56 Even if it were convincing, though,
08:58 that blocky, clumsy sex scene would stick out
09:01 something fierce.
09:03 Number three, Breaking the Fourth Wall, The Evil Within 2.
09:07 The Evil Within 2 is an improvement upon the first game
09:10 in a number of ways, though many players nevertheless
09:13 took umbrage with its unwieldy tonal shifts,
09:16 vaulting from utter self-seriousness
09:18 into unexpected goofiness in a moment's notice.
09:22 The game even dares to shatter the fourth wall to pieces
09:25 for enterprising players
09:26 who dare do a little extra exploring.
09:29 Once you've destroyed antagonist Stefano's paintings,
09:31 he'll unlock the theater for a direct confrontation.
09:34 But if you instead backtrack to O'Neil's safe house,
09:37 you'll unlock a secret cut scene.
09:39 The scene in question sees Sebastian asking for O'Neil's help
09:43 but O'Neil refuses on the grounds
09:44 that there's evil out there.
09:46 A frustrated Sebastian replies
09:48 with the not-so-sly title drop,
09:50 "That may be, but there's evil within, too."
09:54 Before the pair both awkwardly turn
09:56 to stare at the camera for a few seconds.
09:58 It's probably the single silliest moment in the entire game
10:02 and the only one that near literally
10:04 winks at the player about it.
10:05 It may be tonally out of place,
10:07 but at least in this case, that's the point.
10:09 And it's also hidden well enough
10:11 that only some players would ever find it.
10:13 Number two, Mario and Princess Peach, Death Stranding.
10:18 I am an admitted Death Stranding apologist
10:20 and even I have a hard time getting past this one.
10:23 Hideo Kojima is gaming's crowned king of idiosyncrasy,
10:26 but even his fans have tolerance limits,
10:29 as was proven so memorably
10:31 at the end of his masterful latest release, Death Stranding.
10:35 When Sam learns that his sister Amelie used herself
10:38 to convince Sam to link up the chiral network,
10:40 he sarcastically says,
10:42 "So I'm Mario and you're Princess Peach."
10:45 It's a weird meta line for sure,
10:47 but nothing can quite prepare players for what follows.
10:51 When Amelie suggests they run home together
10:53 across the beach, she insists they do it, quote,
10:57 "Like Mario and Princess Beach."
11:00 The toe-curlingly silly one-liner
11:02 is made even dafter by the sequence that follows,
11:05 where Sam and Amelie run across the beach in slow motion,
11:09 set to some hilariously melodramatic music.
11:11 You can be generous to Kojima
11:13 and say he's fully aware of the cheeseball factor
11:15 and leaning into it, but honestly,
11:17 it feels like we're actually supposed to embrace
11:20 the melodrama somewhat earnestly here.
11:22 Whatever your own interpretation,
11:24 there's little denying that it completely
11:25 pulls the player out of the moment,
11:27 whatever the moment is meant to be.
11:29 Number one, the secret caveman cameo, Halo 3 ODST.
11:34 And for our number one pick,
11:36 we've got a scene that's both figuratively
11:39 and literally out of place, as in,
11:41 you need to move the camera around
11:43 during a cutscene just to see it.
11:45 The Halo series plays itself pretty straight
11:47 for the most part, though Halo 3 ODST's ending cutscene
11:50 contains an absurd hidden Easter egg
11:53 that players can stumble across by toying around
11:55 with their controller during the scene.
11:57 As Sergeant Johnson talks to the Engineer
11:59 and insists it's going to tell him everything he needs
12:02 to know to stop the Covenant,
12:04 tilt the right thumbstick to the left
12:06 and the scene will pitch left also,
12:08 revealing a secret hidden offscreen.
12:11 You'll be able to see teammate Buck
12:13 stood next to a monkey-like creature
12:15 before the scene cuts to black.
12:17 This is clearly a reference to the family of cavemen
12:20 that can be discovered in Halo 3's mission Sierra 117,
12:24 each similarly resembling a monkey
12:26 and bearing the face of Bungie employee Marcus R. Leto.
12:30 Needless to say, if you accidentally stumbled
12:32 upon this secret scene by accident,
12:34 it absolutely destroyed any immersion you had
12:37 in the central drama unfolding.
12:40 And that is the end of our list.
12:42 Do let me know down in that comment section
12:44 if you can think of any other incredibly out of place scenes
12:47 in gaming history.
12:49 As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture.
12:51 Thank you so much for hanging out with me.
12:53 If you like, you can come say hi to me
12:54 on my Twitter account where I'm @JessMcDonald.
12:57 I'll make sure you stay tuned to us here
12:59 for plenty more gaming goodness.