It's the little things. Attention to detail in games

[Overcast]

Also known as "Autism: The Thread"

One thing I love about certain games is all the little bits of attention to detail, whether it be in terms of writing, secret rooms, hidden items, or how certain conversations flow depending on your choices no matter how small.

I've just been playing Psychonauts, a game that's packed to the brim with this kind of stuff. I just met up with Ford Kruller who teaches you about ranking up and learning new abilities.

Normally, Raz will talk about how he'll get to set things on fire. However, I was at rank 10 already when I got there, so I automatically got taught pyrokenesies. As a result, the line where Raz mentions getting to set things on fire was skipped over.

I was generally surprised the developers took that kind of thing into account, it's very small and inconsequential, but it shows how much attention to detail they provided.

Another example would be Shadow of the Colossus. When you shoot an arrow at a colossus, it sticks into them for a while. But on one of my later playthrough, I saw that the arrows eventually fall off the colossus when time passes. I always thought they just simply disappeared, so I was kinda giddy when I saw this happen.

So how about you guys? What are your favorite little details sprinkled throught certain games?

 

[Mourning Dove]

Yume Nikki is pretty much a game where the protagonist goes to sleep in her room all the time to explore her trippy, vacant dream world. There are many secrets and Easter eggs to discover.

One area of the dreamworld is heavily inspired by Famicon graphics. In this area this is a pitch black dungeon area where you need a light to see anything. As you explore, you deeper and deeper into the basement. Eventually you come across a dead end empty room at the very bottom. So you spent all that time exploring the basement, but you find nothing? There has to be something. So you try talking to the walls. However, if you try talking to the walls too much, the faces on the walls start vomiting blood and get corrupted. The Famicon game eventually "crashes" and you wake up.

Watch it here:

 

[The Fair Lady]

Oh boy, I could sperg for hours about this.

To start, I guess I'll mention Rule of Rose. This game makes little to no sense if you just go into it blindly and don't bother paying attention to the story. If you dig deeper like you're supposed to, however, you'll uncover all the details that make it such a tragic tale.

 

[The Lone Wanderer]

I love collectibles and sidequests in games. More often than not I end up sidetracked from the main objective. Majora's Mask being a particular favorite.

 

[XYZpdq]

MGS2

 

[Conrix]

My favorite detail is probably all the instances of the number 13 in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. I'm not listing the blatantly obvious things like Organization XIII, but there's some Brad Waston-tier numerology thrown in by design.

-Kingdom Hearts contains thirteen letters. M, one of the more pronounced letters in the series logo, is the 13th letter of the alphabet.
-Ars Arcanum has up to thirteen strikes, if you use the follow-up attacks.
-Except for Dream Drop Distance, the final world you visit in each major installment, not counting optional worlds, and story-wise, is the thirteenth.
-Put together, there are thirteen letters in "Light" and "Darkness"
-The Keyhole in Neverland is located at the thirteen minute point on Big Ben's clock face.
(from http://www.khwiki.com/Kingdom_Hearts_(series)#Trivia)

 

[StallChaser]

The backstory to NIER is absolutely fucking insane. You find things out through multiple playthroughs. There's a tutorial sequence at the very beginning, where you're killing shadows and leveling up super fast.

Spoiler

These turn out to be the souls of random innocent people. None of them ever actually attack you. But you were probably too busy mashing buttons and wrecking their shit to realize this. The first time, at least.

 

[Thane Krios]

One I can remember is in the Mass Effect series, while aboard the Quarian Flotilla in 2 and during Rannoch in 3. In 2 if you go searching around and listening to the audio vids you'll find a female Quarian saying her last words to the camera, telling her son Jona to "be strong for daddy". I don't think many people thought much of it until 3 when you meet a male Quarian who was fatally injured. He last words to you are "tell Jona that his father made it to the homeworld", meaning Jona is now an orphan. You don't ever get to meet Jona so you don't know how old he is but it's still kinda painful and even more so knowing both his parents were killed pointlessly.

 

[c-no]

Thinking of detail, I can think of Morrowind (if lore outside the game counts). I honestly like how Vivec is given a sort of backstory that makes one wonder if drugs were literally involved in writing him. If that doesn't count, than nevermind.

One sort of detail I like is in Fallout 2. Playing as a stupid character leaves all dialogue out, meaning no one is really gonna understand what you say. That is averted in Klamath with Tor, the town idiot. Speaking to him as a stupid character is interesting because it shifts from Tor speaking broken pidgin English to rather normal English. Granted, both characters are speaking stupid but it's rather interesting to see that sort of detail with one character whose importance was just in one quest for a town that is only important in just getting some experience points and money.

Crysis 2 had a rather funny bit that I did like. Within the level where you kill Lockhart, there is a switch in the power station that allows you to turn a valve in a building where Lockhart is. Said valve releases helium which changes his voice. I could be wrong since its been a while but the voice itself remains even after you break down the door, only changing back when you throw him out the window.

 

[Jaimas]

Some of my favorites:

* In Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, in the intro sequence. Rinaldo comments on Leon Belmont coming to the Forest of Eternal Night without a weapon. Leon comments that he did bring one - just not his sword. This is easily missed by most, but if you check Leon's gear, he means it - you start the game with a Dagger subweapon.

* In Metro: 2033, Bourban, a huckster, makes a deal with Artyom to get to Dry Station in return for his AK-74. Bourbon winds up captured, and as such most think he reneges on the deal. Not true. If you turn around at the start of the Dry Station level, his AK-74 is right there for you.

* In Command and Conquer: Generals' expansion, Zero Hour, the GLA Terrorist unit can commandeer civilian vehicles. In General Tao's level, there is a civilian Nuclear Reactor truck. If you have him get into it, it will be able to use it as a superweapon-level nuclear bomb truck.

* In Risky's Revenge, the second Shantae game, Shantae can kill Wobble Bell, the chef's puppy, as part of an easter egg. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Shantae visits the netherworld. Wobble Bell's in the village of Lost Souls. Canonically, Shantae killed a puppy.

* In Etrian Odyssey III, the game expects you to run from or evade the Ancient Fish in Stratum II when Olympia tries to lead you to your death. If you kill them outright, you never have the encounter with the Ninja and Zodiac duo; both wind up going deeper in and dying in the depths of the labyrinth. If you spare the fish, the Ninja kid and his Zodiac sister realize they're out of their depth and retire.

I'll give more when not exhausted.

 

[Overcast]

* In Risky's Revenge, the second Shantae game, Shantae can kill Wobble Bell, the chef's puppy, as part of an easter egg. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Shantae visits the netherworld. Wobble Bell's in the village of Lost Souls. Canonically, Shantae killed a puppy.

I remember being shocked when I found I could kill that dog.

 

[NostalgiaJazzAdmirer]

Don't know if this counts but I like how realistically Link climbs on stairs in Wind Waker, and also how water drips when he exits the sea. May not be a big deal now but back then it was.

 

[The Fair Lady]

There are a lot of neat details in Haunting Ground.

• In the old mansion, there's a mummy sitting on a couch. If you examine it, leave the area, and then come back, the mummy will be in a different position. It moved.
• There's a stuffed wooly mammoth in one room that seems to follow you with its eyes. I still can't tell if it's an optical illusion or not.
• Near the beginning of the game, you can walk in on the maid Daniella cooking something in a pot. After she's left the kitchen, you can examine the pot, and Fiona will say that its contents look like angel hair pasta. Examining it a second time will make Fiona notice that it actually looks like hair. Later on, Daniella serves it to her for dinner, and Fiona ends up feeling sick. Why is this so creepy? Fiona's mother had blonde hair.
• You can tell your dog companion, Hewie, to shake by pressing down on the left analog stick. It doesn't serve a purpose other than being cute. In addition, you can also play fetch with him if you find the toy ball.
• If you kick a rocking chair when Hewie is near it, he will sit down and watch the chair go back and forth while wagging his tail.

 

[Epithet]

The flames in the eyes of the hollowed Undead soliders/prisoners in Dark Souls, representing the fragment of the first flame/Dark soul in every human. From normal camera view they just look like a generic glow, you have to zoom in to see them.

Most background scenery you see in Dark Souls, you will visit. For example, you can see blightown from the Firelink Shrine.

The game is rich in small details like that that all add up to the big picture. One of my favorites

 

[Clown Doll]

MGS2

The entire Metal Gear Solid series is full of these, but I was particularly impressed that in Metal Gear Solid 2, Solid Snake can catch a cold if he stays outside for too long.

Most background scenery you see in Dark Souls, you will visit. For example, you can see blightown from the Firelink Shrine.

Yeah, it builds a lot of consistency into the game world, as well as helps develop a sense of scale. I remember that Oddworld : Abe's Odyssey and Abe's Exodus did that too.

 

[Watcher]

The entire Metal Gear Solid series is full of these, but I was particularly impressed that in Metal Gear Solid 2, Solid Snake can catch a cold if he stays outside for too long.

There was even more than that.

In Metal Gear Solid 2. If the player chooses to start the game at the Big Shell section. The Colonel will tell the player "This is your first Sneaking mission". Wheras if you start it at the Tanker portion, when you get to the Big Shell he says it's your second.

It's a lot of subtle clues that lead people to the simulation theory for the game.

 

[Thane Krios]

It's not really a hidden attention to detail as it's a huge thing they advertised, but in Shadow of Mordor I just love it when the Orcs who you killed/killed you will remember you and have this snide one-liner upon seeing you again.

I also very much enjoy all the dialogue your squad will have in the Dragon Age series among each other. It's the only series other than Mass Effect (that I've seen anyways) where your squad will talk amongst each other and give you that little more into their lives.

 

[Jaimas]

There are a lot of neat details in Haunting Ground.

• In the old mansion, there's a mummy sitting on a couch. If you examine it, leave the area, and then come back, the mummy will be in a different position. It moved.
• There's a stuffed wooly mammoth in one room that seems to follow you with its eyes. I still can't tell if it's an optical illusion or not.
• Near the beginning of the game, you can walk in on the maid Daniella cooking something in a pot. After she's left the kitchen, you can examine the pot, and Fiona will say that its contents look like angel hair pasta. Examining it a second time will make Fiona notice that it actually looks like hair. Later on, Daniella serves it to her for dinner, and Fiona ends up feeling sick. Why is this so creepy? Fiona's mother had blonde hair.
• You can tell your dog companion, Hewie, to shake by pressing down on the left analog stick. It doesn't serve a purpose other than being cute. In addition, you can also play fetch with him if you find the toy ball.
• If you kick a rocking chair when Hewie is near it, he will sit down and watch the chair go back and forth while wagging his tail.

Daniella is the one who tries to rip your uterus out later, which she does because she's convinced she's not a real woman and is convinced that with the divine energy from the Azoth, she can become one. Daniella is fantastically creepy, and you see her acting completely unhinged when she encounters mirrors throughout the game, screaming about how she isn't complete. Ironically, a mirror features prominently in her death later on. Additionally, her maid outfit features a caduceus if you take a close look at the embroidery, suggesting her skill at alchemy you learn about later.

 

[The Fair Lady]

Daniella is the one who tries to rip your uterus out later, which she does because she's convinced she's not a real woman and is convinced that with the divine energy from the Azoth, she can become one. Daniella is fantastically creepy, and you see her acting completely unhinged when she encounters mirrors throughout the game, screaming about how she isn't complete. Ironically, a mirror features prominently in her death later on. Additionally, her maid outfit features a caduceus if you take a close look at the embroidery, suggesting her skill at alchemy you learn about later.

You'll also notice that her fingers are bloody, implying she bites or otherwise mutilates them because she hates her appearance. One of the many things I love about Daniella is how unstable she is; one minute she'll be chasing you, and the next you can find her cleaning. The first time you see it happening, if you talk to her, she says "Miss, it's cleaning time now." And if you go to talk to her again, Fiona even comments on how bizarre Daniella's change in attitude is.

 

[John Titor]

There are ice cubes in MGS2 that melt realistically. There's nothing special about them and they only appear in one location, Kojima added them because he wanted to see if it was possible.

In Wild Arms 3, there's an event near the end of the game that effects the world and everyone that you're able to talk to will say something unique (EVERYONE). At this point of the game, you could just go straight to the final boss but the game devs decided to add new text to something that's easily missable.