best tutorial-ish levels ever?

[stevesan]

What game really made learning the mechanics enjoyable? There are a ton of tutorial levels that really suck ass (*cough* Assassin's Creed *cough*), and some that work really well. And some that get the job done, but you hope they're over ASAP.

Personally, I thought "You have to burn the rope" was a very well-integrated tutorial. It wasn't sequential, so if you missed something, you could just walk back and see what it said. I think these "road sign" tutorials are a ton better than tutorials where you either read a sequence of text or listen to some one talk. Rope sure isn't the first game with these kinda tutorials. Mario and Zelda usually used these.

FPSs and RTSs tend to go the narrated-tutorial route. Altho, good RTSs do the "road sign" thing with tool tips - I like these too.

Whaddya think?

 

[Elurindel]

Jack, from Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. He was the greatest tutorial ever. Cool and kickass, and didn't give a crap about anybody, but willing to spend just enough time to stop you from swallowing your own fists.

 

[LV Solace]

I generally skip tutorials or mindlessly go through them, because I'm the boring gamer that actually reads the entirety of the little guide books, unless of cource I'm bore or I've played one in the series.

But No more heros one stood out for me, it was actually fun, again for me, however it covered everything, and that leaves things to be desired, like some bonuses for screwing around.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Tomb Raider is pretty good; but Opposing Forces is the best IMHO.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Tomb Raider is pretty good; but Opposing Forces is the best IMHO.

Seconded, that was so good it didn't even feel like a tutorial.

 

[cheesemaster]

When you really think about it, basically all of Portal up until the fire was a long tutorial. Which is pretty interesting when you think about it.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Sly 3 And The original R&C games (not Deadlocked) had good intros. But I still discredit Sly with dialogue aimed at 7 year olds.

 

[Jumplion]

Tutorials in anygame that take place in the real action.

It puts you in one of the direct levels, and not a short one, a regular level and tells you along the way which button does what.

 

[tino1498]

i liked COD4's

 

[Cousin_IT]

Call of Duty 2's is one that springs to my mind. Rushed last minute training on the frontline before you set off to attack the Germans.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Condemned 2 was pretty fun with all the bum fighting.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Kingdom of Loathing.

You have to go to "Mt. Noob" and visit this bird that lives there called the "Toot Oriole".

Tutorials in anygame that take place in the real action.

It puts you in one of the direct levels, and not a short one, a regular level and tells you along the way which button does what.

Full Spectrum Warriors sequel is a perfect example of why that isn't always a good idea.

 

[Mstrswrd]

You, know, I don't care what Yahtzee said. I enjoyed the DMC4 tutorial. So, that one.

 

[ThaBenMan]

Half-Life 2 was good - the guard telling you to pick up the can, playing "catch" with Dog.

Mass Effect, I love the game, but it was pretty terrible when it came to teaching you how to do stuff.

 

[Katana314]

Agree about HL2; when it needs to show you a new mechanic, it shows it to you in a way that makes sense. It's like learning by doing, instead of saying "OK, let's STOP and show you how to do such-and-such..." Usually they'll demonstrate how something is useful, without the player needing to do anything himself, then present a situation where it's easy to do, then leave it to you.

 

[Sasha Janre]

I liked that .. learner's hall or whatever in FF7, that was pretty hilarious. Cloud's tutorials were probably the funniest ones I've gone through.
-Hmm .. probably KH2, since Roxas' story was pretty much the tutorial for the beginning of the game.
-Dirge of Cerberus had a pretty nifty one as it was a Turks Training Facility simulation.

 

[arcanejay]

Best Tutorials:

Psychonauts

Bioshock

Portal (which is a parody of the Half Life 1 tutorial)

Overlord (the sheep!)

Planescape:Torment (talking skull!)

 

[Frosk]

Gears of War

A room full of different size blocks to practice cover techniques on and you can skip it if you want to.

 

[Eikoandmog]

I liked that .. learner's hall or whatever in FF7, that was pretty hilarious. Cloud's tutorials were probably the funniest ones I've gone through.
-Hmm .. probably KH2, since Roxas' story was pretty much the tutorial for the beginning of the game.
-Dirge of Cerberus had a pretty nifty one as it was a Turks Training Facility simulation.

Please tell me you are joking. A game that has a tutorial/introduction (or whatever you kids are calling the beginning of RPGs nowadays) that lasts for well over an hour is not in good form to me. I found myself yelling at my TV screen "Can we please just start the game already?" When we were finally shown Sora and the title of the game pops up, I found myself cynically replying "No freaking shit, I've been playing this for nearly 2 hours now but thank you very much for informing me of what game I am playing, for a second there, I thought I was playing God of War".

I do however agree with the tutorial room in FF7, that was well done.