Rescuing the princess

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WickedLordJasper

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What with all the talk about the "rescuing the princess" trope, I was wondering: how many modern games are actually structured around rescuing a captured princess (or damsel in distress)? Back in the 8-bit era there were tons of games like that: Milon's Secret Castle, Adventure Island, Abadox, Dragon's Lair, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Wizards & Warriors, and of course Mario and Zelda come to mind. But I can't remember seeing a lot of modern games where the point of the game is to rescue the kidnapped princess. Which current-generation games still use that trope?
 

Trinket to Ride

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Even Nintendo shook this up a bit with Super Mario 3D World. Granted, you're still trying to rescue helpless females, but you have the option to do so as a princess. I wonder if they'll do any subversions in the upcoming Zelda...

The only thing that springs to mind is Castle Crashers, but that depends on your definition of "modern." And to be fair, I only played the first level. Fighting over the damsel at the end kind of put a bad taste in my mouth and the mouths of my friends.

I'm sure once this thread livens up a bit, I'll see a lot of "Oh yeah, I forgot about that one!," but right now that's all I can think of.
 

Asita

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What, like at all? Dishonored, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Bioshock 2, Borderlands 2, and Psychonauts all have elements of it in play. Dishonored has a good portion of the plot centering on rescuing the crown princess, which is far from surprising considering that the protagonist was the bodyguard for both her and her mother, framed for the latter's death, and is acting to dethrone a usurper. Deus Ex: Human Revolution similarly hits a point mid-game where rescue becomes a major plot point, and like in Dishonored, the protagonist's job was their protection, his failure to do so beforehand was arguably his greatest failing, and the victims were kidnapped because they were instrumental to the antagonists' plot, pioneers in their scientific field.

Bioshock 2 probably provides the best example of the lot, as rescue of your daughter figure is your principle motivation for the duration of the game, but it gets turned on its head during the final act and she ends up rescuing you instead of the other way around. Borderlands 2 has you rescue two characters - one male, one female - both because of their abilities and influence. Psychonauts...well that's a game about serial kidnapping. See in this picture? All but one of the characters in it (and two more that aren't in it) find themselves at the antagonist's mercy at some point in the game.
 

Mezahmay

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I enjoyed today's The Big Picture and Extra Punctuation too.

Moving on, Braid comes to mind. It's plot was, on the surface at least, a man rescuing a princess. It also did an excellent job subverting that trope in its ending sequence that married the game's real story to its mechanics in a way that prophetically mirrored Jonathan Blow's public image after Braid became popular.
 

WickedLordJasper

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Asita said:
Bioshock 2 probably provides the best example of the lot, as rescue of your daughter figure is your principle motivation for the duration of the game, but it gets turned on its head during the final act and she ends up rescuing you instead of the other way around.
Bioshock 2 is an interesting example. The protagonist is trying to re-unite with his little sister primarily because without her, he'll die. But of course, in a story-based game, you need a decent explanation for why the main character is going through all this trouble. You can't just use the old structure of "the villain has a princess, therefore they must be stopped".
 

WickedLordJasper

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Mezahmay said:
I enjoyed today's The Big Picture and Extra Punctuation too.

Moving on, Braid comes to mind. It's plot was, on the surface at least, a man rescuing a princess. It also did an excellent job subverting that trope in its ending sequence that married the game's real story to its mechanics in a way that prophetically mirrored Jonathan Blow's public image after Braid became popular.
You know, I'd always meant to play that game. Do you think it still holds up?
 

Mezahmay

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WickedLordJasper said:
Mezahmay said:
I enjoyed today's The Big Picture and Extra Punctuation too.

Moving on, Braid comes to mind. It's plot was, on the surface at least, a man rescuing a princess. It also did an excellent job subverting that trope in its ending sequence that married the game's real story to its mechanics in a way that prophetically mirrored Jonathan Blow's public image after Braid became popular.
You know, I'd always meant to play that game. Do you think it still holds up?
I think it's worth one, maybe two playthroughs if you miss some goodies. The ending sequence blew my mind the first time I played it. I played it a few years after it came out and didn't have it spoiled for me, so it was really fresh. There are some challenge puzzles I haven't gotten around to but I think I exhausted my capacity for replaying Braid any time soon.