Silly "artistic interpretations" of game mechanics

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I had the idea for this thread when I was thinking about the silly level-up mechanics in Final Fantasy II. For those unfamiliar with the game, it is a party-based JRPG with "stat grinding"; a mechanic whereby a skill increases the more you use it.

Final Fantasy II was funny in that the only to increase your health was by taking damage. Combine this with the fact that the best way to increase your attack and magic stats was to attack and you had a system where the best way to level grind was to attack your own characters.

I was joking around about it with a friend when the thought occurred to me; maybe it was intentional! Maybe the developers were trying to say that before you can face your enemies... you must first face yourself.

Deep. So ahead of its time.

So, anyone else got any weird and silly interpretations of game mechanics? I imagine there are some silly and funny ways to interpret story elements, too, if you wanna go down that road.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

You need to be face level 8 to wear the yellow Bruce Lee "suit".

As in, you need to be handsome and persuasive enough(basically, Frank Sinatra's level of charisma in how long it takes to get there) so that you can wear a costume that is the most embarrassing and campy thing in the entire game.

 

[Aerosteam]

There is a reason why save files get corrupted or lost.[HEADING=1]You can't save them all.[/HEADING][small]I know it isn't really a game mechanic, but just let me have this.[/small]

 

[ToastiestZombie]

In Super Mario Bros 1 the central mechanic is jumping. This is how you progress and how you defeat enemies but I think the most interesting part of this mechanic is the fact that it can also be used to jump into a fire-pit or straight onto a spiky enemy. This shows the futility of life and how at any moment the wrong move can take everything from you. Bravo, Nintendo, bravo.

 

[Tanis]

You see, my mans and wymans.
In FF12 you got this mechanic, that if you do the math, can have the game play itself.

Pre-Destiny, that what it is.

It's like the game is saying that, much like the seemingly endless Waltz of War.
That War, Peace, Revolution.
It's all predestine by some one or something you can't really see.

Even the name 'gambit system' gives a clue to the futilely of life.
Because there's this outside force directing you, choosing not just 'if' but how you live or you die; how you rise or you fall.

By having the gambit system in place, FF12 is reenforcing that nothing is in your hands.
That no matter how much 'freedom' you think you has, it's really just slaving that you're too limited to realize.

 

[gargantual]

The Sorrow boss fight from Metal Gear Solid 3

Psycho Mantis boss fight from Metal Gear Solid.

Maeda's gun from Parasite Eve

both silly but they certainly made their points.

 

[Something Amyss]

You need to be face level 8 to wear the yellow Bruce Lee "suit".

As in, you need to be handsome and persuasive enough(basically, Frank Sinatra's level of charisma in how long it takes to get there) so that you can wear a costume that is the most embarrassing and campy thing in the entire game.

I just assumed you needed to be so intimidating to pull off something that goofy.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

In the Elder Scrolls Oblivion you levelled up your acrobatics in two ways, jumping or taking fall damage. Which meant that players like my friend would bunnyhop everywhere they go as they went from one place to another and In my case I preffered to regularly throw myself down flights of stairs and mountainsides while using healing spells.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The COD franchise is remarkably deep in this respect. Scripted character deaths help players to come to terms with grief and loss - even with their own mortality - whilst at the same time the regenerating health mechanic subtly imprints upon the player the reassuring knowledge that time heals all wounds. This opens players up to the concepts of life, death and loss and simultaneously provides them the coping mechanism for coming to terms with these very concepts.

True story.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Useful loot, food and items found in rubbish bins and trash cans is symbolic of the unsustainable lifestyle of wastefulness and decadence so prevalent in our society.

Items we routinely discard as mere trash, and perfectly edible food we discard on a mere whim, can be treasure to the less fortunate among us.

 

[McMullen]

Using Detect Life to level up repeatedly in Skyrim so you can make the Alteration skill legendary and transfer the perks to other skills. This works because the spell does more than just show you where people are, it establishes a connection between their soul and yours, and their knowledge leaks to you through that connection.

Of course, that doesn't explain why Telekinesis is so much more efficient. Maybe by bending the laws of the universe, you learn the knowledge in a similar way, but directly from the universe itself, or whatever those creatures are that basically work as the laws of the universe in TES mythology.