It’s often said that everyone is the protagonist of their own life’s story. That’s true enough here in the real world, but in the realm of fiction, where stories can be larger than life, it sometimes takes more than one protagonist to handle everything.
In many video games, and especially in sequels, an unfolding story may simply be too large for one protagonist to handle all on their lonesome, which is why they share duty with another protagonist.
10 Best Games Where You Fight A Former Protagonist
Oh, how the turn tables…
This can manifest in a few different ways: the two protagonists could be working directly with each other and seeing each other regularly, they could be separated by a long distance, or they could be working towards similar ends without even knowing the other exists.
The point is that both protagonists maintain roughly equal billing; it’s both of their stories, not just one. With that in mind, these are the games that went about it the best.
We’re specifically sticking to games with just two protagonists for this one.
10Yakuza 0
Two Wild And Crazy Guys
For the vast majority of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, the de facto protagonist has been, of course, Kazuma Kiryu. He’sshared the spotlight a few timesin the middle games, but it’s still mostly been Kiryu’s story.
InYakuza 0, though, Kiryu shares his protagonist role with another Yakuza mainstay, Goro Majima, as we see both of them in the 80s well before their respective heydays.
What’s interesting about Yakuza 0’s story is that it goes to great lengths to prevent Kiryu and Majima from actually meeting each other. It’s a prequel, after all, and the two of them never had any discussions about this stuff in Yakuza 1 and onward, so they literallycouldn’thave met.
This also goes a long way toward keeping the events of Yakuza 0 largely self-contained, which in turn makes it a great jumping-off point for new entrants to the series. Like many others, it was my first Yakuza game, and it helped me understand why people love both Kiryu and Majima so much.
9Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Just Missed Each Other
Resident Evil 2
The originalResident Evil 2used a gameplay mechanic called “zapping,” wherein actions you took on your first playthrough with one character would affect the other character’s story in a second playthrough. It was a neat little way to encourage you to play both Leon and Claire’s stories.
The 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake uses a similar, slightly less complex system to get you to play as both of its protagonists.
The remake uses a scenario system which tweaks how one character’s story unfolds slightly depending on whether you’ve already done the other character’s story. For the most part, the second-run scenarios are just slightly shorter and remix item placements a bit.
You still have to play both, though, because you’re able to’t get the game’s true ending until you’ve seen both sides of the story.
Incidentally, before anyone brings it up, I know this game technically has three protagonists, as you play as Ada in Leon’s story. One, this only happens in a single section, and two, Ada is definitelynota protagonist in the broader scope of the story.
8Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts has dabbled a few times with the idea of multiple protagonists. The first time was in Chain of Memories, where you got to play Riku’s story after finishing Sora’s, then in Birth By Sleep, where you play through Aqua, Terra, and Ventus’ stories sequentially.
The best example of dual protagonists specifically, though, was definitely inKingdom Hearts 3D, where you’re constantly swapping back and forth between Sora and Riku.
Due to the… mildly abstract nature of dreams in this game, you’re regularly “dropping” between Sora and Riku, with a meter beneath your health constantly ticking down.
As the meter can be hastened by certain abilities and ailments, it’s more than possible to get dropped in the middle of a boss fight. Technically, you could swap back right away, but the game encourages you to just press forward to earn points for power-ups after each drop.
It’s a little confusing at first, both gameplay and story-wise, but it comes together pretty cohesively by the end. The only thing that really irked me was that you can only find certain Dream Eater portals in either Sora or Riku’siterations of particular worlds.
7Devil May Cry 4
All In The Family
Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4was a bit controversial when it first came out because Dante was, at least seemingly, not the protagonist of this one. Rather, top billing was given to newcomer Nero, which rubbed some fans the wrong way.
Thankfully, Dante is still in the mix, both from a story and gameplay perspective, he just doesn’t reach full prominence until the back half of the game.
Nero is the protagonist for the first half of the game, driving his new combat mechanics into you as he follows Dante’s trail through the countryside. Afterward, we switch to Dante for the other half as he retraces Nero’s steps back to Fortuna.
Technically, Dante is an antagonist for a chunk of Nero’s story, but that’s only because he doesn’t know The Order’s leader is all hopped up on demon juice.
As someone who got into Devil May Cry fairly late, Devil May Cry 4 was actually my first game in the series. It was nice to have Nero’s relatively simpler mechanics as a frame of reference before moving onto Dante’s more complex style-switching stuff. I wonder if that was the intent or not.
6Alan Wake 2
One In The Light, One In The Dark
Alan Wake 2
The original Alan Wake is exclusively the story of its titular protagonist. However, due tothe metaphysical rules that govern the series’ narrative, we can’t really tell a story exclusively about Alan while he’s still trapped in the Dark Place, at least without experiencing the Dark Presence’s full capabilities.
This is why, inAlan Wake 2, Alan shared his top billing with FBI agent Saga Anderson.
It’s deliberately unclear how Alan and Saga’s stories occur relative to one another; time is a bit wonky in the Dark Place, after all. Even then, Alan’s actions in piecing his narrative together do have a tangible impact on Saga’s investigation, giving her clues on where to go and what to do next.
Most of their early interactions are confined to brief flashes in weakened boundaries between reality and the Dark Place, though, so that helps keep the story obfuscated.
I particularly liked how similar, yet distinct Alan and Saga’s unique mechanics are, particularly Alan’s Writer’s Room and Saga’s Mind Place. They both maintain boards of ideas and people, but Saga’s is only for investigation purposes, whereas Alan’s directly affects the world of the Dark Place.
5A Way Out
You Knew It Was Gonna Be Here
Yeah, there was no way we were going to have a list about dual protagonists without at least one entry from Hazelight Studios. Two-for-one specials is its bread and butter, after all. Any of their games would fit the bill, but if we had to pick one, it’d beA Way Out.
The alliance between A Way Out’s protagonists, Leo and Vincent, is largely one of convenience. Leo was already planning a breakout and Vincent wanted to hitch a ride. They’re only working together because doing so makes the process easier, and they don’t really have any intention of staying allied long-term.
11 Best Couch Co-op Games With A Story Mode
Story campaigns aren’t only for solo players, plenty of games let you take the journey with a friend.
This temporary alliance, along with the game’s co-op design, is what gives its ultimate climax sufficiently heavy weight. A game with dual protagonists doesn’t necessarily have to have both of them on the same side of a conflict.
When I played A Way Out with a friend, we actually spent a good while debating on who should take the ultimate ending, because we weren’t sure which protagonist we liked more.
4Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
A Pair Of Arachnids
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man doesn’t usually do sidekicks or partners. Kinda clashes with the whole “great responsibility” thing he’s into. But after Miles got a set of similar powers in the first Marvel’s Spider-Man and proved himself in his solo game, he didn’t really have a choice but to become a duo act inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Much like in the previous game, Spider-Man 2 is a view of both Peter’s continuous journey of understanding of his role as Manhattan’s protector, as well as Miles’ own perspective of growing as a relatively fresh super-hero.
While they work together directly for a large portion of the game, you’re usually only controlling one at a time, swapping as the story demands or at will when between major story beats.
Having two different Spider-Men to follow concurrently was interesting to me from both the aforementioned story perspective and a gameplay perspective. As much as I love getting into Symbiote nonsense with Peter, Miles’ electrical and stealth abilities always ensure there’s still a neat wrinkle to look forward to.
Two Sides, One Common Enemy
In the original Halo, the Covenant is portrayed as a largely amorphous organization. You have a broad idea of their internal goals and philosophies, but only what the game deigns to tell you.Halo 2, on the other hand, gave us a closer glimpse at what makes them tick, specifically throughits parallel protagonist, the Arbiter.
While Master Chief is fighting off a fresh Covenant invasion on Earth, the Arbiter is engaged with quelling an internal rebellion and recovering vital assets.
He’s still a Covenant soldier at first, but as the battle shifts to the newly-discovered second Halo, and he meets with the Chief, the Arbiter is forced to reconcile the fact that pretty much his entire system of belief is built on a lie.
I always thought it was a bit of a clever stroke how, in the original Halo, Master Chief’s shield system is largely based on the one the Covenant Elites used. This way, when playing as the Arbiter in Halo 2, you have the same health and shield system again, because he himself is an Elite.
2Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Across Time And Space
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
As tiresome as multiversal stories have become in recent years, they do still present some interesting opportunities for stories and concepts. For example, inRatchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Ratchet gets to meet Rivet, who is not only his own dimensional counterpart, but literally one ofthe only other Lombaxes he’s ever gotten to meet.
Ratchet and Rivet play largely the same, and even share an account with Ms. Zurkon for passing weapons and upgrades back and forth. Rather than gameplay, it’s interesting to see the two of them interacting with Kit and Clank, respectively.
Ratchet, having gone through a similar arc with Clank, already has a good idea of what Kit is capable of and tries to encourage her. Rivet, meanwhile, is deeply distrustful of Clank at first due to her own past traumas, but gradually warms up to him in a manner mirroring Ratchet.
I thought it was kind of cute seeing Ratchet and Rivet meet for the first time; it was almost like seeing a couple of long-lost siblings being reunited. Yes, I consider them siblings, because they are technically the same person, so the other option would be weird.
1American Arcadia
A Runner And A Leaker
American Arcadia
Any good television production is made up not just of actors, but a whole litany of staff behind the camera. It takes people working on both sides of the lens to make the whole come out properly. This is also true for reality TV, and apparently, that also applies to reality TV that the stars don’t actually know about.
In American Arcadia, our first protagonist is Trevor, a seemingly normal dude living in the retro-future city of Arcadia. When he’s contacted by our second protagonist, Angela, though, he’s quickly made aware that his entire life and, indeed, the whole city is one big reality program, Truman Show-style.
Of course, he can’t escape such a massive production alone, soAngela needs to hack camerasand computers from behind the scenes to clear a safe path for him.
I always enjoyed the moments when the perspective shifted from platforming and sneaking as Trevor to puzzle-y stuff as Angela. Besides being a nice change of pace, it also shows you the exact extent to which the citizenry of Arcadia have their lives controlled, which makes for nice set dressing.
10 Best Games Where You Play As Some Guy
From Gothic to Dead Space, these games will steal your heart with their unforgettable everyman protagonists.
