A fairly old trope in all kinds of storytelling media, video games included, is the sudden realization that the entire story was nothing but someone having a dream.
In some cases, this is a complete cop-out used to reset things to the status quo or otherwise invalidate the story. You’ve probably gotten upset by at least one story that does this.
10 Most Shocking Video Game Plot Twists
Twists are a massive part of any source of fiction and video games are no exception.
Games certainly have their share of simple “all a dream” moments, though some games do a little more with the concept.
Some let you in on the fact that it’s a dream from the start, while others manage to preserve the story’s impact despite it taking place within a dream.
10The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse
Quite The Dreamy Adventure
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse
That Mickey Mouse, he’s always getting into bizarre extradimensional shenanigans. Comes with being amajor mascot character, perhaps.
In The Magical Quest, Mickey’s looking for Pluto in the woods, only to go tumbling off a cliff into a magical realm.
One platformer adventure later, Mickey finds Pluto and rescues him from Emperor Pete, only to wake up in his bed.
The whole adventure was just a dream, and Mickey promptly shrugs it off to go play catch with his friends. Utterly unflappable, that Mickey Mouse.
9Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
Nightmares Of Past Traumas
Five Nights at Freddy’s 4
Rather than a grody pizzeria,Five Nights at Freddy’s 4sees a young boy being tormented by nightmarish animatronics in his own home.
However, as the game progresses, the intermission mini-games and several split-second details paint a different,more complex picture.
This entire situation appears to be some form of dying nightmare experienced by the young victim of the Bite of ‘83 (not to be confused with the Bite of ‘87).
After having Fredbear’s jaws snap shut on his head, he is being hunted by monstrous representations of the animatronics he feared in life while near death.
8The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
All Dreams Must End Eventually
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
At the beginning ofThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Link is seen adrift at sea after a shipwreck. After this, he seemingly washes up on Koholint Island, and things begin in earnest.
However, midway through the story, it’s revealed that the entirety of Koholint Island, as well as its residents, are all a product of the dreams of the Wind Fish.
When Link completes his quest to wake the Wind Fish, the island and its inhabitants disappear, and Link awakes still adrift at sea.
The Wind Fish flies overhead, so that part was real, but whether it was its dream or Link’s dream is a bit less so.
Retroactively Declared A Dream
Yakuza: Dead Souls
In the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise’s earlier days, there were a handful of non-canon spinoffs exploringbizarre what-if scenariosor creating historical reenactments.
One of the strangest of these spinoffs wasYakuza: Dead Souls, which showed Kiryu and company protecting Kamurocho from a horde of the undead.
While this spin-off originally had no bearing on the main series, it was referenced in an amusing way in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
While reminiscing in Kamurocho, Kiryu spots a poster for a zombie movie. This reminds him of a vivid dream of zombie battling he had once. This means Dead Souls has been officially canonized as a dream in the kind of silly way only Like a Dragon can.
6Prey (2017)
A Test Of Humanity
Throughout the story ofPrey, Morgan’s mission to purge the Typhon from Talos I is riddled with unusual circumstances that don’t quite seem to belong.
Characters ask Morgan leading questions and certain events seem to test their senses of morality and humanity.
Prey (2017) as a Teacher and Tester of Player Empathy
Prey is framed as a test of empathy not only for the player character but for the player themselves. Technology and fiction as a teacher of empathy though, can only go so far.
There was a reason for this: followingthe end of the story, “Morgan” wakes up in a lab overseen by Alex. It turns out you were never Morgan Yu, but a Typhon implanted with their memories and placed in a dreamlike simulation.
Depending on how you respond to the tests, “Morgan” either discovers their humanity and pledges to work with Alex, or reverts to being a mindless Typon and kills him.
5Rule Of Rose
Working Through Your Issues
Rule Of Rose
Rule of Rose’s setting has a very dreamlike quality in general, but it stops short of tipping its hand until the end.
Jennifer finds herself both in overtly supernatural situations, hounded by monsters, and more traditional torment at the hands of the Red Rose Aristocrats. Despite being a young adult, she can’t seem to deal with these cruel children.
This is because the entire story is actually Jennifer traversing her own memories of childhood. The monsters aren’t real, but the torment did all happen, albeit when she was a little girl at the orphanage.
The purpose of her journey is to work throughthe trauma she endured, particularly the trauma of witnessing the massacre perpetrated by the “Stray Dog” and her dog Brown’s death.
4Super Mario Bros. 2
The Land Was Called “Subcon” After All
Super Mario Bros. 2
The secondSuper Mario Bros.game (at least here in the United States) was set in a completely different realm from the first game.
Rather than the Mushroom Kingdom, it was set in the land of Subcon, which was being menaced by the evil king Wart.
If that name isn’t a dead giveaway, though, Subcon exists completely in the realm of dreams, with Mario waking up in his bed at the end of the game.
Though, if Subcon exists in dreams, then how did its residents like the Shy Guys and Ninjis manage to proliferate throughout the Mushroom Kingdom? That’s a thinker.
3Eternal Sonata
On Chopin’s Deathbed
Eternal Sonata
Early on in Eternal Sonata, the game’s world is implied to be a dream experienced by Frederic Chopin on his deathbed. Like, theactualreal-life composer, Frederic Francois Chopin.
The story doesn’t draw a lot of attention to this until the end, when Frederic begins to break down, questioning the dream’s reality. This leads to him ditching the party and becoming the game’s final boss.
If you defeat him, he peacefully passes away in his sleep in reality. If he defeats you, though, he wakes up in reality. However, after a moment, his eyes go dull and close again, implying he died anyway.
2Superliminal
A Dream Of A Dream
Superliminal
From the outset ofSuperliminal, you are informed by Dr. Glenn Pierce that you are, in fact, in a dream.
This dream has been deliberately engineered as a form of therapy, but as things progress, things begin to spiral out of control. The helper AI seemingly traps you in your dream, forcing you toview things from new perspectivesin order to escape.
As Dr. Pierce reveals at the end, though, this entire situation was set-up. He crafted this “dangerous” scenario to prod you into broadening your view and growing as a person, and you were never in any danger. It was all a dream, but it was also a little more than that.
1American McGee’s Alice
It’s A Metaphor
American McGee’s Alice
InAmerican McGee’s Alice, the titular Alice Liddel has been in a catatonic state in an asylum following the death of her family in a house fire.
It’s in this state that she’s led back down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, which has taken on a distorted state reminiscent of her mind.
Obviously, Wonderland and its residents are a metaphor for Alice’s damaged psyche, and by fixing things in this dream state, she gradually starts to regain her sanity.
After finally defeating the Queen of Hearts, Alice returns to the waking world, finally in control of her thoughts and able to leave the asylum.
10 Best Plot Twists In Cinema
The best plot twists are the ones you don’t see coming, and this list is full of the best plot twists in all Cinema.
