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Terminal Illness
A terminal illness is a sickness or disease with no cure. Barring a miracle, the afflicted will die because of it.
Appears in 37 games
First appeared in Kana: Little Sister
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Firefly
Nocturnal beetle with luminescent abdominal organs.
Appears in 22 games
First appeared in Wayout
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Automation
Automation is the broad concept of assigning direction or goals to a game area (e.g. NPCs, units, rulers), so that they continue to perform appropriate action without intervention by the player.
Appears in 3 games
First appeared in Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei
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Re-Numbered Franchise
Games usually have numbered sequels, like Final Fantasy I through XIII, but some series like to stop numbering their sequels, then number them over again. This is the concept of games that had a numbered series, then stopped, then got numbered again.
Appears in 16 games
First appeared in Street Fighter Alpha 2
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Southern American Accent
When a character's accent hails from the Southern United States. Ranges from the languid drawl of the gentleman to the rustic vernacular of the hillbilly.
Appears in 45 games
First appeared in Mad Dog McCree
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Steam Cloud
Steam Cloud is a built in feature in some Steam games, it synchronizes game saves, settings and other data to the internet for access from any computer that has Steam installed.
Appears in 948 games
First appeared in Space Ace
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Porcupine
Not a hedgehog!
Appears in 12 games
First appeared in Chew Man Fu
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Skull Helmets
This concept is featured in games that have a character wearing a helmet or mask with a skull graphic or picture on it, or else a helmet styled to resemble a skull. This does not pertain to characters who actually have skulls for heads.
Appears in 7 games
First appeared in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
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SMART
SMART is dynamic movement system in Brink, which allows for the fluid navigation over objects in the environment.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Brink
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Protest
A public declaration of disapproval, often an excuse for dissidents to cause riots and damage public property.
Appears in 9 games
First appeared in SimCity 3000
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Riot
When many disgruntled people choose to go haywire on the system. Usually involves torches and pitchforks.
Appears in 14 games
First appeared in SimCity 2000
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Iron Giant
Iron Giants are recurring monsters in the Final Fantasy franchise. They are clad in heavy armor and rely solely on physical attacks.
Appears in 10 games
First appeared in Final Fantasy II
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Elevators That Mask Loading Times
Long elevator rides meant to hide the game loading.
Appears in 22 games
First appeared in System Shock
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Nāga
Serpentine deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
Appears in 28 games
First appeared in Cleopatra no Ma Takara
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Revolving Platforms
Platforms that revolve.
Appears in 9 games
First appeared in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
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Logo Box Art
Whether it's for minimalism or a lack of artistic effort a lot of games use only the games logo as it's boxart. Examples would include all Final Fantasy's after VII in PAL and Japanese territories, Gran Turismo 3, Portal, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Metal Gear Solid and more!
Appears in 36 games
First appeared in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
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Faux Credits
A game has "faux credits" when the credits start rolling, making the player think the game is over but then suddenly get interrupted to continue the game.
Appears in 20 games
First appeared in Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage
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Lucario
Generation IV Fighting/Steel type Pokemon and the evolve form of Riolu.
Appears in 24 games
First appeared in Pokémon Battle Revolution
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Faux East Asia
A fictional location in video games inspired by or based on a real location from Far East Asia such as China, Korea, Japan or Vietnam.
Appears in 38 games
First appeared in Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II
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Inner-Thoughts World
Whenever a game prompts the player to enter a character's mind, or a world where a character's thoughts are shown through the level design.
Appears in 14 games
First appeared in Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
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False Death
When a character appears to have died a horrible death, but is then eventually revealed to have somehow survived or was never really dead to begin with, often serving as a plot-twist.
Appears in 45 games
First appeared in Lufia & the Fortress of Doom
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Hero Worship
Non-player characters in video games will often submit to hero worship of the player's character in order for the game to make the player feel truly important. It is commonly-used in the Fable and Mass Effect franchises.
Appears in 13 games
First appeared in Final Fantasy VII
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Modern Day Mythology
This is the concept of a figure from ancient mythology being recast into modern times. Sometimes they are meant to resemble their classic incarnations, while other times they completely change to match the times.
Appears in 13 games
First appeared in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Yoshi
A bipedal dinosaur species known for its great appetite and egg-laying abilities.
Appears in 38 games
First appeared in Super Mario World
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Roc
Enormous legendary bird(s) of prey.
Appears in 22 games
First appeared in Monster in My Pocket
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Grapple Tying
A lot of games have grappling hooks, but only a few take it to the next level and allow you to grapple two things at once and tie them together. This maneuver makes no sense in reality, but makes for some devastatingly silly gameplay moments.
Appears in 6 games
First appeared in Rocket Jockey
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Drive-By Intro
When a game opens with a ride in a vehicle or a camera fly-by, which serves to give the player a peek at some places of interest in the game world, establish elements of the story, or both.
Appears in 26 games
First appeared in Under Fire
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Surface Projected Information
Popularized by Splinter Cell: Conviction during its development, this technique involves projecting information, such as objectives and controls, onto the surfaces of a virtual environment.
Appears in 2 games
First appeared in Heavy Rain
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Klixen
Klixen are beetle-like creatures that are native to the Krogan homeworld, Tuchanka. They are capable of breathing fire, and upon death, they explode.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Mass Effect 2
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Thresher Maw
Thresher Maws are very large, wormlike creatures that live underground in the Mass Effect universe. They spit toxic acid at their prey and are considered highly dangerous.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Mass Effect
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Follow
Common in many MMORPGs, a follow command allows the player character to follow another automatically. Useful for grabbing a drink, a smoke, or bathroom break!
Appears in 10 games
First appeared in Sorcerian
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Multi-Phase Boss
A Multi-Phase Boss is a boss that undergoes a significant and instantaneous change in abilities, attack speed, and/or attack pattern during the fight. These bosses do not fully regain health between forms and appearance changes are usually minimal, if at all.
Appears in 97 games
First appeared in The Legend of Zelda
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Prestige Points
Would an experience point by any other name level up your character as sweet?
Appears in 5 games
First appeared in Dead Rising
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Gun Smoke
The smoke that rises out the barrel of a gun.
Appears in 37 games
First appeared in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
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Nug
Nugs are large omnivorous creatures resembling a cross between a rabbit and a pig. They are typically used for food, but can also be kept as pets.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
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Gas Bag
Gas Bags are a species of benign creatures found on Eden Prime. They appear to release a toxic cloud of gas upon death.
First appeared in Mass Effect
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Pyjak
Pyjaks are monkeylike creatures. They tend to rapidly infest any ecosystem they are exposed to, annoying the populace of those worlds to no end.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Mass Effect 2
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Rakghoul
Rakghouls are hideous mutant creatures that populate the undercity slums of Taris. They often hunt in packs.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
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Varren
Varren are omnivorous reptilian creatures that behave in similar fashion to dogs. They are often used as attack animals by Krogan and Batarians.
Appears in 1 games
First appeared in Mass Effect 2
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Bullet Sponge
A bullet sponge refers to a non-player character or object that takes an unusually large number of bullets or other projectile to destroy (e.g. Tank in Left 4 Dead franchise).
Appears in 17 games
First appeared in Perfect Dark Zero
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Lamia
In greek mythology, a vampiric snake woman. Or in many other cases, vampiric snake women.
Appears in 23 games
First appeared in Final Fantasy II
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Claydol
Claydol is a Ground and Psychic type Pokémon that evolves from Baltoy.
Appears in 26 games
First appeared in Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
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Falling Blocks
Falling blocks appear in many games.
Appears in 100 games
First appeared in Tetris
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In-Game E-Mail
Sending or receiving fake email inside a game.
Appears in 108 games
First appeared in Brain Breaker
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