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Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
Instrumental music, often electronic, that does not follow conventional music structures, instead using various sounds to create a mood. Ambient music can evoke many different feelings in the listener, from tranquility to creeping dread.
An often used plot device where the main character wakes up and has lost all their memories. The game usually centers around getting your memory back or uncovering the events that lead to your confusion.
Games that let you choose the path you take through the story-line.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
The concept of purchasing media and having it delivered over the internet. No physical representation of this content is given, and although the content resides on the user's hard drive they are typically granted a license to the product, rather than ownership of it.
First-Person is a vantage point that attempts to simulate looking through a game character's eyes. It is most commonly found in first-person shooters, racing games, and visual novels, and to a lesser extent in other genres, such as RPGs, 3D platformers, and adventure games.
An interesting revelation. While some games will only accept a START button press, many other games aren't as strict.
These spooky entities are the spirits of the dead, returned from beyond their graves for generally sinister purposes. There's generally about even odds whether a particular ghost will be helpful or malevolent towards the living, but some ghosts just want to be left alone entirely.
Horror games influenced predominantly by the look, feel, and themes of Japanese horror cinema, or non-horror games that allude to the cultural horror aesthetic. J-Horror, or psychological horror, is sometimes classified as a sub-genre of survival horror.
The act of killing a child is considered taboo in most games. There are, however, some games that allow this breed of tomfoolery.
Multiple endings is a term used to describe different outcomes or conclusions to a game based on the previous actions of the player.
Sometimes one playable character just isn't enough.
No HUD games are ones that either lack a Heads Up Display, or find a way to integrate it into the game environment. Many games do this to add a sense of immersion or artistic quality to their games, or to reduce screen clutter.
Characters controlled by the game for players to interact with, as opposed to player characters which are controlled by whomever is playing the game.
A concept where the game must be restarted if you are killed. It is a mechanic found in most arcade games, but the term is usually used in reference to the RPG genre where the mechanic is less common, particularly "roguelike" games as well as strategy games such as Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics where characters die if they are defeated in battle. Often used as a significant plot device.
Any character you can control in a game is a Player Character (PC), as opposed to a non-player character (NPC), which is a character that can only be controlled by the game.
In a number of games, characters often talk about friendship and the importance of friends, some sacrificing themselves for one another.
Scary Children in scary games. Some speak, some don't but they all stare.
A two-dimensional image or animation overlaid into a scene. The foundation of early 2D games, making up everything from props to the player-controlled character.
Survival is a concept that signifies that the player's life is constantly in jeopardy.
Popularized by franchises such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, these games typically involve a strong implication of danger, vulnerable protagonists, and disturbing monsters.
A sub-genre of adventure games, visual novels are a form of interactive fiction that usually have very little in terms of gameplay but often focus more on extensive storytelling, character interactions, decision-making and branching narratives.
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