Twisted moments in gaming

We all know that there are weird videogames out there that capture our attention for their sheer weirdness, such as Katamari Damacy or Silent Hill. Still, there are other games that we remember simply because they have some far-out moments that are so hard to forget.

We’ll be taking a look at five moments in gaming that show off how twisted videogames can get, and how they can either mess with your mind or freak you out entirely. To know more, click on “Read More”.

We all know that there are weird video games out there that capture our attention for their sheer weirdness, such as Katamari Damacy or Silent Hill. Still, there are other games that we remember simply because they have some far-out moments that are so hard to forget.

Needless to say, this article is about those twisted moments in gaming. We’ll be taking a look at five moments in gaming that show off how twisted video game developers and designers can get, and how they can either mess with your mind or freak you out entirely.

Note one thing however: this article is chock full of spoilers, so if you haven’t played a specific game in this list, you may want to look away.

Disorienting: Metal Gear Solid 2‘s Fission Mailed Scenario

Konami‘s Metal Gear Solid 2 isn’t very disturbing in a horrific sense, but one portion near the end of the game really throws people off when they first encounter it, as there’s absolutely no warning that it’s going to happen.

Near the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, the game takes a decidedly unconventional approach to keep you from finishing the game.

The game will essentially trick you into thinking that you should stop playing by doing two things: by talking to you, and by putting up a fake “Mission Failed” screen, creating the “Fission Mailed” scenario.

First, the game tries to trick you into stopping the game by literally telling you to turn off  the game console. This is actually addressed to Raiden, the game’s main character, but since you essentially are Raiden as you’re playing the game, the computer’s also talking to you.

Once you’ve gotten past that point where the game tells you to turn off the console, a later point in the game has you fighting a wave of easy enemies which you can dispatch with a sword. The only problem is, at certain points in the game the screen will mimic the Mission Failed screen, which makes you think you’ve lost.

In truth, your game is actually playing on the small screen on the upper left portion of your television. Continuing to play will disable the trick and allow you to continue normally.  It’s disturbing when you first see it, because you’re really wondering if the game’s talking to you, but after the initial shock, it loses its disruptive nature.

Mildly Disturbing: Persona 3‘s faux suicide

One of the PS2‘s recent RPG hits is Atlus‘ Persona 3, which tells the tale of a couple of high school students who fight demons by summoning powers of their own, which they call Persona.

Now, this sounds like standard RPG fare, but the twisted moments in this game come whenever you summon a Persona.

You see, instead of using a magic spell or summoning phrase to call out their persona, these kids mimic shooting themselves in the head with an item that looks like a gun, called an Evoker.

It’s supposed to release your Persona, which can then fight for you by casting spells or attacking, but for all intents and purposes, shooting yourself in the head with a gun-like object is not normal.

There’s not a lot of explanation given to this gimmicky summoning ritual, and if you’re a kid playing this, and your parents notice you watching the summoning ritual during a cut scene, expect to meet the school counselor to explain your finding entertainment in suicidal tendencies.

Disturbing: Puzzle Quest‘s Drong

The third disturbing moment in video games is less of a moment and more of a badly-chosen lifestyle by one innocent seeming ogre in D3 Publisher’s Puzzle Quest (PS3, Xbox 360,  Wii, PSP, DS, PC).

His name is Drong, and his story is very weird. Drong is essentially a gourmand who tasks the protagonist with finding him rare items to eat, such as diamonds and Wyvern’s tails.

By and large, he’s pretty harmless, and he makes for a great game companion, but the matter of picking him up is rather disturbing, seeing as you’re playing something that’s meant for kids.

During one of the quests he sends the protagonist off to, he asks you to bring him an ogre to eat. Now this is weird enough in itself, as you’re eating a dead person rather than an animal, but what really ups the freaky factor is that Drong himself is an ogre.

Yes folks, that sweet, unassuming ogre you’re taking along with you in your quest to rid the world of pure evil is a cannibal, and you helped him find his meal. You’d have to be pretty twisted to willingly accept his quest, but if you didn’t read the quest text, then we absolve you of your video game crime.

Twisted: Xenogears‘ Soylent System

Square Enix‘s Xenogears isn’t exactly a very twisted game. That honor probably goes elsewhere. There is, however, one important moment in Xenogears that is very twisted, mostly because it’s about the means by which one society controls another… and also because it’s about cannibalism, yet again.

In this case, Fei and Elly manage to infiltrate the Soylent System facilities in order to destroy it, and eventually find out that the Soylent System, much like the movie “Soylent Green”, uses people to make its final product.

Specifically, the Soylent System turns the test subjects of genetic experiments into food products, known as Wels. During the initial use of the Soylent System prior to the game’s beginning, the Soylent System also placed a drug in the food to make people obedient to the creators of the Soylent System.

In the game itself, the Soylent System was reactivated by bad guy Krelian to mutate people and turn them into “food” for the game’s final boss, Deus. While the game doesn’t specifically mention how long the Soylent System was in place, imagine thousands of people eating dead people and being drugged by their “benefactors” in order to keep them docile. It’s not a pretty thought.

What the Hell: Xenosaga’s Albedo Dismembers Himself

Finally, we come to our last  twisted moment for today. Now, this rates a “What the Hell?!” on the Freak-o-meter, not because its graphic, but because the absence of content actually forces your imagination to think of something more gruesome.

That, and censorship actually made the mental image even worse. Yes folks, that’s Namco-Bandai’s Xenosaga Episode 1 for you! Near the end of Xenosaga Episode 1, there’s a scene there where, to intimidate MOMO, the character Albedo cuts his arm and head off with a knife.

The trick here is that Albedo can regenerate his body, which makes it disturbing enough in and of itself. What makes this especially twisted is that there’s no knife to be seen in the North American version of the game.

The knife-cutting gets cut out of the NA version, which leaves viewers with only one possible alternative as to how Albedo removes his arm and head. Yes folks, in the North American version of Xenosaga, Albedo rips off his own arm and head to intimidate MOMO. Now that is twisted, even if you can regenerate your body parts.

Like we said, there are some twisted things going on in the minds of game developers. Still, they make certain games even more memorable if executed properly. I mean, these paragons of weirdness aren’t exactly being castigated for their weirdness, right?