Xenoblade 1 has a LOT of really fun details, I feel like I’m always finding new ones. Most of the ones besides that I know, though, have spoilers for most/all of the game, so I’ll tag the rest.
Specifically, the intro cutscene where you watch the Bionis and the Mechonis actually has subtle implications right from the start that the Bionis was the aggressor in that original fight; the Meyneth/The Mechonis is fighting way more defensively, while Zanza/The Bionis is much more aggressive. In the game proper, there’s actually at least one unnamed npc that goes through their own little character arc separate from anyone actually named; at first they mention they want to open up a shop some day, then eventually they move to Colony 6 after a certain story trigger, then towards the end of the game they do actually open up a shop there. Lastly, the Monado III actually behaves uniquely in a few cutscenes on ng+, since it doesn’t have a de-activated stance like the Monado and Monado II (though I don’t recall exactly how). Plus, every time anyone leans a new ability from progressing in the story, like Shulk learning a new Monado Art, or Melia’s Mind Blast, they actually use it in that cutscene that unlocks it (Except I think for Monado Purge, but Alvis might use it instead), and its use in battle reflects the situation in the cutscene the character is using it for (Like Mind Blast/Monado Purge being used against Telethia to lock down their mind reading)
As for non xeno details, I’ve always loved how in Guilty Gear, Johnny’s move Ensenga has him do a flaming sword slash, but if you move frame by frame you can actually see that he throws a molotov cocktail, and he cuts that in half shortly after letting go, because he doesn’t actually know how to use fire magic (Or any magic? idr, GG lore is… a lot)
pillars of eternity 2 has a save transfer from pillars 1 feature, but more importantly has a submenu where you can go in and meticulously choose the outcome of every single possible quest from 1 that could carry over, including some options that got dummied out of the first game
House Flipper does an interesting thing I’ve seen other games do, which is warn ahead for phobias, and having options to disable them. In this case, you can turn cockroaches into broken glass.
9 Years of Shadow is a metroidvania with an Armor Changing mechanic. Though rather than having a menu or having to fiddle around, you can do a quick switch with the shoulders buttons, or the game automatically changes for you when you enter a dangerous area. So if you’re suddenly into a blazing hot place, you automatically change to the Phoenix armor.
RoboQuest does an interesting thing with its weapon system. You can only carry 2 guns, as is the norm in so many FPS nowadays, but the trick here is that the weapon you currently have holstered will slowly reload or cool down automatically. Meaning you can pull one out, unload the mag or overload the battery, then swap to the other and unload as well, then back again, in a constant flow of havoc.
I love that the tutorial is also the prologue to the story, it shows Vanilla hanging out which a character that appears way later down in the story but gets talked about a lot during it as being someone that went missing
It sets up that there’s something going on that causes both of them to want to stowaway in a ship to run away from everything
I love that the first set of choices you make does reward you if you remember which ones you chose later down the line
I love that there are reasons to want to take your time but also if you do try to rush the early game you end up having a more… predictable bit of side-content later on
I like that the game keeps track of how you’ve been doing things and how you’ve been dressing day to day to change what title you are “known” as, if you don’t eat for too long it affects that, if you play music a lot it affects that, doing combat stuff, treasure hunting
I love the sheer amount of side stuff to do in that game, what really made me love it the first time I played it was that I could just stand where I parked my trotmobile and play the harmonica for some pocket change, and that’s a feeling no other game really made me feel honestly
Being able to haul cargo for money, taxi people for money
The stock market being a thing in the game that gives you some income but that you can also manipulate by helping people early on so you have more options or helping the public transit industry
When I still had my PS2 I was too entranced by the side stuff so I hadn’t finished the story before it got stolen, so that coupled with the fact that the game doesn’t really emulate that well means I never finished the game proper, but the amount and quality and just how interesting the side stuff is has kept it up there as one of my favorite games to this day
Been playing the Rift of the Necrodancer demo and having a great time of it. Some of this is stuff that my wife pointed out to me, but is definitely a cool detail.
The way this game works is that it’s a pretty standard 3-track rhythm game where notes come down the tracks for you to hit. The twist is that they are all represented by monster/enemy types from the Crypt of the Necrodancer dungeon-crawler games. So each of them have different movement types (slimes, bats, zombies, wyrms, etc.) and some of them will have modifications that change how you hit them (i.e. a skeleton by itself is just hitting it on the beat; a skeleton holding a shield turns into an eighth note/half-beat because you need a half-beat for the shield and another to kill the skeleton).
All this to say. Monsters that are on the beat have one type of shadow, monsters that are off-beat have a different shape (diamond for eighth-note, star for sixteenth). Because hitting the shield-skeletons throws them off-beat, their shadow will change type when you’ve disarmed them. Fully unnecessary but such a neat lil detail that consistently follows the game’s outlined rules.
in Romancing Saga if you run into an enemy instead of walk it breaks your formation - they took this out in RS2’s remake because running in games is normal now. but now if you sprint too close to an enemy they’ll turn around and face you so you can’t ambush them
as a freak about all of these games i noticed this immediately and thought it was a cool way to keep the mechanic in a way without making it annoying
Early on in the game, you’re told that head gear items do not grant stat increase. Recently I’ve found a pair of Ear Protector, wax plugs that the character insert in her ears. So far I haven’t noticed any difference in combat however all game sounds are now slightly muffled
The idle game I’m playing includes a lot of generic “fantasy” staples but one thing that’s kind of nice is that it approaches certain tropes in a slightly different way. Like, there are angels and demons but the difference is the angels mostly focus on healing buffs and the demons offer you “trades” (exchange a %age of a stat for a new skill, for example) that you can turn down with no consequences. There are slimes that you fight but also slimes that you help, or get help from. Nothing groundbreaking, and these are all just flavor text, but it’s nice to see nonetheless.
