Red Herrings

[Dintiradan]

The point of this posting game is to post a short synopsis of some form of entertainment. Could be a movie, a book series, a video game franchise. This synopsis will sound familiar to pretty much everyone, but in fact you will be describing some completely different work of fiction (if possible, one that predates the more popular red herring). For example:

 

 

You are a member of the human military, fighting for survival. You see, a force bent of destroying all space-faring life in the galaxy has appeared, and the races of the galaxy must unite to stop it. As the fight progresses, you discover that yours was not the first civilization to face these invaders -- the galaxy-spanning empire that preceded yours also fought them... and failed. In fact, it seems you're only the latest in a repeated cycle of purgings, which eliminate advanced life but open the way for primitive civilizations to expand to the stars. It is in the ruins of the previous race's outposts that you will find the secret of successfully fighting off the invaders.

 

It's a series full of heroic moments: destroying the invaders' enormous, daunting capital ship, as well as destroying a gateway between star systems so the invaders' forces are stopped -- for the moment. Of course, nothing is ever easy, and you'll also be fighting splinter factions from your own allies. Most notably is a group of xenophobic humans who refuse to cooperate with non-humans in the war effort. The faction is lead by a mysterious figure, who it seems is leading his blinded followers for his own purposes.

 

 

 

Sound like the Mass Effect franchise? It's not what you think it is.

 

 

Obviously, the franchise I discussed and the one I'm alluding to are really nothing alike. But that's the point of this game. Distill the plot of some work of fiction, and see how similar it is to everything else. Want to talk about how all fantasy fiction rips off Tolkien? Or how some movie totally steals from Seven Samurai? This is your thread.

[MMXPERT-seraph of thermodynamics]

 

A samurai is transported through time by an evil demon, he must deal with his new surroundings and make his way back to his own time, where he can kill the demon once and for all

 

 

 

Sounds like Samurai Jack? not what you think it is.

 

[Alorael at Large]

My first thought for the first example was Star Control 2. It doesn't fit quite as well as the description continues, but it overlaps to a surprising extent.

 

 

In a massive conflict between the dominant government and a group of rebels bent on overthrowing it, the theft of plans for a new, massive secret weapon sets off the plot. A small, mismatched crew on a small spaceship takes on the mission of delivering the plans to HQ, among some other tasks, but that same crew ends up instrumental not just in the delivery but in the destruction of the oversized weapon itself just before it can destroy the headquarters to which they've just carried the plans.

 

 

 

Star Wars? Nope, it's FTL: Faster Than Light

 

 

—Alorael, who has never heard of either of the last two. Apparently that basic plot is more of a trope than he knew.

[Student of Trinity]

Hmmm. I'm not sure it should count when the 'surprise' is only that I've never heard of the obscure copy-cat.

[Alorael at Large]

Deliberate imitation is different from being able to be described with the same story but not actually really being the same. Dinti's example is good; the surprise predates the expected even if it doesn't have the same recognition. My example is not so good because I'm fairly sure it's an homage, not a coincidence.

 

—Alorael, who also isn't sure what counts as obscure. Something can be completely obscure to the larger world while looming large in the world of indie games. Which one is most applicable to the audience here on Spiderweb?

[adc.]

 

Once the Dark Order teemed with followers. But their rivalries divided them in endless battles for supremacy. Until one dark lord at last united the Dark in the quest to enslave the galaxy—and exterminate the Light. Yet it would fall to another, far more powerful than the entire Brotherhood, to ultimately realize the full potential of the Dark, and wield the awesome power of the dark side as never before.

 

 

 

Sounds like one of the Star Wars episodes? Well too bad

 

 

-----

-Nightwatcher

[Dikiyoba]

 

A sandbox game about surviving and building bases that updates and adds new content frequently. The player is all alone in a randomized world. (There are scattered villages, but the villagers aren't human. They'll also run into homes as evening approaches, leaving you to face the night alone.) You wander through biomes (such as plains, forests, and swamps) collecting resources. Anything and everything is a potential resource: dirt, stone, plants, monster parts. In order to survive, you need to craft tools, weapons, and armor, which degrade when used, so crafting and inventory management is a big part of the game. The world also has huge caves to explore, and swarms of monsters to defeat. If your armor breaks while you are fighting monsters and you don't have backup pieces or the ability to run away, you are basically dead. You can fight monsters using fire, but that destroys items and can easily spread out of control to destroy vast swathes of trees and vegetation (lightning strikes can also cause out-of-control-fires). Some neutral mobs can be tamed by feeding them, after which they will follow you around and fight for you. Once you progress far enough into the game, you can open a few portals to other worlds. One of the potential enemy types are pigmen that are neutral to the player until the player hurts one, at which point every pigman in the area will attack the player.

 

 

 

Minecraft and Don't Starve.

 

 

Dikiyoba.

[MMXPERT-seraph of thermodynamics]

Sorry Dikiyoba, but i immediately guessed both.

[Dintiradan]

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