cyberpunk was nice. It had both an optional that really specifically laid things out and then in addition the first gig more casually does it. I seem to recall harry potter being so integrated that I can't remember it. I find a lot of games just sorta give popups that you can say stop to and then it basically just starts simple so you can learn the stuff without it seeming much like a tutorial. skyrim is sorta annoying in that its unskippable and you can't do a save before locking in a race that is after it like you could with oblivioun. So they went a bit backwards. Elden rings was completely skippable but it was also just pants. The tutorial is crazy easy compared to most games and does not prepare you at all for the brutal real game. Baldurs gate was unskippable but its pretty fast and did not really feel aweful to redo as its much like any quest in the game.
A Dance of Fire and Ice is the best one. You get how the game works within the main menu itself, songs can have their own tutorials for specific patterns later on the song but are fully skippable.
Rhythm Doctor also has really good tutorials, a fully skippable tutorial that tells you anything newly introduced in the upcoming track
Them's Fightin' Herds has one of the best tutorials in the fighting game genre, but on top of that it also has a story mode cleverly designed to act as a second tutorial. Enemies and bosses are designed you on specific concepts like anti-airing or getting past zoning. It even has platforming segments to get you used to fighting game movement.
Sadly, the published pulled the plug so chapter 1 is all we'll ever get. But that chapter 1 is still better than any other fighting game singleplayer.
The one that sticks out in my mind is the original BioShock. Spoilers if you haven’t played it.
BioshockThe first thing that happens is a voice over the intercom asks, “Would you kindly pick up that weapon.” And of course you do it, or the game does not progress. The voice is very polite and resonable, helping you navigate this dank maze of horrors. “Would you kindly open that door?” “Would you kindly kill that monster?” The calm manners contrast starkly against the modern horrors you’re experiencing in the game. Of course every request seems like a great idea at the time, and of course the game ends if you fail.
Then halfway into the game, you finally meet the man behind the voice and he explains that you are a mind-controlled slave, conditions to obey any command that begins with “would you kindly…” He’s trying to destroy the tyranny of the system and commands you to kill him, sacrificing himself to free you from the control phrase. The “tutorial” seemed like it was just helpful instructions, but you didn’t really have a choice, did you? The majority of players just followed those instructions without question, never considering whether they were good choices or moral actions. And could you say no? Without the wrench, you can’t survive the first attack. Without opening the door, you remain in the first room forever. Your world is pre-ordained and tightly controlled. How much free will do you have in the game and outside of it? At what point do you stop making decisions and start following orders? And when can you stop again?
I was going to mention Bioshock too, but what I love about it is the voiceovers never pause gameplay. The worst tutorials are the ones that make you sit through cutscenes that are longer than you want to sit through.
A lot of the game before you escape the testing track, minus maybe the point you are told about momentum jumps, feel like one big tutorial without even realizing you’re in one. It’s done very well.
When I played through Portal in dev commentary mode, I was surprised at the time to realize they’re basically trying to teach you things through the whole game (or at least heavily signpost). Made me realize a lot about game design, and design in general.
I’m here to say Portal as well, specifically because, once you really look for it, you realise that about 90% of the game is tutorial. Like, seriously, basically everything leading up to “The cake is a lie” is teaching you the skills you need for the final sequence. It’s a massive tutorial followed by one level of actual game, and it’s beautiful, precisely because you don’t even notice that the tutorial hasn’t ended.
Outer Wilds has a very elegant diagetic tutorial in the form of a museum and, well, a training ground, whole game is really a multi layered tutorial with scaling level of complexity.
If memory serves me right (as I played the game a while back), Shantae and the Pirate's Curse's intro stage acts as a tutorial, but it's so seamless to gameplay and story that it barely feels like so. Iirc, also same for Valkyria Chronicles 4's first mission.
And that I remember better due to playing relatively recently, Final Fantasy VI and Catherine's tutorials are well integrated to their games' specific flows, the former being a series of NPCs you talk to, something you already do a lot in the game, and the latter being quick, straight to the point and given like it is a normal part of the narration and the increasingly frenetic (for a puzzler) gameplay.
And also if memory serves me right, Dirge of Cerberus and Outlive both have optional missions in their main menus that act as tutorials, that don't feel like a chore, and that if you ignore them, the game is still sufficiently manageable.
There’s a lot of videos and articles like this one discussing how Stage 1-1 of Super Mario Bros for the NES is a cleverly designed tutorial for the core game mechanics.
Is this where we bring up the old Mega Man X Sequelitis video again? Chances are the best tutorial is the one you don’t even realize is a tutorial. There was also a trend that I first noticed around the time of Gears of War where the tutorial would not only be built into the story so that you wouldn’t feel like it was chore, but they’d also give you the opportunity to just skip it.
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