@@ArtemyMusha I remember x wing had random symbols on every page and when you started it up before you could play they’d ask you for the code on page x. Meant pirated discs needed a full photocopied manual too
I just played Helldivers 2 last night for the first time. The forced tutorial level was a gem. It set the tone of game, gave some world building, and properly showed you the capabilities of the player character. It was exceptionally well done, for a free standing tutorial level. The art is not quite dead yet.
Another Super Earth patriot I see. Welcome, to the Helldivers! (disfigurement and death in the line protecting Liberty and Democracy may apply, also, ask your officer about your C0-1 form ASAP, there are eager eagle pilots waiting).
Never Forget the Old Spiderman Tutorial Levels Voiced by Bruce Campbell, i will never forget him walking off to make a Sandwich while i was learning a Mechanic
Standalone tutorials also helps to pick up a game save after a long pause. Sweet and short, without hours of cinematics to skip before one game mechanic you want to remember. Also, espetually for thief, it helped to setup keybindings.
Oh goodness, yes. Another good mechanic is low-level areas and high-level areas. For example in Borderlands you can fast travel back to the starting areas and wreck havoc on easy enemies for a while to relearn the game.
@@LanceThumping Ever since I first saw that in Darksiders 2, I've wondered why that didn't catch on and become the standard. It could even be changed into a military briefing or a news segment or a diary entry for different genres.
This reminds me of Minecraft. Firstly there was no tutorial, then came the constantly evolving tutorial level seed, then there was the complete removal of the tutorial level seed.
The number of times I've come back to a game after a 6 month break only to quickly put it away forever because I've lost all play context and I'll be damned if I'm gonna do the first 5 hours over again just to re-learn.
The game "No One Lives Forever" from 2000 had a particularly fun version of this gimmick, in which you basically got a tutorial level before every mission, ostensibly to teach you how to use a new mechanic that was specific to the upcoming mission. However, it was framed in such a way that it made you feel like you were James Bond doing that bit in the first part of every movie where Q talks him through the newest, mission-specific gadgets that will magically be completely useful exactly once during the movie for a situation no living human could have possibly predicted ^_^
Yeah we can only hope that some group within MS somehow untangles the license mess that NOLF is tied up in, so that some sort of re-release is possible. Some of the best humour featured games that weren't older type adventure games.
This game was a true gem. Very much informed by both classic Bond and Austin Powers for both aesthetic and tone. You had some utterly goofball moments played fully straight, and other times it was obvious the main character couldn't take it seriously, either. I miss that game. The greatest love letter to classic spy action films in game form.
One advantage to bringing tutorial levels back would be that perhaps we don't need to suffer through the first hour of a game getting squeezed through an integrated tutorial where nothing much happens. Tutorial skips can't really be done when the tutorial's part of the story.
Yeah, a game that teaches everything over the first hour or so implies either A: A certain amount of "won't really come up for awhile" or B: A relatively simple mechanic set that can be fit within that small time period fairly easily. Portal 2 had the learning process happen over most of the game.
Mobile games with 2 hours of forced "click here" before you're allowed to open the options menu and tell the graphics to stop melting your phone because you don't need ultra-high rez on a 5-inch screen.
The modern XCOMs are among the worst for this honestly - you want to get cracking at your own pace, but to do that requires skipping the plot vital first mission. You can do it, but every time I always feel like I'm actively missing out on something.
It's a dumb gag, but I really enjoy when the tutorial acknowledges the in-game character's bafflement at being told to, for example, "right-click" or "press B" to use their actual hands, which, in the fiction of the game, they have, and presumably would already know how to use. As seen in such games as Paper Mario and Pathologic.
Reminded of the tutorial in Farcry Blood Dragon where your character gets pranked by his teammate by having his tutorial program initiated and grumbles having to go through it to turn off its override over his abilities.
Rayman 3 sort of does this as well. They have Murphy, the tutorial character, reading an in-universe version of the manual. Mocking how cut and dry it is, and how you probably already know that the jump button lets you jump, and that the attack button makes you attack.
Croft Manor from Tomb Raider was a great example of a tutorial level. Taught you all of Lara’s abilities and also encouraged exploration in safe environment that helped in the game itself.
I wasn't into gaming back then, but I remember going to a friend's and playing it a bit. I could never figure out what I was supposed to be doing, so I'd spend all my time in the manor doing random stuff. I might pick up the remastered trilogy. I saw some capture of it and the nostalgia hit hard even though I barely played them.
Yahtzee mentioned during the TR1-3 Remastered stream yesterday that he forgot about that when making this SR, and said it would have been good to mention.
Really want to know the thought process behind replacing it with a shitty origin story level in 4 and a boring optional area in 5. IT'S ONE OF THE TITLE SCREEN DEMOS I'M STILL ANGRY
Segregated tutorial levels also have an additional advantage: Giving the end user an easy place to set control bindings and other settings, without doing so distracted from the story
I feel that's one of the reasons they're so specifically associated with the late 90s PC era, where the player wouldn't only be getting grips with how to play the game but also how to set it up and what settings work for their machine. Not too surprising it became less of a thing with more standardised hardware and reliable technical design. (mostly)
Just remembered the tutorial in Titanfall 2. It was a good story beat, taught you all the mechanics of the sequel, and was genuinely fun. Also realized Strafe's tutorial level was interesting, added to the humor of the game, and was obligatory due to it being a game designed to be from that era.
Titanfall 2 tutorial is fun because the Gauntlet is a part of the tutorial, and you can get the basic hang of things but also see how high a ceiling the game has, all in one room.
I also like how Titanfall 2 teaches you the pilot mechanics but then pulls the plug just as you're about to learn how to control the titan. You get the fun of learning half the game and then the thrill of having to learn the other half on the fly at the same time as the character
Titanfall 2 certainly is a great example of a good Tutorial. it really helped they gave you a good way to get a real feel for it in a practical manner before you get into the full game. plus they designed the game well so all the mechanics you learn are always useful, and they only add a few layers on top, not scrap mechanics over the course of the game.
I love how the deus ex tutorial has guidance from Gunther Hermann, like he's this gruff father figure showing you the ropes. Then during the actual game you see a totally different side of his personality.
A great example of a non-integrated tutorial in a modern game: Hitman (2016). Two relatively small levels, that by themselves already have multiple challenges and ways of reaching your target. The world-building portrays both the training the protagonist has gone through and the type of scenarios the player will have to infiltrate. And because these levels already teach you everything you need to know, the first actual mission is a huge sandbox, just as big and complex as the following five missions. These tutorials are so good that they also appear, unchanged, in both sequels.
I like that it slowly moves from tutorial to level as well, almost like lowering yourself into a hot bath. The ship? Pure tutorial, and framed as such. A really neat tutorial, with room and incentive to go off script and come up with your own plans (which, if anything, is the main thing Hitman needs to tutorialise), but it's very clearly 47's basic "learning the ropes" training, and following instructions to the letter gets you through fine. The Soviet base, though? Still technically a tutorial, but much looser, with less instruction and requiring you to think for yourself to actually get anywhere - and that's matched by the narrative too. Sure, it's an exam, there's no real danger, but it's set up as being an exam that should be impossible to win. It's representing the challenge of the main game while backseating the danger - smoothly bridging tutorial and main game. It's very cool!
There's also a surprising amount of worldbuilding in them as they're framed as shockingly detailed recreations of 'real' (in-universe) assassinations that a retired assassin committed years before, and are related to characters that show up later. (Like the boat target being a member of the Yardbird gang, and Janus being implied to be behind the defector's assassination- ambiguously on behalf of the USA, USSR or even both)
They actually change. With added mechanics in each installment, the tutorials change as well. The second level has grass you can hide inside in the second game, it si a new mechanic. As well as being able to blend in with crowds.
@@horusreloaded6387 The fact that they went back to the Hitman 1 levels and added grass where it was appropriate and reasonable to have it, as well as making any tweaks needed to ensure the crowd blending mechanic worked properly was such a cool touch when replaying those levels in the later instalments. Goes to show how much the dev team cared about creating the fully integrated experience that ended up as Hitman World of Assassination.
A fun thing about the Theif tutorial level, you could skip it, yes, but if you played through and got to the end, there was a piece of treasure you could steal and the value of that treasure would transfer over to your starting gold in the first level. It neatly encapsulated Garret as a character, in that he dislikes authority figures and steals from them just because he can, even when they're being nice to him, and ALSO demonstrated how the loot you steal carries over.
You should give the games mentioned here (Thief, Half Life, Deus Ex) a shot. Probably it would take a while to get used to them, but it's well worth it.
a fairly recent game with a great tutorial is Enter the Gungeon. An old gungeoneer teaches you the basic mechanics, and then you play an oversimplified level with said gungeoneer as the boss. It can be done any time, and theres also a side quest involving said old man!
Cyberpunk 2077 has a separated tutorial level, you do an obstacle course while that bald lady quotes Marcus Aurelius at you. I thought it was pretty well done, and of course they give you the option to skip it which is perfect if you already understand the controls.
I never thought of it that way, but now that you've mentioned it. It does fit the bill quite nicely. It's even integrated into the game in a believable manner, instead of being a menu option
Yeah cdpr got good at making intergated tutorials ya can jump in into or skip that has ya remember every thing ya need to know about gameplay with the witcher 3 and cyberpunk 2077.
If you can get a server to play on (should be fixed by now, I think?), Helldivers 2 also has a segregated tutorial, though there are a few in-world tutorials on a screen in the lobby and a couple button prompts here and there
I do love how portal managed to be 60% integrated tutorial by volume. Jokes aside the one training course level I remember most fondly was cod 4. Very quick, but really sold the "were about to go on a specific mission, best be ready for what we think you're going against." Vibe.
I don't think a year goes by where I haven't quoted F.N.G. at some point.. Usually the "switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading." bit that gaz says. Honestly that and the 2002 splinter cell training course are the two tutorials from games that have really stuck with me.
Portal does come off a lot as being like the Hazard Course having gone off the rails. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where Valve got the idea, especially with the whole thing where the early stages have observation windows. (But suspiciously lacking anyone in them, and of course later on you end up on the other side of the glass)
A more recent example of this is in Dishonored 2. It's a full obstacle course where you play as Emily being mentored by Corvo. It's a neat introduction to their relationship as adults, as well as a tutorial.
I love tutorial level to Dark Messiah game. As Mandalore pointed out, the game teaches you to kick enemy before you even get a weapon. That's right priority.
I love how Cyberpunk 2077 handles its tutorial: After the prologue, but before your first mission, you're handed a data-shard that contains a training program/simulation that teaches you all the basic combat and hacking stuff "in case you need a refresher". You can choose to use it or not. It's well integrated into the narrative without being obtrusive.
The carrington institute was a brilliant idea. Being able to have a 'home base' tutorial, which then later became a level under attack was such a reward for exploring it.
The opposing force tutorial level went above and beyond in my opinion. There were glimpses of the G-Man, the drill sergeants were amazing and you had all these rumors that you were being trained for something you were not being told about. Something was going on even before the black mesa incident and you didn't get that information by playing the main game. I loved that tutorial.
> something was going on The G-man already set in motion his plan to first provoke combine invasion and later to make it backfire on them. In HL2 Eli Vance tells you it was G-man who delivered that fucking yellow crystal.
Also the moment where they teach you about your armoured vest by getting a grunt to walkin and shoot you with a shotgun. ** "NOTICE YOU ARE *NOT* DEAD!"
My favorite "tutorial" level was Splinter Cell. Not only it was training to see if Sam is capable of doing the job, but it was also a way of giving a little context to both Sam and Lambert's personality. You immediately get the idea that both have been around the block and not just, "Hey do this, do that, secrety secret. F off".
They also kind of implied that the tutorial was for Lambert to show off Sam's skills to prove he could do the job, because Third Eschelon was a new agency and this was going to be their first big assignment. Iirc that was the entire reason Lambert brought Sam in, because he didn't think his other agents would be up to the task and he needed to prove his agency was capable of operating under his command.
I didn't even notice the stand alone tutorial levels were gone until I picked up Rainbow Six Siege and went "Oh yeah, stand alone tutorial missions where someone yells in your ear about how to play the game. Didn't ALL games used to have these? 🤔"
“Learning on the fly in the intended context has long proved to be the most efficient teaching method” - I think this applies to vastly more than just games too
I adored the “tutorial island” concept, just a space where you can lab movement and test the limits of what the character could do. OG Tomb Raider comes to mind, incredible stuff.
The thing I like about tutorial levels is that not only does it teach you the mechanics, you can replay it to practice those mechanics. Also, it gives you an opportunity to skip the training if you already know how the game works (for example, if you're replaying it, or it doesn't have any unique mechanics).
Perfect Dark has you in the Carrington Institute. You can talk to some of the NPCs, you can learn the level layout (there's a later level when attackers raid the base) and there's a shooting range with every weapon you've fired available. It's a very chill way to pass time without worrying about failing a mission and lets you see what Joanna Dark is doing when she isn't dealing with Alien Conspiracies.
I like when games have "training areas" so that when I pick up Game #5 after a couple of weeks away from it I can, if I want, go do a little refresher on traversal, dodging, perfect dodge, parry, perfect parry, stamina, quick heal, stance, quick cast, modify spell, call mount, change loadout, etc
The best part of the DX tutorial is that you could find a hidden room near the end by pressing a hidden button on the wall. The game would tell you your brother also found it.
I'm reminded of the tutorials for X-Wing and Tie Fighter, which were repeating obstacle courses that increasingly got better at firing back at you as you attempted to keep time from running out. During the storyline, I'd occasionally go back into the course to have a little relatively mindless fun trying to better my times.
A mention to the trainer guy in AssCreed1, who would 'remind you' of combat techniques as part of your humbling. He was a very likable NPC and you interacted with him outside of training, having built a rapport with him
One advantage to the separated tutorial level is that after you've stepped away from the game for a period of time it can help you remember how to play when you get back to your save, leaving your brain left only to focus solely on what the hell you were bloody doing, instead of splitting it between that and how to fricking play again.
I remember the tutorial missions in TIE Fighter, they were in their own separate section represented by an in-universe flight simulator for TIE pilots and they often had a bunch of bonus objectives that turned them into challenge levels for experienced players if one wanted to go beyond the basic primary objectives.
The attention to detail in the Deus Ex tutorial was great, like being able to reach the observation window with a stack of boxes (which gets commented on) and a hidden coms device thats not brought up at all but gives a nice bit of World Building if found (it’s placed there to see who can find it and Paul is one of the others who did). It ended up being a tutorial for both the general gameplay mechanics and some not so obvious ones too.
The Hazard Course similarly has some easter eggs for going off the beaten track, with an alternate path you can take early on by crouch-jumping over a ledge, iirc.
Don't forget that the Deus Ex basic training map also had a secret room that you could uncover if you were just freely exploring around and specifically looking for a secrets or hidden things. And the game is specifically rewards you with a little bit of lore, and a nice bit of characterization as some story is revealed to you and in turn a character compliments you on finding something extra. It's a nice touch, and I remember it dearly to this day.
I fondly remember KH1's tutorial level. It encapsulated all the features the game was trying to show off. Beyond combat, it was the only time the series kind of tried being Legend of Zelda, with platforming and environmental interactions like pushing and throwing objects. It also had hidden choices like choosing what order your abilities unlocked and how fast you leveled up.
From that era, I was thinking the X-Wing series ... where you had tutorial levels to teach you how to operate your specific craft by flying through hoops and the likes.
Actually related, Star Fox and Star Fox 64 both have separate training modes that involve literally flying through hoops, and demonstrations of various game mechanics in similarly low-pressure environments.
I’m sure I’m not the first to mention this, but Helldivers 2’s tutorial level was a real blast from the past. Kinda necessary for a multiplayer co-op title, but they did a wonderful job conveying the world through the general “teaching” you.
The tutorial level that springs to mind to me is Lara's Home, particularly its Tomb Raider 3 iteration. The perfect balance of tutorialising whilst also having plenty of secrets and things to discover, giving you a greater understanding of how the subsequent levels will be mov8ng forward
Tutorial island for Runescape 3 has a hilarious history where the devs tried replacing it with a different more modernised tutorial system *five times*, some integrated, some not, all of them resulting in less engagement than the original, with Tutorial Island currently on its third return. Sometimes new players simply want the straight facts of how to work the game in plain non-story language before they get put into the proper thing.
The most recent game that gomes to mind is Titanfall 2. You get the standalone tutorial mission to bring you up to the same level as the protagonist but then teaches you the titan mechanics at the same time the main character is learning them as part of the story, so well done.
Something that has been driving me up the wall is this increasing trend I've noticed where a game's sequel will include an unskipable tutorial that's longer than the (skipable or non-existent) tutorial in the first game. I noticed this with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Syberia 4, Fallout 4, and Nancy Drew 33: Midnight in Salem.
The post-morrowind bethesda intro sequence levels are awful. Neat the first time, modded out immediately if I play a new character. I went through Morrowind for the first time after playing Oblivion/Skyrim/FO3/FO4 and the fact that they just let you go after a VERY brief mechanics tutorial sequence was refreshing. You're immediately accosted with some very simple quests to do, but it's up to your discretion, no hour-long sequence of hand-holding while your character states the blindingly obvious or is guided around by an NPC at a snails pace.
If you like these segregated tutorials, it's worth noting that Helldivers uses an explicit separate tutorial. It may be a factor in how the game has that tropey old school feel, even as much as it improves on older games.
It has both. It has a segregated tutorial level for the utmost basics (mag-based ammo, shoot enemy, stratagems, crouch, dive and crawl, injuries and stims) And integrated tutorials (popups saying to take weapon, remember reloading tosses away your spare ammo, an encounter is coming so use a stratagem) And then doesn't tutorialize the drop menu, pings and communication wheel, or weapon settings, lmao. Also you can check how much ammo is in the gun too.
Thing is that it's actually a particularly excellent tutorial for multiplayer games like Helldivers in particular, as it lets the new player learn the mechanics and play with them without necessarily subjecting other players to complete newbies with no idea what they're doing. (as much)
As soon as I saw this video title, I thought of Sequelitis' "Megaman / Megaman X video" and how he draws attention to how well-made the tutorial stage of megaman x was.
Yes, THANK YOU! I was disappointed it took me so long to find this comment. The Mega Man X tutorial stage is still the best of all the ones I remember.
I used to replay tutorials as a kid for the same reasons. In addition to the Hazard Course and Opposing Force boot camp, I loved running around Lara Crofts mansion, doing the little obstacle course, locking the butler in the freezer, etc. Theres something nice about being able just to play around and have fun with the game without everything trying to kill me.
I remember playing the tutorial of the old Army Men game on N64 as a kid *so many times.* I think I saw the entire campaign once, but played the tutorial enough times to probably complete the campaign 3 times over. There was just something really fun about having a big play area to mess around with every single tool and weapon in the game.
"And games had manuals!" Unless you were renting them from Blockbuster and someone had stolen the manual so you had to figure it out on your own. There would also be save files you could load to see what a much later part of the game looked like.
Man i miss the 90s game instructions manuels. Those had some of the best world building and artist interpretation in gaming. The Star Wars Rebellion game came with a 140 page encyclopedia of every unit and command in the game.
I remember in Tomb Raider 2 you had an obstacle course outside her mansion, and you could time your runs. When you made it to the end, her butler would be there wearing body armor so you could practice shooting at him.
I really like the dedicated tutorial in Helldivers 2. It teaches you the essentials very quickly while establishing the basics of the lore and tone of the game. Because the game is non-linear and procedurally generated there isn't a good place to put a more natural tutorial section. I think games like this can still benefit a lot from dedicated separate tutorials.
I feel obligated to inform you Yahtz, after thanking you for the lovely essay, that the new Helldivers 2 has brought back this lovely element of game design and does so with great care!
Sad you didn't bring up the hidden holgram at the end of the Dues Ex tutorial level. It gives a nice bit of characterization to your brother and the agency whilst also rewarding the player for searching every nook and cranny, while also not being to big of a thing to worry about missing on a first playthrough. It's one of my favorite little things ever.
To me the best tutorial levels were from Tomb Raider. Lara's mansion always had tutorial zones which felt really organic, was great for establishing her character, and they even started building in extra secrets and challenges. They even have their own small narrative of her building the assault course over the course of the games.
Surprised no mention of what is the best tutorial level in my opinion, the Tomb Raider Croft Manor. It’s a lovely seperate world full of every type of activity you could want, loads of fun, and it just really shows off Lara as a character by travelling around her home.
I like the Spider-Man movie games doing it. Controls, snarky commentary... And yes even if you somehow fail the level you could get mocked. Like asking how you lost to a man when you just needed to hold block to stop getting hit.
What's funny is the last 2 games I played did have this Cyber punk 2077 before you're about to fight gives you an option to review a military training chip And in hell diver 2 it starts with a boot camp that is basically all the training you will ever get before being thrown into battle
Quite enjoyed playing the Croft Manor tutorial level in the Tomb Raider remaster. Pleasingly nostalgic, and a great way to get used to the modern controls
Every time I play Sly 3, I always do the Hazard Room courses. Not because I need a refresher or anything, the Sly Cooper games are rather intuitive, but because of the dialogue between Sly and Bentley. I don't know what it is, there's just something special about it.
This reminds me of the tutorial level in Ghostrunner 2 where the main character Jack is already a badass ninja cyborg and very clearly knows everything he's being instructed to do. You have an NPC giving you tutorials and "trying to be helpful" and jack gets more annoyed and tells him to piss off more aggressively. I think it was actually pretty clever because you get experienced players who played the previous game feeling vindicated and understood that they don't need the tutorial but also lets new players slide into the role of jack better
I was about to mention the long jump. Even when they told me in the game to practice my longjumps, they didn't say how. Got stuck in Xen until I found the tutorial again. On the other hand, the Evil Genius tutorial level is hilarious in that it ends with your Bond villain having the tutorial giver killed at the end once they outlived their usefulness.
Spyhunter, a PS2 driving game where you have a James Bond car, had an opening level that was literally a driving test. Halfway through the game you go back to the level with everything you’ve unlocked and more difficult objectives. The recontextualizing of the tutorial level was very empowering
Man, I can't believe I didn't think of that! Recently 100% that game, really fun! The game was quite linier, but it was all about hitting your marks with maximum efficiency. Kinda like Stuntman, which the devs went on to make the sequal to.
portal is a good contender for player-tutorials. integrated, but seamlessly, introducing core mechanics throughout the first 1/4 of the game in a way that teaches the player > instructing them.
I still fondly remember the part from the Half-Life: Opposing Force tutorial where they tutorialised you on the effect of your armoured vest. ** "NOTICE YOU ARE *NOT* DEAD!"
I love in Freeman's Mind episode 0, where "Freeman" just flat out refuses to do the Hazard Course equivalent, jumping down from 20+ feet onto flat concrete. It's supposed to teach damage/healing to the player, but realistically it's stupid and Ross's Freeman just leaves the Hazard Course at that.
I’ve always appreciated that the original Infinity Ward/Respawn designers built discrete but solid little boot camp/time trial levels to open up their games. Several CoD games have iconic tutorials, and Titanfall 2 carried that on with its own tutorial level. Those folks deserved more success for their chops.
The closest equivalent I can think of today is the BotW Great Plateau. It definitely still has the button prompts but there's a lot of stuff button prompts can't teach you, like that you can chop down trees to make bridges. And for that he's a friendly old man chopping a tree. It also does the world integration stuff Yahtzee was talking about. It's sort of a glammed up version of a tutorial level, in some ways good and in some ways not
There is a line that still sticks with me to this day from the original splinter cell tutorial level, when you are being taught stealth, you are asked to walk through a room with eggshells on the floor and microphones hanging from the ceiling. Your handler instructs you about the course, and then pauses. Once you finish the room, he comes back on and says "Go ahead Sam, you can start whenever your read.... GOOD GOD YOU'RE ALREADY DONE?!" Its just a small little bit of comedy, that he was waiting for you to start, and Sam Fisher is so badass that he was already through the entire course, when all it taught the player was to hold down the crouch button while walking.
This video essay made me think the tutorial level is the "Ordinary World" stage of the Hero's Journey, usually the first chapter or two of a book. I like it.
After seeing the halo gameplay I was thinking you'd go into the way halo integrates the tutorial with plot to kick you into the world. Brilliant way to keep getting information out while teaching new things like weapons and using the waypoints.
Rogue Legacy 2 has a tutorial level, and even has some secrets that require you to come back with upgrades from later runs. You can skip it at will of course, but it also serves as a sort of cinematic intro to you entering the castle the first time.
My personal favorite is Hollow Knight, which has a small tutorial level that even contains a couple secrets and you can come back to later to reach a new area, but some mechanics are tutorialized by just setting up situations that'll lead you to discovering the mechanic on your own and trusting you are smart and observant enough to actually make the discovery. Which you won't always be, but most players get there eventually and feel smarter for it.
the start of the original Halo did that "learn as you go" tutorial thing while the game explains how to get past the obstacle, but there was one mechanic with a broken door that's only ever talked about here, and never mentioned again
The last stand alone tutorial level I remember has been with the splatoon series where when you start a new save you are given an opening tutorial with the first gun that is unlocked in the game
My favourite is when the optional tutorial level comes back later in the "shit just got real" moment where the baddies attack your hideout. Tenchu 2 had a great one of those, because some of the tutorial areas were off the beaten path and in the later version some optional extra enemies and items would be hiding there.
I love the OG console Spiderman tutorial level. You're in a straight up in a simulation training room and just play around with the mechanics. The humour is dated/cheesy, but it's still a fun standalone experience.
Opus Magnum and Wizard of Legend have great tutorial levels. Opus Magnum's tutorial levels are framed as you being a top student at your university approaching graduation, but you've spent your entire academic career doing everything by hand, and now you need to learn how to use a transmutation engine so you can practice alchemy post-graduation. Wizard of Legend's tutorial level sends you into the future to a museum that showcases the chaos trials, giving history lessons on the mages that administered the trials (who you fight as bosses during a run), giving you the opportunity to get a feel for the spells mages used in taking on the chaos trials, and ends with you traveling back in time to take part in the chaos trials yourself.
I think my favorite example of a more recent game with its own tutorial level is streets of rogue. Pretty much does everything mentioned in this video, with the added funny satire that the first person you meet gets so overwhelmed by how far you're getting in the tutorial compared to all previous people they trained they literally explode into a gory mess and then is instantly replaced by another bloke who continues the tutorial.
This really does add another star to the original Cod Modern Warfare game for me, that opening tutorial still sits with me and has many of the characteristics yahtzee highlighted for earlier immersive games are present and memorable for their charm and mechanics.
I had an interesting idea for a training level. In it, the player plays someone else from the story, and this prolog/training level plays out the events that get the main story started. For example, maybe in the training level, you play the individual who stole the thing that the player will spend the game trying to recover. Or who broke/sabotaged the thing the player will try to fix.
Tutorial levels still exist. The latest I've played was Final Fantasy 16, where you get an entire flashback segment that not only teaches you the combat mechanics, but also serves to set up the character's background and world lore.
Making the game as incomprehensible as possible without the manual feels like an arcane anti-piracy method
That's sort of what the hidden room with your character's essential gear in Ultima Underworld 2 did, if I recall.
Its also lets you cram much more into less. these archaic program syles can also be really efficient to use once you get over the learning curve
@@ArtemyMusha I remember x wing had random symbols on every page and when you started it up before you could play they’d ask you for the code on page x. Meant pirated discs needed a full photocopied manual too
Also, it helped to sell magazines.
Monkey Island had entered the chat
I just played Helldivers 2 last night for the first time. The forced tutorial level was a gem. It set the tone of game, gave some world building, and properly showed you the capabilities of the player character. It was exceptionally well done, for a free standing tutorial level. The art is not quite dead yet.
Another Super Earth patriot I see. Welcome, to the Helldivers! (disfigurement and death in the line protecting Liberty and Democracy may apply, also, ask your officer about your C0-1 form ASAP, there are eager eagle pilots waiting).
Never Forget the Old Spiderman Tutorial Levels Voiced by Bruce Campbell, i will never forget him walking off to make a Sandwich while i was learning a Mechanic
I literally just came here from a video of someone playing Spiderman 2, and I loved every drip of Bruce's snark
Standalone tutorials also helps to pick up a game save after a long pause. Sweet and short, without hours of cinematics to skip before one game mechanic you want to remember. Also, espetually for thief, it helped to setup keybindings.
Oh goodness, yes. Another good mechanic is low-level areas and high-level areas. For example in Borderlands you can fast travel back to the starting areas and wreck havoc on easy enemies for a while to relearn the game.
@@LanceThumping Ever since I first saw that in Darksiders 2, I've wondered why that didn't catch on and become the standard. It could even be changed into a military briefing or a news segment or a diary entry for different genres.
This reminds me of Minecraft. Firstly there was no tutorial, then came the constantly evolving tutorial level seed, then there was the complete removal of the tutorial level seed.
@@anthonyscarfe4853What??? I had no clue that even existed. Lame
The number of times I've come back to a game after a 6 month break only to quickly put it away forever because I've lost all play context and I'll be damned if I'm gonna do the first 5 hours over again just to re-learn.
The game "No One Lives Forever" from 2000 had a particularly fun version of this gimmick, in which you basically got a tutorial level before every mission, ostensibly to teach you how to use a new mechanic that was specific to the upcoming mission. However, it was framed in such a way that it made you feel like you were James Bond doing that bit in the first part of every movie where Q talks him through the newest, mission-specific gadgets that will magically be completely useful exactly once during the movie for a situation no living human could have possibly predicted ^_^
I was just about to mention that 😊 you could definitely feel the giddy from the developers to tell you about their gadgets.
Ayyy, nice to see No One Lives Forever get some recognition. I love that game!
"Kate here's the perfume acid to melt the bodies..."
(turns on body fade in the settings....)
Yeah we can only hope that some group within MS somehow untangles the license mess that NOLF is tied up in, so that some sort of re-release is possible.
Some of the best humour featured games that weren't older type adventure games.
This game was a true gem. Very much informed by both classic Bond and Austin Powers for both aesthetic and tone. You had some utterly goofball moments played fully straight, and other times it was obvious the main character couldn't take it seriously, either. I miss that game. The greatest love letter to classic spy action films in game form.
One advantage to bringing tutorial levels back would be that perhaps we don't need to suffer through the first hour of a game getting squeezed through an integrated tutorial where nothing much happens. Tutorial skips can't really be done when the tutorial's part of the story.
Yeah, a game that teaches everything over the first hour or so implies either A: A certain amount of "won't really come up for awhile" or B: A relatively simple mechanic set that can be fit within that small time period fairly easily. Portal 2 had the learning process happen over most of the game.
Mobile games with 2 hours of forced "click here" before you're allowed to open the options menu and tell the graphics to stop melting your phone because you don't need ultra-high rez on a 5-inch screen.
Also would help to get back into a game if you stopped playing it for a while.
@@Volvagia1927 TBF, learning the game is the game in Portal 1+2.
The modern XCOMs are among the worst for this honestly - you want to get cracking at your own pace, but to do that requires skipping the plot vital first mission.
You can do it, but every time I always feel like I'm actively missing out on something.
It's a dumb gag, but I really enjoy when the tutorial acknowledges the in-game character's bafflement at being told to, for example, "right-click" or "press B" to use their actual hands, which, in the fiction of the game, they have, and presumably would already know how to use. As seen in such games as Paper Mario and Pathologic.
Reminded of the tutorial in Farcry Blood Dragon where your character gets pranked by his teammate by having his tutorial program initiated and grumbles having to go through it to turn off its override over his abilities.
"Don't ask me what that means, I'm just a kid!"
-kid playing catch in Zelda: Link's Awakening.
Rayman 3 sort of does this as well. They have Murphy, the tutorial character, reading an in-universe version of the manual. Mocking how cut and dry it is, and how you probably already know that the jump button lets you jump, and that the attack button makes you attack.
Press space to say apple is probably my favorite.
"Press the B button, to call on the force!" - Master Yoda
Croft Manor from Tomb Raider was a great example of a tutorial level. Taught you all of Lara’s abilities and also encouraged exploration in safe environment that helped in the game itself.
Yes. And the speedrun element was already built in, I had a blast trying to set PB's on that obstacle course.
I wasn't into gaming back then, but I remember going to a friend's and playing it a bit. I could never figure out what I was supposed to be doing, so I'd spend all my time in the manor doing random stuff. I might pick up the remastered trilogy. I saw some capture of it and the nostalgia hit hard even though I barely played them.
Yahtzee mentioned during the TR1-3 Remastered stream yesterday that he forgot about that when making this SR, and said it would have been good to mention.
safe* environment.
*Lara can still explode her entire skeleton in the "safety" of her own home.
90s fall damage is the scariest type of fall damage.
Really want to know the thought process behind replacing it with a shitty origin story level in 4 and a boring optional area in 5. IT'S ONE OF THE TITLE SCREEN DEMOS I'M STILL ANGRY
Segregated tutorial levels also have an additional advantage: Giving the end user an easy place to set control bindings and other settings, without doing so distracted from the story
I feel that's one of the reasons they're so specifically associated with the late 90s PC era, where the player wouldn't only be getting grips with how to play the game but also how to set it up and what settings work for their machine. Not too surprising it became less of a thing with more standardised hardware and reliable technical design. (mostly)
Just remembered the tutorial in Titanfall 2. It was a good story beat, taught you all the mechanics of the sequel, and was genuinely fun. Also realized Strafe's tutorial level was interesting, added to the humor of the game, and was obligatory due to it being a game designed to be from that era.
Titanfall 2 tutorial is fun because the Gauntlet is a part of the tutorial, and you can get the basic hang of things but also see how high a ceiling the game has, all in one room.
The tutorial includes the most popular speedrun category too. The 10.1 seconds world record is ridicuouls.
I also like how Titanfall 2 teaches you the pilot mechanics but then pulls the plug just as you're about to learn how to control the titan. You get the fun of learning half the game and then the thrill of having to learn the other half on the fly at the same time as the character
Titanfall 2 still stands up as one of the best shooters I've ever played.
Titanfall 2 certainly is a great example of a good Tutorial. it really helped they gave you a good way to get a real feel for it in a practical manner before you get into the full game. plus they designed the game well so all the mechanics you learn are always useful, and they only add a few layers on top, not scrap mechanics over the course of the game.
I love how the deus ex tutorial has guidance from Gunther Hermann, like he's this gruff father figure showing you the ropes. Then during the actual game you see a totally different side of his personality.
Someone can be a great tutor and also a terrible person
A great example of a non-integrated tutorial in a modern game: Hitman (2016).
Two relatively small levels, that by themselves already have multiple challenges and ways of reaching your target. The world-building portrays both the training the protagonist has gone through and the type of scenarios the player will have to infiltrate.
And because these levels already teach you everything you need to know, the first actual mission is a huge sandbox, just as big and complex as the following five missions.
These tutorials are so good that they also appear, unchanged, in both sequels.
I like that it slowly moves from tutorial to level as well, almost like lowering yourself into a hot bath. The ship? Pure tutorial, and framed as such. A really neat tutorial, with room and incentive to go off script and come up with your own plans (which, if anything, is the main thing Hitman needs to tutorialise), but it's very clearly 47's basic "learning the ropes" training, and following instructions to the letter gets you through fine. The Soviet base, though? Still technically a tutorial, but much looser, with less instruction and requiring you to think for yourself to actually get anywhere - and that's matched by the narrative too. Sure, it's an exam, there's no real danger, but it's set up as being an exam that should be impossible to win. It's representing the challenge of the main game while backseating the danger - smoothly bridging tutorial and main game. It's very cool!
There's also a surprising amount of worldbuilding in them as they're framed as shockingly detailed recreations of 'real' (in-universe) assassinations that a retired assassin committed years before, and are related to characters that show up later. (Like the boat target being a member of the Yardbird gang, and Janus being implied to be behind the defector's assassination- ambiguously on behalf of the USA, USSR or even both)
They actually change. With added mechanics in each installment, the tutorials change as well. The second level has grass you can hide inside in the second game, it si a new mechanic. As well as being able to blend in with crowds.
@@horusreloaded6387 The fact that they went back to the Hitman 1 levels and added grass where it was appropriate and reasonable to have it, as well as making any tweaks needed to ensure the crowd blending mechanic worked properly was such a cool touch when replaying those levels in the later instalments. Goes to show how much the dev team cared about creating the fully integrated experience that ended up as Hitman World of Assassination.
A fun thing about the Theif tutorial level, you could skip it, yes, but if you played through and got to the end, there was a piece of treasure you could steal and the value of that treasure would transfer over to your starting gold in the first level.
It neatly encapsulated Garret as a character, in that he dislikes authority figures and steals from them just because he can, even when they're being nice to him, and ALSO demonstrated how the loot you steal carries over.
@@dojelnotmyrealname4018 You at most can get one extra small item out of it, so it doesn't make a huge difference. It's just there if you want it.
@@dojelnotmyrealname4018Not every game is about minmaxing
@@dojelnotmyrealname4018then don't do it? What's the problem lol
About 95% of my knowledge of late 90s-early 00s PC gaming comes from Yahtzee being nostalgic for it
And LGR for the late 80s-early 90s era
@@edisontrent618 Also throwing my own hat for Ross. Game Dungeon is fascinating, fun and informative if you care about these nostalgic times.
*saving private Ryan aging meme*
You should give the games mentioned here (Thief, Half Life, Deus Ex) a shot. Probably it would take a while to get used to them, but it's well worth it.
@@edisontrent618 Another vote for Ross from me. Game Dungeon is a good time.
a fairly recent game with a great tutorial is Enter the Gungeon. An old gungeoneer teaches you the basic mechanics, and then you play an oversimplified level with said gungeoneer as the boss. It can be done any time, and theres also a side quest involving said old man!
If I remember correctly that tutorial even includes an optional secret room you can unlock by using one of your screen-clearing "blanks",
Unfortunately Enter the Gungeon was 7 years ago! So not exactly recent. Time slips by like it barely exists im afraid
I love redoing the tutorial afterward. He starts his monologue again then realizes, "WAYWARD SOUL... Oh it's you again"
@@lashoxcin9348 it was released 3 years after the PS4 so still recent
@@lashoxcin9348 damn time really flies
Cyberpunk 2077 has a separated tutorial level, you do an obstacle course while that bald lady quotes Marcus Aurelius at you. I thought it was pretty well done, and of course they give you the option to skip it which is perfect if you already understand the controls.
I never thought of it that way, but now that you've mentioned it. It does fit the bill quite nicely. It's even integrated into the game in a believable manner, instead of being a menu option
True, and it does give you experiment with different play styles with actual impact. Stealthy approach will give you different dialog and outcomes
Yeah cdpr got good at making intergated tutorials ya can jump in into or skip that has ya remember every thing ya need to know about gameplay with the witcher 3 and cyberpunk 2077.
If you can get a server to play on (should be fixed by now, I think?), Helldivers 2 also has a segregated tutorial, though there are a few in-world tutorials on a screen in the lobby and a couple button prompts here and there
Yep nice old school optional tutorial design
I do love how portal managed to be 60% integrated tutorial by volume.
Jokes aside the one training course level I remember most fondly was cod 4. Very quick, but really sold the "were about to go on a specific mission, best be ready for what we think you're going against." Vibe.
The dialogue and setting also incentivizes you to drill it better if your time is poor.
"Flashbang through the door."
"HIT THE TAHGETS!"
Cpt. Price' voice lives rent-free in my head to this day..
Portal 2 on the other hand is just one big tutorial level for the co-op.
I don't think a year goes by where I haven't quoted F.N.G. at some point.. Usually the "switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading." bit that gaz says. Honestly that and the 2002 splinter cell training course are the two tutorials from games that have really stuck with me.
Portal does come off a lot as being like the Hazard Course having gone off the rails. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where Valve got the idea, especially with the whole thing where the early stages have observation windows. (But suspiciously lacking anyone in them, and of course later on you end up on the other side of the glass)
A more recent example of this is in Dishonored 2. It's a full obstacle course where you play as Emily being mentored by Corvo. It's a neat introduction to their relationship as adults, as well as a tutorial.
I love tutorial level to Dark Messiah game. As Mandalore pointed out, the game teaches you to kick enemy before you even get a weapon. That's right priority.
The tutorial for that game perfectly prepares you for the full game. Kicking and barrelmancy is the greatest threat to the enemies I find.
Ah yes, the adventures of Sir Kicksalot in the land of spiky surfaces.
I love how Cyberpunk 2077 handles its tutorial:
After the prologue, but before your first mission, you're handed a data-shard that contains a training program/simulation that teaches you all the basic combat and hacking stuff "in case you need a refresher". You can choose to use it or not. It's well integrated into the narrative without being obtrusive.
Perfect Dark's ability to back out of the menu and be *in* the headquarters is my favorite example of this.
The carrington institute was a brilliant idea. Being able to have a 'home base' tutorial, which then later became a level under attack was such a reward for exploring it.
The opposing force tutorial level went above and beyond in my opinion. There were glimpses of the G-Man, the drill sergeants were amazing and you had all these rumors that you were being trained for something you were not being told about. Something was going on even before the black mesa incident and you didn't get that information by playing the main game. I loved that tutorial.
> something was going on
The G-man already set in motion his plan to first provoke combine invasion and later to make it backfire on them. In HL2 Eli Vance tells you it was G-man who delivered that fucking yellow crystal.
Also the moment where they teach you about your armoured vest by getting a grunt to walkin and shoot you with a shotgun. ** "NOTICE YOU ARE *NOT* DEAD!"
@@ArcaneAzmadi I forgot that moment! Truly hilarious delivery of that line.
"If only Drill Instructor Barnes could see me now!"@@tyasbank
My favorite "tutorial" level was Splinter Cell. Not only it was training to see if Sam is capable of doing the job, but it was also a way of giving a little context to both Sam and Lambert's personality. You immediately get the idea that both have been around the block and not just, "Hey do this, do that, secrety secret. F off".
They also kind of implied that the tutorial was for Lambert to show off Sam's skills to prove he could do the job, because Third Eschelon was a new agency and this was going to be their first big assignment. Iirc that was the entire reason Lambert brought Sam in, because he didn't think his other agents would be up to the task and he needed to prove his agency was capable of operating under his command.
I didn't even notice the stand alone tutorial levels were gone until I picked up Rainbow Six Siege and went "Oh yeah, stand alone tutorial missions where someone yells in your ear about how to play the game. Didn't ALL games used to have these? 🤔"
Metal Gear Rising also had one.
“Learning on the fly in the intended context has long proved to be the most efficient teaching method” - I think this applies to vastly more than just games too
I adored the “tutorial island” concept, just a space where you can lab movement and test the limits of what the character could do.
OG Tomb Raider comes to mind, incredible stuff.
The thing I like about tutorial levels is that not only does it teach you the mechanics, you can replay it to practice those mechanics. Also, it gives you an opportunity to skip the training if you already know how the game works (for example, if you're replaying it, or it doesn't have any unique mechanics).
Perfect Dark has you in the Carrington Institute. You can talk to some of the NPCs, you can learn the level layout (there's a later level when attackers raid the base) and there's a shooting range with every weapon you've fired available. It's a very chill way to pass time without worrying about failing a mission and lets you see what Joanna Dark is doing when she isn't dealing with Alien Conspiracies.
I like when games have "training areas" so that when I pick up Game #5 after a couple of weeks away from it I can, if I want, go do a little refresher on traversal, dodging, perfect dodge, parry, perfect parry, stamina, quick heal, stance, quick cast, modify spell, call mount, change loadout, etc
The best part of the DX tutorial is that you could find a hidden room near the end by pressing a hidden button on the wall. The game would tell you your brother also found it.
Also you can see Walton Simons watching you through the glass at one point.
I'm reminded of the tutorials for X-Wing and Tie Fighter, which were repeating obstacle courses that increasingly got better at firing back at you as you attempted to keep time from running out. During the storyline, I'd occasionally go back into the course to have a little relatively mindless fun trying to better my times.
I think Titanfall 2 training simulation is another great example of a tutorial level. Shame we don't get more of them these days.
A mention to the trainer guy in AssCreed1, who would 'remind you' of combat techniques as part of your humbling. He was a very likable NPC and you interacted with him outside of training, having built a rapport with him
One advantage to the separated tutorial level is that after you've stepped away from the game for a period of time it can help you remember how to play when you get back to your save, leaving your brain left only to focus solely on what the hell you were bloody doing, instead of splitting it between that and how to fricking play again.
Helldivers 2 has a pretty great tutorial mission. Short and sweet, but explains what you need.
And sets the TONE. Very, very important, that.
Helldivers*
A lot of people still managed to get stuck in it. lol
GTFO also has a pretty decent tutorial level, isolated from the rest of the game.
@@OmniGundam777 I swear that was an autocorrect!
I remember the tutorial missions in TIE Fighter, they were in their own separate section represented by an in-universe flight simulator for TIE pilots and they often had a bunch of bonus objectives that turned them into challenge levels for experienced players if one wanted to go beyond the basic primary objectives.
The attention to detail in the Deus Ex tutorial was great, like being able to reach the observation window with a stack of boxes (which gets commented on) and a hidden coms device thats not brought up at all but gives a nice bit of World Building if found (it’s placed there to see who can find it and Paul is one of the others who did).
It ended up being a tutorial for both the general gameplay mechanics and some not so obvious ones too.
The Hazard Course similarly has some easter eggs for going off the beaten track, with an alternate path you can take early on by crouch-jumping over a ledge, iirc.
The old Half-Life Hazard Course is still my favorite tutorial, it's played like an extra chapter and seamlessly fits into the world
Don't forget that the Deus Ex basic training map also had a secret room that you could uncover if you were just freely exploring around and specifically looking for a secrets or hidden things. And the game is specifically rewards you with a little bit of lore, and a nice bit of characterization as some story is revealed to you and in turn a character compliments you on finding something extra. It's a nice touch, and I remember it dearly to this day.
I fondly remember KH1's tutorial level. It encapsulated all the features the game was trying to show off. Beyond combat, it was the only time the series kind of tried being Legend of Zelda, with platforming and environmental interactions like pushing and throwing objects. It also had hidden choices like choosing what order your abilities unlocked and how fast you leveled up.
From that era, I was thinking the X-Wing series ... where you had tutorial levels to teach you how to operate your specific craft by flying through hoops and the likes.
Actually related, Star Fox and Star Fox 64 both have separate training modes that involve literally flying through hoops, and demonstrations of various game mechanics in similarly low-pressure environments.
I’m sure I’m not the first to mention this, but Helldivers 2’s tutorial level was a real blast from the past.
Kinda necessary for a multiplayer co-op title, but they did a wonderful job conveying the world through the general “teaching” you.
I am glad Yahtzee is showing us his semi
The tutorial level that springs to mind to me is Lara's Home, particularly its Tomb Raider 3 iteration. The perfect balance of tutorialising whilst also having plenty of secrets and things to discover, giving you a greater understanding of how the subsequent levels will be mov8ng forward
Runescapes tutorial island is ICONIC
Tutorial island for Runescape 3 has a hilarious history where the devs tried replacing it with a different more modernised tutorial system *five times*, some integrated, some not, all of them resulting in less engagement than the original, with Tutorial Island currently on its third return. Sometimes new players simply want the straight facts of how to work the game in plain non-story language before they get put into the proper thing.
That's one of the reasons Deus Ex is so replayable. You don't have to do any tutorial shit. Just jump straight into the game.
i mean most people replay only that first level. It has so many options.
The most recent game that gomes to mind is Titanfall 2. You get the standalone tutorial mission to bring you up to the same level as the protagonist but then teaches you the titan mechanics at the same time the main character is learning them as part of the story, so well done.
Something that has been driving me up the wall is this increasing trend I've noticed where a game's sequel will include an unskipable tutorial that's longer than the (skipable or non-existent) tutorial in the first game. I noticed this with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Syberia 4, Fallout 4, and Nancy Drew 33: Midnight in Salem.
The post-morrowind bethesda intro sequence levels are awful. Neat the first time, modded out immediately if I play a new character. I went through Morrowind for the first time after playing Oblivion/Skyrim/FO3/FO4 and the fact that they just let you go after a VERY brief mechanics tutorial sequence was refreshing. You're immediately accosted with some very simple quests to do, but it's up to your discretion, no hour-long sequence of hand-holding while your character states the blindingly obvious or is guided around by an NPC at a snails pace.
If you like these segregated tutorials, it's worth noting that Helldivers uses an explicit separate tutorial. It may be a factor in how the game has that tropey old school feel, even as much as it improves on older games.
It has both.
It has a segregated tutorial level for the utmost basics (mag-based ammo, shoot enemy, stratagems, crouch, dive and crawl, injuries and stims)
And integrated tutorials (popups saying to take weapon, remember reloading tosses away your spare ammo, an encounter is coming so use a stratagem)
And then doesn't tutorialize the drop menu, pings and communication wheel, or weapon settings, lmao. Also you can check how much ammo is in the gun too.
Thing is that it's actually a particularly excellent tutorial for multiplayer games like Helldivers in particular, as it lets the new player learn the mechanics and play with them without necessarily subjecting other players to complete newbies with no idea what they're doing. (as much)
As soon as I saw this video title, I thought of Sequelitis' "Megaman / Megaman X video" and how he draws attention to how well-made the tutorial stage of megaman x was.
"fucking GENIUS!!!!!"
Yes, THANK YOU!
I was disappointed it took me so long to find this comment. The Mega Man X tutorial stage is still the best of all the ones I remember.
Not a tutorial exactly but I always liked that in Perfect Dark you could go to the shooting range with any weapon in the game to try it out.
I used to replay tutorials as a kid for the same reasons. In addition to the Hazard Course and Opposing Force boot camp, I loved running around Lara Crofts mansion, doing the little obstacle course, locking the butler in the freezer, etc. Theres something nice about being able just to play around and have fun with the game without everything trying to kill me.
I remember playing the tutorial of the old Army Men game on N64 as a kid *so many times.* I think I saw the entire campaign once, but played the tutorial enough times to probably complete the campaign 3 times over. There was just something really fun about having a big play area to mess around with every single tool and weapon in the game.
"Thank you for indulging this shamelessly nostalgic tribute to a highly-specific period [in video games]"
my dude why do you think we subscribed :D
"And games had manuals!"
Unless you were renting them from Blockbuster and someone had stolen the manual so you had to figure it out on your own. There would also be save files you could load to see what a much later part of the game looked like.
Man i miss the 90s game instructions manuels. Those had some of the best world building and artist interpretation in gaming. The Star Wars Rebellion game came with a 140 page encyclopedia of every unit and command in the game.
AC 1s tutorial being tied into the introduction to the animus has always stuck out to me
I remember in Tomb Raider 2 you had an obstacle course outside her mansion, and you could time your runs. When you made it to the end, her butler would be there wearing body armor so you could practice shooting at him.
Lock him in the freezer!
I really like the dedicated tutorial in Helldivers 2. It teaches you the essentials very quickly while establishing the basics of the lore and tone of the game. Because the game is non-linear and procedurally generated there isn't a good place to put a more natural tutorial section. I think games like this can still benefit a lot from dedicated separate tutorials.
Bytesized AND Semi-Ramblomatic? in the same day? Second Wind, you spoil us :)
I feel obligated to inform you Yahtz, after thanking you for the lovely essay, that the new Helldivers 2 has brought back this lovely element of game design and does so with great care!
Sad you didn't bring up the hidden holgram at the end of the Dues Ex tutorial level. It gives a nice bit of characterization to your brother and the agency whilst also rewarding the player for searching every nook and cranny, while also not being to big of a thing to worry about missing on a first playthrough. It's one of my favorite little things ever.
I loved the tutorial level in the first Splinter Cell. Great in universe training for the missions ahead.
Game over for knocking out Grim :)
To me the best tutorial levels were from Tomb Raider. Lara's mansion always had tutorial zones which felt really organic, was great for establishing her character, and they even started building in extra secrets and challenges. They even have their own small narrative of her building the assault course over the course of the games.
Surprised no mention of what is the best tutorial level in my opinion, the Tomb Raider Croft Manor.
It’s a lovely seperate world full of every type of activity you could want, loads of fun, and it just really shows off Lara as a character by travelling around her home.
I always loved the croft manor in tomb raider. It was the perfect place to try and learn the controls, what to expect and challenge yourself.
I like the Spider-Man movie games doing it.
Controls, snarky commentary... And yes even if you somehow fail the level you could get mocked.
Like asking how you lost to a man when you just needed to hold block to stop getting hit.
I like having a separate tutorial level that's short, sweet, and gets through learning the game instead of anything else.
What's funny is the last 2 games I played did have this
Cyber punk 2077 before you're about to fight gives you an option to review a military training chip
And in hell diver 2 it starts with a boot camp that is basically all the training you will ever get before being thrown into battle
Quite enjoyed playing the Croft Manor tutorial level in the Tomb Raider remaster. Pleasingly nostalgic, and a great way to get used to the modern controls
portal did this nicely with the whole “you’ve been asleep a long time, let’s see if you have brain damage?” bit
Every time I play Sly 3, I always do the Hazard Room courses. Not because I need a refresher or anything, the Sly Cooper games are rather intuitive, but because of the dialogue between Sly and Bentley. I don't know what it is, there's just something special about it.
This reminds me of the tutorial level in Ghostrunner 2 where the main character Jack is already a badass ninja cyborg and very clearly knows everything he's being instructed to do. You have an NPC giving you tutorials and "trying to be helpful" and jack gets more annoyed and tells him to piss off more aggressively. I think it was actually pretty clever because you get experienced players who played the previous game feeling vindicated and understood that they don't need the tutorial
but also lets new players slide into the role of jack better
I was about to mention the long jump. Even when they told me in the game to practice my longjumps, they didn't say how. Got stuck in Xen until I found the tutorial again.
On the other hand, the Evil Genius tutorial level is hilarious in that it ends with your Bond villain having the tutorial giver killed at the end once they outlived their usefulness.
Spyhunter, a PS2 driving game where you have a James Bond car, had an opening level that was literally a driving test.
Halfway through the game you go back to the level with everything you’ve unlocked and more difficult objectives. The recontextualizing of the tutorial level was very empowering
Man, I can't believe I didn't think of that! Recently 100% that game, really fun!
The game was quite linier, but it was all about hitting your marks with maximum efficiency. Kinda like Stuntman, which the devs went on to make the sequal to.
portal is a good contender for player-tutorials. integrated, but seamlessly, introducing core mechanics throughout the first 1/4 of the game in a way that teaches the player > instructing them.
I still fondly remember the part from the Half-Life: Opposing Force tutorial where they tutorialised you on the effect of your armoured vest. ** "NOTICE YOU ARE *NOT* DEAD!"
I love in Freeman's Mind episode 0, where "Freeman" just flat out refuses to do the Hazard Course equivalent, jumping down from 20+ feet onto flat concrete. It's supposed to teach damage/healing to the player, but realistically it's stupid and Ross's Freeman just leaves the Hazard Course at that.
I’ve always appreciated that the original Infinity Ward/Respawn designers built discrete but solid little boot camp/time trial levels to open up their games. Several CoD games have iconic tutorials, and Titanfall 2 carried that on with its own tutorial level. Those folks deserved more success for their chops.
Religious watcher of Fully Rambolomatic and I love finding Semi Rambo episodes I’ve never seen. Feels like spin off episodes to my favorite show.
The closest equivalent I can think of today is the BotW Great Plateau. It definitely still has the button prompts but there's a lot of stuff button prompts can't teach you, like that you can chop down trees to make bridges. And for that he's a friendly old man chopping a tree. It also does the world integration stuff Yahtzee was talking about.
It's sort of a glammed up version of a tutorial level, in some ways good and in some ways not
There is a line that still sticks with me to this day from the original splinter cell tutorial level, when you are being taught stealth, you are asked to walk through a room with eggshells on the floor and microphones hanging from the ceiling. Your handler instructs you about the course, and then pauses. Once you finish the room, he comes back on and says "Go ahead Sam, you can start whenever your read.... GOOD GOD YOU'RE ALREADY DONE?!" Its just a small little bit of comedy, that he was waiting for you to start, and Sam Fisher is so badass that he was already through the entire course, when all it taught the player was to hold down the crouch button while walking.
This video essay made me think the tutorial level is the "Ordinary World" stage of the Hero's Journey, usually the first chapter or two of a book. I like it.
After seeing the halo gameplay I was thinking you'd go into the way halo integrates the tutorial with plot to kick you into the world. Brilliant way to keep getting information out while teaching new things like weapons and using the waypoints.
Outward is the most recent game I can remember playing that had a seperate tutorial level that is in the menu. It’s actually great! Really enjoyed it
Rogue Legacy 2 has a tutorial level, and even has some secrets that require you to come back with upgrades from later runs. You can skip it at will of course, but it also serves as a sort of cinematic intro to you entering the castle the first time.
My personal favorite is Hollow Knight, which has a small tutorial level that even contains a couple secrets and you can come back to later to reach a new area, but some mechanics are tutorialized by just setting up situations that'll lead you to discovering the mechanic on your own and trusting you are smart and observant enough to actually make the discovery. Which you won't always be, but most players get there eventually and feel smarter for it.
the start of the original Halo did that "learn as you go" tutorial thing while the game explains how to get past the obstacle, but there was one mechanic with a broken door that's only ever talked about here, and never mentioned again
The decade between Doom and Half Life 2 is the golden age of shooters. And from Quake to Deus Ex, in those 4 years, the heart of PC gaming was born.
The last stand alone tutorial level I remember has been with the splatoon series where when you start a new save you are given an opening tutorial with the first gun that is unlocked in the game
My favourite is when the optional tutorial level comes back later in the "shit just got real" moment where the baddies attack your hideout. Tenchu 2 had a great one of those, because some of the tutorial areas were off the beaten path and in the later version some optional extra enemies and items would be hiding there.
I loved the Tomb Raider Mansion. Played that more than the actually game. Locking creeping gramps up in the freezer.
I love the OG console Spiderman tutorial level. You're in a straight up in a simulation training room and just play around with the mechanics. The humour is dated/cheesy, but it's still a fun standalone experience.
Vertical slice explains the setup for Liberty Island.
Opus Magnum and Wizard of Legend have great tutorial levels.
Opus Magnum's tutorial levels are framed as you being a top student at your university approaching graduation, but you've spent your entire academic career doing everything by hand, and now you need to learn how to use a transmutation engine so you can practice alchemy post-graduation.
Wizard of Legend's tutorial level sends you into the future to a museum that showcases the chaos trials, giving history lessons on the mages that administered the trials (who you fight as bosses during a run), giving you the opportunity to get a feel for the spells mages used in taking on the chaos trials, and ends with you traveling back in time to take part in the chaos trials yourself.
TR Chronicles had the obstacle course as a side room at the beginning of the first level. I think there was a secret in there too.
I think my favorite example of a more recent game with its own tutorial level is streets of rogue. Pretty much does everything mentioned in this video, with the added funny satire that the first person you meet gets so overwhelmed by how far you're getting in the tutorial compared to all previous people they trained they literally explode into a gory mess and then is instantly replaced by another bloke who continues the tutorial.
This really does add another star to the original Cod Modern Warfare game for me, that opening tutorial still sits with me and has many of the characteristics yahtzee highlighted for earlier immersive games are present and memorable for their charm and mechanics.
One of my favorite versions of this was the one from Alpha Protocol and the way that it introduced you to the games handlers.
I had an interesting idea for a training level. In it, the player plays someone else from the story, and this prolog/training level plays out the events that get the main story started.
For example, maybe in the training level, you play the individual who stole the thing that the player will spend the game trying to recover. Or who broke/sabotaged the thing the player will try to fix.
Tutorial levels still exist. The latest I've played was Final Fantasy 16, where you get an entire flashback segment that not only teaches you the combat mechanics, but also serves to set up the character's background and world lore.