13 best video game intros and tutorials

Tutorials and introductions are crucial to attracting players and setting them up for success. Recent months have seen a lackluster increase in game openings. In 2022 there are already games such as Dying light 2And Horizon Forbidden West, These intros, despite being of excellent quality, are tedious and waste too much time with linear exposition.

These game openings may just be a small part of a sprawling experience, but they’re absolutely crucial. When games aren’t good until five, eight, or 10 hours in, there will always be a chunk of players unwilling to push through the boring parts, no matter what excellence might lie ahead.

There are many games, despite the failures of recent titles. Dozens of games out there let players immediately jump into their worlds, or offer an interesting, but evocative experience — it’s not about whether it’s fast or slow, but how an intro uses its time to excite players about what’s ahead of them.

There are many video games that can nail the first hour, despite the downtrend in openings for the game over the years. These are 13 of our favorite game openings:

Stardew Valley

Image: ConcernedApe/Chucklefish

Stardew ValleyThis is the perfect way to start a video game. It’s not flashy like some of the others, but it does an excellent job of pulling you into its world and not letting you go.

Your grandfather died and your farm is your inheritance. You are free to quit your job, move into the countryside, or you can stay at your desk. Quickly, you are introduced to some characters and get you going with your farm. You’re able to venture out, meet new people, and learn as you go. It’s possible to experiment with different crops, or just stick with parsnips. While efficient farmers may be able to do everything in one day, more relaxed farmers will take it all at their pace.

There’s a friendly world around you in Stardew ValleyIt is very easy to get comfortable and feel at home in the game.

PortalPortal 2

Image: Valve Corporation

These are the intros PortalAnd Portal 2Charming as well menacing, this is a line the series almost seamlessly follows.

The first Portal The first shows you awakening in a testing chamber, before gradually introducing the portal mechanic to you. With its moving faces and rooms, the second is far more cinematic. You’ll love both the spooky corporate images and the lighthearted humor provided by GLaDOS or Wheatley.

But more than the vibes, which are immaculate, the Portal series makes its rules abundantly clear and doesn’t waste any time. Puzzle games have to challenge you to stay interesting, and both Portal games keep their intros informative but brisk, making sure you’re never bored.

Super Mario 64

Image: Nintendo

Super Mario 64It was created before long-form, hand-held tutorials were popular. This makes it all the more remarkable.

Mario 64You will be able to spawn on the castle lawn, before Lakitu shows you how moves. You’ll eventually enter the castle and start your adventure, but the lawn acts as a little playground where you can safely practice moving the plumber in 3D. Is triple jumping possible? It is easy to do this because of the hills surrounding it. Climbing trees is another option. The castle lawn is full of trees.

You can practice the experience before you enter worlds filled with enemies and stars.

Dishonored 2

Image: Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

Dishonored II does a nice job of teaching you how to play, but that’s not why it’s on this list. It’s not the most important part. Dishonored II’s intro is the story setup around it.

Dishonored II takes place several years after the initial game. Emily is an adult now, and she’s one of only two playable characters. Corvo is her protagonist in the original game. The intro shows Emily training with him. To practice stealth combat, you will have to chase Corvo around Dunwall.

It’s an important flashback that aptly details the relationship between these two characters while also prompting the player to learn the game’s controls.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

The Great Plateau The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild offers perhaps the best tutorial ever made — and that’s coming from someone who likes the game, but doesn’t love it.

It is a mini version of the entirety.The Wild Breath experience. Each Shrine is dedicated to a single tool, and it teaches you the foundations of what you’ll need to know before venturing off into the world. There’s a bit of everything on the Great Plateau, and it does just enough to make you feel confident before sailing off to adventure.

The Wild BreathThere is much more to the game than what’s on the plateau. However, it doesn’t leave you unprepared. It excites you about the possibilities in front of you for the next 100 hours, and establishes a baseline of what’s possible. And it’s to The Wild Breath’s great credit that it lives up to the expectations set by its fantastic intro.

Shadow of Mordor in Middle Earth

Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Shadow of Mordor in Middle Earth has a brutal opening that quickly sets up the game’s villain and shows you why you should hate them. But before Talion’s life goes to shit, the game teaches you how to play in some very clever ways.

Your combat training begins in the game. But instead of slicing down orcs, you’re teaching your son to fight on the gates of Mordor. If you’re ready to master stealth, then you can disguise yourself as Talion so that your wife is not harmed. Talion gives her flowers, instead of giving you a sword.

Shadow of Mordor is a game mostly about murder and revenge, so the game choosing to teach you its core mechanics through acts of love is a fascinating choice, and it makes Talion’s losses hit that much harder.

Mass Effect 2

Image by BioWare/Electronic Arts

Introduction to Mass Effect 2This is the best video game opener sequence ever. No, I’m not talking about the Cerberus facility (which does actually offer a great tutorial). I’m talking about when Shepard, savior of humanity and series protagonist, dies in space.

The second Mass Effect couldn’t possibly start with more urgency. The crew is rolled around in Normandy when a new species of aliens strikes. They kill the old crew members, forcing Shepard into trying to evacuate them. But Shepard doesn’t make it, leading to a Six Million Dollar Man-style “we can rebuild them” moment.

It’s a shocking twist 10 minutes into a sequel, but it’s the aftermath of this change that’s so interesting. Two years after Shepard’s death, Shepard and his companions are resurrected to work for terrorists. It completely alters characters’ perceptions of them, and becomes the perfect jumping off point for one of the best video games ever made.

Suikoden 2

Konami Image

Classic JRPG about recruiting your friends to help you. Suikoden 2This is a sad scenario. Two friends, nearly brothers, are separated in an accident, and in that moment, the game sets up a key rivalry that’ll last the entire game.

Suikoden 2 does a fine job explaining its mechanics, but it’s the game’s confidence that sets the intro apart. It’s quick to build conflict and invest you in its story. JRPGs have a history of long intros, and any turn-based combat fan you’ve ever known has told you the famous “it’ll get good after hour X,” but Suikoden 2Gets its feet on the ground immediately

Want to be the best? Suikoden 2, you’re in for a 30+ hour experience, which is anything but brief. But it’s to the game’s great credit that it’s able to set the stage and establish its characters so quickly.

God of War (2018)

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment

God of War’s 2018 reboot needed to do a lot of work in its intro. This reboot needed to create Kratos as a complex character instead of an angry child with Daddy issues. This not only allows a character well-known to become more nuanced than before but also provides an emotional experience that is easy to place your trust in.

It includes the entirety God of WarIt’s about a father/son relationship. In the intro, Atreus and Kratos establish a almost nonexistent relationship. But it’s in the opening moments that Sony Santa Monica builds the anchors that will eventually pay dividends. The way Kratos reaches out to his son but doesn’t quite touch him, his teaching moments that come off too harsh, and the genuine fear he feels for the boy when Baldur shows up.

It sets up so much while also serving as an excellent intro to the game’s puzzles, combat, and bombastic spectacle.

Echo

Image: Ultra Ultra

This list has many intros that are worthy of being here because they’re short, but Echo’s This is the reverse approach. Echo It is a stealth video game where the main character En wakes up in a strange new world.

Outside of her AI companion, En is alone throughout the game’s opening. Through this isolation, the universe slowly unfolds into a tutorial, teaching both the game’s basic mechanics and the rules of the world. En, however, is learning how to handle these kinds of situations. Echo This makes it possible for players and viewers to empathize.

It Echo Tutorial combines storytelling with mechanics in order to instruct players and introduce its world. It’s a hard balancing act, and one that many games fail, but Echo It is able to be maneuvered deftly in its slow-burn introduction.

Half-Life 2

Image Credit: Valve Software

Half-Life 2 The famous City 17 instantly drops you into it, with little context about how the world changed since aliens arrived on Earth in the first game. It uses the mystery to its advantage and creates one of my favorite settings.

From the moment you step off the train as Gordon, you’re able to pick up items and play in Valve’s physics sandbox. But the world around you is so dilapidated and broken down that it’s hard to focus on anything else. Enforcers roam the streets, which immediately establishes an authoritarian mood that’s key to Half-Life 2’s story.

Half-Life 2Although it does a wonderful job in teaching you how and where to find its physics engine, the real reason why I love it so much is its depressing, memorable walk through the city which inspires revolution.

Final Fantasy 7 (and Remake)

Square Enix via Polygon

It is available in both the original and revised versions. Remake forms, Final Fantasy 7The action starts off loud and clear. Avalanche is preparing to destroy a Mako reactor, causing the destruction of Midgar. This will instantly make every character an ecoterrorist. Cloud forces us to see the truth. Despite the fact that they destroyed a reactor right in the heart of Midgar, Barrett and the other crew members are still the heros of the story.

It is important to understand where Avalanche stands, as the world depends on it. Final Fantasy 7Complex. But the intro mission simplifies things by getting you straight into the action and explaining why you’re there. Final Fantasy 7 doesn’t work if it’s subtle, so the game immediately shows you the evil behind Shinra.

Its intro is obvious and loud because it’s so clear. Final Fantasy 7 builds its city and class system very early, letting you focus your energy on learning the game’s combat system and falling in love with the characters around you.

Doom (2016)

Image: id Software/Bethesda Softworks

This is where the best of Doom’s 2016 reboot is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Doom Guy is the most irreverent first-person shooter protagonist of the last decade, and he doesn’t give a damn about the station he’s woken up on or the will of the people around him. He’s the Doom Guy, and he’s here to fuck up demons.

Doom’s intro works because the character reflects the gameplay. You’re not playing Doom to listen to scientists or read computer monitors; you’re here to smash shit, so that’s how Doom Guy interacts with everything. Within seconds of hitting start you’re shooting demons and grinding them to a pulp. Minutes later you’re picking up new weapons, meeting new foes, and finding new ways to destroy them. And then, of course, once the game has teased what you’re in for for the next several hours, Doom Guy cocks his shotgun to the music as “DOOM” pops up on your screen. Perfect.