[aaaaaa]

In Metal Gear Solid for PS1, I had NO idea about switching controller ports during the Psycho Mantis fight. Died 30 times in two days tring to figure it out. Finally beat him by equiping the thermo goggles and blasting his ass with the assault rifle. After beating the game, found out about changing ports...... I was pissed!

That's impressive, didn't know it was possible.

I am also impressed at the guy who beat FF8 without junctions o_O

[dangerbyrnes]

i have two really bad ones

The first was in Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time, i played through the entire game without knowing you could do this super fast time dash that let you jump between enemies killing them in quick succession. i got to the final part of the game, the elevator that brings you up to the bad guy. couldn't beat it because i didn't know the time dash thing existed. the elevator is nearly impossible to beat without that mechanic. i actually gave up and never played the game again, i have been meaning to get the game again and beat it finally.

and i played through the entirety of uncharted 1 without knowing you could run and gun. this is really a problem when you are fighting the zombie dudes. where it pretty much requires you to run and gun. i did not know you could do it until a promt for running and gunning appeared in like the 3rd level of uncharted 2. those levels in uncharted 1 were pretty hard without it. my second playthrough was much better.

[StuBurns]

The MGS control switching is an interesting one, you can beat him without it, but if you fail ten or so times, you'll be told to shoot the statues instead anyway.

[Dire]

Halo 2: WHY I AM I SO BAD AT SNIPING?!?!

Oh, don't try to specifically aim for the head - put it near the character and then 'let it glide'.

[Mr.FortyFive]

I would like to thank this thread for telling me that you can long jump in Super Mario 3D Land. I'm in world S-6.

[Moral Panic]

Sentinels in FFXIII-2. I don't need that class in FFXIII and It wasn't till the final boss of FFXIII-2 that I actually needed to level up a sentinel to tank the attacks.

[Scirrocco]

Well now i don't feel so stupid having missed this.

Shinobi (PS2)

I did not know you could use the shoulder button tolock onto an enemy until after i had beaten the game the first time. I also didn't know could hold the attack button to charge an unblockable attack. Both these things are almost required to beat the last boss. Beating them without them was not fun at all.

[AngryChinchilla]

Interesting... How young were you? I'm pretty sure the Old Man gives quite the in-depth visual tutorial on how to catch Pokemon before you even really set off into the world...

I was probably about 9 or so. I guess I was a dumb kid or something haha.

[MattDoza]

Actually, I had a great deal of fun just riding from place to place, absorbing the atmosphere (and I knew how to fast travel).

I was just going to say the same. I regret nothing!

[whatsinaname]

A couple of friends of mine (the kind of people who dismiss all in game tutorial messages without reading them) played through Splinter Cell without realising that the Shift key stabilised the sniper rifle's scope.

[Mupod]

Well now i don't feel so stupid having missed this. Shinobi (PS2) I did not know you could use the shoulder button tolock onto an enemy until after i had beaten the game the first time. I also didn't know could hold the attack button to charge an unblockable attack. Both these things are almost required to beat the last boss. Beating them without them was not fun at all.

I was super stuck on Moritsune until I remembered the kick button. It's very easy to forget since it's pretty useless EXCEPT for that fight.

Also if you don't know about getting an extra midair jump/airdash after killing an enemy the game is like, impossible.

[RedSwirl]

Didn't know how to assign hotkeys in Fallout New Vegas until the very end of the main quest.

Didn't know how the laser-guided missiles worked in Half-Life 2 until I'd already finished the game once.

[Anteo]

I would like to thank this thread for telling me that you can long jump in Super Mario 3D Land. I'm in world S-6.

You can also roll. In fact you can roll-›long jump in short platforms.

[AuthenticM]

I beat Final Fantasy XII not knowing how to use the game's equivalent of limit breaks. I still don't know how. The game failed spectacularly at explaining it.

[InvincibleAgent]

The first was in Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time, i played through the entire game without knowing you could do this super fast time dash that let you jump between enemies killing them in quick succession. i got to the final part of the game, the elevator that brings you up to the bad guy. couldn't beat it because i didn't know the time dash thing existed. the elevator is nearly impossible to beat without that mechanic. i actually gave up and never played the game again, i have been meaning to get the game again and beat it finally.

I beat it and I believe I didn't use that mechanic for that fight, or much at all.

[Mupod]

The first was in Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time, i played through the entire game without knowing you could do this super fast time dash that let you jump between enemies killing them in quick succession. i got to the final part of the game, the elevator that brings you up to the bad guy. couldn't beat it because i didn't know the time dash thing existed. the elevator is nearly impossible to beat without that mechanic. i actually gave up and never played the game again, i have been meaning to get the game again and beat it finally

It's been quite a few years but I am almost certain you don't get that ability until the very end of the game.

[pmj]

I rediscovered the plasma pistol overcharge shot thingy to strip shields, on what I think is near the end of the last level of Halo Reach (at some warehouse with a cannon on second or third floor) on my Legendary playthrough.

[Quote]

Red Dead Redemption fast traveling. I don't know what I thought "waypoint" was, but it didn't occur to me it was anywhere you place your way point. I figured it out towards the end of the Mexico missions.

[LakeEarth]

I watched a friend beat FFVIII by constantly using meteor spell tripled cause he didn't figure out junctioning. It literally took him over an hour.

I later play it, but ultima on my strength, activate lionheart, and take out 2 forms of the boss with one limit break.

[chertipros]

I still dont get how to do FOF charges in tales of the abyss

[Nosgoroth]

Seriously? Damn, if Mario can crouch, you can be sure he can long jump. Fist thing I do with every Mario game is master the controls.

You can't long jump in the 2D games, can you? Since SM3DL is sort of a mix between the 3D and 2D games, I had the 2D moveset in mind.

[atomsk]

Spent about 12 hours in Dragons Dogma without buying any skills.

Got to the end of Splatterhouse without using a key mechanic (something about recharging the rage meter iirc)

[Haunted]

How to activate the gag ball statues in Brutal Legend the ones that upgrade your health. I went through almost the whole game thinking I needed some special solo for that...

I struggled to remember an example, but that exact thing happened to me. Thanks for the reminder. >_>

[darkside31337]

Gravity Rush.

Didn't realize until after tearing my eyeballs out after failing a challenge over and over that you can charge up the Gravity Field in order to strengthen it up to pick up more items.

[Yogsam]

The first time I played Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Subsistence, I never did CQC, I didn't even know you had to hold O for CQC. 6 years later I'm playing the HD Version and going 'HOLY SHIT' because I missed out on this awesomeness. It also makes the game a helluva lot more fun. *Blood Gushes*

Son of a snake!! I've played what is one of my favorite games for years and years, and you're telling me that you can use CQC!? Holy molly I feel stupid right now. So so stupid.

So yeah, there's my answer!

[JonStark]

fast travelling? you mean travelling on the world map?

Yes:(

[Kurita]

Autorun in Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver.

You skipped the dialogue when you got them ?

Also, sending your pet to sell stuff in Torchlight.

[Ether_Snake]

Not really until the end of the game, but in Flashback, there was a part after the jungle level when you make it to the underground city kind of place, and there was an elevator leading down to a dead end. Just above the elevator was a small platform.

I got stuck there for so long, I think I rented the game twice thinking I would figure it out but still couldn't.

It turns out you have to send the elevator down, and then run in a straight line towards the hole, which would make the character jump and grab unto the platform as he jumped over the hole. But if you placed yourself just under the platform and jumped on the spot, he wouldn't reach it.

I was so pissed off when I figured it out, the game never tells you about this and it doesn't even make any sense.

But man I loved that game:)

edit: What? You can fast travel in RDR? lol

[Jotamide]

I beat Ys OiF without ever using a burst attack, also I barely used the "super mode" where you attack faster. Mostly because I forgot they even existed. :/

Also, how the fuck are you supposed to disable those wall mines in Deus Ex Human Revolution?

Finally, I didn't know that by holding the right click you could move the skills HUD in ME1. Therefore, to target a different enemy I paused and unpaused the game all the time.

[Murrah]

I'm playing through Xenoblade right now and the whole game is like one continuous moment of this. Didn't understand chain attacks until 15 or so hours in (still don't get how to get more than three attacks in), didn't realize I could warp outside my current area until 25ish, and at 30 I've finally realized it's much more efficient to just blast through battles instead of wasting a dedicated healer slot on Sharla. I blame all of it on me not playing a non-Pokemon or Mario RPG in over a decade

CQC in MGS3 is another great one. I was well aware of its existence but it was just way over my head; never pulled off a CQC move in all my playthroughs of it until the 3DS version

Oh, and it took me about five playthroughs to realize I could combine treasures in RE4. Such a cool mechanic

[DragonGirl]

I remember that area but don't know what you are referring to.

Samus can run faster. No, not the speed boost, just a faster version of her regular run. That area pretty much stops your progress until you figure out how to run. I figured it out fine on my first play but I tend to forget about it on replays.

[Octagon]

The Last Story: i never undertood what the constant party talk about diffusing magic circles was all about.
the game would have been so much easier if i'd known from the beginning.

[The_eJoker]

Hacking in Fallout 3
Dueling in Red Dead Redemption
Driving in GTA IV

[pmj]

Not really until the end of the game, but in Flashback, there was a part after the jungle level when you make it to the underground city kind of place, and there was an elevator leading down to a dead end. Just above the elevator was a small platform. I got stuck there for so long, I think I rented the game twice thinking I would figure it out but still couldn't. It turns out you have to send the elevator down, and then run in a straight line towards the hole, which would make the character jump and grab unto the platform as he jumped over the hole. But if you placed yourself just under the platform and jumped on the spot, he wouldn't reach it. I was so pissed off when I figured it out, the game never tells you about this and it doesn't even make any sense. But man I loved that game:) edit: What? You can fast travel in RDR? lol

Oh, the memories. I was stuck a floor higher on the very same screen, because I didn't know that Conrad could automatically jump and grab a ledge from a running state. Your elevator woes sound like a bug or quirk of your particular version of the game; I don't remember it being that way in the PAL Genesis version, but it was a long time ago.

Truly a fantastic game, and I'm puzzled and sad that there are absolutely no games like it anymore.

[Wiz]

How come was Sonic 3 not mentioned yet?!

How did you pass this part again?

[Paladin CL]

In Too Human, i died a hundre of times (and watched that annoying Valkyrie animation) to discover how the fighting control really work (for example to shut that blast with the sword) and also discovering how can i heal by opening the loot chest/things when i had low health.
I mean who makes a game with now way to heal yourself and you only get health recoveries if your health is low enough and then you open those chests..

Stupid mechanics, after i found out those too things the game went from very hard to extremely easy.

[Currygan]

I'm playing through Xenoblade right now and the whole game is like one continuous moment of this. Didn't understand chain attacks until 15 or so hours in (still don't get how to get more than three attacks in),

if I remember correctly, it's based about Affinity between chars

[James Woods]

So glad I am not the only one who didn't properly use CQC in Snake Eater.

[aaaaaa]

I beat Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee without knowing you can kill all the dogs that come from the kennels. There's always a way, intentional or not, of getting past them without killing any.

[BoSox06DH]

The Devil Trigger explosion (influx?) mechanic from Devil May Cry 3. I literally just noticed it and started using it a lot. It's very useful with Super Sparda doing the Bloody Palace very easily.

[Ardenyal]

Gravity Rush. Didn't realize until after tearing my eyeballs out after failing a challenge over and over that you can charge up the Gravity Field in order to strengthen it up to pick up more items.

Thanks, this won't come in handy as I played through the game already but the salt on my wounds feels so good...

[Unicorn]

In Shadow of the Colossus, I had already played through the whole game before someone told me that Agro steers himself in a lot of situations.

So many times I was fighting, trying to control that twitchy headed horse (especially towards the end on the bridge part). After that revelation the game's main negative in my mind vanished.

[yn-neko hates a cat]

I was nearly 40 hours into Skyrim when I discovered the sprint button. Friend of mine was talking about how much he hated Oblivion. He finished it but just couldn't understand why everyone loved it so much with all the walking around over and over. I asked him why he was walking everywhere instead of fast traveling. The look on his face was priceless.

After over a combined 400-hours and on my second playthrough, I finally discovered I can hold down "A" (on console) to drag an object around :( Then someone told me that you can even map two favorites to the left and right D-Pads and I just about lost it ;_;

[DemonNite]

Demon's Souls

I was an early adopter and bought the imported version so the game and its mechanics were still fresh to me. I stayed away from most FAQs and tried to play as much as I could without reading too much.

One thing that I learned though was to NOT use any Boss Souls... I was so paranoid about it that I didn't use any of the Unknown/Renowned souls etc... too in case it had some importance! it was much later in the game when I found out its true purpose with loads saved up :(

[yn-neko hates a cat]

Mass Effect 1 I was shooting the turret on the Mako without knowing it had a first person view option if I pressed the stick in! I only found out near the end... I know I wasn't the only one!

OH GOD!

[Unicorn]

Also the hotkey options of the d-pad in Fallout 3. Goodbye pipboy screen for half of my playtime!

[Arla]

I actually never figured it out. I beat with ToS: DotNW without ever doing a singly Mystic Arte.

[MattKeil]

Red Dead Redemption: Fast-travelling through the campfire. I didn't figure it out until well past half-way. Until then I'd either ridden everywhere, or used stage coaches. I couldn't believe I missed that part of the game. The worst part is I didn't even figure out camping until half-way through the game, and I still didn't understand how to fast travel for another like... 15 hours.

.....what?

God...the wasted hours...

[Liamario]

Metal gear solid 3.
I only found out years later that you were meant to sneak with the D-PAD!!

[Razek]

In Demon Souls, I didn't know you could run in the 5-2 swamp. When you press circle your character just does a strange animation. I just walked the entire time with a regan shield so I didn't lose health fast enough from the poison. After doing this for the ~15th time I finally held circle by accident and ran. I wasn't pleased.