History Main / DeletionAsPunishment

Here is the last resort of a video game to set you straight: Threaten to delete your save data. It's most likely to catch even the most unaffected player's attention, as this particular punishment [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou violates the secure barrier between game and player]]. Sure, it seems like a cardinal sin a game designer would put upon a player to actually go that far, but still--the player brought it upon himself.

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Bottles threatens to delete your save file if you talk to him too many times after claiming to know all of the game's basic moves -- luckily he backs down after Banjo apologizes. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Gruntilda]] absolutely ''WILL'' erase your save file if you ignore her final warning and [[NoFairCheating use more than two cheat codes that let you bypass]] the various [[CashGate Note Doors]] and level entrances -- as quoted at the top of this page. [[note]]Only occurs if you enter three or more cheats in a single session, you can bypass Grunty's punishment entirely by saving and reloading to enter more.[[/note]]
** Fortunately, cheats that give infinite power-ups do not trigger any punishment in the original UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 version. The UsefulNotes/Xbox360 version of the game does have a still severe but decidedly less harsh punishment of disabling saving if ''any'' cheats are inputted - even the infinite power-up cheats.

[[folder:SurvivalHorror]]
* One Sanity Effect in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' makes it look like you've just accidentally deleted all your saves. However, this isn't really happening.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/NieR'', to get the final ending where Kaine is saved, Nier must choose to have [[RetGone his existence erased, including everyone's memories of him]]. If you do choose this, the game erases all of your save data, and doesn't even allow you to choose the same ''name'' if you start a new game. It does give you three or four "AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat" warnings, first and asks you to input the name you gave him in the beginning, though.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:You didn't listen, I'm amazed, so now your Game Pak is erased!]]-]

-->-- '''Resetti'', ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''

[[caption-width-right:350:You didn't listen, I'm amazed, so now your Game Pak is erased!]]

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->'''Gruntilda:''' Stop this cheating Grunty says, or your Game Pak I'll erase!\\
'''Bottles:''' Banjo! If you use a third cheat code your Game Pak will be erased! Are you sure want to do this? Press A for Yes or B for No...\\
'''Gruntilda:''' You didn't listen, I'm amazed, so now your Game Pak is erased!
-->-- ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''

You know what the best thing about video games is? The freedom to do whatever you want. You're not necessarily bound to perform the task the game gives you; [[TakeYourTime nothing's stopping you from]] [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer repeatedly playing that particular minigame over and over again]], [[LevelGrinding spending hours fighting irrelevant monsters]] or even [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential getting yourself into some mischief]]. While most games [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment attempt to deter you from committing heinous acts by punishing your character in various ways]], for some players, it isn't enough. So what if the punishment ends up being that you lost some money, disbarred from a particular location, or even the game straight up killing you? You can regain that money, wait out your sentence, and [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist just restart your game]]--really, it's no big deal. Even if the punishment were to go further than that, it's nothing a little SaveScumming can't fix, right?

* Just like its predecessor, ''Videogame/NierAutomata'' does this too. In ending E, to stop a massive data purge [[spoiler: and save the lives of the three main characters]], you have to get through [[BonusBoss by far the most grueling shooter section in the game in the form of]] MiniGameCredits. It starts off manageable, [[BulletHell but is incredibly overtuned to the point where you will die, again and again,]] [[HopelessBossFight and combined with condescending and downbeat messages from the game, it appears unwinnable.]] However, you start to get messages from other players who have beaten it - Encouraging statements in the same vein of the death messages...Culminating in you receiving a Rescue Offer from one of these players. If you take them up on it, you get a halo of extra ships around you, each representing one the players who messaged you earlier, rendering you unkillable and incredibly powerful. [[spoiler: When the fight ends, though, you discover that all of your rescuers have deleted their save data to save you. You are then given the option to do the same.]] Much like ''[=NieR=]'' before it, you are given about five different opportunities to change your mind, but it WILL do it if you comply.

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Bottles threatens to delete your save file if you talk to him too many times after claiming to know all of the game's basic moves -- luckily he backs down after Banjo apologizes. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Gruntilda]] absolutely ''WILL'' erase your save file if you ignored her final warning and [[NoFairCheating use more than two cheat codes that lets you bypass]] the various [[CashGate Note Doors]] and level entrances -- as quoted at the top of this page. [[note]]Only occurs if you enter three or more cheats in a single session, you can bypass Grunty's punishment entirely by saving and reloading to enter more.[[/note]]
** Fortunately, cheats that give infinite power-ups do not trigger any punishment in the original N64 version. The Xbox 360 version of the game does have a still severe but decidedly less harsh punishment of disabling saving if ''any'' cheats are inputted - even the infinite power-up cheats.

[[folder:RolePlayingGames]]

[[folder:Shoot Em Up]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/NieR https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nier_option.jpg]]]]

* In TheStinger of ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', [[spoiler:Hades]] pretends to erase your save file after telling you that the game is over. The fact that he can't do it might be frustrating to a player who is ''trying'' to erase their save file, because [[GuideDangIt the game doesn't tell you how]].

* Should you choose to face down the TrueFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'', [[spoiler:then you'll have to [[PointOfNoContinues give up all of your continues in an all or nothing gamble]] to go back in time to destroy the Lotus Jewel; the more continues you lose, the more lives you'll be given to win to the TrueFinalBoss. Totally losing that battle will cause your game to be over and delete all your progress]]! You are warned about this, being told "Only one shot", and seeing [[spoiler: the thing with your continues break in the process.]]

* One Sanity Effect in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' makes it look like you've just accidentally deleted all your saves.

'''Bottles:''' Banjo! If you use your third cheat code your Game Pak will be erased! Are you sure want to do this? Press A for Yes or B for No.\\

* Should you choose to face down the TrueFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'', [[spoiler:then you'll have to [[PointOfNoContinues give up all of your continues in an all or nothing gamble]] to go back in time to destroy the Lotus Jewel; totally losing that battle will cause your game to be over and delete all your progress]]! You are warned about this, being told "Only one shot", and seeing [[spoiler: the thing with your continues break in the process.]]

* Should the player choose to face down the TrueFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'', [[spoiler:then you'll have to [[PointOfNoContinues give up all of your continues in an all or nothing gamble]] to go back in time to destroy the Lotus Jewel; totally losing that battle will cause your game to be over and delete all your progress]]! You are warned about this, being told "Only one shot", and seeing [[spoiler: the thing with your continues break in the process.]]

* Should the player choose to face down the TrueFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'' [[spoiler:then they will have to give up all of their continues in an all or nothing gamble to go back in time to destroy the Lotus Jewel. Should the player fail then all their progress will be deleted and they will have to start over from the beginning]]. The game does warn you about this, saying "Only one shot", and seeing [[spoiler: the thing with your continues break in the process.]]

** Fortunately, cheats that give infinite power-ups do not trigger any punishment in the original N64 version. The Xbox 360 version of the game does have a less severe punishment of disabling saving if ''any'' cheats are inputted - even the infinite power-up cheats.

'''Gruntilda:''' You didn't listen I'm amazed, so now your Game Pak is erased!

** Even before the end of the questline, a point in Seeking Mr Eaten's Name also allows you to take a certain action that the game warns you is completely optional and ''will'' kill your character, even remarking that there is no text worth reading if you take that action. [[spoiler:It doesn't actually kill your character. It instead rewards you for taking the SchmuckBait with a unique cosmetic award]].

** Even before the end of the questline, a point in Seeking Mr Eaten's Name also allows you to take a certain action that the game warns you will kill your character, even remarking that there was no text worth reading if you chose to take that course of action. [[spoiler:It doesn't actually kill your character. It instead rewards you for taking the SchmuckBait with a unique cosmetic award]].

** The old version of the quest included a point where the game warns you, in very plain terms, that taking a certain action would similarly render your character permanently unplayable, even remarking that there wouldn't even be any interesting flavor text for your trouble. One person ''actually tried this.'' [[spoiler:Their character wasn't deleted. Amusingly, they decided to submit a bug report, after which the developers rewarded them with a unique Quality]].

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Bottles threatens to delete your save file if you talk to him too many times after claiming to know all of the game's basic moves -- luckily he backs down after Banjo apologizes. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Gruntilda]] absolutely ''WILL'' erase your save file if you ignored her final warning and [[NoFairCheating use more than two cheat codes that lets you bypass]] the various [[CashGate Note Doors]] and level entrances -- as quoted at the top of this page. [[Note:Only occurs if you enter three or more cheats in a single session, you can bypass Grunty's punishment entirely by saving and reloading to enter more.]]

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Bottles threatens to delete your save file if you talk to him too many times after claiming to know all of the game's basic moves -- luckily he backs down after Banjo apologizes. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Gruntilda]] absolutely ''WILL'' erase your save file if you ignored her final warning and [[NoFairCheating use more than two cheat codes that lets you bypass]] the various [[MoneyGate Note Doors]] and level entrances -- as quoted at the top of this page. [[Note:Only occurs if you enter three or more cheats in a single session, you can bypass Grunty's punishment entirely by saving and reloading to enter more.]]

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Bottles threatens to delete your save file if you talk to him too many times after claiming to know all of the game's basic moves; he can't actually do it. However, Gruntilda will erase your save file ''for real'' if you [[NoFairCheating overuse certain cheat codes]] and ignore her final warning!
** The Xbox 360 version of the game has a less threatening punishment of disabling saving if any cheats are inputted.

* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' has Seeking Mr Eaten's Name, a treacherous questline that demands that you sacrifice ''everything''--your character's stats, finances, reputation, life, and soul--to get through it. In the end, completing the questline renders your account unplayable. Permanently.