History Main / ICantReachIt

* MetalGearSolid features a cutscene in disguise. You're watching through the scope of your rocket launcher as the Cyborg Ninja distracts Metal Gear, so you can shoot it. You can control the camera just fine, but if you attempt to pull the trigger, Snake's response is [[ButThouMust "It's no good... I can't do it."]]

-->'''{{JonTron}}''': Nightshade's hard to impress, you take him to a museum and tell him, "Look at that giant bronze horse from the B.C. times," and he's like, "Nuthin unusual here." You take him to a ''future history museum and say, "Hey, look at that giant hologram horse from the distant C.E. times," and he's like ''(points with robotic arm)'' "Nightshade can't do dat!"

* ''LANoire's'' interrogations force you to choose one piece of evidence to catch someone in a lie. In some instances, multiple pieces of evidence in tandem could prove them wrong, but each one individually leaves doubt and thus don't work.
* In ''ResidentEvilOutbreak'', the first map opens with you in a bar that gets attacked by zombies. You are required to flee to the roof, jump to the adjacent building and fight your way down to the street from there. You are not allowed to simply walk out the front door of the bar, even when the game gives you a hard time limit to reach the street.

*** This trope better manifests itself in each of the [[MoonLogicPuzzle Moon Logic Puzzles]] in the game. For example, in one, a character who is carrying no small number of weapons cannot bust a few bicycle locks with brute force; they have to search out a number of clues. Sometimes, the character with a crowbar, chisel, shotgun, and [[{{BFS}} Big Freakin' Sword]] can't break down a simple wooden door; they have to solve obscure riddles or make a handle out of some wax, a horseshoe, and a lighter. No one brings bolt cutters with them in SilentHill; everyone prefers to SolveTheSoupCans. Even [[GameBreaker alien blasters]] are no match for a door if the plot demands you solve a riddle instead.

The combination of InsurmountableWaistHeightFence and ICantUseTheseThingsTogether, found primarily in puzzle/{{Adventure Game}}s. A character is incapable of doing something which would theoretically be possible in the real world for somebody in the same situation. Common manifestations of this occur while reaching for and taking objects, or while attempting to use non-useable objects.

* ShadowGate and the related games DejaVu and TheUninvited featured this trope. Examples abounded, such as in ShadowGate, when a magic flute was in a fountain of deadly acid. Forget pushing it to safety with the butt of your spear; find the magic gauntlet hidden inside a well.

** In ''DiscworldII'' Rincewind graduates to actively hindering the player, saying "Good idea... but not just yet" whenever the player tries to do something that ''is'' part of a puzzle solution, but not the ''next'' part.

* In ''LeisureSuitLarry 7: Love For Sail'', Larry cannot do a lot of things just because the ''narrator doesn't want him to''.

-->--'''The Nerd''', ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''

-> ''"Have you ever had a video game character talk back to you and say, 'No! I'm not going to do that.'"''
--> --'''The Nerd''', ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''

** Worst of all was when in ''KingsQuestVII'', Queen Valanice goes, "Blast! I can't reach it!" if you try to get her to retrieve an object a foot away from her in a calm, two-foot deep fountain. Well, not as much of a "fountain" and more of a "decorative pool of still water". [[spoiler: the solution requires Valanice to get a shepherd's crook to fish it out; the animation that shows her doing this only shows her using the curved end, but not the actual length of the stick, to get it out.]] Evidently she just didn't want to get her hands all icky.

* This trope is named after ''ManiacMansion'', where a chandelier hangs just inches above your head, yet you cannot jump or climb up on a sofa to grab the key up there. The playing character's response is always "I can't reach it!" This also happens when a character dies.

* ''DayOfTheTentacle'':

* ''TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'':

* ''MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', when Guybrush is back in the dark alley on Mêlée Island (with the circus poster), he doesn't want to move the [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence traffic cones blocking his way]] because it'd be breaking the law. [[hottip:* :hint: Guybrush is a [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything pirate]] ]]

* In ''GrimFandango'', Manny doesn't want to take some painkiller from Naranja's bottle (in Toto Santos' tattoo parlor) with his pipette because he has "enough booze at home", even though he is going to leave the city.

--> --'''The Nerd''', ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''

* This trope is named after ''ManiacMansion'', where a chandelier hangs just inches above your head, yet you cannot jump or climb up on a sofa to grab the key up there. The playing character's response is always "I can't reach it!" This also happens when a character dies.
** When you attempt to grab the stain on the tablecloth, the character says "I don't do table cloths." When you try to use the stove, he/she says, "I'd rather use the microwave."
** Nobody can ignore the "STAIRS OUT OF ORDER" sign in the library

** Hoagie will not look inside a drawer inside Ben Franklin's room, saying that he doesn't "look inside other people's underwear"
** If Bernard puts the sweater inside the washing machine without setting it, and Laverne in the future picks it up, she will say that it is not her size and she will immediately put it back in.

** Guybrush cannot pick up the rat belonging to the Low Moral Fiber Men. No explanation is given beyond "I can't do it".

** When he speaks to Otis, Guybrush doesn't want to speak to him because he has bad breath.

* Special mention to the treasure hold at the start of ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'': There are tons of items scattered about the screen, and Guybrush will come up with a different excuse to ignore each one except the two items you need to take. Most amusing is his objection to a purple, horse-shaped children's floaty: "No self-respecting pirate would be seen wearing that!" Guess what he's wearing two minute later...
** ''Curse'' also has a variant of the Idol puzzle mentioned above. You enter a new area, and there's a bunch of stuff for killing snakes. Before he has time to pick up anything, Guybrush is eaten by a snake. He then can't reach any of the snake-killing stuff, due to well, being inside the snake. ([[RuleOfFunny He can still comment on all of it, though]].)
* In ''GrimFandango'', Manny doesn't want to take some painkiller from Naranja's bottle (in Toto Santos' tattoo parlor) with his pipette because he has "enough booze at home", even though he is going to leave the city.
* ''SamAndMaxHitTheRoad'' has an amusing example: while trying to get a book from a shelf that's just barely out of reach, Sam says that he ''could'' just about reach it if he felt like exerting himself. Which he doesn't.

* Sierra adventures loved these to make you carefully eke your character as close as possible to some deadly peril in order to perform an essential action.
** Worst of all was when in ''KingsQuestVII'', Queen Valanice goes, "Blast! I can't reach it!" if you try to get her to retrieve an object a foot away from her in a calm, two-foot deep fountain. Well, not as much of a "fountain" and more of a "decorative pool of still water". [[spoiler: the solution requires Valanice to get a shepherd's crook to fish it out; the animation that shows her doing this only shows her using the curved end, but not the actual length of the stick, to get it out.]] Evidently she just didn't want to get her hands all icky.
* In ''LauraBow: The Colonel's Bequest'', Laura cannot reach the rope that rings a bell inside a belltower. Instead of just jumping, she is supposed to use a cane to do it. That fire poker that could serve the same purpose with its hard curved tip? Nope. Ain't gonna do it.
* In ''LeisureSuitLarry 7: Love For Sail'', Larry cannot do a lot of things just because the ''narrator doesn't want him to''.
* In ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'', Gabriel doesn't want to pick up a red cap in a "lost and found" box in a museum because he finds it unattractive. And yet, the player is supposed to pick it up later - this time Gabriel agreeing - for a disguise.
* In ''QuestForGloryIV'', the Thief can find a mug in one of the houses he can rob, but the game won't let you steal it because 1) it's the ugliest mug you've ever seen, and 2) there's nothing you can do with it anyway.

** The first ''Gobliiins'' game is particularly hindered by the fact that the heroes do not jump and Dwayne (the only character that can pick up items and use them) can only take objects if they are on the ground, right under him. Several puzzles in the game could be avoided if he could just stretch out his arm to pick something.
** In ''Gobliins 2'', Fingus and Winkle will often just do "No, no" while shaking their head and fingers when attempting some action.
** In ''Goblins 3'', the main character is at one point turned into a giant and yet, he ''still'' has troubles getting to things which should normally be easier to do when in giant size.
* In ''WoodruffAndTheSchnibbleOfAzimuth'', the main character (Woodruff) has to go past an acid liquid river but is barefoot. If he has one boot (which is acid-resistant), he says that he can cross it by hopping on one leg. But not being the sharpest pencil in the drawer, he hops in the acid with his bare foot and is forced to go back. He could simply try again and hop on the booted foot this time, learning from his mistake (even an idiot can think this), but no, he will repeat the same mistake again and again. The player is meant to find another boot so he can cross the river full-booted every time. But then, Woodruff is an IdiotHero.

* In the [[VideoGame/{{Discworld}} first]] ''{{Discworld}}'' adventure game, several times will Rincewind say "That doesn't work!" for any action he can't perform, without giving any explanation as to why (which could give you an idea [[NintendoHard to the difficulty of the game]]).
** By the way, the other Discworld adventure game ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' referred Rincewind's "That doesn't work" with Lewton thinking at some point - when trying an ineffective item use - [[SelfDeprecation "I resisted the temptation to say 'That doesn't work'"]].
** In ''DiscworldII'' Rincewind graduates to actively hindering the player, saying "Good idea... but not just yet" whenever the player tries to do something that ''is'' part of a puzzle solution, but not the ''next'' part.

* In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', in the item creation mode, you sometimes get a mystifying message that says "couldn't do anything." Not, "It didn't work," or "Those don't go together," or anything else that makes sense. "Couldn't do anything."
* Travis Grady wins a DarwinAward for [[TooDumbToLive refusing to leave an abandoned monster-infested hell hospital]] in ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' until he checks on a girl who's almost certainly dead at this point.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has the infamous Ymir Forest, where Lloyd cannot reach a piece of fruit that is three inches away from him in the water. Instead, you have to go around the whole forest, coaxing little fish into pushing the fruit onto the shore.

* Justified in the old ''TheHobbit'' text game, in which Bilbo must frequently ask for help from Gandalf or (oddly) Thorin the dwarf, because he's a hobbit and therefore too short to climb out windows and the like.
* Delphine Software's ''FutureWars'' has a point where you have to soak a robotic wolf with a leaky carrier bag of water before it runs dry, and you have to stand ''almost'' on top of it to do so. It's a good thing it's the world's laziest cybercarnivore.
* In ''[[VideoGame/PeasantsQuest Peasant's Quest]]'', attempting to "take plaque" gives the response "You have enough of that on your browning, rotten peasant teeth already," without saying a word about the engraved rectangular sign in front of Rather Dashing.
** Also, in Thy Dungeonman 1&2, along with Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, YouCantGetYeFlask.
* This happens to children in [[TheSims The Sims 3]], who are too short to reach some things on countertops, like the goldfish bowl. This problem was avoided in ''The Sims 2'' by giving the children a small footstool to use
* ''Film/DieHard'' for the NES has a rope you can rappel down the building with, but only after a certain part in the plot. Otherwise you get John saying "I'd have to be desperate to tie that and jump off. No thanks." The same character has no qualms about leaping out of a window to his death at any time.
* Early on, the hero of ''{{Phantasmagoria 2}}'' cannot reach his wallet, which has ended up under his sofa, so you have to get his pet rat to retrieve it.

* In ''ResidentEvilOutbreak'', the first map opens with you in a bar that gets attacked by zombies. You are required to flee to the roof, jump to the adjacent building and fight your way down to the street from there. You are not allowed to simply walk out the front door of the bar, even when the game gives you a hard time limit to reach the street.
* Early in ''RuleOfRose'' you must get scissors hanging from a rope just out of your reach. The only way to get to them is to find a crank in a locked room to lower the said rope, never mind that the room contains, among other things, a rubbish bin you could stand on to get your hands on them.

* In ''ResidentEvilOutbreak'', the first map opens with you in a bar that gets attacked by zombies. You are required to flee to the roof, jump to the adjacent building and fight your way down to the street from there. You are not allowed to simply walk out the front door of the bar, even when the game gives you a hard time limit to reach the street.

* In ''[[HomestarRunner Peasant's Quest]]'', attempting to "take plaque" gives the response "You have enough of that on your browning, rotten peasant teeth already," without saying a word about the engraved rectangular sign in front of Rather Dashing.

* Travis Grady [[TooDumbToLive wins a Darwin Award]] for refusing to leave an abandoned monster-infested hell hospital in ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' until he checks on a girl who's almost certainly dead at this point.

* In ''[=~Star Ocean: The Second Story~=]'', in the item creation mode, you sometimes get a mystifying message that says "couldn't do anything." Not, "It didn't work," or "Those don't go together," or anything else that makes sense. "Couldn't do anything."

--> --'''The Nerd''', ''WebOriginal/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''

* MetalGearSolid features a cutscene in disguise. You're watching through the scope of your rocket launcher as the Cyborg Ninja distracts Metal Gear, so you can shoot it. You can control the camera just fine, but if you attempt to pull the trigger, Snake's response is [[ButThouMust "It's no good... I can't do it."]]

* Special mention to the treasure hold at the start of ''TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'': There are tons of items scattered about the screen, and Guybrush will come up with a different excuse to ignore each one except the two items you need to take. Most amusing is his objection to a purple, horse-shaped children's floaty: "No self-respecting pirate would be seen wearing that!" Guess what he's wearing two minute later...

* ''TalesOfSymphonia'' has the infamous Ymir Forest, where Lloyd cannot reach a piece of fruit that is three inches away from him in the water. Instead, you have to go around the whole forest, coaxing little fish into pushing the fruit onto the shore.

----

* Travis Grady [[TooDumbToLive wins a Darwin Award]] for refusing to leave an abandoned monster-infested hell hospital in ''SilentHillOrigins'' until he checks on a girl who's almost certainly dead at this point.

--> --'''The Nerd''', ''TheAngryVideoGameNerd''

* ''MonkeyIsland2: [=LeChuck=]'s Revenge'', when Guybrush is back in the dark alley on Mêlée Island (with the circus poster), he doesn't want to move the [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence traffic cones blocking his way]] because it'd be breaking the law. [[hottip:* :hint: Guybrush is a [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything pirate]] ]]

** Worst of all was when in KingsQuestVII, Queen Valanice goes, "Blast! I can't reach it!" if you try to get her to retrieve an object a foot away from her in a calm, two-foot deep fountain. Well, not as much of a "fountain" and more of a "decorative pool of still water". [[spoiler: the solution requires Valanice to get a shepherd's crook to fish it out; the animation that shows her doing this only shows her using the curved end, but not the actual length of the stick, to get it out.]] Evidently she just didn't want to get her hands all icky.

* In ''QuestForGlory IV'', the Thief can find a mug in one of the houses he can rob, but the game won't let you steal it because 1) it's the ugliest mug you've ever seen, and 2) there's nothing you can do with it anyway.

* Of course, given the funky logic the game runs on, it may very well cause a temporal paradox..

** Worst of all was when in KingsQuestVII, Queen Valanice goes, "Blast! I can't reach it!" if you try to get her to retrieve an object a foot away from her in a calm, two-foot deep fountain. Well, not as much of a "fountain" and more of a "decorative pool of still water". [[spoiler: the solution requires Valanice to get a sherpherd's crook to fish it out; the animation that shows her doing this only shows her using the curved end, but not the actual length of the stick, to get it out.]] Evidently she just didn't want to get her hands all icky.

* In ''GabrielKnight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'', Gabriel doesn't want to pick up a red cap in a "lost and found" box in a museum because he finds it unattractive. And yet, the player is supposed to pick it up later - this time Gabriel agreeing - for a disguise.

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