History Main / SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness

* Both ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' and ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' avert this few exceptions aside, partly in no dramatic increase of enemies' HP as you progress through the game and partly because arsenal is varied just enough so each gun has its niche for use:

** ''[[VideoGame/SeriousSam3BFE BFE]]'' makes this more apparent, with multiple secrets netting you weapons quite a while before you're supposed to get them, including one secret in the first ''twenty seconds'' getting you a shotgun and the ''Fusion 2017'' version of the game adding another secret that nets you a rocket launcher within the first two minutes. Your starting melee weapon in the game is also a [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer]], which is powerful enough that everything you fight until the boss of the second level can be instantly pasted with one swing.

* Not so prevalent in ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' where every weapon has its niche, but in ''Blood II'', where there are more weapons available than [[LimitedLoadout slots to hold them]], this comes into play a lot. For example, you can ditch the pistol when you get the SMG that fires faster, and the SMG when you get the assault rifle that's even faster, stronger and more accurate; the Howitzer found at the start of Chapter 2 is plain worse than the Napalm Cannon you get halfway through the chapter; the [=CabalCo=] Death Ray you can find halfway through Chapter 2 is almost a straight upgrade over the Tesla Gun you got halfway through Chapter 1; and the [[LifeDrain Life]] [[ShockwaveStomp Leech]] is a better use of [[ManaMeter Focus]] than the VoodooDoll or the Orb. Although a few weapons collected early on, like the FlareGun and the SawedOffShotgun, are mainstays in a prudent player's arsenal, while some latecomers aren't as good as hardware you picked up earlier, like the Singularity Generator being a flashier but ultimately less efficient use of batteries than the Tesla Gun or Death Ray and the Die Bug Die sprayer being worse in every aspect than using its ammo for the assault rifle's underbarrel GrenadeLauncher.

* ''VideoGame/{{Duke Nukem 3D}}'' totally ignores this, hiding almost every weapon in almost every level at least once (ignoring the fact that the last four don't appear in the shareware portion that is). Most are in secret areas though. Notably, the [[MacrossMissileMassacre Devastator]], which has the best DPS in the game, is located five feet from the starting position of the first level of Episode Three, and if you know where to look in the first level of Episode One, you can get two [=RPG's=] and an ammo pack before meeting your third enemy.

** The gravity gun itself is a very powerful tool/weapon that you get reasonably early in the game and can take on almost everything the game throws at you after that point with it and [[WreakingHavok random clutter]]; there's even an achievement in ''Episode One'' for only firing a single regular bullet, to ShootOutTheLock on one door.
** ''Episode 2'' gives you a healthy cross-section of your arsenal within the first few minutes, without the usual few rooms demonstrating the strengths of each. Developer commentary says this was intentional, expecting players had gone through the main game and Episode 1 already and knew their preferred weapon by now.

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' usually gives the player two weapons to start with, or one weapon and enough money to buy a second one. Traditionally, these weapons are some sort of pistol and some sort of bomb ([[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Lancer and Gravity Bomb]], [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Combuster and Fusion Grenade]], [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime Constructo Pistol and Constructo Bomb]], etc.), but there are instances where this isn't the case. Either way, in many games in the franchise, the pistol (or whatever your first weapon is) ends up being completely useless in [[NewGamePlus Challenge Mode]], even if it's upgraded to the max (go ahead and use that level 10 Constructo Pistol on one of Nefarious' robots, if you want CherryTapping), although there are subversions to this trope (the Dual Vipers in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked Deadlocked]]'' and the Omniblasters in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus Into the Nexus]]'' are still useful in Challenge Mode, although you still have to upgrade them first). However, there will inevitably be more flashy and useful weapons to buy later, like rocket launchers, bombs that split into smaller bombs, nets that trap and shock your enemies, guns that summon voids which suck in enemies and summon creatures from another universe who attack the enemies, and of course, [[InfinityPlusOneSword the RYNO series]].

* Mostly played straight, but mildly averted in one case in ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. When you first get to the town of Winters, it's because you begin play as another character, and the store there offers weapons far beyond your current power (and price range). As this character starts off poor, and can't earn money, you cannot afford the items until you come back towards the end of the game. Or, if you are willing to invest an hour or two, repeatedly fighting an enemy who drops an item which can be sold for a small amount of money will get you the weapon (which remains effective for a significant portion of the game) early.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' tries to keep this in effect. The weapons you can't get in the starting city are the M4 (better assault rifle) and some of the heavy weapons, which can show up in later towns. The gun shops unlock according to a pattern as well... although there's nothing stopping you from {{sidequest}}ing your way to an arsenal, and there's still hidden weapon spawns where you can pick them up (with the bonus of them being free). Experienced GTA players know where the good drops are and will often stock up on ammo (the only way for them to respawn is to either save the game and advance time forward, or move a sufficient distance away) by SaveScumming at the nearest safehouse and making a few "gun runs".

* ''Film/FallingDown'' with Michael Douglas is the film example of this trope, to the point where it's inspired at least one ''GTA: San Andreas'' mod and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6HCogeW4cI this video]]. He first walks into a store and antagonises the owner until he pulls out a bat, then takes the bat off him. He goes into gang-land and beats two of them up with the bat, pocketing their butterfly knife as they flee. The gang come back with a drive-by, [[EpicFail miss and crash]], and he pockets a duffel bag full of guns. He walks into an army surplus store, gets bum-rushed by the owner, kills him, and takes a rocket launcher he was keeping in the back.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' offers an expensive (and bizarre) service that allows you to increase the power of a weapon -- it's hardly ever worth it, as the next weapon requires the process to start all over again. Of course, once you've found someone's InfinityPlusOneSword, then there's no reason ''not'' to tune it up that way.

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'', being more multiplayer-centric than the others and putting a bit more distinction on the different types of planes, zig-zags this -- weapon damage actually ''does'' increase on higher-tier planes, but how much it does is determined by separate air-to-air and air-to-ground stats on the plane itself (for standard missiles) and on the special weapon, and those can be increased both through upgrading the plane and its special weapons and by attaching parts. So, for instance, a high-tier fighter like an F-22 or T-50 can one-shot almost anything else in the sky, but without a lot of upgrades and parts will only deal ScratchDamage to hardened bunkers that a low-tier Attacker or a Multirole with a small handful of upgrades could still take out in one or two salvos of its special weapon; conversely, an Attacker will be able to clear large groups of ground targets with ease, but simply doesn't have the speed or maneuverability to keep up with enemy fighters. The player's own skill and how much money they've put into upgrading their plane makes a large difference as well; the starting F-4E Phantom II can wipe the floor with end-game planes of any kind if the player controlling it is good and has been flying long enough to tune it up with a lot of high-end parts.

** To give an idea, the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' game gave you the offensive weapons in the following order: SOCOM Pistol, which was overall the most used and useful because it was the only one that could be silenced -> [[MoreDakka FAMAS Assault Rifle]], which was good for crowd-clearing during alerts or forced encounters -> [[{{Roboteching}} Nikita Missile]], primarily useful for puzzles but could also be used for certain bosses or other situations if you're crafty -> Stinger Missile, which had less versatility than the others, but was by far the most powerful and often the best (or only) option for boss fights.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' invert this where the single most useful and effective weapon in the game is the tranquilizer pistol, which you either start with or find ''very'' early in the game. While other weapons can be situationally useful, and some battles ''require'' specific weapons such as the Harrier requiring Stinger Missiles to take down, there's rarely a scenario where your most effective course of action isn't the silenced pistol that can take a guard down in one shot without triggering an alert and without the need to hide the body, ''especially'' since these games tend to reward you for non-lethally taking down foes.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' generally ignores this, with the most useful and/or customizable weapons all given to you or able to be acquired in the first act, but plays it straight in terms of power with pistols and sniper rifles - you are given or can find the extremely useful Operator and M14 EBR in the first act, can upgrade to the more powerful Mark 23 and railgun in Act 4, and then can buy or unlock the even better ''[=MGS3=]'' M1911 and [=M82A2=] after that.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/DeadRising''. The first part of the mall you enter contains a respawning Katana, a MAC-10, and an unlimited supply of Orange Juice (one of the best healing items). The second boss most will fight (the MonsterClown), drops a juggling chainsaw, the [[ChainsawGood best weapon]]. And if the character starts the game and immediately runs to the Gun Store, he can stock up on firearms before the ThatOneBoss owner spawns there.
** Although the main character will find it difficult to get the items from the first part of the mall until almost midnight on the first day, simply because you may ''start'' there, but you don't ''stay'' there.
** While the Katana and MAC-10 may be ''fun'' weapons, they aren't really ''good'' ones. The katana is especially bad, having a long recovery time and killing only one zombie at a time (i.e. useless for crowd control) and breaking extremely quickly. And Adam's small chainsaws are pretty much the best weapon in the game, but not unless you triple-book them, which is hard to do until you've leveled up and beefed up your inventory, plus you have to actually go find the books.
*** Orange juice and wine (better than orange juice, but not available in unlimited numbers until you reach Seon's in the north plaza) don't heal you as much as a Well Done Steak or a Golden Brown Pizza, but you can't get unlimited numbers of those.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] most of the time in ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia''. The present-time, where you begin, is a generally peaceful and safe age, where the only things most people worry about are roving monsters. Also, you visit only one city with shops in that age. The Past and Future, on the other hand, are both in the middle of a war with Dhaos. The sorting algorithm makes sense as you travel through the Past, since the further you go (and the better the weapons get) you're also getting closer to the war-front, and the nations that are actively involved in the war and would need the better weapons. It makes sense that better gear is available in the future, but all reason having to do with the order obtained and where it's found goes out the window, where out-of-the-way villages nobody really cares about sell freaking ''Lightsabers''.

* The later a plane is available in an ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' game, the statistically better it usually is, with the GameBreaker superfighters almost always endgame or NewGamePlus-tier, except for OldSaveBonus. At the same time, however... (see below under Exceptions)

** Further averted in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', where you can acquire the Combat Shotgun, Chinese Assault Rifle and Sniper Rifles at level 2, and enemies carry for the most part random equipment. The only thing you won't find many of until the end of the game is plasma weaponry, as they're only carried by Enclave troops who don't start appearing until after [[spoiler:the Waters of Life quest is completed, then they spawn all throughout the game world.]]
*** The first main quest after the tutorial gives you a Fat Man in reasonable condition with 5 nukes. The problem is that only a handful of vendors sell mini-nukes, and they only sell up to 3, they cost quite a bit, and they only start selling them around level 14 (most first time players will be level 2-4 at this point). While there are mini-nukes in set places that you can go find a) there are no clues on how to find them and b) some of them are in really dangerous places. So the game gives you one of its most powerful guns and a really good reason to use it (the 20-foot-tall super mutant behemoth) but ensures that you can't just use that gun all the time.

*** It was specifically stated in an interview by a Fallout 3 developer that they could hand the player powerful weapons right from the start, as they needed ammunition to be used further. While unmentioned, even powerful melee weapons will require you to keep them repaired, and since you probably won't find too many of one kind in the beginning of the game to allow you to repair them with, getting good equipment repaired at a shop costs... a lot. Not to mention, the most powerful melee weapons in the game don't stop your enemies from shooting you to bits while you are currently out of range. '''In other words''', all those bottlecaps (currency) you save by not buying ammunition? You're probably going to be spending them on stimpacks and other health-restoring items, no matter if you have the best armor in the game (which the rest of your caps are probably going to go for repairs on).
*** It is possible to get arguably the best weapon in the game [[note]]not the most "powerful," but probably the most cost- and resource-efficient[[/note]] earlier on by finishing [[spoiler: The Replicated Man]] quest in a certain way [[labelnote:Spoiler]]Tell Harkness that Zimmer is still a threat and needs to be killed, and you will be given this weapon and some ammunition for free[[/labelnote]], but you won't find parts to repair it with until after the Enclave show up.
*** Played straighter with power armor though, as to use power armor you need to find a suit and receive training, which can't happen until around the same time that the Enclave starts showing up. While a few vendors sell low condition helmets or suits, and it's easily possible to loot the armor from dead Brotherhood of Steel paladins, the only way to get training is to complete a large part of the main quest. Further exacerbated by the fact that Tesla armor, the best armor in the game (barring the DLC only Hellfire armor and the unique T51-b), is only avalible in the last 2 main quests or at an Enclave outpost once you are over level 16. The only armor that comes close to power armor level of defense, Ranger armor, can be acquired straight away but requires you to do a very hard side quest found in the middle of downtown DC, a place low level players fear to tread.
** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' zig-zags this a bit depending on your weapon choice. While at the start there are no power house weapons at all, most enemies until Novac only use 9mm pistols, dynamite, cleavers and varmit rifles, you can get your hands on some pretty decent guns if you know who to talk to and to do their petty quests. At the Repcon facility you can get your hands on dozens of plasma defenders (the best energy pistol) or rebar clubs (a powerful heavy melee weapon) with ease and use them for most of the game. The good vendors however are all in New Vegas (excepting the NCR quatermaster at Hoover Dam) and getting there before level 8 can be a big chore, and even then most of their high end guns are more than you can afford. The best explosive weapons are nigh impossible to get until level 20, requiring either a lot of running around for the Boomers or a trip into a deathclaw nest.
*** All the DLC for Fallout 3 and New Vegas avert this by giving you one of the best weapons they have to offer straight away (the Gauss rifle, The Auto Axe, all the alien weaponry, the Holorifle, the .45 pistol and SMG's and the Red Glare are all either given to you, available to purchase cheaply, or can be taken off of someone's corpse within the first five minutes) though the very best and unique variants are often given as a reward at the end of the DLC or require some obsessive side questing within the DLC

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' manages to play it straight gameplay-wise but avert the strange implications story-wise: the big city where the heroes come from does carry the good stuff, but at first you can only afford inferior weapons because the small rural towns are the only ones not overruled by the Empire. Later you can liberate the capital and get access to the good ones.
** Played with in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', where Baron and Myst (the first two towns) sell mid-game equips that you, for story reasons, can't get your hands on: the armory is locked in Baron and you get blocked off from Myst before you get the chance to explore it. Notably, you can reach Myst's armory at the beginning via a GoodBadBug and turn the normally [[SquishyWizard squishy Rydia]] into a [[DiskOneNuke walking nuclear bomb]].

* ''Ace Combat'' also subverts this as normal missiles don't get stronger on later planes, while [[GameBreaker QA]][[{{Roboteching}} AMs]] and other special weapons are equally effective or not both on early planes and lategame ones.

* For no adequately explored reason, in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, the best Pokeballs, most powerful potions and strongest Pokemon can only be found far away from your starting town. A particularly bad example is from the first games: Victory Road is extremely close to your home, but is blocked by a BrokenBridge. On one side, the Pokemon are about level 8. On the other, they are around level 40. Of course, the starting town is practically the middle of nowhere, and on the other side of that broken bridge is a huge mountain obstacle course. But still.
** The issue with the shops was at least fixed in Generation IV by what you could buy being determined by how many badges you have. Still doesn't explain the crazy level dissonance.
** Additionally, Pokemon moves will rapidly fall off in terms of effectiveness after Generation I (where Pokemon movesets were so sparse and good T.M.s so precious that you would often still be using at least one starting move by the end of the game per Pokemon). Moves like Quick Attack and Thundershock are all well and good when you're fighting weak little Caterpie and Rattata at the beginning of the game, but by the end you really need to invest in stronger moves or you will not last long in a fight. Appropriately, the T.M.s you can get to teach your Pokemon new moves get progressively stronger as you go on.
** The issue with levels is played on a very weird way in Gold, Silver and ESPECIALLY Crystal. When you arrive at Kanto, you are in the world of the previous game, and the level of the wild Pokemon matches up. But, for some odd reason, there are wild evolved Pokemon. So, you go to Route 1 and find wild level 6 Raticate. Meanwhile, trainers are still high-leveled like the ones you were fighting against late into your adventure through Johto, no matter where in the region you are -- so, while looking for those level 6 Raticate, you could be jumped by trainers carrying teams at levels 30 and above. The Gen IV remakes fix the issue of low-leveled evolutions, but also add more trainers to Kanto's routes and generally bump their teams' levels up to 40+.

** Averted in the sequel, ''Call of Pripyat'', in which some of the best weapons can be found in the first area (if you know where to look) or bought from a gun dealer (if you have the cash). Also, in stark contrast to the first game (where you had nothing but a knife and a weak pistol at the start), you start the game armed with an assault rifle and some grenades, in addition to your knife and sidearm.