History Main / UnknownItemIdentification

This can be {{justified|Trope}} for certain kinds of items, like potion bottles (whose labels may be the only clue as to what's inside), or items that are stored/hidden inside a generic container. Until it's been identified, all the item really does is occupy space in the player's InventoryManagementPuzzle, which (depending on the size of said inventory) may require the player to decide whether it's ''really'' worth lugging around twenty extra pounds of useless inventory in the hopes that it turns out to be more than just VendorTrash, or if it's something they can safely toss out and/or come back for later (without it getting [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]]).

Whether or not the player can use an item before getting it identified varies -- do you ''really'' want to take the chance that the random glass bottle with purple goop you just picked up turns out to be a HealingPotion and not deadly {{poison|Mushroom}}, or that a shiny-looking sword is actually a useful weapon as opposed to rusty old VendorTrash (or worse, harboring a nasty -- and usually [[StuckItems clingy]] -- [[CursedItem curse]]?) Some games won't let you use or equip the item at all until its true nature has been identified; others will let you do so at your own peril (but will usually disclose the item's true nature after the fact if you do).

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', enemies may occasionally drop rare items with labels like "? SWORD". The player can't equip these as-is, but may take them to specific [=NPCs=] for appraisal. The items may turn out to be actual weapons (often strong ones at the time, though sometimes cursed) or [[VendorTrash useless ornamental ones]].

* The ''Video Game/Wizardry'' series has most items picked up in the dungeon be unidentified. There are two ways to identify them: either pay the shopkeeper a fee for a safe and guaranteed ID job, or have a [[TheRedMage Bishop]] use their unique identification powers to try to do it for free... at the risk of getting [[StuckItems stuck]] with a CursedItem.

* The ''Video Game/Wizardry'' series has most items picked up in the dungeon be unidentified. There are two ways to identify them: either pay the shopkeeper a fee for a safe and guarnteed ID job, or have a ''TheRedMage/Bishop'' use their unique identification powers to try to do it for free... at the risk of getting [[StuckItems stuck]] with a CursedItem.

* The ''Video Game/Wizardry'' series has most items picked up in the dungeon be unidentified. There are two ways to identify them: either pay the shopkeeper a fee for a safe and guarnteed ID job, or have a ''TheRedMage/Bishop'' use their unique identification powers to try to do it for free... at the risk of getting [[StuckItems stuck]] with a CursedItem.

* ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' and its variants have items start out unidentified: potions, scrolls, wands, staves, jewelry, armor, and weapons. You can identify items safely by magical means, but you can also identify any item by selling them to a shop that buys items of that type. Single- and limited-use items can also be identified by using them on yourself and praying that they aren't harmful. There are also a few artifacts which knowledgeable players can recognize even when unidentified because their base types are unique.

* ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'', similar to ''Diablo'', scholars in towns can identify items for you. You also identify equipment automatically over time if you're carrying it; that process is sped up by the "Sense Quality" skill.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/animal_crossing_i_dug_up_a_fossil.png]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'', presents are initially unidentified. Though, since all presents of the same design contain the same item or effect, using one automatically identifies any identical ones (whether in the player's inventory or on the ground). The "man in the carrot suit" is a randomly-appearing [=NPC=] who can identify a present for a few dollars. This is important because one of the effects is the Randomizer, which ''un''identifies all presents and scrambles the design-effect relationships!

* ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' and its variants have items start out unidentified: potions, scrolls, wands, staves, jewelry, armor, and weapons.

Whether or not the player can use an item before getting it identified varies -- do you ''really'' want to take the chance that the random glass bottle with purple goop you just picked up turns out to be a HealingPotion and not deadly {{poison|Mushroom}}, or that a shiny-looking sword is actually a useful weapon as opposed to rusty old VendorTrash (or worse, harboring a nasty -- and usually [[StuckItems clingy]] -- {{curse}}?) Some games won't let you use or equip the item at all until its true nature has been identified; others will let you do so at your own peril (but will usually disclose the item's true nature after the fact if you do).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}: Dawn of Dreams'', whenever you find a treasure box and you can't solve the puzzle, you have the option of simply smashing it open, but then you will simply acquire an "Unknown" item. Once you reach the merchant, he can identify it for you... for a small fee, of course.

In some {{Role Playing Game}}s (and {{Roguelike}}s in specific), a DungeonCrawling party may obtain items whose exact identities and purposes are a mystery at first -- the characters don't automatically know what these items are supposed to be, and (more importantly) the game doesn't tell the player either; it's labelled as an "unknown" or "unidentified" item or given an extremely generic descriptor like "a red potion" or "[[VideoGame/NetHack a scroll labelled 'FOOBIE BLETCH']]" (as opposed to the usual "Healing Potion" or "Elixir of Life"). The task of divining the true identity of these items is the purpose of ''another'' item, a special skill, or an {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PC specializing in identification/appraisal/whatever-you-call-it.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, a low Alchemy skill prevents the player from determining the properties of alchemical ingredients. In some games, such as ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', ingredients that the player has not used in experiments always have unknown properties. However, tasting the ingredients exposes the player to diluted version of their powers -- as opposed to the stronger powers of potions brewed from these ingredients -- so it's almost always safe to taste them. The worst that might happen is having your health drained by a sliver for five seconds...in a game where you have RegeneratingHealth.

* Scrolls of Identification double as PracticalCurrency in ''VideoGame/PathOfExile''. While equipments need to be identified to use, maps and Strongboxes can be used without doing so, and running an unidentified map gives a boost to item drops. Unidentified items also provide better returns in certain vendor recipes.

This can be {{justified|Trope}} for certain kinds of items, like potion bottles (whose labels may be the only clue as to what's inside), or items that are stored/hidden inside a generic container. Until it's been identified, all the item really does is occupy space in the player's InventoryManagementPuzzle, which (depending on the size of said inventory) may require the player to decide whether it's ''really'' worth lugging around twenty extra pounds of useless inventory in the hopes that it turns out to be more than just VendorTrash, or if it's something they can safely toss out and/or come back for later (without it getting LostForever).

* The NintendoDS version of ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' has rusty items which need to be taken to a polisher to make them proper weapons.

** The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series is the same. A character's "Lore" skill (based on intelligence and enhanced for some character classes) allows automatic identification of magical items. Cursed items are identified automatically if equipped.

* In ''VideoGame/{{ToeJam and Earl}}'', presents are initially unidentified. Though, since all presents of the same design contain the same item or effect, using one automatically identifies any identical ones (whether in the player's inventory or on the ground). The "man in the carrot suit" is a randomly-appearing [=NPC=] who can identify a present for a few dollars. This is important because one of the effects is the Randomizer, which ''un''identifies all presents and scrambles the design-effect relationships!

* ''VideoGame/{{RuneScape}}'':

* {{Elsword}} has a variant in that all equipments come with four rarity variant the lowest one can be equipped immediately while anything beyond that needs to be identified before equipping, you can slot extra attributes in and/or add elemental effects to it, but you need to identify their bonuses first before equipping it. You do, however, knows what the equipment is before equipping