History NarmCharm / VideoGames

** The Starscourge Radahn boss fight, which seems to have been developed by people who were watching ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' while they worked. It's part of a massive 'Radahn Festival' whose sole purpose is to find some way to actually challenge the boss, who's a 20 ft. tall giant with a long red mane of AnimeHair, a [[HugeRiderTinyMount a horse way too small for him]], and over-the-top GravityMaster attacks that include pelting you with meteors and a GroundPound ''from orbit''. It's also completely ''epic'', featuring infinite summons, gorgeous effects, and an engaging, difficult-but-fair boss that really makes you feel like a Shonen hero. The circumstances also have a surprising amount of emotional intensity; [[spoiler: The Radahn Festival is actually an attempt at MercyKilling Radahn, who's become mindless and feral due to Scarlet Rot, as [[AFatherToHisMen his soldiers loved him too much to let him go on like that]]. And that comically small horse? It was Radahn's [[ABoyAndHisX childhood mount]], and he loved it so much he ''learned gravity magic'' [[MundaneUtility simply so that he could still ride]] it after he grew into a behemoth.

F* [=DedSec=] from ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'', surprisingly, on account of playing [[ExaggeratedTrope so many hacker stereotypes straight]], and being so colorful, fun-loving, and energetic that it becomes endearing rather than annoying.

* In ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'', Batman delivers a.line that is simultaneously narmy and badass:

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene. This sentiment could be applied to the entire game. It was Square's first real attempt at voice acting, and so is often a point of criticism due to the performances being somewhat rough around the edges(as well as technical issues such as the english localisation needing to bend itself around the voice clips having to be the same length as the japanese audio). Despite this, the game has been known to move many people to tears. To this day, it's still cited as one of the most heartfelt videogames ever made.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene. This sentiment could be applied to the entire game. It was Square's first real attempt at voice acting, and so is often a point of criticism due to the performances being somewhat rough around the edges(as well as technical issues such as requiring the english localisation to bend itself around the voice clips needing to be the same length as the japanese audio). Despite this, the game has been known to move many people to tears. To this day, it's still cited as one of the most heartfelt videogames ever made.

* [=DedSec=] from ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'', surprisingly, on account of playing [[ExaggeratedTrope so many hacker stereotypes straight]], and being so colorful, fun-loving, and energetic that it becomes endearing rather than annoying.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene. This sentiment could be applied to the entire game. It was Square's first real attempt at voice acting, and so is often a point of contention due to the performances being somewhat rough around the edges(as well as tecnical issues such as the voice clips being required to be at a specific length). Despite this, the game has been known to move many people to tears. To this day, it's still cited as one of the most heartfelt videogames ever made.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene.

** ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'', full stop. The game became an instant meme when it was first revealed, featuring a protagonist who looks and acts like an early 2010s gritty western game protagonist transplanted into a [=jRPG=] world, and a highly memeable trailer repeating ad-nauseum of how [[MemeticMutation he's here to kill Chaos]]. The protagonist, Jack is presented as TheStoic with a serious attitude with a single-minded obsession on his mission to kill Chaos, and his no-fucks-given attitude expressed by wanting to skip expositions and [[ShutUpHannibal going to punch a villain mid-speech]] is especially hilarious when you consider he's also a type of guy who likes to fist bump with his bros and break out his phone to listen to Linken Park-esque music. The story itself is presented as a serious and dramatic tale of a StartOfDarkness, but between Jack's personality and the strangely nostalgic art and vocal direction that's remnescent of early 10s [=jRPGs=], the game is hard to take seriously, but is a wild ride of unintentionally funny moments.

*** The romance between Yuna and Tidus was narmy, with some spotty voice acting in places, but at the same time it had a kind of innocent storybook charm, like two shy schoolchildren awkwardly starting a relationship.
*** You might even think that romance is stupid all the way through, from the bizarre laughing scene to the awkward lake-out, but the ending still has a good chance of bringing you to tears. [[spoiler: Yuna falling through Tidus as he starts to fade, standing up and telling him she loves him, Tidus hugging her from behind and then leaping off the edge of the airship...all to the ''incredible'' ending soundtrack...*sniff*]]

** [[spoiler:Aerith's death]]. [[BlindIdiotTranslation The dialogue is nonsense]], but between that ''music'', the party's reactions (like [[spoiler: Tifa stroking Aerith's face and then running away in tears]], [[spoiler: Barret stopping to grip Cloud's shoulder before walking away slowly]], [[spoiler: Yuffie hugging Cloud before leaving too]] and [[spoiler: Vincent being stoic and quiet [as long as there's no glitches involved] ]]) and the scene where [[spoiler:Cloud gently lets her body fall into the near pond]], it still manages to make people sob into their controllers.

* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' is a game that ran on narm. It was didactic, pretentious, and overflowing with irritating characters who [[WhatAnIdiot had the common sense of a carton of bricks]]. But the ending, where [[spoiler:Fredric dies, and his soul rises from his body, slowly sitting down to play the ending theme ''Heaven's Mirror'', while his final visitor rises to sing]] somehow loops around and becomes [[TearJerker heartbreaking]].

* ''VideoGame/JadeCocoon'' for the Sony Playstation. It's a mons game with a [[RecycledINSPACE Native American...ish(?)]] theme, a story that goes nowhere and makes little to no sense, voice-acting that ranges from surprisingly serviceable to SERIOUS narm, only 8 levels, and a final boss that, while manages to be properly set-up, and STILL make no sense. Somehow though all of this adds up to create a weirdly charming world to explore, and to this day it's remembered fondly as a classic and has a considerably large fan-following.

** ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'' instantly became a meme on day 1. The main character, Jack, is a FountainOfMemes, who's got a NonStandardCharacterDesign that looks more like an early 10s FPS protagonist than the typical [=jRPG=] protagonist and a incredibly hard-edged personality with a hyperfocused hatred towards '''[[MemeticMutation Chaos]]''', and the somewhat scuffed voice acting and the number of melodramatic dialogue broken up by some downright tonally bizarre moments makes it hard to take seriously, but makes for an enjoyable and strangely nostalgic experience to watch.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene.
** The romance between Yuna and Tidus was narmy, with some spotty voice acting in places, but at the same time it had a kind of innocent storybook charm, like two shy schoolchildren awkwardly starting a relationship.
** You might even think that romance is stupid all the way through, from the bizarre laughing scene to the awkward lake-out, but the ending still has a good chance of bringing you to tears. [[spoiler: Yuna falling through Tidus as he starts to fade, standing up and telling him she loves him, Tidus hugging her from behind and then leaping off the edge of the airship...all to the ''incredible'' ending soundtrack...*sniff*]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' No matter how heart-wrenching the scene where Tidus finds out [[spoiler: what being a summoner entails]], his voice actor fake-cried as well as Daniel Radcliffe does in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of]] [[FilmOfTheBook Azkaban]]'' in that scene.
** The romance between Yuna and Tidus was narmy, with some spotty voice acting in places, but at the same time it had a kind of innocent storybook charm, like two shy schoolchildren awkwardly starting a relationship.
** You might even think that romance is stupid all the way through, from the bizarre laughing scene to the awkward lake-out, but the ending still has a good chance of bringing you to tears. [[spoiler: Yuna falling through Tidus as he starts to fade, standing up and telling him she loves him, Tidus hugging her from behind and then leaping off the edge of the airship...all to the ''incredible'' ending soundtrack...*sniff*]]

* The [[MemeticMutation infamous]] 'iiyo' [[http://youtu.be/Wa4pL0AuCR4?t=29s scene]] from VisualNovel/DramaticalMurder is both Narmy and [[MadnessMantra terrifying]]. In the scene, the protagonist [[spoiler: loses control to his SuperpoweredEvilSide]] and mindlessly repeats "it's fine", accidentally breaking [[spoiler: Koujaku]]'s mind. It's [[BrokenRecord hard to take seriously]], but so unsettling at the same time.

* ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaAndTheAvengers'' is a beat-'em-up by Data East hailing from 1991. It's not the most advanced game even for its time, but while the gameplay is passable, the voice acting alternates between hilariously bad (for instance, Whirlwind's comeback to "You can't escape" is "You will be the one escaping!") and absurdly epic (the game will implore you to continue with a stirring "AMERICA STILL NEEDS YOUR HELP!"). There is ''no'' subtlety whatsoever in the delivery, but this just makes it more fun and enjoyable--making it surprisingly similar to classically cheesy Silver Age comic books as a result.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': [[spoiler: Photoshop Flowey comes off as something right out of a stereotypical, badly-written creepypasta, and Asriel's powered-up boss form resembles a child's self-insert Mary Sue character complete with ridiculous attack names.]] So, why do these bosses still work so well? [[spoiler:Because Asriel, and by extension Flowey, is a kid at the age where they would find such things cool and want to incorporate them into their fights. Even his abysmally on-the-nose choice of name, "Flowey The Flower", fits perfectly when you consider his father's [[LikeFatherLikeSon similarily awful ability to pick clever names]].]]

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'':
** One of the arguments against the English dub of ''Puyo Puyo Tetris'' is the fact that it (naturally) loses all of the AsianSpeekeeEngrish, particularly in the case of Suketoudara.
** While Klug's ''Puyo Tetris'' English voice has mixed reception, a handful of players found his character selection line, '''"YOU CHALLENGING ME!?"''', to be oddly endearing.

* The ridiculous [[SpeakingSimlish simlish]] mumble in ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' was so well loved that by the time Rareware had the money and technology to do full-on voice acting in the up-and-coming sequel, the fans wouldn't hear of it. The corny mumbling was part of what endeared the ''Banjo'' series to them. Rare noted the fans' remarks, and opted to [[GrandfatherClause keep the mumble]].
** The SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' retains the gibberish language of the Banjo-Kazookie series.

Find the computer room!
--> You know what they say, the more, the merrier! You know what they say, the more the merrier! You know what they sa-- (and so on, and so on, and so on...).

*** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''" "Yosh!"

*** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' (Wii/PS2 version): "You little...YOU LITTLE!"

** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' does this in Sonic's final boss battle. (GET A LOAD OF THIS-GET A LOA-GET A LOAD OF THIS, etc)

* ''The whole VideoGame/SuperMarioBros series'' runs by this principle. It's an irreverent and bizarre ConstructedWorld, populated by funny-looking characters with a very quirky sense of humor. But the games are done with such sincerity and charm that when they try to take themselves seriously, ''it works''.

** A lot of the fun of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' is that its story manages to be simultaneously serious and cheesier than a fondue to the point of {{Bathos}}. On one hand the backstory and lore is surprisingly deep, well-written, somber, and dark. The idea of a cult using {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s to turn people into, in effect, worker ants and that the entirety of a decent-sized community has already fallen to such a thing without anyone else knowing is a really strong setup for a genuinely dark and serious horror plot, which the game takes very seriously. However, at the same time, [[BigBad Lord Saddler]] and his henchmen are straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, complete with Saddler's gag-penis tentacle that borders on belonging in a hentai, a "personal" rival to Leon [[RememberTheNewGuy who's never been so much as mentioned before acting like he's a major character who the audience should recognize]] and a giggling midget who acts like [[Film/ChildsPlay Chucky]], Leon's ''constant'' puns and dad jokes, Ashley chastizing the player for happening to gawk up her skirt, a "save the president's daughter" plot that's a few ninjas short of ''VideoGame/BadDudes'', a vaguely Spanish village that dresses like it's the 18th century, zombie cultists chanting "brains" in Spanish, silly CrazyAwesome action setpieces, hand-to-God a ''GIANT ROBOT STATUE THAT CHASES YOU'', and non-stop corny dialogue from everyone that often sounds like it's trying to be commentary on something but has no clue what. It's like the creators were asked if they wanted to make a horror movie or ''Film/ScaryMovie'' and answered "yes."

--> (FamousLastWords) "You're not so tou-- What the heck?" *static*