History PerspectiveFlip / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/MarySkelterNightmares'' and its sequel ''Mary Skelter 2'' have a recursive variation. The post-game of the original UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} versions of the first game has the player taking the Blood Team through an Underground area and fighting a Nightmare that, unlike most other Nightmares, is willing to retreat for its own survival. The sequel has scenes between chapters that follow someone running away from the Blood Team, starting in the Underground area and moving to an area not seen in the original game. This is the first hint that [[spoiler:the main character of the sequel and said Nightmare from the first game are one and the same]]. The EmbeddedPrecursor version of the first game then features an expanded post-game that continues into the area exclusive to the sequel's flashbacks, except from the Blood Team's perspective. The twist at the end is that [[spoiler:thanks to RippleEffectProofMemory, the Blood Team and said Nightmare work together to subvert the events that lead to the sequel.]].

** In ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'', a GameMod for RA2, this comes into play with the Allied Nations and Epsilon Army's (the mod's version of Yuri's army) final Act 2 missions, called ''Hamartia'' for the Allies and ''Babel'' for Epsilon. Both of them focus on the exact same battle, the final fight around Epsilon's [[InstantWinCondition Mental Omega]] [[MindControlDevice Device]] in Antarctica, and playing both fills in the gaps of what one faction was doing while the player was distracted elsewhere in the other's mission. For example, after some dungeon crawling with two of the Allied hero units to destroy the initial objective in ''Hamartia'' (the final Mental Dynamo protecting the Mental Omega from attack and the central Dybbuk Launch Facility), it immediately boots the player back to the greater battlefield to see that the Southern Cross (one of your AI allies) has taken massive losses and Epsilon have cleared and placed down fresh bases on the right half of the map, while playing ''Babel'' has you clearing out that half of the map to make way for your side's reinforcements and counterattack...while being forced to defend the Mental Omega once the Allied heroes destroy the Mental Dynamo and Dybbuk launch facility protecting. Also doubles as DuelingPlayerCharacters, since the Allied Commander and Epsilon Proselyte are explicitly mentioned as being present at the battle, with GameplayAndStoryIntegration coming in thanks to both sides attacking via the popular player tactic of massed air units.

** In ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'', a GameMod for RA2, this comes into play with the Allied Nations and Epsilon Army's (the mod's version of Yuri's army) final Act 2 missions, called ''Hamartia'' for the Allies and ''Babel'' for Epsilon. Both of them focus on the exact same battle, the final fight around Epsilon's [[InstantWinCondition Mental Omega]][[MindControlDevice Device]] in Antarctica, and playing both fills in the gaps of what one faction was doing while the other is distracted elsewhere. For example, after some dungeon crawling to destroy the initial objective in ''Hamartia'', it immediately boots the player back to the greater battlefield to see that the Southern Cross (your Cyan coloured ally) has taken massive losses and Epsilon have cleared and placed down fresh bases on the right half of the map, while playing ''Babel'' has you clearing out that half of the map to make way for your side's reinforcements and counterattack. Also doubles as DuelingPlayerCharacters, since the Allied Commander and Epsilon Proselyte are explicitly mentioned as being present at the battle, with GameplayAndStoryIntegration coming in thanks to both sides attacking via the popular player tactic of massed air units.

** In ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'', a GameMod for RA2, this comes into play with the Allied Nations and Epsilon Army's (the mod's version of Yuri's army) final Act 2 missions, called ''Hamartia'' for the Allies and ''Babel'' for Epsilon. Both of them focus on the exact same battle, the final fight around Epsilon's [[InstantWinCondition Mental Omega]][[Device MindControlDevice]] in Antarctica, and playing both fills in the gaps of what one faction was doing while the other is distracted elsewhere. For example, after some dungeon crawling to destroy the initial objective in ''Hamartia'', it immediately boots the player back to the greater battlefield to see that the Southern Cross (your Cyan coloured ally) has taken massive losses and Epsilon have cleared and placed down fresh bases on the right half of the map, while playing ''Babel'' has you clearing out that half of the map to make way for your side's reinforcements and counterattack. Also doubles as DuelingPlayerCharacters, since the Allied Commander and Epsilon Proselyte are explicitly mentioned as being present at the battle, with GameplayAndStoryIntegration coming in thanks to both sides attacking via the popular player tactic of massed air units.

** In ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'', a GameMod for RA2, this comes into play with the Allied Nations and Epsilon Army's (the mod's version of Yuri's army) final Act 2 missions, called ''Hamartia'' for the Allies and ''Babel'' for Epsilon. Both of them focus on the exact same battle, the final fight around Epsilon's [[InstantWinCondition Mental Omega]][[Device MindControlDevice]] in Antarctica, and playing both fills in the gaps of what one faction was doing while the other is distracted elsewhere. For example, after some dungeon crawling to destroy the initial objective in ''Hamartia'', it immediately boots the player back to the greater battlefield to see that the Southern Cross (your Cyan coloured ally) has taken massive losses and Epsilon have cleared and placed down fresh bases on the right half of the map, while playing ''Babel'' has you clearing out that half of the map to make way for your side's reinforcements and counterattack. Also doubles as DuellingPlayerCharacters, since the Allied Commander and Epsilon Proselyte are explicitly mentioned as being present at the battle, with GameplayAndStoryIntegration coming in thanks to both sides attacking via the popular player tactic of massed air units.

** The final boss of Terra's story has the player becomes the boss towards Xehanort. The battle music is Terra's theme and he generates the barrier around the arena, both things that traditionally come from the villain in this series. Adding to this, [[spoiler:Xehanort has possessed Terra and is using his body, leaving Terra to fight as the Lingering Will, a BonusBoss from a previous installment in the franchise.]]

** The first three sequences of ''Assassin's Creed III'' have Haytham Kenway, Grand Master of the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order and father of the game's main Assassin protagonist Connor, as playable character.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' revisits the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar / pre-Revolution UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica setting of the early parts of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', this time from the perspective of a former Assassin who turned Templar. Also, the early part of the aforementioned ''Assassin's Creed III'' has Haytham Kenway, Grand Master of the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order, as protagonist for the first three sequences.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' revisits the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar / pre-Revolution UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica setting of the early parts of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', this time from the perspective of a Templar instead of an Assassin.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' revisits the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar / pre-Revolution America setting of the early parts of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', this time from the perspective of a Templar instead of an Assassin.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' revisits the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar setting of the early parts of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', this time from the perspective of a Templar instead of an Assassin.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce'' had the player taking the role of Corporal Adrian Shephard, one of the soldiers who in the original title are supposed to silence the witnesses (including PlayerCharacter). However, playing as Shephard makes you realise that the enemy soldiers are just as confused and frightened by the horrific events as Gordon was. In another expansion the PlayerCharacter is a RedShirt security guy trying to get out in one piece.
** [[GameMod Fan mods]] from [=DAVLevels=] continue the idea: ''VideoGame/AzureSheep'' about another security guy trying to save his girlfriend's and his own butt and ''VideoGame/PointOfView'' about a variant alien slave. The latter ends up picked up by the former two in the final cutscenes, thus linking the stories and correctly guessing (or suggesting?) Vortigaunts' [[HeelRaceTurn allegiance flip]] in the sequel.

* A couple of fan-made scenarios for ''VideoGame/PlagueInc: Evolved'', referred as "Antiplague", consist in fighting the pandemic by enforcing measures which either slow down the plague or speed up the research of the cure; the victory condition is to complete the cure.[[note]]Because of technical limitations, the victory screen still says that you wiped out the humanity.[[/note]]

** [[GameMod Fan mods]] from [=DAVLevels=] continue the idea: ''Azure Sheep'' about another security guy trying to save his girlfriend's and his own butt and ''Point of View'' about a variant alien slave. The latter ends up picked up by the former two in the final cutscenes, thus linking the stories and correctly guessing (or suggesting?) Vortigaunts' [[HeelRaceTurn allegiance flip]] in the sequel.
* The game of the first ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' movie had a cheat which allowed you to play as the Green Goblin, the main antagonist. The level design remained the same, but dialogue and monologuing changed to explain the sudden perspective shift.

* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' loves this trope. Fhe story follows a group of heroes, journeying with a young beautiful priestess, protecting her from harm and bringing light to the world, while fighting off the corrupt and [[BlackAndWhiteMorality morally black evil empire]]... [[spoiler:actually, she's the misguided priestess of a corrupt faith, and the light you are bringing is being harnessed by the antagonists to blast through the dimensions in order to [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou invade our world]], and the bringing of the light is what's causing the next world's light loss in the first place, the villains while screwy (especially the mid-bosses) are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, while the heroes are the unassuming instigators of doom, and it ends up being a GreyAndGrayMorality with ''them'' being the darker of the greys.]]

* ''VideoGame/GreyGoo2015'' is a RealTimeStrategy game featuring a great war between three very different factions. In a twist on the dynamic popularised by ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'', this time it's the ''aliens'' who are the battle-hardened underdogs with industrial war-machines, and the ''humans'' are the [[SpaceElves enlightened space scholars with sleek high technology]] .

* ''VideoGame/BattleZone1998'' features two campaigns, NSDF (American) and CCA (USSR), running at roughly the same time as both sides prowl the Solar System during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace Space Race]] looking for [[UnObtanium Bio Metal]]. The NSDF campaign features Grizzly One and his squadron they uncover the secrets of Biometal whilst fighting off the Soviets, whereas the shorter [[NintendoHard but much harder]] CCA campaign has the largely featureless "Comrade" and his army as they try to stay ahead of the Americans by fighting [[LeaveNoSurvivors the brutal]] NSDF Black Dog squadron and ultimately releasing some SealedEvilInACan; their campaign ends at the same time the [[spoiler: CCA remnants join forces with the NSDF in their campaign to fight off said sealed evil]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' has this trope as its primary twist. The first time you play through the game, it seems to be a straightforward story of good vs evil, as Nier fights against the monstrous and evil Shades to protect his friends and save his sister/daughter. On the second playthrough, however, the game shows scenes from the Shades' perspective, and allows you to understand their dialogue... and it turns out that most of the Shades are innocent and/or sympathetic. Sure, there's a handful of genuinely evil ones, but most of them are fighting only to defend themselves from the player, whom they see as a mass murdering psychopath. Even the BigBad, the Shadowlord, is quite literally [[spoiler:another version of the player, with exactly the same motivation: protecting his beloved sister/daughter and curing her terrible disease]].

* After playing likely over 100 hours as the virtually unstoppable space ninjas who wiped the titular cybernetic suits in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', "The New War" sees you controlling a Grineer Lancer and a Corpus Crewman, two of the {{mooks}} ypu’re cut down in droves. PlayedWith in that at this point, [[EnemyMine everyone has a shared problem to deal with]] - the returned Sentients.

* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' loves this trope. You are a group of heroes, journeying with a young beautiful priestess, protecting her from harm and bringing light to the world, while fighting off the corrupt and [[BlackAndWhiteMorality morally black evil empire]]... [[spoiler:actually, she's the misguided priestess of a corrupt faith, and the light you are bringing is being harnessed by the antagonists to blast through the dimensions in order to [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou invade our world]], and the bringing of the light is what's causing the next world's light loss in the first place, the villains while screwy are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, while you're the unassuming instigators of doom, and it ends up being a GreyAndGrayMorality with ''you'' being the darker of the greys.]]

* Two ''Franchise/StarWars'' games have given the players exclusively Imperial campaigns: ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII Battlefront II]]'' (2005). ''Battlefront'' in particular, while it might not make the Empire as a whole look much better, certainly paints the Stormtroopers as sympathetic instead of the faceless evil minions they've become known as* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' does this with the first and second game. The first game has the heroes tracking down the villains after they killed the heroes family when trying to get into the forbidden chamber to reactivate the world's [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]] and trying to rescue their friends who were taken hostage. The second game flips this by following the friends who were held hostage and finding out [[spoiler:the world is dying and the villains only went to the forbidden chamber as a last resort to save their village and the world. The friends who are hostage are working with the villains. Also, it turns out the villains never killed their families, only brought them to their village to allow them to heal and get them involved with their cause when the families were hurt by the traps of the chamber.]]

* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' loves this trope. You are a group of heroes, journeying with a young beautiful priestess, protecting her from harm and bringing light to the world, while fighting off the corrupt and [[BlackAndWhiteMorality morally black evil empire]]... [[spoiler: actually, she's the misguided priestess of a corrupt faith, and the light you are bringing is being harnessed by the antagonists to blast through the dimensions in order to [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou invade our world]], and the bringing of the light is what's causing the next world's light loss in the first place, the villains while screwy are well intentioned extremists, while you're the unassuming instigators of doom, and it ends up being a GreyAndGrayMorality with ''you'' being the darker of the greys.]]
* Two ''Franchise/StarWars'' games have given the players exclusively Imperial campaigns: ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII Battlefront II]]'' (2005). ''Battlefront'' in particular, while it might not make the Empire as a whole look much better, certainly paints the Stormtroopers as sympathetic instead of the faceless evil minions they've become known as.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' does this with the first and second game. The first game has the heroes tracking down the villains after they killed the heroes family when trying to get into the forbidden chamber to reactivate the world's [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]] and trying to rescue their friends who were taken hostage. The second game flips this by following the friends who were held hostage and finding out [[spoiler:the world is dying and the villains only went to the forbidden chamber as a last resort to save their village and the world. The friends who are hostage are working with the villains. Also, it turns out the villains never killed their families, only brought them to their village to allow them to heal and get them involved with their cause when the families were hurt by the traps of the chamber.]]

* VideoGame/GoldenSun does this with the first and second game. The first game has the heroes tracking down the villains after they killed the heroes family when trying to get into the forbidden chamber to reactivate the world's [[AlchemyIsMagic Alchemy]] and trying to rescue their friends who were taken hostage. The second game flips this by following the friends who were held hostage and finding out [[spoiler:the world is dying and the villains only went to the forbidden chamber as a last resort to save their village and the world. The friends who are hostage are working with the villains. Also, it turns out the villains never killed their families, only brought them to their village to allow them to heal and get them involved with their cause when the families were hurt by the traps of the chamber.]]

* Two ''Franchise/StarWars'' games have given the players exclusively Imperial campaigns: ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront Battlefront II]]'' (2005). ''Battlefront'' in particular, while it might not make the Empire as a whole look much better, certainly paints the Stormtroopers as sympathetic instead of the faceless evil minions they've become known as.