History YMMV / DeadRising

** The end credits theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsNv562kAW8/ "Justified"]] by Drea. This hard rock song SLAPS and ends off the game pretty epically! Just after beating the final boss, this plays sending off the player with a bittersweet feeling while you watch a zombie horde march to the song.

** The {{Flanderization}} of Frank West, specifically as we see in 4, could be traced back to ''Off the Record'', or even ''Case West'' canonically-speaking, where Frank became much more cocky and wise-cracking than he was back in the first game. It was forgivable in ''Off the Record'', as it was intended to be a DenserAndWackier version of ''Dead Rising 2'' that starred Frank as a way of PanderingToTheBase. It was less forgivable in ''4'', which was meant to be a RevisitingTheRoots entry that paid homage to the first game.

** The end credits theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsNv562kAW8/ "Justified"]] by Drea. This hard rock song ends off the game pretty epically! The zombies march across the screen slowly to the song while you watch the credits play, and it also implies that your efforts throughout the game wouldn't matter in the end, which becomes apparent in the next installments.

** While the game is difficult, you can get to Level 50 in no time by going to the underground tunnels right away and running over zombies constantly. Then restart the game and transfer the stats and you start the game at Level 50. In fact, merely going back and forth in the meat truck near the butcher's section of the underground is enough, with plenty of time to spare ''and'' some healing items just in case. On top of that, it's enough to get you the Zombie Genocide achievement, which grants you...

** The "Zombie Genocider" achievement, which requires you to kill 53,594 zombies (the population of Willamette) inspired ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' to include a "Zombie Genocidest" achievement that required 53,595 zombie kills. In return, a 53,596-zombie achievement was included in ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'' as well as ''Prototype,'' ''VideoGame/DeadNation,'' and even ''VideoGame/RockBand 3'' (where guitar hammer-ons/pull-offs take the place of zombies for the achievement).

** Zombie Genocider is almost as infamous as 7 Day Survivor. To get it, you have to kill 53,594 zombies in a single playthrough. The only seriously feasible way of doing this is unlocking the garage as early as possible, then map out a path of the garage and take a car and just plow through zombies for the next 6 hours. You have to plot out your route as the cars will break down from running over zombies, and you have to leave the garage to respawn the cars. But once you have your route, it becomes an exercise in tedium as you just drive around the garage over and over again. Unlike 7 Day Survivor, you do have to keep relative focus so your car doesn't break down on you at an inopportune moment. But also unlike 7 Day Survivor, you ''can'' take breaks -- there is a restroom near one of the exits to the garage, so you do not have to do it all in a single sitting. Plan your route correctly and you can net about 1,000 kills per circle, making it easy to complete it in 3 Day mode with more than enough time, so it is much less time spent than on 7 Day Survivor. ''AND'' for completing the achievement, you unlock the game's InfinityPlusOneSword, the Megabuster, which will shred through boss health (though like the pistol, it's not super efficient on zombies as you only hit one at a time, even if it one hit kills them.)

* Carlito crossed it when [[spoiler: he arranged for several [[TykeBomb children]] to carry the larva that causes zombification]].
* Kent crossed it by [[spoiler:kidnapping Tad Hawthorne to photograph him becoming a zombie due to his jealousy towards Frank.]]
* [[spoiler:Brock Mason crossed it out-of-game by attacking Santa Cabeza purely due to his BloodKnight nature]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Carlito crossed it when [[spoiler: he arranged for several [[TykeBomb children]] to carry the larva that causes zombification]]. [[spoiler:Brock Mason crossed it out-of-game by attacking Santa Cabeza purely due to his BloodKnight nature]].

* CompleteMonster: [[GreaterScopeVillain Marian Mallon]] is the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Director of Phenotrans]] and the mastermind behind their conspiracy; in order to necessitate the creation of Zombrex, Mallon has zombie outbreaks start in cities all over the country in order to harvest "Queen" zombies, infecting and killing countless people. Her planned Los Vegas outbreak alone kills 10,000 people, and Mallon has a scientist who tried to leak the truth killed. Mallon also keeps Isabella Keyes as a constant captive, stealing Keyes's research and forcing her to work for Phenotrans. When Frank West and Chuck Greene uncover the conspiracy, they discover Mallon has been committing mass kidnappings for her experiments, and Mallon claims Phenotrans created a cure for the zombie virus which she hoards for her own infection, also stating releasing permanent cure wouldn't be good for business. By the time of the third game, Mallon agrees to seek the permanent cure when her condition starts to deteriorate, starting another outbreak, teaming up with Hemlock in his bid to take over the country. Narrowing the immunity carrier down to Nick Ramos and his friend Diego Martinez, Mallon kills Diego by causing his parasites to explode from inside him, resulting in his gruesome death.

** The save system? You have to find specific save points, then there's only one slot per account, and if you save yourself into a corner plotwise, you have no choice but to start over from the beginning (though at least you keep your stats). The game also didn't include a quit to menu option unless the player died, meaning they had to use the "exit to dashboard" option, or purposefully die if they wanted As of the 2016 remaster, this has been partially averted, due the game now including up to five save slots and it now has a quit game option on the pause screen.

* {{Fanon}}: The implications are fairly light, but it's generally accepted that Jo, the Psychopath policewoman, shot Ross Folk. Tanya mentions that he was "protecting" her (which would make sense if Jo were kidnapping her), Jo is one of the few bosses to use a gun, she's confirmed to have had more victims than the ones Frank rescued, and Jo not only spawns just five in-game hours later (only twenty-five real-life minutes), but also in the same plaza almost exactly across the way. Tanya's dialogue is vague, but enough of the facts line up to make her the most likely candidate.

** The save system? You have to find specific save points, then there's only one slot per account, and if you save yourself into a corner plotwise you have no choice but to start over from the beginning (though at least you keep your stats). Also the game doesn't offer you a "quit" option when you die, only the aforementioned "delete game and restart".

** Transmissionary, the achievement for getting all of Otis's broadcasts in a single run, is easy to fail and revolves around one of the most frustrating features of the game. Getting hit by an errant zombie at the wrong time can screw it up.
** Outdoorsman, the achievement for staying outside for 24 consecutive hours. Unlike the previous two, it's not that it's difficult - it's that it's incredibly boring. Indoorsman can be very easily obtained without even knowing it after you beat Adam and unlock the shortcut, but Outdoorsman forces you to stay in ''only'' Leisure Park. The only thing that prevents it from being worse is that you can jump to the roof of the picnic area and wait there, since no zombies are capable of reaching you.

** Jonathan Levenison and Wayne Blackwell are fairly reasonable and impressively well-armed survivors but, to some fans' disappointment, they can't accompany or help Frank beyond when he escorts them to the security room.

** Lindsay Harris, the survivor at the beginning of the game who lets the zombies into the mall to save her already zombified dog. She's universally loathed by players for getting so many people killed for such an [[WhatAnIdiot insanely stupid]] reason, and for having such an irritating voice.

* HarsherInHindsight: The erotica photo element requires Frank to take pictures of a woman's crotch and cleavage to complete the mission "Photo Challenge". After the events of 2016 to 2021 brought greater attention to the [=#METOO=] movement in America and the raised awareness of Japan's public indecency problem[[note]]men taking erotic pictures of women without their consent, using hidden cameras to spy on women, and upskirting[[/note]], the erotica photo element becomes extremely uncomfortable. Especially when one of the ways you can gain high prestige points for erotica is take pictures of the hostages in "Above the Law", who were implied to have been sexually assaulted by Jo Slade. It also raises the question of how Greg Simpson knew of the vent in the women's toilets and what he was doing with it (although it is slightly downplayed by the fact that the vent is over the sinks and not the toilets themselves).

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Otis' phone calls mean you cannot attack. Or jump. Or pick up items. Or ''hold on to large items you're already carrying''. He will keep ringing until you answer. If you hang up or get hit, he will just call you right back, yell at you for hanging up on him, and start his painfully slow explanation over from the beginning. Even though, answering every single one of his calls is tied to an achievement, so you have to go through at least one playthrough dealing with him for 100% completion in order to get it.

** Frank West's depiction in later games, as many view him as suffering from some harsh {{Flanderization}}. While it would make sense in ''Case West'' as Frank is full of himself after his FifteenMinutesOfFame and even more in ''Off the Record'' as that's deliberately made to be a goofy {{Fanservice}}-laden WhatIf spin-off, many feel like it's just egregious and taken UpToEleven in 4, making him seem more like his crossover appearances than his canonical ones.

* HarsherInHindsight: The erotica photo element requires Frank to take pictures of a woman's crotch and cleavage to complete the mission "Photo Challenge". After the events of 2016 to 2021 brought greater attention to the [=#METOO=] movement in America and the raised awareness of Japan's public indecency problem[[note]]men taking erotic pictures of women without their consent, using hidden cameras to spy on women, and upskirting[[/note]], the erotica photo element becomes extremely uncomfortable. Especially when one of the ways you can gain high prestige points for erotica is take pictures of the hostages in "Above the Law", who were implied to have been sexually assaulted by Jo Slade.

** The time during which Case 7-2 takes place is also insanely difficult for anyone attempting everything at once. Simone spawns during this time, the Kent boss fight takes place here, Kindell begins his betrayal, and on top off it all [[spoiler:Carlito's bombs make up the Case]]. Failing the Case unlocks a BadEnding, arriving late to Kent's boss fight means you lose all your weapons and an already fairly difficult boss fight is made exponentially harder, Simone is the last chance for anyone attempting any Survivor related achievements, and Kindell's Betrayal can make you lose up to ten survivors, never to be seen again. Good luck.

* CompleteMonster: Lecherous mall cop [[DirtyCop Jo Slade]] takes advantage of the chaos caused by the zombie outbreak to kidnap beautiful women and sexually torture them to death. Having already gone through [[SerialRapist a number of women]] during the outbreak, she catches Frank West's attention after taking four hostages and will gradually kill them one by one if the player takes too long to confront her. And when Frank shows up to save her hostages, he walks in on Jo about to rape one with a nightstick, prompting her to furiously threaten to do the same to him for disrespecting her authority.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Although not to the same extent as ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'', the game packs obvious references to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror: Brad and Jessie are from [[CIAEvilFBIGood the Department of Homeland Security]], the BigBad is a {{Western Terrorist|s}}, (who [[HerrDoktor Professor Barnaby]] even claims to be a TerroristWithoutACause), and it turns out that Carlito only did what he did [[spoiler: because a government experiment GoneHorriblyWrong forced the army to purge his entire hometown, whether infected or not]]. Oh, and the "true ending" has [[spoiler: [[CavalryBetrayal the army that was supposed to evacuate you try to exterminate you and the survivors in the same way as Santa Cabezza]], and TheManBehindTheMan is a [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Special Forces]] [[GeneralRipper Commander Ripper]] that orchestrated said purging of Santa Cabezza, for basically no logical motive outside of sating his BloodKnight thirst.]] Oh, and since Frank claims to have "covered wars": [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror WHICH wars were in the media spotlight at the time of the game again?]]

* WhatAnIdiot:
** How does the game kick off? With the survivors safe in the mall while an old lady is stressing over her dog. She sees the dog outside, with zombies that are clearly disinterested in eating her.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The lady to be upset, grieve maybe, but at least not willing to sacrifice everyone for a pet that's in no danger from the zombies.\\
'''Instead:''' HaHaHaNo! She goes into a BerserkerRage and no one can stop her from tearing down the barricade to get to her dog, despite clearly seeing how Madonna is in no danger from the zombies, and her needless act basically kills everyone. Capcom [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade]] on how dumb she was; in Infinity Mode instead of fighting she dies instantly.
** At the Hunting Shack; a survivor named James Ramsey is trying to convince Cletus to share his stockpile of guns. Cletus is rightfully paranoid about the situation and distrustful about sharing guns with complete strangers. Cletus fires a warning shot at the ceiling and both him and Frank tell James to walk away.\\
'''You'd Expect''': James would immediately understand that Cletus is not messing around and he will leave the store with Frank to find other weapons.\\
'''Instead''': He calls Cletus' bluff by silently walking towards him, [[SarcasmMode surprisingly]], Cletus shoots him square in the chest and sends him flying out of the store. If a violent drunk is threatening you at gunpoint, the last thing you want to do is challenge them or call their bluff.
** While trying to turn off the space rider machine, Frank encounters Adam the Clown and ends up in a fight with him when the latter attacks him for trying to turn off the roller coaster. Adam explains that the machine keeps the zombies away and if Frank turns it off then the zombies will return.\\
'''You'd expect''': Frank would notice the lack of zombies around and immediately comply to Adam's demands. If Frank did have to fight Adam then he would immediately turn the roller coaster back on again so the zombies stay away\\
'''Instead''': Frank is too shocked to speak and Adam takes his silence as a rejection of his demands. After defeating Adam and rescuing Greg, he leaves it off and the zombies flood the area again.

* CompleteMonster: [[OverarchingVillain Marian Mallon]] is the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Director of Phenotrans]] and the mastermind behind their conspiracy; in order to necessitate the creation of Zombrex, Mallon has zombie outbreaks start in cities all over the country in order to harvest "Queen" zombies, infecting and killing countless people. Her planned Los Vegas outbreak alone kills 10,000 people, and Mallon has a scientist who tried to leak the truth killed. Mallon also keeps Isabella Keyes as a constant captive, stealing Keyes's research and forcing her to work for Phenotrans. When Frank West and Chuck Greene uncover the conspiracy, they discover Mallon has been committing mass kidnappings for her experiments, and Mallon claims Phenotrans created a cure for the zombie virus which she hoards for her own infection, also stating releasing permanent cure wouldn't be good for business. By the time of the third game, Mallon agrees to seek the permanent cure when her condition starts to deteriorate, starting another outbreak, teaming up with Hemlock in his bid to take over the country. Narrowing the immunity carrier down to Nick Ramos and his friend Diego Martinez, Mallon kills Diego by causing his parasites to explode from inside him, resulting in his gruesome death.

* ThatOneLevel: Most of Day 2 is generally considered to be the game at its hardest. You have four psychopaths to deal with (Clint, Jo, Carlito and Steven), the latter two of which you encounter sequentially in Case 2, and a fifth (Kent) who Frank must visit at a specific time. You also have a host of survivors to rescue, most of whom are located in areas of the mall distant from the safe room. And finally, all this is combined with a very strict schedule that forces you to juggle everything aforementioned with three Cases that are just as demanding of the player's attention (Case 2, aside from the previously mentioned fights, also requires Frank to travel a long distance under a short time limit. Case 3 and 4 demand that Frank be in the safe room at precise times). Without careful planning, it is difficult to complete all of these tasks in one go.

** Jessie the resident MegaNekko MsFanservice of the game is given very little to actually do. Frank accidentally scares her early in the game and getting her to twist her ankle in which she gave him her gun to go help Brad. After one twisted ankle she remains mostly inactive through the rest of the game. Sure Jessie is a secondary character, but so is Brad and he was quite active over the course of the game. Basically the only times Jessie does actually help you are when she once found Carlito through the Surveillance cameras and she gives you a gun early in the game (but it's a mildly useful weapon and Brad gives you one when you find him anyway.) The biggest help you get from Jessie is when she is sitting next to Brad/Isabella in the little bed in the Store Room you can get a lot of Erotica points by taking pictures of her legs and ample cleavage. [[spoiler: To make matters worse, in the canon ending she is then quickly killed off by being turned into a Zombie. But to be fair at least she is savable in Ending B as a Survivor that gets into the copter with the others.]]
** Some of the Psychopaths can also be seen as this and can make one wonder why can't Frank save them like he did for Paul Carson? One example would be Kent as he may have been a cocky braggart but he does actually help you out earlier in the game and it wasn't until much later on in the game does he become a psychopath. Thomas Hall is also a very strong contender for the one psychopath people wish they could save, as he's the only one of his family that shows hesitation and concern over his father's orders to kill anyone who enters their part of the mall.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Although not to the same extent as VideoGame/DeadRising2, the game packs obvious references to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror: Brad and Jessie are from [[CIAEvilFBIGood the Department of Homeland Security]], the BigBad is a {{Western Terrorist|s}}, (who [[HerrDoktor Professor Barnaby]] even claims to be a TerroristWithoutACause), and it turns out that Carlito only did what he did [[spoiler: because a government experiment GoneHorriblyWrong forced the army to purge his entire hometown, whether infected or not]]. Oh, and the "true ending" has [[spoiler: [[CavalryBetrayal the army that was supposed to evacuate you try to exterminate you and the survivors in the same way as Santa Cabezza]], and TheManBehindTheMan is a [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Special Forces]] [[GeneralRipper Commander Ripper]] that orchestrated said purging of Santa Cabezza, for basically no logical motive outside of sating his BloodKnight thirst.]] Oh, and since Frank claims to have "covered wars": [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror WHICH wars were in the media spotlight at the time of the game again?]]

* ''YMMV/DeadRisingWatchtower'':

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Otis' phone calls mean you cannot attack. Or jump. Or pick up items. Or ''hold on to large items you're already carrying''. He will keep ringing until you answer. If you hang up or get hit, he will just call you right back, yell at you for hanging up on him, and start his painfully slow explanation over from the beginning. Unfortunately, answering every single one of his calls is tied to an achievement, meaning you have to go through at least one playthrough dealing with him for 100 percent completion.