Most Iconic Tutorials In Games, Ranked

Most video game enthusiast dislikes having their hands held, which is why tutorial sections aren’t exactly popular in games. It’s much more fun to jump in and start the action, not have every game mechanic over-explained. Most games aren’t rocket science, after all.

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Unfortunately, while there are some games that don’t hold the player’s hand, most games still include some kind of tutorial. Thankfully though, some games do get it right. They’re fairly rare, but there are examples of tutorials that are fun as well as informative. Some of these have even gone on to become nothing short of iconic. We’ve listed some of the most iconic tutorials in video games. These aren’t necessarily the best tutorials but some of the most famous and fondly remembered.

Sticks To The Franchise Prisoner Tradition

The Elder Scrolls has a long-held tradition of making the player start the game as a prisoner. It then uses their escape/release to teach them the basics of the game, like combat, sneaking, and lock-picking. Skyrim is no different, although everything is a bit more cinematic. The tutorial starts with the Dragonborn in shackles, about to get their head chopped off and things only go downhill from there.

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After Alduin shows up and starts barbecuing Imperials Skyrim’s tutorial kicks off by introducing the basics of movement, jumping, and sprinting and the player is forced to run from the Elder Scroll’s oldest dragon. Once the player is safely inside the inventory, lock-picking, combat and sneaking are all introduced. Skyrim is a massive, sandbox-style RPG, but this tutorial does a great job of introducing the basics without drowning the player in information. Unfortunately, while iconic (no one who plays Skyrim forgets it), this tutorial isn’t that fondly remembered these days. It’s on the lengthy side and not much fun to replay, and many players will install mods to skip it completely when replaying the game. The fact so many people wish they could skip it means Skyrim’s tutorial comes in at the bottom.

9

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

Introduces Players To A Massive World Without Overwhelming Them

Systems

Released

March 3, 2017

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Making a good tutorial for a game like Breath Of The Wild isn’t easy. It’s a massive sandbox game with lots of interconnected systems that need to be introduced clearly to stop some players from getting overwhelmed. At the same time, the Zelda series has been around for a long time and many fans will want to jump straight in without having their hands held.

Breath of the Wild’s solution is to plop Link in a fairly large area where the player can hone their skills before the player starts their journey properly. As soon as the player grabs the materials needed for Link’s glider, they can leave. Some players will manage it in a few minutes, others might spend hours scouring the tutorial area for everything it’s worth. Breath of the Wild is one of the best Zelda games for exploration and its tutorial has become the go-to for how massive open-world games should start. The only reason it gets a lower ranking is Breath of the Wild isn’t all that old, limiting how “iconic” it can be.

8

Grand Theft Auto 5

North Yankton Introduces The Game’s Major Mechanics Organically

Systems

Released

September 17, 2013

Developer(s)

Rockstar North

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Grand Theft Auto 5’s tutorial is a perfect example of how a story section can be used to teach the player how to play the game. During the game’s prologue, set during the failed North Yankton heist, the player is taught the basics of combat, driving, and the GTA 5-exclusive character-switching mechanic. GTA 5 is one of the Grand Theft Auto games with the best gameplay and its tutorial highlights everything that makes the game stand out.

4:48

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It does this in an organic way in an exciting, fast-paced scenario that doesn’t make it feel like the player’s hand is being overly held. It also doesn’t feel tacked on, since the section is vitally important to the game’s story. GTA 5 is the kind of game people replay a lot and the Yankton section never really gets boring, however many times one plays it. At over 205 million copies sold, enough people have played this tutorial to make it iconic.

7

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Hone Your Skills Before Going To War

It’s easy to forget how revolutionary Call of Duty 4 was when it was released back in 2007. It basically created the blueprint for most modern military FPS games and popularized mechanics like ADS and crouching/ going prone to improve weapon accuracy. These days, such mechanics do not need explaining, but in 2007, even seasoned FPS gamers weren’t used to them.

The game taught them through its training day mission, which tasks Soap with running through the kind of training gauntlet real militaries use. This training gauntlet is against the clock, and it’s a lot of fun running through it repeatedly trying to get a high score. The original Modern Warfare 2 did something similar and other modern shooters, like Titanfall 2, include similar training scenarios.

6

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Uses Vader To Teach The Ways Of The Force

Lots of action RPGs start by giving the player a fully-powered version of their protagonist to teach them the basics before stripping most of those powers away. That way, the tutorial is never too difficult, the player gets a taste of things to come, and who doesn’t like being OP? However, it’s also a bit sad to have all that power ripped away and have to go back to basics. The Force Unleashed’s tutorial is a little different.

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Instead of giving the player a fully leveled Galen Marek, it starts with Darth Vader landing on a rebel planet and going to work. Vader is an absolute powerhouse and the tutorial teaches the basics of movement, combat, and force abilities. Vader is pretty much unstoppable and the game’s opening minutes are certainly iconic. When players finally gain control of Galen it isn’t disappointing, it’s exhilarating because they know it’s their job to try and match Vader’s strength by the end. It’s a shame other Star Wars games haven’t tried something similar.

5

Assassin’s Creed 2

Ezio Before He Became An Assassin

Assassin’s Creed 2 was a pretty big upgrade from the original game and had lots of new mechanics to teach players. It did so by introducing them to Ezio Auditore, a young nobleman from Renaissance Italy who wasn’t even an assassin yet. Instead, he’s a rebellious young rich kid who spends his days getting into trouble. It’s with this in mind that the developers introduce the game’s basics.

The upgraded traversal and parkour mechanics are taught when Ezio and his brother, Federico, race to the top of a church. The basic three-hit combo, countering, and the concept of fighting multiple foes at once are taught in a fistfight against rival Pazzi family members. Synchronization points, stealth basics, and even looting bodies are all also covered. Most importantly, the tutorial is a lot of fun and goes a long way toward making Ezio one of the franchise’s most likable protagonists.

4

Fallout 3

A Lesson On How To Grow Up Fast And Survive The Wasteland

Systems

Released

October 28, 2008

Developer(s)

Bethesda Game Studios

Lots of games have tutorials that treat gamers like they’re a baby, but Fallout 3 takes it a step further. The game starts with the player being born and uses the various stages of growing to introduce the player to the basics, from walking to talking and gunplay.

As a baby, the player is taught how to toddle around as they follow their daddy, Liam Neeson. Then, at their birthday party, the player learns how to talk to others and handle the game’s dialog system. Finally, a little later, players get their first weapon, a BB gun, and learn how to take out radroaches. On top of this, the whole opening section acts as a tutorial on how the game’s decision mechanics work. By the time it ends with the player being kicked out into one of the best post-apocalyptic games ever made, they’re ready for whatever the Wasteland might bring. While many fans prefer Fallout New Vegas, overall, Fallout 3 arguably has the best tutorial in the series.

3

Dark Souls

Throwing The Player In At The Deep End

The Dark Souls franchise is known for being brutally difficult, but it’s rarely unfair to the player. When the player dies it’s on them to get better and that’s something the original game did a great job of teaching. The tutorial area starts off fairly easily with handy messages popping up occasionally that tell us how to do things like attack, perform certain moves, and recover HP. The normal enemies in the opening area still hit hard, but there’s nothing too challenging.

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That is until the player enters a large room and is hit with the “Get Away!” warning. Next thing the player knows, the terrifying Asylum Demon drops on them. The Asylum Demon is tough and can easily kill in one or two hits. While not the hardest boss in Dark Souls, it has a mountain of health and can take an age to kill. At first, it feels totally unfair. But, of course, players are not really meant to fight it yet. The Asylum Demon is there to impart one of Dark Souls’ most important lessons – sometimes it’s OK to run away and come back later. The most skilled players might be able to take on this monster the first time around, but everyone else will come back later.

2

Driver

The Hardest Tutorial Ever Made

Systems

Platform(s)

PC
, PS1
, PS2
, Nintendo Game Boy Color

Released

June 30, 1999

Publisher(s)

GT Interactive

Iconic doesn’t necessarily mean good. The original Driver’s tutorial is iconic but for all the wrong reasons. A tutorial is meant to teach us how to play the game, preferably in an organic way. Driver presents its fledgling player with a checklist of maneuvers to perform and then adds a strict time limit and painful insta-fail punishments if they make the smallest of mistakes.

It is brutally difficult. So difficult, in fact, that without using cheats or recruiting a skilled friend, many 90s gamers never got past Driver’s opening level. A tutorial so difficult that it mentally scarred a whole generation of gamers is nothing short of iconic and gets second place in ranking.

1

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Press A To Demonstrate Your Ability To Read

Systems

Released

April 30, 2013

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

A DLC having a tutorial is pretty redundant. Surely, if players have already experienced the base game, a tutorial shouldn’t be needed. But Blood Dragon, the excellent DLC to Far Cry 3 (already one of the best-ever open-world games), has one of the best and most iconic tutorials ever made. Why? Because it knows how much seasoned gamers hate having their handheld.

From the very beginning, the game’s tutorial treats the player like an idiot, with each popup being more sarcastic than the last. These messages are accompanied by feedback from the protagonist, General Rex, who remarks how much he wants to get to the killing and how much he hates tutorials. Blood Dragon lampoons just about every aspect of the traditional tutorial while still actually teaching newcomers the basics of Blood Dragon’s gameplay. It’s absolutely iconic, and no other game has beaten its tutorial yet.

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