I try my hardest to avoid watching trailers these days, no matter how much I may be looking forward to a game or film. That’s because most companies fall into the same trap of revealing too much, ruining part or all of the experience for me. Trailers don’t just offer a taste of what to expect anymore – many use clips from late in the story, or sometimes even notable spoilers. Do any fans really want to see these things in advance?
My most recent example is the Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii trailer that went up just before launch. I didn’t watch it, but I couldn’t escape it as the fandom became obsessed with the scenes of Majima beaten to a pulp and were sharing gifs and images all over social media. By that point I was already playing for review, but I hadn’t quite finished the narrative as I was savouring each chapter. This meant I played the final and most climactic chapter of the game waiting for something I knew would happen, all because of a trailer.
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Let Audiences Enjoy Twists For Themselves
The scene itself might seem generic enough on first viewing. After all, it’s not that unbelievable that in a game where guys are beating the heck out of each other every five minutes that Majima would get beaten up himself at some point. But that scene came from the final chapter, and so the more you play, the more you’re still waiting for that to happen. In the final leg of the game when things are getting wrapped up, you know there’s a spanner about to be thrown in the works.
There are worse culprits. Another recent example is the trailer for Captain America: Brave New World, which focussed heavily on Red Hulk, as did the posters. This twist, that Ross is Red Hulk and is fighting to keep it contained, is revealed in the final scenes of the movie, and what could have been this amazing surprise for fans became an expectation. Nothing before the transformation matters if we know what’s coming. Maybe Marvel did this to entice fans in and for that ever-important marketing factor so they could churn out Red Hulk drink cups to make extra money at movie theaters.
But fans live for those sorts of reveals. There are videos of people reacting to big moments such as Cap picking up Mjölnir in Avengers: Endgame, or all three Spider-Men coming face to face in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Granted, many correctly guessed that Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield would make an appearance, but it’s very different to have theories and rumours than it is to know for certain.
It would have been fun to speculate that Red Hulk might pop up based on little teasers or tidbits. Being shown upfront takes that enjoyment away, not only because it ruins that moment of discovery when you see it yourself, but it reduces how much fans can theorise beforehand, which we all know fans love to do.
Death Spoilers Are The Worst
One of the worst examples I usually refer to is Final Fantasy 16. One trailer showed Clive and company gathered around a grave, and it didn’t take a genius to ask, ‘Hey, where’s Cid?’. It marred the game for me knowing that Cid was going to die at some point, and it also sucked some of the emotion out of his passing as a result. There was no shock. We knew it was coming. I was more annoyed at that point that this has been ruined for me than I was sad that a character I liked had died.
It’s not just late game footage that’s the problem, as evidenced by Cid’s unfortunate fate. We also need to cut out the spoilers, even if they happen midway through. All these clever twists or emotional gut punches would be better appreciated if we retain that element of surprise without trailers stepping on them. I’d rather take the cheesy trailers with the stereotypical voiceovers from the ‘90s than deal with modern day trailers and their spoilers.
Let me enjoy your game or film please. You made it for people to enjoy, let us do that without you being that one friend who goes ‘Pssst this is the part where Cid dies, it’s really good!’
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