Tropes are absolutely everywhere in the entertainment industry, and video games are no exception. But while literature, movie, and TV tropes have been discussed for decades, gaming tropes aren't often talked about as much, though that doesn't mean they don't exist. In fact, the gaming industry has a staggering number of tropes, ranging from how players interact with a gam to the ways in which developers design certain encounters. But one of the most fascinating tropes in all of gaming is the 'Taste of Power' trope.
Seen in countless games over the last 30 years, the average gamer will have experienced the 'Taste of Power' trope at least once in their life, though they may have not realized it. From Star Wars to Final Fantasy to Metroid, the 'Taste of Power' trope has been used throughout gaming history to give the player a hint at what's to come.
What is the 'Taste of Power' Trope?
With examples dating all the way back to the 1990s, the 'Taste of Power' trope is one of the most prevalent in the gaming industry, with a vast number of games implementing it in one form or another. Essentially, the 'Taste of Power' trope is when a video game gives the player some type of elevated power at the beginning, before stripping them back down to level 1 to begin the game properly. This power can be a fully-upgraded weapon, some endgame abilities, or a decked-out party. During this first stage, the main focus is usually on building the world and setting the stage for the rest of the game, and this increased power not only teases players about what's to come later in the game, but also lets them get through this opening stage without harm, ensuring that their focus is on the story being told.
The 'Taste of Power' trope doesn't always come at the beginning of the game, however. Sometimes, a game will swap perspectives for a brief stage, where the player will get to control someone with a much higher skillset. The same general rules apply here, the player will probably receive a powerful weapon and some overpowered abilities, but the goal is different. This is often done to show just how powerful that character is when compared to the usual protagonist.
Real-time strategy games are some of the most frequent users of the 'Taste of Power' trope, but for this genre the intended aim is completely different. Players are often given more units and resources during an RTS' opening moments as a form of tutorial. These advanced units and structures are only given to the player to briefly show them their purpose so that they'll be ready for their eventual appearance later down the line.
The Best Examples of the 'Taste of Power' Trope in Video Games
One of the most obvious uses of the 'Taste of Power' trope in video games, and one of the earlier ones can be found in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Players assume the role of Alucard, who at the beginning of the game is fully equipped with a full set of armor, weapons, and abilities. Players have just a few brief moments with these tools until Death steals them from Alucard, leaving the player without any upgraded weapons or armor and firmly pushing them back to square one. Throughout the game, players gradually unlock more of Alucard's arsenal, most of which is equipped during that opening sequence. Interestingly, players can actually glitch their way around Death's room at the start of the game, giving them all the upgraded armor and weaponry from the get-go and making them extremely overpowered.
The Metroid series is infamous for using the 'Taste of Power' trope, with Samus beginning the game with her usual full arsenal, before losing it somehow within the opening minutes. In the first Metroid Prime, Samus' gear gets damaged at the start. In Metroid Prime 2, Dark Samus steals regular Samus' gear before trapping her on Dark Aether. And in Metroid Fusion, Samus gets infected with an X Parasite early on, and her whole suit needs to be surgically removed. It's a running joke in the series, and while the vast majority of Metroid games make the player start from scratch, some let players test-drive a few of the abilities first.
One of the most beloved 'Taste of Power' moments in gaming actually comes from a Star Wars title. The opening mission of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed puts players in the overpowered boots of Darth Vader himself as he carves his way through Kashyyyk, murdering hordes of Wookies along the way. While not all of Starkiller's endgame abilities are given to Vader, he does have most of them. This is a textbook example of the 'Taste of Power' trope, with Vader having incredibly high health, being able to kill his targets in just one swipe and having access to a slew of powerful abilities, all of which are taken away after that first mission ends.
But it's not just RTS titles, action games, or turn-based strategies that make use of the 'Taste of Power' trope, as the racing genre has also been known to implement it at times. The most prolific racing series to use the 'Taste of Power' trope is the Need for Speed franchise. Seen throughout the franchise, players often begin the game by racing in a high-end car, before it's revealed to be a flash forward, and the player is forced to start the game properly in a beat-down vehicle. In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the player starts in a souped-up BMW before it gets disabled and time turns back. In Need for Speed: Underground, the player does a lap in a modded car, before it's revealed to be a daydream. And in Need for Speed: Carbon, the player is forced to crash their shiny new car in the opening moments.
