It seems that every good RPG must have a scene where the hero is captured and sent to prison.
Should mention: this post contains minor spoilers for some old JRPGs.
Salam (Peace)
Since my childhood I've played many Role Playing Games, mostly JRPGs... And when I look back I noticed some theme in many of these games, especially the older ones they all contain: A Prison Sequence.
The hero or one of their friends gets captured, and has to break out of the Jail.
The prime example I remember is Chrono Trigger which had two Prison Breaks! Early in the game Crono gets accused of kidnapping the princess, and after a "clever trail." He gets thrown in a cell to be executed in three days, too bad for them they thought leaving him with his swords is a good idea! Late in game the party was imprisoned by a smarter villain. Both scenes where awesome.
The next in series, Chrono Cross had a prison scene as well. I think they included it partly as a homage to the first game.
But Chrono wasn't the only or the first game to have them. They are all over the place... Such scenes play major role in Dragon Quest series. For a record, the hero of DQV spends 10 years in prison. I haven't played DQ8 but it seems a prison played a role in it as well.
Final Fantasy also loves these scenes. I remember that early in FFVII, Shinra company succeeded in capturing the heroes and put them in prison, and they were only saved because of a bigger threat.
Final Fantasy VIII had a prison scene complete with Interrogation. They ask Squall about in formation he himself doesn't know and he confesses lies to save himself from electric execution. It's funny because they actually believe him!
All the games above were Square Enix games (Squaresoft or Enix before they merged.)
But wait... There's More!!
Capcom's Breath of Fire, the last one I played of the series was BoF:III and the player gets captured from the beginning!!
Namco/Bandai's "Tales of" series... I've only seen Symphonia until the end, but one of the player characters has "prisoner outfit" as his main costume.
Probably many games by Atlus but I should mention Persona 5. I haven't played the game but the player gets interrogated at the beginning and seen in Jail in the trailer!! I don't want to spoil it on myself but I imagine it having an epic Prison Break scenes. (It's a game where you play with actual thieves after all.)
The Best Thing About "Jail Break" Chapters
That even when you expect them, or they are still good story elements... They make the player feel the danger, they show how bad the situation is, they show how awesome the heroes are when they get out of there!!
If the antagonists take your items too, it makes the game more challenging, even if the enemies are weaker... It would probably change how you play.
When done correctly (like Chrono Trigger example above) they can make the player think about their actions.
This trope is beautifully overused in Role Playing Games.
A Cliche, must had a good reason to be become one.
I love these scenes... What about You?
I look forward to your comments
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