In the internet era, video game marketing techniques aren’t distinct from those employed by film studios — ads for movies and games regularly interrupt YouTube videos, for example. But before the net could fit in your pocket, game marketing options were limited. Trailers for the bazillionth Resident Evil movie play every time you go to the theatre, but new games never begin with an ad for Capcom’s next big project. Without the means to send ads right to your pocket, video games had two ways to grab your attention: TV spots and cover art.
Designing the perfect cover art requires careful balance. If the art is too stylized it may be eye-catching, yet unrepresentative of the game itself. If the art too closely mirrors the product it might appear drab, or worse, reveal narrative spoilers. Read on to find out which games hid major plot points in plain sight, in order of the severity of the spoiler.
Hopefully, it goes without saying but… there are spoilers ahead.
10 The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii U)
The original Twilight Princess cover art is exceptional in its clarity and minimalism — it communicates unambiguously that this is the entry starring Wolf-Link. The reflection also hints at the fact that the twilight realm exists just beneath the Hyrule with which everyone is already familiar. The Twilight Princess art for Gamecube and Wii makes these things apparent without giving up the big reveals.
Twilight Princess HD is a different story. There were probably very few Zelda fans who waited 10 years to play Twilight Princess for the first time, so, in that sense, spoilers were relatively inconsequential. Still, seeing the short and squat Midna transform into a statuesque princess leaves Link — and is meant to leave the player — gobsmacked. The intended gravity of her end-game transformation is betrayed, however, by the large painting of true-form Midna on the front of the game’s case.
9 Kingdom Hearts 3
Covers for the Kingdom Hearts series have never directly represented events that unfold throughout the plot of each game. Backgrounds are usually divorced from any setting visited by the player and the scenes depicted exist outside of the canon — and all of this remains true for Kingdom Hearts 3.
Unfortunately, this admittedly visually appealing piece simultaneously teases and spoils a plot beat that falls flat. The reunion of all of the series’ playable characters in KH3 would’ve surprised absolutely no one, but placing every protagonist in the foreground of the box art is too obvious. If your narrative is building toward an 11th-hour, dust-cloud entrance from long-lost, silhouetted heroes… putting said heroes on the cover really undermines the drama.
Worse still, KH3’s cover art made fans believe that beloved characters like Roxas or Xion might actually influence the story before the game’s last 30 minutes. Heck, Namine is first shown in the final cutscene and her only lines come from a disembodied voice in a separate, missable scene.
8 The Last Of Us
The cover for The Last Of Us is more comparable to that of KH3 than Twilight Princess since no part of the story is directly spoiled by the artwork. This is a case of marketing accidentally hinting at a major plot element, but this time the information that’s excluded is doing the talking.
Trailers released before The Last Of Us launched preserved much of the mystery of the game’s apocalyptic setting. Who are these people and why has civilization collapsed? All that was known was that a man, Joel, was traveling with and protecting a girl, Ellie. When the game opens with Joel’s daughter Sarah, who’s clearly not Ellie, it immediately becomes apparent that Sarah’s death will be the inciting incident for Joel’s story. Fortunately the formidable performances of the game’s voice actors mean this scene is no less heart-wrenching even if it’s predictable.
Indeed, the singular focus on Joel and Ellie’s relationship in the trailers and promo art for this game meant that one could expect almost every supporting character to die. The narrative never fails to grip you even once you realize that a character is walking toward their demise, and that’s a testament to the excellence of The Last Of Us.
7 Tales Of Symphonia
Tales Of Symphonia is a JRPG adventure that’s as long-winded and fantastical as the anime shows it emulates. Like many of the genre’s staples, Symphonia couldn’t fit on a single disc, meaning artists could put bosses from major fight scenes right on the cover and still have plenty of plot points left over.
Placing Lloyd, Colette, Sheena, and Zealos on the cover hints at their similar missions carried out for the sake of their respective home worlds — but that alone isn’t much of a spoiler. Keen-eyed series veterans will notice summon spirits, such as Aska and Luna, framing the playable characters in the background. These spirits are significant in the Tales pantheon. The spirits’ depictions on the cover spoils their unveilings in the game and make it more disappointing to see that their sprites look rough compared to their elegant artwork.
6 Nier Replicant (PS4/XBOX ONE)
Much like Twilight Princess HD, Nier Replicant ver. 1.22 probably wasn’t the first experience players had with the series and its characters. Replicant’s developers remade the game with the intent of drawing Nier: Automata newcomers back toward the series’ first installment.
But also like Twilight Princess HD, Nier Replicant ver. 1.22 features a character who undergoes a shocking transformation at a pivotal moment in its artwork. Furthermore, having grown-up Nier on the cover negates most of the tension that could be felt in the game’s first half, since the player knows that these characters will be around into Nier’s adulthood.
5 Borderlands 3
Though most fans agree that the Borderlands series peaked with Borderlands 2, many also agree that Borderlands 3 has the best cover by a long shot. No contrarian hot-takes here, BL3’s blessed box art beautifully conveys how the psychos revere guns, grenades, and all things violent.
The bed of roses also reveals the game’s full cast in an unobtrusive way, but that’s less of a positive for anyone who wanted to see Tina’s redesign in-game first… or for those hoping to see Salvator, Axton, Krieg, or Gaige make a comeback in the main story.
4 Double Dragon (NES)
What classic arcade games lack in storytelling, they make up for with unadulterated 1980s schlock. Double Dragon has you karate chop through waves of gangsters to rescue your kidnapped girlfriend, Marian. In one of the first instances of co-op gameplay, Double Dragon allowed a friend to play as your character’s brother to help you save the day. The shocking twist comes at the end of co-op mode, when you have to battle your brother for Marian’s affection.
The NES port of Double Dragon only included single-player mode, which ends instead with the discovery that your brother leads the gang who took Marian. Whether you first played Double Dragon on a NES or at a cabinet, the NES cover and promo art make it glaringly obvious that your brother is your ultimate enemy. The back cover even describes the gang as being led by “the mysterious Shadow Boss” in one breath, just to state that the Shadow Boss is your brother in the next. Wait… what’s the mystery here?
3 Nier: Automata
Much like its predecessor, Nier: Automata is a game with no shortage of grand revelations to share with the player. According to the Nier Wiki, A2’s late-game haircut was meant to obscure 2B’s death and the identity of the third playable android in promo materials.
A2 is shown in a couple of Automata’s trailers, but those trailers lack the context required to understand who A2 is or that the scenes sampled come from the end of the game. It’s a bit funny, though, that A2 was given a haircut to make her look like 2B in trailers, but was also given distinct clothing. Both versions of the box art show three equally prominent androids and you could just as easily (correctly) guess that A2 cut her hair, or 2B changed her outfit, from the trailer.
2 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Before the sequel series revitalized Star Wars as a film franchise, fans looked to video games to continually expand George Lucas’ science-fantasy universe. The Force Unleashed was particularly well received because it gave fans control over a story that was mostly isolated from the proper Star Wars canon.
During the game’s climax, you flex the full might of your force powers by plucking a Star Destroyer from orbit and crashing it into the ground. The cover designers can be forgiven for not restraining themselves. Who could resist slapping a set-piece this astonishing on the back of the game’s case?
1 Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Vader is Luke’s father. Bruce Willis was already dead. Aerith gets murdered. These spoilers reign supreme, transcending the very works from which they were born, even known by those yet to have engaged with their stories.
Aerith’s death is, deservedly, the most famous twist/spoiler in the history of video games so far — but it’s a miracle that this moment had the impact it did since Square seemed intent on ruining it themselves.
In every region, Final Fantasy VII features similar, minimalist front covers. The PAL version of the game, however, sported a back cover with pictures of a very dead Aerith right in the top-left corner — exactly where the eyes of European players will be drawn first. It gets worse. Some trailers even showed that fateful scene on TV before the game’s release.
