dragon's dogma (1) does this

@curse Oh thank you for reminding me! I actually played that game last year, I just forgot that was how it opened.

ff7 rebirth for sure counts

maybe mother 3? if fe7 counts maybe that does. feels like three whole tanker intros before the "real game" starts lol

@theia Don't think Rebirth counts because you're playing as the same main character, though I could see an argument for Cloud functionally being a different person at that point in the narrative.

I thought a lot about MOTHER 3 being on here, but ultimately I think it's more of just a structural choice than a proper abrupt shift. MOTHER 3's first half just takes the form of an anthology, really.

(as in, general structural choice of the game beyond the opening. Of course all of these are a structural choice ontologically.)

you play as literal zack in rebirth's intro right before the nibelheim flashback (it's not included in the demo which is why i can see that being confusing)

@theia Oh okay, don't you play as Zack several times throughout the game though?

only briefly many hours later (ng+ even has an option to skip them, not really sure why zack is on the box and not aerith tbh lol), but figure if lyn and dunban's intros count then why wouldn't zack's since it's pretty similar where it doubles as a simple tutorial and then that character is playable later, even if that playability is in a different capacity

Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith has you play as Kyle Katarn for the first level but then you play as Mara Jade (Kyle's apprentice) for the rest of the game

@theia I guess to me the repetition makes it more akin Laguna's little interludes in Final Fantasy VIII than a proper Tanker chapter, which is why I'm choosing not to include it. I can see your reasoning though.

@zwerchau Thank you!

Removed Lyn Mode from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. I literally only now remembered that the consistent perspective throughout Fire Emblem is some random guy named Mark who is never really even seen lol

Shadow Hearts Covenant has you play as Karin for the opening one and a half dungeons before it switches focus to real protag, Yuri, when you encounter him in the second major area.

assassin's creed iii

Final Fantasy XII starts with you playing as Reks before the narrative switches to his brother Vaan.

Danganronpa V3 you start as Kaede for the first chapter before changing to Shuichi for the rest of the game

Yiik I.V.

Danganronpa V3 does this for the whole first chapter. It's a little more than brief, but it's still a shocking plot moment and you play the same protagonist from chapter 2 onwards

The Last of Us?

Lufia 1 does this

Assassin's Creed Unity and Odyssey

Great Ace Attorney 2 i think would maybe kinda sorta fit in here, though it's a sequel that i'd say practically requires having played the first game so maybe not

too many cod games to count do an intro where you play as a char that dies before picking up the real main char

@MrSmarticus You actually start the game on a Desmond segment and not Connor's dad's segment so idk.

@Mewtsukki it's the same main character, but holy shit, what happens is really cool structurally! Now I actually want to play Lufia.

Technically dragon quest 4 has 4 tanker prologues back to back before the real game starts

@archagent it's not, Lufia 1 starts with your ancestors (which are the main characters in Lufia 2, since it's a prequel). I understand why you'd think it is though because they're (purposefully) very similar, but Maxim (the one at the start) has his red hair slicked back while the protag doesn't

@Mewtsukki I see. Added!

@brende With Dragon Quest IV that's just the larger game-structure, similar to say, MOTHER 3 or LIVE A LIVE. I wouldn't count it.

Removed Last of Us and Great Ace Attorney 2 (figured they weren't abrupt enough shifts). Also removed Assassin's Creed Unity because Anima makes this stuff really complicated tbh

Silent Hill 4