Video Game tutorials

The Assassin's Creed opening isn't as easy for the beginner, as they are unaware of the counter attack, the player who first begins will rely on the extra weapons in Altair's arsenal such as the throwing knives. The idea is to give the player an idea of what the latter game will be like. The opening levels of a game without a tutorial will allow the player to earn the controls themselves, giving them time to get to grips with control before giving a tougher challenge. Jak 2 lacks the Geyser Rock tutorial stage in Jak and Daxter, even forcing the player to fight waves of KG. The player may find fighting armed guards difficult, until Dark Jak activates, allowing you to quickly dispatch the guards. The prison gave the player time to learn the controls, rewarded exploration with precursor eggs and then showed the player an ability they would soon have, giving them a taste of the action. When Jak 2 gives you an actual tutorial for the jetboard, it forces you to reach set amount of points on a training course, an doesn't let you keep the board, which is only got much later. This disconnects the boarding section from the rest of the game, when there are plenty of boarding sections in each area the player could have learned from. The part where the player learns to play is not a set point, and many players learn new techniques mid game. Having the player do a level which they carry nothing over to the main game or narrative breaks the flow of a game. I'll use another example; Skyrim's first level lacks a tutorial. However, there's one of every weapon type, allowing the player to try each fighting style, and a player who explores the inventory discovers a fire spell. The side character you follow gives a narrative to the level, allowing you to get an idea of the two sides in the war. Each combat skill is learned by the player who at any time, can ignore the side character and run ahead, the game allowing that. My point here is; why have a training course which interrupts the game when you can allow the player to discover the controls themselves? Tutorials just teach you the basic moveset, and only become complicated in strategy games. But for each strategy tutorial I've played, there's been this moment where the game is explaining something as basic as selecting units and ordering them to attack. A full tutorial is at a set pace. The game could simply have a campaign mission where the enemies played defensively and didn't attack. This would prompt the player to explore without fear of interruption, trying out each unit and building themselves, learning in a natural method. The player would be given an opening level with a degree of freedom to figure it out themselves. In following levels, enemies would become more aggressive in a difficult curve which would prompt players to speed up their advancement naturally. The player can be limited in what units it gets, but this kind of level allows players to learn at their own pace and feel their victory is self earned, without the game telling them how to win. In conclusion, a full level used solely for teaching basic controls to players is a tad too patronising and assumes players are unable to understand the controls for a game.