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"OK, so I know that you two are always arguing about what type of crosswords to do-
'Normal crosswords are too boring!' 'Cryptics are too esoteric!!'
Trivia vs wordplay, yeah, I've heard both sides. But, I've also heard that you BOTH love video games, so here's what I've done:

Here are twenty crossword clues that describe twenty video games. Solve them if you'd like!
OR, if you treat each clue as cryptic wordplay (without a def) instead, you'll find a different video game as the answer for each clue!

Why don't you two work together for once, and when you get all forty written down, you can put the highlighted letters together to get one last clue. Which type of clue is that one? You'll see!"

Final Puzzle I Hope

CLUE CRYPTIC ENUM CROSSWORD ENUM
1. Rogue tries to follow templar leader (6) (14)
2. Law breaking, tasteless, sandbox entry (11) (14)
3. Scientific premise around martian origin? (7) (10)
4. Not quite a rapper, weird kid (8) (16)
5. Man tossing bound article? (6) (8)
6. Beginner to Hero: The planet rocks (11) (10)
7. Fantasy's heart found in Disney characters (7) (13)
8. Try to escape from messed up monkey port? (7) (12)
9. Soft and rosy, floating around; knotted thread nearly gone (14) (14)
10. On-rails shooting, space head destroyed with energy (7) (7)
11. Determination, maybe innate, is lost (7) (9)
12. Below the surface, with a late twist? (9) (8)
13. Football with no sides, flipping the flipper? (14) (12)
14. Coins gathered, the hoarder follows a kind of maze? (16) (10)
15. Grim dead man losing afterlife, at first (6) (12)
16. A jumping game with meat, odd no? (7) (12)
17. The arrows nailed... there's non-existent dancing (9) (20)
18. Divine butcher, roam around one greek fantasy (17) (8)
19. Vehicle destruction with a ring: It has some co-op (14) (4)
20. Crazy AI starts flinging female, trapped in lie (8) (6)

Notes:

  • Names of games and game-series are used. All are well known.
  • Numerals at the end of game names have been culled (ie for a sequel or if it was on N64)
  • Enumerations are given, but do not separate out words. Will add if people are struggling.

EDIT: Solved by @PiIsNot3, @Mohirl, and @jafe!
Nice work!

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ There's a problem with the grid for cryptic #10. Either the number of letters hinted or the grid is wrong, in which case it's unclear if the 6th or 5th character is the relevant one? $\endgroup$
    – Mohirl
    Apr 3, 2019 at 16:12
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    $\begingroup$ Yup, This is a vestige of the error PiIsNot3 pointed out; fixed the corresponding enum for you $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 3, 2019 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ Weird that I'd wrongly guessed the final answer as #9 for no real reason before you corrected me. I must have subconsciously known it all along! $\endgroup$
    – Mohirl
    Apr 3, 2019 at 23:29
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    $\begingroup$ As someone who loves video games and is trying to get into cryptic crosswords, I want to tell you how much I absolutely adored this puzzle and wish there were more like it. Excellent work. $\endgroup$
    – generalcrispy
    Jul 9, 2019 at 20:06

3 Answers 3

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Final (credit to @jafe and @Mohirl for figuring out the rest of the clues, go upvote them!)

Rogue tries to follow templar leader

Cryptic: TETRIS (T[emplar] + [TRIES]*)
Cross: ASSASSIN’S CREED

Law breaking, tasteless, sandbox entry

Cryptic: BORDERLANDS (B[ORDER]LAND + S) (found by Mohirl)
Cross: GRAND THEFT AUTO

Scientific premise around martian origin?

Cryptic: THE SIMS (M[artian] in THESIS) (found by jafe)
Cross: MASS EFFECT (found by Mohirl)

Not quite a rapper, weird kid

Cryptic: PAPERBOY ([APPER]* + BOY)
Cross: PARAPPA THE RAPPER

Man tossing bound article?

Cryptic: ANTHEM (THE in [MAN]*)
Cross: PAPERBOY (found by Mohirl)

Beginner to Hero: The planet rocks

Cryptic: HEARTHSTONE (H[ero] + EARTH + STONE)
Cross: GUITAR HERO

Fantasy's heart found in Disney characters

Cryptic: DESTINY ([fan]T[asy] in [DISNEY]*)
Cross: KINGDOM HEARTS

Try to escape from messed up monkey port?

Cryptic: POKEMON ([MONKEY PORT]* - TRY)
Cross: MONKEY ISLAND (found by Mohirl)

Soft and rosy, floating around; knotted thread nearly gone

Cryptic: SPYRO THE DRAGON ([P + ROSY]* + [THREAD]* + GON[e])
Cross: KIRBY’S EPIC YARN (from the OP)

On-rails shooting, space head destroyed with energy

Cryptic: LA NOIRE ([ONRAILS]* - S[pace] + E)
Cross: STAR FOX

Determination, maybe innate, is lost

Cryptic: METROID ([DETERMINATION - INNATE]*)
Cross: UNDERTALE

Below the surface, with a late twist?

Cryptic: UNDERTALE (UNDER + [LATE]*)
Cross: BIOSHOCK

Football with no sides, flipping the flipper?

Cryptic: ECCO THE DOLPHIN ([[s]OCCE[r]]< + THE + DOLPHIN) (found by jafe)
Cross: ROCKET LEAGUE (found by Mohirl)

Coins gathered, the hoarder follows a kind of maze?

Cryptic: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ([COINS]* + THE + HEDGE + HOG)
Cross: MARIO PARTY

Grim dead man losing afterlife, at first

Cryptic: MADDEN ([DEAD MAN]* - A[fterlife])
Cross: GRIM FANDANGO

A jumping game with meat, odd no?

Cryptic: MEGAMAN ([GAME]* + M[e]A[t] + N[o])
Cross: SUPER MEAT BOY

The arrows nailed... there's non-existent dancing

Cryptic: WARIOLAND ([THE ARROWS NAILED - THERES]*)
Cross: DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION

Divine butcher, roam around one greek fantasy

Cryptic: SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY (SUPER + I in [ROAM]* + ODYSSEY) (found by Mohirl)
Cross: GOD OF WAR

Vehicle destruction with a ring: It has some co-op

Cryptic: CRASH BANDICOOT (CRASH + BAND + COO[p] in IT) (found by jafe)
Cross: HALO

Crazy AI starts flinging female, trapped in lie

Cryptic: HALF LIFE (HAL + FL[inging] + LI[F]E)
Cross: PORTAL

The final clue letters are

IAMATAKERROLLINGWITHNOEARTHLYORIGINEIGHT

which makes the final clue

I am a taker rolling with no earthly origin (8)

and the answer, as Mohirl found, is

KATAMARI, no matter if we read it as a cryptic clue ([I AM A TAKER]* - E) or a crossword clue

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    $\begingroup$ Great start! This is all correct except for your answer to 'coins are gathered' $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 2, 2019 at 21:37
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    $\begingroup$ Man tossing bound article? (Crossword) - the very recent smash hit rot13(Cncreobl)? $\endgroup$
    – Mohirl
    Apr 3, 2019 at 12:32
  • $\begingroup$ Final Update: Correct! You've got 39/40 correct answers, and the right interpretation of the final letters. The 40th answer, and probably the least well-known game, was ROT13(Xveol'f Rcvp Lnea) $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 3, 2019 at 20:12
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3. Scientific premise around martian origin? (7)/(10)

Cryptic: m(artian) in thesis = THE SIMS
Crossword: RED FACTION

13. Football with no sides, flipping the flipper? (14)/(12)

Cryptic: (s)occe(r)< + the + dolphin = ECCO THE DOLPHIN

19. Vehicle destruction with a ring: It has some co-op (14)/(4)

Cryptic: crash + band + i(co-o)t = CRASH BANDICOOT

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  • $\begingroup$ 3 of 4 are right, and I must admit "Red Faction" fits well. Rot13(Gur tnzr gung nafjref gur dhrfgvba jnf rira zber jryy xabja, naq bayl FGNEGF ba znef) $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 3, 2019 at 12:39
  • $\begingroup$ And I cannot believe I made that letter count error. Just updated the puzzle to fix it. Thanks for calling it out. $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 3, 2019 at 13:16
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Partial including final answer

2.Law breaking, tasteless, sandbox entry (crypt)

Borderlands (BLAND broken by ORDER (=Law))

  1. Scientific premise around martian origin? (cross)

    Mass Effect? (3)

  2. Man tossing bound article? (cross)

    Paperboy

  3. Try to escape from messed up monkey port? (cross) really sounds like

    Monkey Island

    1. Soft and rosy, floating around; knotted thread nearly gone (Cross)

      Little Big Planet? (had Katamari Damacy - incorrect)

  4. Football with no sides, flipping the flipper? (cross)

    Rocket League

  5. Divine butcher, roam around one greek fantasy (crypt)

    Super Mario Odyssey - Roam around 1 = Mario, Greek fantasy = Odyssey, divine = super??

Putting together the letters from everyone's answers so far and my own (upvotes for @PiIsnot3 and @jafe, they got most of it), I've got:

IAMATAKERROLLINGWITHNOEARTHL?ORIG?NEIGHT which I though had a misspelling, but I think actually reads "I am a taker, rolling with no earthly origin eight"

Final Answer

I'm going to take another stab at:

Katamari (ha! I'm such an idiot, couldn't work out what the EIGHT on the end meant)

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  • $\begingroup$ All correct except for 9, nice work on 18! $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Apr 3, 2019 at 15:35
  • $\begingroup$ Cheers. Added a new answer for #9, although if conflicts with my guess at the final text $\endgroup$
    – Mohirl
    Apr 3, 2019 at 16:33

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