Hero's journey
Also said as Monomyth
A plot pattern set out by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949): a call to adventure, a crossing into the unknown, an ordeal, and a return home changed.
It is a dependable skeleton for a game about getting stronger, since levelling up and growing up line up well. It is also so familiar that following it step by step makes a story feel generic.
Say it
“Use the hero's journey as a skeleton: the call comes in the first ten minutes, the ordeal at about 70% of the way, and the return shows the starting village again with everything that has changed.”
Where you’ve seen it
Jenova Chen has said the idea behind Journey was to put two players through the hero's journey together. The mountain gives you the call, the descent and the climb without one word of dialogue.
Not to be confused with three-act structure
Three acts tells you when things should happen. The hero's journey also tells you what should happen.