History NightmareFuel / LiveALive

** Kazuhiko Shimamoto's doujin of the chapter makes this part '''much worse''', as it ''shows the liquefaction process'' with Livingstill gleefully flipping the switch on a glass chamber of kidnapped citizens, who are forcibly melting in agony.

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* That weird person who runs away from Oboromaru emitting some kind of horrible roar.
* Lord Iwama, the creepy giant koi fish living in the moat that can be fought as an optional boss.

* The conspirators' AssimilationPlot. Innocent people are captured and turned into liquefied people, remaining completely conscious and helpless as they were used as weapons or [[HumanSacrifice Human Sacrifices]] for the god Odeo. Their body count by the time the Steel Titan reaches them? '''2,000'''. None of Odio's other incarnations had managed to kill this many people. They don't even qualify as [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] or [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist vice versa]] (as shown when the trio are actually ''horrified'' of being dragged down by the angry liquefied humans) -- it's just a bunch of raving lunatics trying to destroy Japan for no clear motives, believing that they're really the saviors of mankind.

** Remember Taroimo being turned into a liquefied turtle to save his life as a robot? Livingstill’s research shows a far darker use of this technology by sending the LH Combat Unit W1 after the heroes, a hulking robot with a liquefied human tank strapped to its back and talks like a robotic zombie. Even worse when it’s revealed after it’s defeat that this is ''Watanabe’s father'', who after asking Akira to take care of his son, immediately explodes into a bloody mess. The remake adds hefty amounts of residue splattered across the walls when this happens, making it clear that there’s no saving him at all. Akira is understandably horrified by this and immediately tries to attack the conspirators, only being stopped by Matsu physically restraining him.
** After the Steel Titan destroys the Inko Buddha statue, the lake of liquefied humans devours the government operatives in revenge. The remake makes it look like two giant hands are swallowing them up, and Akira freaks out when they start leaking inside Steel Titan's cockpit like a horror movie.

* More subdued than other examples, but the Trial of Skill is rather unnerving. The tunnels are labyrinthine, and you are constantly stalked by the Bountiful Heart. [[TheSpook Who is he? How does he know your character? It's never explained.]] But between his unexplained nature, and his sluggish gait and slurred speech, he's quite creepy.

** This gets worse considering that [[TheHeroDies you've just forced all of the protagonists into their very unpleasant]] GameOver scenarios. Pogo, Gori, and Beru were all devoured before they could return home and start their families, the Earthen Heart kung-fu art has been lost to history with the Indomitable Fist free to reign terror across the region, Ode Iou keeps Japan at war with Ryoma Sakamoto either dead or turned into a karakuri, all of Success was murdered and razed by the Crazy Bunch, Odie O'Bright continues his bloody onslaught to remain on top of the martial arts world, the entirety of Japan is under threat from Odeo with the Steel Titan defeated, and the crew of the ''Cogito Ergo Sum'' failed their mission with no survivors.

** The remake makes it worse by adding several touches: If you look closely, you’ll notice that the woman/hag is wearing the circlet Alethea had, making it more obvious that it’s her. And finally, the scream actually is voiced, differing between the language setting ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h23WZUB42NQ the English version]] gives a pure, unadulterated scream of pain and terror, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEkYNHRgkCY the Japanese version]] gives an anguished BigNo). The implication that Oersted specifically reserved a special place of torture for Alethea's soul with this for what she had done to him is ''disturbingly high''.

** To say nothing of both forms of Odio itself that you fight. The first form is simply two blood dripping eyes and a face, each covered in vines and flowers and when they attack, they twitch in very unsettling ways. That little pimple that stands with it eventually unveils itself as Odio's true, "Pure", self, and it looks like a baby clutching itself in a fetal position atop a flower with bloody red wings. It's more disturbing when you remember that this is the end result of the pure and good-hearted knight who merely wanted to protect his kingdom and loved ones getting screwed over in the most unfair and heartbreaking ways possible until he snapped and became the embodiment of hatred itself.
** The remake adds the Sin of Odio as the true final boss, who looks like a giant demon with hatred so strong it burns off its own body with a face that is made of said flame with Oersted trapped in its heart and dragged further in to keep itself sustained as it makes its final desperate attempt to end the heroes. It can do nothing but roar in fury (or is it Oersted screaming in pain?) and the background shows all of its incarnations, making it seem like they are ALL after the heroes at once, with it giving way to a distortion of flaming red like the demon itself as his hatred warps space and time. Just goes to show how boundless the Lord of Dark's hate is and how many different terrifying forms it can take.

* In the Switch remake, OD-10 takes over the [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou loading screen tutorials]] near the end of the chapter.

* The room before the Lord of Dark. It's filled with 7 peculiar statues, then you take a closer look and realize that ''all of them'' are the final bosses the previous 7 protagonists had fought, hinting that all this time they've been a part of something much greater...

*** In addition, have you noticed the loading screen tutorials? That's right. DEAD. SILENCE. It's actually quite unsettling when you're in an unfamiliar land with very few information on what's happening, or has happened, and not even the GAME ITSELF is able to tell you anything. One would not be blamed for supposing that Odio truly is in control here...

* [[BigBad Odio]] himself is the scariest character in the game. His incarnations are some of the most evil and horrifying characters in their respective chapters. Whenever [[KnightOfCerebus his incarnations]] show up, his Leitmotif, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avHpWTwSw2M&t Odio, the Lord of Dark]] starts playing. It is a haunting melody comprised with [[ForDoomTheBellTolls bells]], [[OminousPipeOrgan organ pipes]], and an EtherealChoir. Another thing that makes him this game's resident NightmareFuelStationAttendant is the implication of his power. As the king of demons, Odio [[RealityWarper is able to transcend time and space by reincarnating his hatred]] which can even reach as far back as prehistoric times, to as far as the distant future. He is also a MisanthropeSupreme who is actively trying to KillAllHumans ([[GuiltByAssociationGag and]] [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot human-loving robots]] [[GuiltByAssociationGag as seen with Cube being sent to Lucrece along with all of the other protagonists]]), and add all of that to the fact that he casually has the power to [[ApocalypseHow/ClassZ DELETE REALITY ITSELF]] and you can easily see why Odio is a very serious threat. His backstory is also horrifying [[TearJerker/LiveALive and saddening]].

* Lord Iwama, the creepy giant fish living in the moat that can be fought as an optional boss.

* This chapter is probably the most stressful right after the distant future for one thing: it has a strict time limit. After getting full access to the town, you're required to loot the town for various items in order to set up traps before the arrival of the Crazy Bunch. The time limit is only eight (in-game) hours and each hour is implicated by the ominous bell toll. It gets even more stressful when you order the townspeople to set up the traps, some of them taking longer than others, and if you choose poorly, you can see the end result almost immediately after the eight and final toll: seeing this bunch of violent madmen simply swooping through the town from all possible directions with little to resistance.

-->"Naught remains. Alone. Utterly alone. Cast out. Unloved. Outside the grace of gods. The Archon's Roost, they call this shrine of death. Yet nowhere do I spy our Lord of Dark. His throne sits empty, wanting for an heir... Did I not do all that was asked?! Did I not serve and seek my fair and just reward?! And for my deeds, they ''damn'' me. Name me ''demon''. And who am I to deny it? Demon, then! Renouncing former ties and titles! And in their place, I claim... The Lord of Dark. '''''Odio!'''''"

** The remake makes it worse by adding several touches: If you look closely, you’ll notice that the woman/hag is wearing the circlet Alethea had, making it more obvious that it’s her. And finally, the scream actually is voiced, differing between the language setting ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h23WZUB42NQ the English version]] gives a pure, unadulterated scream of pain and terror, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEkYNHRgkCY the Japanese version]] gives an anguished BigNo (in its native language)). The implication that Oersted especially reserved a special place of torture for Alethea's soul with this for what she has done to him is ''disturbingly high''.

** This gets worse considering that [[TheHeroDies you've just forced all of the protagonists into their very unpleasant]] GameOver scenarios. Pogo and Beru were devoured before they could start their family, the Earthen Heart kung-fu art has been lost to history with the Indomitable Fist free to reign terror across the region, Ode Iou keeps Japan at war with Ryoma Sakamoto either dead or turned into a karakuri, all of Success was murdered and razed by the Crazy Bunch, Odie O'Bright continues his bloody onslaught to remain on top of the martial arts world, the entirety of Japan is under threat from Odeo with the Steel Titan defeated, and the crew of the ''Cogito Ergo Sum'' failed their mission with no survivors.

** The remake makes it worse by adding a single touch: If you look closely, you’ll notice that the woman/hag is wearing the circlet Alethea had, making it more obvious that it’s her.

* Welcome to ''the'' [[UrExample Ur-]]Video Game DisguisedHorrorStory -- way before games or visual novels of similar nature like ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' popularized the genre. Unless you're starting with [[SurvivalHorror the Distant Future]] chapter, there's a chance where you'll pick a chapter that looks innocent enough and not too far-off from the genre they're based on and go halfway into it without seeing even a single horror element...only for the game to pull off the facade to do some of the most cruel and downright ''sadistic'' things a video game could do to your protagonist or other characters.

* In the remake, the ending of the chapter ''changes'' depending on how many people you killed (possibly a nod to ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'', which was heavily inspired by this chapter). If you go full pacifist or kill as little as possible, the ending plays out like the original, with the sky clearing and the sun rising over a new dawn. If however you went full genocide (100 kills) the sky suddenly '''darkens''' and a strong storm rises with lightning striking through the clouds. The game not so subtly tells you that all those deaths are on Oboromaru's conscience, and killing all those people will have '''dark''' consequences for the future of Japan.

* The Switch remake seriously beefed up the Behemoth's presence, now possessing a truly imposing set of sprites that give a clearer picture just how screwed Cube would be to be caught alone with it. Just hearing its footfalls approaching is enough to make you panic and dive into the nearest room, and its screech sends chills down the spine.

** The Behemoth has a few fixed encounters right after you leave certain rooms that can catch you off-guard, but in the original game, it moves slowly enough for you to react to and allows you to walk around the room carefully to avoid it. In the remake however, seeing the Behemoth ''running right into you'' at a faster speed with the aforementioned noises is enough to give you jumpscares, especially if you haven't played the original. You will probably want to run away from it as far as you can before returning to the destination.

* The battle begins inside of the [[TrashTheSet smashed-up]] ''Captain Square'' game, and one of the first shots is a [[{{Jumpscare}} sudden reveal]] of OD-10's appearance, which looks like a digital ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' skull ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou staring right at you]]''. If Cube uses HP Lookup against it, OD-10 suddenly grows ''flesh'' and [[TurnsRed turns into a scaly abomination]].

* The rumbling noise that plays whenever the Lord of Dark appears? Well, some emulators can't emulate the sound right, resulting in a horrible static sound. More than one person viewing the cutscene on Youtube has said that said static that begins to play after Alethea dies could be interpreted as Oersted ''screaming.''

-->'''Switch Remake:''' Let All Creation Yield to My Command: Let Blinding White Subsume and Cleanse the Slate

* Going to the Odeo Temple any point before the end of the chapter leads you to a bare area with nothing more than the Birds and the priest depending on if you've met him in the story yet in the center room. The Birds seem innocent enough like the birds you can find in the Park but talk them and they are chanting.
-->"Odeo odeo"

* The battle begins inside of the [[TrashTheSet smashed-up]] ''Captain Square'' game, and one of the first shots is a [[{{Jumpscare}} sudden reveal]] of OD-10's appearance, which looks like a digital ''Franchise/Predator'' skull ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou staring right at you]]''. If Cube uses HP Lookup against it, OD-10 suddenly grows ''flesh'' and turns into a scaly abomination.

* OD-10's NightmareFace, especially after you scan it (pictured).

* Welcome to ''the'' [[UrExample Ur-]]Video Game DisguisedHorrorStory -- way before games or visual novels of similar nature like ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' popularized the genre. Unless you're starting with [[SurvivalHorror the Distant Future]] chapter, there's a chance where you'll pick a chapter that looks innocent enough and not too far-off from the genre they're based on. It's possible to go halfway into a chapter and not see one horror element...only for the game to pull off the facade to do some of the most cruel and downright ''sadistic'' things a video game could do to your protagonist or other characters.

''Live A Live'', on the surface, appears to be a ClicheStorm of a GenreRoulette, covering slapstick, martial arts drama, fantasy, and more. Unfortunately, it's all [[DisguisedHorrorStory a façade]] that can and will get ugly ''very quickly'', throwing all expectations off the rails to [[NightmareFuel horrific results]].

''Live A Live'', on the surface, appears to be a ClicheStorm of a GenreRoulette, covering slapstick, martial arts drama, fantasy, and more. Unfortunately, things can and will get ugly ''very quickly'', throwing all expectations off the rug to [[NightmareFuel horrific results]].

''Live A Live'' is a GenreRoulette, covering slapstick, martial arts drama, fantasy... and horror.

* The entire chapter becomes flat-out SurvivalHorror once the Behemoth gets loose and things start to go to hell. The tense music doesn't help.