History VideoGame / Decarnation

* AbhorrentAdmirer: The Master and Bob claim to be big fans of Gloria, but their actions toward her are nothing short of repulsive. Bob is introduced molesting and feeling up a brass statue of Gloria in a museum and the Master kidnaps Gloria and imprisons her in the basement of his house. [[spoiler: It's not too surprising that they turn out to be one in the same, with the whole manservant bit being Bob's attempt to win Gloria's trust.]]
* ActionSurvivor: Gloria is a dancer with severe mental problems who gets kidnapped by a LoonyFan, and while she does understandably suffer a DespairEventHorizon more than once during her months-long captivity, in the end she manages to stay true to herself and even [[spoiler: set herself free by tricking and then incapacitating her kidnapper.]]

* BadBoss: The Master seemingly keeps Bob imprisoned in the mansion not unlike Gloria, only permitting him to go outside to buy groceries and punishing him severely if he disobeys. [[spoiler: Subverted when it's revealed that the Master and Bob are the same person and Bob was always free to do whatever he wanted.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: More sweet than bitter. The Black Swan is shutting down and due to her horrific experiences Gloria now feels detached from Paris and her old apartment. However, the experience has also strengthened Gloria's resolve and she makes the decision to go on a spontaneous road trip to the sea, so she can figure out what she truly wants in life. She also makes up with Joy and it's implied the two of them might get back together.To put the cherry on top, Petrus agreed to have Gloria's statue removed from the museum and is starting a healthy relationship with her mother Victoria, who also makes him rethink his stance on older women as models for his artwork.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are a lot of hints to the Master's true identity. He only ever speaks to Gloria when Bob isn't around, when he appears in person he's always masked and wearing a robe and him and Bob share the same unhealthy obsession with Gloria. [[spoiler: That's because there was never a Master. There was only Bob, pretending to be two different people in a twisted attempt to win Gloria's trust as the manservant while directing all her hatred and resentment to the Master-persona.]]

* MalevolentMaskedMan: The Master, Gloria's kidnapper and owner of the mansion where she's trapped in the basement, always wears a wide robe and a golden mask whenever he appears in person. And between him and Bob, he's the more hostile and controlling towards her. [[spoiler: At the end of Act IV it's revealed that Bob ''is'' the Master, having created the persona to make Gloria more trusting of him when he plays the timid manservant.]]

* SinisterSurveillance: The Master watches Gloria in her cell via a surveillance camera. [[spoiler: Gloria officially has enough of it in Act V and rips it off the wall.]]

* WhamEpisode: Act IV "The Princess" ends with [[spoiler: Bob seemingly finally finding the courage to defy the Master and smuggling the key to Gloria's cell-door into her cell. However, when Gloria leaves the basement, she finds not a mansion but a small house, which is inhabited by no one except Bob. Bob confesses to her that there never was a Master and that he created the persona to give her someone to hate while winning her trust as the demure manservant Bob. He tries to convince Gloria that them bonding during her captivity is proof that they're meant for each other but Gloria defies him and, rather than being forced to live with him, throws herself down the basement's stairs in an attempt to kill herself.]]

** The pattern of the living room carpet in Gloria's apartment is based on an NPC in ''VideoGame/YumiNikki''.

** The pattern of the living room carpet in Gloria's apartment is based on an NPC in ''VideoGame/YumiNiki''.

* ShoutOut: The game is very upfront with acknowledging that much of its inspiration comes from the works of Creator/DavidLynch. Most notably, one of Lynch's paintings, "Bob loves Sally until she is blue in the face", can be found on display at the museum.

''Decarnation'' is an indie SurvivalHorror PuzzleGame developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was released worldwide on May 31, 2023 and is available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/ Steam]] for [=PC=] and Steam Deck. In broad therms, the game can be described as what would happen if Creator/DavidLynch and Creator/JunjiIto collaborated on making an adaptation of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''.

''Decarnation'' is an indie SurvivalHorror PuzzleGame developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was released worldwide on May 31, 2023 and is available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/ Steam]] for [=PC=] and Steam Deck. In broad therms, the game can be described what would happen if Creator/DavidLynch and Creator/JunjiIto collaborated on making an adaptation of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''.

''Decarnation'' is an indie SurvivalHorror PuzzleGame developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was released worldwide on May 31, 2023 and is available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/ Steam]] for [=PC=] and Steam Deck.\\
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Paris, 1990. Cabaret dancer Gloria is struggling. Her boss wants to retire her due to her age, her relationship with much younger university student Joy is falling apart and her mother keeps nagging her about her life choices. Adding onto that are her dwindling self-esteem and the horrific nightmares she suffers every time she goes to sleep.\\
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!''Decarnation'' contains examples of:

* ControllableHelplessness: Pretty much all of the basement segments are this. There's not much Gloria can do in her cell, aside from interacting with whatever her kidnappers has left her.

Things seem to be looking up for her, when she is contacted by the famous Mr. Saint-Louís, who offers her her own show. However, on the day Gloria goes to meet him in a park, she is knocked out. When she awakens, she finds herself trapped in an underground room as the captive of a LoonyFan of hers, who calls himself the Master and has his perverted manservant Bob keep her company. Will Gloria manage to find a way to escape?

* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Gloria meets two other versions of herself during her hallucinations and trips to the nightmare world: an innocent kid who is oblivious to the horror of the situation at large and helps Gloria reconnect with her innocence, desire fro freedom and independence and Grey Braid, an old woman who helps Gloria deal with her stress and whose advice helps her work through her issues.

''Decarnation'' is an indie survival horror puzzle game developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was released worldwide on May 31, 2023 and is available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/ Steam]] for [=PC=] and Steam Deck.\\

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: More sweet than bitter. The Black Swan is shutting down and due to her horrific experiences Gloria now feels detached from Paris and her old apartment. However, the experience has also strengthened Gloria's resolve and she makes the decision to go on a spontaneous road trip to the sea, so she can figure out what she truly wants in live. She also makes up with Joy and it's implied the two of them might get back together.To put the cherry on top, Petrus agreed to have Gloria's statue removed from the museum and is starting a healthy relationship with her mother Victoria, who also makes him rethink his stance on older women as models for his artwork.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Black Swan is shutting down and due to her horrific experiences Gloria now feels detached from Paris and her old apartment. However, the experience has also strengthened Gloria's resolve and she makes the decision to go on a spontaneous road trip to the sea, so she can figure out what she truly wants in live. She also makes up with Joy and it's implied the two of them might get back together.]]

Things seem to be looking up for her, when she is contacted by the famous Mr. Saint-Louís, who offers her her own show. However, on the day Gloria goes to meet him in a park, she is knocked out. When she awakens, she finds herself trapped in an underground room as the captive of a LoonyFan of hers, who calls himself the Maestro and has his perverted manservant Bob keep her company. Will Gloria manage to find a way to escape?

* AbhorrentAdmirer: The Maestro and Bob claim to be big fans of Gloria, but their actiosn toward her are repulsive. Bob is introduced molesting and feeling up a brass statue of Gloria in a museum and the Maestro kidnaps Gloria and imprisons her in the basement of his house.

* CentralTheme: The art world's general exploitation of women, especially younger women and dismissal of those women it deems 'too old'. Gloria is forced out of her job as a dancer, which she loves, in favor of much younger candidates and the fact that she'll be turning thirty soon is a frequent source of anxiety for her. In addition, most of the men in her life the majority of which are in some way involved with the arts, constantly objectify her and have no trouble exploiting her for her body, but then throw her aside once they have what they wanted from her.

* ArtGame: ''Decarnation'' revolves around the darker sides of the art world in general and especially its treatment of women, with the main character being a cabaret dancer dealing with the fact that she might be forced to quit being a dancer at the age of thirty and being abducted by a LoonyFan who puts her on a pedestal and has no repect for her bodily autonomy or freedom. The rather predatory attitude a lot of artists have toward women and especially women's suffering is also highlighted through a lot of side characters.

* CentralTheme: The art world's general exploitation of women, especially younger women and dismissal of those women it deems 'too old'. Gloria is forced out of her job as a dancer, which she loves, in favor of much younger candidates and the fact that she'll be turning thirty soon is a frequent source of anxiety for her.

''Decarnation'' is an indie survival horror puzzle game developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was released worldwide on May 31, 2023 and is available on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/]] for [=PC=] and Steam Deck.\\

''Decarnation'' is an indie survival horror puzzle game developed by Atelier [=QDB=] and published by Shiro Unlimited. It was relwased worldwide on May 31, 2023.\\

* ArtGame: ''Decarnation'' revolves around the darker sides of the art world in general and especially its treatment of women, with the main character being a cabaret dancer dealing with the fact that she might be forced to quit being a dancer at the age of thirty and being abducted by a LoonyFan who puts her on a pedestal and has no repect for her bodily autonomy or freedom.

Paris, 1990. Cabaret dancer Gloria is struggling. Her boss wants to retire her due to her age, her relationship with much younger university studen Joy is falling apart and her mother keeps nagging her about her life choices. Adding onto that are her dwindling self-esteem and the horrific nightmares she suffers every time she goes to sleep. Things seem to be looking up for her, when she is contacted by the famous Mr. Saint-Louís, who offers her her own show. However, on the day Gloria goes to meet him in a park, she is knocked out. When she awakens, she finds herself trapped in an underground room as the captive of a LoonyFan of hers, who calls himself the Maestro and has his perverted manservant Bob keep her company. Will Gloria manage to find a way to escape?