History VideoGame / DreadOut

* RepetitiveName: The heroine's full name is ''Linda'' Mei''linda''.

* AlliterativeName: The heroine's full name is Linda Meilinda.

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:After collecting all three Soldier's Medals, Linda can explore the town at nighttime, facing ghosts that are not normally encountered in the game such as Pocong, Kuntilanak, and a Young Genderuwo.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: Linda's [[AndYourRewardIsClothes alternate costumes]] are not {{Stripperiffic}} by any stretch, but are certainly more revealing than the default school uniform, especially the casual outfit with the ripped jeans. They also show that quite some care went to [[{{Gainaxing}} her]] [[MaleGaze assets]].

* {{Kitsune}}: The [[spoiler:main boss]] of the Colonial Sewer area in ''Keepers of the Dark'' is [[spoiler:a large, nine-tailed fox beast]].

* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''[=DreadOut=] 2'' is more focused than the original game, the levels generally have a much clearer path and there's much less wandering around wondering exactly how you're supposed to progress.

* MonsterSobStory: Some of the ghosts originate from tragic stories. The biggest example is [[spoiler:the Scissor Man; the director of the school who, going mad after the loss of his child, adopted a doll and kept protecting her even after death.]]

*** An August 2020 patch added a new PostFinalBoss and extended ending that seems to set things up for a sequel. [[spoiler: After you stab her, Siska transforms into a spirit monster that you fight, and when you defeat her she seems to imply you were FightingAShadow or that she's otherwise still alive somehow. The game cuts to Linda's neighborhood, where it's shown that the MeatMoss from the spirit world is now manifesting en-masse in the real world, resulting in a military response and confusion amongst the civilians.]]

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Yayan's fate is left ambiguous; you never find his body, and in fact in the bad ending it's revealed he was simply locked inside a bathroom while everyone else was running around being chased by ghosts. In ''[=DreadOut=] 2'', Linda is referred to as the SoleSurvivor of the abandoned village incident, but Yayan is noticeably absent during a dream sequence in which Linda sees the corpses of everyone else who was killed during the incident. ''Dreadout: The Untolds'' shows that Yayan was let out of the bathroom by the Headmaster, who he runs away from. Notably, the Headmaster appears to be human rather than a ghost, and it's possibly implied that Yayan was somehow teleported to the year 1985.]]

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The sequel indicates that the Sisters lived during "ancient times", suggesting they're centuries if not millennia old.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Yayan's fate is left ambiguous; you never find his body, and in fact in the bad ending it's revealed he was simply locked inside a bathroom while everyone else was running around being chased by ghosts. In ''[=DreadOut=] 2'', Linda is referred to as the SoleSurvivor of the abandoned village incident, but Yayan is noticeably absent during a dream sequence in which Linda sees the corpses of everyone else who was killed during the incident.]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: When you die, you have to walk through a black void into a light to try again. Normally, the light gets further away every time you die. However, it can be forced to a fixed length through an option in case you really just don't feel like dealing with it.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Yayan's fate is left ambiguous; you never find his body, and in fact in the bad ending it's revealed he was simply locked inside a bathroom while everyone else was running around being chased by ghosts. In ''Dreadout 2'', Linda is referred to as the SoleSurvivor of the abandoned village incident, but Yayan is noticeably absent during a dream sequence in which Linda sees the corpses of everyone else who was killed during the incident.]]

** SilentSnarker: Linda. Despite not talking, her facial expressions, especially when interacting with Ira in front of the school, show her snarky nature.
* StringyHairedGhostGirl: Naturally.
* ThatOneAchievement: The ''YOLO'' Steam Achievement which requires the player to complete Act 1 without entering limbo. Many players find this difficult, [[spoiler:especially if the Scissor Phantom is a lightning-fast boss that can continuously hit you if it goes into Berserk Mode]].

* MoodWhiplash: TheStinger of the alternate ending. A funny scene shows that [[spoiler:Yayan was just stuck in a bathroom in the school all the time]]. We see this, however, after witnessing [[spoiler:Linda's death in a car crash]].

* NightmareFace: And how.

* NonMaliciousMonster: In ''Dreadout 2'', some of the ghosts early in the game actually won't attack you if you don't attack them, and you can even hold conversations with them. Based on their dialogue, it appears Linda's supernatural powers have evolved enough that some monsters from the Other Side respect her enough to not want to mess with her.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''Dreadout 2'' is more focused than the original game, the levels generally have a much clearer path and there's much less wandering around wondering exactly how you're supposed to progress.

** Elaborated on in the {{Interquel}}, ''Keepers of the Dark'', which implies that DreadOut was the story of [[spoiler:the villain releasing a SealedEvilInACan and attaining a power that needs to be confronted in a sequel]].
** ''Dreadout 2'' ends having reasonably wrapped up all loose plot threads (most lingering questions concerning the events of the first game are addressed, and the BigBad is seemingly abruptly killed), but ends so abruptly without any real denouement that it feels like they expected to continue the story in a sequel.

** In Act 0 you can find a girl just [[Film/TheBlairWitchProject standing there facing the wall]].
** There are some in the Steam achievements, such as "[[Manga/AttackOnTitan Attack on Titan]]" after taking the picture of [[spoiler:Young Genderuwo]] and "ComicBook/GhostRider" for a picture of [[spoiler:Pocong on Motorcycle]].

** Also in Act 2 there's a bizarre skeleton waving at a TV camera nearby. This is a rather morbid reference to an Indonesian reality program that basically consisted in participants staying at least one night, followed by infrared cameras, in places said to be haunted; they could give up any moment by waving. The program was cancelled because of the rumor of one participant having died, which caused a warning from the local broadcasting commission. The rumor was later confirmed to be false. The show was re-broadcasted in 2014.
** One of the Steam Achievements is named "[[Music/CarlyRaeJepsen Call Me Maybe]]".

* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: we'RE all DYING... we'RE all DYING... we'RE all DYING.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Several of the ghosts are based on Indonesian mythology and even the story seems to be taking the mythology of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros Ouroboros]] as one of its main aspects. The hint for Ouroboros is immediately seen on the logo, if one takes a closer look at the O from out.

* GirlyRun

* ImprobableWeaponUser: And how. As far as we know, the phone used by Linda is a normal smartphone.

* LargeHam: Linda's 'friend' you encounter in Act 0, and [[spoiler:possessed Ira]] in Act 2.

The gameplay is based on taking pictures of the ghostly enemies to fight them, much like the ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' series. However, the gadgets used here are modern invention like smartphones and digital cameras rather than something vintage. Also, the game is based on Indonesian folklore ghosts and takes place in a rural Indonesian town. As usual for the genre, the game contains exploration and puzzle-solving.

A spin-off game for Virtual Reality devices, called ''DreadEye VR'', was released in November 2017. In it, the player takes the role of a ''dukun'' (an Indonesian shaman) and performs rituals to summon and face spirits. It is set in the same universe but has no direct connections to the story of ''[=DreadOut=]''.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: To defeat Sundel Bolong, [[spoiler:Linda must take a picture of the hole on her back.]]

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Linda may be forced to crawl in mud or move waist-deep in water (and near the end, [[spoiler:[[{{Squick}} in ghost vomit]]]]), but will always come out perfectly clean.

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:After collecting all three Soldier's Medal, Linda can explore the town at nighttime, facing ghosts that are not normally encountered in the game such as Pocong, Kuntilanak, and a Young Genderuwo.]]

* CreepyDoll: In one of the rooms in Act 0 you can find a dirty teddy-bear-ish doll hung by a noose, with a fallen chair under it; you can find it again in Act 1 as an easter egg. Interacting with a doll in Act 1 triggers a boss fight.

* DeadlyDoctor: In ''Dreadout 2'', the boss of the hospital level is a murderous bonesaw-wielding doctor ghost known as the Gore Surgeon.

* AllJustADream: Act 0. Also a case of PsychicDreamsForEveryone, since most of it turns out to anticipate [[spoiler:many events of Act 2, like the fight of Pocong Radja, who is awakened in Act 0]].

* DeadlyDoctor: The boss of the hospital level is a murderous bonesaw-wielding doctor ghost known as the Gore Surgeon.

* NonMaliciousMonster: Some of the ghosts early in the game actually won't attack you if you don't attack them, and you can even hold conversations with them.