History VideoGame / HackNSlash

%% * EconomyCast

%% * PowersAsPrograms

* CastOfSnowflakes: The game makes sure that every named character is visually distinct [[spoiler:, the one exception being justified as a literal 'copy' of another character.]]

** Halcyon, who is a [[VideoGame/GameGenie 'game genie']]. He even does the same task: editing the game memory.

* HeartSymbols: Blue ones are used as your LifeMeter, at the bottom left, depleting from right to left, until you have too many hearts to display, where the display turns into just a fractional representation of your HitPoints instead.

* InfiniteOneUps / MeaninglessLives: Fairly early in the game there's a way to expand Alice's heart capacity as far as the player has patience for. Against late-game enemies and traps, her heart count is irrelevant, though. [[spoiler:The Automaton sets the player's speed to 0, the Wizard deals infinite damage, and several traps just intentionally crash the game.]]

* SequenceBreaking:
** An inevitable possibility in a game that lets you modify its code. But even before you get to that point, it's still possible at points.
** For example, by a certain point the developers assume you have solved a puzzle which lets you understand the glyphs that appear when using the magic hat. The intended solution to the warden puzzle requires that you [[spoiler:change your name using a mechanic that the player will only understand if the glyphs have been decoded.]] However, you can also get past the warden by [[spoiler:hacking your own movement speed, as allowed by one of the artifacts]], or by simply knowing from beforehand or online that you're supposed to [[spoiler:enter and then change your name]], as it still works even if you haven't decoded the glyphs. This can lead to some confusion when Alice demonstrates an ability to understand the text displayed by the magic hat later on, as it will still appear as glyphs to the player. Thankfully, however, the time-traveling amulet makes backtracking very easy.

** Possible invoked, as the game begins at Act 2 instead of Act 1, and all that really changes is the numbers of the acts.
* ShoutOut: To a disassembler application, of all things: one character is named Ida, after IDA Pro. (which stands for '''I'''nteractive '''D'''is'''a'''ssembler.)
** And to ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'', a rather infamous film known for its fluid animation and extremely long production time. [[http://i.imgur.com/qbyp3aJ.jpg There is a door in the game that is directly based off of a door in the film.]]

* StealthPun: Isis' cat is named Script. So that makes it a [[spoiler:Script kitty]]. Badum-tss.
** This is also possibly the reason the developers used the term "sprite" to refer to the fairy-like creatures.
** We can't forget Halcyon, who is a [[VideoGame/GameGenie 'game genie']]. He even does the same task: editing the game memory.

''Hack 'N' Slash'' is a PuzzleGame (but [[NonIndicativeName not]] a HackAndSlash, despite stylistic resemblance) by Creator/DoubleFine, in which a young woman and a red sprite ([[HelloInsertNameHere With default names]] AliceAndBob, respectively) attempt to overthrow the wizard who has corrupted the land. Alice's first (and primary) "weapon" in this quest is a sword that allows her to hack into the variables of various in-game objects.


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* WishingForMoreWishes: The game has, to say the least, a unique mechanic for making wishes. Fitting with the theme of the game, a wish is made by literally specifying one of the game's [[BreakingTheFourthWall internal variables]] and something to set it to. While the game initially only gives you 3 wishes, the variable that stores how many wishes you have left is not immune to this mechanic.

* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:The Princess]] The reason being, she was very quickly catching on to his plans and learning his methods, and he needed to make sure she couldn't be a threat. And even then she manages to kickstart the events of the game.

* BadassInDistress : The reason being, she was very quickly catching on to his plans and learning his methods, and he needed to make sure she couldn't be a threat. And even then she manages to kickstart the events of the game.

* InTheHood: Alice starts off with one. [[spoiler:She uses it to complete a [[DecoyGetaway decoy]] as part of her escape, revealing a USB port in the back of her head.]]

** We can't forget Halcyon, who is a [[GameGenie 'game genie']]. He even does the same task: editing the game memory.

%% * BadassPrincess

* PuzzleReset: Messed with the code too much? Just use the amulet to reverse time. The game will even use it for you should you manage to break reality.

* RedHeadedHero: Alice. Red hair. Hero. It's all there.

* LostForever: The way out of the dungeon is one way only and there is no way to get thrown into it again. You better collect everything while you are there. [[spoiler:Fix the font. Get the self hacking artifact, the opacity artifact, Ida's pyramid and Halcyon's lamp.]]

* RealityWritingBook: The library holds books containing the source code to everything. That includes yourself.

* GameBreakingBug: InUniverse example: [[spoiler:The Wizard ''weaponizes'' them, causing the game to crash at certain times.]]

* MeaninglessLives: Fairly early in the game there's a way to expand Alice's heart capacity as far as the player has patience for. Against late-game enemies and traps, her heart count is irrelevant, though. [[spoiler:The Automaton sets the player's speed to 0, the Wizard deals infinite damage, and several traps just intentionally crash the game.]]

* ThreeWishes: Upon finding the magic lamp, the genie Halcyon will give you three wishes. As the wishes are made by [[spoiler:specifying one of the game's internal variables and something to change it to]], it is also possible to [[spoiler:[[WishingForMoreWishes wish for more wishes]]]].

''Hack 'N' Slash'' is an PuzzleGame (but [[NonIndicativeName not]] a HackAndSlash, despite stylistic resemblance) by Creator/DoubleFine, in which a young woman and a red sprite ([[HelloInsertNameHere With default names]] AliceAndBob, respectively) attempt to overthrow the wizard who has corrupted the land. Alice's first (and primary) "weapon" in this quest is a sword that allows her to hack into the variables of various in-game objects.

** We can't forget Halcyon, who is a [[GameGenie 'game genie']].

* ProceduralGeneration: The library is generated from the directory tree of the game source code. [[spoiler: It doesn't cover quite everything by default. You can change the root folder with an optional artifact.]]

* GameBreakingBug: InUniverse example: [[spoiler:The Wizard ''weaponizes'' them, causing the game to crash with certain weapons.]]

* RewritingReality: Alice's abilities are all variations of this, [[spoiler:and the Wizard can do the same. Florentine can as well, although she's trapped in an encryption for most of the game]].

* {{Unwinnable}}: It is possible to cause this in many, ''many'' ways. While sometimes it won't be obvious what caused it or how long ago you did it, the game autosaves frequently and keeps all previous saves, so it's not ''too'' bad.

* ThreeWishes: Upon finding the magic lamp, the genie Halcyon will give you three wishes. As the wishes are made by [[spoiler:specifying one of the game's internal variables and something to change it to]], it is also possible to [[spoiler:wish for more wishes]].

* TheCracker: The Wizard uses the same powers as Alice, [[spoiler:but for malevolent ends.]]