History VideoGame / ReturnToZork

* {{Feelies}}: While the introduction of graphics might make one think this would become an obsolete concept, Infocom decided it just wouldn't be ''Zork'' without them. Included with the game was a physical letter notifying you of being the sweepstakes winner and gave some backstory information surrounding it, as well as the Encylopedia of Forbozzica which both served as a fun world building tool and as a form of copy protection for the quizzes in the game (though the CD version also included only the needed in game information in its jewel case manual too).

* TalkToTheFist: When you first meet Rebecca, she's brushing her teeth. Since you did just sneak into her house, she coldcocks you in the face. When you wake back up, she's got the business end of a shotgun pointed at you.

* BalefulPolymorph:
** Canuk is a duck by the time you meet him. [[TemptingFate Being an immediate threat to him]] [[MuggingTheMonster is a good way to get yourself turned into one]].
** Witch Itah can turn you into a rodent if you get on her bad side.

** VideogameCrueltyPunishment: Don't even ''threaten'' [[BullyingADragon Canuk or Witch Itah]]. [[BalefulPolymorph They don't take kindly to it]], and they'll instantly turn you into a duck.

* AllThereInTheManual: Physical copies of the game included a book that discusses the game's lore, as well as provide hints. Digital versions also include this booklet in a PDF.
* AndIMustScream: When Morphius [[TakenForGranite turns people to stone]] they stay conscious. [[spoiler:The old wizard calling you through the Tele-Orb is one of such victims. Fortunately for him, he's a telepath.]]

* BalefulPolymorph: Canuk is a duck by the time you meet him. [[TemptingFate Being an immediate threat to him]] [[MuggingTheMonster is a good way to get yourself turned into one]].

* ExpositionFairy: The teleorb, where you can talk to the wizard within to find out a lot about the world around you.

* GuideDangIt: A trend of ''Zork'' games and adventure games in general. Perhaps the worst of these is learning that the wizard Trembyle can opt to pass a turn in Survivor, learned by talking to an NPC you had probably forgotten about by the time you need to learn it. [[spoiler:This is crucial to winning the final game of Survivor against Morpheus. Good luck trying to win the game without passing your turn every once in a while.[[labelnote:*]]It ''is'' possible, and can be done relatively easily as long as you remember to never make a move that will only have one possible following move, but it's difficult.[[/labelnote]]]]
* HisNameIs: One of the first interactions with Trembyle in his orb is the old wizard trying to tell you about the wild boar that guards the Forest of Despair. However, his crystal ball runs out of batteries as he's telling you, causing him to fade out. When you install a new battery in the orb, he comes back in with "...and that's the only way to get out alive. I hope you remember that when the time comes!" Naturally, you can't ask him to repeat any of what he just said.

** If you opt to swim to West Shanbar, you do make it to the bridge. Too bad it's out of your reach and the currents are too strong to grab it, and you still die.
** Seemingly invoked by Canuk, who tells you of a piece of a disc inside the bottle ship (which is used to discover Morpheus' location). There's a shark in there (if you hang at a certain spot long enough), you can drown if you take too long, and even when you do complete your quest, he's waiting for you to come out just so he can turn you into a duck.[[labelnote:Solution]]You can reflect the spell back by finding a shiny metal plate within the ship, or using a mirror you picked up earlier.[[/labelnote]]

* MayorOfAGhostTown: The mayor of West Shanbar who has no idea what happened to the east side of town. There are only five people remaining in what's left of the town, including the mayor himself.

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Contrary to other adventure games, such as ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'', putting a rodent in your pocket can have lethal results, as it will chew into your pocket and bite you. Granted, [[SubvertedTrope you die of hantavirus]] - which does ''not'' go ''that'' fast.

* ThePigPen: You, potentially. If you don't wash up, several characters will comment on how bad you smell. Some will even outright refuse to talk to you until you smell better.

* DungeonBypass: Get a whistle and a magnet and you'll never have to wander around any of the maze-like maps looking for an exit again.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: The game uses SecondPersonNarration, and no other description is ever given. The game assumes that the adventurer simply is you, and reacts accordingly.

* InvincibleBoogeymen: As always, Grues. For added fun, they seem even more widespread this time around, turning up not only in dark forests and mine shafts, but ''in your hotel room'' if you don't find another light source.

** Some things can make sense to kill you, like being assaulted by a vulture or drowning. However, you can also die by failing a pop quiz, putting a rodent in your pocket, and being too depressing for a comedy show.

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Subverted. Upon meeting the Lighthouse Keeper, he tells you not to try it.

** Further subverted in that the password is never made clear; after rambling on for another minute, he forgets whether or not you've told him the password, decides you ''have'' told him the password, and lets you in anyway.

* ShmuckBait: As inviting as that skull and crossbones on the map looks, [[PressXToDie you don't wanna fly there]].

* WarpWhistle: You can use a literal whistle to make a vulture fly overhead. If you have a magnet in hand, you'll attach to its metal talons and gain the ability to travel to any location you've previously visited.

* DemonicPossession: The Wizard Canuk is possessed by Morpheus, who barely tries to hide this fact.

* FinalExamBoss: About a quarter of the way into the game, you play "Survivor" with Moodock, the one-armed man in the inn. You play Canuk, who can move to any square. He plays the wizard Trembyle, who has to move like a knight in chess, and makes a square into a "pit" every time he moves off of it. Canuk's objective is to stop Trembyle from moving, while Trembyle's is to make every square but two into pits. [[spoiler:At the end of the game, you play Survivor again, except this time it's against Morpheus, and the roles are reversed. Your only real chance at winning is to learn the "pass" move from Ms. Peepers.]]

* HopeSpot: If you opt to swim to West Shanbar, you do make it to the bridge. Too bad it's out of your reach and the currents are too strong to grab it, and you still die.

* IncrediblyLamePun: There is a witch named Witch Itah.

** Triggering a trap in the forest will turn the game 180 degrees, and will remain as such on the game over screen.

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Assaulted by a vulture, falling into the river, failing a pop quiz, putting a rodent in your pocket, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being too depressing for comedy]], you name it, it probably has it.
** Most of the deaths involve [[EvilGloating Morpheus laughing at you after you die]], and some don't. Usually, the one's that don't are deaths that there wouldn't be much to leave behind, like death by explosion.

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: Unlike pretty much every other Creator/{{Infocom}} adventure game (or most other adventure games in general), killing non-hostile [=NPCs=] is neither impossible or immediately punished by death. As a result you can stab to death almost every single NPC in the game. A vigilante highwayman will show up and destroy your inventory, rendering the game unwinnable (doubly so if you still needed the dead NPC to do something), but you're still allowed to wander around and do stuff.
** VideogameCrueltyPunishment: Don't even ''threaten'' [[BullyingADragon Canuk or Witch Itah]]. [[BalefulPolymorph They don't take kindly to it.]]

* GuideDangIt: A trend of Zork games and adventure games in general. Perhaps the worst of these is learning that the wizard Trembyle can opt to pass a turn in Survivor, learned by talking to an NPC you had probably forgotten about by the time you need to learn it. [[spoiler:This is crucial to winning the final game of Survivor against Morpheus. Good luck trying to win the game without passing your turn every once in a while.[[labelnote:*]]It ''is'' possible, and can be done relatively easily as long as you remember to never make a move that will only have one possible following move, but it's difficult.[[/labelnote]]]]

* InterfaceScrew: Getting mauled by a vulture results in a shattered screen.

* InvincibleBoogeymen: As always, Grues. For added fun, they seem even more widespread this time around, turning up not only in dark forests and mine shafts, but ''in your hotel room.''

%%* MeaningfulName: Rebecca Snoot.

* PunnyName: Witch Itah.

* SceneryPorn: For the time this game was made, this ''was'' SceneryPorn.

* SlasherSmile: The Orc when he attacks you.

* SuperDrowningSkills: Most of the time, interacting with the water results in the player drowning. One notable exception is when you try to swim to West Shanbar, only to find that the bridge is beyond your reach, resulting in drowning.
** Another exception that averts this is when Canuk shrinks you to enter into a ship in a water bottle, though you are given only so many turns before you do eventually drown.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Contrary to other adventure games, such as VideoGame/ManiacMansion, putting a rodent in your pocket can have lethal results, as it will chew into your pocket and bite you. Granted, [[SubvertedTrope you die of hantavirus]] - which does ''not'' go ''that'' fast.

* TalkToTheFist: When you first meet Rebecca, she's brushing her teeth. Of course, you did just sneak into her house, so she coldcocks you in the face. When you wake back up, she's got the business end of a shotgun pointed at you.

** If the frozen meat turned rotten and cannot be used, you can always go back to Rebecca's freezer to grab another steak.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Being an adventure game, it should come as no surprise that there are several ways to render the game unwinnable.

** Accidentally destroying or killing the bonding plant can make the game nearly unwinnable. There is a GuideDangIt way around this, but you really have to know what you're doing.

** Feed the rotten meat to the vultures without drugging it first.
** [[spoiler:Turn Canuk back into a duck]] before you get the disc piece from the bottle and have him read from the joke book. Or, after you do that, [[spoiler:turn him back into a human anyway. Though that qualifies as TooDumbToLive, since you have no reason to change him back.]]
*** Not getting the joke is recoverable, since you only need four jokes, and there's a grand total of five throughout the game.

** In order to reach the final battle, you're required to sacrifice all your inventory items into the pit of fire to raise the bridge to Morpheus' inner sanctum. This is calculated to require every collectible item you can pick up in your quest. If you happen to be missing one of them, you're screwed.
*** Not the case. The bridge will fully rise up when you throw the last item in your inventory, regardless of how high it was before that point.

* PickedFlowersAreDead: It features this with the appropriately-titled "bonding plant." If you pull the plant straight out of the ground, [[UnwinnableByMistake it instantly dies.]] The correct solution is to dig it up by the roots so that it likes you.

* RealityEnsues: Contrary to other adventure games, such as VideoGame/ManiacMansion, putting a rodent in your pocket can have lethal results, as it will chew into your pocket and bite you. Granted, [[SubvertedTrope you die of hantavirus]] - which does ''not'' go ''that'' fast.

* {{Adorkable}}: Rebecca Snoot. When she isn't pointing a rifle at you.