History VideoGame / TheHex

* {{Gonk}}: The enemies in ''Secrets of Legendaria'' all have ugly, scowling faces. [[InformedAttractiveness Even the so-called "tempting" lamias.]]

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: InUniverse example [[spoiler: Chandrelle deliberately sabotages her own game to ensure it never gets a sequel. Instead of the intended ending where she defeats the BigBad Valamir and saves the world, she teams up with him causing the apocalypse.]]

* AnimatedActors: All Videogame characters, down to even the basic mooks, are portrayed as fully sapient beings working as actors for Gameworks

* ButThouMust: You have to harm or kill a few characters to progress or you'll be stuck in an endless loop, like [[spoiler:making Bryce hit Cooking Granny by accident]] and [[spoiler:using Vallamir's tome to power up and kill the tutorial not-moogle as Chandrelle]]. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Vicious Galaxy'', as [[spoiler:Lazarus' not-moogle partner slaughters surrendering enemies if you refuse to]].

** Also in ''Secrets of Legendaria'', if you complete the ankh quest without cheating (which is quite time consuming), the quest giver is so impressed that they reward you [[spoiler:with a new skill]], and later [[spoiler:a boss fight against them]] is skipped. Funnily enough, the game doesn't check the locations of the actual ankhs, but instead checks how many you have- if you have exactly the requested number, it thinks they're legit. This can lead to hilarious instances where the door says they're all legit, [[spoiler: Lazarus]] comments on how it took forever to get them, and all the while, there's an uncollected ankh right at the player's feet that should be a smoking gun.

* EnsembleCast: In-universe, each of the six player characters was the star of their own game. [[spoiler: And so was the Innkeeper.]]
* EveryoneIsASuspect: Simply because the crime doesn't actually happen until a way into the game, leaving everyone suspect early on. [[spoiler: Becomes EverybodyDidIt, when every character in the Six Pint Inn works together to open the Hex and kill Lionel.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Inflicted on Chandrelle and Lazarus for their actions during the course of ''Secrets of Legendaria.'' Both expected to be destroyed. Instead, Lazarus [[ReassignedToAntarctica was sent to]] ''Vicious Galaxy,'' while Chandrelle [[spoiler: became possessed by Vallamir]].
* FeaturelessProtagonist: ???, who only has defined feet and arms. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as he's the player character of an EnvironmentalNarrativeGame.

** The order you play the characters is the same order as their games were made. [[spoiler: You control Reginald briefly at the very beginning before switching to Weasel Kid]].
* FormerChildStar: Super Weasel Kid looks very much the worse for wear in the Six Pint Inn compared to his portrayal in his own games, sporting a full sleeve of tattoos and a nihilistic attitude [[spoiler: that leads him to conspire with Lazarus to blow up the Gameworks building]].

** [[spoiler: The ''Rootbeer Tender'' segment is a reference to VideoGame/{{Tapper}}.]]

** The standard ending of ''Beneath the Surface'' occurs if you upgrade your line to the max, then lower your hook all the way. [[spoiler:Your hook enters from the top of the screen, and dragging it up pulls the screen upward, with a “Thanks for playing” message appearing.]]

* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: "Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to meet my maker."]]

* PunchClockVillain: Pretty much every bad guy is an employee for The Gameworks and just does their job as the bad guy in a given game. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Vallamir and Sado, the first simply [[ForTheEvulz just evil for the heck of it]], and the other [[spoiler:is a sort of virus that sabotages Lionel's games]].

* RainbowText: Since the game is about living video game characters, green text is used when a character is speaking InUniverse programmed dialogue, and black text is used when they are speaking from their own minds. Also, red text is used to emphasize things like SymbolSwearing or the Vurm’s NoIndoorVoice.

** Lazarus might be on a wanted poster in the kitchen, suggesting he's been up to something. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as he is wanted for his part in a horrible crime and kills Irving later, BUT those killings weren't the planned murders mentioned at the start of the game.]]

* {{Sequelitis}}: InUniverse example. The original ''Super Weasel Kid'' is an extemely successful and popular game getting a near universal praise. ''Super Weasel Kid 2: Radical Road'' did get some criticism for it's art direction and fighting mecahnics it was still positively recived. ''Super Weasel Kid '09: Super Redux'' on the other hand was pretty much hated by everyone for being an unplayable buggy mess

* SmallNameBigEgo: [[spoiler: Lionel thinks of himself as a great developer, even refusing to claim responsibility for his own downfall.]]
* SpaceMarine: Lazarus is one as he comes from a sci-fi shooter ''Vicious Galaxy'' [[spoiler: even though he was orginally a fantasy RPG knight]] and he wears a very [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 40k]] looking power armor

* TheStinger: After the credits roll, there's a brief shot of [[spoiler: Sado behind Lionel in the real world.]]

* SmallNameBigEgo: [[spoiler: Lionel thinks of himself as a great developer, even after he has faded into obscurity and by the time the game is set, is considered a washed-up has-been.]]

%%* {{Absurdism}}: A lot of the game's dark comedy comes from video game characters being aware of their lack of choice in their own identities and fates. (Zero-Context Example: General Example)
%%* AddressingThePlayer: Happens several times. (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "Trope is here")

* BlackComedy: Everywhere, often by paralleling the stories of the various characters with real world game franchises and putting in a dose of reality along the way (such as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Weasel Kid]] burning out after his [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 terrible '09 reboot]]).

%%* ExistentialHorror: The ''Waste World'' segment ends up devolving into this.

%%* ScavengerWorld: ''Waste World'' takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting so as expect

** ''TONS''. Every single character, segment, and even piece of dialog is a reference to a different video game, including VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]], [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Final Fantasy]], [[VideoGame/CookingMama Cooking Mama]], [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami Hotline Miami]], [[VideoGame/TheBeginnersGuide The Beginner's Guide]], and so so much more.

%%* SmallNameBigEgo: [[spoiler: Lionel.]] (Zero-Context Example)

* WholePlotReference: ''Walk'' is an extended one to [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/TheBeginnersGuide The Beginner's Guide]]]], but with [[JerkAss Lionel's actions]] having much more dire consequences.

* AfterTheEnd: The ''Waste World'' setting is a standart post-apocalyptic wasteland.

* SamusIsAGirl: The green-skinned mechanic is neither "decompressed" (shown in detail) nor named until Walk. Her name is Rebecha.

* ArcWords: "Sarsaparilla" pops up frequently throughout the games. [[spoiler:It probably references how the protagonist of the unreleased video game ''Rootbeer Reggie'' is behind everything.]]

* DarkSecret: [[invoked]] Lionel [[spoiler:made a game before ''Super Weasel Kid'' called ''Rootbeer Reggie'' and became ashamed of it after his second game became a huge hit]]. So, [[spoiler:Irving crippled Reggie and [[BuryYourArt buried his game]] so nobody would find out about Lionel's earlier work]].

** There are some pretty big ones if you do the side quests for the cat woman during ''Super Weasel Kid'', in which she hints towards major twists only explored in the ending. [[spoiler:She reveals that the game was built on the "ashes" of another (''Rootbeer Reggie''), and tells of a prophecy of the revenge of Reginald/Rootbeer Reggie (the bartender) and the opening of the titular Hex (a portal to the real world so Reggie can kill his creator).]]

** [[spoiler: The ''Rootbeer Reggie'' segment is a reference to VideoGame/{{Tapper}}.]]

* GoldenEnding: [[spoiler:Sorta. There is a very ''very'' hidden ending to the game that requires completing multiple sidequests, putting together a very long code gained from various ingame aspects and from the names of all of the achievements gotten for crashing each game (and the actual game itself), which you put into a file that you have to create out of game and put into the game's folder which reveals a final conversation between Lionel and Carla. And this is a hint to make you go and download a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (and free) game off Steam apparently made by Carla about fishing. Upon getting far enough into it, you gain another clue that you use the cypher file you created to figure out one final command that you type into the fishing game. Doing so puts you into an unfinished version of the final segment of Walk where Lionel reveals the truth about what he did to Reginald and why. At the end you find that he recreated Rootbeer Reggie in 3D and states that he misses Reginald. After this, the game crashes as Sado.exe "downloads" itself onto your computer...]]

* InterfaceScrew: A few, like the option to subvert jumping and ducking controls in ''Combat Arena X''. Most notable example is during the [[spoiler:''Rootbeer Reggie'' segment, as the graphics break down once Irving arrives and the gameplay is interrupted by conversation cutscenes and eroding music]].

* OminousVisualGlitch: ''Super Weasel Kid '09'' is filled with them, as is any Sado encounter. [[spoiler:Used during the ''Rootbeer Reggie'' segment as well, as the computer screen ??? is using starts to graphically break apart]].

* ScavengerWorld: ''Waste World'' takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting so as expected everything looks like it was buid aut of scrap

** Chef Bryce is a nod to fighting game characters and seems to be specifically styled off of ''VideoGame/StreetFighter.'' He was originally from a game called ''Cooking Granny,'' a pretty clear BlandNameProduct for ''VideoGame/CookingMama.''

* GuideDangIt: Want the above-mentioned GoldenEnding? Good luck finding ''any'' of the components needed to attain it without an ''extensive'' walkthrough, as some of the steps required are so ludicrously hidden and/or obtuse that they're virtually impossible for the typical player to find on their own unless by complete and total accident.

** Some of Weasel Kid's early dialog. [[spoiler:He recognizes Lazarus, and he seems to recognize a crashed ship in the basement as belonging to someone named Jeremiah we haven't met yet. It makes far more sense during ''Vicious Galaxy'']].

%%* RecurringBoss: Sado. (Zero-Context Example)

* SugarBowl: The first ''Super Weasel Kid'' is very cheerful

%%* AfterTheEnd: The ''Waste World'' setting. (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "Trope is here")

%%* ScavengerWorld: ''Waste World''. (Zero-Context Example)

%%* SpaceMarine: Lazarus. (Zero-Context Example)

%%* SugarBowl: The first ''Super Weasel Kid''. (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "Trope is here")

* EveryoneIsASuspect: Simply because the crime doesn't actually happen until a way into the game, leaving everyone suspect early on. [[spoiler: Becomes EverybodyDidIt, when every character in the Six Pint Inn works together to open the hex and kill Lionel.]]

** There are some pretty big ones if you do the side quests for the cat woman during ''Super Weasel Kid'', in which she hints towards major twists only explored in the ending. [[spoiler:She reveals that the game was built on the “ashes” of another (''Rootbeer Reggie''), and tells of a prophecy of the revenge of Reginald/Rootbeer Reggie (the bartender) and the opening of the titular Hex (a portal to the real world so Reggie can kill his creator).]]

%%* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:Rootbeer Reggie and the six patrons against Lionel, their creator.]] (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "Trope is here")

%%* {Revenge}}: [[spoiler:Rootbeer Reggie and the six patrons against Lionel, their creator.]] (Zero-Context Example: Entry is just "Trope is here")

* CreatorKiller: An InUniverse example. [[spoiler:Lionel, the developer of all these characters and games, ended up losing most of his credibility upon releasing ''Secrets of Legendaria'' and ''Waste World'', the first because of a complete game breakdown during a live stream premiere (and a TheBadGuyWins ending that people hated), and the second due to it being unfinished and abandoned.]]

** Super Weasel Kid, Combat Arena X and Secrets of Legendaria all have very simplistic gameplay and compared to real games in their genre. They also all have an ExcusePlot.
** Secrets of Legendaria is also riddled with bugs and would require tedious grinding if you didn't exploit them. It is also the only game that you explicitly play from start to finish, yet is quite short.
** Waste World is free of this until the mods start activating. Almost every mod introduces something that clashes with the game's tone, some include sloppy dialogue or misspellings, they create plot holes, and most of the levels from that point on would be impossible or near-impossible without activating "cheats".
** Walk features competent gameplay and production values, but the developer commentary undermines itself and presents the author in a poor light.

* DarkSecret: Lionel [[spoiler:made a game before ''Super Weasel Kid'' called ''Rootbeer Reggie'' and became ashamed of it after his second game became a huge hit]]. So, [[spoiler:Irving crippled Reggie and [[BuryYourArt buried his game]] [[invoked]] so nobody would find out about Lionel's earlier work]].

** Lazarus is initially a heavy from the JRPG of your choice, and is later repurposed into a very ''TabetopGame/Warhammer40000'' looking space marine.

** Downplayed in ''Vicious Galaxy''- at one point, Lazarus and Moji Jr. will come across some surrendering enemies. You are given the order to kill them anyway- you can choose not to, but Moji will gun them down himself and call you a pussy. Either way, they die.

* DeconstructionGame: Well, it was made by the people behind VideoGame/PonyIsland. Here, the topic is [[spoiler:the old {{Creepypasta}} idea of game characters who become sentient and murderous towards their creators; it examines exactly how a game character might become lethally mutinous and what kind of [[AssholeVictim jackass]] a programmer would need to be to make his creations essentially want to KillTheGod, making them all out to be {{Sympathetic Murderer}}s.]]
* DevelopersForesight: In the ''Walk'' section, you can learn of [[spoiler:a built-in ClassicCheatCode in ''Wasteland'', that allows you to [[HavingaBlast cover the field in mines]], [[DoppelgangerAttack clone friendly characters,]] and [[OneHitKill instantly kill enemy characters.]] These new cheats are always available, even during the Hardcore Mod section where you don't have access to your [[UsefulNotes/GameGenie normal cheats]], and they're meant to be used to obtain the achievement for crashing ''Wasteland''.]]
** [[spoiler: If you use the cheats to make a clone of Rocky in the first fight against Sado, the second Rocky will express confusion when the first one dies. However, Rust himself will remain oblivious to the fact that he has at least one other Rocky still left- after all, we do need to keep the plot going.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: All over the place during the [[spoiler:Sado]] boss fight in ''Vicious Galaxy''. The most notable occurs when you grab a frying pan and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a [[VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds battle royale...]]

* TheDragon: Two, on opposing sides.
** The straight example is Irving. He reports directly to [[spoiler:Lionel]], whose wishes he carries out without question. He appears to directly oppose or punish the protagonists at many points in the story.
** [[spoiler:Jeremiah, Rootbeer Reggie's old janitor, handles all the fieldwork and appears as a cloaked figure to every character throughout the game, but his goals align with the player's.]]

** Super Weasel Kid is probably the straightest example, being a CaptainErsatz of Sonic the Hedgehog with a similar appearance to Crash Bandicoot.
** [[spoiler:Chef]] Bryce a nod to fighting game characters and seems to be specifically styled off of ''Street Fighter.'' [[spoiler:He was originally from a game called ''Cooking Granny,'' a pretty clear BlandNameProduct for ''Cooking Mama.'']]
** Chandrelle is somewhere between a gender flipped version of Link from ''Legend of Zelda'' and Cloud Strife from ''Final Fantasy VII.''
** Rust [=McClain=] would be right at home in ''Fallout'', down to his son Rocky looking just like a Super Mutant.
** Lazarus is initially a heavy from the JRPG of your choice, and is later repurposed into a very ''Warhammer 40000'' looking space marine.
** ??? is the faceless non-character of a walking simulator, specifically [[spoiler:''The Beginner's Guide.'']] ???'s section also features a segment of gameplay reminiscent of ''Quake II.''
* FateWorseThanDeath: Inflicted on Chandrelle and Lazarus for their actions during the course of ''Secrets of Legendaria.'' Both expected to be destroyed. Instead, Lazarus was sent to ''Vicious Galaxy,'' while Chandrelle [[spoiler: became possessed by Vallamir]].

* AIIsACrapshoot: It's left ambiguous how much of [[spoiler: Sado's]] behavior was programmed and how much is an accident. [[spoiler:Carla hated Lionel and sabotaged bits of code in the games, but Sado's malice towards Rust goes beyond simple trolling. There's also the matter of her possible [[VideoGame/PonyIsland satanic connection]]...]]

* ArcNumber: Six. The Six Pint Inn. Six guests. Six game segments. Six sides and six angles on a hexagon. And in some instances [[spoiler:Sado as a spider has six legs instead of eight.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:It increasingly turns out that Lionel has been a complete pain and terror towards everyone nearby and outright abusive towards his creations; all of the characters have ample and justified reason to hate him (with hating him being Sado's [[ComputerVirus reason for existing]]) and eventually get the player to help them [[EverybodyDidIt avenge themselves on him]].]]

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Irving, the representative of The Gameworks. [[spoiler:Subverted, he's actually a programming assistant for a game creation toolkit.]]