History VideoGame / TorinsPassage

* WorldOfPun: The game features too many instances of wordplay to count, especially in Chapters One, Two, and Five.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: In Chapter Five, Torin accidentally crashes into the Help menu at the top of the screen while crawling through a maintenance shaft and asks the player to click out of it so he can proceed.

* BarefootLoon: Downplayed with Herman, the gatekeeper in the Lands Above, who [[DoesNotLikeShoes goes around in open-toed sandals]], presumably to illustrate his eccentricity. He obviously wears them by choice and not as a part of a guard's uniform, since the other guard (Zax, the gatekeeper of Crystal City) has regular shoes.

%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Lycentia]].

* NeverTrustATrailer: While the trailer does include animations from the finished game, some characters, particularly Pecand and Leenah, are notably different from their in-game counterparts. It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open for some reason and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin '''does''' ask Boogle to turn into [[AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

* NeverTrustATrailer: While the trailer does include animations from the finished game, some characters, particularly Pecand and Leenah, are notably different from their in-game counterparts. It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open for some reason and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin 'does' ask Boogle to turn into [[AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

* NeverTrustATrailer: While the trailer does include animations from the finished game, some characters, particularly Pecand and Leenah, are notably different from their in-game counterparts. It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open for some reason and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin ''does'' ask Boogle to turn into [[AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

* NeverTrustATrailer: While the trailer does include animations from the finished game, some characters, particularly Pecand, and Leenah, are notably different from their in-game counterpart. It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open for some reason and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin *does* ask Boogle to turn into [[AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

** If you make a certain [[TooDumbToLive fatally stupid]] choice at the very end of the game, instead of a proper death message, you hear a personal message from Al Lowe, who is pleased to see that someone shares his sense of humor.

* [[RubberMan Rubber Creature]]: Besides turning into different objects, Boogle can stretch in a rubbery way.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Lycentia, in the flashbacks. She was initially a brave and kind-hearted young woman who risked her life to save baby Torin from Pecand. Instead of praise, she was falsely accused of murdering the King and Queen and exiled to the Null Void, an empty space at the core of Strata where she slowly grew into an evil sorceress.]]

%%* HaveANiceDeath: It's {{Creator/Sierra}}, it's to be expected.

%%* LaughTrack: In the Bitternuts' house.

* NeverTrustATrailer: While the trailer does include animations from the finished game, some characters, particularly Pecand, and Leenah, are notably different from their in-game counterpart.
** It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open (?) and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin *does* ask Boogle to turn into [[AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The hint system, which can be set to always be on, offers clues on what to do. While this is a step up from previous Sierra games, it's not without it's problems (see GuideDangIt below).

* {{Gonk}} A number of characters are homely in a funny, cartoonish way, most notably the people of Escarpa. This results in the princess Leenah, who looks like a normal person, being viewed as highly unusual by the other squat, homely Escarpans. However, even in the "normal" world above, even the guard is a Gonk character.

* FantasticRacism: The natives of the Lands Above banish their worst criminals to the Lands Below, and as such they assume everyone down there is nasty. It's also shown that the people below have a similarly dim view, regarding the people above as "savages" for lacking advanced technology. Torin himself is pretty quick to overcome his bad impression and act polite towards the people below, while also patiently shrugging off the "savage" reference.

* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The guardsman warns Torin that "the Lands Below are full of nutsos. Malcontents. Psychos! ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Politicians.]]''"

* FantasticRacism: The natives of the Lands Above (including Torin, at first) have an extremely poor opinion of natives of the Lands Below. Torin gets better when he actually visits the Lands Below and meets the natives.

* BatmanGambit: Part of Pecand's scheme to convince Torin to go after Lycentia was mentioning that she had been banished to the Lands Below, exploiting Torin's FantasticRacism.

* TwistedEchoCut: The segue from the end of chapter 1 to the beginning of chapter 2 has this. Chapter 1 ends with Torin and Boogle using the Phenocryst in the guardhouse to teleport away to Escarpa in the Lands Below. The cinematic at the beginning of chapter 2 begins with this exchange between a guard and Kurtzwell:
-->'''Guard''': Sir, they were both in there.

-->'''Guard''': They're... gone.
** It sounds like they're talking about Torin and Boogle disappearing from the guardhouse, but they're actually talking about the murdered king and queen in the opening cinematic. The conversation continues...

** It also shows a different version of the scene with Torin in front of the guardhouse. In the trailer, the door is already open (?) and Torin asks Boogle to turn into an axe, which he then uses to hit the crystal (after Boogle first [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunWithHomophones turns into an "X"]]). In the game itself [[spoiler: you use an actual axe to do this instead]]. Weirdly, Torin *does* ask Boogle to turn into [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AirGuitar a different kind of "axe"]] in the game proper, but it's for a throwaway gag and Boogle never adds this shape to his inventory.

** The fourth world is named Asthenia, which essentially means "weakness". It doesn't fit as well as the others but it could refer to how abandoned it is.

* BizarroEpisode: Chapter Four, Asthenia, takes place entirely in an abandoned, gloomy, lava-filled cavern and is the only world to feature no other characters to talk to. It's a striking contrast to the zany creatures and lush scenery of the other worlds.

* BottleEpisode: Chapter Four, Asthenia, takes place in an abandoned, gloomy, lava-filled cave world and is the only world to feature no other characters to talk to.

* AlterKocker: Veder, the old man sitting on the ledge in Chapter Two, acts like this. He even says "oy!" at one point.

* Alter Kocker: Veder, the old man sitting on the ledge in Chapter Two, acts like this. He even says "oy!" at one point.