Line #32 VideoGame/DarkenedSkye


1	[[quoteright:357:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darkened_skye_2970.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:357:''Save the Rainbow. Taste the Rainbow.'']]
3
4	-> ''"This [premise] might sound like an inane game idea based on accounting instead of good sense--theoretically, that's true, but in practice, it's a bit far off the mark. Darkened Skye turns out to be a colorful and fairly entertaining game that's surprisingly funny."''
5	-->-- [[http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/darkened-skye-review/1900-2842636/ GameSpot]]
6
7	''Darkened Skye'' is a 2002 ActionAdventure game developed by Boston Animation and published by Simon & Schuster Interactive for Platform/NintendoGameCube and PC. At first glance, it looks like your ordinary kind of action game. [[HighFantasy In the far-off and decidedly fictional land of Lynlora]], you play as Skye, [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere a bored shepherdess, who is lamenting her fate of being bored and trying to keep track of all the sheep]] when, suddenly, a commotion off in a clearing attracts her attention. When she goes to investigate, [[MagicMeteor she finds an ancient magical artifact; a flattened spheroid, orange, with an S in the center]]. She takes it to the local wisewoman, who tells her... "Why, it's a Advertising/{{Skittles}}!"
8
9	''"[[MineralMacGuffin Skittles are the source of all magic]] (Fancy you not knowing that!) and gathering them is vital to erase the darkness on Lynlora's sky. So our protagonist, [[MeaningfulName Skye]], [[JumpedAtTheCall sets off on a quest]] to return the rainbow to Lynlora, thereby returning Skittles and magic along with it."'' It was specifically based on a series of Skittles television commercials.
10
11	''Darkened Skye'' is commonly held up as the finest example of [[AdvertisementGame advergame]], WriterRevolt, or StealthParody based on [[http://web.archive.org/web/20040814224454/http://www.cgonline.com/previews/skittlesds-01-p1.html the accounts of one executive producer]]. [[http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2012/09/dale-desharone-unspoken-legend.html Another producer, however]], noted that the developer was paying to use the license, and nearly backed out when the game was finished (but Skittles were already very interwoven into the gameplay).
12
13	----
14	!!This game has examples of:
15
16	%%* ActionGirl: Skye.
17	* AllThereInTheManual:
18	** Averted on the box. It's incredibly vague as to the actual plot of the game. The actual manual, however, mentions Skittles, complete with trademark symbol.
19	** In fact, the only thing on the box pointing to the Skittles tie in is buried in the Copyright disclaimer info on the back in tiny, tiny print.
20	* AmbiguouslyGay: The [[spoiler: Boss [[MyNaymeIs Vampyre]] in the Gargoyle Realm]].
21	* AnimatedArmor: Some of the enemies.
22	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: All enemies become these when Skye uses the Shrink Spell.
23	* BadassDecay: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] InUniverse. According to Necroth, he used to be a cosmic entity, but [[spoiler: over time his evil ambitions have shrunk him down to a tiny little maggot.]]
24	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Lampshaded by several [=NPCs=] that Skye is "she whose coming has been foretold".
25	* BigBad: Lord Necroth.
26	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Skye has defeated Necroth and saved the realm, and Dorian was restored to his true form, but her father turned evil and was killed, and her mother sacrifices herself to bring back the rainbow]].
27	* BleakLevel: The Gargoyles' Realm.
28	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Both explicitly (Skye talking directly to the player) and implicitly (Draak making silly hints of it, like having "read the script").
29	* CerebusSyndrome: The endgame turns rather serious, signified by having Skye change to an all-black outfit in the [=GameCube=] version.
30	* TheChosenOne: Skye.
31	* DeadpanSnarker: Both Skye and Draak, but Draak just can't let up.
32	* DisappearedDad: Skye never met her father, and assumes he is dead. [[spoiler:He's Necroth's main henchman]].
33	* DoesNotLikeMen: [[spoiler:Skye's mom, because her husband betrayed her to Necroth]].
34	* TheFaceless: The BigBad's [[TheDragon right-hand-man]] in a suit of armour, who [[spoiler: was once Skye's father]].
35	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Skye's mother sacrifices herself to bring back the rainbow]].
36	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Necroth, as lampshaded by Draak:
37	-->Let's just say he-whose-face-may-not-be-glimpsed and I have ''issues''!
38	* HitboxDissonance: The hitboxes usually didn't have much to do with the models...always to your considerable disadvantage.
39	* IdleAnimation:
40	** Leave Skye standing for a few moments and she'll start doing a few things, like stretching her arms out, or examining her staff and then polishing it.
41	** The best one lampshades their use of SticksToTheBack: Skye repeatedly attempts to toss her staff away, only to have it magnetically snap back every time. [[AWizardDidIt It's maaaagic!]]
42	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Archer Grunks can shoot volleys of arrows with deadly precision, whether far away or in close quarters, so you best stay out of their line of sight. If caught up close, use a splash damage spell fast!
43	* {{Intangibility}}: Happens to Dorian, who appears out of nowhere every now and then to advise Skye. [[spoiler: [[WasOnceAMan He actually became Draak]], but one of Skye's spells keeps conjuring his true form.]]
44	* ItsPersonal: Skye takes it personally when Necroth kidnaps all of her friends and loved ones.
45	* ItsUpToYou: One of the many tropes lampshaded, though it takes a depressing note when everyone but Skye is captured.
46	* JigglePhysics: Skye, if you rotate the view and see her front while she's running.
47	* LadyOfWar: Skye, and her mother.
48	* LampshadeHanging: Pretty much all of the storyline tropes are lampshaded.
49	* LeapOfFaith: You do this in Zen'Jai to walk towards the sun.
50	* TheLifestream: The rainbow.
51	* LimitedWardrobe: In the PC version, Skye has only one outfit. In the [=GameCube=] version, she has four outfits.
52	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:The BigBad's [[TheDragon right-hand-man]], who turns out to be Skye's father, who betrayed Skye's mother after being [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide seduced by magic]].]]
53	* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Necroth, who turns out to be a [[spoiler:PintsizedPowerhouse such that Skye has to shrink herself in order to deal with him]].
54	* TheManBehindTheMonsters: The Master Vampire is much more human looking than the rest of the vampires you meet in the game, being essentially a classic Dracula-like vampire while every other vampire is a gargoyle-like beast.
55	* TheMentor: Ginnish.
56	* MineralMacGuffin: The Skittles, which are the source of all magical power.
57	* MissingMom: Skye's mother, Mariama, who, as far as Skye knows, is just a merchant. She is [[spoiler: actually the leader of the [[LaResistance rebelling forces]] against the BigBad, and now a prisoner of the BigBad]].
58	* MoodWhiplash: The game switches between seriousness and comedy pretty rapidly.
59	* NightOfTheLivingMooks: [[spoiler: The vampires in the Gargoyle Realm can only be stopped either by trapping them in their respective caskets with garlic, or using a new spell (obtained in the next level) that kills the undead.]]
60	* NintendoHard: Largely due to poor game design in certain areas rather than a deliberate design choice.
61	* NoFourthWall: Skye and Draak are constantly doing {{Aside Glance}}s to the player, more often than not with a cheeky LampshadeHanging on game tropes and how ridiculous it is to have the plot centered around Skittles.
62	* NoNameGiven: The armored figure that serves as Necroth's TheDragon is never given an official name in-game; the name "Mysterious Enemy" is used in some walkthroughs and cast lists, though it's unclear how official this is as the credits merely lists the voice actors rather than their individual roles.
63	* NonHumanSidekick: Draak, who's some kind of little gargoyle thing.
64	* OminousLatinChanting: The third soundtrack of the Ogmire world.
65	* OneWingedAngel: The armored figure that serves as Necroth's TheDragon turns into a giant, three-headed literal dragon in your final battle with him just before you confront Necroth himself.
66	* PintsizedPowerhouse: [[spoiler:Necroth turns out to be this, as his evil magic withered him into a tiny, highly dangerous maggot]].
67	* PlantPerson: [[spoiler: Orlina, the Heart of the Forest in Ogmire, who is so depressed she needs to be healed using [[MagicMusic musical bugs]].]]
68	* PowerOfTrust: Skye trusting Dorian saves her from being killed by magic fire near the climax; the player must step where he does to avoid burning to death.
69	* RecurringBoss: Necroth's armored TheDragon pops up suddenly throughout the game to fight you, usually in the middle of the level with little warning or fanfare.
70	* RegeneratingHealth: Skye has this, as do several bosses.
71	* ReversePolarity: The Goblin scientist says this.
72	* RuleOfThree: Skye must defeat three dragons of Zen'Jai to earn their aid.
73	* SaveScumming: Pretty much the only way to beat the game.
74	* SceneryGorn: Necroth's realm.
75	* SceneryPorn: The land of Zen'Jai is ''pretty'', as is the flying carpet sequence and the swamps of Lynlora.
76	* SelfDeprecation: Skye berates herself for letting people she cares about get captured.
77	* ShownTheirWork: Much of the game's lore is based off of various Skittles commercials.
78	* SpoiledBrat: The princess of Zen'Jai. [[spoiler:It's actually an act]].
79	* StarfishLanguage: The Fish Riders of Ogmire speak in a language that sounds like gargling.
80	* SuperDrowningSkills: "I'm a Warrior Hero Adventurer Goddess who ''can't swim'', okay?!"
81	* TranslatorBuddy: Draak is fluent several of the land's languages, particularly in the waterworld Ogmire.
82	* {{Troperiffic}}: This game is deliberately trope-heavy, and lampshades many of them.
83	* {{Tsundere}}: Skye towards Dorian, though it's justified as she has no idea who or what he is.
84	* WaddlingHead: Necroth turns out to be a decidedly un-cute example; basically a normal-sized head with a shrunken, maggot-like worm body.
85	* WasOnceAMan:
86	** [[spoiler: Draak was originally Dorian, the Gargoyle Steward, who was punished by being turned into a mini-gargoyle after the real Gargoyles were [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by the BigBad. He becomes human again after Skye de-petrifies the Gargoyles.]]
87	** [[spoiler:Skye's father, before he became TheDragon and a {{Voluntary Shapeshift\|ing}}er.]]
88	* {{Wutai}}: Zen'Jai, which is based on a series of Skittles commercials.
89	* YourMindMakesItReal: Skye's willpower is so strong she was able to teleport Gwenella's horse without realizing it, and enabled her to [[spoiler:see Draak's true form]].

Context VideoGame / DarkenedSkye