Line #0 VideoGame/ExitPath


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eggzit0611.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:Get to the exit. Simple enough, right?]]
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4	It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you've done. What matters is ''where'' you are, in a small, dark room adjacent to an arena filled with spinning blades and swinging axes. If the signpost to your right is to be believed, reaching the other side will [[WinYourFreedom win you your freedom]]. If you fail . . . [[AnArmAndALeg let's not talk about that]]. [[BreadAndCircuses Either way, the crowds will cheer]].
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6	An [[DarkerAndEdgier uncharacteristically dark]] platformer from Creator/{{jmtb02}}. Play it [[http://armorgames.com/play/5917/exit-path here]]. Play the second game [[http://armorgames.com/play/11887/exit-path-2 here]]
7	----
8	!!Tropes in ''Exit Path'' include:
9	* BigBrotherIsWatching: Central has surveillance throughout the city and in the most unexpected of places, as seen in ''2''. As one of the signs say, "Everyone wins when Central knows."
10	* BottomlessPits: Littered all throughout the game, and as deadly as one would expect of a bottomless pit.
11	* BloodlessCarnage: If you hit a trap, your character, being a plain stick figure, will break apart in a not-so gruesome manner.
12	* BreadAndCircuses: The main theme of the first game, with your competing in the initial set of obstacle courses being overseen by hundreds of people in a large stadium.
13	* BulletTime: "Flow," charged up by running in one direction for several seconds.
14	* CharacterCustomisation: The runner's primary and secondary colors, headware, and handware are all customisable.
15	* {{Checkpoint}}: The start of every level, as well as any flags you hit in the middle of a level, are all this.
16	* ComputerizedJudicialSystem: Halfway through the second game, [[MegaCorp Central]] captures you, and runs you through an automated jury system, which instantly deems you guilty. The whole process has shades of KangarooCourt as well.
17	* CondemnedContestant: The player is a criminal or dissident of some kind, forced to run through a deadly obstacle course for the entertainment of the masses with the vague promise of freedom at the end. They're [[ShoutOut referred to as a]] "[[Film/TheRunningMan runner]]."
18	* CouldntFindAPen: [[spoiler:The sign immediately preceding the 'Freedom' path has "[[TheCakeIsALie THERE IS NO FREEDOM]]" painted over it in blood.]]
19	* DeathCourse: [[ExaggeratedTrope Every single level is filled with lethal obstacles]]. This is justified by the premise of the game, as explained under CondemnedContestant.
20	* {{Dystopia}}: Conveyed almost entirely through signposts. The unnamed city is controlled entirely by [[TheGovernment Central]], who keep the city in line through a combination of SinisterSurveillance, BreadAndCircuses, and {{Kangaroo Court}}s that hand down harsh punishments for breaching their complex laws. Any personal initiative, desire for freedom, or acting outside of your Central-assigned role is considered dangerous if not criminal.
21	* EndGameResultsScreen: The first game gives your total time and a nickname after the MiniGameCredits.
22	* EnergyWeapon: Large turrets are emplaced in several levels; if you're not behind cover, they'll fire a red laser beam and slowly auto-aim at you, killing you on contact.
23	* FootnoteFever: There's an asterisk on every signpost that has text, and the smaller message tends to reveal that the larger one [[BlatantLies isn't entirely accurate]].
24	* GroundByGears: One of [[TheManyDeathsOfYou several different ways]] you can get offed.
25	* HundredPercentCompletion: There's a caution sign to collect in every level.
26	* KangarooCourt: Central has an automated jury that, when you're caught, immediately finds you guilty with no differing opinions, and they leave you to be shoved into a series of saw blades [[spoiler:(but that's never stopped you, even without flow)]]. The surprise is lost a little if you managed to glance at a sign further back that says "All citizens are guilty unless proven innocent!"
27	* LaResistance: Downplayed. By the time of ''Exit Path 2'' a small community of escapees from the city has formed underground and survive by stealing food from above, though they don't do much resisting of Central's rule. [[spoiler:This is probably because Central is either RunningBothSides or [[ResistanceAsPlanned outright created the community]] as part of their "Anarchist Studies" programme]].
28	* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: The sequel suffers from this, with loading screens appearing in between levels that are usually short, but some levels can take about nearly a minute to load.
29	* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: Central, a faceless government organization that communicates to you wholly through signs. These signs gradually become increasingly sinister or even outright malevolent as the game goes on, ending in them [[spoiler:actively trying to kill you]].
30	* MultipleEndings: In the sequel, which ends with you [[spoiler:sabotaging a power plant, you can choose to escape alone in the SelfDestruct sequence that follows or take an alternate exit where you are given a chance to free several prisoners on your way out. The difference is mainly an aesthetic one, with the latter showing a brighter sunrise and a group of other prisoners gathered around the player on a hillside]].
31	* NintendoHard: You are going to get sliced into little pieces many, many times before you beat this game.
32	* OminousLatinChanting: In the "Judgement" track when you're captured, and remixed for the endgame in "Collapse", when you [[spoiler:blow up the power plant.]]
33	* RiddleForTheAges: What got the protagonist imprisoned and forced to run the exit path? The game never explains ''why'' they were imprisoned by Central at the start of the first game.
34	* RunningBothSides: Either this or very close to it in the sequel - [[spoiler:Central has enough control of the rebellion that they can "randomly" assign specific rebels to try and steal food. They know exactly who'll be sent and exactly when they'll be sent, so they can capture any rebel who gets too inconvenient.]]
35	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Your character has the power to immediately rewind to the last checkpoint upon death.
36	* SpeedEchoes: The runner has several grey version of himself behind him while using the flow ability.
37	* SpikesOfDoom: The course is veritably ''littered'' with spikes, spiked wheels, spiked crushers, etc., all of which will instantly kill you if touched.
38	* TheCakeIsALie: [[spoiler:Central was never intending to set you free, even if you survived the Stadium and completed your audit]].
39	* TheReveal:
40	** [[spoiler:[[TheCakeIsALie "THERE IS NO FREEDOM"]] -- the 'Exit Path' you were promised actually leads to a set of spiky gears above a {{Bottomless Pit\|s}}, which Central has been using to exterminate any runners that complete the Stadium and Audit phases.]]
41	** [[spoiler:LaResistance is at least partly run by Central, with any inconvenient rebels being sent on "Food Collection" duties (in truth, a SuicideMission rigged to leave them at the mercy of Central's KangarooCourt.)]]
42	%% Admnistrivia/ZeroContextExample * {{Teleportation}}: Part of the sci-fi atmosphere.
43	* TimedMission: Towards the end of the sequel, [[spoiler:you must sabotage a power plant to disrupt Central's operations. Then you have one minute to escape the ensuing SelfDestruct sequence alive, and this sequence repeats until you complete it successfully.]]
44	* TooFastToStop: Frequently the cause of your demise - the game keeps track of momentum, so moving too fast makes it very likely you'll skid off a platform and fall into a BottomlessPit when you land.
45	* VideoGameCaringPotential: In the sequel, you can choose to [[spoiler:save some prisoners during your evacuation of the power plant after you've sabotaged it to melt down in one minute, and then get a GoldenEnding where they get to join you watching the power plant explode from a safe distance]].
46	* WinYourFreedom: The premise of the game is that the [[CondemnedContestant runner]] has to run through a DeathCourse; if they survive, they're granted amnesty and set free.
47	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: The arena's ten levels long. The game has thirty levels. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, the player has to go through a mandatory audit followed by an escape sequence before the game is done.]]

Context VideoGame / ExitPath