Line #43 VideoGame/LevelUp


1	[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lvlgame5sep.gif]]
2
3	''Level Up'' is a platformer in a vaguely similar style to ''VideoGame/AchievementUnlocked''. [[TheHero The Girl]] has to explore her world and level herself up in order to help The Boy that recently crash landed in her backyard. She can only stay up for so many hours before she has to return home to sleep.
4
5	The game is available at Website/{{Newgrounds}} [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/519030 here]]. With the death of Flash, you will need either the Newgrounds Player or Flashpoint in order to play the game now.
6
7	----
8	!!Tropes used in this game include:
9	* HundredPercentCompletion: Doing so unlocks a demo of the sequel, Gather Up.
10	* ActionGirl: The Girl.
11	* ActualPacifist: The Girl never once directly inflicts harm on another living being... due mainly to not actually ''having'' any attacks. The only combat in the entire game takes place in a DreamSequence and requires the use of DeadlyDodging. [[spoiler:She wasn't always like this.]]
12	* AmnesiacDissonance: The Boy seems like a nice guy with a bit of memory trouble. [[spoiler:And he is. The Girl, on the other hand...]]
13	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The Nightmare.]]
14	%% BeneathTheMask
15	* CastOfSnowflakes: Every NPC has a unique sprite and CharacterPortrait.
16	%% CharacterPortrait
17	%% CollisionDamage
18	* CompensatingForSomething: The "Tyrant" enemy, according to its description.
19	* ContinuingIsPainful: Dying during the day takes away 60 seconds of exploring time.
20	* DarkerAndEdgier: The sequel, Gather Up, seems to be this, and also plays more like a traditional {{Metroidvania}}.
21	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Lampshaded with The Boy. [[spoiler:Ironically, it's actually The Girl who has one.]]
22	-->'''The Girl''': Spiky-haired guys ''always'' have a {{dark and troubled past}}.
23	* DeadpanSnarker: The Girl has some hints of this. For example, when Finger's [=McGee=] says that The Girl doesn't want to know how he got his hands on the Dash sneakers, she throws out this gem:
24	-->'''The Girl:''' Probably because that'd make me an accessory to it.
25	* DoubleJump: A purchasable skill.
26	* DyingToWakeUp: The boss and only fight is in a dream that's prepared for during the daytime, so losing the fight (in other words, dying in the dream) starts a new day to prepare again.
27	* ElvesVsDwarves: The Squarians versus the Roundites, sort of. There's also a third race, the Hexies, who didn't want to participate in the feud between the other races, and moved as far away from them as possible.
28	* ExperienceBooster: The "Learning" skill. This is increased by filling out the Codex.
29	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Nightmare levels up too, because [[spoiler:she's The Girl's suppressed memories]].
30	* GottaCatchThemAll: Little gems, big gems, skills, codex entries, and resetted ''levels''.
31	%% GuideDangIt
32	* IdleAnimation: More are available the more one levels up.
33	* IncreasinglyLethalEnemy: The Nightmare ''also'' levels up as it uses its skills.
34	* LastLousyPoint: Depending on who you talk to, it's either [[SpeedRun trying to beat the game on the first day]], or defeating [[spoiler:the Nightmare]] with a level 1 relationship.
35	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The Boy. It's so bad, many of ''his'' levels are ''[[LevelDrain sent to level zero]]''. [[spoiler:The Girl has a form of this that can only be fixed through the computer.]]
36	* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Some names are shortened when entered into the CODEX. The Squarian character "[[Fanfic/HalfLifeFullLifeConsequences John Freeman's Ghost]]", for example, is written into the CODEX as just "John".
37	* LevelDrain: If [[spoiler:you lose to the Nightmare]], most of your stats go back down to level 1. The "Learning" and "Sleeping" skills, thankfully, are exempt, making future days easier even if you never figure it out.
38	* LevelUpAtIntimacy5: By donating gems to the Boy, you become more and more friendly with him, which increases the Girl's heart level, and in turn [[HeartContainer her life meter]], for a maximum of eight hearts.
39	* MetaGuy: Brains the Squarian; his metaness is even essential to completing your CODEX. He does have enough sense not to tell the Girl how the game ends, though.
40	* MercyInvincibility: Air recovery negates it until you hit the ground. The "Hardy" skill doubles the duration.
41	* {{Metroidvania}}: While no purchasable skills are needed for anything, several paths require sufficient Run or Jump, and water pumps don't work until you find and reactivate their power source.
42	* MoodWhiplash:
43	** The battle with [[spoiler:the Nightmare]]. In what was previously a lighthearted game with a jokesy meta tone, you suddenly [[spoiler:have to battle your repressed violent side to keep it from wiping your memories out of its sheer anger]].
44	** Within the first few minutes of the Gather Up demo, you'll come across [[spoiler:a large number of ''bloody corpses'' with their heads ripped off]].
45	* NamelessNarrative: While some minor [=NPCs=] have proper names, the most important characters -- The Girl, The Boy, [[spoiler:and The Nightmare]] -- are all referred to by descriptive "The X" epithets.
46	* NoFourthWall: Most of the cast, though not to the extent of the above-mentioned Brains.
47	* NonActionGuy: The Boy. [[spoiler:He's The Hero in Gather Up.]]
48	* NoodleIncident: We never find out exactly how The Boy came to be an amnesiac, but there is one strong possibility: [[spoiler: In the flashback at the end, it reveals that The Deity had The Girl's memory erased because she was seeking a power strong enough to destroy him. Presumably, something that powerful actually exists or The Deity wouldn't have bothered trying to keep her away from it. It may be that this power got to him, took him out, and wiped his memories clean.]]
49	* TheOmniscient: Brainy knows ''everything''...including that a player exists who is controlling The Girl's movements:
50	-->'''The Girl:''' So do I purchase it?\
51	'''Brainy:''' You make a choice, determined by another's actions.
52	* OpenEndedBossBattle: If you lose to [[spoiler:the Nightmare]], you get {{Level Drain}}ed, but the game continues. There are no {{Game Over}}s.
53	* OrphanedSeries: Unfortunately, despite the first game's popularity, and the surprisingly good alpha builds of the second game, the game's creator was unsatisfied with where development was going, and "put it on the back burner" back in 2010.
54	* PuzzleBoss: [[spoiler:The Nightmare.]]
55	* RelationshipValues: Not hidden.
56	* RhymesOnADime: Hulker the Roundite.
57	* RPGMechanicsVerse: The Boy outright states that the reason he can't do anything useful is that the crash brought all his useful skills to level 0.
58	* SkillScoresAndPerks: Many things are leveled up, from taking damage to [[IdleAnimation sitting around]] to ''leveling up''.
59	* SkippableBoss: If you finish the game on day 0, you never have to [[spoiler:face the Nightmare]].
60	* SuddenDownerEnding: The game ends with [[spoiler: the truth of The Girl and Boy's identity, which has a fight break out between the two]]. In an otherwise meta and comedic game, [[MoodWhiplash this is very jarring]].
61	* TacticalSuicideBoss: [[spoiler:Tricking the Nightmare into hitting itself with its rock spell is the only way to defeat it. Luckily, "don't let the Girl exploit your weakness" isn't one of the skills the Nightmare levels up in.]]
62	* TimedMission: Explore all you can before you have to go to bed. Every day gives you experience in the "Sleeping" skill, which increases the time limit -- helpful if you keep getting {{Level Drain}}ed because [[spoiler:you can't figure out how to beat the Nightmare]].
63	%% TroubledBackstoryFlashback
64	* TomatoInTheMirror: The ending reveals that [[spoiler:The Girl is actually a DarkActionGirl obsessed with power. She lost her memories when she tried to defeat the Deity, the most powerful being who had "surpassed levelling". The Nightmare is her subconscious, furious at her failure.]]
65	* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:The Boy is the Deity.]]
66	* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:The Nightmare.]]
67	* SignpostTutorial: The tutorial is given through touching speech bubbles with question marks inside them, that lay on the ground.
68	* SuperPoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler: The Nightmare]], more or less.
69	* WakeUpCallBoss: [[spoiler:The Nightmare]]. What, you thought this was going to be a relaxing, easy platformer?
70	%% WideOpenSandbox

Context VideoGame / LevelUp