Line #14 VideoGame/ZanZarahTheHiddenPortal


1	%%[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zanzarah_portal_square.jpg]]
2	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zanzarah_the_hidden_portal.jpg]]
3	%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
4	[[OnlyOneName Amy]] is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent from London with a penchant for FantasyLiterature. One day, while left at home alone, she is surprised by a [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive sound coming from the attic]], where she finds a casket with a [[WarpWhistle stone tablet]] inside that suddenly transports her to a [[AnotherDimension colorful magical landscape]] populated by [[FairyCompanion faeries]], [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]], [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]], [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], and [[FantasyKitchenSink the rest of the fantastic creatures]]. She is greeted by [[MrExposition a goblin named Rafi]], an adventurer extraordinaire, who managed to cross the barrier between his native [[TitleDrop Zanzarah]] ([[NotInKansasAnymore where Amy has just landed]]) and Amy's own [[RealLife Earth]]. He wasn't driven by scientific interest, though. Zanzarah is in grave peril: [[DarkIsEvil Dark Elves]] roam the landscape, wild faeries attack travelers, contact between settlements is lost due to unnatural obstructions, while the [[GuardianOfTheMultiverse White Druid]], who is supposed to protect the lands from evil, is helpless. But the legends also speak of a [[TheChosenOne saviour]] who will be [[SummonEverymanHero summoned from Earth]] to become the greatest Faery Duelist of all times and to SaveBothWorlds... for whatever is afflicting one world will inevitably echo in the other.
5
6	''[=ZanZarah=]: The Hidden Portal'' is an ActionAdventure game with ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''-style [[GottaCatchThemAll faery training/duelling]], {{Metroidvania}} and RPGElements, and a simple plot in the vein of ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney''. It also features [[SceneryPorn beautiful visuals]], Awesome/{{music}}, funny pseudo-languages, and surprisingly tactical combat (once you [[GuideDangIt figure out how]] to ''shoot''[[note]]To shoot a spell while controlling a faery, you need to hold down the left mouse button for it to accumulate some charge. Don't hold it for too long, though. It backfires.[[/note]]). The game was developed by the German studio Funatics Development and released by Creator/{{THQ}} in 2002. They also tried to release an ExpansionPack, ''[=ZanZarah=]: The Lost Village'', but it was CutShort. After languishing in IP limbo for two years following [=THQ's=] closure, the publishing rights to the game had been picked up by Creator/DaedalicEntertainment, who rereleased it on Platform/{{Steam}} in August 2015. In 2016, the game's lead designer Andreas Nitsche has published a [[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265615098_From_Faerie_Tale_to_Adventure_Game game studies essay]] examining its 3D levels and how they facilitate the fantasy of its story and setting.
7	----
8	!! The game provides examples of following tropes:
9
10	* AbilityRequiredToProceed: There are several types of obstacles blocking Amy's path. Getting through them requires a fairy of that element and a magic elemental card to boost its powers.
11	** Nature fairies can remove thorny bushes.
12	** Stone fairies can destroy giant boulders.
13	** Air fairies can use swirly air currents to let you walk on air.
14	** Fire fairies can protect you from burning alive in underground lava tunnels.
15	* ActionAdventure: The Fairy Duels are action similar to FirstPersonShooter, where you control your fairies in combat. Amy's quest apart from that is a simple adventure that requires walking around, talking to people, and searching for various objects. Both modes are furthermore sprinkled with CollectibleCardGame mechanics in that Amy collects fairies in the overworld to fight for her in the Duels.
16	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Just when exactly does the game take place? On the one hand, Amy's house interior and the urban landscape in the windows look almost Edwardian, on the other, her house has television and she herself runs around with a Walkman on her waist.
17	* AmplifierArtifact: Elemental cards increase the powers of your active faery of the respective element. Stone faeries are given the ability to move boulders, fire faeries prevent you from getting roasted alive while strolling alongside flowing lava, etc.
18	* AnotherDimension: Zanzarah, Earth, and the astral plane where fairy duels take place are three different worlds. [[spoiler:All three were the same thing in the past.]]
19	* AttackReflector: A few of the nastier passive spells inflict the same amount of damage on your fairy that you have dealt to the enemy.
20	* BagOfHolding: The faery bag you get at the beginning of the game is described as a useful invention capable of containing numerous items without any weight or size gain.
21	* BearsAreBadNews: Ice faeries mostly appear as winged polar bears, and if you run into one in the wild, you better hope you are prepared because it will chew you up and spit you out otherwise.
22	* BizarreSexualDimorphism: All male goblins are thin and lanky. All female goblins have HartmanHips, and their skin is darker and looks scaly.
23	* BottomlessPits: Falling off a Faery Duel arena results in the involved faery's instant death. Also, falling off a cliff is one of the few ways to kill Amy herself (apart from [[QuicksandSucks sinking into the swamp]] and [[KillItWithFire roasting her alive]]). However, as long as there is a bottom, Amy doesn't [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou take any visible damage from falling down ridiculous heights]].
24	* BrokenBridge: Various obstacles keep the player from advancing to certain areas, such as boulders and thorny bushes blocking the roads. These can gradually be removed as you gain special items, {{Metroidvania}}-style.
25	* CamelCase: The title of the game is properly spelled with capital Zs, although the name of the world isn't.
26	* CardsOfPower: Over the course of the game, you discover elemental magic cards which grant the faeries of their respective element some additional and very useful powers.
27	* CastFromHitpoints: If a faery runs out of mana points in a offensive spell, any further usage of it will drain its hitpoints instead.
28	* CastFromStamina: Inverted. Fairies use mana to cast spells and stamina to fly. However, there are some passive spells that allow you to fly at the cost of mana if your stamina runs out.
29	* ChaosIsEvil: Chaos fairies are considered evil and they are the favorites of the game's bad guys (along with the [[DarkIsEvil Dark fairies]]). However, Amy can catch wild Chaos fairies and use them without any problem.
30	* CharacterInTheLogo: A fairy facing to the left is in the middle of the second "Z" of the logo.
31	* ChargedAttack: Every offensive spell has to be charged for several seconds before you can release it, with the charging speed depending on the spell in question. Longer charge causes more damage and higher chance of critical hits that can inflict various StatusEffects. However, charging the spell for too long will cause it to explode in your face, inflicting the same damage and StatusEffects on ''you''.
32	* TheChosenOne: According to ancient prophecies, Amy is a hero meant to save Zanzarah from evil.
33	* ColorCodedElements: Each of the 12 elements is represented by a certain color, which can be seen in the Table of Effectiveness, the fairy collection, and the color of spells. Nature is green, Stone is grayish-brown, Water is blue, Fire is reddish-orange, Air is white, Light is pale yellow, Darkness is purple, Chaos is burgundy red, Ice is pale blue, Energy is light violet, Psi is cyan, and Metal is gray.
34	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Justified. Amy can walk right next to lava without any ill effects, but only if she has a Fire Card and a fire fairy equipped, whose magic protects her from the heat.
35	* CooldownManipulation: Every offensive spell has to be charged for several seconds before you can release it. The base charging speed depends on the spell in question, but there are passive spells that can increase it and harmful status effects from enemy spells that can decrease it.
36	* DamageOverTime: Burn (fire and energy magic), freeze (ice magic), and poison (nature magic) are status effects that cause the affected fairy to constantly lose HP. What's worse, unlike all other StatusEffects, these persist even after the duel is over and you have to use a consumable item to remove them. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Of course, your enemies don't have the same problem.]]
37	* DarkIsEvil:
38	** Shadow Elves are the enemy fairy masters who attack everyone who stands in their way. No justification is given for their actions, [[ForTheEvulz they are just evil]].
39	** Dark and chaos fairies look like demons or undead, live in underground catacombs, and they are considered the most evil type of fairies ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation although you can catch and use them just like any other wild fairy]])
40	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: Fielding a faery that has an [[ElementalRockPaperScissors elemental advantage]] against your current opponent usually means you are safe from defeat... unless the enemy faery has a lot of HP and uses a spell that charges much faster than yours, in which case it can kill you faster with its weak but fast jabs than you can inflict enough damage to it. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard That the enemy faeries never run out of mana helps.]]
41	* DeflectorShields: There are several different passive spells that can lower the damage you receive. Thorn Armor protects you from ''all'' damage, but it only has enough mana to take five hits.
42	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The London level uses a deliberately color-muted sepia palette to clearly distinguish it from the colorful landscapes of Zanzarah proper.
43	* ElementalRockPaperScissors: There are 12 elements in the game that the faeries can belong to, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Choosing the advantageous element usually means that you do several times more damage than usual and have higher critical hit chances, while the opposing faery does several times less damage ''and'' has a much lower chances to crit.
44	* EncounterBait:
45	** Ocean Conch, which you get fairly early in the game, can summon wild water fairies.
46	** Fairy Horn can lure out any type of wild fairy, but it's well-hidden and you can only get it very late in the game.
47	* EncounterRepellant: Consumable item Garlic Atomizer can be used to scare away any randomly attacking wild fairy.
48	* EscapeBattleTechnique:
49	** Garlic Atomizer scares away any attacking wild faeries, but you have to acquire it beforehand and it only works in the short time between being attacked and the FightWoosh.
50	** During a faery duel, making your way to the miniature sun at the center of the area allows you to escape random encounters (but not boss battles). In a particular bit of cruelty, the wild faeries can use it, too, if they are losing badly, robbing you of the XP you earned in blood (that is, in faery hit points).
51	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The White Druid is only referred to by that title. He states outright that he abandoned his human name when he moved to Zanzarah.
52	* ExpansionPack: The unreleased add-on ''The Lost Village''. Most fans never even learn it was in development.
53	* FairyCompanion: The whole game revolves around training them. Additionally, one constantly accompanies Amy during her travels. Humanoid faeries tend to be FairySexy.
54	* FallingDamage: Amy doesn't have HitPoints, so she can fall from crazy heights and act like nothing happened. However, if the fall takes too long, the game thinks you fell into a Bottomless Pit and resets Amy's position back to the location entrance.
55	* FameGate: Some bosses will refuse to fight you unless your faery collection is extensive enough, blocking the plot advancement and forcing you to go capturing wild faeries.
56	* FantasticRacism: Elves look down on dwarves and goblins. Dwarves and goblins have no animosity between each other or towards elves. Due to the past, not group is particularly fond of humans but with the White Druid as their savior they do believe in exceptions.
57	* FantasyKitchenSink: In Zanzarah, there are elves, goblins, dwarves, faeries, ancient prophecies, evil dark elves...
58	* FeaturelessProtagonist: Amy, despite being given a distinctive appearance and a nominal voice, expresses next to no personality, thus being the classical stand-in for the player.
59	* FemaleAngelMaleDemon: There is only one line of Light faeries and one line of Dark faeries. The Light line is feminine and angelic while the Dark line is masculine and demonic.
60	* GlobalCurrencyException: While the vast majority of vendors accept gold coins as payment, the dwarves in Monagham demand crystals instead. A limited number of these crystals can be found during exploration (or you can buy them for gold from a dwarf in Tiralin).
61	* GottaCatchThemAll: There are 77 faery species in the game, all with unique appearance, attributes, and spell preferences. Capturing or otherwise obtaining all of them without cheating is [[BraggingRightsReward quite a feat (you can lock yourself out of it), but not necessary to win the game]].
62	* GradualRegeneration: Water and Light fairies have passive spells that can heal a flat amount of HP every few seconds.
63	* GuardianOfTheMultiverse: The White Druid and also, the Guard, though the latter's function is more about defending Zanzarah from Earth's humans.
64	* GuideDangIt: With a smidge of PermanentlyMissableContent, this goes for certain faeries.
65	** Several faery lines have easy to find second forms, but hard to find first forms. (And third forms rarely occur in the wild.) Notably hard to find ones are Grem and Beltaur. Grem can only reliably be found in two spawn points, even though Gremor is a common faery. A way to avoid searching for Grem is picking him as starter faery, although you'd have to never let it evolve to Gremor, thereby making it a poor choice of starter. Beltaur is an uncommon find exclusive to the second Dark Cave, while its evolution Mentaur is a regular in both Dark Caves.
66	** There are only three stones of evolutionary magic for Nature fearies, two for Fire faeries, and one for Air faeries. Meanwhile, there are two Nature evolutions, two Fire evolutions, and one Air evolution. Using Fire magic to get one particular evolution twice will make the other unobtainable and Nature magic barely gives more leeway.
67	** Although unlikely if not impossible to miss, only one Segbuzz and only one Fygaery can be obtained as part of a demanding trade.
68	* HandsOffParenting: Apparently, Amy's mom embarks on the most epic shopping trip in history at the start of the game, as she never actually checks up on her house in many weeks, during which her daughter is nowhere to be found most of the time, while the house itself is gradually infested by bizarre fey creatures.
69	* HealingHerb: Herbs are consumable items that can revive defeated fairies after the battle is over and restore part of their health.
70	* HealingPotion: There are three types of healing potions in the game that restore HP. There is also a HealingHerb that can revive defeated fairies and restore part of their health. All of them can only be used outside of combat.
71	* HeroicMime: Downplayed, as Amy does sometimes talk in cut scenes and [[IdleAnimation when idle]], but never in actual gameplay dialogue.
72	* HumansAreBastards: The White Druid (despite himself being a human) came to believe this after witnessing the {{Witch Hunt}}s in our world that forced the magical creatures to escape to Zanzarah. He is therefore not thrilled to find that another human has found her way into his realm, but he grudgingly accepts Amy's help in rooting out the Dark Elves. [[spoiler:It turns out that he is actually the BigBad of the game, driven to villainy by his paranoia of humanity.]]
73	* HuMons: Most faeries of the Nature, Air, and Light elements look basically human except for being tiny and sporting {{wing\|edHumanoid}}s. This is in contrast to the fish-like Water faeries, ursine Ice faeries[[note]]although one Ice faery, Glacess, is a [[WinterRoyalLady regal winged lady]][[/note]], monstrous Chaos faeries, etc.
74	* HyperspaceArsenal: Amy can carry an unlimited amount of items with her, thanks to the [[BagOfHolding magic fairy bag]] she receives upon arrival to Zanzarah.
75	* InterfaceScrew: Several offensive spells have StatusEffects that affect the player, such as temporarily inverting the controls, so that pressing the button to move forward will cause the fairy to move backwards and trying to move left will cause it to move right. It's more dangerous than it sounds, because duels take place in a fairly small arena and falling off it into the BottomlessPits below will kill you.
76	* JumpedAtTheCall: While alone at home, Amy investigates a strange noise from the attic, is transported to a parallel dimension, and told that she must save it from some vague evil, with zero directions at how to do so. She takes it all in stride and dives right into exploring this strange new world.
77	* LevelsTakeFlight: The Cloud Realm is situated on giant platforms hovering a few kilometers over the north-eastern lands.
78	* ALightInTheDistance: The swamp is an incomprehensible labyrinth of small islands sitting in mud, and the whole thing is covered with thick fog. However, there are always small lights in the distance and when one disappears, another always appears if you don't move much. To reach your quest objective, you must follow all of them.
79	* LightIsNotGood:
80	** Wild light fairies will attack you on sight, just like fairies of any other element.
81	** [[spoiler:The White Druid, the supposed BigGood of the land turns out to be the BigBad]].
82	* LimitedMoveArsenal: Each fairy can be equipped with two active offensive and two passive StatusBuff spells. You can only change the equipped spells outside of combat.
83	* MagicalUnderpinningsOfReality: Faeries power ''everything'' in Zanzarah.
84	* MagikarpPower: Some faeries in the game are quite weak, but evolve into much more powerful forms at certain levels. Subverted by the starter Nature faery Sillia and Psy faery Beltaur, however, whose "ultimate" forms actually have worse stats than penultimate ones.
85	* ManaBurn: There is a Dark offensive spell that can remove a portion of the target's mana, which can be dangerous since mana doesn't regenerate in battle and if you run out, you will be either a sitting duck or you'll have to [[CastFromHitpoints use your hitpoints]] to attack.
86	* ManaMeter: Mana is required to cast spells, but interestingly enough, the mana meter is attached to the spell itself, not to the fairy who casts it. So if you, for example, take a spell that has 3 uses left from one fairy and [[PowersAsPrograms put it on a different fairy]], it will still have only 3 uses.
87	* ManaPotion: Mana doesn't regenerate on its own [[note]]it is partially restored when a fairy goes up a level, but that's not a reliable method by any means[[/note]] so you have to use mana potions to restore it, though it can only be done outside of combat. There is also a friendly NPC found early in the game who will restore the mana of your entire party for free any time you want, but it requires returning to his location every time.
88	* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The true perpetrator of most woes that befell Zanzarah is the White Druid himself.]]
89	* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Metal faeries don't evolve at certain levels like most others do, but instead require Dwarven Tools to upgrade to the next higher evolution level. On the flip side, it means that once you find said tools, you can immediately upgrade a lowest-tier Metal faery to the highest-tier one without having to LevelGrind it first.
90	* MookBouncer: The wild Psi faeries have a lot of nasty abilities that can bring about a TotalPartyKill faster than you can switch out your faeries. One of their favorites is the one that teleports the enemy to a random location of the arena upon a critical hit. "Random location" includes "directly into the Void that kills you instantly".
91	* MrExposition:
92	** Rafi the goblin is the first being that Amy meets in Zanzarah. He is also the one who hid a teleportation rune in her home, so he provides some information regarding why he summoned her to this world.
93	** [[TheOwlKnowingOne The owls]] were sent all across Zanzarah for the sole purpose of providing advice to Amy.
94	* NoFullNameGiven: The proganist is a human from Earth who ''should'' have a last name, but she is only known as Amy.
95	* NonLethalBottomlessPits: BottomlessPits found outside of combat (see above) can be used to abuse the game's CheckPoint system: if you don't want to jump all the way back after completing a jumping puzzle, you can just save your game and leap down into the abyss, only to respawn at the entrance to the location. The only penalty you get for that is that all switches you may have activated there will be reset.
96	* OnlyOneName: Everyone in Zanzarah goes by only one name, like goblin Rafi or dwarf Quinlin (if they are given a name at all).
97	* OptionalBoss: There are several Faery Trainers who are not essential to progressing the main plot, but provide an extra challenge, nonetheless, such as the ice faery master near the waterfalls.
98	* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Amy is an ordinary teenager who is transported into a world of magic that she is prophesied to save from evil.
99	* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Local dwarves reside mainly in the [[BeneathTheEarth underground village]] of Monagham, their language slightly resembles [[GratuitousGerman German]], and their currency is crystals, rather than coins that the rest of Zanzarah uses. They also dislike magic, preferring to use technology and {{Magitek}}, and the dwarf that sells magic spells for your fairies is a blacksmith.
100	* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Elves in Zanzarah are a peaceful, nature-loving homebirds who rarely venture outside Endeva and Tiralin. Their language sounds a bit like [[GratuitousFrench French]].
101	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Fairies are small beings with magic powers that can move between [[AnotherDimension astral plane]] where the duel battles take place and [[MagicalLand Zanzarah]]. There are 77 types of fairies that belong to 12 diferent elements. Some look like a stereotypical WingedHumanoid with butterfly or bird wings, but others look like polar bears, mushrooms, fish, dragons, demons, undead, and other bizarre creatures.
102	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The Goblins in Zanzarah are restless travelers, mainly residing in the swamp town of Dunmore. Their language is especially funny.
103	* OurPixiesAreDifferent: Pixies are small humanoid creatures with animal-like intellect and an annoying laugh. They are considered pests, and although completely harmless, most residents of Zanzarah are scared witless of them. Early in the game, an aging pixie hunter tells Amy that about 30 of them escaped captivity recently and tasks her with [[CollectionSidequest re-apprehending them for a bunch of rewards]].
104	* TheOwlKnowingOne: The owls in Zanzarah are sapient and capable of speech. They were sent all across the world for the sole purpose of providing advice to Amy.
105	* {{Panacea}}: Medicine is a consumable item that can be used outside of combat to heal your fairies from [[DamageOverTime burn, freeze, and poison]] status effects (the only StatusEffects that persist after the battle is over).
106	* PhantomZone: The Faery Duel Arenas are pocket dimensions with increasingly bizarre architectures. While the low-level arenas appear as rather reasonable RuinsForRuinsSake, high-level arenas may look like a giant stone corkscrew or a number of random stone slabs just floating in the sea of nothing.
107	* PlayerCharacterCalculus: Amy explores the fantasy world of Zanzarah on her own, but she uses a five-person team of combat fairies, which the player can control during fights. Outside combat, one of these fairies is always visible as Amy's FairyCompanion.
108	* PowersAsPrograms: You can swap offensive and defensive spells among your faeries as you see fit, as long as they meet the slot requirements.
109	* TheProphecy: Rafi firmly believes in an ancient prophecy of TheChosenOne -- a human girl, to be precise -- who'd become the greatest Faery Duelist of all times and deliver Zanzarah from evil.
110	* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: Each of the 12 elements has a certain color associated with it. Darkness is represented by dark purple.
111	* QuicksandSucks: In the swamp, taking more than a step or two into the water will cause Amy to [[NonStandardGameOver sink in and drown]].
112	* RealLife: By contrast to the colorful world of Zanzarah, Amy's apartment in London is DeliberatelyMonochrome, although the faeries (all captured faeries that are not on her primary strike team hang out in London) color it up a little. Given that London is completely irrelevant to the game's plot, you probably won't be using the Rune of Return a lot (except to change the faeries in your party).
113	* RecurringBoss: Seamus the elf sees Amy as his [[TheRival rival]] after his father picks her over him as his successor in pixie hunting. He keeps coming after her throughout the game with more and more powerful faery sets.
114	* RPGElements: All faeries gain XP and level up through combat, can be equipped with increasingly powerful offensive/defensive spells, lose and gain mana/HP. There is also something like a PlayerParty: namely, Amy's five chosen faeries that follow her into battles (although only one can be fielded and directly controlled by the player at any time). For a cherry tapping, you can give your favorite faeries unique names.
115	* RuleOfFun: The gameplay is very simple and incredibly complex at the same time. You won't believe how fun the Faery Duels are until you win a few.
116	* SaveBothWorlds: By completing the main quest [[spoiler:Amy not only rids Zanzarah of evil taint but also brings magic back into the real world, which is implied to save it from dullness]].
117	* SceneryPorn: The screenshots of the game, ''especially'' the Cloud Realm, look like they've been taken from a landscape art exhibition.
118	* SelfDamagingAttackBackfire: If you let a spell charge up for too long (indicated by the screen starting to flash) without unloading it into the enemy, it hits ''you'' instead. While at low levels, your main concern is losing half of your hit points that way, at high levels, spells with nasty side effects are introduced, which also apply to you.
119	* ShortScreentimeForReality: Most of the game takes place in Zanzarah, the world of fairies and magic. The only real life location featured is Amy's home in London, which is where the game starts in. Afterwards, you only need to visit it to change the fairies in your party.
120	* SituationalDamageAttack: Offensive spells deal more damage the longer you charge them. There is also a number of spells that deal additional damage on critical hit (either a fixed amount or a percentage of the basic damage).
121	* StarterMon: Before you leave Endeva, you must choose one of three starter fairies offered to you by Rufus: Sillia, an all-rounder Nature fairy with a good evolution path; Grem, a tanky Stone fairy; or Tadana, a wonky Water fairy.
122	* StatusBuff: Passive spells can reduce the damage you take, increase the charging speed of your spells, buff the damage of your attacks, gradually heal you, improve your movement speed, increase your stamina regeneration, reflect the damage you receive back at your attacker, or protect you from negative StatusEffects.
123	* StatusInflictionAttack: Most offensive spells have additional effects, activated on critical hit, that can slow down your movements, slow down the charging time of your spells, block your ability to fly, inflict DamageOverTime status ailments, and cause InterfaceScrew for the player.
124	* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: To access the Great Tree where the Elemental Card of Air is kept, you'll have to engage in one of the most loss-making [[ChainOfDeals deal chains]] in video game history: the only path to the Tree is [[BrokenBridge blocked by a tournament entrant]] who won't budge until you give him a Segbuzz faery -- which cannot be found in the wild and must be traded for a Suane, which, at that point, can only be obtained from a miniquest in the Cloud Realm. In other words, you end up trading the most powerful Light faery in the entire game (that does not even exist in the wild), for a level ''0'' Worgot -- a weakling Nature faery. [[spoiler:You do get the Segbuzz back after you beat its master in the tournament, but it's still hardly a replacement for Suane.]]
125	* SummonEverymanHero: Amy is lured into Zanzarah by Rafi, who believes that she's a prophesied hero who can save the world. He hides a transportation rune in Amy's home, and when she touches it, the rune transports her to Zanzarah.
126	* SwampsAreEvil: The Great Swamp around Dunmore is a rather grim and difficult area for one of the early stages of the game. The area is extremely convoluted and covered in fog, making it easy to get lost. You have to jump between small narrow islands to move across it, and taking more than a single step into the water will cause Amy to [[NonStandardGameOver drown in quicksand]]. There are also several enemy Shadow Elves that you have to defeat, and the swamp contains an entrance to their home Shadow realm. Still, the native swamp goblins are pretty nice people.
127	* TakingYouWithMe: One of the best ways to deal with multiple attacking Nature faeries is to field your Psi StoneWall with ''lots'' of hit points and a full damage reflection spell. The Psi are weak against Nature, so he gets killed pretty quickly... but since he has massive health and Nature faeries usually don't, he takes two-to-four of them with him via damage reflection. He doesn't get XP (unless you are agile enough to withdraw him just in the nick of time) but hey, it's a cruel world.
128	* TomesOfProphecyAndFate: Amy can find several flying books that contain ancient prophecies about her.
129	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Subverted. Amy is transported to Zanzarah by using a one-way teleportation rune that cannot return her back to Earth. However, a teleportation rune to London is found in the first house in Endeva.
130	* UtilityPartyMember: For the Elemental Cards to function, you must keep a faery of the corresponding element in your party's first slot, and since you can only swap out faeries in London, you may have to trade off some combat efficiency for the ability to clear environmental obstacles. This is particularly egregious in the case of Air faeries, which are needed ''every time'' you need to leap over some air eddies (unlike the boulders and prickly bushes, which disappear for good once a Stone or Nature faery works its magic on them), and Fire faeries, whom you have to keep in your primary slot ''at all times'' while exploring the magma caves.
131	* WarpWhistle: The {{teleportation}} runes enable instant travel to certain fixed locations (which not necessarily the same as places where you find them) from anywhere else.
132	* WeaponizedTeleportation: There is a nasty spell available only to Psi fairies, which teleports the target to a random location across the battle arena -- including the deadly BottomlessPits underneath.
133	* WideOpenSandbox: While you have to advance the main plot to access more areas, there is no time limit, and you can wholeheartedly devote yourself to exploration, faery gathering, and training the moment you leave Endeva for the first time.
134	* WillOTheWisp: Will-o'-whisps are found in the Great Swamp around the Goblin village of Dunmore. You are supposed to follow them to get to the island in the middle of the swamp, because the area is extremely convoluted (by design) and covered in fog, to boot.
135	* AWinnerIsYou: [[spoiler:After defeating the Guard, you are treated to a short cutscene congratulating you on defeating the evil and showing faeries flooding into our world, after which the credits roll.]]

Context VideoGame / ZanZarahTheHiddenPortal