Line #23 Videogame/Dragonsphere


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragonsphere.png]]
2	''Dragonsphere'' is a PointAndClick AdventureGame by Creator/MicroProse, published in 1994.
3	You are Callash, the newly crowned king of Gran Callahach, a fantasy kingdom. You discover that the [[EvilSorceror Dragon Sorcerer Sanwe]], whom your father imprisoned twenty years ago, is once again waking and is about to break free from his prison. Thus, it falls to you to travel the kingdom, muster the aid of the peoples of the kingdom, and confront Sanwe in his [[EvilTowerOfOminousness tower]]. However, there is more going on than meets the eye...
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5	It has [[SimilarlyNamedWorks nothing to do]] whatsoever with ''Manga/DragonBall''.
6	----
7	!!Tropes used in Dragonsphere:
8	* AcidTripDimension: The Spirit Plane. Slathan ni Patan has shades of this too, but that's because it's an entire land of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Shapechangers]].
9	* ActionGirl: Llanie de Summers.
10	* BrownNote: Reading the Darkness Beast's name aloud is sickening enough to make men feel nauseous.
11	* CrossingTheDesert: You'll need to travel to Soptus ruler and back. If you make a wrong turn, [[TheManyDeathsOfYou you run out of water and die]]. There is a Soptus at the desert edge willing to give directions, but he doesn't speak your language, and your understanding of his is rudimentary. The biggest problem: he may [[spoiler:think you were DrivenToSuicide and]] give you directions to a volcano that kills you instantly [[spoiler:(Soptus version of a [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} suicide booth]])]].
12	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The Amulet.]]
13	* CopyProtection: The answers to the vine puzzle outside Sanwe's tower can only be found in the manual.
14	* DeadpanSnarker: The hint-giving narrator has shades of this.
15	* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Sanwe]]
16	* EldritchAbomination: The Beasts. The first one isn't that bad, but one look at the second one is enough to make your character stop moving entirely, and imagine all those primal fears, while saying that the thing isn't natural. Also, its very name is written in an unidentified language, and almost makes characters pass out.
17	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Sanwe's Tower, obviously enough.
18	* FantasticRacism: Humans towards [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Shapechangers]].
19	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The fact that [[spoiler:you can't access the entirety of Slathan ni Patan when you're just about to face the Dragon Sorcerer hints that there might be something else you'll do...]]
20	** The description of the sky in Slathan ni Patan states that [[spoiler: it seems familiar to you, somehow. The same is true of the doll that you receive in that land.]]
21	** Also, you can [[spoiler:fall down the well at the Market Place, which reveals a fully-rendered and designed area. GenreSavvy players might think that the devs wouldn't go to this extent just to give you a death scene.]]
22	* GargleBlaster: The Soptus Soporific is strong enough to knock a human unconscious after just a sip, or kill them with any more than that.
23	* TheGreys: Bluish bug-eyed Soptus fit the description. They are hinted to be space aliens stranded on this planet. They are the only ones who speak a language different from common.
24	* GuideDangIt: Some of the choices you make can render crucial NPC dialogue {{Permanently Missable\|Content}}, making you unable to continue... without a guide, that is.
25	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: [[spoiler: You encounter and defeat Sanwe halfway through the game. You also discover you are a shapechanger who was magically made to believe he was the king. The goal then becomes to find the real king while a usurper tries to take advantage of the situation to take the throne.]]
26	* HaveANiceDeath: It is an AdventureGame after all. The death screens also give you clues, however.
27	* HumanPopsicle: [[spoiler: The real king]].
28	* IdentityAmnesia: [[spoiler:The protagonist himself, who is in fact a shapeshifter named Pid Shuffle]].
29	* LuckBasedMission: The gambling minigames. And to make matters worse, they're ''mandatory'' - You need nine victories the first time around to get three items, and four victories in the second half of the game to get two more items. Expect some frustration, as there is no way to get better at it: The NPC himself tells you it's just luck.
30	* MacGuffin: The three Powerstones needed to defeat Sanwe. [[spoiler: It turns out that only one is necessary.]]
31	* MundaneUtility: A teleportation device is used to divert a stream of water onto a red hot floor, in order to cool the floor down and make it crossable.
32	* NoManOfWomanBorn: A "powerful" amulet received early in the game is stated to be only usable by one who has been pronounced dead, and is therefore essentially useless for most of the game. [[spoiler:In the FinalBattle, your opponent mocks you as being "already dead", allowing you to use the amulet against him]].
33	* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Twice - both the [[TheFairFolk The Butterfly King]] and [[ManEatingPlant the vines around Sanwe's tower]] demand that you answer questions to progress.
34	* PressXToDie: Several, such as drinking the contents of a bottle of acid, or jumping down a well.
35	* ShapeshiftingHealsWounds: Shapechangers can heal injuries by "shaping" the body back into its original state.
36	* ShiftingSandLand: Soptus Ecliptus.
37	* TrustPassword: The guards at the entrance of Slathan ni Patan will not let you pass, despite you being the king, for concern that you may be replaced by a shapeshifter within. You set up one of these so that you can always prove that you are who you claim to be when you come out. [[spoiler: Ironically, you ''are'' a shapeshifter; you just don't realise it at first.]]
38	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler: Surprise! You're not actually the King!]]
39	* {{Troll}}: The fairies. They purposefully annoy humans so they can "test their limits". [[spoiler:To defeat them be sickeningly polite.]]
40	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Shapechangers, obviously.
41	* YouAreAlreadyDead: [[spoiler: Inverted, it was the one who announced it in the FinalBattle who dies instead.]]

Context Videogame / Dragonsphere