[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hq_boxshot1.jpg]]
->''"Would you still like to know? And what?"''
-->-- [[Literature/PoeticEdda The Poetic Edda]]

''Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok'' is a freeware adventure/RPG hybrid by Creator/CrystalShard. It's available for free [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/283880 on Steam]] or [[https://rpgmaker.net/games/9480/downloads/ RPGMaker.net]].

Set in the world of Myth/NorseMythology, the game pits the eponymous heroine against Egther, last of the frost giants, who wishes to fulfill the prophecy of Ragnarok by covering the world in eternal ice. The game is retro-styled, offering gameplay similar to classic Sierra games, in particular ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'', along with plenty of easter eggs to Sierra's games.

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!!Contains examples of the following tropes:
* ActionGirl: The heroine, par the course for this type of game, and Brynhild the valkyrie. Sigrun grabs a bow and Kraka pulls out her daggers when danger approaches.
* AdventureGame: It's a SpiritualSuccessor to the classic Sierra adventure games, particularly the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series.
* AlchemyIsMagic: Standard fare for action-adventure games. The alchemists you meet in the game (Liff, Aurvandel, and Skrymir) are all wizards. The Sorceress starts with skill in Herbalism and gets points for brewing her own potions.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Comes in [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation various colors]] and they all CarryABigStick. Traditional "turn-into-stone-in-sunlight" curse is also in full effect, and the main troll, [[TheDragon Thrivaldi]] presumes this is also the case for humans. He attempts to kill the Heroine by burying her in an avalanche and leaving her to turn to stone, but is later informed that humans don't turn to stone by Egther.
* AmbiguousGender: The Svartalfar, being able to appear in any form they please, are not clearly masculine or feminine, and Eitri will be quick to point this out if you ask them about it. [[spoiler:Regin and Fafnir]] are identified as "brothers," but that's the closest thing any svartalf has to a gender identity.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Loki's]] punishment in Svartalfheim. This actually matches the Myth/NorseMythology well.
* AnIcePerson: All of the jotunn have ice-based magic. [[BigBad Egther's]] is the most powerful
* AwesomeButImpractical: Regin gives you the golden sword Gram, which breaks if you try to fight with it. The game immediately lampshades that gold was a poor choice to make a weapon from. On the other hand it can be reforged with the right material, and is then better than a regular sword.
* BagOfSpilling: When you try to enter the fortress at the end of the game, you're dropped into a pit and none of your potions survive the fall.
* BetterThanABareBulb: The game has ''loads'' of lampshade hanging on its plot, characters, the adventure genre as a whole... See NoFourthWall below.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: When [[spoiler: Heime is kidnapped]], Hervor gets so angry she bends a well-tempered sword with her bare hands.
* {{BFS}}: Sigurd pulls one out [[spoiler: when Thrivaldi attacks Munarvagir]] and fights with it.
* BittersweetEnding: In the stinger at the end, after the credits [[spoiler: The Heroine is mortally wounded in a fight some decades later, and is visited by the Valkyrie, who takes her to Valhalla. While her body is never found, she is almost certainly dead. It's a pretty dark and serious moment in a game with so many easter eggs, shout-outs, references, and jokes.]] [[DeliberateValuesDissonance At least, to modern sensibilities]], as this ''was'' considered an optimal, heroic death in the values of Norse myth.
** Nevertheless, most warriors in game worry about how things like illness or a job in town can prevent one from going to [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]] (Because you can't have just been a brave warrior, you have to die in battle). Definitely a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance. Especially with how in trying to get the player to finish the game, "die in battle" is evidently interpreted as "die in battle between armies". If you die in combat with an enemy, no matter how much you've accomplished in the game, it still says you go to Niflheim. There wouldn't ''be'' any einherjar if they all had to do something like succeed in an epic quest to stop a frost giant's plan to destroy the world!
* TheBlacksmith: Volund.
* BossBonanza: If playing as as the Warrior you get one with having to face Thrivaldi, Fenrir and Egther in relatively short order in the endgame.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The jarl can fall under the spell of the huldra.
** The heroine can fall under this if she [[spoiler: moves to where Loki is imprisoned, and Sigyn leaves the room. The heroine will be compelled to take her place. This also happens if you attack Sigyn, causing her to fall off the platform.]]
* ButThouMust: Averted at the beginning, where you are offered the game's main quest and can choose to go play ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' instead.
* TheCameo:
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI Elsa von Spielburg]] can be encountered inside a room in the first city late at night.
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryII Keapon Laffin]] does a quick flyby past the bridge leading to Munarvagir.
** [[VideoGame/ATaleOfTwoKingdoms Taliesin]] appears playing his harp in the runic circle.
** [[VideoGame/ATaleOfTwoKingdoms The Pooka]] appears with Taliesin, dancing as he plays.
** [[VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder Cedric the Owl]] can be found at night, telling the heroine to watch out for a "[[MemeticMutation POIsonous owl]]!".
** Sonny Bonds from ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' show up in the cell room from time to time.
** You can find the corpse of the Hero from the first ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' game in Thrivaldi's cave.
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI Bone]][[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV head]] can be found in Svartalfheim's SelfImposedChallenge area.
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII Arne]] shows up in the chasm area of Svartalfheim as well.
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV Igor]] will be working at the cemetary during the day.
** Uhura (No, not [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries that one]]) from ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' show up at the archery rage.
** Also from ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' is the [[OurMonstersAreWeird antwerp]].
** [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI Brauggi the Frost Giant]] will fight you during Chapter 3 if you approach Gastropnir, the villains castle. He'll even comment that he doesn't have any more gems if you offer him fruit. (Like in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI QFG1]].)
* CastFromHitPoints: The channel spell which drain your [[LifeMeter health]] to replenish your ManaMeter. Actions will drain health if the heroine has no stamina, as well. [[spoiler: The final boss for the sorceress is actually ''built around this trope'', because Egther drains her mana before the fight.]]
* ClearMyName: [[spoiler: Kraka]] asks the heroine to do one of these for her.
* CleavageWindow: The heroine is mostly modest (given the climate, that's practical), but she shows a little skin.
* ClingyMcGuffin: [[spoiler: Andvari's cursed ring]]. If you restore your game to before you've picked it up, you'll find that ''it's still there''.
* ConvectionShmonvection: Averted at one point where standing too close to some exposed lava results in a death. It takes a while, though.
* CoolHelmet: Byrnhild sports a winged helmet. Justified, valkyries were often portrayed this way.
* CutAndPasteEnvironments: The forest of Jarnvidr and the caves of Svartalfheim.
* DeadpanSnarker: Snorri is master of this.
** The Heroine herself gets her share of choice lines in. Particularly when dealing with Ratatosk.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Aurvandel's speech pattern is rather redundant because he repeats himself, making his speech redundant.
** He does know he does it, and warns you against making fun of a wizard when you do it back at him.
* DevelopersForesight: The game keeps track of which residents of Munarvagir are indisposed when Thrivaldi attacks the village; if Liff is busy with Lithrasir, Sigrun with Helgi's ghost, or Kraka in the jarl's dungeon, they won't show up to fight; if all three of them are indisposed, neither will the troll that they would have fought. Brynhild will also be at the battle, helping Sigurd, if and only if the Heroine has restored Sigurd's memories.
* DeviousDaggers: Rogues favor DualWielding these. Kraka's an expert with throwing daggers. [[spoiler: When Thrivaldi attacks, she joins in the defense of the town with them.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: The heroine is meant to be one of the [[VideoGame/QuestForGlory Prince of Shapeir]].
* DramaticWind: On game's main screen, the heroine's hair and cloak float in the wind. Casting Arctic Wind will also cause this.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The heroine's notified of some of her first major goals by seeing something happening in a dream.
* DualWield: The rogue's default weapon is a pair of daggers.
* EarlyGameHell: It can be frustrating in the early game getting food and saving up money, with how the game mostly makes you forage for rations and enemies that drop money are rare until later in the game so just buying food isn't very viable. Let alone how just being outside for a while drains your stamina meter. Once you've cleared a few chapters, befriended a few key [=NPCs=] and opened up some new areas, those aspects get a lot easier to deal with. Shopping at the blacksmith seems like it'll take ages to grind enough to afford what he's selling, for example, until [[spoiler: you save his son from the underworld]], and he cuts his prices in half for you.
* EasterEgg:
** Name the Heroine after one of the love interests[[note]]Elsa, Nawar, Katrina, or Erana[[/note]] from VideoGame/QuestForGloryV. [[spoiler: She'll start with Hera's Ring in her inventory, suggesting that she is the daughter/descendent of the original hero and named after her mother/female ancestor.]]
** Turn down Jarl's CallToAdventure and he'll [[BreakingTheFourthWall mock you for turning down the main quest in an adventure game before asking if you'd rather play]] ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' instead. Turn him down again after that and you can actually play a functional game of ''Tetris'' that even keeps score. It's an EndlessGame though, and when you inevitably lose, you get yet another [[HaveANiceDeath game over message]] that states that the world ended since you were too busy becoming the best ''Tetris'' player to save it.
** Failing to draw the sword from the tree 100 times in a row will [[spoiler:instantly max out the heroine's strength and endurance.]]
* EasyAmnesia: Sigurd forgets the woman he loves [[spoiler: Brynhild the Valkyrie]]. Justified, as it was caused by the gods.
* ElementalCrafting: Played with. The sword Gram given to you by Regin is made of gold. It breaks the first time you try to fight with it, because gold is not very durable. That said, Volund can offer to reforge it for you...
* EmpathicEnvironment: The garden will thaw if you complete the MatchmakerQuest.
* EvilPaysBetter: Some of the winter gear that helps you avoid the draining effects of being out in the cold are only available through theft or making a selfish choice. Which are of course both encouraged when you're playing a rogue.
* TheExile: Self-imposed by Arngrim, as he was ill and worried if he was contagious.
* ExposedToTheElements: Inverted. The heroine's stamina will slowly be drained from being out in the unforgiving winter for too long. There are cold weather clothing items you can get that mitigate this somewhat, but getting a couple of them is technically stealing, and at least one has to be passed up if you're trying to be honorable enough to earn Balmung.
* FetchQuest: How else can one become a heroine?
* FighterMageThief: The three character classes you can choose from.
* FlamingSword: Balmung.
* FrictionlessIce: This is one of the few games where a character trying to run across ice won't merely slip and slide, they slip and fall down.
* FreewareGames: Available for free on Crystal Shard's website or on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: A minor one, but your mouse cursor actually has a ''reflection'' on some surfaces (such as the ice of the frozen lake). See NoFourthWall below for something of an explanation.
* FunWithAcronyms: "'''T'''he '''H'''erald '''O'''f '''R'''agnarok" spells "THOR".
* GoodMorningCrono: The game begins with the Heroine waking up in the adventurers' guild in Fornsigtuna.
* GuideDangIt: Some of puzzles and quests aren't easy to solve and have multiples solutions.
* GraveHumor: Like past ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' games.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: [[spoiler:As a rogue, you break Kraka out of jail and make distractions to fool the guards.]]
* HaveANiceDeath: As a love letter to ''Sierra'''s adventure games, this trope is a must-have.
* HostageForMacguffin: Thrivaldi tries to set one of these up by kidnapping [[spoiler: Heime.]] The heroine foils this.
* HostileWeather: Jarnvidr is gripped in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, and this becomes a gameplay mechanic wherein it's possible to freeze to death.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Balmung. And there's an infinity plus one spell, the lightning bolt. The Bless spell could be considered one as well, [[ReviveKillsZombie as it will instantly kill a Draug]], if used on one before combat is initiated. (Using it on a group of them in the cemetery will kill them all at once!)
* KarmaMeter: The sword Balmung can only be drawn if the Heroine has not committed too many immoral acts up to that point. Several [=NPC=]s, when asked, explain what choices are considered good and which ones are considered bad.
* LifeMeter: The green bar in the heroine's stats.
* LiteralMinded: Eitri asks for a rare item, the footfalls of a cat (as this was one of the items that made up Gleipnir.) You get it by [[spoiler: getting an ink print of a cat's paw.]]
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: The warrior starts out as this.
** The Shield spell learned by the Sorceress will do this [[spoiler: by blocking Egther's ice beam during the final battle.]]
** Also a villainous example in a troll who blocks passage over a bridge at night, by means of a seemingly impregnable shield (but which can be broken if the player's a warrior wielding a battleaxe).
* MacGuffin: The Eyes of Thiassi.
* MagicKnight: Skrymir is a powerful warrior who also knows magic. The Heroine can be this too if you start as a Fighter and take Magic and/or Herbalism at the start of the game.
* MagicStaff: The Sorceress' weapon, along with different flavors of magic.
* ManaMeter: The purple bar in the heroine's stats.
* MatchmakerQuest: You can get Liff and Lithrasir together.
** In a milder version, you can also get [[spoiler: Sigurd and Byrnhild]] back together.
* MerlinAndNimue: Aurvandel and the Sorceress downplay this trope, which is a trope that Aurvandel downplays because he does not spend much time teaching the Sorceress, whom he teaches; nonetheless, Aurvandel teaches the Sorceress more magic spells than any other character in the game (three of the game's ten spells come from him).
* MiniGame: Several, including playing dice with Snorri and Volund ([[spoiler:they kick you out of the game if you win too much]]).
* MixAndMatchCritters: The gulon.
* MoonLogicPuzzle: Generally avoids this, but there are a couple cases.
** [[spoiler: To get your stuff back from Thrivaldi as a Warrior, you need two things: a mirror, and a fox. The mirror is pretty easy to guess: Thrivaldi hangs out asleep in his cave, and knowing trolls are vulnerable against sunlight, it's not too much of a stretch to conclude using the mirror to shine sunlight on him might be something to try. However after moving him out of the way, you need to use the fox to fetch your bag. ''Nowhere'' is it suggested you can use the fox to do this.]]
*** The solution is barely hinted at: if you [[spoiler: look at the bag before Thrivaldi moves, the Warrior gets a unique text box saying that you won't be able to get it without help. Still, there's nothing to suggest that the fox is somehow trained to retrieve stuff at your command as long as you can get it to trust you.]]
* MythologyGag:
** The stuffed moosehead from ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman'' makes an appearance. It made a cameo in various {{Creator/Sierra}} games. Just like all of the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' games (except for the third), it's in the adventurer's guild.
** The Sierra "half-dome" makes a cameo during the introduction.
** If you rob Snorri's house, he has one of the [[MacGuffin Blackbirds.]]
** One of the stories you can tell Arngrim will be recognizable to veteran fans as the plot of [[VideoGame/KingsQuestIQuestForTheCrown the first King's Quest game]], but he says you're full of bologna and demands another one.
* NamedWeapon: The people of Midgard love to name their swords. Weapons and treasures with specific names are pretty common in the legends this game's based on though, of course.
* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: [[spoiler: Towards the end, the heroine will encounter her future self, who will say some things to her and give her an item needed to do some time travel work. After this is done, she will return to this point in time and encounter her past self. She must reenact the scene exactly, including saying the same exact things that her future self said to her, or else both she and her past self will be erased from existence.]]
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer has the heroine being attacked by a Spectre, a Draug and a Duergar in broad daylight. In the game however, all those monsters only show up at night or in Svartalfheim. Plus, different monsters never gang on you like this, you only face them one encounter at a time. (Vargs, Draugs, and Duergars will occasionally attack you in pairs or groups of three, but you will fight them one at a time.)
* NobleBigot: Snorri thinks that saving the kingdom is man's work, but he never tries to stop the heroine from her tasks and praises her when she proves herself.
* NoFourthWall: Pretty much ''everyone'', from the narrator, to the Heroine herself, to the various [=NPC=]s, lampshade the fact that this is a game to the point that it goes far beyond just {{leaning| on the fourth wall}} on it. Right down to the {{Censor Box}}es hiding the Huldra's naughty bits.
** Eitri the svartalf at one point takes control of the cursor and even asks if he can trade you something for it, like it's one of the magical artifacts he's interested in. You refuse since you can't complete your quest without it.
** Thrivaldi complains when you skip a cutscene where he appears.
** Aurvandel gives you a potion that will restore someone to his original form. He adds that it won't work with the dead and you need to restore your game for that.
* NonStandardGameOver: (At least) two examples avoid the usual "Your Soul Rests in Niflheim" screen.
** During the endgame, [[spoiler: if you mess things up during the time-travel sequence, your heroine will vanish in a swirl and the screen will fade to black with the words "You have erased yourself from existence." You're then taken back to the title screen.]]
** [[spoiler: If you jump or teleport to Loki's island, Sigyn will try to run away. If she gets to the exit before you, you're compelled to take her place. This will also happen if you hit Sigyn with a projectile, knocking her off the island. You get a short description of how your former life fades from your mind before the game takes you back to the title screen.]]
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Thrivaldi can be considered this in a sense. In cutscenes he comes across like the typical half-witted, bumbling henchman of a much scarier villain. The only reason you survive past the prologue is because he [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim leaves you to die]] after ''not quite'' killing you with an avalanche because he thinks humans turn to stone in the sun like trolls do. If you actually fight him, he's a very tough opponent and story-wise the only reason he loses is because he gets so caught up in fighting the heroine he doesn't realize it's almost sunrise.
* NPCScheduling: Unlike ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'', people go about their business and wander the streets, shops and so forth. Sometime, they even ask you to leave as they are closing for the night or leaving themselves.
** Particularly important for Rogues, who have to plan robberies with the [=NPCs=] movements in mind.
* OffWithHisHead: One the jotunn's attacks is a decapitation with his axe.
* OptionalBoss: [[spoiler: Surtr, (basically a re-skinned and much tougher muspell) can be found past the PointOfNoReturn if you wander in the opposite direction from the Final Dungeon. There's an achievement for defeating him.]]
** [[spoiler: Also Brauggi and Dolores. There's also an achievement for defeating them with the later requiring GuideDangIt to find her.]]
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The Duergar in Svartalfheim. They're actually Svartalfar in another form.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: The svartalfar, AKA, dark elves.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* OurGiantsAreBigger: Of the Frost Giants variety as well as the Muspell.
* PacifistRun: The rogue can finish the game without engaging in combat, [[spoiler:and near the end of the game (after dealing with Thrivaldi, to be precise) she gets Loki's attention and approval for doing so.]]
* PermanentlyMissableContent: [[spoiler:To get the sword Balmung, the Heroine must behave in a certain way. Specifically: treat everyone with respect, respect the dead, and be honest. Unfortunately, it's entirely possible to screw this up even before you learn the criteria for drawing the sword.]]
* PointOfNoReturn: Not sign-posted, but reasonably easy to guess. Once the heroine has the Eyes of Thiassi, there's nothing to do but face the final boss.
* RandomEncounter: Wouldn't be an {{RPG}} without it.
* RealMenCook: The best cook in the game is Sigurd (who's also the mightiest warrior among the game's [=NPCs=]) and no one will deny it.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Refusing jarl Ylfying's quest at the beginning of the game will make him pissed and break the fourth wall, saying that a heroine who refuses a quest offered at the start of an adventure game might as well go and play ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' instead, and offer you to choose again. Refusing a second time ''does'' start a game of ''Tetris'', after which a GameOver screen pops up.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The little fox.
* RobeAndWizardHat: Aurvandel.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Fafnir and [[spoiler: Regin]] contend that the other of them killed their father.
* ShapeshifterModeLock: [[spoiler: Hervor is a swanmaiden, and stuck in human form since she doesn't have her wings anymore.]]
* ShoutOut: All over the place. In particular, the game loves to refer to the classic Sierra adventure games (particularly the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series, like several achievements in the Steam version sharing titles, to which it is a SpiritualSuccessor), but shout outs to the adventure genre as a whole are present, including ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' and the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series. There's even a nod to the ill-fated ''Hero 6'', a previous attempt to create a spiritual successor to the ''Quest for Glory'' games.
** And of course, the game draws heavily from Norse Mythology. Many of the character names are drawn directly from the mythology, and even their relationships are grounded in the Eddas.
** You can spot the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels in Aurvandel's lab. He will speak of the Philosopher's stone and his good old friend [[{{VideoGame/LarryLotter}} Mumblemore]]. Mumblemore's tombstone can also be found in the graveyard, together with a wish that "Larry" will avenge him.
** The PC's sprite looks like Zanthia from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia''. One of the characters even talks about how they sometimes import things from Kyrandia.
** If you look at a stump in the forest, you get a message mocking the idea that you'd find something valuable or useful in some random tree stump. This is how many treasures were found in early instalments of ''VideoGame/KingsQuest''.
** One particular one to ''Quest For Glory'' is that Brauggi, the frost giant from the first game, guards the villain's castle. With the way he talks completely in alliteration and even has the exact same dialogue portrait, what else are you supposed to think?
** Near the end of the game, the heroine can meet [[spoiler: a future version of herself]], who could say [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!]]
*** Furthermore this seems to be based around a similar plot event from ''VideoGame/{{Sorcerer}}''. Although with the other nods to that series, it was probably based on the instance of that puzzle from ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland''.
** Drinking the water from the mushroom cave gives the words: [[VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder Ah, life-giving water, nectar of the gods. (Heroine) feels strength and renewal flowing through her.]]
** Using the touch icon on [[spoiler: Fenrir]] after you defeat him gives the message: [[WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick Dude, don't taunt the god-killing abomination.]]
** A Rogue with fast talk can [[spoiler: trick Thrivaldi into staying out till morning]] by singing Bohemian Rhapsody.
** There's a book of strategy written by [[Creator/SunTzu Moon Tzu]]. Said book appeared earlier in ''VideoGame/ATaleOfTwoKingdoms'', where it can be read.
** There is shelf of atlas's in the library that mention several lands the heroine has never heard of including [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz Oz]], [[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Midkemia]] and [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Westeros]]
** The Jarl gives you [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII SPIM rations]], which can also be bought from Sigrun.
** Chuck the Plant from Lucasarts games can be found in Adventurer's Guild.
** Heime's sprite looks like Adam Greene from ''[[VideoGame/EcoQuest EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus]]''.
** In the library, there's a book about [[VideoGame/{{Eversion}} Zee Tee and his quest to rescue a princess]]. It starts off cheerful, but the Heroine feels it will get dark really quickly and stops reading.
** [[VideoGame/SpaceQuestIVRogerWilcoAndTheTimeRippers The Heroine can pick up some unstable ordnance that will explode if she wanders around with it.]] Why Sigrun is leaving unstable ordinance on her counter is not explained in the least.
** If you ask Arngrim about Ratatosk, he'll quote Tim the Enchanter's tirade about the KillerRabbit from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
* ShownTheirWork: In concert with the ShoutOut above, the designers really put a lot of work into keeping the characters and setting true to the source mythology.
* SolveTheSoupCans: The game generally avoids these sorts of puzzles, but one in particular stands out: The slide puzzle in Andvari's shop. There's nothing in the game that says you need to do it, and no indication of what it even does. [[spoiler: It opens passages to where Loki is bound, and to a MarathonLevel where you can fight a number of monsters and attempt to beat your best time. Fortunately, neither of these are strictly necessary to complete the game, though the Rogue may struggle.]]
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: The deeper you get into the game's plot, the more powerful monsters that show up as random battles. You'll start off just fighting wolves and human raiders, and late in the game will get attacked by fire and frost giants.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To Sierra's adventure games in general, and the ''Quest for Glory'' series in particular.
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker:
** Aurvandel repeats himself with every sentence that he speaks, which is a sentence that he speaks, and then repeats himself.
** Does Alviss say everything in the form of a question?
** Uncommon is it for Eitri to begin sentences with their subject. Correct is such grammar, but highly uncommon is it nowadays.
** Fafnir uses "one" as a first- and second-person singular pronoun. One may be confused as to which one one is referring to.
** Skrymir speech terse. Highly efficient. Connectives deemed wasteful.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Draug that attacks you at night.
* ThievesGuild: The Thieves' Lodge. You can join it, shut it down, or leave it alone and just get your junk back.
* UnwinnableByDesign: Parodied; if you eat a fish, you'll get a message saying that you needed it for a difficult puzzle later in the game and you'll have to restart now... followed by another message saying, "Nah, just kidding. It was just a tasty fish, and you could get another one if you really wanted to."
* UtilityMagic: A number of spells serve this function, such as Arctic Wind. [[PlayingWithFire Flame Aura]] also has utility purposes, since it melts ice and [[spoiler: can warm Sigurd when he's lying unconscious in the snow.]]
* VerbalTic: One of Thrivaldi's heads punctuates his sentences with "Oho, yes!"
%% * VictoryPose: Whenever you defeat a monster.
* WakingUpElsewhere: The very first thing that happens to the Heroine (in the ''credits'', no less) is getting buried in an avalanche and left for dead. She wakes up in the Adventurer's Guild, at which point the player takes control.
** This also happens [[spoiler: when the heroine rescues Heime. As soon as they leave Svartalfheim, a vicious blizzard kicks up and they barely manage to get close enough to the town, to be found and brought to the Guild once again.]]
%% * WizardClassic: Aurvandel.
* WorldOfBadass: While the heroine is the only character who is controlled, almost everyone in this game is a badass who can defend themselves in a fight. It would be easier to count the ones that can't: [[spoiler: Hervor, Heime, the librarian, and Lithrasir. One of them is a child, one is a crippled old man, and one of them is actually a swan.]]
* YouALLLookFamiliar: All the town guards look exactly the same. You can [[LampshadeHanging lampshade this]] and they won't appreciate the comment.
* YourHeadASplode: Lampshaded in the [[HaveANiceDeath message]] you receive after picking up the unstable ordnance and carrying it outside the village.
* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: Two examples.
** The portal to Svartalfheim. You can use the steps to activate it and give the Norns the "right" answers before you're supposed to, but [[NonStandardGameOver you're stranded in limbo for all eternity for trying to outpace the plot]].
** The Sorceress's riddle quest. She must learn the riddles and their answers by talking to those who already know them; she can never learn them in another fashion.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: If you play as the warrior you'll eventually have a choice of several weapons, each of which are more effective against certain enemies (battle-axe is better against trolls, warhammer is better against bergrisi, and so on).
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