July 19th, 2015. On that day more than 10 years ago, the seeds of disaster were planted. Through a force most foul, a number of corpses rose from the dead, kept animate by something pretending to be human. In just under three months, these abominations, now dubbed Culiers, have taken control of the world from the hands of humanity. While most of the remaining humans kept as livestock for these creatures, there exists one glimmer of hope- in spite of their attempts to be thorough, the Culiers have still battled with a group of rebels known as the Deep Glow, humans who have remained uncaptured over the decade of oppression, using powers granted to them through blood-bonding ritual known as the Crimson Betrayal. With this strength, will they be able to end the tyranny of the night? Or will the cycle repeat, with the groups swapping places?
Highsleepers is a pet project videogame of Kibchi, that has yet to have an official demo release, or any sort of other preview. Originally meant as a means for him to vent his growing frustration over a number of topics, it has since evolved into something very different.
The game is a combo based RPG adventure game, not unlike a combination of Kingdom Hearts and The Legend of Zelda, both of which are listed inspirations for it. You play as Tyrell, a veteran member of the Deep Glow, recently drained of much of his strength after a routine Culier clearing of a building goes pear-shaped. Tyrell levels up by defeating enemies, but you only gain experience from doing so by moving to another screen. You can freely take enemy weapons and store them at your hideout, though using one specific weapon too much will break it, and you have an arsenal of magic at your disposal, granted to you by the Crimson Betrayal ritual. What's unique, however, is how it handles running out of health- should that happen, Tyrell will be captured, and a Culier will attempt to convince him to betray the Deep Glow rebellion by becoming a Culier. Resist the attempt, and Tyrell will fight his way out before being re-entering the world map from a randomly located, otherwise unusable door.
You introduce the bloodsucker to your fist, and regather your Highsleeper tropes.
- AB Negative: Induced by the Crimson Betrayal ritual. While you're never given all the details about it, the ritual alters the blood of the participant by imbuing it with arcane energies. This has the side effect of preventing you from receiving a transfusion from anyone other than yourself, so every member of the rebellion keeps a few bags of spare blood stored away.
- A Taste of Power: Tyrell starts at level 20 during the tutorial level. He is captured and drained of most of his strength after he and his allies are ambushed.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Tyrell's weapon. Other members of the Deep Glow have different combat abilities, but they all come from the same source.
- Genius Bonus: The title is a literal translation of a German idiom used to refer to people who have more authority than they should. This becomes rather poignant when you discover what spawned the Culiers.
- Hannibal Lecture: Downplayed. Should you be captured, you must give your captor enough pause to undo your bindings undetected. If you manage to play it straight, however, you get bonus experience.
- Meaningful Name: The Culiers are named after the family of insects that includes mosquitos, Culcidae.
- Symbiotic Possession: This is ultimately what the Crimson Betrayal causes. It's described as brainwashing the Hemistas of an infectee before they turn- resulting in a Pro-Human Transhuman.
- Talk to the Fist: This is what Tyrell caps off an interrogation with, should he escape, but not break his captor.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: This is what started the entire plot. Adrian, known as Adam to the Culiers, created the Hemistas after his patience at feeling overshadowed reached its limit. This envy, combined with his actual lack of arcane ability, caused his creation to rebel and overtake him.
