Black Bird is a Bullet Hell shooting game, released by Onion Games in 2018 for PC, Playstation, and Switch. You control an increasingly terrifying black crow, wreaking havoc on a series of increasingly industrialised locations in spite of their frantic defenses. Except you're also a little girl. And potentially dead.
Black Bird contains examples of:
- Bullet Hell: the townsfolk will be throwing everything they have at you. Fortunately, only the bird's eye is vulnerable.
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Difficulty Spike: the initial "Normal Mode" is relatively easy, and the story seems to have a happy ending. Then you get to play True Mode... - Indecipherable Lyrics: almost all speech in the game, including the operatic lyrics of the soundtrack, are random syllables.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: the underlying story of the girl's history is told via brief cut-scenes at the end of each level and the end of the game. It's up to the player to piece them all together.
- Leitmotif: each of the first three bosses has their own distinctively orchestrated version of the main boss theme.
- Spiritual Successor: to, of all things, Rule of Rose! Even though it's a completely different type of game, the lead developer is the same, and the theme of metaphorically exploring the memories of a girl's traumatic childhood is shared. Just to rub it in, the final main level is called "Aristocratia", features a fish-shaped airship visible in the background, and the final main boss's color and appearence strongly resemble the Red Rose Princess.
