Video Game / BoxxyQuest: The Shifted Spires

BoxxyQuest: The Shifting Spires, released in 2012, is the first game in the Boxxy Quest series of semi-satirical PC, Freeware, Role Playing Games made in RPG Maker XP by SpherianGames, in collaboration with voice actress and former YouTube star Catherine Wayne. It tells the story of a girl named Catie (both named for and voiced by Wayne), and her adventures within the Boxxysphere, trying to solve her Amnesiac Hero status, while fighting against the evil Boxxyfan, a masked madman who wants to destroy the Boxxysphere and return it to the Old Internet, a place of chaos.

Tagging along with the thrill-seeking vagrant Anonymous and encountering the mysterious Intrepid, Catie learns of the Goddess' Spires, three ancient towers at the edges of the Sphere, which Boxxyfan intends to use to destroy the Sphere, and the race is on to stop him.

The game is no longer on the web due to being an Old Shame, but a synopsis of it can be read here. It has a sequel, BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm, released on September 2018.

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The Shifting Spires has examples of:

• Absurdly High Level Cap: At around Level 80, and possibly before, the hardest enemy in the game, the Superboss at the bottom of the Pit of 100 Faggots/Trolls, can be taken down in one turn. The cap is 99.
• Actually Four Mooks: Multiple Pre-existing Encounters:
  • The Pirates in the Twitter Port are seen as one sprite but fought as two or sometimes three battlers.
  • One of the paths to a Spire Key in 3V3's Spire is needs defeating 3 Pre-existing Encounters of this. First is 3 Treegens. Second is 4 Spambots. The third is 7 Cockatrices. That are spread all over the battle screen.
• Basilisk and Cockatrice: Cockatrices are an enemy, and are using a rooster-y sprite. With a weird tail.
• Big Bad: Boxxyfan leads the rebellion against Boxxy/Catie and desires to destroy the Boxxysphere to restore the chaotic Old Internet. However, he has a rival in Rcoastee, who has been manipulating Catie and wants to destroy the Third Internet and bring back the Second Internet so he may rule over it.
• Blob Monster: Remains of Adventurers are this. Blobs of slime that were once adventurers.
• Broken Bridge: A Guard tries to block the way to "The Grand City of /m]" by telling of a forest fire, then a rock slide, then monsters... And finally he's direct and just says:
  ...All right, kid. I won't bullshit you, The truth is, you're not far enough in the game yet to be allowed through here. Chances are, you'll come back this way later on from the other side, and I'll be totally gone.
• But Thou Must!: Multiple places:
  • When talked to, Nimrod, the proprietor of the ILB Inn, has all the dialogue options result in buying a room at his inn.
  • After the fight with Caleb when leaving Boxxy's Spire, has the options be: [No!] and [Fuck no!].
• Chekhov's Gun: The "Forgotten Book" item is received at the end of the Archives and sits in your inventory for the rest of the journey, seemingly unimportant now. The final puzzle requires you to stand atop the second blue tile from the left and read it.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Minor example, but during the beginning of the game, you will encounter a dead NPC in the Tinychat desert, with a sign that says their only role is to be a dead NPC. However, if you get the Ordinary Stick from 3v3's Spire, you can use it on the NPC to get an item needed to unlock the secret hot spring scene.
• Chest Monster: There's one in the Deep Archives, guaranteed to drop LOLshatter.
• Color-Coded Speech: When Forever Alone Guy is mimicking Princess June, the text is pink.
• Common HTTP Status Code: The 404 Orb, a reference to the "404 Not Found" Error Code... broke the Internet when tossed into its core, instead of destroying it as its user intended.
• Confused Question Mark: A Pictorial Speech-Bubble of this is used by Catie in the opening, after which she says:
  ...where am i?
• Critical Hit: The party can randomly deal Critical Hits that do about 1.5 more damage, indicated by a "Critical" above the number that indicates damage dealt.
• Deliberately Different Description: The 2 visually-non-existent-but-still-take-up-an-item-slot items appear as blank, description-less spaces in the inventory, but are clearly existing since they take up a space and can be ante-d up in the Arena.
• Dem Bones: There's Undead Skeletons in the /c/avern Pass.
• The Ditherer: One NPC atop the Sup Mart is a child holding up the line to the vending machine because he won’t pick a drink.
  Let's see... which drink do I want. It's not like there are many choices; but the ones that there are are so different...
• Double-Edged Buff: Rage, boosts physical attack damage by ~1.5, lasts for ~3 turns, uncurable by Boxxy's Love, which is the Anti-Debuff skill of the game's first healer. As the status effect explanation sign says:
  When you become enraged, you don't have any control over your actions - you'll attack your enemies on every turn, even if you would rather be doing something else. Also, your defence and intelligence stats will go down. However, Rage can have its benefits - your attack and speed stats will be drastically increased, turning you into a regular killing machine!
• Dual Wielding: With the Sword of Shielding, Warrior-type Spherians can wield a sword in both their Weapon and Shield slots.
• Easter Egg: The secret hot spring scene. You have to find an item in 3v3's Spire, then go to two consecutive NPCs and find the portal, after which you are treated to the characters dancing to an 8-bit Rick Roll.
• Eldritch Abomination: At the final floor of Pit of 100 Faggots/Trolls, Anonymous calls the bosses this:
  Anonymous: this infuriating gauntlet of eldritch horrors we've just faced...
• Exposed to the Elements: On the road that references Pokémon Red and Blue, on defeat, the shorts-liking Youngster has this in winter, as he says:
  I always wear shorts, even in winter!
• Fanservice: The secret hot springs scene- the official secrets page even says "viewer discretion is advised". Finding it treats you to the characters dancing to a Rickroll.
• First Day from Hell: One of the guards in /c/, which got massacred. As said by another guard:
  ...Hey... Do me... a favor, will you? Tell my buddy...over there....that he did a great job...
  It was....his first day....on the job....He was so scared....But he
  ne..ver...ran....or...ga...ve.....u..p...........
  [Interact with other guard]
  Unfortunately, it seems like this guard is already dead. He died without ever being praised for his bravery...
• Feathered Fiend: Killwebs, the boss of the 79th floor of the Pit of 100 Faggots/Trolls, is a giant bird-thing.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Multiple:
  • Camwhores appear in battle with uncovered breasts only hidden by Godiva Hair.
  • Prophyria has four forms. The first three are this, with the first and third being Hand-or-Object Underwear, with the third also turning away from the view. The second has nipple pasties. The fourth and final one is the end result of an Eldritch Transformation.
• Godiva Hair: Camwhores, which are effectively harpies. It's to cover up while still doing a Full-Frontal Assault.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • The secret hot spring scene. You need to get the Ordinary Stick in 3v3's Spire by going through all four paths- then go back to Tinychat Desert and use it on a dead NPC who you already encountered long ago and likely forgot about, with there being no indication that this NPC is connected to the item. You then get another item that you need to take to another NPC in the Scandinavi Inn, and she will then point you to the portal to the hot spring.
  • The Final Puzzle, the Questionnaire, is a series of ten questions. Some of them are about things in-game and are solvable by going through the game, but others are about the real life situation in Unichan with the Boxxyfan troll, or stuff about the real-life Boxxy in general. Unless you are one of the people involved in the situation or know anyone involved, you will have to do some digging to be able to answer the questions and move on to the Final Boss. In particular, the last question is a puzzle depicting moldy lemons, the number 12, and a bunch of seemingly-random letters making up a sentence. You are supposed to figure out that the rot on the lemons is a hint to rotate the letters in the sentence 12 times via a rotation cypher (ie, take each letter in the sentence and count to the next 12th letter in the alphabet), and unscramble the sentence to learn that you need to step on the second blue tile from the left and read the "Forgotten Book". It is based on a puzzle that the real Eyrev gave on the Boxxy formus and was just as puzzling.
• Harping on About Harpies: Camwhores, found in the desert. Cute Monster Girls. They look like blonde women with with blue winged feathers and legs, taloned feet, and uncovered breasts only hidden by Godiva Hair.
• Healing Hands: The Handheart and its Tiered by Name other variants, used by multiple characters and enemies to heal themselves or others.
• Hero of Another Story: At the second meeting with the Cloaked Figure, that's how they present themselves:
  In effect, I am clearing your path for you. I don't expect you to know what I mean just yet, but you will, before the end.
• Interface Spoiler: The Switch menu has 9 slots, for selecting party members to put in the box no matter how many are in the party. And there's 9 party members. Catie, Anonymous, Adromelk, Jelly, G Master Red, Shrimp, Cornelia, Masonprof, and Crissa.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: The guard that was telling the party how to enter the archives, as the narration says, "died mid-sentence."
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Parodied in an early scene where the party goes to an inn and rummages through the place while ignoring the inhabitants, much to their frustration. This continues until they take Normy, Ornj's WIFE, as if she was an item.
  Ornj: It's fine, really. Take our life savings. I mean, it'/s not like we had any vacation plans this year. (Sees Anonymous slashing a cabinet) It's a cabinet! It opens in the front. ("This Cabinet is totally empty") Oh, what did you find, oh chosen one? What? No magic sword? Just some dirty old rags? Well I wonder why? Maybe it's because WE'RE PEASANTS, YOU ASSHOLE! [...] Look. I get that you're under a lot of stress to save everyone and shit, and I know you need supplies. But that doesn't give you the right to just go into random people’s houses and take whatever you want; all right? What kind of message is that supposed to send, anyway? You can just break shot and steal things because you're "the hero?" Seriously. It's not cool.
• Last-Second Word Swap: When Messenger says "Fubar is a gigantic faggot", Fubar says: "That t- HEY!", because he was corroborating everything via Messenger said up with "That too"-s 'til that point.
• Magic Staff: Staffs. They're used by mage-types and have magic-related Flavor Text, along with being SI Prefix Name for data.
• My Name Is ???: Multiple:
  • Caleb, the second possible battle, named in the cutscene preceeding his fight.
  • Boxxyfan, gives his name before leaving and having a PDF.EXE be the boss battle.
  • Kelly, the Pirate Captain, named by her First Mate, Nozzy, before taking on the party alone.
  • Cloaked Figure, who is called "???" in the second meeting, before they enter the screen, who likes themselves as being mysterious, but gives the name "Intrepid" for use in their second meeting.
  • Cornelia, called "???" before Boxxyfan names them in their meeting.
• Nanomachines: The Botnet attack works via nanites:
  Attack with a massive swarm of electrically-charged nanites called down from the atmosphere!
• Nominal Importance: Referenced by a maid in the first town, when Catie is on the quest to find a travelling companion:
  Maid: Me? You want ME to join your party? But I'm not even a named character! What could I possibly have to offer that would be of any help to you?
• Non-Standard Game Over: In Skype, speaking to Bracketsy after he says he'll kill the party if it's done, leads to an immediate death by him. No fight scene, just a rapid death and the usual Game Over screen.
• Our Angels Are Different: Underaged Female Users seem to be this, with Gold and White Are Divine from their Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold, assumption, their white clothes, and their yellow, golden presumably, horn, and being Winged Humanoids wearing what is presumably a Holy Halo, and their Healing Hands skill of Handheart.
• Our Dragons Are Different: They're now seemingly extinct, but mentioned multiple times. The Deep Archive holds information that there was a war against dragons in the past. Characters in Twitter mention it. The war is revealed to have been called the CBCR War later.
• Party in My Pocket: Characters walk into Catie's sprite when the join the party, and walk out again for cutscenes. This gets parodied in Skype, when the heroes have to disguise themselves as a Skype Guard to progress. Adromelk volunteers, but Catie has to make him the party leader and then step inside HIS pocket.
  Catie: there. got it, adro. you're the party leader now. :D ...this is weird, though. is it always this cramped, you gais? >:
  Anonymous: Yeah, it is. It totally is.
  Jelly: It's usually a lot worse. You're tiny, and Adro's fucking huge.
  Shrimp: I guess you get used to it, though.
• Palette Swap: Multiple:
  • The Orbs, which come in Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Yellow, and some other ones that can't be examined, are the same sprite except for the bits that are the named color being the other ones.
  • The Underground Monkey types of Rogue Datums have the regular blue one, and the red-instead-of-blue Hyper versions.
• Percent-Based Values: The Virus condition does [1% of Max Health] of Damage Over Time. That is, every 3 steps, when out of battle.
• Permanently Missable Content: A person in the Skype Community Theater says that by the point they can be talked to, the hot spring scene is this. However, it is for some reason subverted as you can still do the steps to access it.
• Portal Network: Used for some puzzles, and some don't have the teleporter exit just return to the teleporter entrance:
  • The second puzzle to ascend Svetlana's Spire. Unlike usual examples of such puzzles, entrances aren't also exits when reversed. Most, or all teleporter exits, when used, don't take the party back to the teleporter that sent them there in the first place.
  • One of the ways to retrieve the Spire Key of 3V3's Spire. Its teleporter exits can work in reverse.
• Pre-existing Encounters: The pirates at the Twitter port and the Spambots at the bottom of Boxxy's Spire have to be interacted with to be fought.
• Random Drop: Multiple:
  • Embeds may drop Antivirus Berries.
  • Undead Skeletons may drop Byte Swords.
  • Pale Haters may drop Megabyte Swords.
  • Pirates have a high chance of dropping Pirate Swords.
  • Newfags may drop Creepy Things.
• Rare Candy: Certain consumable items, like Delicious Cinnemon: "Raises the maximum INT of one Spherian by 5."
• Random Encounters: They start after leaving the first town.
• Rare Random Drop: The Proxy Feathers that Hater Trolls drop, are at a rate lower than most other drops. Exact rate unknown, but approximately 1/30 or lower.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: Pirate First Mate Nozzy asks the party who they are, interfering in her pirating, Catie starts to answer, and Nozzy says that "It was a rhetorical question,"
• Shout-Out: Multiple:
  • To Pokémon Red and Blue:
    • An early guard says that he was fired from his job in Saffron City for soliciting drinks from kids.
    • Later, just before going in tall grass in social road, you are stopped by a man called 0ak. He tells you that monsters lie in the tall grass.
    • Along the same road, an NPC called Youngster will stop you and say that “I like shorts! They’re comfy and easy to wear!”, just like in Red and Blue, before attacking you with a Ratatta and Pidgey. Also, the subsequent cave has Zubats as enemies, and a whole area full of Pokémon trainers as mini-bosses.
  • To multiple entries in the The Legend of Zelda franchise:
    • To the "it's dangerous to go alone" line from The Legend of Zelda, trying to leave the first town without a companion after being told of said requirement, with:
      Town Guard: Listen, I already told you that it's dangerous to go alone! Take a friend!
    • To The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where its Kokuri Tunic appears, with the Flavor Text:
      A green tunic worn by a legendary hero long ago. How it ended up in the Sphere is anyone's guess.
  • To the cartoon, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • In the FAQ Woods, asking a sign for an explanation of the Derpy condition has this reference to the name of Derpy Hooves / Ditzy Doo / Muffins:
      Or "ditzy," if you want to be all "politically correct" about it...
      Anyway, this status condition means that you become clumsy and uncoordinated, and you won't be able to dodge enemy attacks! If you don't want to hurt yourself, you can use Thursday Night Balm to clear everything right up~!
    • The show's setting of Equestria is across from the western border of the Boxxysphere, and can be visited. It's presence is also mentioned by many characters.
  • The The Elder Scrolls series: To common lines in multiple entries:
    • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: The guard that is first met under the Sphere Archive says that game's guard's lines of "Stop, criminal scum!"
    • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Replace "adventurer" with "Spherian" and "arrow" with "doxxing" to get this from the /m] guards:
      I used to be a Spherian, like you. But then I took a doxxing in the knee.
    • The Very Hard course in the cart minigame is referred to as the "SUPER HARD VINI VIDI VICI COURSE".
  • The Pit of 100 Trials from the Paper Mario series is here, only here it is called the Pit of 100 Faggots/Trolls.
• SI Prefix Name: How the basic tiers of equipment are named, with Byte and Megabyte Swords and Staffs.
• Spinning Out of Here: Teleporters have Catie spin in a circle before teleporting in a beam of light.
• Starter Equipment: Multiple, for each character:
  • Catie starts off with a Byte Staff, Black Headband, and a Mooninites T-Shirt.
  • Anonymous starts off with a Byte Sword, Byte Shield, and a "Suit and Tie"
• Spanner in the Works: Cornelia's unexpected reappearance allows Boxxyfan to speed up his plans, as he now has two minions instead of just the one, so he can send Messenger ahead to prepare the next stage, at Boxxy's Spire, while Cornelia handles 3V3's Spire.
• Surprisingly Creepy Moment: The game is a pretty lighthearted meme game overall, but one secret area in Skype is noticeably creepier than the rest of the game. In Skype, you can come across an abandoned house in bad shape, and entering it and going down into the basement leads to a creepy hallway with ominous music leading to a red door that asks you in a chilling voice "what is the color of light?", all in a big Shout-Out to the Dark Brotherhood of The Elder Scrolls.
• Underground Monkey: Multiple:
  • There's the Hater type enemies, represented by some knight battler, of Pale Haters, and Hater Trolls.
  • Rogue Datums have the regular one, and the Palette Swap redder Hyper versions.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: /V/ice~ can turn into a red-haired girl, instead of being a green-haired girl with a different hairstyle, and they spin when they do it. They say they got the ability from magical fountain protected by a siren, who only recently has gotten protective.
• Winged Humanoid: Multiple enemies:
  • Underaged Female Users, who look like angels, and have white feathered wings.
  • Camwhores, who are basically harpies, who have blue feathered wings.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Cornelia believes that, as an AI, she cannot defy Boxxyfan no matter how much she wants to.
  For humans like you, fate and destiny are just malleable toys. I'm NOT human. My entire existence is based on instructions and limits. My destiny isn’t just something I can choose.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: The heroes have to stop Boxxyfan from activating the three Spires and destroying the Internet. Naturally, he just beats them to the first two Spires, and manages to activate the third one even after they beat him; it then turns out that there is a fourth one, and that one he fails. Rcoastee manages to activate it instead- only for Catie to stop the destruction anyway.

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