Pinocchiogoria is a horror visual novel that is created by Axel Vejar Dossow in 2023 and is a horror take on the classic The Adventures of Pinocchio fairy tale.
The story starts off with Marilondio Gepetto's wife Marissia becoming pregnant and he had a dream that he would have a son and that he would teach his son everything about marionettes. But unfortunately, his wife ended up dying during the delivery and she gave birth to twins: Mia and Pinocchio. But then, Pinocchio dies shortly after the birth, while Mia survived and this causes Gepetto great pain as he wanted a son, not a daughter. Years later, Gepetto ended up building a marionette that represented his lost son Pinocchio and he treated the puppet like his real son. 30 years later, Mia, now an adult, finds out that Pinocchio is now alive and wants to kill her!
The game is available to download through the Itch.io site
This game contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Gepetto is extremely abusive towards Mia, as he wished that he had a son instead of a daughter and he's always either being violent towards Mia or telling her that he never wanted her in the first place. It gets worse as the story goes on when it's revealed that the Mia that we had been following throughout the story is not the real Mia and was only an orphan that Gepetto had adopted years ago and that Gepetto had murdered the real Mia years ago.
- Adaptational Villainy : Both Pinocchio and Gepetto are much more villainous in this story than in the original fairy tale as Gepetto is abusive towards his daughter Mia and he wanted to use Mia's body to become a vessel for his dead wife and also murdered the real Mia years ago. Meanwhile, Pinocchio is a murderous puppet in this story, unlike his literary counterpart.
- Anti-Villain: Even though Pinocchio spends most of the game chasing after Mia and trying to kill her, he ultimately just wants someone to love him.
- Artifact of Doom: The gem. It grants wishes, but gets you back in some way, no matter how well you think you've shut out the possibilities.
- Asshole Victim: Gepetto, an abusive father who planned to use Mia as a vessel to bring his wife back to life, is killed by Pinocchio in Ending 3.
- Big Bad: Pinocchio is the demonic puppet trying to kill Mia, except he is actually working for Marilondio Gepetto, Mia’s father who wants to use Mia as the vessel to bring back his late wife.
- Came Back Wrong: Pinocchio is resurrected as a sadistic, homicidal maniac bent on killing Mia and the rest of his family.
- Content Warnings: The game has those at the very beginning.
- Darker and Edgier: Much more so than the original fairy tale as this game contains lots of violence, Gepetto and Pinocchio are more villainous characters and the plot revolves around a cult and murder.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: If Pinocchio catches Mia in the final section of the game, he will give her a literally bone-crushing hug, killing her.
- Driven to Suicide: In Ending 5, Mia ends up slitting her own throat in order to prevent Gepetto from using her body as a vessel for his dead wife.
- Fanservice: Mia wears a dress with a Cleavage Window, which is evident with her sprite and the menu art. Whenever she takes a bath to recover health, there is a little bit of fanservice with her in the tub.
- Foreshadowing: Mia is a brunette as a child, but she has strawberry blonde hair as an adult. Possibly to show how she's not the real Mia.
- Golden Ending: If A House for Alesa 3 is any indication, the true ending is the one in which Mia vanishes Pinoccio and Gepetto to the demon realm, and becomes a vampire due to using the gem.
- Heir Club for Men: Gepetto wanted a son to succeed him in the family business, which is part of why he resents Mia.
- Hotter and Sexier: Whereas Axel’s previous games were pretty devoid of fanservice, this game’s heroine, Mia, is a Ms. Fanservice with big breasts that jiggle every time she walks, and you heal her by getting her to take baths with Censor Suds. Also, Gepetto has a bouncy butt.
- Ignored Epiphany: In Ending 5, Gepetto seems like he’s realized how his refusal to accept his wife and son’s deaths resulted in Mia’s death. Unfortunately, he brushes off the cruel realization and wonders why he had been forsaken.
- Jump Scare: Anytime Pinocchio pops out of nowhere to kill Mia.
- Kill and Replace: What Gepetto did to his real daughter Mia as he replaced her with an orphan he found at the orphanage after he killed his real daughter.
- Laser-Guided Karma: What happens to Gepetto in Ending 3, as Pinocchio ends up murdering Gepetto once he turns on him to help Mia.
- Multiple Endings:
- Ending 1 - The Past Always Comes Back: Mia escapes Gepetto's house and lives a full life married with kids. As she's telling the story of Pinocchio to her granddaughter, she hears a knock on the door. She opens up, revealing Pinocchio is still around.
- Ending 2 - Gepetto's Dream: Mia resigns herself to her fate, becoming a Soul Jar for Marissia's spirit.
- Ending 3 - Brotherly Love: Mia asks Pinocciho for help as she's about to be killed by Gepetto. Pinocchio murders Gepetto, but ends up killing Mia with his monstrous strength.
- Ending 4 - Cursed: Mia steals the gem from Gepetto, using it to vanish them to the demon realm. Unfortunately, because she used the jewel, now she's cursed... with vampirism.
- Ending 5 - Wasted Lives: Mia decides to kill herself rather than be used as a Soul Jar. This leaves Gepetto dejected, as now he'll never be able to revive Marissia.
- Ending 6 - Let's Ignore The Past: It goes the same as Ending 1, except that Mia chooses not to open the door, thus evading Pinocchio.
- Off with His Head!: In one of the game overs, Pinocchio chops off Mia's head if he catches her.
- Posthumous Character: Both Marissia, Gepetto's wife and the real Pinocchio, as they both died at the start of the game.
- Slashed Throat: How Mia dies in Ending 5.
- The Unfavorite: To say that Gepetto favors Pinocchio over Mia is an understatement.
- Wham Line: When Mia finally gets the holy candle, Pinocchio reveals that holy candles only work on ethereal entities, not materialized beings. This reveals that Gepetto tricked Mia into going into the church for the possession ritual.
