History VideoGame / RUINER

** !During the boss fight against HEAVEN's security chief Watayama, Wizard sets a timer for fifteen seconds; when it hits zero, the protagonist dies. Killing an enemy adds five seconds to the timer, and thankfully Watayama [[TacticalSuicideBoss is kind enough to keep throwing mooks at the protagonist, allowing him to stay alive]]. Given how counter-intuitive this is to Wizard's stated intention of having the protagonist kill the Boss, it seems he does it solely ForTheEvulz.

''RUINER'' is a hardcore, [[TopDownView top-down]] twin-stick shooter made by the Polish indie studio Reikon Games and published by Creator/DevolverDigital, released on September 26 2017 for PC, {{UsefulNotes/PS4}} and {{UsefulNotes/Xbox One}}.

** HEAVEN's top ominous cyber-mooks are named "ANGELS", and their weak spot is a red, spherical core. Every Angel possesses a distinct personality and attack pattern ([[spoiler:since they're merged with a human host]]). [[{{Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion}} Ringing any bells?]]
** On a broader scale, the game's visual style pays homage to many cyberpunk anime series. It's easy to be reminded of the likes of ''{{Manga/Ghost In The Shell}}'', ''{{Manga/Akira}}'' or ''{{Manga/Appleseed}}''.

* CoolGuns: A few recognizable here and there, given a Cyberpunk twist.

* TimedMission: During the boss fight against HEAVEN's security chief Watayama, Wizard sets a timer for fifteen seconds; when it hits zero, the protagonist dies. Killing an enemy adds five seconds to the timer, and thankfully Watayama [[TacticalSuicideBoss is kind enough to keep throwing mooks at the protagonist, allowing him to stay alive]]. Given how counter-intuitive this is to Wizard's stated intention of having the protagonist kill the Boss, it seems he does it solely ForTheEvulz.

* WeirdCurrency: Karma, which acts as experience points for you, acts as currency for everyone else. It seems to be a sort of measurement of your personal life, similar to China's "Social Credit" system, and determines things like where you can live and what you can buy.
** While regular currency apparently does exist, nobody really uses it anymore except the Iching Oracle.

* AnimalMotifs: The obvious standout is dogs. The Boss you're sent to kill in the first mission is sometimes referred to as "Big Dog" or "The Big Dog," and Her continually refers to the protagonist as a puppy, even going so far as to occasionally dub him "Puppy" with a capital P. She even tells you to "go fetch" Wizard.
** "GET THEM PUPPY" appears on the protagonist's mask in the announcement trailer, followed by a stylized dog excitedly wagging its tail at whoever "Puppy" is menacing.
** Other characters, who should have no idea about Her's petnames, also regularly compare the player to a dog.

* ArcWords: Basically, anything that appears on the protagonist's mask is going to feel somewhat poignant, given the dark overtone most of the phrases have, the situations the protagonist experiences, and the frequency of the mask animations that contain those phrases.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: "Big Dog" is finally killed, meaning that HEAVEN will take heavy damage that it will unlikely recover from, which will allow many to enjoy some sort of freedom. On the other hand, the protagonist was the younger brother tricked by Her, and an UnwittingPawn that ultimately has nowhere to go other than maybe the Creeps hideout. The latter view is reinforced in the ending cutscene, as it cuts with the protagonist driving away in a motorcycle right after Big Dog's death.]]
** Of course, considering [[spoiler:Her tells you to 'meet her where Heaven falls' so she can explain the situation in more detail, it's more likely he's heading there.]]

* CyberneticMythicalBeast: Despite taking place in a {{dystopia}}n CyberPunk setting (or rather ''because of it''), this game has two hostile cyborgs themed after creatures from [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]]: the Heavy Cyborgs and the Harpies. The former are robot [[ALoadOfBull minotaurs]] armed with a pair of [[WolverineClaws adamantium claws]] and a seething hatred for organic life, and the latter are [[SkeleBot9000 skeletal cyborgs]] armed with various weapons, such as laser cannons or grenades, and they're happy to blast anything that moves. If you're not prepared, these guys will turn you into a burning mush of minced meat.

* ALoadOfBull: The Heavy Cyborgs have mechanical bull-like heads, making them [[CyberneticMythicalBeast cybernetic Minotaurs]].

* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: The Triads have reorganized themselves from crime syndicate to spec-ops mercenary force, relying on invisibility and acrobatics.

* ShoutOut:

** Overall, it's probably safe to say that Reikon Games are [[JustForFun/OneOfUs huge, huge nerds.]]
* SmugSnake: Wizard. While you're under his control he acts condescending and superior towards you (even showing up in dialogue as "Your Master"), but other characters consider him a mediocre hacker and small-time at best and he's reduced to running scared once you slip his leash. He even acts like a smug dick to the Creeps protecting him, even though he has no sway with them at all other than his deal with Nerve. Once that's been dealt with, he goes down ''eeeeeasy''.

* NoNameGiven: Most of the main characters: the protagonist, his brother, the Boss of HEAVEN, and the hackers Her and Wizard.

* BrainComputerInterface: ''RUINER'' starts with a brain hack that sends you on to perform a corporate hit; the tutorial ends with Her hijacking it ''back''.

* {{Cyberpunk}}: A stand-out example, both in terms of aesthetic (cybered-up thugs in leather and denim enacting violence on each other in a [[NeonCity neon-lit]], rain-drenched industrial dystopia) and in terms of theme (advancements in technology have not reduced people's tendency to be horrible to each other, and if anything have made it worse).

* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: ''The Game''. Rengkok is a dark and shadowy urban hellhole lit primarily by glaring red neon and hazard lights, with the occasional lonely island of white, green, or blue. It's also filled with people who are on the darker side of morally ambiguous ''at best''.

* ALoadOfBull: The Heavy Cyborgs have mechanical bull-like heads, making them look like [[CyberneticMythicalBeast cybernetic Minotaurs]].