Wings of Vi is a 2014 action-platformer by Solgryn, creator of I Wanna Be The Boshy.
Vi is an angel who lives in the Floating Keep. The story begins with her friend Rubi calling her out to check out the previously-guarded prison that demon lord Jeh'oul is kept at. After throwing rocks at him for revenge of his past attacks on the angel race, he unleashes a roar that knocks Rubi down and Vi into the only switch keeping him bounded. Vi leaves just to see that her hometown is infested with demonic forces, sees Rubi getting captured by one of them, and taking her Staff of Purity to set off and properly slay Jeh'oul.
You can view an archive of the game's official page here.
The game can be bought on Steam.
This Game has Examples of:
- Ability Required to Proceed: Wings of Power that first appear in the Underworld can only be picked up and used once the player has found the feather required.
- Advancing Boss of Doom:
- Dark Annihilator slowly chases you down a cave while periodically firing anything from missiles to lasers, and even incendiary bombs at you.
- Kratarac chases you much faster than Dark Annihilator does, making you jump to and from various platforms while dodging his intimidating limbs, among other things.
- Action Girl: Vi herself, who can pull off tricky manuvers and slaughter several demon forces.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Secrets in general, which change Vi's appearance. Beating the game in general? Grants a potion that makes you resemble Rubi.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Angel Mode contains a few helpers that can ease a player into the higher levels. Pits and spike-enemies give you a second chance instead of killing you outright, some of the temporary platforms have new permanent ones placed under them to allow to take your time, far more save points, etc.
- All Men Are Perverts: Implied by Rubi's line at the beginning that she can make boys do whatever she wants, explaining why there are no guards by Jeh'oul.
- Antepiece: The entire beginning eases you into the jump mechanics, with harmless teleporting pads that take you out of pits that would likely be deadly later into the game. The fact that even the beginning asks for a bit of an angeled air-jump should give an indication of what the game proper has to offer and that it will not hand-hold the player.
- Big Bad: Jeh'Oul is a demon lord who seeks to destroy all good and take vengeance on angels for imprisoning him.
- Big Damn Heroes: Even after defeating Amethyst, she immobilizes Vi with shadow magic, where then Fiola comes to the rescue.
- Book Ends: The game begins and ends at the Floating Keep. All of the NPCs from the beginning are still there. The demonic forces that have infested the Floating Keep also make a return at the final area of the game.
- The Cameo: It's possible to find a Boshy custom in a hidden area.
- Checkpoint Starvation: Each succeeding difficulty level strips away checkpoints. Players on the lower levels would know which will be removed higher on based on color: Red checkpoints are in all three, yellow checkpoints are in the Mortal and Angel modes, and pink checkpoints are exclusive to the Angel mode. In addition to this, the Hellspawn modifier replaces all checkpoints with health pickups but gives Vi a 400% increase in health.
- Colorful Theme Naming: The main character's name is a shortening of violet, and her friend is named Rubi. Also present is an Amethyst.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Myougi is Jeh'Oul's daughter who serves as the main enforcer for his plans.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Platforming fans new to this game are going to have to relearn a couple things, especially concerning the Double Jump. Let's see how to best describe this... Every time you land, you are allowed one Jump. You can use this Jump in midair if you walk off a platform, or you may Jump from a standing position, but you cannot use a midair Jump immediately after Jumping from a standing position. After about 20 minutes you acquire an item that lets you Flutter in midair, but this is mapped to a different button than your Jump, thus allowing you to Jump and Flutter in any order you please.
- Distressed Damsel: Rubi, but she's rescued at the end of the first area.
- Death from Above:
- Supreme Jeh'Oul attacks by diving down from the sky.
- The Dark Annihilator calls down missiles from above. Similarly, Myougi calls down meteors from above in her second encounter.
- Dem Bones: The skeletal chariots first encountered in the Underworld.
- Doomed Hometown: Subverted. The Floating Keep may look like it's ruined after the demon invasion, but after the credits, it's the way it is before.
- Dual Boss: The Twin Orcs are fought simultaneously and have separate health bars. When one is defeated, the player must defeat the second one before the first one restores her health.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: Some rewards at the end of the game can only be unlocked with playing on Mortal or Demon Mode.
- Hell Invades Heaven: Because of Vi and Rubi's carelessness, Jeh'Oul gets released from his prison, resulting in the Floating Keep, home of the angels, being overrun by demonic forces.
- Hot as Hell: Myougi and her mother Azurel are both attractive-looking demonesses with quite sizable chest areas.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: "Angel Mode" (Easy), "Mortal Mode" (Normal), and "Demon Mode" (Hard).
- Improbably Female Cast: There appear to be far more female angels than male.
- Light Is Good: The angels are all heroes to some extent, and associated with lightness all around.
- Load-Bearing Boss: The Underworld collapses after Jeh'oul's death. Everyone escapes bar Myougi, who attempts to follow the heroes only to get locked out when the portal closes just before she could reach it.
- Magic Skirt: Rubi's dress stays put even while being held upside-down by Pr'gora.
- Meaningful Name: Jeh'Oul's name sounds very similar to "Djævel", which means "Devil" in Danish.
- Nerd Glasses: Your reward for reading all of the exposition books at the beginning of the game.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The entire plot gets kickstarted when Rubi and Vi decide to taunt Jeh'Oul while he's imprisoned by throwing rocks at him. This results in him roaring so hard Vi gets thrown into the switch that releases him from his prison, allowing him to prepare to enact vengeance on his captors.
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Nintendo Hard: Demanding jumps, temporary blocks, traps that normally kill instantly, difficult enemies, and your only weapon for the first segment is very close ranged and melee-based despite how helpful shooting would be early in the game. The game also has challenge modes that can make it harder. This is to be expected, being made by the same guy who did an outright Platform Hell earlier. - Noblewoman's Laugh: Practically every female boss covers their mouth when laughing.
- Non-Lethal Bottomless Pits: Only in the easiest difficulty. Vi will be teleported away from ordinarly insta-kill obstacles at the cost of losing half of a full life bar thanks to the Life Orb. If she has less than that, then she dies.
- Not Quite Flight: Vi cannot fly with her wings in the beginning, but she can gain an air jump if she hasn't jumped prior.
- One-Hit Kill: There are certain Invincible Minor Minions that essentially act as bottomless pits, killing Vi instantly (or resulting in her getting warped out by the Life Orb on Angel Mode) if she lands in one.
- One-Winged Angel: After defeating Jeh'Oul at the end of the game, he transforms into Supreme Jeh'Oul.
- Our Angels Are Different: They are pale-skinned Winged Humanoids who live in the skies, are very much mortal, go through a course on purifying the sins, have seemingly decorative halos, and their flight magic can be taken away.
- Retraux: The entire game is in a 16bit-like style.
- Seven Deadly Sins: All the weapons available to Vi are named after one of them.
- Stripperiffic: Vi's standard outfit is a pair of shorts and a clevage-exposing top, bearing more than a passing resemblance to sleepwear, but she fights off demonic forces like that.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Jeh'Oul is a monstrous reptile-like devil. His wife Azurel, on the other hand, is a very attractive succubus.
