One morning, everything changes for postwoman Elfriede Rauss: war is declared between her home country, Wesslinger, and Leyland. The cause is a dispute over a fertile parcel of a small neighboring land, Vermorel, also to be the site of the battlefield, but the politics are almost irrelevant. Having been called to come defend their country, the small town of Brachsburg raises up in joy, eager to do their part - but Elfriede, almost alone, is worried. Will this war really be the dashing, man-making affair her childhood friend assumes it will be? But if her gut is right, what awaits them are horrors beyond their understanding.
Because We're Here
is a brutal Otome Game Visual Novel set in a World War I-inspired fictional land, about a young woman finding her way through the evils of war - and just maybe finding something to make living all worth it. Act I of four was released on July 19, 2018. Act II was released on September 28, 2019.
Because We're Here contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actual Pacifist: Marius, who used to be a boxer, but who believes that political violence is something else entirely, and so took on a job as a stretcher-bearer. Elfriede notes that, as he has to enter No-Man's Land unarmed, he's probably braver than anyone. Compare Gottfried and Gerhardt, who also avoid active combat, but for less selfless reasons.
- Berserk Button: Act II has several instances where characters deliberately invoke this in a bid to manipulate another party.
- Elfriede pushes all of Otto's buttons in order to rattle him enough that she can slip past him into No Man's Land.
- Gerhardt tries his very best to rile Wolf up in an attempt to break through his shell shock, so that Wolf has a fighting chance when the whole company is ordered into No Man's Land.
- Character Development: Each of the three characters we meet before they sign up as soldiers - August, Wolf, and Eugen - have changed immeasurably when Elfriede finally manages to see them again six months later.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: The first half drips with Dramatic Irony, in which characters openly celebrate at the prospect of joining the war, and even the good characters get involved with bullying a draft-dodger. More subtly, Elfriede doesn't blink when Marius says that the point of being a soldier is to protect women, nor does anyone when Gerhardt protests at being lumped in with the disabled.
- Dirty Coward: Gerhardt is seen by the townspeople as this for refusing to sign up. Elfriede however is much more sympathetic, even if his route isn't taken, and the narrative ultimately portrays his choice as entirely understandable.
- Draft Dodging: Gerhardt, who evades service for reasons he refuses to explain (though he eventually admits it's partially because he's terrified of going to war). As happened in real life, he is abused by the rest of the town for refusing to step up, leading to him eventually becoming a shut-in. Gottfried also elects to become a war artist with the intention of avoiding battle by painting propaganda of the home front, only to be sent to paint in the trenches instead. As Elfriede points out and he admits, he probably would've been safer if he hadn't tried to pull a fast one.
- In Act II, Elfriede and Marius find Gerhardt trying to work up the nerve to shoot himself in the foot after he's conscripted.
- The Dulcinea Effect: A gender inverted example is seen in Elfriede's behavior towards Dory, as she constantly jumps in to protect him from harm due to him reminding her of August. Once the illusion is shattered at the climax of the Act she leaves him well and truly out to dry.
- Face Death with Dignity: Marius, while lying on top of a live grenade, still has the presence of mind to ask Elfriede and Helmut to watch out for Gerhardt for him, and also to entreat the two of them to live long enough to see peace.
- The Faceless: Any sprite, that isn't one of the main characters, has their eyes obscured by either a helmet for men or bangs for women. While there is the obvious reason of the time needed to create individual sprites for characters that may appear only once, there is explanation is also given in game that Elfriede isn't worried about them, she almost doesn't really see them as people. Floris de Witt removes his helmet in Act II, marking his transition from one of these faceless sprites to potential love interest for Elfriede.
- Elfriede Drat, drat, drat! I can't do this! Floris isn't a person! Not a real one. He doesn't have anything to offer someone like me.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Before the beginning of the story, Wolf, a petty thief, punches his employer Eugen in the face. Eugen however insists that once they join up as soldiers together, they will become bonded under a single shared cause. August and Elfriede are more skeptical, but it actually does happen - when she reunites with them six months later, they have become something like friends. This doesn't apply to all soldiers, however - Walter is too unsettling and mean to get this benefit.
- First-Episode Twist: By the end of Act I, by far the shortest act, not only has all optimism been completely sapped from the cast, an unexpected attack has left Eugen blinded, Wolf shell-shocked, and August, who had been portrayed to the letter as the main love interest, is dead.
- First-Name Basis: Otto to the privates, despite being a Lance-Corporal, because he earned his rank mainly just because he outlived a bunch of people and so doesn't feel like a superior at all. Elfriede accidentally addresses Horst by his first name when they first meet, too - despite being even more unprepared for his rank, actually being the youngest in the cast, Horst attempts to create a more disciplined atmosphere and isn't particularly pleased. If Elfriede chooses to give August's brooch to him, she wil run through her head all of the many complicated and personal reasons why he is her best choice, before saying out loud that it's merely an apology for using his first name earlier.
- Flashback Echo: Elfriede flashes back to August's death when she kisses another Love Interest during Act II.
- Friendship-Hating Antagonist: Walter Bergengruen is the only character in the game whose route is considered non-romantic. Walter is a distant rifleman with grand artistic aspirations who resents his comrades and who prefers animals over human beings. This is because he's a self centred sociopath who couldn't care less about friendships/romance and sending others off to die during wartime, believing that anyone who doesn't fully devote themselves to Wessling is a national traitor. His route revolves around Elfriede and her acquaintances finding out if Walter has any humanity left or if he's beyond help.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Non-romantic example - Helmut is intensely jealous of everyone who is able to go fight in the war while he is left alone, manning a home guard that everyone knows is useless. Even when Elfriede tells him she will be becoming a field postman, it takes him a moment to bite back his jealousy and support her.
- Home by Christmas: Referenced by name, of course. The story begins in July, with Elfriede's first trip into the trenches taking place six months later in January, but even as she admits they had been a bit optimistic with that earlier, she's still completely unprepared when told the war could go on for years.
- Jumping on a Grenade: Marius, in order to protect Elfriede and Helmut.
- Large Ham: Even after seeing the war for himself, Eugen has a tendency to speak in an unnecessarily dramatic way. August also gets in on this briefly in his excitement at the declaration of war.
- Lovable Coward: Gottfried positions himself as this, openly wearing the title of coward. However, he's more dedicated to his job than he first lets on.
- Loving a Shadow: All Elfriede's positive feelings towards Dory are due to him reminding her so strongly of pre-war August. Once the illusion shatters in the climax of Act II, she completely rejects him. Similarly, Dory is latching so strongly onto Elfriede because she's a close enough match to the picture of Ethel that he has in his head.
- Love-Interest Traitor: An inverted variaint appears when Horst, the love interest, believes that Elfriede has betrayed her country for Leyland.
- The Medic: Marius.
- Laurent and Eugen in Act II.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: It's never questioned even for a moment that Elfriede won't be able to fight. In fact, the reason why she is able to become a field postman is because her earlier male counterparts were eventually asked to become soldiers instead.
- Mistaken for Betrayal: During the climax of Act II, Horst stumbles upon Dory and Elfriede holding hands in his dugout. The sight, combined with his fragile state of mind, causes him to immediately jump to the conclusion that Elfriede has been in cahoots with Leyland from the beginning. The perceived betrayal is amplified should Elfriede be on his route, as he outright wonders if their whole relationship was a sham. He ultimately goes to his grave under this assumption, much to Elfriede's anguish.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Walter believes that anybody who isn't fully determined to lay down their life for Wessling is a traitor. Wolf also shows stripes of this before the trenches, saying that fighting for a country is something he can understand.
- Nakige
- Nice Guy: Most notably August, but a number of guys also qualify.
- No Love for the Wicked: Walter is a sociopath who does not care whether his fellow humans live or die. He is also the only non-romantic route option, his bio stating that he "could not be less interested in friendship or romance."
- Only Sane Man: Only Elfriede and Gerhardt were willing to question the glory of the war before it happened, although Eugen privately admitted some doubts beforehand.
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: It's clear to everyone that August has been in love with Elfriede for ages but has never been able to make a move. When the war begins, he finds his motivation. Then he dies horribly. If you take his route, he dies while he and Elfriede are about to kiss.
- Period Piece: Is essentially this for 1910s Europe, despite technically being set in a fictional world.
- Propaganda Machine: Gottfried is hired to paint the war, and openly admits that he's encouraged to be inspiring more than accurate.
- Razor Floss: Gerhardt brings Elfriede to Wolf's body after a battle, which is tangled up in barbed wire.
- Repeat to Confirm: Ethel Winter's entire job as a Leylandian telephonist appears to be to receive then repeat reports of casualties from the Leylandian trenches.
- Replacement Goldfish: In Act II, Elfriede very quickly starts using Dory to fill the August shaped void in her heart. A huge part of her breakdown at the end of the Act is due to her finally recognising exactly what she's doing, a fact that's also lampshaded by Dory himself.
- Sanity Slippage: Thanks to both the stresses of his position and horrors of war, Horst's mental state rapidly deteriorates as the game progresses. By the end of Act II, the sight of an enemy soldier in his private quarters is enough to send him into a full blown mental breakdown.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Horst, the son of a cabinet minister, was sent to war as a private precisely to avoid the appearance of this.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: The bomb blast which results in August's death and Eugen's blindness causes this in Wolf. It's mentioned that many other soldiers have fared similarly, and that it isn't considered a reason to send them home.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: It's implied that Elfriede was ready to return August's feelings right before he died. May also occur depending on whose route the player chooses.
- Sorry That I'm Dying: Marius, knowing that he'll never be able to make good on his promise to Gerhardt.
- Marius Tell Gerhardt I'm sorry.
- Story Branching: Subverted; there are several different love interests the player can choose to pursue, but the game's story itself cannot be changed for the most part. At one point the game explicitly tells you that taking a character's route will not change their role in the overall story. In other words, if you happen to be on a character's romance path when their scripted death comes along, the scene plays out differently but doesn't actually stop them from dying, and you're subsequently kicked off their route. For example, August will always die in a bomb attack at the end of Act One, but if the player has taken his route, then it happens right after he confesses his feelings for Elfriede and moves in to kiss her.
- Survivor Guilt: Elfriede decides to become a field postwoman partially as a form of penance for accidentally creating the circumstances in which August was killed, Eugen blinded, and Wolf struck with shell-shock.
- The Stoic: Horst von Sankt most obviously, though most of the characters seem pulled in this direction as a result of the unending awfulness of their situation.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Wolf, after the bomb attack that leaves Eugen blinded and August dead.
- The Unfettered: Out of the entire cast, Otto is the only one who isn't particularly bothered by the incredible loss of life surrounding him - in fact, as a Malthusian, he views the war as more like a necessary natural phenomena. As a result he treats his current actions as little different to when he shot his rifle for hunting, and is more easygoing by far than anyone else.
- Uptown Girl: Happens if Elfriede, village postwoman, gets together with Horst, the son of a cabinet minister. Elfriede lampshades this after Horst dies, bemoaning the fact that they'll never get a chance to face down his father's disapproval together.
- War Is Glorious: The view of a number of characters early on, particularly Eugen, who venerates his aristocratic family's wartime legacy. It doesn't last.
- War Is Hell: The main theme.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Many of the characters were optimistic about the war, but none more than plucky young August, who saw it as the opportunity he needed to make himself a man worthy of Elfriede... to the extent that he was reluctant even to think about having to actually kill somebody. Dory, who doesn't appear in Act I, is also this way; his character title is 'Someone Else's August'.
- White Shirt of Death: You get two illustrations of Gottfried after Elfriede's time in No Man's Land in Act II. In the first, where he is alive, his uniform is mostly buttoned up, obscuring the white shirt underneath. In the second, his uniform isn't hiding how blood-stained his shirt is and he is declared dead not long after.
