If he calls himself Mr. Hyde...
Jekyll & Hyde is a Visual Novel made as part of the MazM video game series that reinterprets well-known works of classic literature with stylized art and gameplay. In this case, it's based on the Robert Louis Stevenson Gothic novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.Initially released in 2017, the game follows each of the main players - Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - and others in the streets of Victorian London, as the mystery gradually unfolds to the reveal that pretty much everyone and their grandma already knows about nowadays.
While it faithfully follows the main premise of the book, the game also expands upon the original story with additional scenes. Along the way, you solve puzzles and interact with people to piece together the whole story before reaching the tragic conclusion.
Then I shall be Mr. Seek The Tropes:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Edward Hyde could arguably fall into that, aside from the pointed teeth and scary eyes.
- Adaptation Expansion: The game not only follows the novella blueprint, but it also provides different perspectives to expand upon details that weren't brought up in full.
- Backtracking: Players will be going through familiar locations introduced at the beginning of the game to acquire items needed to move the plot along. Fortunately, there is a map to make it easier.
- Blood from the Mouth: One scene shows Hyde with a trace of blood coming from his mouth after having used cyanide to kill himself.
- Cane Fu: How Hyde killed Sir Danvers Carew.
- Chase Scene: In one scene as Hyde, he chases Mr. Danvers Carew down the street before going for the kill.
- Chromosome Casting: Downplayed. While the main characters played are unquestionably male, there are some female characters you can talk to to get information, such as the maid Sally Tucker.
- Destroy the Evidence: After learning the Awful Truth about Dr. Jekyll and his connections to Mr. Hyde along with the events that transpired from this, Utterson deemed the knowledge too terrible to tell authorities, so he had the paper burn in the fireplace.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Edward Hyde attacks a little girl just because she bumped into him by accident.
- Downer Ending: Like in the original story, Mr. Utterson is unable to save his friend, Dr. Jekyll, and both Jekyll and Hyde have perished by their own hand.
- Easter Egg: In one of the locations, you can find a poster vaguely similar to posters for The Phantom of the Opera musical. It's also a nod to MazM having created a game based on Leroux's novel of the same name.
- Femme Fatalons: Hyde sports some, but never uses them for violence.
- Fixed Camera: The game is set at a diagonal angle.
- From Bad to Worse: Let's see... Mr. Hyde stomped on a little girl, vandalizes property on a street and bar, picks fights with civilians, and murdered Sir Danvers Carew.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: When Lanyon witnesses Hyde's transformation into Dr. Jekyll because of the concoction, the poor doctor's mind cracks from sheer horror. The horror kills him later.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Hyde gets annoyed or angered very quickly over the slightest provocations, such as getting bumped by accident, the barkeep's quality of drink, and the conversation with Danvers Carew.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Pretty much the staple for this game, transformation drug and all.
- Mini-Game: Players will engage in minigames that involve puzzle-solving, entering codes, etc.
- No Name Given: Averted with a few supporting characters - the maid who witnessed the murder of Sir Carew is named Sally Tucker, and a police officer is named Mr. Newcomen.
- Noodle Incident: The game averts this somewhat by allowing players to step into Mr. Hyde's shoes and see what malicious antics he gets into. While the book doesn't go into detail about what Hyde does while he's out before the murder, the game lets players roleplay Hyde attacking the little girl, causing trouble at a bar, and chasing and killing Sir Danvers Carew.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Hyde displays red eyes when he gets dangerous, though it's not as noticeable when he's in his best moods.
- The Scottish Trope: The moment Utterson brought up Jekyll's name, Lanyon immediately interrupts, demanding him not to speak his name.
- Shout-Out: Talking to Jekyll's guest in one scene has him mention Robert Louis Stevenson and three of his works - Treasure Island, The Body Snatcher and Olalla.
- Another of Jekyll's guest talks about Jules Verne and his book Around the World in Eighty Days as he ponders if it really is possible to pull off such a feat.
- Story Branching: The story branches between the main players - Mr. Utterson, Edward Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll - as players unravel the details of the plot.
- Truer to the Text: The game follows the original novella very closely for the most part.
- Uncanny Valley: Well, if someone thinks a short pale man with red eyes and an evil personality is uncanny, then it's no wonder people are afraid of him.
- Victorian London: Where the game setting takes place.
- Villain in a White Suit: Downplayed and subverted; Dr. Jekyll wears a white suit, but he doesn't present himself as an evil person.
- Would Hurt a Child: Hyde had no qualms about trampling on a little girl for accidentally bumping into him.
- Year X: Averted. The game provides an exact year date and month, just not the day.
