Mission: It's Complicated
is a superhero-themed comedic/romantic free-to-play Visual Novel, released by Schell Games on Valentine's Day 2020.
The player takes the role of Professor L, a researcher whose thesis was on the ways bonds develop between superhero teammates. One day, they awaken from a dream in which a gigantic monster devoured their world, only to get a telepathic message from their alternate-reality self that it's a vision of what's to come. Prof. L is now tasked with finding a relic called the Possibility Stone, developing the bonds between at least two superheroes enough that they can channel The Power of Love through the stone to banish the beast, and then using the stone to send a telepathic warning to the next dimension's Professor L, until some way to defeat it for good is found. Complicating the matter is that, due to a side-effect of the stone, they are physically incapable of discussing their vision with anyone that has not come in contact with the stone. On the bright side, after using their grant money to start up their own superhero organization (with health insurance!), they immediately recruit five superheroes whose bonds may be the key to saving the universe:
- Zircona, a lesbian scientist who absorbed alien minerals into her body during an experiment gone wrong, making her incredibly muscular and as durable as diamond
- Riptide, a bipolar transgender gay man who was bit by a radioactive shark, giving him hydrokinetic abilities (and a fin on his head)
- Wifi, an anxious girl who, ever since a brief abduction to the future when she was an infant, has the power to communicate with any technology and (attempt to) convince it to obey her
- Nightgaunt, a genetically-engineered assassin who used to be the sidekick of the heroine that took down his creators, but left and became an Anti-Hero when he decided he was being coddled
- Zael, a flying, (technically not) laser-eyed alien who was exiled from their planet for feeling too sympathetic (and sometimes romantic) towards conquered races.
With just under two weeks to form at least one eternal bond between these five heroes, Professor L must carefully choose which missions they undertake, and which pairs are sent out. A bad pair, or decision, could lead to someone ending up injured for a day instead of developing their bonds further. And the fate of the world depends on those bonds!
Tropes:
- Anti-Hero: Nightgaunt is brooding, angsty, has a dark backstory, and preferred to work alone between leaving his former mentor Lexiconia and joining Professor L's team.
- Big Damn Kiss: Most partners that maxed out their bonds seal their romance with this, allowing players to get their ending.
- Bizarre Alien Sexes: Zael comes from a planetary empire with five genders and three sexes, but prefers to use "they/them" pronouns for themself.
- Butch Lesbian: Zircona, who has cultivated herself into a mountain of muscle to supplement her Nigh-Invulnerability crystal powers, and directly asks about there being any cute girls on the team when joining Professor L's team.
- The Chosen One: Played with in the Riptide/Wifi bond, in which they decide to learn more about how they each got their powers. The future that empowered Wifi can't be seen due to Ghiradon's presence, but they at least find out that the radioactive shark that bit Riptide just wanted to taste a human...which he thinks is perfect, because he genuinely enjoys helping people, and no longer has anxiety about not living up to expectations.
- Dreadful Musician: Riptide's lack of musical skills is the best way to deal with the Instrumentalist in "Tubular Trouble," regardless of who he's paired up with.
- Eldritch Abomination: Ghiradon is this, feeding on planets and only being repelled by The Power of Love. All defeating him in one universe does is just make him go to another one. It's only when all endings have been seen can he finally be defeated once and for all.
- Expy: Basically every superhero is one, with the obvious ones being Nightgaunt (of Batman/Nightwing), Riptide (of Spider-Man), Zirconia (Colossus) and Zael (of Martian Manhunter).
- Genius Bruiser: Zirconia is this not only being a mountain of muscle, but also being a post-grad geologist before getting her powers.
- Hollywood Autism: Wifi, partly (but not entirely) due to her superpower, has always found it easier to talk with technology rather than other people.
- Insistent Terminology: Zael repeatedly explains to people, particularly Professor L, that the energy beams they can emit from their eyes are not technically lasers.
- Mood-Swinger: Riptide admits to being bipolar.
- Multiple Endings: There's one for each pair of superheroes that defeat Ghiradon, as well as a Bad End if none of them are able to, and a Golden Ending if enough New Game Plus runs are completed for every possible pairing to have used the stone at least once.
- Must Have Coffee: Riptide, due to his civilian job being a barista at a cafe, drinks coffee like it's the water he controls. The coffee date with Zirconia also shows he can't stand BAD coffee.
- Oblivious to Love: It takes until midway through the third/final event of the Zircona/Wifi relationship for both of them to realize the other has been flirting with them the whole time, and hasn't been trying to let the other down easy or sees them as only a friend.
- Omniglot: Zael is this, being able to speak any and all languages not just from Earth, but even alien ones.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Professor L. Their real name doesn't have an "L" in it, but since their studies are focused on Love...
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Played deliberately straight by Zael. While they would fit the common variant of being an alien of a species that have five genders and cycle through them based on social standing... They have rejected that social hierarchy wholesale, genders included, and thus would be sexually ambiguous to their own species as well.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Sexually incompatible pairings, such as "Bad Brain Buddies" Riptide and Wifi, still deeply care about each other when maxed out, and this love is strong enough to weaponize the Possibility Stone.
- The Power of Love: Ghiradon's sole weakness is a beam of concentrated energy formed by two people with a strong emotional bond empowering the Possibility Stone. Notably, this works with strong Platonic love as well as romantic.
- Sick Episode: Unless Wifi is teamed up with someone, then "Groan Drones" ends with the whole team getting the flu, and the pair involved are out for the day.
- Shout-Out:
- Moondrop Mountain can either be one to Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley.
- Technopath: Wifi's superpower; she can literally talk with machines (even low-tech like watches and Ferris wheels get little faces and voices) and get them to follow her commands.
- The Unreveal: Enforced in-universe whenever Professor L tries to tell their team about Ghiradon, it comes out of their mouth like complete gibberish. Zael's able to tell it's a temporal block that prevents them from saying so until the time is right.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Unlike Professor L's team whose team get by through teamwork and The Power of Love and The Power of Friendship, Professor J's team are a total mismatched case of heroes, like putting a Green Thumb superheroine next to a Walking Wasteland alien.
