Abandon Shipping: Come Episode 4, some have jumped Sal/Larry due to them becoming stepbrothers. The creator, however, stated that fans are free to view Sal and Larry as whatever they like - brothers, boyfriends, best friends, you name it.
Adorkable: Sal has his moments. For one, whenever he headbangs to Larry's songs, his pigtails always hit him in the face. He also trips over his words when he first meets Ashley in Episode 2.
"Memories and Dreams", the game's main theme and original Episode 1 trailer song, which perfectly encapsulates the game's spirit.
"Haunted Hallways", Episode 2 trailer song which plays in-game when you explore the floors in Episode 2. While "Empty Hallways", the song that played during floors exploration in Episode 1, mostly gives off boredom vibes (as you are meeting your new neighbours, who are all ordinary people, if a bit quirky), this darker song accompanies Sal's now clearly paranormal investigations.
"The Last of Me", which captures Sal's loneliness as he's got no one on his side anymore.
The easily missable "Rob's Jam", which plays in Robert's flat.
"Everything Ends", a lonely electric guitar piece that plays when Sal is standing at the entrance of Addison Apartments after killing everyone.
The fittingly named "Home", which brings a feeling of something safe and constant while retaining the game's dark atmosphere.
Complete Monster: Everyone associated with The Devourers of God cult has been shown to be very nasty, but these ones in particular manage to stand out even among them.
The Red-Eyed Demon, also known as The Void and many other names, is the main focus of worship from the cult and a mysterious cruel entity who seeks to extinguish all life it encounters. Destroying a whole planet before the main events of the game, the entity selects victims to possess and to spread its influence by plague called the Dark. Aiding the cult of The Devourers of God to satisfy its own needs, it comes close to eradicating humanity before Sal's group of friends manage to defeat it, but not before managing to kill almost all of the group's loved ones in the process.
Kenneth Phelps, also known by Sal as "The Dogman", is the current leader of the cult and the father of Travis Phelps. Bent on summoning The Red-Eyed Demon unto the earth, Kenneth carried out many sacrifices to power up the entity, which included Sal's mother, and eventually all of the members of the building that Sal resided in. When Sal would be put to trial, Kenneth managed to pull the strings of the trial to ensure his execution and to have no more obstacles to prevent the arrival of the entity, in order for him to arise as the new god of the world.
Mrs. Packerton is the math teacher of Sal's school as well as one of the members of the cult. Hiding her true persona as a kind and encouraging teacher who cares for her students, she truly wants to kidnap as many teenagers as she can to use as sacrifices for the cult to use and have the meat of her victims to be repurposed and used as the meat for bologna to send to the school and serve to the students there. Alongside this, Packerton also kept her husband in a Fate Worse than Death by keeping him alive while also letting the cult infect him with the plague of the Red-Eyed Demon.
Disappointing Last Level: How some felt about Episode 5 where the plot completely shifts to the main trio stopping the cult. Because of this it lacks the dark yet funny atmosphere the previous episodes had in favor of a more "save the world" finale. In addition the game ends rather suddenly after the church is blown up, with only a secret epilogue briefly showing what the characters did afterwards.
Esoteric Happy Ending: Granted, it is supposed to be a Bittersweet Ending. However, the "bitter" part can outweigh the "sweet". At the end game, 1/3 of humanity is dead from the Plague of Shadows. From the perspective of everyone who isn't a cultist or the protagonists, 1/3 of humanity randomly became Ax-Crazy before dying inexplicably and this could easily happen again (since they don't know what caused it). Presumably, this will have serious social and cultural consequences. In terms of our protagonists, Todd has to fight the demonic presence inside himself for presumably the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Larry is possibly gone forever.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The game has a surprisingly large following in Russia, and it's especially popular among the Russian animation community.
Jerkass Woobie: Travis is a homophobic bully, but he is actually this way due to his oppressive father forcing his beliefs on him, and is deeply insecure about his own homosexuality. Sal can even catch him crying in the boys' restroom.
LGBT Fanbase: Sal's gender nonconformity has attracted quite a few fans. So did the reveal of Todd's orientation.
"Hey there demons, it's me, ya boy", originally a quote from BuzzFeed Unsolved, is often used in regards to Sal.
"(any character) Let me see what you have." "(Sal) A knife!" "NO!"note This vine, applied to Sal's actions in Addison Apartments.
Nausea Fuel: Mrs. Packerton's flat. Heaps of used diapers are lying around, the toilet isn't flushed, and that's not even getting into the contents of the last locked room. After looking inside the second fridge, Larry actually throws up.
Paranoia Fuel: Fake cops that investigated Sanderson's murder, fake Clare Nettles, fake Dr.Enon...just how far does the cult reach? Is there any living reliable adult in Nockfell?
Player Punch: Sal having to kill everyone in Addison Apartments. More specifically, YOU have to do this with your own hands, pushing the button each time the prompt comes up. The worst thing is that, even though we're told their souls are irredeemably damaged by the cult's influence and must be killed to stop its spread, everyone seems completely innocent and back to normal.
Dr.Enon's body. We get a nice view of a snapped neck and a broken leg with pieces of bone sticking out. Only saved from being an outright Nightmare Fuel by melancholic soundtrack and soft sunset colors.
The bologna being made of human flesh.
That One Achievement: "Destroyer", which requires the player to perform five consecutive portions of QTE combos (4,5,7,9 and 10 combos, respectively) without failing once.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Despite the name and the pigtails, Sally's a guy. An in-universe example as well, since Mrs. Rosenberg at first refers to Sally as a 'young girl'.
The Woobie: Every member of the main cast seriously needs a hug.
Sal starts the game off with his mother dead and his face lost. He suffers from depression, nightmares and migraines, encounters the Red-Eyed Demon, loses his best friend/stepbrother to suicide, personally has to Mercy Kill everyone at Addison Apartments, including his friends and family, loses what little support he had, and then gets executed.
Larry was a happy kid, born into a loving family who rarely argued. Then the Trauma Conga Line began. First Larry accidentally killed Mrs.Gibson's pet rabbit with firecrackers. Then he encountered the Red-Eyed Demon, then his beloved father disappeared without a trace, and because of this his mother stopped talking for a while. As a result of killing the rabbit, Larry got into juvenile detention, because of that he had to take summer classes due to missing school, then his bike got stolen...Then, after Sal and Larry banished the demon, Larry had to come to terms with the fact that his father may have abandoned their family after all and is not coming back. Several years later, it seems like everything is fine, and Larry is going to leave Addison Apartments and move in with Sal, Todd and Neil...but that very day the cult performs a successful ritual, and Larry is Driven to Suicide to escape. Now he can't do much, as he's bound to the place of his death, and can only count on external factors to find ways to help Sal.
Todd had a pretty good life - supportive friends, a loving boyfriend, above average smarts, fulfilling hobbies - and lost it in a span of hours when the cult kidnapped him and used him as a vessel for the demon. Now he's been stuck in a mental institution for years with his condition deteriorating, a shell of his former self that only craves death.
Ashley loses all her friends - one to suicide, one to demonic posession, one to the insanity (or so it seemed at the moment) - the very day they were supposed to reunite. When she testifies against Sal, she pleads for him to be institutionalized, not executed, since he's not a bad person and really needs help, but to no avail. After three years of futile attempts to cancel Sal's execution, Ash finally gets evidence that might help...only to arrive just in time to witness Sal get fried in the electric chair. Ash - previously stated to be considered a "soulless monster" by some due to never crying - breaks down in tears at the sight.
, the game's main theme and original Episode 1 trailer song, which perfectly encapsulates the game's spirit.