History VideoGame / BenJordanParanormalInvestigator

* DoingInTheWizard: [[spoiler:Case 5]] is presented as the only case without a supernatural element, with the main threat being [[spoiler:VoodooZombies created through non-supernatural means.]] However, this is retroactively {{subverted|Trope}} in Case 8, where [[spoiler: Percy tells Ben that there ''was'' some supernatural activity he just wasn't aware of - namely, the appearance of an {{Oni}} which helped Yamamoto put his evil plan together.]]

See also Gonzalez's other Adventure Games, ''VideoGame/{{Shardlight}}'' and ''A Golden Wake''.

** Also in Case 5, the zombies are [[spoiler: [[VoodooZombies people poisoned to a near death-like state and made open to suggestion]]]]. As it turns out, this [[spoiler: actually happened to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvius_Narcisse Clairvius Narcisse]] in Haiti]].

''Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator'' is a series of eight {{freeware|Games}} [[AdventureGame point'n'click adventures]] by [[http://www.grundislavgames.com/ Francisco "Grundislav" Gonzalez]]. It details the adventures of the eponymous hero, a young man from Philadelphia, as he travels around the world solving supernatural crimes, each part being a separate case.

* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case1.php Case 1: In Search of the Skunk-Ape]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case2.php Case 2: The Lost Galleon of the Salton Sea]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case3.php Case 3: The Sorceress of Smailholm]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case4.php Case 4: Horror at Number 50]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case5.php Case 5: Land of the Rising Dead]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case6.php Case 6: Scourge of the Sea People]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case7.php Case 7: The Cardinal Sins]]
* [[http://grundislavgames.com/benjordan/case8.php Case 8: Relics of the Past]]

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: If the Osaka Police department worked the way a police department ''REALLY'' did, Ben would probably have not only been '''a)''' Probably turned away before he could do anything, '''b)''' have had a ''LOT'' harder time obtaining evidence if he wasn't turned away, and '''c)''' would have made for a boring game.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}} and {{justified|Trope}} in Case 8 - apparently, [[spoiler: Percy]] has the ability to sway people's wills and has been doing so to help Ben on his adventures.

* BigBad: Kind of split between [[spoiler:Cardinal Genovese]], who is directly responsible for every paranormal danger Ben has had to confront, and Zortherus, a powerful strigoi with a close vendetta against Ben's family (though Ben only faces him once, and he mostly figures into the backstory).

* BilingualBonus[=/=]GratuitousSpanish: The ghost captain in the case 2 remake speaks actual, proper Spanish, though it can be somewhat difficult to understand with the heavy reverb effect.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Case 3. Sure, Ben might have stopped the witches of Smailholm, but his love interest, Mary, is dead and is going to haunt him for many {{Dream Sequence}}s to come]].

* BrickJoke: The prospector loans Ben his car near the end of Case 2, which winds up crashed. When it's all done, the prospector asks where his car is. Cue OhCrap from Ben.

* BusmansHoliday: Case 6 starts out as a vacation.

* CastingGag: in Case 7 and 8, Percival Quentin Jones is voiced by Chris ''Jones'', the creator of the AdventureGameStudio the series was made with.
* {{Confessional}}: One appears in case seven. Ben can confess to [[IdleAnimation many]] [[KleptomaniacHero silly]] [[TryEverything "sins"]] he has committed over the course of the series.

** Use the "Touch" icon on a priest in case 8, and you'll get a message saying [[BlackComedy "Shouldn't that be the other way around?"]]

* DoingInTheWizard: [[DoubleSubversion Double subverted.]] It appears that [[spoiler:Case 5]] is the only case without a supernatural element, but in Case 8, [[spoiler: Percy tells Ben that there ''was'' some supernatural activity he just wasn't aware of - namely, the appearance of an [[{{Youkai}} Oni]] which helped Yamamoto put his evil plan together.]]

* FantasyKitchenSink: Skunk-apes, ghosts, witches, zombies, demons... Most obvious with case 6, which introduces elements of Myth/ClassicalMythology.

* IdiotBall: Ben picks up one in case 8 when he hands a relic over to a member of the clergy. Ben, the Knights of St. Anthony are ''involved'' in the Clergy....
** Slightly justified in that Ben didn't know that the crypts are normally not open to the public.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Ben's quite fond of these. Objects he has used to defeat his enemies include: [[spoiler:a table with some cocaine on it, a crowbar, a sharp hook on a rope, part of a drain pipe, a camera, a customized vacuum cleaner, a rusty old trident, a 2000-year old amulet with a demon trapped in it, and a statue of Atlas. Oh, and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg a stolen gun]].]]

* ShoutOut: When they confront the ghost in Case 4 Ben says he was half-expecting a [[VideoGame/ChzoMythos skeleton with an apron and machete]].
** In Case 1 (Deluxe maybe), there's a reference to ''VideoGame/LauraBow'' with picking stuff up and "putting it in your purse".
*** The music that plays when examining a victim of the skunk-ape is also the same as in the second ''VideoGame/LauraBow'' game.

** When Ben meets someone standing outside an apartment building in case 7, he asks if there's been a [[VideoGame/TheBlackwellSeries doorman strike]].
** One of the office doors in the Basilica in case 7 is labeled [[Creator/UmbertoEco "U. Eco"]].
** The maze on Minotaur Island in case 6 is almost blatantly inspired by the minotaur's maze in VideoGame/KingsQuestVI. Biggest difference is that this time the minotaur's been quite dead for a while.

*** The computer in the original version of case 1 is labelled "Compy 386".
*** In case 3, Wilma's house is described as being "a thatched-roof cottage, suitable for burnination".
* ShownTheirWork: Case 5 features zombies who leave fingerprints at the scene of their crimes. When Ben asks the detective if they can find anyone linked to the fingerprints, he mentions that unless they match someone who is already in the database, they can't include them as a suspect, or pin them to the crime. Forensics aren't magic, after all.
** Also in case 5, the zombies are [[spoiler: people poisoned to a near death-like state and made open to suggestion]]. As it turns out, this [[spoiler: actually happened to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvius_Narcisse Clairvius Narcisse]] in Haiti]].
** Despite that the details about the siren are a bit wrong, the mermaid-figure is actually quite a common interpretation.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games; but one might also think that it bears a lot from the first ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight'' game.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Hey Ben, eat that blowfish. Yeah, we're told it's extremely poisonous! Do it! Game over!

* OneHundredAndEight: Conveniently, Case 5 is set in Japan... and the most points you can get? 108. Coincidence?

* AGodAmI: The BigBad's plan in Case 8.

See also Gonzalez's other Adventure Games ''VideoGame/{{Shardlight}}'' and ''A Golden Wake''.

''Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator'' is a series of eight [[FreewareGames freeware]] [[AdventureGame point'n'click adventures]] by [[http://www.grundislavgames.com/ Francisco "Grundislav" Gonzalez]]. It details the adventures of the eponymous hero, a young man from Philadelphia, as he travels around the world solving supernatural crimes, each part being a separate case.

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in Case 8 - apparently, [[spoiler: Percy]] has the ability to sway people's wills and has been doing so to help Ben on his adventures.

* {{Cliffhanger}}/DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Case 7. Simon is killed, Ben is taken captive by Percy who turns out be TheMole, and Alice has mysteriously disappeared]].

* ImprovisedWeapon: Ben's quite fond of these. Objects he has used to defeat his enemies include: [[spoiler:a table with some cocaine on it, a crowbar, a sharp hook on a rope, part of a drain pipe, a camera, a customized vacuum cleaner, a rusty old trident, a 2000-year old amulet with a demon trapped in it, and a statue of Atlas. Oh, and [[AndZoidberg a stolen gun.]]]]

* KarmaHoudini: Max, the [[spoiler:Knight of St. Anthony responsible for killing Simon]], walks away scot-free in the Case 8 finale, albeit after Ben convinces him to give up his life of thuggery. [[spoiler:Actually [[SubvertedTrope subverted:]] [[WordOfGod a comment left by Francisco Gonzalez]] [[http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=vvsNO82WZLQ on the last video of hercrabbiness's LP series of the games]] reveals that there was a scrapped part of the WhereAreTheyNow ending that revealed he was hit by a car as he walked away from Notre Dame.]]

** When Ben meets someone standing outside an apartment building in case 7, he asks if there's been a [[VideoGame/TheBlackwellSeries doorman strike.]]
** One of the office doors in the Basilica in case 7 is labeled [[Creator/UmbertoEco "U. Eco"]]

** Try touching people for no reason in Case 8, and in one out of three possible messages the game will chastise you for acting like Hercrabbiness, who [[RunningGag whenever she plays these games, uses the "touch" icon on everything.]]
** The humorous secret ending of Case 8 is lifted straight from [[spoiler:SilentHill2, precisely the [[TheDogWasTheMastermind dog ending]].]]

** Also in case 5, the zombies are [[spoiler: People poisoned to a near death-like state and made open to suggestion]]. As it turns out, this [[spoiler: actually happened to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvius_Narcisse Clairvius Narcisse]] in Haiti]].

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: There are very few ways to actually die in the series, but at least the deaths make sense.

* TheUnFavourite: Even though it's not really that bad, Ben's relationship with his parents still has strong vibes of this.

* FantasyKitchenSink: Skunk-apes, ghosts, witches, zombies, demons... Most obvious with case 6, which introduces elements of Myth/GreekMythology.

** In Case 1 (Deluxe maybe), there's a reference to ''LauraBow'' with picking stuff up and "putting it in your purse".
*** The music that plays when examining a victim of the skunk-ape is also the same as in the second ''LauraBow'' game.

* VirginSacrifice: Case 3. [[spoiler:Also a subversion of AManIsNotAVirgin.]]

** When Ben meets someone standing outside an apartment building in case 7, he asks if there's been a [[TheBlackwellSeries doorman strike.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To SierraEntertainment adventure games; but one might also think that it bears a lot from the first ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight'' game.

* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Yamamoto]] is well aware that forensics aren't magic.

* DevelopersForesight: You actually get a lot of messages for touching things, such as if you use the "touch" icon on yourself Ben gussies himself up a bit.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: You actually get a lot of messages for touching things, such as if you use the "touch" icon on yourself Ben gussies himself up a bit.
** You can actually tell Ben to eat a pufferfish that is obviously not safe in Case 5.
** Use the "Touch" icon on a priest in case 8, and you'll get a message saying [[BlackComedy "Shouldn't that be the other way around?"]]

* LetsPlay: hercrabbiness happened to have been doing a LetsPlay of all the series in order.

* FantasyKitchenSink: Skunk-apes, ghosts, witches, zombies, demons... Most obvious with case 6, which introduces elements of GreekMythology.

* ScheduleSlip: There was a four-year gap between the release dates of Case 7 and Case 8, the reason the Case 2 remake was done: while development of Case 8 stalled, Grundislav decided to remake another earlier episode rather than doing nothing. He also worked on some smaller adventure games.

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[http://www.youtube.com/user/hercrabbiness?blend=1&ob=4 Hercrabbiness]], who is currently doing a LetsPlay of each game in order, is the voice of Annie Roberts in Case 2.
** [[spoiler: Zortherus]] is voiced by [[Creator/EdwynTiong Dan]] [[VideoGame/TheTrappedTrilogy McNeely]] in Case 8.