History VideoGame / Deception

#''Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness'' (''Kokumeikan'') -- Released in July, 1996; rereleased as a [=PSOne=] Classic in 2015. As a [[HelloInsertNameHere nameless]] prince of Zemekia, the player has been framed for the murder of the king by his brother Yurias in a bid for the throne, and he is spirited away by a demoness named Astarte to make a DealWithTheDevil to get his revenge.

#''Kagero: Deception II'' (''Kagero: Kokumeikan Shinsho'') -- Released in July, 1998. A girl named Millennia is caught up as a MeatPuppet in a power struggle between the [[BlueBlood Time]][[{{Immortality}} noids]] and the humans over whom they reign.

#''Deception III: Dark Delusion'' (''Soumatou'') -- Released in December, 1999. A girl named Reina has been abducted, along with her family, to be sold into slavery in a neighboring kingdom. She is freed by a rebel faction and must decide whose side she is on.

#''VideoGame/{{Trapt}}'' (''Kagero II: [[GratuitousEnglish Dark Illusion]]'') -- Released in June, 2005; rereleased as a [=PS2=] Classic in 2014. Princess Allura has been framed for the murder of her father and flees to a dark castle to escape execution, and while there, a demon offers her a chance for revenge.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], [[SoftSpokenSadist Caelea]], and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Received an UpdatedRerelease in 2015 as ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' (''Kagero: Another Princess''). This version introduces a new 100-level Quest Mode starring the titular Nightmare Princess, Velguirie. It's also a full-blown CrisisCrossover.

Demonstrating how inviolate TheWikiRule is, [[http://deceptionseries.wikia.com/wiki/TRAPEDIA:Tecmo%27s_Deception,_Kagero:_Deception_II,_Deception_III:_Dark_Delusion,_T%D0%AFAPT the series now has a fledgling wiki here.]]

* ActionGirl: Curiously, female [=PCs=] outnumber the males four to one.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Invitiation to Darkness'' is almost completely different from its successors, and it made use of [[ArtEvolution gouraud-shaded]], SuperDeformed polygons similar to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' while the sequels would opt to go with straight texture-mapping and proportions. Two major gameplay features that were dropped was the ability to make your own layout of the castle, and creating monsters from the corpses of invaders which you could also send to damage enemies.

* LadyOfBlackMagic: Astarte. [[spoiler:Word of God says she's actually an older Millennia...]]

* NewGamePlus: Most games have some variation of this, where you can keep something between playthroughs.

%%* BlindIdiotTranslation
%%** For example, ugh, [[LetsPlay Goatbone]].

%%* DrosteImage: The mirror in ''Invitation to Darkness''.

%%* TheEvilPrince: Yurias.

* HideYourChildren: Averted. The Psychic class of invader is made up of young girls, and Reina's little brother is murdered by Miguel during a FadeToBlack moment.

%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading

%%* PerversePuppet: Magic Dolls.

%%* PowerTattoo: The one on Millennia's back.

%%* PuzzleBoss: Expert Mode in ''Dark Delusion''.

%%* StandardStatusEffects

%%* TimedMission: Several chapters throughout the series.

[[Characters/Deception A Characters page is in the works]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Invitiation to Darkness'' is almost completely different from its successors, and it made use of [[ArtEvolution gouraud-shaded]], SuperDeformed polygons similar to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' while the sequels would opt to go with straight texture-mapping and proportions.

* SeriesMascot: Millennia is the closest thing the franchise has to a recurring figure, being available as a costume in ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'', ''Franchise/FatalFrame II'' and ''VideoGame/NightsOfAzure2BrideOfTheNewMoon'', as well as being a playable character in ''VideoGame/WarriorsAllStars''.

* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Devil series of traps will ignore the defense rating of an enemy's armor (though their immunities may still stop the damage) as does a few other traps like the Delta Horse. Besides your traps, there are environmental hazards that can cut through enemy armour, most of these involve flame or electricity.

* EliteMooks: The Hellknights from Deception III are this trope. These guys are almost indestructible - taking only 1 point of damage from anything that doesn't ignore protection, they're immune to the effects of the summon ring, they have a long distance rush attack where they practically fly at you and a single swipe from their scythe will rip out large chunks of your health. A last kicker is they can also teleport. Most bosses in the game aren't even close to matching the deadliness of a Hellknight.

The series in general follows the same pattern, with you having to protect your castle [[ExcusePlot for one reason or another]], with {{Death Trap}}s and gizmos. The biggest selling points in general is the same: play from an unusual point of view (the TrapMaster) and kill your enemies in [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential gruesome ways]]. In most of them you are plain evil, but some of them try leave you in a more ambiguous position, where [[BlackAndGrayMorality it's not clear which side is the good one]]. This actually makes the experience stronger, as one is not sure if what you are doing is right or wrong.

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Allura can unlock costumes that let her dress as Millennia and Reina.

* AbandonedHospital: One of the stages in ''The Nightmare Princess''. Technically, the hospital is occupied...by your character and her victims.

* AdventuresInComaland: In ''The Nightmare Princess'' [[spoiler: Velguirie is the result of this]].

* AlternateSelf: In ''The Nightmare Princess'', due to the [[PlaceBeyondTime weird]] [[DreamLand setting]] [[spoiler: there's basically two versions of each of the other trap mistresses running around. One version loses their soul, while the other goes home]]. Velguirie herself [[spoiler: gets one in Kanata Fuyuno, the high-school girl who dreamed her up]].

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: It's possible to set up a series of traps that don't end strong. You can fling an enemy into the air, slice them with a bladed pendulum, impale them on spikes, shoot them with a fireball, grind them into moving gears...and them have them slip on a banana peel.

* BlindIdiotTranslation
** For example, ugh, [[LetsPlay Goatbone]].

* BoringButPractical: The vase traps. They're what will net you your highest combos early on, especially if you never repeat yourself in a combo.

*** However, at least in ''Blood Ties'', none compare to the Lethal Lance. It's a wall trap that immediately shoots lances two spaces forward and pulls its target against the wall. Nothing special like the iron maiden or the many fan traps, but it is an incredibly useful tool in starting combos due to how easy it is to score a hit with it, or even continuing combos that otherwise would've been dead because the victim was flat against the floor!

* TheCameo: Suezo from ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' appears in ''Kagero'' as an unlockable trap. Previously, Ardebaran from ''Invitation to Darkness'' appeared in a ''Monster Rancher'' game as a secret monster.

* {{Combos}}: Introduced to the series in ''Kagero'' to fantastic effect. Chain together more traps and receive more points.

* CrisisCrossover: The plot for ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' includes the new main character battling the old main characters from ''Deception II'', ''Deception III'', ''Trapt'' and ''Deception IV: Blood Ties''. Rachel from ''Trapt'' also appears in a {{DLC}} mini-campaign. The crossovers are facilitated via DreamLand [[spoiler: and a version of each character goes back to their own world in the end]].

* DeathTrap: The entire point of the series.
** AnnoyingArrows / ArrowsOnFire
** BottomlessPits
** DescendingCeiling
** ElectricTorture: Water conducts it very well!
** GiantHandsOfDoom / GiantFootOfStomping
** PendulumOfDeath
** PitTrap
** SpikesOfDoom
** SpikeBallsOfDoom: As well as balls without spikes.
* DenserAndWackier: ''Deception IV'' and it's re-release are this compared to the previous games. They include more {{Fanservice}} than previous titles, a ClothingDamage mechanic, and a cartoonish, anime-like art style. Many of the traps are ridiculous looking or have comedic effects, like the Merry-Go-Round stage trap.

* DrosteImage: The mirror in ''Invitation to Darkness''.

** HarsherInHindsight: There is a character named "Astarte" in the first game, who has blue skin and hair, similar to what the TMD looked like in the later game, and whose origins are 'unknown'.

* TheEvilPrince: Yurias.

* GaidenGame: Judging by ''Deception IV'', ''Trapt'' is officially this now in the overseas "canon". Ironically, ''Deception III'' is arguably this is the native Japanese canon. (It's Japanese title ''Soumatou'' is the OddNameOut.)
* GenreShift: First-person RPG for the first game to third-person action-RPG for the sequels.
** ''The Nightmare Princess'' has a setting shift. The initial levels in Quest mode are in the same fantasy setting as ''Deception IV: Blood Ties''. Then you get a stage where you fight Japanese students in their high school....

* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: You can add rooms to the Castle of the Damned in the first game, though you cannot subtract any that were there from the start.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading

* MadeOfPlasticine: It doesn't matter how much you crush, smash, or burn a victim; they'll survive until they lose all their health and collapse.
* MalevolentArchitecture
* MarketBasedTitle: The original game was called ''Kokumeikan'' in Japan, which translates to "Engraved Fate Building". This became ''Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness'' in America and ''Devil's Deception'' in Europe. The second game was called ''[[SequelTheOriginalTitle Kagero: Kokumeikan Shinsho]]'' in Japan and ''Kagero: Deception II'' overseas. Essentially, they just replaced "Kokumeikan" with "Deception". The third game, ''Soumatou'', was {{dolled up|Installment}} as ''Deception III: Dark Delusion''. The fourth ''Kagero 2: Dark illusion'' was ''reversed'' dolled-up, as ''Trapt''. Finally, ''Kagero: Darkside Princess'' and ''Kagero: Another Princess'' became ''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' and ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess''. So basically, the series is called Kagero in Japan and Deception overseas...more or less.

* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: You fight them in ''The Nightmare Princess''. Although it's implied they might not be that ordinary since [[spoiler: there's mention of them being members of a gang]]. Also, [[spoiler: Velguirie is the dream self of a high-school student.]]

* PerversePuppet: Magic Dolls.

* PowerTattoo: The one on Millennia's back.

* PuzzleBoss: Expert Mode in ''Dark Delusion''.

* RubeGoldbergDevice and RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts: You can chain your traps in sequence to maximise lethality, and some enemies need to get hit multiple times, requiring you set them up for takedowns.
* SayMyName: "Marco? Marco?! Marco! MARCO!"
** '''POLO!'''

* SchizoTech: In ''Deception IV'', enemies range from girls carrying bows and arrows to enemies in armour out of Halo or Killzone who are carrying gas guns and energy rifles. One boss, a deranged nun even boasts of carrying a gun given by God (and it sure hits like it too!!!).

* ScratchDamage: In ''Deception III'' later enemies have defense so high that a lot of low damage traps will do only a single point of damage. Arrow traps are especially hard hit by this since many of them only do damage rather than move an enemy around or hold them. Some enemies will actually take only one point of damage even from your hardest-hitting traps, so low-damage multi-hit traps become better than hitting with a single Spike Ball. Later games don't have enemies with such ridiculously high defense, this keeps your old traps from going obsolete and allows you to use a wider variety of traps.

* StandardStatusEffects

* {{Stripperific}}: You'll be hard-pressed to find a female character who ''isn't'' dressed in something very skimpy.

* ATasteOfPower: The first game lets you utilize Volt Cages to capture Ardebaran and Idorigo (and optionally Doneal). You don't get access to such traps again until Chapter 11, and even then you have to spend gold to '''create''' new ones.

* TimedMission: Several chapters throughout the series.
* TooLongDidntDub: "Kagero", which means "mirage".

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Typically, it turns out the main character is being manipulated. Often by [[GambitPileup various sources]], to differing ends.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The '''other''' entire point of the series.

* VillainProtagonist: Each and every main character holds an explicitly evil power and spends most of their time ruthlessly slaughtering anybody unlucky enough to enter their homes. Later protagonists end up in a more morally gray area, but none of them are ever close to being heroes.

Demonstrating how inviolate TheWikiRule is, the series now has a fledgling wiki [[http://deceptionseries.wikia.com/wiki/TRAPEDIA:Tecmo%27s_Deception,_Kagero:_Deception_II,_Deception_III:_Dark_Delusion,_T%D0%AFAPT here]].

* FriendlyFireProof: Played straight with the enemy amongst each other; someone who accidentally gets an arrow from his buddy will take no damage from it. Brutally averted by your own traps, they're just as dangerous to you as they are to your enemies. Especially amusing is watching your girl grab her crotch and crumple in a heap after getting dinged by the Delta Horse.

** Your starting traps. None of them are fancy, but they have the advantage of having faster cool-down times than the more damaging traps you get later. Also given that most of the rooms that you fight in are fairly cramped, starting traps like Pushwall and Springboard are far more precise at setting up a victim for combos and room traps than their high-end counterparts which will likely shoot the victim across the room to safety. Finally a suprising number of your starting traps have good hitting power like the Boulder or Swinging Blade. While some of your starting traps will go obsolete, a fair number of them are good to the end of the game.

** ''Trapt'' has Millenia and Reina as unlockable costumes. Millenia is also fought as a BonusBoss.

* LadyOfBlackMagic: Astarte. [[spoiler:Word of God says she's actually an older Millenia...]]

** RocksFallEveryoneDies

** Your starting traps. None of them are fancy, but they have the advantage of having faster cool-down times than the more damaging traps you get later. Also given that most of the rooms that you fight in are fairly cramped, starting traps like Pushwall and Springboard are far more precise at setting up a victim for combos amd room traps than their high-end counterparts which will likely shoot the victim across the room to safety. Finally a suprising number of your starting traps have good hitting power like the Boulder or Swinging Blade. While some of your starting traps will go obsolete, a fair number of them are good to the end of the game.

* DolledUpInstallment: ''Deception III: Dark Delusion'' was named ''Soumatou'' in Japan. The previous two games at least kept their connection by replacing ''Kokumeikan'' with ''Deception''. Then this gets inverted with ''Trapt'', which was titled ''Kagero 2: Dark illusion'' in Japan.

#''Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness'' (''Kokumeikan'') -- Released in July, 1996. As a [[HelloInsertNameHere nameless]] prince of Zemekia, the player has been framed for the murder of the king by his brother Yurias in a bid for the throne, and he is spirited away by a demoness named Astarte to make a DealWithTheDevil to get his revenge.

#''VideoGame/{{Trapt}}'' (''Kagero II: [[GratuitousEnglish Dark Illusion]]'') -- Released in June, 2005. Princess Allura has been framed for the murder of her father and flees to a dark castle to escape execution, and while there, a demon offers her a chance for revenge.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], [[SoftSpokenSadist Caelea]], and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Received an UpdatedRerelease in 2015 as ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' (''Kagero: Another Princess''). This version introduces a new 100-level Quest Mode starring the titular Nightmare Princess, Velguirie. It's also a full-blown CrisisCrossover

In 1996, for the Sony PlayStation, Tecmo released ''[[InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt Tecmo's]] Deception: Invitation to Darkness'', which, while not a smash success by any stretch of the imagination, allowed the player to do something not often seen in video games: [[EvilFeelsGood play as the bad guy]]. The goal of the story was to resurrect {{Satan}}, and instead of doing so with direct combat, you utilized a series of [[DeathTrap deadly traps]] that you placed throughout your castle. The game did well enough to spark a small series.

* [[HeroicMime Antiheroic Mime]]: The player-character in ''Invitation to Darkness'', Millennia.

* BurnTheWitch: ''Invitation to Darkness'' starts with the player-character being burned at the stake for murdering his father.

* IdenticalGrandson: [[spoiler:The player-character in ''Invitation to Darkness'' shares ancestry and the same name with one of the Legendary Braves.]]

* TrapMaster: The player characters, and an occasional NPC. ''Darkside Princess'' is the first game to subvert this, as your character can actually attack invaders directly.[[note]]It's with a very weak kick, meant for prolonging a combo, but it can also be used for CherryTapping.[[/note]]