History VideoGame / FearAndHungerTermina

* ActionizedSequel: Whereas the first game somewhat discourages fighting enemies due to their high lethality, ''Termina'' encourages combat to a much greater extent. Combat has been updated with the "rev-up" system (which allows the player to use more consistent, powerful attacks), and many enemies are less likely to incur permanent status debuffs. Ammo for ranged weapons is much more available, making it easier to kill enemies without risking injury. Sacrificing sawed-off heads is also the only way to gain soul stones in high quantities, which are then used to learn skills.

** While the game gives quite a lot of potential book drops, it's very easy to get screwed out of a necessary God of Fear and Hunger or Sylvain book. Thus, Pocketcat sells every Skin Bible in the game for three contestant heads a pop. To add onto this, you can scrounge together three contestant heads easily if you know where to look — [[spoiler:Olivia is a free target at the train past Day 1 Morning, O'saa can be ambushed at the church, Pav can kill Marcoh (and then be killed relatively easily himself) on Day 2, and Karin can be ambushed very early on in the far eastern part of Old Town. And if you don't feel inclined to kill actual contestants, Levi, Marina, and Olivia's doppelgangers can easily be found relatively early into the game as well, whose heads are still accepted by Pocketcat.]]

** On the Fear & Hunger difficulty, death masks can't spawn in the Old Town until you've unlocked a path into the rest of Prehevil, ensuring that you won't be attacked before you can actually get a proper party and some decent gear.

** Any melee weapons that gives +34-36 attack. They're nothing exceptional, but they do their job without spending ammo, and equipping them should be one of the first priorities of a playthrough.

** Daan's loss of an eye in his attempts to resurrect [[LostLenore Elise]] is heavily implied to be a use of Magna-Medicinal from his skill tree, which resurrects a target at the cost of a body part. The reason that it fails is also supported by game mechanics, as you have to sacrifice a limb rather than an eye, and it has to be done in combat, whereas Daan tried to resurrect her long after she died.

* TokenMinority: O'saa is the only dark-skinned character in the game (implied to have East African origins), and Tanaka is the only Asian character.

* CosmicHorrorStory: Similar to the first entry, though the entry emphasizes combat more that are still plenty of elements that fit.

* CrucifiedHeroShot: Simultaneously a twisted parody of the trope and, [[spoiler:by virtue of your character having the potential to (unwittingly) sacrifice themselves to save the rest of the contestants, potentially played completely straight when all is said and done, failing a Decrepit Priest's coin flip attack gets your protagonist strung up, stripped naked, and dismembered for Prehevil's townsfolk to dance around. If August is alive and well, he'll rescue you the following night, [[NonstandardGameOver but if he isn't...]]]].

** Talking to a Bobby will have it say that you violated the order to stay indoors. If you talk to the one in the library, you can point out that you ''are'' indoors, causing it's head to stop spinning without having to use Persuasion.

** Downplayed with the [[spoiler:New Gods. The Tormented One and the Heartless one (the strongest New God in combat so far) can be fought, and they do appear to die, but it's made clear that the New Gods are not capable of truly dying, and the only thing you'll manage is forcing them to return to the Grand Hall.]]
** Also downplayed with [[spoiler:Rher, as while you do manage to fight him off, it's stated that these are actually his traces, and that they just retreated. Still, not too bad for a mortal.]]
** Completely averted with [[spoiler:Logic, however, as all you accomplish by fighting is ensuring that [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence you get absorbed into the Artificial Green]] instead of just dying in battle.]]

** Instead of finding the two keys to the gate into central Prehevil you can [[CuttingTheKnot cut the chain with Bolt Cutters or blast them with a Trenchgun]]. Alternatively you can use the sewers or summon vines with a Vinuska sigil and go through the deep woods instead.

* EarlyGameHell: Even just getting into the main part of Prehevil is a struggle for many new players. Once you get some good loot, recruit some party members and get your affinity up with gods to spec into their Hexen trees, you rapidly begin increasing in power.

** Rat Hags summon a rat every turn. However, the rats will die if the hag does so.

** The paths to endings A and B are telegraphed pretty well, but your only hint at the requirements for ending C are [[spoiler:Per'Kele]] complaining you aren't bloodthirsty enough during Ending B. You actually need to [[spoiler:kill all the other contestents and reach the Hollow Tower before Day 3, which is challenging when it comes to the more obscure ones like Auguste.]]
** Finding the other candidates to recruit or kill can be very difficult given the size of the town and how they'll only appear during specific time windows, or when other conditions are met. Rher's skill tree provides an AuraVision ability which marks them on your map, but only works once they've transformed into their moonscorched forms. Pav, August and Caligura are especially difficult to locate due to leaving the train early and only appear in scripted scenes.

** Learning skills is a fiddly, multi-step process that can be hard to figure out for new players. You need to use a bonesaw on a dead enemy to remove the head, swap them for soul stone shards at an imperfect ritual circle, combine the shards into soul stone in the Combine menu and only then sleep to use them at the hexen. That's on top of getting the contestant souls or affinity with the game's gods to unlock them for learning in the first place. And if you miss any steps before sleeping you'll still advance time without being able to unlock anything.

* HaveANiceDeath: Much like the previous game, being defeated by certain enemies will treat you to gruesome scenes of your protagonist being mutilated or violated by the denizens of Prehevil, from being FedToPigs by the still mostly lucid villagers, to being crucified [[spoiler:if August isn't alive to save you]], or becoming part of a human centipede. Likewise, sleeping past night 3 or spending 30 seconds outside in Masochism mode provides you the [[SarcasmMode pleasant sight]] of your [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie protagonist being moonscorched]] [[NonstandardGameOver as you're taken to the title screen.]]

** The Gull Bros, a pair of boss enemies unique to Masochism Mode, are an InternalHomage to the first game's Crow Mauler, who was inspired in turn by [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Silent Hill's infamous Pyramid Head.]]

** The mini boss Stitches [[spoiler:sews humans together ala the antagonists of ''Film/TheHumanCentipede'', and it's entirely possible to suffer a similar fate with your party if she defeats you]].

** The shortcut doors in the inner city are short enough to climb over, but you instead have to look for a way around to unlock them from the other side, or somehow break them open

* JumpScare: Mercifully rare and used somewhat sparingly, but here and there the game will punctuate its horror with a loud, sudden noise — screaming female villagers in old Town and [[WolfPackBoss the Mob tossing a glass bottle near you before barreling down the street for your blood]] are two stand out examples.
* KarmicJackpot: [[spoiler: If Marcoh is alive on Day 2, he'll have a confrontation with Pav near the restaurant. Should you intervene and kill Pav, your reward is a pistol and a lot of ammo from Pav's body, and the ability to recruit Marcoh (one of the best party members when it comes to combat) and Olivia (who isn't all that good, but is still an extra fighter).]]

* LastChanceHitPoint: The Hardened Heart accessory and the Sisu skill both provide this, allowing you to survive any fatal hit while above 1 HP. Combined with counter-stance and the [[LifeDrain leechmonger ring]], you become unkillable against any enemy that doesn't do multiple hits per attack. [[spoiler:Sadly, all Final Bosses have multi hit attacks, but feel free to absolutely stomp the rest of the game with this combo.]]

* LighterAndSofter: '''No, really.''' While it's still an ''oppressively'' dark game, ''Termina'' does manage to be this in comparison to the original - the psychosexual and violent elements are relatively downplayed in favor of more abstract and impossible BodyHorror, much of the graphic content of the original is implied instead of directly shown, and the fact that [[ActionizedSequel player characters are more powerful this time around]] puts less emphasis on the pervasive theme of hopelessness.

** [[spoiler:The Weeping Scope]], [[spoiler:Moonscorched Levi]], will actively try to hide and avoid fighting after the first warning shots. He will be found hiding in the Orphanage in fetal position, crying and will not fight the player unless engaged first.
** [[spoiler:The Cocoon]], [[spoiler:Moonscorched Marina]], will constantly ask their imaginary father why they have to fight and will die if you run from the fight. Probably a bug but has not been fixed since release.

* MultiplePersuasionModes: In the form of Persuade and Intimidate skills, both used in combat to weaken enemies
** Persuade is Convince, typically consisting of you placating the enemy or telling them that they don't have to fight you. It also works as Bluff against contestants, as you try to make them hesistate by claiming to [[ISurrenderSuckers want to stop fighting]], only to attack them afterwards

** Sleeping past Day 3 will lead to [[spoiler:your character becoming one of the Moonscorched.]]

** Provided you have one, you can use a bonesaw to take the heads of enemies you have killed. The heads can be offered to a ritual circle in exchange for soul stones. Some enemies do not have discernible heads to take and some are so thick you risk breaking the bonesaw.

** [[spoiler:The Platoon]] will use Heavy Mortar, if the coin flip is failed it will always do around 135+ damage, more than the max health possible for a player character.
** [[spoiler:Poes (a.k.a. "Genies")]] will go from doing nothing for the first turn to spamming a coin flip instant kill grab on the main character every turn. Thankfully it can be guarded.
** [[spoiler:Pocketcat]], [[spoiler:The second one, Moonscorched Daan]], is not allowed to interfere by [[spoiler:Rher]], so it forces you to pick a limb to be dismembered from a random player character each turn, as he is simply following your commands and not fighting you. If you dare to choose head over arms or legs it beheads a character, resulting in an instant kill. And if the character picked has no remaining limbs, it will behead the helpless contestant.

** [[spoiler:The Vile, an early game miniboss,]] will ironically use one coinflip on itself if you talk to him and insist 3 consecutive times you can't understand him. If you win the coinflip, he removes the mask in frustration and the pesticide fumes kill him. If you fail, he shouts his prayers instead of removing the mask and then attacks a character once with each remaining weapon, the pesticide spray, and the canister. You only get one try as he refuses to talk to you again after a failure.

* PacifistRun: Players have discovered they can get through the game fighting only four enemies, only one of which will actually die (two on Masochism). [[labelnote:Details]]If you break the metal gate to the museum district you can skip Rancid the Sergal and only fight the mandatory bosses for ending A. Of these only the Sylvian Trooper actually dies as August will save Moonless and both Kaiser and Logic are confirmed to survive being defeated. The Platoon will be skipped if you defeat the Trooper quickly enough.[[/labelnote]]

--> Looks like your story ended before it ever even properly began...

** [[spoiler:The skill of Spontaneous Combustion will set you on fire (which is unavoidable death), and the spell Inverse Crown of Thorns will pierce your head with a spiked crown]].

** [[spoiler:Nas'rah]] is the Yellow Mage's master. [[spoiler:He works as an accesory that can be talked to and will comment on story events. As an amulet he has a 30% chance to reflect magic.]]

* RedemptionDemotion: The player character can learn all of their character's skills with use of a Hexen, but other contestents recruited as party members can only use the abilities they arrive with. The only way to get access to their higher tier skills is to kill them and claim their soul.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:A minor one pops up with the clocks - with all of them having stopped at 14:35, a player may try to use this as the solution to the clock puzzle in the Museum. The actual solution, however, is 13:35, off by just one hour.]]

** If you kill a contestant near Karin, she'll hold you at gunpoint, rather then restrain you physically the way the other 4 contestants who hold you accountable for murder do. [[spoiler:You're given the option to attack her, rather than struggle, and she'll blow your brains out for an immediate game over if you do.]]

** The spell "Inverse Crown of Thorns", the last one you can recieve from Alll-Mer, costs nothing to cast and says that the pain it induces might bring you closer to him. [[spoiler:It induces pain, all right... in the form of the ''giant metal crown'' that messily bursts from your character's head. "[[NonStandardGameOver It seems that the crown of Alll-Mer was too heavy for you.]]"]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The train personnel are stated to have disappeared before the passengers of the train became contestants and woke up from the shared dream. There is no explanation on what happened to them, however, [[spoiler:even in Ending A, which has the train depart Prehevil.]]

* BiggerOnTheInside: The museum is noted to be larger that what it's exterior suggests, adding to it's AlienGeometries

*** Karin: [[spoiler:Wants to expose to the world the mysteries she's experienced first hand, and decides to delve deeper into the occult to find hard evidence.]]

*** Olivia: [[spoiler:Years later, after therapy, she realizes that the experience has made her a stronger person, as despite having a handicap she managed to become champion of Termina. She can also feel the presence of her sister beside her.]]

* BloodstainedGlassWindows: The church of Alll-Mer is no less dangerous than the rest of Prehevil, with monsters lurking near the ceiling and in the basement, making it likely that you'll fight in the church. [[spoiler:The first fight with Rancid the Sergal, in particular, takes places at the altar.]]

* BossAlteringConsequence: Get to the end of the White Bunker on the first day, and unless you're playing as O'saa, [[spoiler:August will turn up and shoot the Kaiser in the face with his bow before being struck down]]. This makes the boss easier by removing his head's resistance to Blindness but will result in the death of the contestant that intervenes to help.

** In Ending A, [[spoiler: while the remaining contestants are saved, your protagonist (and their remaining party members) get absorbed into Logic's collective unconscious, implying they lose their individuallity.]]
** Daan's and Levi's B endings. [[spoiler: While they do defeat Per'kele and (potentially) survive the traces of Rher, Daan is left hopeless as he never finds out what happened to his wife and father-in-law and feels guilty about killing the other contestants, and the game implies he is going to take Pocketcat's deal. Levi moves places constantly as he feels his past is always following him, with the game ominously stating that it may eventually catch up to him.]]

** Similarly, the game heavily favours Marina if you want to play a full-on mage. O'saa technically starts out with a better magic stat and useful magic buffs out of the box. However, Marina can just steamroll most of the early game if you have her start with Necromancy and Gro-Goroth's Skin Bible, since it gives her access to better spells faster than any other character. O'saa can also be straight up eliminated on day 1 morning, which lets Marina unlock his side of the Hexen straight away, anyways.

* ClosedCircle: Marcoh offhandedly mentions attempting to follow the train tracks to leave Prehevil if spoken to later into the game, only to wind up right back where he started, suggesting no one can leave once the festival's underway until its conclusion [[spoiler:or interference via an ascended New God renders it moot.]]