History VideoGame / Lacuna2021

* IntroOnlyPointOfView: The prologue sequence puts the player in the shoes of the teenage girl Mira as she experiences the infamous "Sector II incident" on Drovia. After this, the story jumps 40 years ahead in time and introduces us to Neil. Mira, now in her fifties, makes another appearance in a newspaper article, where she is interviewed about her experiences as one of the survivors of the incident.

* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Most of the time, it is up to the player whether Neil smokes a cigarette or not. Neil will, however, on a couple of occasions where he is under especially hard moral stress light up a smoke unprompted by the player.

* {{Cyberpunk}}: Present to some degree. It is a noir story set in a sci-fi future after all. Much attention is drawn to how the society of Ghara and the Federation at large is chafing under the corrosive power of the capital the various {{Mega Corp}}s are utilizing in an attempt to consolidate their power over the federal government, leading to a ever-worsening income inequality gap, which is further resulting in increasing social unrest as more and more people are finding it harder to make ends meet.

Caught in the middle of all this is agent Neil Conrad of the Central Department of Investigation (CDI), the main federal authority in charge of investigating major crimes on Ghara. When Joseph Banny, Drovia's foreign minister, is suddenly assassinated mere hours before he was supposed to meet with the Federation's president to discuss a diplomatic solution to their disagreements, Conrad and his partner, Gary Long, is put in charge of the investigation, and must race against the clock to solve the crime before tensions boil over; something which could easily start a devastating war. Along the way, Conrad uncovers a conspiracy that forces him to come up close of the darker and more rotten parts of the Federation, and seriously challenges his convictions.

* IntroOnlyPointOfView: The prologue sequence puts the player in the shoes of the teenage girl Mira as she experiences the infamous "Sector II incident" on Drovia. After this, the story jumps 40 years ahead in time and introduces us to Neil.

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The prologue sequence puts the player in the shoes of the teenage girl Mira as she experiences the infamous "Sector II incident" on Drovia. After this, the story jumps 40 years ahead in time and introduces us to Neil.

''Lacuna'' is a SciFi [[FilmNoir Noir]] AdventureGame, developed by the Germany-based [=DigiTales Interactive=], and released in May 2021 for the PC, and for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in December 2021.

For several decades, the human race has slowly, but steady been colonizing the Solar system, expanding outwards from their planet of origin, know as Ghara. This process has been far from painless, having been marked by strife and unrest, especially between the Federation lead by Ghara and New Jordan, the only planet that has so far been successful in declaring its independence from the Federation, and has even been able to set itself up as as the only other superpower in the solar system. Recently, the discovery of tyllanium, a rare mineral that has proved crucial in the development new innovative technology, has lead to increased competition between the Federation and New Jordan, as they struggle to outmanoeuvre each other in taking control of the few tyllanium deposits. Matters have not been made less complicated by the fact that Drovia, a colony controlled by the Federation, and the home of the largest known quantity of tyllanium, has started to agitate for its independence, demanding the right to determine its own fate on the solar stage. Ghara not being ready to grant Drovia independence and thereby letting go of its precious tyllanium, have caused tensions to inflame. With neither side willing to budge, and with rumors about a possible Drovian revolt in the near future and that New Jordan is poised to come to their aid if it were to happen, many fear that an interplanetary war is forthcoming.

Chaught in the middle of all this is agent Neil Conrad of the Central Department of Investigation (CDI), the main federal authority in charge of investigating major crimes on Ghara. When Joesph Banny, Drovia's foreign minister, is suddenly assassinated mere hours before he was supposed to meet with the Federation's president to discuss a diplomatic solution to their disagreements, Conrad and his partner, Gary Long, is put in charge of the investigation, and must race against the clock to solve the crime before tensions boil over; something which could easily start a devastating war. Along the way, Conrad uncovers a conspiracy that forces him to come up close of the darker and more rotten parts of the Federation, and seriously challenges his convictions.

!!Tropes:

* AdvertOverloadedFuture: There are ''a lot'' of holographic billboards in the future presented in this game.
* BadassLongcoat: These seem to be standard issue for CDI agents in typical sci-fi noir style. Neil, in particular, seems to be channeling [[Film/BladeRunner Rick Deckard]].

* CityNoir: The urban hellscape of the planet of Ghara is a overbearing, late-stage-capitalim wasteland of crime, corporations and cynicism that your character has to travel through.
* CrystalDragonJesus: The Saviant faith is the most prominent religion the setting, primarily in the colonies of New Joran and Drovia (while the colonizer Ghara seems to be chiefly atheistic). We don't get much exploration on the tenants of the faith, but what we get would point to it being Islam-esque (down to the in-universe bigotry directed at them and alleged connection to terrorist groups).
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: It would be easier to list the executives in the narrative who aren't implicitly or explicitly shady. Shorter, too, given that number is 0.
* CorporateConspiracy: It soon becomes clear that the murder of Joseph Banny involves some of the Federation's big-money players. It's your job to figure out to ''what'' extent.
* CrapsackWorld: Between the rampant social inequality, urban segregation, drug use, corporate crime and space colonization, the setting of Lacuna is not a nice place to be.
* {{Cyberpunk}}: Present to some degree. It is a noir story set in a sci-fi future after all. Much attention is drawn to how the society of Ghara and the Federation at large is chafing under the corrosive power of the capital the various {{Mega Corp}} are utilizing in an attempt to consolidate their power over the federal government, leading to a ever-worsening income inequality gap, which is further resulting in increasing social unrest as more and more people are finding it harder to make ends meet.
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: The sky is overcast or actually raining for long portions of the narrative.
* DaChief: Liam Campbell, the Chief of the CDI, is a fairly straight play on this trope (down to the pencilbrush moustache) as the eternally put-on police chief trying to balance politics with the pursuit of law. You do get to see some of his HiddenDepths depending how you play though, such as [[spoiler: his tendency for extra-marital affairs and clashes with the Attorney that end up getting him fired.]]
* DefectiveDetective: Detective Neil Conrad (your player character) is a complete mess of a man full of trauma, stress and personal woes from the heavy job, but he's also the sharpest detective in CDI.
* EnigmaticMinion: Should you investigate matters properly, you'll get acquainted with two characters going by Boyt and Zora working for the vast criminal conspiracy you have to uncover. They're both extremely enigmatic and ambiguous figures working for a shadie mastermind. [[spoiler: Zora for her part can pull off something of a HeelFaceTurn in some of the endings.]]
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Excluding the prologue (which is set 40 years apart from the main story covering different characters), the story of the game takes place in a period of around four days.

* GoldenEnding: While most of the MultipleEndings are {{Bittersweet| Ending}} to some degree or another, some of the variations that have personal meaning to Neil are unquestionably happy. [[spoiler:If he manages to rescue his daugther, Laura, from the mercenary company, reconnect with his ex-wife, Cat, and make Zora reconsider her life-choices, making her pull a HeelFaceTurn at the end, Neil is ultimately at peace and happy with what he has achieved, no matter what else has happened.]]
* GreyAndGrayMorality: All regimes and factions involved in the story are varying shades of morality, but everyone has committed some horrible deeds somewhere.
* GreatDetective: You get the "Master Investigator" achievement if you solve every case in the game correctly.
* HardboiledDetective: Neil Conrad is a classic example with his sour worldview, cigarette-smoking habits, shabby clothing and constant cynic monologues. How much he leans on the stereotype will likely depend on how you play him.
* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:The mercenary company involved in the conspiracy abduct Neil's daugther, Laura, to blackmail him into aiding them.]]
* InherentInTheSystem: There are quite a few debates in the game about the real extent of impact of Neil's actions when so much of it is hardwired to the system.
* InternalReformist: Joseph Banny was trying to change the system from within to get Drovia independence, but he was assassinate before much could come of it. You can also play Conrad this way with regards to the CDI, which has its own can of police corruption to deal with.
* LastSecondEndingChoice: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. [[spoiler:The most important choice that Neil faces comes right at the end, where he either chooses to leak the truth about the conspiracy surrounding the Sector II Incident or keep it a secret for now. The choice has so far reaching consequences that it effectively determines the tone for the entire ModularEpilogue, but some of Neil's earlier choices come into play when determining the rest of it.]]
* LeadPoliceDetective: Neil Conrad, CDI detective, is your lead.
* LonelyPianoPiece: A large part of the score consists of melancholic piano pieces, fitting the noir atmosphere.
* MegaCorp: The setting is crawling with massive corporations that seem to wield as much (if not more) power than governments. It's your unlucky job to figure out which of them, if any, is involved in the ''particular'' crime you're investigating.

* ShoutOut: The ''Film/BladeRunner'' references are worn on its sleeves. The most notable case is the CDI (the setting's anti-terrorism police of sorts) having a flying car much like the Spinner used by the LAPD in said movie.
* SlidingScaleOfLawEnforcement: The police agencies (namely the CDI, a sort of FBI/anti-terrorism unit your character works for) are portrayed as a kitchen sink of good intentions, cynicism, corruption and various problems InherentInTheSystem. It's up to the player where Neil Conrad falls in this conundrum.
* SmokingIsNotCool: Downplayed. A more technologically advanced society have lead to smoking becoming gradually less of a health risk, but it is still something that is considered an addiction. Neil is actively trying to quit smoking, and the game both rewards and punishes you for to indulging and refusing to indulge him.
* SkyscraperCity: Ghara seems to be composed nearly entirely of skyscrapers and platforms to the point it's almost impossible to tell what "ground" level would be (given even the subway you take seems to be elevated above ground).

* AmicableExes: Neil and Cat are still on pretty good terms even a decade after breaking up. Played correctly, they can even get back together in the game's ending.

* GreatDetective: You get the "Master Investigator" achivement if you solve every case in the game correctly.

* InherentInTheSystem: There are quite a few debates in the game about the real extent of impact of your actions when so much of it is hardwired to the system.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Many of the moral choices Conrad faces boil down to this. Often times, the question he faces is whether to follow procedure as a CDI agent and uphold the law according to its letter, or show leniency and try to put justice before the law.