History VideoGame / Libretta

* ChainsawGood: The primary threat of the third area beside falling to your death is rotating sawblades that populate numerous paths.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: Your child running away and either committing suicide or being murdered because you could not accept their identity.]]
* AerithAndBob: Libra, Mik, Kamille... and Kelly and Kim. [[spoiler: PlayedWith for Kamille and Libra - those are not their real names. {{Justified}} with Mik in that he is a mirror image of Kim.]]
* AllInTheManual: Some facts about the game, such as [[spoiler: the fact that Kay technically wrote all of the books in the other library, and the confirmation that Kay was murdered]] are included in [[http://vgperson.tumblr.com/post/147968116675/libretta-authors-afterword this detailed post written by vgperson.]]
* AllJustADream: Invoked in the Happy End; [[spoiler: Kay maintains that nothing that Lauren experienced truly happened, which allows Lauren to accept Kay's resurrection and to revoke all of the events of the game.]]
* AmbiguouslyGay: Of the two female characters we see flashbacks of occasionally, one of them is stated to be going on a date with another girl, and another is stressed about talking to her parents regarding some aspect of her identity. [[spoiler: Lauren is seen talking about going a date with someone named Suzy, while her sister, Kay, is confirmed to be transgender at the end of the Happy End.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: The game is initially set up like a psychological horror RPG in the vein of ''The Witch's House'' and ''Ib'', [[spoiler:but it's actually a melodramatic narrative about acceptance. There are some horror-like elements, but these only exist to enforce the "bait" and do little in the way of the story.]]
* BigBad: The game seems to have one who directly speaks to you [[spoiler: in the room where you must play shirigories in order to get out of the shrinking room]], and again [[spoiler:to tell you that no one will ever accept Kay,]] but it's not known who this person is.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: Happens at the conclusion of both endings, where Lauren either muses about how your intervention allowed Kay the chance to live, or where someone (implied to be the librarian) states that you should go back and try again.]]
* ButThouMust / CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: At the beginning of the Journey stage, you encounter a girl who politely and shyly tells you that she can't allow you to pass the spot where she stands. By exploring another way, you find a book detailing her story. [[spoiler: You must read it, and in doing so kill her, in order to pass to the next screen.]]
** Actually, she can [[spoiler:be saved, but you're unlikely to see that on your first go through the game. After the cutscene with Kamille, simply ignore the book and go back to see her. Her name is Chang'e.]]

* CessationOfExistence: What Kamille is afraid of, and [[spoiler:essentially what happens to each companion. Someone who looks an awful lot like Kelly can be seen in the library after he ending, though.]]

* CreepyDoll / [[spoiler:RedHerring]]: That pink bunny doll that can be spotted in several scenes within the game. Though at one point it can be seen frowning when you have to solve a certain puzzle, [[spoiler: it never actually comes to life or attacks Libra.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Libra reaches it if [[spoiler: you choose not to believe Kay at the end of the game.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: It's implied that [[spoiler: Lauren's sister Kay]] was this after [[spoiler: it's discovered by her parents that she is transgender.]]
* DungeonBypass: [[spoiler:Invoked subversion.]] One puzzle involves transferring water into three cups of different sizes. You can only either fill a cup, empty a cup, or transfer any water in the cup to another cup until the target fills or if you run out of water, whichever comes first. The goal is to fill the cups to the dotted line without going over. [[spoiler:The puzzle is impossible. You have to [[MoonLogicPuzzle dissolve salt in a bucket of water]] to create a [[{{Pun}} solution]]]]

* ForcedOutOfTheCloset: [[spoiler: Implied to be what happened to Kay, though by whom is not stated.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on in the game, a girl can be seen complaining to her sister that she is upset about the lack of a happy ending in the story they've read, stating that she wouldn't read if she didn't want a happy ending. This idea is brought up again in the middle of the game, and once more at the end, when we discover [[spoiler: it's Libra who has been rewriting stories which she didn't enjoy the ending of, and it's this determination to give everything a happy ending that enabled her to rewrite the story of her sister's life and bring her back home.]]
** All of the characters Libra encounters share a similar theme: [[spoiler:wanting to be accepted for who they are and searching for a place or a person where they can be comfortable being themselves.]] These are all aspects of the personality of [[spoiler:Kay, who ran away from home to find a place where she could be herself.]]

* IdentityAmnesia: Libra has this to a degree; it's the main reason why [[spoiler: she never protests being called by the wrong name.]]
* InterfaceSpoiler: When with Kamille, a room containing a mirror will not reflect her, but a completely different girl entirely. [[spoiler: This girl is Kay, Libra's sister, whom Kamille represents.]]

* MirrorMonster: The primary threat of the second area is sentient, faceless reflections of Libra that came out of the area's numerous mirrors, as well as reflective floor, After their first appearance, you soon acquire the S/word, a sword for self-defense that temporarily vanquishes apparitions when they attack.

* ThePromise: Libra finds one toward the middle of the game - it even ends up in her inventory! [[spoiler: This is a promise she made to Kay to stand by her. She also has another one, from Kay to her, promising to return home once she finds the place where she can belong.]]

* TheRunaway: [[spoiler:Kay after her parents find out she is transgender.]]
* SiblingYinYang: Seems to be the case for [[spoiler: Lauren and Kay]] - the former seems to be very demure and quiet, while the latter seems to be more outgoing.
* SilentProtagonist: Libra for the most part - she ''does'' speak, but we don't usually see what she says. [[spoiler: Subverted in the happy ending, where she talks directly to Kay and to you.]]

** Two girls physically resembling Ib and Mary from {{VideoGame/Ib}} (a similar game that was translated by vgperson) can be seen in the normal library, implicitly arguing about the logistics and ending of the game...though the "game" appears to be a book in this universe.
* ShrinkingViolet: You encounter one blocking the path to proceed in the Journey stage. [[spoiler: You have to kill her by reading her story in order to proceed. She can be saved, but you're unlikely to see that on your first go through the game. (After the cutscene with Kamille, simply ignore the book and go back to see her. Her name is Chang'e.)]]

* TimedMission: [[spoiler: When Libra has to play shirigories again with... someone, and must find the word "exit" before the room grows too small and crushes her.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Kamille, though it's {{Justified}} as [[spoiler: she is aware that she's not a real person and is resentful about it.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: At the end of the game, you have flashbacks of [[spoiler: all the characters you've encountered asking you if they can be accepted, with the final question coming from your sister who ran away for this very reason. If you choose to stay silent to all questions instead of saying yes, you are locked out of the good ending completely.]]
* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler: How Kay is brought back to life after the events of the game.]]

* ArtInitiatesLife: Reading some of the books within the other world produce effects in it.

* SuddenDownerEnding: In-universe, there's a story of a boy who wants to love a demon girl, who he finds out enjoys tormenting him by rejecting his love. At the end, he decides to torment ''her'' by living. [[spoiler:He proceeds to be ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice. So hard, in fact, that it kills Libra too.]]

* CessationOfExistence: What Kamille is afraid of, and [[spoiler:essentially what happens to each companion. Someone who looks an awful lot like Kelly can be seen in the library after the ending, though.]]

* DungeonBypass: [[spoiler:Invoked subversion.]] One puzzle involves transferring water into three cups of different sizes. You can only either fill a cup, empty a cup, or transfer any water in the cup to another cup until the target fills or if you run out of water, whichever comes first. The goal is to fill the cups to the dotted line without going over. [[spoiler:The puzzle is impossible to solve. The ''real'' solution is to "cheat" the puzzle by adding salt to your bucket of water and using that to fill the cups instead.]]

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: A book foretells that this will occur in the year of [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2025]].

* GenreSavvy: Kamille, who [[spoiler:doesn't want to follow Libra because she knows that it will lead to her disappearance.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: The game is initially set up like a psychological horror RPG in the vein of ''The Witch's House'' and ''Ib'', [[spoiler:but it's actually a melodramatic narrative about acceptance.]]

* AmbiguouslyGay: Of the two female characters we see flashbacks of occasionally, one of them is stated to be going on a date with another girl, and is stressed about talking to her parents regarding some aspect of her identity. [[spoiler: It's Lauren's sister, Kay, who is confirmed to be transgender at the end of the Happy End.]]

* ShrinkingViolet: You encounter one blocking the path to proceed in the Journey stage. [[spoiler: You have to kill her by reading her story in order to proceed.]]

* {{Shoutout}}: [[VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse "A Funny Story"]] can be read in the library. Libra doesn't find it very funny.

* CessationOfExistence: What Kamille is afraid of, and [[spoiler:essentially what happens to each companion.]]

* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: Happens at the conclusion of both endings, where Lauren either muses about how your intervention allowed Kay the chance to live, or where someone (presumably still Lauren) states that you should go back and try again.]]
** Actually, in the Bad End, [[spoiler:the person that encourages you to try again is implied to be the sleeping librarian. The dialogue says "Something tells me that 'Libra'... didn't entirely find what she was looking for, huh." The librarian is the one who specifically has several variants of the line "Did you find what you were looking for" and such.]] Also, in the Happy End, [[spoiler:Lauren says that even though she's not sure how the librarian helped, she feels like she somehow did, which seems odd, and out of place.]] [[spoiler:The librarian]] is even present (though sleeping) before Libra enters the first "story" of her journey.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: Your child running away, or possibly committing suicide, because you could not accept a certain aspect of their identity.]]

* AllJustADream: Invoked in the Happy End; [[spoiler: Kay maintains that nothing that Lauren experienced truly happened, which allows Lauren to accept Kay's sudden presence.]]
* AmbiguouslyGay: Of the two female characters we see flashbacks of occasionally, one of them is implied to be going on a date with another girl, and is stressed about talking to her parents regarding some aspect of her personality. [[spoiler: It's Lauren's sister, Kay, who is confirmed to be gay at the end of the Happy End.]]

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Kay is implied to actually have committed suicide, and Lauren was in strong denial about this, instead believing that her sister would return any day and visiting the library where Kay promised to reunite with her.]]
* BigBad: The game seems to have one who directly speaks to you [[spoiler: in the room where you must play shirigories in order to get out of the shrinking room]], but it's not known who this person is.

* DrivenToSuicide: It's implied that [[spoiler: Lauren's sister Kay]] was this after [[spoiler: it's discovered by her parents that she is gay.]]

* HappyRain: You generate after solving a certain puzzle.

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:Kay implies that Lauren might be this, as she repeatedly states that she feels Lauren is the reason her wish was granted. This also applies to ''you'', the player, as Lauren asks you directly if you played a role in giving her her sister back.]]
* RewritingReality: Libra does this a few times with the pencil, though with small details added to books that allow her to progress.
* TheRunaway: [[spoiler:Kay after her parents realise she is gay.]]

* SilentProtagonist: Libra for the most part - she ''does'' speak, but we don't usually see what she says. [[spoiler: Subverted in the happy ending, where she talks directly to Kay.]]

* AerithAndBob: Libra, Mik, Kamille... and Kelly and Kim. [[spoiler: {{Justified}} with Kamille and Libra, as those are not their real names, and justified with Mik in that he is a mirror image of Kim.]]

* LethalChef: Kelly.

* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:Kay implies that Lauren might be this, as she repeatedly states that she feels Lauren is the reason her wish was granted.]]