History VideoGame / Lorelai

Laura "Lorelai" Wood is a young woman who lives in a dilapidated flat with her mother [[BrokenBird Miranda]], [[DomesticAbuse her stepfather John]], and her baby sister Bethany, with indie game developer [[DoggedNiceGuy Zack]] living next door. She returns home from her first day of work as a carer in an elderly care facility to her horrible home life, desperately wishing she could escape and start anew. When tragedy strikes, Lorelai finds herself stuck in a weird, creepy afterlife and must somehow return to the living world in order to save her loved ones with the help (?) of the returning and ever enigmatic [[HumanoidAbomination Queen of Maggots]]. The result is a very dark and poignant ComingOfAgeStory.

It is the last game of the ''Devil Came Through Here'' thematic trilogy along with ''VideoGame/{{Downfall}}'' and ''VideoGame/TheCatLady''.

* RememberedTooLate: [[spoiler: If the player does receive Zack's lighter but forgets to light the candles to bring him and Bethany back to life before eating the stew themselves, this trope comes into play. You even get a sad ending scene of Lorelai sitting alone in her new flat and staring at the lighter, wondering what would have happened if she'd done so...but now she'll never know.]]

* SadisticChoice: In Chapter 5, Lorelai is given the following ultimatum by the Queen of Maggots: either ensure that a recovering alcoholic who is a virtual stranger to her fails at his efforts and doesn't get a happy ending (the implication being that he will end up dead as a result), or sacrifice Zack or Bethany (basically the last two living people she cares about) in his place. The choice is left up to the player, and the story's path diverges (slightly) as a result.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Maggots are shown crawling where Greta, the elderly resident who died on Lorelai's first day, has recently died. Giving the words her corpse speaks, she too had dealt with the Queen of Maggots and so will Lorelai at the end of the day...
** In a more lighthearted way, Zack says he's just an adept of lockpicking and as anyone that tried to pick a lock in ''Skyrim'' can tell you it's not that impressive.
** It's mentioned in passing very early on that Lorelai's family's downward spiral really started when the brick factory shut down and John lost his job there. The abandoned factory ends up becoming the setting for the game's climax.
** In the care home chapter, Maria will briefly mention Al the chef to Lorelai and tell her to avoid him, as he drinks too much. While you're able to enter the kitchen and see him from the back as he works, you aren't able to interact with him at all at this time. Al ends up becoming a major character a few chapters later, with his fate left entirely in Lorelai's hands.

** Lorelai ''definitely'' counts. As the game's description says, not even death is able to stop her. [[spoiler: In the golden ending, she notes that everyone has their own struggles and keeps getting closer to a breakdown, represented by seeing various bars above the heads of people in a store, showing their current mental states. But she notes that she just has to close her eyes and go to that special place inside and remember: ''she's a survivor''. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Queue her nearly empty mental health bar filling all the way up]].]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Zoe, the senior care assistant, is very rude to Lorelai when she starts working at the Pinecroft Residential Home, but she's the one who cheers her up after one of the residents dies and eventually compliments Lorelai to the owner of the place.

* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: After repeatedly failing to express his feelings for Lorelai throughout the game, Zack finally tells her he has always loved her after he's been impaled with a steel bar by John and is on the brink of death. Lorelai can say she loves him too and kiss him or gently rebuff him. It's only possible to achieve the Golden Ending if the player chooses the former.]]

* MomentKiller: While in Zack's flat, he and Lorelai finally start to broach the subject of their feelings for one another...only for Bethany to choose that moment to start wailing about an ''extremely'' dirty diaper that stinks up the whole room.

** [[spoiler: The biggest difference is whether or not Lorelai admits her love to Zack, kisses him, and tells him the truth about what's happened to her. If she does all three, he gives her a lighter, which she can use to relight the candles in the Afterworld, bringing Zack and Bethany back to life. If she doesn't do one of them, she won't get the lighter and Zack and Bethany stay dead. It's also possible for the player to get the lighter and then simply not light the candles (deliberately or by genuine mistake if they forget about it), which has the same result with a slightly changed ending scene.]]

* AbusiveParent: John is Bethany's father and it's implied she's the only reason he stays with Miranda. [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence He utterly resents her]] and [[spoiler:eventually succeeds in [[OffingTheOffspring killing her by drowning her]] unless Lorelai doesn't light up her candle again.]]

* TheAlcoholic: John, of course. Al, the cook, is shown to be a recovering one and goes to support groups. [[spoiler: Whether he succeeds, it's up to you.]]

* CannotSpitItOut: It's very obvious from their first interaction that Zack has romantic feelings for Lorelai, but he hopelessly trips over the actual words on multiple occasions. Even if the player makes dialogue choices for Lorelai that show she's aware of how he feels and feels the same way, he STILL fumbles and sputters until they're interrupted. [[spoiler: He finally confesses his love for her in no uncertain terms when he's about to die.]]

** [[spoiler: The biggest difference is whether or not Lorelai admits her love to Zack, kisses him, and tells him the truth about what's happened to her. If she does all three, he gives her a lighter, which she can use to relight the candles in the Afterworld, bringing Zack and Bethany back to life. If she doesn't do one of them, she won't get the lighter and Zack and Bethany stay dead.]]

* DirtyBusiness: Depending on the player's choices and dialogue with Jimmy, Lorelai can view her orders from the Queen of Maggots about Al as this. She doesn't ''want'' to push him towards alcoholism, but she's also determined to protect Bethany and Zack, who have been directly threatened if she fails to follow through. [[spoiler: If he does commit suicide as a result, she is remorseful and can even say to the Queen of Maggots during their final confrontation that she will never forgive herself for it.]]

* TimeDissonance: Time clearly works very differently in the Queen of Maggots' realm, considering that she's able to send Lorelai on a sidequest that seems to take days/weeks before returning her to the very same night that the game's main plot is taking place over. [[spoiler: Jimmy also tells Lorelai that the Queen of Maggots already knew she would be killed a second time when she sent her back, which implies that she is aware of future events and is manipulating Lorelai to get the outcome she wants.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After being brutally murdered multiple times and having to experience the deaths of everyone she loves as well, Lorelai definitely earns the golden ending if the player makes the right choices to achieve it. She can finally kill her evil stepfather, destroy the real Queen of Maggots with a Molotov (at least temporarily), bring Bethany and Zack back to life, and start a new life with her boyfriend and sister as a loving, functional family with a bright future ahead of her. She can also wake Jimmy up in the real world (after making sure not to feed him fertilizer) and help Al to fight his addiction, which allows both to be alive too by the game's ending.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After being brutally murdered multiple times and having to experience the deaths of everyone she loves as well, Lorelai definitely earns the golden ending if the player makes the right choices to achieve it. She can finally kill her evil stepfather, destroy The real Queen of Maggots with a Molotov (at least temporarily), bring Bethany and Zack back to life, and start a new life with her boyfriend and sister as a loving, functional family with a bright future ahead of her. She can also wake Jimmy up in the real world (after making sure not to feed him fertilizer) and help Al to fight his addiction, which allows both to be alive too by the game's ending.]]

* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: [[spoiler: It is heavily implied that the Queen of Maggots, as the embodiment of evil and especially depression, cannot be truly destroyed, with her "death" being little more than an inconvenience. However, if one learns to cope with one's demons, as Susan and Lorelai do in their good endings,the Queen can be kept in check.]]
* BackFromTheDead: Lorelai herself, giving her dealings with the Queen of Maggots. [[spoiler: Zack and Bethany, too, depending on your actions.]]

* CannotSpitItOut: It's very obvious from their first interaction that Zack has romantic feelings for Lorelai, but he hopelessly trips over the actual words on multiple occasions. Even if the player makes dialogue choices for Lorelai that show she's aware of how he feels and even feels the same way, he STILL fumbles and sputters until they're interrupted. [[spoiler: He finally confesses his love for her in no uncertain terms when he's about to die.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After being brutally murdered multiple times and having to experience the deaths of everyone she loves as well, Lorelai definitely earns the golden ending if the player makes the right choices to achieve it. She can finally kill her evil stepfather, bring Bethany and Zack back to life, and live with her boyfriend and sister as a loving, functional family with a bright future ahead of her. She can also wake Jimmy up in the real world (after making sure not to feed him fertilizer) and help Al to fight his addiction, which allows both to be alive by the game's ending.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimeSpan: With the exception of a flashback to when Lorelai's father was alive, and the ending, the entire game takes place over a day. If you also exclude the part where Lorelai is working at the carehome, it takes place over 4-6 hours.

** [[spoiler: The biggest difference is whether or not Lorelai admits her love to Zack and kisses him. If she does, he gives her a lighter, which she can use to relight the candles in the Afterworld, bringing Zack and Bethany back to life. If she doesn't admit her love, or doesn't kiss him, she doesn't get the lighter and Zack and Bethany stay dead.]]
** [[spoiler: If she drives Al to drink during Chapter 5, he ends up dead in the epilogue. Otherwise, she sees him in Susan's store, and notes that he's still fighting every day.]]
** [[spoiler: If you feed fertilizer to Jimmy the Traveler while he is stuck as a crow, he'll eventually explode. When you find him in the real world afterwards, he's dead, with his arms and legs blown off and crows eating his remains. If you refuse to fead him the fertilizer, he'll be sleeping, and Lorelai can wake him up, after which they'll have a conversation about their lives and expectations.]]

** [[spoiler: Even in the good ending where Lorelai has basically gotten everything she wanted (a new life, a family with Zack and Bethany, etc), it's not represented as just a perfect "happily ever after." She still talks about struggling with mental health and often having a hard time with the difficulties of daily life - but she's strong enough to overcome them.]]

* YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler: When Lorelai is finally able to return to life a second time, she runs straight into the warehouse, determined to kill John once and for all and save Bethany and Zack. She is horrified to discover that John has already murdered both of them, drowning Bethany and impaling Zack with a piece of rebar (although the latter hangs on long enough to confess his love for her). She does succeed in getting her revenge against John, but in the regular ending of the game, she's shattered by the loss of the people she loved and wonders if there was more she could have done. Thankfully, it IS possible to bring them back to life if the player makes the right choices and gets the Golden Ending instead.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Lorelai can rescue Jimmy, bring Bethany and Zack back to life, kill her evil stepfather and live with her boyfriend and sister as a loving, functional family, with a bright future ahead of her. She can also help Al to fight his addiction and stay sober, which allows him to be alive by the game ending.]]

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Before explaining what she wants from Lorelai in exchange for another chance at life, The Queen of Maggots expresses that she should remember what's at stake, pointing out lit candles that represent Bethany and Zack's lives and commenting that "sometimes, it takes the lightest draft to put them out." A few minutes later, she makes the threat much more overt when Lorelai directly asks what will happen if she doesn't go along with the plan to drive Al back to drinking.[[spoiler: In the end, the threat doesn't really amount to anything, even if the player does the opposite of what they were told. However, it DOES reveal which candles represent Bethany and Zack, which allows Lorelai to possibly relight them after they've been killed by John later on.]]

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Before explaining what she wants from Lorelai in exchange for another chance at life, The Queen of Maggots expresses that she should remember what's at stake, pointing out lit candles that represent Bethany and Zack's lives and commenting that "sometimes, it takes the lightest draft to put them out." A few minutes later, she makes the threat much more overt when Lorelai directly asks what will happen if she doesn't go along with the plan to drive Al back to drinking. [[spoiler: In the end, the threat doesn't really amount to anything, even if the player does the opposite of what they were told.]]

* TheApprentice: The Queen of Maggots seems to view Lorelai as this or some kind of heir, even referring to her as The Princess of Maggots at one point. [[spoiler: If the player follows her orders and pushes Al towards drinking again, The Queen of Maggots will even outright state that while she'll grant Lorelai a second return to life to put John down for good and save Bethany and Zack, she expects her to return to the afterlife when the job is done and become the next Queen of Maggots. Lorelai definitely isn't interested.]]

* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: [[spoiler: It is heavily implied that the Queen of Maggots, as the embodiment of evil and especially depression, cannot be truly destroyed, with her "death" being little more than an inconvenience; but if one learns to cope with one's demons, as Susan and Lorelai do in their good endings,the Queen can be kept in check.]]

* AcidTripDimension: As usual, the afterlife or another dimension where the shack of The Queen of Maggots is located. This time it features a factory where [[spoiler: The ''real'' Queen of Maggots is located, a horrific [[ImAHumanitarian man-eating]] giantess that is shown snacking on corpses.]]
* AbandonedWarehouse: [[spoiler:The final confrontation between Lorelai and John takes place in the shut-down brick factory where he used to work. He's brought Bethany, Zack, and everyone else's bodies there in order to destroy all the evidence of his ongoing murder spree.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even The Queen of Maggots [[spoiler: who the game heavily hints at being the actual Devil]] thinks John is a piece of work. In various dialogue branches, she'll refer to him as "a miserable excuse of a man," "a "drunk lowlife," and "a real rat in the cornfield," among other things.

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Before explaining what she wants from Lorelai in exchange for another chance at life, The Queen of Maggots expresses that she should remember what's at stake, pointing out lit candles that represent Bethany and Zack's lives and commenting that "sometimes, it takes the slightest draft to put them out." A few minutes later, she makes the threat much more overt when Lorelai directly asks what will happen if she doesn't go along with the plan to drive Al back to drinking. [[spoiler: In the end, the threat doesn't really amount to anything, even if the player does the opposite of what they were told.]]

* ComingOfAgeStory: a dark take on the genre: Lorelai is trying desperately to get out of her sorry life by becoming independent, being the only person in her household that actually has a job (that she just started). Events push her into that independence ''very'' fast when her mother kills herself and John [[spoiler: kills Lorelai and tries to kill Bethany]]. The game then becomes a test of how far she's willing to go and how much she's willing to sacrifice to get away and be her own person. [[spoiler: Exemplified by one of the responses that can banish the Queen of Maggots at the end: as the Queen is currently in the form of Lorelai, it's possible to choose the option "Goodbye, Lorelai", representing her saying goodbye to her old life and starting new.]]

* ShipperOnDeck: In a thoroughly dark example, the Queen of Maggots herself refers to [[DoggedNiceGuy Zack]] as "Your goofy boyfriend to be."

* WhenItRainsItPours: The main plot of the game (save for some flashbacks) takes place over one very stormy night, with no relief from the rain until morning.