History VideoGame / LostEmber

Compare with ''VideoGame/SpiritOfTheNorth' ', a similar game featuring a fox guided by a point of light through the ruins of a lost civilization and told entirely without words.

''Lost Ember'' is an AdventureGame [=/=] EnvironmentalNarrativeGame by the German Mooneye Studios. It was [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1391673869/lost-ember funded]] on Website/{{Kickstarter}} on November 14th, 2016, and released on [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne on November 22, 2019 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on September 24, 2020. The VR edition released July 12, 2022 on Steam.

Compare with ''VideoGame/SpiritOfTheNorth'', a similar game featuring a fox guided by a point of light through the ruins of a lost civilization and told entirely without words.

** [[EasterEgg Hidden collectibles]] include a [[VideoGame/{{Fortnite}} llama piñata]], a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros warp pipe]], a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} pokeball]], a [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} companion cube]], a [[VideoGame/Journey2012 cloth creature]] and a [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda triforce]].

** The second aquatic animal encountered is referred to as an "axolotl", even though it's clearly a carp-like fish rather than a gilled salamander.

** [[EasterEgg Hidden collectibles]] include a [[VideoGame/{{Fortnite}} llama piñata]], a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros warp pipe]], a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} pokeball]], a [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} companion cube]], a [[VideoGame/{{Journey}} cloth creature]] and a [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda triforce]].

''Lost Ember'' is an AdventureGame [=/=] EnvironmentalNarrativeGame by the German Mooneye Studios. It was [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1391673869/lost-ember funded]] on Website/{{Kickstarter}} on November 14th, 2016, and released on [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], UsefulNotes/PS4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne on November 22, 2019 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on September 24, 2020. VR support is confirmed after release.

* SkunkStripe: The wolf receives a streak of white fur on the right side of her face and down her neck as a mark of her BodySurf abilities. When separated from the spirit, her mark disappears.

** The game's protagonist, the wolf. While South America does have wolves, they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maned_wolf are red like foxes]], not the grey wolves found in North America and Europe. However, the wolf's build ''is'' more similar to the leggy South American canid.

* BreatherLevel: After an emotional sequence where the wolf and spirit go through some relationship problems [[spoiler:after reliving the destruction of Quilotasi]] , the player is treated to a water slide sequence as a mudskipper and gets to play in a field filled with fireflies.

* RebelLeader: Kalani gains a substantial following in Quilotasi, distributing stolen food to the poor and inciting them to revolt. Many wield spears and banners emblazoned with her name.

* LukeIAmYourFather: The spirit and the wolf discover that the spirit is [[spoiler:Kalani's father Atevo. The spirit shocked that Atevo's actions were his own and the wolf turns her back on him.]]

** The pack of wolves Kalani encounters late in the game are also this; [[spoiler:while they're initially wary, they allow her to pass safely once they realize she means no harm and even give their lives for her]].
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:Atevo accidently kills his daughter Kalani by pushing her off a ledge at the Temple of the Sun.]]

* HeroicMime: The wolf. The only communication she really gets up to is to howl for the Companion when they get separated.

The player takes control of a wolf, a member of the Yanren people who was reincarnated after failing to reach her culture's afterlife. You are accompanied by another deceased Yanrana, in the form of a ball of red light, and together you must reach the City of Light and find out what happened to yourselves and your people. The wolf is capable of possessing any animal she meets, including birds, fish, and moles, and then using their abilities to further explore areas she can't reach herself.

* HopeSpot: After seemingly completing Kalani's and Atevo's story, the City of Light appears in the distance and the spirit is ecstatic about finally gaining entry, [[spoiler:only for it to dissolve once they reach the entrance. It gets Atevo to admit that getting to the City of Light wasn't the point of his journey, enough for Kalani's spirit to appear, restore his form, and grant him entry to the true City of Light.]]

* [[invoked]]MoralEventHorizon: The player's companion declares that [[spoiler: Kalani]] has crossed this after seeing the memories of her [[spoiler:desecrating a sacred monument]] and [[spoiler: leading a failed revolution that resulted in the destruction of Qilotasi]]. He does encourage her to at least try asking for forgiveness after his initial shock and anger fades, however, implying that he thinks there might still be some hope for her.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Kalani decided to [[spoiler:overthrow the Yanren emperor]] in an effort to put a stop to the injustices perpetrated by the emperor's soldiers; unfortunately, she decided the best way to do this was by [[spoiler:inciting massive riots as a distraction so her group could enter the royal palace for their coup, resulting in the destruction of Quilotasi]].

* JokeCharacter: The player can also possess worms, fireflies, and sloths. They are as useful as they sound. The ducks, even though they can fly, can't gain altitude after takeoff, making them pale in comparison to hummingbirds and parrots.

* {{Gaslighting}}: While Kalani originally instructed to the wolf (her reincarnated self) to guide the spirit to the City of Light, the spirit comes to believe that ''he'' is the guide who must redeem the wolf upon witnessing Kalani's actions. He continues to verbally beat the wolf over the head with her past life until TheReveal, where he finally understands that he was the one in need of redemption [[spoiler:as Atevo]].

* GrayAndGrayMorality: That Kalani has done some terrible things is a given, considering the premise of the story is that she has been BarredFromTheAfterlife; however, her father Atevo, who serves as the main antagonist, is no saint either. [[spoiler: The game's ending reveals that Kalani eventually became TheAtoner and was admitted to the City of Light after her death, while Atevu, who [[KnightTemplar remained blind to his own mistakes]] to the very end, was not]].

* SkunkStripe: The wolf receives a streak of white fur on the right side of her face and down her neck as a mark of her BodySurf abilities.

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: Averted. Kalani's uprising in her village only results in tragedy [[spoiler:as her house is burned down with her lover inside]] and only gets more violent from there. [[spoiler:Quilotasi burned to the ground, the Yanrana are implied to have collapsed soon afterward, and her movement even failed to kill the emperor and are hunted down and killed. The spirit can only comment on the meaningless destruction of it all.]]

The player takes control of a wolf, a member of the Yanrana people who was reincarnated after failing to reach her culture's afterlife. You are accompanied by another deceased Yanrana, in the form of a ball of red light, and together you must reach the City of Light and find out what happened to yourselves and your people. The wolf is capable of possessing any animal she meets, including birds, fish, and moles, and then using their abilities to further explore areas she can't reach herself.

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Kalani's revolution fails to overthrow the emperor and only results in meaningless destruction that brought the Yanrana civilization, already unstable, to its knees and results in her death and those of her followers.]]

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Kalani]] spends the second half of the game trying to make up for [[spoiler:causing the destruction of Qilotasi]] by trying to do what Weyla wanted from the beginning.

* BarredFromTheAfterlife: The entire premise of the game. The player's spirit companion is prevented from reaching the City of Light, the Yanrana's afterlife, by a barrier of red light. In the opening minutes of the game, he determines that the wolf is a reincarnation of a woman named Kalani who also suffered this fate. The game's story revolves around reliving Kalani's memories to learn why this is.

* DueToTheDead: Yanran funeral rites feature at several key moments of the story.

* GhostAmnesia: The spirit suffers from this, remembering details about the Yanrana culture that were important to him but unable to recall who he was or what happened to him. It's implied that this is due to how long he was trapped as a spirit before the wolf came along and agreed to help him reach the afterlife.

* InterspeciesFriendship: Your Companion is a spirit of one of the Yanrana people, who were quite human-like if the statues seen in the gameplay videos are any indication. You are a wolf (albeit also formerly a human).
* KnightTemplar: Atevo's devotion to the Yanranan emperor and his duties as a soldier blind him not only to the widespread poverty and suffering that motivated Kalani's actions in the first place, but also to [[spoiler: the lessons she spends the second half of the game trying to teach him. The game's ending implies that this is why he was BarredFromTheAfterlife; accepting that he was as much in the wrong as Kalani is what finally allows him to move on]].

* MisplacedVegetation: While apparently based off of South America, the forest is less of a jungle and more the temperate sort you'd see in North America or Europe. The game also includes a desert similar to the Sahara or Kalahari.
* MisplacedWildlife:

** After TheReveal that the player's companion is the spirit of [[spoiler:Atevo]], he believes that he himself has crossed this. This is compounded only a few minutes later at the game's climax, when he learns that [[spoiler:he was directly responsible for Kalani's death]].

%%* PlotTailoredToTheParty: There are certain areas which can only be passed using certain animals.

* {{Reincarnation}}: Yanrana tradition holds that those who are BarredFromTheAfterlife will be reincarnated as wild animals.

* SceneryPorn: The game has been noted as having some of the prettiest graphics of 2016's indie games.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Kalani decided to [[spoiler:overthrow the Yanranan emperor]] in an effort to put a stop to the injustices perpetrated by the emperor's soldiers; unfortunately, she decided the best way to do this was by [[spoiler:inciting massive riots as a distraction so her group could enter the royal palace for their coup, resulting in the destruction of Quilotasi]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Kalani and Atevo head to the City of Light while the wolf looks on, now alone and standing in the middle of the ocean. The game fades to white and then credits before we know what happens next.]]

* ExpositionFairy: The wolf's spirit companion acts as this if the player enables spoken dialogue, providing additional context through commentary on the locations they visit and narrating the events playing out in the memories.

* {{Gaslighting}}: While Kalani originally instructed to the wolf (her reincarnated self) to guide the spirit to the City of Light, the spirit comes to believe that ''he'' is the guide who must redeem the wolf upon witnessing Kalani's actions, along with the Yanren belief that people reincarnated into animals were barred from the City of Light. He continues to verbally beat the wolf over the head with her past life until TheReveal, where he finally understands that he was the one in need of redemption [[spoiler:as Atevo]].

* HopeSpot: After [[spoiler:witnessing Kalani's funeral and]] seemingly completing Atevo's story, [[spoiler:the City of Light appears in the distance and the spirit is ecstatic about finally gaining entry, only for it to dissolve once they reach the entrance. It gets Atevo to admit that he was blind to his faults and was truly sorry for what he had done, enough for Kalani's spirit to appear, restore his form, and grant him entry to the true City of Light.]]

* PreciousPuppy: Kalani rescues a trapped wolf pup late in the game. [[spoiler:The deed gains the respect of its pack and the pup becomes the pack's sole survivor. Kalani then makes it her mission to keep the pup safe from her father.]]

* WhamShot: The golden sun carved into [[spoiler:Atevo's dagger]].

* HopeSpot: After [[spoiler:witnessing Kalani's funeral and]] seemingly completing Atevo's story, [[spoiler:the City of Light appears in the distance and the spirit is ecstatic about finally gaining entry, only for it to dissolve once they reach the entrance. It gets Atevo to admit that he was blind to his faults that prevented him from entering and was truly sorry for what he had done, enough for Kalani's spirit to appear, restore his form, and grant him entry to the true City of Light.]]

* NeverMyFault: Kalani declares that everything she does after [[spoiler:Weyla's death]] is Atevo's fault, since he was responsible. Atevo correctly points out in a later scene that he isn't responsible for Kalani's actions--though, ironically, his KnightTemplar tendencies are blinding him to his own hand in what happened.

* TitleDrop: The Yanrana refer to spirits who are BarredFromTheAfterlife as "lost embers." Naturally, this results a few times.

* {{Mayincatec}}: The Yanrana were apparently this, if their abandoned architecture shown in the trailers is any indication.
* MisplacedVegetation: While apparently based off of South America, the forest is less of a jungle and more the temperate sort you'd see in North America or Europe. The game also includes an desert like Africa.

** Elephants and giant tortoises are also playable species.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Trailers and other promotional material imply that the game is telling the story of the Yanrana civilization's downfall. Though the state of [[spoiler:Quilotasi's ruins]] combined with what's revealed in the memories implies that [[spoiler:Kalani's failed revolution]] is what pushed the civilization over the edge, the exact reason they died out is never made clear. The bulk of the story focuses instead on the conflict between Kalani and [[spoiler:her father Atevo]].

* PressXToNotDie: There are two series of quick-time events in the game: the first is a hummingbird caught in a gust and the second is a mountain goat jumping up a collapsing mountain.

** The entire game is one of these as the wolf and her companion attempt to gain entrance to the afterlife after being denied entry for decades or even centuries. [[spoiler:Though the journey is only this for Atevo, as the ending reveals Kalani's efforts to make up for her mistakes in life were enough to redeem her]].