History VideoGame / PromDreams

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: The Demon King, Moloch, who in Biblical times solicited the Canaanites for child sacrifices, [[spoiler:is the being who granted Dolores and her mother their powers and H. Jericho Roth his wealth. He is described as NeutralEvil and pragmatic in his deals with humans, giving them complete freedom over their powers so long as he receives his sacrifices as well as rewarding those who offer more sacrifices with more power]]. Aside from this background role, [[GreaterScopeVillain he does not have much direct influence over the story.]]

%%What makes her girly for doing so* GirlishPigtails: Neela wears her hair this way.
%%Why does she deny it? Does this make her more girly or immature than the others?* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Maggie does, even if she denies it.

%%Zero context* TheSoulless: [[spoiler:Claire.]]

%%How is she a monster?* TeensAreMonsters: The developer wondered if they made [[spoiler:Brooke]] too unlikable before remembering that yes, there ''are'' teenagers that sadistic out there.

%%What are her tsundere traits?* {{Tsundere}}: Maggie was designed to be this, according to the character notes.

** FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Dolores]], on the other hand, gleefully puts Kyle through various traumas whilst turning the snark factor up to eleven.

* AlphaBitch: [[spoiler:Brooke]] is a Type 2.

* CallBack: Especially common at the beginning of each route with the girls. Justified due to [[spoiler: Dolores's time loops]].

* CreepyChangingPainting: The art room has a few of these [[spoiler:on the second and third loops of the game.]] The puzzle in the home economics room also counts as this.

* [[spoiler: DisguisedHorrorStory: Content warning at the beginning of the game notwithstanding, the game begins as a fairly typical harem dating sim, complete with upbeat music, comedic scenes, and many of the genre's standard tropes. In fact, the player can win their chosen love interest's heart and make it to prom night without experiencing a single horrific element, [[WhamEpisode only for said love interest to be killed suddenly and brutally,]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption without any way for the player to avoid it.]] From there, the game [[GroundhogDayLoop "resets"]] itself several times, sans the girl killed in each previous loop, with the atmosphere becoming more horrific as the dating sim plot gives way to a supernatural murder mystery.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Not to the game itself, but some routes end poorly. All of the girls routes, no matter which one you choose end up with all them dead. And the GoldenEnding isn't much better.]]
** [[spoiler:The bad ending, and to an extent the normal ending. In the bad ending, Kyle is trapped in the nightmare world permanently and has to play along with Dolores's fantasy of being romantically involved with Kyle. In the normal ending, he gets to leave the nightmare world, but Dolores renders him paraplegic so he'll have to suffer like she did, and Dolores remains free to continue murdering people.]]

* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: Claire, the false Randy, Brooke, and of course Dolores.]]

* FourManBand:
** BigBad: [[spoiler: Dolores.]]
** TheDragon: [[spoiler: Claire.]]
** TheEvilGenius: [[spoiler: The false Randy.]]
** [[{{TheBrute}} The Brute]]/TheDarkChick: [[spoiler: Serena.]]
* GirlishPigtails: Neela wears her hair this way.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Maggie does, even if she denies it.

* LoveMakesYouEvil / LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Dolores' desperate, one-sided infatuation with Kyle is part of what drives her to make her pact with Moloch and begin her killing spree.]]

* PsychologicalTormentZone: [[spoiler:The entire game takes place inside of one these, although it doesn't appear to be at first.]]

* ScaryShinyGlasses: [[spoiler:The mirror version of Randy gets these after he reveals his true intentions.]]

* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler:Dolores]], in spades.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Despite a lot of dark themes and critique of anime harem cliches and aversion of SingleIssuePsychology, the game ends in a largely idealistic (if [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]]) manner.
* TheSoulless: [[spoiler:Claire.]]

* SugarAndIcePersonality: Brooke comes across this way [[spoiler:until the true reveal of her personality comes out]].
* TeensAreMonsters: The developer wondered if they made [[spoiler:Brooke]] too unlikable before remembering that yes, there ''are'' teenagers that sadistic out there.

* TongueTrauma: [[spoiler:Neela's fate.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Maggie was designed to be this, according to the character notes.

* WalkingTheEarth: [[spoiler: According to the Bonus Room, after the True Ending, this is the fate of Dolores and her mother.]]

* [[spoiler: SurpriseCreepy: Content warning at the beginning of the game notwithstanding, the game begins as a fairly typical harem dating sim, complete with upbeat music, comedic scenes, and many of the genre's standard tropes. In fact, the player can win their chosen love interest's heart and make it to prom night without experiencing a single horrific element, [[WhamEpisode only for said love interest to be killed suddenly and brutally,]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption without any way for the player to avoid it.]] From there, the game [[GroundhogDayLoop "resets"]] itself several times, sans the girl killed in each previous loop, with the atmosphere becoming more horrific as the dating sim plot gives way to a supernatural murder mystery.]]

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: Endings for some routes and bad ends.]]

** FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Dolores]], on the other hand, gleefully puts Kyle through various traumas whilst turning the snark factor UpToEleven.

* {{Meganekko}}: Neela wears glasses and was designed to be the obligatory cute glasses girl.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlatantLies Prom night, the crown jewel upon the best years of your life...]]]]

* BlackBestFriend: Randy is black and Kyle's best friend, [[spoiler:but the third loop makes it clear that he (or rather, a mirror version created by Dolores) is working for the force that's killing the girls]].

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler: Claire kills Kyle's prom date.]]

''[[https://rpgmaker.net/games/8554/ Prom Dreams]]'' is a freeware romance/horror adventure game made with VideoGame/RPGMaker VX Ace.

* BalancedHarem: Kyle gets an equal amount of interaction with all three girls by the end of the game. Justified in that [[spoiler:they are all stuck in a time loop, and Kyle is essentially being forced into choosing different girls each loop when his previous choice disappears.]]
* TheBigBadShuffle: [[spoiler: The game even ''having'' a Big Bad is [[HiddenVillain itself a spoiler]], since it's not [[NoAntagonist what you'd expect from a dating sim.]] However, players will likely suspect [[UncannyValleyGirl Claire]] is up to something... but no, she's just TheDragon. Then, [[FalseFriend "Randy"]] reveals his true nature, making ''him'' seem like the true mastermind... but as he points out, he's just a messenger of HER. You might think that HER refers to Annie Horowitz, who's murder case is a part of the backstory... but nope, [[RedHerring she seems to be completely uninvolved with the story.]] Then Kyle's ex-girlfriend Serena starts haunting him, making her seem like the culprit... but ultimately, all three of the actual candidates turn out to be creations of Dolores, a bullied girl in a wheelchair who seeks vengeance for all the wrongs inflicted upon her. And even ''she'' got her powers thanks to [[GreaterScopeVillain Demon King Moloch.]]]]

* FiveBadBand:

* {{Foil}}: Ariel and Dan, two disabled characters who serve as foils to [[spoiler:Dolores. While the former two manage to find love despite their disabilities, Dolores refuses to believe that anyone could love her ''because'' of her disability. Guess which of them gets their happy ending?]]

* TheBigBadShuffle: [[spoiler: The game even ''having'' a Big Bad is [[HiddenVillain itself a spoiler]], since it's not [[NoAntagonist what you'd expect from a dating sim.]] However, sufficiently GenreSavvy players will likely suspect [[UncannyValleyGirl Claire]] is up to something... but no, she's just TheDragon. Then, [[FalseFriend "Randy"]] reveals his true nature, making ''him'' seem like the true mastermind... but as he points out, he's just a messenger of HER. You might think that HER refers to Annie Horowitz, who's murder case is a part of the backstory... but nope, [[RedHerring she seems to be completely uninvolved with the story.]] Then Kyle's ex-girlfriend Serena starts haunting him, making her seem like the culprit... but ultimately, all three of the actual candidates turn out to be creations of Dolores, a bullied girl in a wheelchair who seeks vengeance for all the wrongs inflicted upon her. And even ''she'' got her powers thanks to [[GreaterScopeVillain Demon King Moloch.]]]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The bad ending, and to an extent the normal ending. In the bad ending, Kyle is trapped in the nightmare world permanently and has to play along with Dolores's fantasy of being romantically involved with Kyle. In the normal ending, he gets to leave the nightmare world, but Dolores renders him paraplegic so he'll have to suffer like she did, and Dolores remains free to continue murdering people.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The bad ending, and to an extent the normal ending. In the bad ending, Kyle is trapped in the nightmare world permanently and has to play along with Dolores's fantasy of being romantically involved with Kyle. In the normal ending, he gets to leave the nightmare world, but Dolores cripples him so he'll have to suffer like she did, and Dolores remains free to continue murdering people.]]

* AGodAmI: [[spoiler:Dolores declares herself this during your final encounter with her, due to her ability to bend the mirror world she's created to her will. Eleanor also describes her daughter's powers as god-like during the scene in the chapel.]]

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Brooke isn't merely stabbed in the eye: Claire stabs her through the eye to her brain in order to lobotomize her. She's only able to groan after that.]]

* TheBigBadShuffle: [[spoiler: The game even ''having'' a Big Bad is [[HiddenVillain itself a spoiler]], since it's not [[NoAntagonist what you'd expect from a dating sim.]] However, sufficiently GenreSavvy players will likely suspect [[UncannyValleyGirl Claire]] is up to something... but no, she's just TheDragon. Then, [[FalseFriend "Randy"]] reveals his true nature, making ''him'' seem like the true mastermind... but as he points out, he's just a messenger of HER. You might think that HER refers to Annie Horowitz, who's murder case is a part of the backstory... but nope, [[RedHerring she seems to be completely uninvolved with the story.]] Then Kyle's ex-girlfriend Serena starts haunting him, making her seem like the culprit... but ultimately, all three of the actual candidates turn out to be creations of Dolores, a bullied girl in a wheelchair who seeks vengeance for all the wrongs inflicted upon her. And even ''she'' got her powers thanks to [[GreaterScopeVillain Demon King Moloch.]]]]

[[spoiler: [[SurpriseCreepy Or... will it?]]]]

* XMeetsY: [[spoiler: The official tumblr describes the game as being like ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' meets ''VideoGame/CorpseParty''.]]

* TheBigBadShuffle: [[spoiler: The game even ''having'' a Big Bad is [[HiddenVillain itself a spoiler]], since it's not [[NoAntagonist what you'd expect from a dating sim.]] However, sufficiently GenreSavvy players will likely suspect [[UncannyValleyGirl Claire]] is up to something... but no, she's just TheDragon. Then, [[FalseFriend "Randy"]] reveals his true nature, making ''him'' seem like the true mastermind... but as he points out, he's just a messenger of HER. You might think that HER refers to Annie Horowitz, who's murder case is a part of the backstory... but nope, [[RedHerring she seems to be completely uninvolved with the story.]] Then Kyle's ex-girlfriend Serena starts haunting him, making her seem like the culprit... but ultimately, all three of the actual candidates turn out to be creations of Dolores, a bullied girl in a wheelchair who seeks vengeance for all the wrongs inflicted upon her. And even ''she'' got her powers thanks to Demon King Moloch.]]

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: The Demon King, Moloch, who in Biblical times solicited the Canaanites for child sacrifices, [[spoiler:is the being who granted Dolores and her mother their powers and H. Jericho Roth his wealth. He is described as NeutralEvil and pragmatic in his deals with humans, giving them complete freedom over their powers so long as he receives his sacrifices as well as rewarding those who offer more sacrifices with more power]]. Aside from this background role, he does not have much direct influence over the story.

* XMeetsY: The official tumblr describes the game as being like ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' meets ''VideoGame/CorpseParty''.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Claire claims that all three of the girls are one, but it's really only [[spoiler:Brooke]] who counts. [[spoiler:She ''is'' the one who blackmailed Neela into lying (via threatening to tell the media about her father's mafia ties) and helped Maggie cheat her SAT scores to get a scholarship so she could blackmail her into making a social media post in Kyle's name, after all.]]

Or... will it?

* TheDragon: Claire, who carries out the BigBad's orders [[spoiler:and stays by her side as a "peer aide"]].