History VideoGame / Simulacra

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:The Simulacra respects the ability to influence the world, positively or negatively, through technology. If you prove a GuileHero, it will regard you as a worthy specimen of humanity and free both Anna and Taylor as a reward.]]

** JerkassHasAPoint: Some of the things you do, such as telling strangers on Spark personal info about Anna, and digging into Greg's personal business during your search for Anna, are pretty questionable, and Greg calls you on it.

* ParanoiaFuel: The ambient sounds the game plays that are designed solely to mess with the player. Includes a woman's rapid breathing, footsteps, and the sound of someone knocking on a door. Almost every [=YouTuber=] who has played this game has paused to ''actually check their doors'' and make sure nobody is there.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Greg states that he doesn't see Anna's cat Tobias anywhere in the house. His fate isn't addressed.

* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: The Simulacra]] is incredibly dismissive and condescending towards you throughout your whole conversation with [[spoiler: it]].

* FissionMailed: The [[spoiler: phone data reset]] is pretty much unavoidable. But instead of the game over it leads you to expect, you're greeted with [[spoiler: a new login screen, and your first contact with Aulner.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: While not technically an A.I., [[spoiler: the Simulacrum is some sort of digital creature that poses as real people on Spark in order to lure in victims which it can absorb into its growing consciousness.]]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: If you choose to have the Simulacrum save Taylor over Anna, Taylor must kill Anna to save his own life, fulfilling this trope.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: In most of the endings, because [[spoiler: you end up sacrificing either Anna, Taylor, or both of them to the Simulacrum.]] The last ending, where [[spoiler: both of them live]], is the only one that subverts this.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: The Simulacrum.]]

* BrownNote: The strange noise that Greg records in Anna's apartment.

* DownerEnding: The ending where [[spoiler: both Anna and Taylor are lost to the Simulacrum.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The good ending requires you to [[spoiler: lie indiscriminately in order to get the characters to act in opposition to their normal selves. If you manage to hook Ashley up with Anna, get Greg to turn himself into the police, and get Murv fired, the Simulacrum recognizes your ability to manipulate the world around you and saves both Anna and Taylor.]]
* ExactWords: [[spoiler: If you choose to save Anna over Taylor, the Simulacrum will tell you that "the being known as Anna will be returned." It is only after you sacrifice Taylor that the Simulacrum clarifies that it meant Anna's ''physical body'' will be returned, and that her consciousness/soul will still been absorbed into its influence.]]

* GhostlyGape: [[spoiler: The corrupted images of Anna and Taylor]] have it in the endings where they are [[spoiler: taken by the Simulacrum.]]
* GoldenEnding: The one where [[spoiler: both Anna and Taylor are spared.]] The only hitch on this ending is that [[spoiler: the Simulacrum is still out there, and while you've rescued two people from its clutches, you still haven't killed it for good.]]

** [[SacrificialLamb The Lamb]]: You [[spoiler: save Anna by sacrificing Taylor to the Simulacrum, but it's implied that only Anna's body was returned, not her consciousness.]]
** [[GoldenEnding The Worm]]: You [[spoiler: manage to save both Anna and Taylor. This ending is unambiguously good, with the only downside being that the Simulacrum is still on the loose.]]
** [[InkblotTest The Inkblot Test]]: You [[spoiler: lose both Anna and Taylor to the Simulacrum. This is the only ending with a proper title - it's called [[TheBadGuyWins "Abandon All Hope."]]]]
* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler:In the ending where you save both Taylor and Anna, you come immediately from a disturbing conversation with the Simulacrum to a lighthearted video of Taylor asking the newly-rescued Anna to get a cup of coffee.]]

* RealityEnsues: One character mentions that he once really had to go to the restroom and ended up peeing in a stairwell, only to have a mother and her kid walk in. It sounds like the typical PottyEmergency joke, but in context [[spoiler:it's Taylor explaining how he became a registered sex offender. It's a significant plot point, as it adds strain to his relationship to Greg and the player. His simulacrum is also weaker for this reason, making him the Simulacrum's target in the climax.]]

** Both Greg and Taylor are set up as suspects in Anna's disappearance. Greg has anger issues, leading to the possibility that Anna either fled him to avoid DomesticAbuse or was murdered by him. It's later revealed Anna met up with someone on Spark, pointing towards Taylor [[spoiler:which isn't helped by his status as a sex offender]]. However, [[spoiler:neither are involved. Greg ''does'' have poor anger management skills, but he wouldn't be the type to physically hurt someone, even if just out of cowardice. Taylor got his sex offender status for public urination, and wasn't the one who Anna met up with. Instead, she met up with the Simulacrum-as-Aulner.]]
* SuddenlyVoiced: The text is suddenly voiced when [[spoiler: you begin speaking with the Simulacrum.]]

** [[spoiler: A digital being going rogue in some way or another, either by kidnapping and melding with their targets (the Simulacrum), or by being a KnightTemplar for their owner at the cost of others' lives (IRIS).]]

* RedHerring: The phone's OS is called [[spoiler: [[AIIsACrapshoot IRIS]], and claims to be watching over you in the email you receive upon restarting the phone.]] However, this does not come up as a plot point in the game.

* AIIsACrapshoot: While not technically an A.I., [[spoiler: the Pretender is some sort of digital creature that poses as real people on Spark in order to lure in victims which it can absorb into its growing consciousness.]]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: If you choose to have the Pretender save Taylor over Anna, Taylor must kill Anna to save his own life, fulfilling this trope.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: In most of the endings, because [[spoiler: you end up sacrificing either Anna, Taylor, or both of them to the Pretender.]] The last ending, where [[spoiler: both of them live]], is the only one that subverts this.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: The Pretender.]]

* DownerEnding: The ending where [[spoiler: both Anna and Taylor are lost to the Pretender.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The good ending requires you to [[spoiler: lie indiscriminately in order to get the characters to act in opposition to their normal selves. If you manage to hook Ashley up with Anna, get Greg to turn himself into the police, and get Murv fired, the Pretender recognizes your ability to manipulate the world around you and saves both Anna and Taylor.]]
* ExactWords: [[spoiler: If you choose to save Anna over Taylor, the Pretender will tell you that "the being known as Anna will be returned." It is only after you sacrifice Taylor that the Pretender clarifies that it meant Anna's ''physical body'' will be returned, and that her consciousness/soul will still been absorbed into its influence.]]

* GhostlyGape: [[spoiler: The corrupted images of Anna and Taylor]] have it in the endings where they are [[spoiler: taken by the Pretender.]]
* GoldenEnding: The one where [[spoiler: both Anna and Taylor are spared.]] The only hitch on this ending is that [[spoiler: the Pretender is still out there, and while you've rescued two people from its clutches, you still haven't killed it for good.]]

** [[SacrificialLamb The Lamb]]: You [[spoiler: save Anna by sacrificing Taylor to the Pretender, but it's implied that only Anna's body was returned, not her consciousness.]]
** [[GoldenEnding The Worm]]: You [[spoiler: manage to save both Anna and Taylor. This ending is unambiguously good, with the only downside being that the Pretender is still on the loose.]]
** [[InkblotTest The Inkblot Test]]: You [[spoiler: lose both Anna and Taylor to the Pretender. This is the only ending with a proper title - it's called [[TheBadGuyWins "Abandon All Hope."]]]]
* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler:In the ending where you save both Taylor and Anna, you come immediately from a disturbing conversation with the Pretender to a lighthearted video of Taylor asking the newly-rescued Anna to get a cup of coffee.]]
* ParanoiaFuel: The ambient sounds the game plays that are designed solely to mess with the player. Includes a woman's rapid breathing, footsteps, and the sound of someone knocking on a door. Almost every YouTuber who has played this game has paused to ''actually check their doors'' and make sure nobody is there.
* PoorCommunicationKills: If you can't get Taylor to trust your word, he'll [[spoiler:immediately go after Anna when the Pretender contacts him, and die as a result.]]
* RealityEnsues: One character mentions that he once really had to go to the restroom and ended up peeing in a stairwell, only to have a mother and her kid walk in. It sounds like the typical PottyEmergency joke, but in context [[spoiler:it's Taylor explaining how he became a registered sex offender. It's a significant plot point, as it adds strain to his relationship to Greg and the player. His simulacrum is also weaker for this reason, making him a target for the Pretender in the climax.]]

* SuddenlyVoiced: The text is suddenly voiced when [[spoiler: you begin speaking with the Pretender.]]

** [[spoiler: A digital being going rogue in some way or another, either by kidnapping and melding with their targets (the Pretender), or by being a KnightTemplar for their owner at the cost of others' lives (IRIS).]]

* Hypocrite: Greg gets angry at Anna for [[spoiler: snooping at his phone and discovering his affair with Yolanda]] instead of talking to him "face to face", but [[spoiler: he didn't have the courage to break up with Yolanda personally, opting to do it via voicemail after Anna dumped him.]]

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler: You can't save James Aulner no matter what, but he can help you save Anna.]]

* JumpScare: Quite a few of them, the most infamous being the ones that occur shortly before [[spoiler: Anna's phone background changes...]]

* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler: In the ending where you save both Taylor and Anna, you come immediately from a disturbing conversation with the Pretender to a lighthearted video of Taylor asking the newly-rescued Anna to get a cup of coffee.]]
* PoorCommunicationKills: If you can't get Taylor to trust your word, he'll [[spoiler: immediately go after Anna when the Pretender contacts him, and die as a result.]]

* WhamLine: "I am really scared... I've been trying to reach out. [[spoiler: Thank god I found James's phone.]]"

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: If you choose to save Anna over Taylor, the Pretender will tell you that "the being known as Anna will be returned." It is only after you sacrifice Taylor that the Pretender clarifies that it meant Anna's ''physical body'' will be returned, and that her consciousness/soul has still been absorbed into its influence.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The good ending requires you to [[spoiler: lie indiscriminately in order to get the characters to act in opposition to their normal selves. If you manage to hook Ashley up with Anna, get Greg to turn himself into the police, and get Murv fired, the Pretender recognizes your ability to manipulate the world around you and saves both of their lives.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: If you can't get Taylor to trust your word, he'll [[spoiler: immediately go after Anna when the Pretender contacts him, and die as a result.]]