History VideoGame / WeirdAndUnfortunateThingsAreHappening

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The extra-dimensional inhabitants of the Expanse, ranging from lowly monsters to the full-blown {{eldritch|Abomination}} gods called Evocations, are fully capable of communicating with the humans of Daybreak. They have their own language as well, but it's a CipherLanguage with a direct translation to English letters, plus a handful of cyphers that correspond to certain words.

-->Why aren’t the characters reacting to any of this crap? Is all of this even canon!?

* DiscOneFinalDungeon: The [[spoiler:Temple of Rebirth]] sure has final dungeon vibes, with otherworldly architecture, new battle music, and all sorts of creepy enemies. However, once you clear it, after a quick detour you end up in the real final dungeon, [[spoiler:Uratheul]]. It has all of the above from the [[spoiler:Temple of Rebirth]] alongside insane length.

** In City Hall, one of the notes describes a “dark place in the Expanse, an underworld of lost souls that holds a path to an even greater darkness”. [[spoiler:Said place is Uratheul and Makyo, TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and BrutalBonusLevel, respectively.]]
* FireAndBrimstoneHell: Subverted with [[spoiler:Uratheul]], the local PlanetHeck (or one of them, anyway). The party is expecting it to be this, but when they enter they see a watery, dull, and somewhat pretty wasteland.

* TheGunslinger: Mariam, a former secretary, uses guns to shoot monsters.

** The enemies' are seen when they take damage, and when being selected as the target of skills.

* RandomEncounters: In Daybreak, combat happens randomly, without contact with visible monsters on the overworld, where it's {{Justified}} by them invading from extra dimensions. However, it's played with in that the encounters aren't truly random- rather, an "encounter bar" is slowly filled up with every step you take until it's full, upon which a battle starts. Once enough battles have passed, the bar will turn yellow and fill up more slowly (except in [[BrutalBonusLevel Makyo]]).

** The game as a whole takes heavy inspiration from ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', with the Fool Spaces in particular resembling areas straight out of the game, but the game also has two blatant references:
*** One NPC in [[spoiler:Vinclum]] heavily resembles Madotsuki and tells you she is trying to sleep. Another is a clear ringer for Poniko. Both even have the same eye design.

And then suddenly, the town Dottie lives in disappears off the face of the earth. Daybreak has never existed, at least, to everyone except Alicia. She finds her way inside the erased city, pulled into the extradimensional Vedim Space, which is now full of monsters as well as the mysterious forgotten deities who call themselves Evocations, who are binding themselves to humans.

Alicia encounters an envocation named Elothu the Patient, who explains that he is an Outer Evocation, a.k.a the kind who are friendly to humans, and that the ones responsible for Daybreak's disappearance are the Inner Evocations. He decides to help her find Dottie and binds himself to her. Along the way, she teams up with Miriam Goodwin, a jerkish, gun-toting secretary who just wants to find her way out, and Lamar Arlington, Dottie's kind teacher who wants to protect as many people as he can. Together, they must venture through Daybreak and Vedim Space, fighting the forces of the Inner Evocation leader, [[BigBad Phritotch the Unknowable]], in order to save Dottie from being used for her mysterious and fiendish plan.

* EldritchLocation: Vedim Space and the Expanse, being extradimensional, and if you try to flee the Expanse away from the direction the plot is going, you basically run in place.

* PlanetHeck: Both TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and the BrutalBonusLevel are this:
** [[spoiler:Uratheul]] is the Dereleth Expanse equivalent of Hell, said by Elothu to be where "condemned miscreants" are imprisoned. While not quite a FireAndBrimstoneHell, it is a rather eldritch-looking place with five sections- a creepy church, a womb-like area, an enchanted forest, and two strange maze-like areas. It also houses the toughest enemies in the main game.

** Makyo, the post-game BrutalBonusLevel available after beating the FinalBoss. It lies under the aforementioned [[spoiler:Uratheul]], holds the strongest enemies in the game, is a slow descent down five massive floors, and is even [[spoiler:being used to [[SealedEvilInACan imprison]] the local SatanicArchetype]]. Lore-wise, it was actually the original Hell, but [[spoiler:the Firstborn]] was so powerful and dangerous that Makyo, the first Hell, was repurposed ''solely'' to seal it away, while [[spoiler:Uratheul]] was built as a ''second'' Hell to move all the displaced prisoners of Makyo who needed to be evacuated.

* SchoolSettingSimulation: Alicia has to find her niece Dottie at her monster-infested school, and one of the teachers is teaching when the player starts controlling him to fight said monsters.

*** One NPC [[spoiler:Vinclum]] heavily resembles Madotsuki and tells you she is trying to sleep. Another is a clear ringer for Poniko. Both even have the same eye design.

* FlavorText: Most items and some skills have small bits of text describing them.

* PlanetHeck: Makyo, the BrutalBonusLevel available after beating the FinalBoss, is the Expanse equivalent of Hell. It holds the strongest enemies in the game and is a slow descent down five massive floors, and is even [[spoiler:being used to [[SealedEvilInACan imprison]] the local SatanicArchetype]].
* PortalPainting: “Unforseen Encounters” in the Art Museum contains a Fool who will teleport the party to a {{Retraux}} classic JRPG overworld with a few mini-dungeons.

* MeaningfulName: Makyo, the BrutalBonusDungeon and [[PlanetHeck Hell equivalent, is named after the Japanese word for "realm of demons/monsters".

* ArbitrarySkepticism: From the Alicia encounters Miriam:

*** One NPC [[spoiler:Vinclum]] heavily resembles Madotsuki and tells you she is trying to sleep.

** One BonusBoss in [[spoiler:Neo Vinculum]] can only be summoned by [[VideoGame/YumeNikki repeatedly turning the lights on and off in a blonde girl's room]].

* ArbitrarySkepticism: From the Alicia encounters Mariam:
--> '''Alicia:''' You're okay with the crazy monsters and the city being all messed up, but you can't deal with psychic powers?\\
'''Mariam:''' ...\\
'''Mariam:''' Point.

** [[spoiler:Makyo]] is, like the above, split up into five mini-dungeons, but this time they are connected linearly. While there are fewer bosses, the enemies make up for it by being the toughest in the game. This will ensure your trek takes a while.

* MarathonLevel: Both TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and the BrutalBonusLevel are both this:

* DiscOneFinalDungeon: The [[spoiler:Expanse Temple]] sure has final dungeon vibes, with otherworldly architecture, new battle music, and all sorts of creepy enemies. However, once you clear it, after a quick detour you end up in the real final dungeon, [[spoiler:Uratheul]]. It has all of the above from the temple alongside insane length.

** A collectible item found in one of the Fools Spaces is a game cartridge titled “[[VideoGame/DragonQuest Dagon Warrior]]”.

** Aki’s Charm, found in the area, is an [[VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}} Eggygotchi]] toy.

* BaitAndSwitch: Miriam initially seems to be the BadassNormal of the party, a staple of games influenced by ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', until she bonds with Fardun and gains psychic abilities in her own right.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: At an early point, Sadie mentions having lost her mother and how in pain she is from it. This takes on a whole new meaning later on- [[spoiler:turns out that wasn't Sadie talking about her human mom, but ''Phritotch'' taking about Xelanyel, and the entire plot is being driven by her desire to [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas bring her mother back]]]].

-->[[VideoGame/SilentHill1 "I'm looking for a little girl: Short, dark hair. Pigtails. Just turned twelve last-"]]

** To ''Franchise/{{Silent Hill}}'', including references to [[VideoGame/SilentHill4 growing holes in the wall]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Angela's Knife]] being a late game item, and Alicia searching for Dottie by describing her in a certain, familiar way.