History VideoGame / WeirdAndUnfortunateThingsAreHappening

** Dottie, with [[KnifeNut knives.]] Though her true area of expertise is her psychic prowess and versatility.

* HonestAxe: One of the Fools Spaces has you drop a broken key in a pond, upon which a fairy will ask if you dropped the broken one or shiny golden one. Naturally, choosing the golden one gives you a fully-repairs Fools Key while not choosing it gives you nothing.

** The normal end can be achieved by simply beating the game as normal. [[spoiler:The Inner Evocations successfully revive their mother, Xelanyel- but it turns out she does not actually want to hurt humans, so they have to losses her to make her do what they want. After the subsequent battle, they are all devoured by Xelanyel, who dies again. Vi and Erick are unable to leave as they are undead, so Zlonyth decides to take care of them. The heroes and survivors escape Daybreak, but it has vanished from existence, so they elect to find a new life. TheStinger then reveals that Elothu, Ginyagu, and Isanir [[TreacherousAdvisor may have been using the heroes all along]] for their own plans.]]

** The enemies' are seen when they take damage, and when being selected as the target of skills. There are only a few who don't have a bar- William, the FinalBoss, and two of the {{Superboss}}es, the [[spoiler:Progress Nautilus]] and Cephtil.

* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Upon exiting the sewers, Lamar references the “winter of our discontent” line from Theatre/RichardIII.
-->Now is the winter of our discontent made summer by... something.

* ShoutOut:
** The Dereleth Expanse is named after August Dereleth, a writer who first published the works of Creator/HPLovecraft and added to the Literature/CthulhuMythos.
** To ''Franchise/{{GhostBusters}}'', with Lamar's "Ghost Puncher" skill, which has his "physical attacks do extra damage against Spectral type enemies", and its icon is a white being covered by a red "No sign".
** To ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', from WordOfGod, as said [[https://rpgmaker.net/games/8394/?post=731465#post731465 here]]:
---> "I've always liked the names of the two knights that work with Agrias and end up joining you in Final Fantasy Tactics. Their names are Alicia and Lavian. So that's where [Alicia's] name comes from XD;;;"
** One building in the early game says "Agamemnon Counterpart", the name of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqzESY7SIqU an infamously creepy cartoon video]].
** To ''VideoGame/EyeOfUzola'', another game by the same creator. That game's name is a movie that was playing at the "Mini Bijou" cinema in Daybreak, before the end of the world happened there, as shown in [[https://rpgmaker.net/games/8394/images/82419/ this image]].
** To a prior game by the creator- one sign in the Library under Famtasy series says “VideoGame/LuxarenAllure”. A fairy NPC in the Fairy Vedim Space also mentions her sister from another dimension who says that the real diary queen lives in a giant mushroom forest- referencing the one from the game. One bit of graffiti in the sewers says "Darkloft lives". Also, Urgoth the greedy demon, an NPC who sold the party rare weapons in said game, reprises his role here selling regular items (which are rare in this game) and a couple rare items. And in the last floor of Makyo, an NPC notes they resisted the "allure of the Iles of Luxaren".
** In the archives near City Hall is a game cabinet with ''VideoGame/{{Polybius}}'' on it.
** To ''Franchise/{{Silent Hill}}'', including references to [[VideoGame/SilentHill4 growing holes in the wall]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Angela's Knife]] being a late game item, an answer to an optional quiz being James Sunderland, and Alicia searching for Dottie by describing her in a certain, familiar way.
--->[[VideoGame/SilentHill1 "I'm looking for a little girl: Short, dark hair. Pigtails. Just turned twelve last-"]]
** One of Miriam's weapons is called the ''Film/{{Zardoz}}'' Pistol, with its description stating that it "shoots death and purifies the earth."
** One enemy in Atkinson Middle School is a giant eraser monster called Film/{{Eraserhead}}.
** The icon for the [[VendorTrash Golden Idol]] bears a resemblance to the [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Mani Mani Statue]].
** [[spoiler:The second phase of the FinalBoss]] has an attack called [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Lugae's]] Injection.
** One of Alicia's weapons is called the Mortis Bat, after Mortis Ghost, the creator of ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}''. Its description calls it a "Bat of Purification."
** One bit of graffiti in the sewers says “VisualNovel/WeKnowTheDevil”.
** Another graffiti says “[[VideoGame/PrayerOfTheFaithless Slayer Of The Faithless]]”.
** And another outside the sewers says “[[WebOriginal/TheWyomingIncident You will see such pretty things]]”.
** Graffiti in the secret sewers area says “[[VideoGame/AraFell Ara Smell]]”.
** One restaurant in Downtown is called [[VideoGame/WineAndRoses Wine & Roses]].
** A collectible item found in one of the Fools Spaces is a game cartridge titled "[[VideoGame/DragonQuest Dagon Warrior]]".
** The Best Place Ever is filled with references to other RPG Maker games. A couple rooms contain statues of [[VideoGame/SomaSpirits Heart and Soul]]. Another room has a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars Geno]] statue, and many rooms have one of the dolls from ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}''. And another room has dolls of [[VideoGame/JimmyAndThePulsatingMass Lars and Punch Tanaka]].
** One enemy in the same area, the Wicked Wand, resembles the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mW9rBbCu1s Evil Stick]], but with a SlasherSmile in place of the spooky image.
** Another enemy in the area is [[Literature/TheRailwaySeries Thomas the Pain Engine]].
** Aki's Charm, found in the area, is an [[VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}} Eggygotchi]] toy.
** Miriam references ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' by name when referring to a BookcasePassage in City Hall.
** The Robo Buddy enemy is a blatant {{expy}} of the ''VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy''.
** One bit of graffiti in [[spoiler:Vinculum]] says "[[VideoGame/TheGodOfCrawlingEyes God of Crawling Eyes]]". An NPC in the same area says "[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Fun is infinite]]".
** A poster in [[spoiler:Uratheul]] is of the titular protagonist of ''VideoGame/BraveHeroYuusha''.
** The Fool in the Princess section of [[spoiler:Uratheul]], before taking you to a glitchy Fools Space, says “[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink I AM ERROR!]]”
** Like in ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'', the boss of the Princess area is [[spoiler:a rotting carcass ZeroEffortBoss that says “Sorry. I'm dead.”]]
** 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 in [[spoiler:Vinclum and neo Vinclum]]:
*** [[spoiler:Vinclum]], the penultimate area, is a big reference to ''Yume Nikki''. A dream-world with a hub and four doors leading to a giant, surreal world where the female protagonist must explore and find special items to progress (in this case, four memories), and where there are strange [=NPCs=] but no enemies. One NPC heavily resembles Madotsuki and tells you she is trying to sleep, and another is a clear ringer for Poniko. Both even have the same eye design.
*** One BonusBoss in [[spoiler:Neo Vinculum]] can only be summoned by repeatedly turning the lights on and off in a blonde girl's room.
** An NPC in [[spoiler:Neo Vinclum]] is of the opinion that it should have been called “[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Neon Genesis]] [[spoiler:Vinclum]]”.
** One TV is playing “that show you loved as a kid! You know, the one that was [[Literature/CandleCove two hours of static and white noise.]]”
** An NPC in [[spoiler:Neo Vinclum]] flat-out tells you to play ''VideoGame/SomaUnion''.
** One of the potential things that the signs say in [[spoiler:Neo Vinclum]] is “[[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mr-bones-wild-ride I want to get off Mr. Bones Wild Ride.]]”

* BrutalBonusLevel: Makyo, only accessible after beating the game. Enemies and bosses that lurk there are far more powerful than anything else, there are five long floors to wade through, the area is very maze-like, and the encounter bar never turns yellow. And of course, it is home to one of the game's {{Superboss}}es. Even the in-game [=NPCs=] warn you not to go there.

* BossRush: Uniquely, the FinalBoss is essentially this; [[spoiler:the four Inner Evocations will take turns possessing Xelanyel and will use the same attacks they used against you in their first fights, before Xelanyel swallows them all and transforms into an unstable monstrosity with original attacks for the final phase]].

** Upon first meeting her, [[spoiler:Sadie expresses her support for [[MayorLain Mayor Trautman]], claiming that he has done “wonderful” things. This seems weird until she is revealed to be Phritotch, who Trautman was allied with, possessing Sadie]].

Alicia encounters an Evocation 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.

* MyNameIsQuestionMarks: Unnamed people are called "???" until their names are given, and just black silhouettes, until identified fully.

* NumberOfTheBeast: The BonusBoss of the Developer's Room that fights alone, drops 66666 EXP and 3 Prism Pellets.

* SequelHook: After defeating the FinalBoss, [[spoiler:Polly (the Cultist Superior) is briefly seen among the Daybreak survivors]]. And after the credits, [[spoiler:Elothu and the other Outer Evocations [[TreacherousAdvisor have a laugh at their former human allies]], noting that their "contracts" coincidentally benefitted their own hidden agendas]].

** The enemies' are seen when they take damage, and when being selected as the target of skills. There are only two who don't have a bar- William and [[spoiler:the [[SuperBoss Progressive Nautilus]]]].

* BonusBoss:
** [[spoiler:The Progress Nautilus]], the final challenge that awaits you at the end of the BrutalBonusLevel. Initially, it's not too powerful, but if you let the fight go on for too long it will easily crush you as it powers up its stats and changes forms.
** There are two encounters in the game's DeveloperRoom that are even more powerful than the above foe:
*** Gonna Kill You, Undefeated Flerovium Organometal, and Barrier Bauble all synergize with insane Attack, Magic Attack, and barriers respectively. The former two deal more damage than anything else in the game.
*** [[spoiler:Cephtil is]] a single opponent, but [[spoiler:its progressively stronger discordant wailings (like "[=AaaaAaaaAaaaAaaaAaaaAaaa=]")]] can instantly kill multiple party members at once, dealing beyond 1000 damage.

* DealWithTheDevil: Subverted and played straight. The Outer Evocations are generally fairly considerate towards their hosts and help boost their power without asking much in return beyond trying to address the same issues. The Inner Evocations do the same, but have no remorse in consuming their hosts from the inside out. [[spoiler:However, the game's regular ending implies the Outer Evocations might have more devilish motives than they let on.]]