Line #15 NightmareFuel/TalesOfTheAbyss


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abyssnightmare.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:And you can't do anything to save him...]]
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4	''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' was considered to be the '''[[DarkerAndEdgier darkest]]''' ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' game released and held that title for over a decade until it was surpassed by '''''NightmareFuel/TalesOfBerseria'''''.
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6	Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all NightmareFuel pages, so '''all spoilers are unmarked.'''
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8	* Normally, Guy Cecil's [[AllergicToLove gynophobia]] is funny. [[CerebusRetcon Then you find out what caused this fear.]] When he was a child, Duke Fabre attempted to commit genocide against his family. His older sister and the maids of the house sacrificed themselves to protect him. He wound up buried under their bodies for days on end.
9	* The horrifically brutal death of the boy John (pictured above) after [[WhamEpisode the fall of Akzeriuth]] as he sinks while buried under his father's corpse may very well be the single most terrifying event in the entire ''Tales'' franchise. Neither [[ControllableHelplessness the player]] nor the party can save him.
10	** Worse still, when evacuating Engeve, you meet with his mother.
11	** Later on in Shurrey Hill, you eventually get to fight monsters called Darks, a blob of purplish mass and with a base of dirt. Then it likely comes to fruition that they're possibly the spirits or remaining flesh and living remains of things and horrifyingly melded with the toxic mass of the Qliphoth's sea.
12	* Once you make it back to the Outer Lands after St. Binah's fall, you see both Kimlascan and Malkuthian forces engaged with each other in an all-out war as a result of Akzeriuth's destruction earlier, not shying away in showing both forces wiping each other out while the innocent are caught in the crossfire. What follows is the party of six splitting in two with Jade's group having to evacuate Engeve's residents out of the battlefield and to Chesedonia, and Natalia's group heading to Kaitzur to stop Kimlascan forces from further engagement. [[WarIsHell Neither scenario is pretty]], as the former shows the Engeve residents in distress while the latter has Natalia failing to convince the army to halt their advances and is forced to reunite with the others in Chesedonia. With the Rugnica Plains in danger of collapsing and potentially wiping out all forces, this would obviously be seen as a HopelessWar on both sides.
13	** The gameplay during the war segment isn't nice to players either. First off, Holy Bottles are ineffective as [[RandomEncounters encounter deterrents]]--[[ParanoiaFuel all factions will relentlessly pursue the player the moment they're visible]]. Second, failing to avoid them will trigger scenes where either some of Engeve's residents are lost in the crossfire, or the party is engaged in a faction they didn't want to fight. Lastly, it isn't just two factions--apparently the ''Oracle Knights'' for some reason are in this war as well, showing up late in Natalia's side, and they will pursue the player with much more speed compared to the other two sides. Also, you get bonus items if you manage to [[StealthBasedMission avoid as many encounters as possible]], forcing you to keep on your toes just for those items as the war throws everything at you. Yes, this also includes avoiding the [[GoddamnedBats delusional Oracle Knights charging at you like angry rams]]. Good luck.
14	* The pivotal point of Jade's backstory: his experiments with fonic artes as a child caused an accident that left his mentor Nebilim on the verge of death. He tried to use fomicry, a technology he created himself, to bring her back to life as a "clone". [[CameBackWrong She came back...but as a murderous, bloodthirsty monster]]. Since replicas are always born as blank slates, she has no recollection of her previous life except looking exactly like the deceased.
15	* Grand Maestro Mohs is turned into a freakish monster because of inability to control Seventh Fonons, causing sanity degeneration. Upon defeating him, he [[BodyHorror melts into goo and disintegrates]].
16	* The miasma is a deadly poison that comes from the core of the planet. Breathing it in for too long will kill you, and can consume entire ''continents'' with enough time. The party sees it early on in Fubras River, but later in the game, they end up in the Qliphoth, which consists of [[EldritchLocation an ominous purple sky, landmasses very far and few between, surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of mud and miasma]].
17	** The process cleansing of the miasma basically involves a ''mass suicide'' of replicas with Luke's words sounding half SurvivalMantra, half MadnessMantra.
18	--->'''Luke:''' I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
19	* The whole of Luke's story and the end result is this when you take into account the fact that, as a replica, he's only ''seven'' years old and he goes through so much crap and ultimately '''dies''' in the end.

Context NightmareFuel / TalesOfTheAbyss