Line #35 VideoGame/MurderByChoice


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/murderbychoicelogo.png]]
2	''Murder by Choice'' is a HiddenObjectGame developed by Nordcurrent and released in October 2022. It depicts Carla Page, a journalist from L.A. in the U.S., solving murder mysteries, taking place in the present day. It is effectively a spiritual successor to ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps'', where Carla also finds clues, uses hidden items, and solves puzzles to solve the mystery. However, in this game, Carla makes decisions based on the players’ [[DialogueTree choice]] that affect how the story plays out.
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4	The game is divided into different chapters.
5	* Chapter 1: [[TenLittleMurderVictims Carla, among other guests, is invited by billionaire Ruben Navarro to his private island Isla Esperanza for his annual soiree under stormy weather, only to almost immediately uncover a dead body.]] As Carla suspects the death to be a murder, other strange incidents occur and Carla must find out the truth behind the ongoing events on the island.
6	* Chapter 2, ''Wedding Bells'': Currently unreleased.
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8	On February 2024, a game mode called Memories was released where players could play Memory Stories each focused on a specific character from a chapter, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation as long as they obtained enough Memory Shards from playing hidden object scenes on the Memory Map to unlock the Stories]].
9	* For Chapter 1, five Memory Stories were released: ''Miraculus and Q'' (showing how Q planted the Miraculus flower), ''Sins of the Past'' (showing how Mrs. Bird was hired by Ruben), ''Portia's Scheme'' (showing how Portia kept Janet away from Ruben), ''Jax's One-Night Stand'' (showing how Jax made a certain regretful mistake during Chapter 1's events), and ''Murderer's Path'' (showing how the culprit carried out their crimes).
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11	[[foldercontrol]]
12
13	----
14	!!Tropes:
15	[[folder:In General]]
16	* ButThouMust: It ultimately does not matter what story choice or dialogue choice the player makes for Carla in the end, as the narrative outcomes and the majority of the dialogue remain practically the same regardless of what the player does.
17	** This is only subverted in the ending cutscene of Chapter 1 where [[spoiler:Carla gets to vote with Ruben and the Admiral on whether Margot deserves government protection after her trial for all her crimes. If Carla decides Margot should keep government protection, Margot simply lives out her life sentence. However, if Carla decides Margot does not deserve to keep government protection, Margot will get killed in her prison cell a few days into her sentence]].
18	* CompanyCrossReferences: The game makes multiple references to other games made by Nordcurrent, especially ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps''.
19	** When Carla is snooping through Portia's laptop, she can find games like ''VideoGame/CookingFever'', ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps'', and Time Guardians. Carla makes comments when the player clicks on each game.
20	*** For Cooking Fever:
21	--->'''Carla''': I'd love to see Portia have a go at this game.
22	*** For Murder in the Alps:
23	--->'''Carla''': Murder in the Alps... Somehow feels familiar.
24	*** For Time Guardians:
25	--->'''Carla''': Time Guardians! A timeless classic!
26	** When Carla is looking through Margot's dresser in a hidden object scene, there is a t-shirt with the app logo of Pocket Skyler.
27	** When the culprit plays music in the club room at the end of Chapter 1, that music is just a corrupted version of the main theme of Part 2 of ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps''.
28	** In the Exploration Mode of Chapter 1, there is a Collectibles category called "Nordcurrent Universe" that features Anna Myers' hat from ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps'', a burger plush from ''VideoGame/CookingFever'', and a magazine featuring the app logo of Pocket Skyler. The name of the category potentially implies that all of Nordcurrent's games takes place in the [[SharedUniverse same universe]].
29	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailers of this game reveal perhaps a bit too much about the story.
30	** Multiple trailers reveal major incidents that occur throughout Chapter 1, including [[spoiler:the arson of the Admiral’s boat, the letter revealing two guests have been poisoned, and the attempted sniping on Carla]].
31	** The app trailer blatantly shows [[spoiler:Lukas’s dead body]]. However, this is forgivable in that this occurs a few minutes going into Chapter 1.
32	** One trailer spoils [[spoiler:Portia’s murder]]. This is much less excusable because of how long it takes to reach this point in Chapter 1, at least 7 hours into it.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:''Chapter 1'' (Main Story)]]
36	* AbortedArc: [[spoiler:Much of Freddie goes unexplained, especially as he ends up dead with no one left to possibly explain more about him. For example, what did Lukas say to Freddie on the veranda that offended him? Why was Freddie selling his awards to Ruben? What happened to the pages ripped out of Freddie's notebook? And why was Freddie fighting with Lukas in the first place?]]
37	** [[AllThereInTheManual Most of this is explained in the Memory Story ''Murderer's Path''.]]
38	* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Freddie accidentally pushes Lukas to his death after fighting with him by the pool.]]
39	* TheAlcoholic: Freddie is known for drinking a lot of alcohol, as noted by many of the other characters. This turns out to be because of [[spoiler:Freddie’s guilt for the death of his girlfriend, Elena]].
40	* BettyAndVeronica: Janet is Betty and Portia is Veronica to Ruben as Archie.
41	* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Margot appears to be a trustworthy ally for Carla at first, with Margot even frequently calling her “chérie”. However, it turns out Margot was the culprit behind all the ongoings on Isla Esperanza.]]
42	* {{Blackmail}}:
43	** [[spoiler:Portia blackmails Janet over using ghostwriters for her recent stories to prevent her from interacting with Ruben.]]
44	** [[spoiler:Margot blackmails Freddie with the USB footage of him killing Lukas into committing some of the crimes on the island.]]
45	* BlackmailBackfire: [[spoiler:Freddie attempts to blackmail Margot back for being responsible for the events on the island with Margot’s poison ring and her overheard call to the Overseers. However, Margot simply kills Freddie in return.]]
46	* BlandNameProduct: The gaming console used by Freddie in the game room is called [=XStation=], which is a parody of both Xbox and [=PlayStation=].
47	* BottomlessBladder: If there is a bathroom for the characters to use on Isla Esperanza, it's definitely not on-screen. Carla especially goes the whole chapter without eating, drinking, or using the bathroom as the player controls her the entire time.
48	* BoundAndGagged: [[spoiler:Janet]] is found tied up with tape on their mouth at [[spoiler:the lighthouse]] before Carla gets to name the culprit near the end of the game.
49	* BrokenHeel: Carla breaks one of her heels when [[spoiler:running in the jungle to get the flare gun in the shed by the lighthouse to grab the cargo ship passing by]], forcing her to take both shoes off. It goes unexplained whether Carla gets spare shoes afterwards.
50	* ChekhovsGun:
51	** Carla finds seemingly unimportant items that she uses to deduce the culprit’s identity. [[spoiler:Mrs. Bird receives a note from the culprit threatening her and Carla. Carla keeps the note throughout most of the game. Carla also gets a page from Margot’s journal featuring her to-do list and more, which Carla keeps for some time. Carla compares the handwriting on both clues to confirm Margot is the culprit.]]
52	** After some lab analysis of the poison in the culprit's ring [[spoiler:that was used on Ruben during the first day]], Carla and Ruben deduce that [[spoiler:Ruben must have been poisoned through his skin by directly touching the culprit during the first dining room party]]. Looking back at the cutscene during that moment, it can be seen that [[spoiler:Margot is touching Ruben's left hand subtly enough without anyone noticing. Indeed, when the rash from Ruben's allergies to the poison shows up, it appears exactly on Ruben's left hand]].
53	** Also literal with Ruben's antique guns stored as a collection on his study desk. The one working gun is used to [[spoiler:attempt to take down the culprit]].
54	* {{Cliffhanger}}: In the ending cutscene, it dramatically shifts from all the remaining characters returning to their normal lives peacefully to black as Carla narrates about the impending horrors.
55	--->'''Carla''': Everything slowly started going back to normal.\
56	'''Carla''': I really thought the nightmare was over.\
57	'''Carla''': If only I’d known what would come next.\
58	'''Carla''': Maybe I could have prevented it.
59	* ClosedCircle: The inhabitants on Isla Esperanza are left trapped there and unable to contact outside people due to Hurricane Noah throughout the entirety of the chapter.
60	* CrimeAfterCrime: The crimes are committed by the culprit one after another to generally keep the others from finding out their identities or leaving the island.
61	* CutAndPasteNote: Carla gets one Tuesday morning about [[spoiler:two guests being poisoned]].
62	* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:If Margot dies in her cell]], their eyes remain open.
63	* DisneyDeath: There’s a brief moment where [[spoiler:Ruben]] is thought to have died after their heart rate goes flat before miraculously going back to normal again.
64	* DrowningMySorrows: [[spoiler:Jax]] will drink themselves until they knock themselves out after [[spoiler:reading Janet’s journal about their relationship once Janet learns Jax cheated on her with Margot]].
65	* DwindlingParty: On Isla Esperanza, there are originally 12 people, including Carla herself. [[spoiler:By the end of the chapter, only 9 remain alive, 8 if the culprit gets killed per the player’s choice.]]
66	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
67	** [[spoiler:Ruben being Carla's biological father is hinted at multiple times before the actual reveal. To name a few, Ruben briefly mentions how Carla reminds him of someone he cared for before, likely Carla's mother, Marianne. Dr. Kat points out how similar Carla and Ruben are in personality. Portia is suspiciously aggressive at Carla specifically, likely because Ruben already told her about Carla. If the player clicks around in Carla's suite and Ruben's suite, Carla will comment about how the aquatic theme reminds her of her 9th birthday and how her grandmother has the same armoire respectively, showing Ruben knows about Carla's history. Ruben also expresses an unusual amount of trust and care for Carla despite being just a journalist to everyone else.]]
68	** [[spoiler:The game somewhat hints at Portia meeting her end before it reaches there. If Carla is on good terms with Jax, during the cutscene where Portia refuses to let him into Ruben's suite, Jax later says he has a feeling Portia's time on Esperanza is nearly up. [[ThreatBackfire Turns out he was right, just not for the reason he thinks.]] Likewise, if Portia is chosen to find Freddie with Jax and if Carla suggests to pick Freddie's body up in the abandoned house's well, Portia refuses, about to say "Over my dead body!" before apologizing. [[ThreatBackfire It would be over her dead body.]]]]
69	* FrameUp: A tactic used by the culprit to get people off their tracks.
70	** An earring [[spoiler:belonging to Portia]] is left behind in [[spoiler:the Admiral’s]] suite after [[spoiler:the Admiral is knocked out]].
71	** The culprit's black trench coat is put in [[spoiler:Janet]]'s suite.
72	** A USB [[spoiler:featuring footage of Lukas’s death]] is left behind in [[spoiler:Jax’s]] suite.
73	** A knife belonging to [[spoiler:the Admiral that was stolen when he was knocked out]] is left behind on the beach to incriminate them after it was used to cut the rope Carla was trying to climb in the cavern.
74	** The culprit uses Lukas' gun taken by [[spoiler:the Admiral to kill Portia and leaves it back at the Admiral's suite]] to frame them, knowing it's the only modern gun available on the island.
75	** The security alarm of [[spoiler:Haven]] is set off while [[spoiler:Mrs. Bird is knocked out down at Haven]] in order to frame them.
76	* FreudianSlip: [[spoiler:When Margot names examples of what Ruben could be doing if Carla asks her what Ruben is currently up to on the first day, one example is reversing the aging process. Either Margot is a lucky guesser or she already knows the premise of Project Genetica and spouts it out, knowing it's not out-of-character of Ruben.]]
77	* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: Done very often by the characters when meeting Carla
78	** Ruben insists to Carla on calling him “Ruben” instead of “Mr. Navarro”.
79	** Margot asks Carla to just call her “Margot” after Carla instead calls her “Ms. St. Germain”.
80	** Katherine tells Carla at the end of the game that Carla doesn’t need to refer to her with her doctor title anymore.
81	* FriendshipTrinket: Ruben gives Carla a bracelet [[spoiler:from his previous romance with Carla’s mom, Marianna]] to symbolize Ruben’s vow to protect Carla as her friend [[spoiler:and biological father]].
82	* GoodLuckCharm: Carla wears her signature paper plane necklace for good luck.
83	* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The Overseers send a senior member, the culprit, to Isla Esperanza to retrieve Project Genetica’s files.]]
84	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Margot kills Freddie when he tries to leverage her on being his blackmailer with her poison ring and with her overheard call to the Overseers. Margot also kills Portia when she discovers Margot looking through Portia’s laptop.]]
85	* HiddenDisdainReveal: [[spoiler:Margot hopes Ruben’s taste in music “is less dull than his personality” after trapping him and the others in Haven to die.]]
86	* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler:Margot sleeps with Jax in his suite to get an opportunity to plant the USB footage with Lukas’s death there.]]
87	* {{Hypocrite}}: Jax gets angry at Janet for [[spoiler:having feelings for Ruben after finding out about her love letter to him via Portia]]. Jax has already [[spoiler:slept with Margot by this point]], making him look like a massive hypocrite in retrospect.
88	* IdiotBall: Carla fails to piece together the fact that [[spoiler:Ruben was a part of the Overseers when Ruben explains he left a secret, powerful, and dangerous organization after Carla already found out about the Overseers that is also a secret, powerful, and dangerous organization. Even when Carla finds a book on the Overseers in the Vault, Carla still doesn't connect the fact that the Overseers was the organization Ruben left during Carla's conception until Ruben explains himself later]].
89	* TheIlluminati: [[spoiler:Basically the Overseers, down to having an eye emblem.]]
90	* ImmortalityImmorality: The ability of Ruben’s Project Genetica to [[spoiler:essentially stop making people age]] has the characters, especially Carla, bring up questions on whether this is safe for humanity. Eventually, Ruben decides to [[spoiler:burn all the files on Project Genetica, coming to the conclusion that humanity doesn’t deserve immortality through the project after the chapter’s events]].
91	* ImmortalityInducer: Project Genetica serves to [[spoiler:make people live longer]]. This is seen with [[spoiler:Genie the Monkey, who is over 65 years old and yet remains young]].
92	* InterfaceSpoiler: Is especially seen with the collectibles.
93	** One of the categories’ name, [[spoiler:Portia’s Love]], and description spoils the fact that [[spoiler:Portia is in love with Ruben before Portia’s affection for him is more obvious and established]].
94	** The description of one of the categories, [[spoiler:Bienvenue en France!]], reveals how [[spoiler:Margot feels most home at a small coffee shop in Paris. This is suspicious because of how rich Margot already is and therefore logically should feel most home at her own luxurious home. It’s later revealed in Margot’s journal note that she was meant to meet with an “old friend”, possibly from the Overseers, at the cafe “Bohemia”, although it’s unknown if this is the same aforementioned cafe]].
95	* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:Margot confesses she feels no remorse for her crimes after Ruben asks her if she had any.]]
96	* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled:
97	** [[spoiler:Lukas’s killer, Freddie, gets killed by Margot for knowing too much about her.]]
98	** [[spoiler:Depending on the player’s choice, the culprit, Margot, will get killed herself by the Overseers in her prison cell in revenge for telling out the Overseers to the justice system.]]
99	* LockedInAFreezer: [[spoiler:Mrs. Bird]] is found locked in the freezer in the kitchen by Carla Sunday morning.
100	* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:It's indicated multiple times how Carla and Ruben share similarities in their personalities before it's revealed Ruben is Carla's biological father.]]
101	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Ruben reveals herself to be Carla’s biological father after she discovers of photo of him and her mother, Marianna, together.]]
102	* MischiefMakingMonkey: [[spoiler:Genie the Monkey steals Ruben’s phone and later a book on the Overseers from Carla while they are down at Haven. Ruben comments Genie has always stolen other people’s items before.]]
103	* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:Margot almost gets to get away with Project Genetica’s files after leaving the rest of the island’s inhabitants to die in Haven. However, the stormy weather prevents the Overseers from picking up Margot and the island’s inhabitants manage to escape Haven and incapacitate Margot.]]
104	* NiceGuy: Katherine’s entire character. Arguably the most consistently reasonable and calm person throughout the entire chapter.
105	* OhCrap: The characters gasp out of shock when the culprit reveals themselves after [[spoiler:pulling out Lukas’s gun and then shooting the Admiral]].
106	* PetTheDog: The culprit spares [[spoiler:Genie the Monkey after knocking her out with a tranquilizer gun and taking her saliva]].
107	* PistolWhipping: [[spoiler:Portia gets hit in the head by Margot with Lukas’s gun to incapacitate her, allowing Margot to kill Portia with less restraint.]]
108	* PsychoticSmirk: [[spoiler:Margot]] is seen with one before [[spoiler:shooting the Admiral once Margot is revealed as the culprit]].
109	* RagsToRiches: Essentially Ruben’s backstory. Ruben was born in Valparaíso, Chile to a fisherman father and a salesperson mother with seemingly modest money. However, Ruben grew to be one of the world’s richest people through his genius.
110	* RedHerring:
111	** Carla says Jax played a villain role in the movie 11 Hours, before Jax exclaims "HEY! Spoilers!". [[spoiler:Although a first-time player could think of this as foreshadowing, Jax ends up not being the villain of the chapter.]]
112	** When Carla helps Ruben turn on the lighthouse's light, a sizable cavern can be seen on the side of Isla Esperanza's cliffs, touching the ocean. While Carla explores a different cavern later that isn't touching the ocean and is to the left of the shown cavern, that cavern remains unexplored.
113	* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: Is what Ruben’s [[spoiler:secret floor, Haven,]] effectively is.
114	* SecretUndergroundPassage: Carla discovers one in the abandoned house at the ruins when trying to find the culprit’s sniper rifle.
115	* ShoutOut:
116	** Freddie repeatedly [[AffectionateNickname calls Carla "Nancy Drew" to her annoyance]]. This references the iconic detective ''Franchise/NancyDrew''.
117	** When Carla wakes up Monday morning, she notices her hair is all tangled up in her suite's mirror, resulting the task "The Fairest in the Land" showing up in the task list. This is a reference to the story ''Literature/SnowWhite''.
118	* SingleTear: A single tear can be seen dropping down from [[spoiler:Margot’s face if she is killed in her prison cell]].
119	* StoppedClock: Carla uses the watch found on [[spoiler:Lukas’s body]] to deduce their time of death.
120	* UnreliableIllustrator: In the hidden object scene in the vault, there is an impossible-to-ignore emblem of the Overseers. As this takes place after Carla finds out about the Overseers and the dialogue has Carla ignore the emblem even when Carla picks up the book on the Overseers right next to the emblem and only notices that the front opening on the book matches the Overseers emblem Carla has, it's likely that there's just a discrepancy between the art and the actual dialogue, not a fault of the story itself.
121	* VillainExitStageLeft: Happens during the climax of the chapter where [[spoiler:Margot leaves the remaining people in the elevator to Haven to die as Margot attempts to make her getaway]].
122	* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Lukas]] only gets a few lines of dialogue before they get killed almost as soon as the guests settle themselves in Isla Esperanza.
123	* WitchWithACapitalB: [[spoiler:Jax calls Margot this once she reveals herself to be the culprit and leaves Jax and the rest down in Haven to die.]]
124	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Is exactly the ending cutscene, showing where all the remaining characters of the chapter are since the chaos.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:''Chapter 1'' (Memories)]]
128	* AllThereInTheManual: ''Murderer's Path'' explains some details about Freddie that inexplicably go unexplained in Chapter 1, like [[spoiler:what Lukas whispered to him at the beginning of the game and why he fought with Lukas]].
129	* AnachronicOrder: The Memory Stories are ordered based on whose secret is shown first in Chapter 1, not based on when they take place. For example, ''Miraculus and Q'' takes place a year before Chapter 1, while ''Sins of the Past'' takes place 7 years before Chapter 1.
130	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Jax and Freddie correctly deduce that Margot would never reveal her fellow corporates' dirty deeds despite being a higher-up news head, as long as Margot gets paid in return.
131	* ExpositionBreak: The vast majority of ''Miraculus and Q'' and ''Sins of the Past'' is this. Specifically, in the former story, Ruben explains at length his Miraculus project while Q also explains at length his life in Venezuela. In the latter story, Ruben talks extensively about Mrs. Bird's former employer, Nigel Warren, while Mrs. Bird details much of her early life.
132	** Other Memory Stories share the same trope, only for shorter periods of time:
133	*** ''Portia's Scheme'' has Portia talk about her previous job working as an intern for Sweden's prime minister.
134	*** ''Jax's One-Night Stand'' has Jax talk about an experience he and Janet shared back when they loved each other more (either being at Jax's ranch or stranded in the desert). Margot can also talk extensively about being paid off by corporates or her former love Jamil.
135	*** ''Murderer's Path'' has [[spoiler:Freddie reveal more about Lukas' death and Margot reveal more about Freddie's girlfriend's death, why she joined the Overseers, how she got corrupted by the Overseers, and why she seeks Ruben's Project Genetica serum]].
136	* DrunkDriver: Freddie is seen drunk and distracted by his girlfriend Elena while driving. [[spoiler:He quickly learns that was a terrible mistake when Elena is killed in an accident]].
137	* DumbMuscle: Applies to Freddie. Freddie is fully aware himself of how others perceive him to be an idiot, and while he subverts the trope by [[spoiler:finding leverage against Margot through her poison ring]], he's unfortunately not smart enough to [[spoiler:find the security footage in Margot's suite, expose Margot's crimes to everyone else, nor be alarmed enough by Margot leading him into an abandoned house far away from the mansion]].
138	* FallenHero: Turns out [[spoiler:Margot wasn't always the corrupt corporate and power-hungry crime boss she was, she actually once stood against this type of people according to herself. She only became evil upon joining the Overseers to take revenge on the killer of her lover Jamil, where her time in the Overseers showed her her true darker self, not corrupted her, at least according to Margot]].
139	* FlashbackWithinAFlashback: ''Sins of the Past'' (which is already a flashback) has flashbacks to when Ruben reacted to his employees' deaths caused by Nigel Warren, when Ruben confronted Nigel at the Royal Gala Dinner, and when [[spoiler:Mrs. Bird committed murder as a youth]].
140	* HiddenDisdainReveal: The culprit's pessimistic personality is fully shown in ''Murderer's Path'', disliking every character they come across and constantly criticizing little details they notice in Ruben's island.
141	--->'''Culprit''': I thought she'd never leave... I hate LA girls... They talk too much.
142	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: In ''Murderer's Path'', the culprit tells their victim [[spoiler:Freddie]] their entire background and motives while in the abandoned house. Unfortunately for the victim, they don't realize the culprit is telling them all of this because the culprit is about to kill them.
143	* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler:Margot says "Au revoir, mon ami" before pushing Freddie to his death]].
144	* RecycledAnimation: Played straight in ''Murderer's Path''. Because that Story shows events that takes place in Chapter 1, it makes sense for the events to be shown exactly the same way as it did then.
145	* ScaryFlashlightFace: [[spoiler:Margot pulls one right before killing Freddie]].
146	* ShoutOut: Freddie mockingly points out the similarities between the Overseers and TheIlluminati.
147	* SynchronousEpisodes: Is what ''Jax's One-Night Stand'' and ''Murderer's Path'' are, showing what Jax and the culprit did off-screen while the player controlled Carla during Chapter 1.
148	* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Is what ''Miraculus and Q'', ''Sins of the Past'', and ''Portia's Scheme'' are, showing Q, Mrs. Bird, Portia, and other characters long before the events of Chapter 1.
149	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Subverted. [[spoiler: Unlike with Freddie, Margot immediately goes in for the kill with Portia and doesn't bother explaining herself to Portia at all]].
150
151	[[/folder]]
152

Context VideoGame / MurderByChoice