Line #71 VideoGame/ICannotDrown


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/icannotdrowntour2_21.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Ume and one of the mermaids she meets.]]
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4	''I Cannot Drown'' is a ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' fangame by Creator/PureIceBlue in the ''UsefulNotes/RPGMaker'' MV engine. The game was originally made for Dream Diary Jam 3 on Itch.io and then updated in 2020 for Dream Diary Jam 4. In August 2021 it got it's 1.0.0 update as well as uploads to Newgrounds and Gamejolt.
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6	The game can be played and downloaded from [[https://pureiceblue.itch.io/i-cannot-drown Itch.io]], [[https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/810897 Newgrounds]], and [[https://gamejolt.com/games/I-cannot-drown/637727 Game Jolt]].
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8	''I Cannot Drown'' follows a woman named Ume who is in a monochrome cave alongside a rabbit, a red ball, and two holes. She receives a letter from someone known as Fu, who tells her that in order to escape the cave, she needs to go deeper and find all the effects. Like in ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', Ume can collect a variety of abilities known as "effects" that change her appearance and allow her to interact with the world in different ways. Alongside effects, players can also find various body parts scattered throughout the various areas known as "parts".
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10	See also ''VideoGame/LilysWell'' by the same creator.
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12	!! ''I Cannot Drown'' contains examples of:
13	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewer area contains large tunnels as well as a hot spring.
14	* AddressingThePlayer: [[spoiler:Ume lets her appreciation for the players known through a coded message in the changelogs.]]
15	* AmbiguousSituation: Nothing is solidly given for the game's plot other than the description found on the game's Itch.io page. Version 0.03 develops the plot further, but still leaves several aspects up in the air.
16	* AnimateInanimateObject: Multiple living umbrellas and lanterns can be found throughout various areas.
17	* AshFace: How Ume appears in the overworld while using the burning effect. [[spoiler:Her true appearance in the menu is much more disturbing.]]
18	* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Both Fuku and the Pink Lady return in the Coming Revival ending if they are encountered beforehand in the playthrough.]]
19	* BigBad: The Anomaly is the being who trapped Ume in the mysterious cave. [[spoiler:Except she is actually trying to protect the outside world from [[VillainProtagonist Ume]], a WickedWitch and cult leader who devours innocent people and mermaids.]]
20	* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', I Cannot Drown contains far bloodier content including the Hunger effect, the menu graphic for the Burning effect, an event where Ume gets run over by a truck, [[spoiler:the option to disembowel a mermaid]], and a variety of of other disturbing areas.
21	* BodyHorror: Common throughout the game with multiple examples.
22	** The Hunger effect gives Ume more arms, hands, and breasts, additionally making parts of her body bleed.
23	** The Fungus effect causes many different types of fungi to sprout from Ume's body as well as form holes in her skin.
24	** The Higanbana effect replaces Ume's head with a giant red spider lily.
25	** The pink haired lady inside the sea floor portal seems to have large amounts of coral protruding from her body as she's suspended upside down. [[spoiler:This is shown in more detail up close.]]
26	** By using the Mask effect in the woman's bathroom, an NPC can be found with no head and a flailing red arm coming out of her neck hole.
27	* BodyMotifs: Throughout the red spider lily field are multiple large human hands that stick out of the ground.
28	* BigCreepyCrawlies: One area has large photos of centipedes and other bugs throughout the hall.
29	* CannibalismSuperpower: [[spoiler:Ume initially gained immortality from eating mermaids.]]
30	* CheshireCatGrin: The fittingly named Smile effect gives Ume one of her own.
31	* ColorMotif: Red, black, and white are the only three colors seen in the game with the exception of the pink haired lady.
32	* CoolMask: The Mask effect gives Ume a Noh mask that reveals hidden objects. The gasmask stalker also sports a gasmask.
33	* CreepyBasement: A basement can be found in the lake filled with flowerpots. These pots have human hands sticking out of them.
34	* CreepyCemetery: Players can find a snowy cemetery with insulting names covering the grave markers.
35	* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: The only way to access the pink-haired lady's room is to [[spoiler:kill the beach mermaid first]].
36	* {{Cyclops}}: On the train and in the art gallery are npcs that are bald and only have one large blinking eye.
37	* {{Cult}}: [[spoiler:The Coming Revival ending reveals an entire cult devoted to Ume in the physical world.]]
38	* DarkerAndEdgier: The amount of gore and body horror gives I Cannot Drown a much darker atmosphere compared to even Yume Nikki. [[spoiler:Also, the protagonist is an unambiguous VillainProtagonist, unlike Madotsuki who is AmbiguouslyEvil at worst.]]
39	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: ''I Cannot Drown'' is mostly black and white with the only color being red.
40	* DownerEnding: Two of the three endings don't leave off on a happy note. [[spoiler:The First has Ume about to kill an NPC with a glass shard. The Coming Revival ending meanwhile has Ume revived as a skeleton by her followers with mermaids ready to be killed and eaten.]] The only happy ending is [[spoiler:Her Memory, ironically, as it ends with Ume being killed and forced to go through the game all over again, which is [[VillainProtagonist basically a happy ending]]]].
41	* DownTheRabbitHole: Ume must literally go down a hole in order to go through the various worlds.
42	* EarnYourHappyEnding: While none of the endings can be considered happy, collecting all of the effects and [[spoiler:parts]] results in [[spoiler:Ume's revival in the physical world, allowing her soul to escape from her prison after hundreds of years]].
43	* EscapeRope: The Smile effect brings players back to the Nexus without needing to go through the cave again.
44	* TheFaceless: The face of the gas mask stalker is never seen, even in the closeup shot if it catches up to Ume.
45	* {{Flashback}}: South of the house in the snow world is a child version of Ume, implying the snow world is where she grew up.
46	* FloralMotifs: Red spider lilies can be found in multiple locations from being on Ume's obi by default, being the theme of the red spider lily field world, and one replacing her head while using the Higanbana effect. These flowers are used as a symbol for death in the Japanese language of flowers.
47	* FungusHumongous: The mushroom world is filled with giant mushrooms.
48	* GodivaHair: The Ama effect leaves Ume topless, with only her hair covering her breasts.
49	* GoldenEnding: Gotten by getting all of the Effects, Parts, and meeting all of the special [=NPCs=].
50	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Pink Lady was meant to keep Ume inside her prison so that she could no longer harm others in the physical world.]]
51	* GottaCatchThemAll: The endings are dependent on the collection of the effects and the parts.
52	* {{Gorn}}: There is a lot to be found throughout the game.
53	** The burning effect turns Ume into a burning corpse that can be seen in full detail in the menu screen.
54	** By approaching the beach mermaid with the hunger effect, [[spoiler:Ume will begin to disembowel her with players being left with the gory results]].
55	** Getting caught by the gas mask stalker will render Ume into a bloody corpse.
56	* GottaCatchEmAll: There are currently eleven effects for players to collect as well as six parts.
57	* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:Ume's fate in the Her Memory ending.]]
58	* GuideDangIt: Being a ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' fan-game, a lot of the secrets and items are well hidden and can be difficult to find.
59	* HiddenEyes: The school girl npc, the blindfolded npc, the Kejoro npcs, the jellyfish mermaid, and the blindfolded mermaid all have unseen eyes. Ume's eyes are also covered in her overworld sprite for the Hunger effect, the Smile effect, and the Bride effect.
60	* {{Homage}}:
61	** The train and snow world all seem to be referencing the train car and snow world from ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''.
62	** The naming convention of the parts follows the names of the Exodia part cards from ''Franchise/YuGiOh''.
63	** The art gallery is likely a reference to ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}''.
64	* HumanSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Pink Lady was trapped in the Phantasmagoria Prison and possibly killed by her father in order to prevent Ume from escaping.]]
65	* ImAHumanitarian: While not exactly human, [[spoiler:Ume kills and eats mermaids in order to stay immortal.]]
66	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Ume's fate in the Her Memory ending.]]
67	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Ume uses a large shard of glass.
68	* JumpScare: One will occur if Ume is caught by the gas mask stalker.
69	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Ume in the Coming Revival ending.]]
70	* KillItWithFire: The Burning effect will light Ume on fire. While this will not kill her, it will make her move faster. [[spoiler:The fire does seem to kill Ume if she enters the fire pit while using the effect with her burnt corpse seen floating to the bottom of the sea.]]
71	* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:If the beach mermaid is killed by Ume, she will remain dead for the rest of the game with no way to bring her back.]]
72	* KimonoIsTraditional: Ume wears a traditional kimono even with many of her effects.
73	* TheMaze: The endgame areas take the form of first person mazes.
74	* MentalWorld: Like most ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' fangames, the world is created from the playable character's mind.
75	* MindScrew: Player perceptions are messed with on multiple occasions with the best example being in the neighborhood world. There the game will pretend to glitch out and break when crossing certain thresholds.
76	* MonstrousHumanoid: Many [=NPC=]s can be considered this with some being based on yokai while others are more humanoid with aspects of body horror being added to them.
77	* MultipleEndings: There are three endings, plus a hidden path for one of them.
78	** Ending 1 - The First: [[spoiler:Ume is taken back to the cemetery where another woman waits at the front of the shrine. She turns around to see Ume holding a shard of glass.]]
79	** Ending 2 - Her Memory: [[spoiler:Ume walks along a fleshy path until she reaches a movie theater. As she sits down, the movie begins and she is impaled by the Memory of Ivy.]]
80	** Ending 3 - Coming Revival: [[spoiler:Ume properly exits the hole with both her and the environment gaining color. She finds her remains and returns to her skeletal corpse. A cult is revealed in the physical world bringing Ume back to life.]]
81	* MundaneSolution: If the Memory of Ivy starts chasing Ume after her first encounter, just leaving the map and returning will make her disappear.
82	* MushroomMan: Inside the mushroom world is a mushroom woman that gives Ume the Fungus effect.
83	* NeckSnap: The Smile effect causes Ume to snap her own neck, taking her back to the nexus quickly.
84	* NightmareFace: The Smile mermaid has no eyes and a carved smile, making for a frightful closeup.
85	* NothingIsScarier: After gaining the Right Arm of the Immortal One, [[spoiler:Ume will be charged by the gas mask stalker and be greeted by a JumpScare of what the stalker really looks like. Afterward, Ume will die and will no longer be able to move until the Return talent is used from the menu. Getting the Right Arm will also cause the gas mask stalker to spawn in other locations if too much time is spent in them. The only way to know if they have spawned is through the music fading out.]]
86	* PlantPerson: The Higanbana effect will replace Ume's head with a giant red spider lily.
87	* PumpkinPerson: An NPC with a pumpkin head can be found in multiple locations.
88	* OneHitKill: Contact with the Memory of Ivy will instantly reduce Ume to a corpse that can only use the Return talent.
89	* OnlyAFleshWound: The Bride effect gives Ume a sizable bleeding hole in her throat that doesn't seem to affect her.
90	* OutOfClothesExperience: Multiple effects remove Ume's clothing.
91	* RandomEvent: After [[spoiler:killing the beach mermaid]], there is a chance that a pink portal will appear toward the bottom of the beach. Entering the portal will take Ume to a place entirely covered in red coral and allow players to see the pink-haired lady.
92	* RedEyesTakeWarning: The Eigetsu Haiyū effect gives Ume two more eyes while also turning her eyes red with slit pupils.
93	* SlasherSmile: The Smile effect gives Ume one.
94	* SurrealHorror: Much of the world follows confusing pathways that can lead to gory endpoints.
95	* WombLevel: The cave with the mermaids that represent the collected effects resembles an upside-down uterus.
96	* YourRewardIsClothes: The Bride effect has no mechanical purpose and just gives Ume a dress.
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Context VideoGame / ICannotDrown