Line #39 VideoGame/CastleInTheDarkness


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castle_in_the_darkness.jpg]]
2
3	''Castle In The Darkness'' is a {{Retraux}} {{Metroidvania}} ActionAdventure PlatformGame by Matt Kap and Nicalis Inc.
4
5	One dark and gloomy night, Elmore II, ruler of the Kingdom of Alexandria, falls ill. Worried for his health, Princess Isabelle rallies the guards to defend the castle. The guards take their positions, not expecting anything more than a simple illness.
6
7	Only, what came next was more than just an illness.
8
9	The Kingdom of Alexandria is beset upon by an army of monsters. The guards fought valiantly to drive them off, but alas, they were the ones to fall instead.
10
11	All but one.
12
13	Now he alone must save the kingdom from this menace.
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15	The game was released on February 5th, 2015.
16	----
17	!!''Castle In The Darkness'' contains examples of:
18	* BadassAdorable: The hero himself, who despite being one of the castle guard, looks like a little child in tiny armor, completely dwarfed by even the most basic of enemies, yet single-handedly faces down the monsters that wiped out his fellow guardsmen.
19	* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In the Sunken Temple, there is an {{optional\|Boss}} UnderwaterBossBattle. At first, the player faces an orange Sushy, only for it to be eaten by a ThreateningShark...and then [[AlwaysABiggerFish a shark gets eaten by Donamazu]], the ''actual'' boss of the location.
20	* BallisticBone:
21	** [[DemBones Arreys]], and their KingMook counterpart Mr. Arrey, attack by throwing bones, and [[UndergroundMonkey Red Arreys]] even explode into a pile of damaging red bones after death.
22	** Cyclops uses a big bone as a weapon, which it can throw like a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang.
23	* BewitchedAmphibians:
24	** Referenced in the Frog Knight's imagine spot; he wants to win Princess Isabelle's love so that they would kiss...and that the princess would turn into the frog as well, allowing them to be in a relationship.
25	** According to [[AllThereInTheManual the side materials (such as Steam Trading Card description)]], the Frog Knight himself is actually an AmnesiacHero who was turned into a humanoid frog by the interrupted magic ritual meant to turn him into a regular frog.
26	* {{BFG}}: An odd take on this one as it's your character who's remarkably tiny, making all the swords he wields BFG's in comparison.
27	* BigBad: The Dark Sorcerer is the owner of the titular castle and the mastermind behind the monsters attacking Alexandria. [[spoiler:He's actually King Elmore II, possessed by the darkness, with the true villain being the Demon King, who plots to return into the world of the living and drown the world in the darkness.]]
28	* BlackBeadEyes: The PlayerCharacter, as well as a large number of [=NPC=]s in the game, have their eyes composed of like, 2-3 black pixels.
29	* BlueIsHeroic: The PlayerCharacter is a knight in light blue armor fighting an army of invading monsters.
30	* BodyOfBodies: Numb Flesh, an OptionalBoss fought in the Torture Chamber, is a massive humanoid made up of multiple human bodies, some of which fall off to attack the hero when the creature receives damage.
31	* ClassicalCyclops: An OptionalBoss of the Castle Entrance that guards the Mermaid Statue is the Cyclops, a giant green cycloptic creature wearing the caveman pelt and armed with [[BallisticBone a bone that it can throw like a boomerang]]. It can also [[SuperSpit spit out two green slime balls]] to attack.
32	* CollapsingLair: [[spoiler:Once the FinalBoss of either ending is defeated, the castle starts falling apart. In the Bad Ending, the hero escapes with Princess Isabelle on Razor Wing, while in the GoldenEnding, the hero is too late to escape, but Princess Isabelle and Razor Wing save him at the most crucial moment.]]
33	* DamselInDistress: Played with, as the missing Princess Isabelle sets up the plot with the hero thinking she was kidnapped and is in need of rescuing. [[spoiler:Subverted fairly early on when it's shown in the Cave of Serpents that she's taken up a bow and is planning an assault on the castle to find her missing father]].
34	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Once the hero defeats Ruth in her house, she apologizes for her DisproportionateRetribution and even helps him to enchant the White Orb should he bring it to her, [[spoiler:which is necessary for the GoldenEnding]].
35	* DemBones: Skeletons frequently appear as enemies in the game in different varieties. There are [[BallisticBone bone-throwing]] Arreys, their KingMook counterpart Mr. Arrey, and [[UndergroundMonkey Red Arreys]] that explode in the pile of damaging bones upon death. There are also Skeleton Hunters that wield rifles to shoot the player with. There are Spear Knights, armored skeletons who jab the player with their spears, and the Skull Knights, skeletons clad in black armor who attack with their swords, with some using spears instead. In the House of Ruth, there are horned skeletons who attack by conjuring a flame in front of themselves after swinging with their swords. The first OptionalBoss of the Torture Chamber is [[{{Dracolich}} Bone Dragon]], a flying serpentine skeletal dragon with its red tail tip being a weak spot.
36	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:The Dark Sorcerer is actually King Elmore II, possessed by the darkness and forced to do the Demon King's bidding.]]
37	* DisproportionateRetribution: Ruth, a witch who lives in the House of Ruth, threatens to steal the PlayerCharacter's soul and make him her slave simply because he trespassed in her home. Cue the boss fight. She [[DefeatMeansFriendship does mellow out and apologizes for her temper after defeat]], however.
38	* EvilSorcerer: The BigBad of the game is the Dark Sorcerer, a powerful wizard and the mastermind behind the monster attacks.
39	* EvilTwin: In the Sorcerer's Quarters, the PlayerCharacter faces his evil doppelganger, known as the Nemesis, clad in [[DarkIsEvil dark armor]] and possessing {{red eyes\|TakeWarning}}. He attacks by stabbing with sword when the player comes close and by throwing axes, and can use the magic attack where he spawns four magic sparks around himself that turn into pillars of light.
40	* FeatheredFiend: One enemy type is birds who fly at the player's direction. In Alexandria, it's blue Sparrons. In Agros Forest, it's [[UndergroundMonkey brown Falcons]].
41	* {{Fireballs}}: The first spell the PlayerCharacter learns is launching a fireball at the short distance.
42	* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the House of Ruth, there is a swooping ghost that can only be damaged with magic attacks. The same applies to the level's first boss.
43	* FrogMen: The Frog Knight is a humanoid frog who appears twice as a mid-boss, opposing the hero due to seeing him as a rival standing between him and Princess Isabelle's affections. [[spoiler:He even appears to clash with the hero in the GoldenEnding credits, eating the dual popsicle intended for him and the princess, only to get beaten down again.]]
44	* GenericDoomsdayVillain: [[spoiler:Nothing much is known about the Demon King, the true BigBad of the game, other than his motivation to resurrect himself and drown the world in the darkness. He appears to exist solely to explain the Dark Sorcerer's true nature as a possessed King and provide the ultimate threat that stands between the player and the true ending.]]
45	* GigglingVillain: The Dark Sorcerer constantly emits high-pitched squeaky giggles during his fight, namely at the beginning and during his lightning attack.
46	* TheGoomba: Zombies serve as the most basic enemies in the game, being easy to kill, moving very slowly and their only way to attack is inflicting fairly-low CollisionDamage. The actual Goomba expies, called Gumheads, serve as middle-game enemies instead, and are quite tougher than enemies encountered before, though they are still relatively weaker compared to most enemies encountered in the same area, and once the player obtains the Spiked Cleets, they outright become [[HarmlessEnemy completely harmless]].
47	* GoombaStomp: Once the hero gets the Spiked Cleets, he becomes able to instantly kill Gumheads (which are creatures modelled after Goombas) by jumping on their heads.
48	* HarpingOnAboutHarpies: Harpie[[note]]Yes, that's how it's spelled in the game[[/note]] appears as an OptionalBoss in the Agros Forest. She attacks by [[DeathFromAbove dropping on the player from above]] and by [[FeatherFlechettes firing feathers]] at the player.
49	* HealingCheckpoint: {{Save Point}}s instantly restore your [=HP=] to maximum, even if you don't save.
50	* HeartContainer: Defeating a boss gets you a boss heart that increases your maximum [=HP=].
51	* AnIcePerson:
52	** Frost Ape, an OptionalBoss found in the Cave of the Great White Ape, is a [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yeti]] with ice powers that can [[BreathWeapon breathe ice]] and [[StalactiteSpite crush icicles down the ceiling]].
53	** After beating the Frost Ape, the PlayerCharacter can learn the Storm Shield magic that allows him to summon an OrbitingParticleShield of icy winds that can damage enemies.
54	* InexplicableTreasureChest: There are treasure chests scattered throughout the game that you can get money and other treasures from. They come in a variety of colors.
55	* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: One of the items you can find in the Castle Entrance is the Chicken Dinner, found inside the breakable wall, which increases the player's max [=HP=] by 2. {{Lampshaded\|Trope}} by its description, which asks "Who put this here?".
56	* IntentionalEngrishForFunny: The first unlockable weapon in the game is called the Wrong Sword, an intentional "Japanese mistranslation" of the name "Long Sword".
57	* KingMook: Several bosses in the game are simply boss versions of the regular enemies the player faces.
58	** Mr. Arrey is a giant [[DemBones Arrey]] that behaves just like his smaller counterparts, running around and [[BallisticBone throwing bones]].
59	** Armor Shell, found in the Cave of Serpents, is a giant counterpart to S. Shells, hermit crab-esque enemies. It can even [[FlunkyBoss drop them down the ceiling]] during its fight.
60	** Blood Rose is the boss version of the same-named enemies, being a giant plant that fires red projectiles from its four mouths.
61	** Donamazu is the boss counterpart of [[FiendishFish Sushys]]. It can even summon orange Sushys to assist it during the fight.
62	** Inverted with Camillo, the first boss in the game, as its smaller regular mook counterparts are not faced until the Windy Ruins, where they attack simply by firing three crystal orbs down.
63	* LivingStatue: According to the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150319143719/http://blog.nicalis.com/2014/08/castle-in-the-darkness-danger-general-attacks/ pre-release blog post]], the General, the last boss encountered in Alexandria, is an animate statue of a deceased knight from Alexandria's past. Before the battle, he was shown to be brought to life with a lightning, with the colorless statue now gaining color and becoming aggressive, trying to kill the main protagonist.
64	* LizardFolk: Blue lizardmen appear as stronger enemies in the Cave of Serpents. According to one NPC, they took over the cave which formerly served as a mine for Alexandria.
65	* LockAndKeyPuzzle: There are a number of locked doors in the game for which you need to find the key.
66	* MagicKnight: Before even exiting the first area, the town of Alexandria, the PlayerCharacter will be given the ability to use magic in addition to his sword. New spells are hidden in various chests throughout the game.
67	* ManEatingPlant:
68	** A recurring enemy is a Vampire Plant, a flytrap-esque plant that constantly tries to chomp the player. It's [[StationaryEnemy immobile]] and [[OneHitPointWonder dies in one hit]].
69	** The end boss of Agros Forest is a giant carnivorous plant called Flesh Eater that is actually seen eating the human alive, spitting out his bloodied bones at the player, and it attacks by spitting seeds that grow into damaging vines, or biting the hero should he come too close to it.
70	* TheManyDeathsOfYou: The 'Game Over' screen includes a Death Counter that keeps track of how many times you die.
71	* MonsterCompendium: One of the unlockables available in NewGamePlus is the Book of Monsters, a MiniGame which pits you against 60 monsters in the game and also doubles as the in-game bestiary, listing the enemies' names. Though, not all monsters are featured in the book (such as saracen-like enemies in the House of Ruth, giant blue snakes in Sunken Temple, or zombie chicken things in the Windy Ruins and the Sorcerer's Quarters).
72	* MultipleEndings: Taking inspiration from its Metroidvania cousins, the game has two endings.
73	** [[spoiler:Bad Ending -- The hero makes it through the castle to find Princess Isabelle defeated by the Dark Sorcerer and no longer convinced of her father's survival. The hero then battles the Dark Sorcerer and kills him. The castle collapses, with the hero and Isabelle escaping on Razor Wing, and the end tells that the king was never found or heard from again]].
74	** [[spoiler:GoldenEnding -- After finding the White Orb and getting the witch Ruth to enchant it after her boss battle, the hero instead finds Isabelle defeated like before, but this time she has her father's pendant and is convinced he's still alive. The hero then uses it in the battle with the Dark Sorcerer to reveal he IS the king. After using the White Orb to purify him of his possession, the hero faces the true threat, the Demon King, and defeats him. The castle collapses, and the hero nearly falls to his doom, but Isabelle and Razor Wing catch him midair, saving his life in the nick of time]].
75	* NewGamePlus: Achieving the OneHundredPercentCompletion allows the player to start the New Game+, which possesses more secrets, items and weapons to unlock, including an ability to [[PromotedToPlayable play as the Frog Knight]].
76	* NintendoHard: While this game never truly descends into PlatformHell, the enemies are cleverly placed, as are the traps, making it all too easy for careless players to rush to their deaths.
77	* {{Oculothorax}}: Some enemies (like Flouse, a pinkish-red flying eyeball creature) and bosses (like Camillo) have a body that's composed of a giant eyeball.
78	* OminousOwl: A recurring OptionalBoss in the game is a giant owl named Razor Wing. [[spoiler:Though, in both endings, it's revealed that Princess Isabelle managed to tame it, and it's used as an escape steed in the bad ending, and saves the hero's life in the GoldenEnding.]]
79	* OrcusOnHisThrone: The Dark Sorcerer does not directly impede the heroes' progress, relying on his monsters to do the job, and simply waits in his personal chambers for the hero's arrival. [[spoiler:The Demon King that possesses him doesn't do much better, as he just sits on his throne even when fighting the hero, never even bothering to get up.]]
80	* PlayingWithFire: The first magic spell you get lets you charge and launch a fireball. In the House of Ruth, you learn another fiery spell called Explosion Fire that lets you fire a sphere that produces a fiery explosion in the form of orbiting particles.
81	* PostDefeatExplosionChain: Defeated bosses explode all over while spouting coins, then burst into a ring of sparkles.
82	* RecurringBoss:
83	** The Frog Knight is fought twice in the game; the first time in the Agros Forest, and the second time in the Grand Hall. In the latter appearance, he ends up being [[UpgradedBoss more difficult]] than in the first fight, having donned a new suit of armor and wielding the Rune Sword, increasing his health and damage, and his bubble attack became much more direct and damaging. He also gains ability to absorb magic attacks to power his unique attack.
84	** [[OminousOwl Razor Wing]] also has two OptionalBoss fights in the game. The first time, it's fought at the Clock Tower after the player gets the Chain Mail, and the second time it's fought in the Grand Hall, where, after you defeat it, you can obtain the Gale Cutter spell.
85	* ReferenceOverdosed: The game is filled to brim with references to other games of the 8-bit and 16-bit era, such as ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', and etc.
86	* {{Retraux}}: The game is done in 8-bit style, with 8-bit sounds and music.
87	* SavePoint: The save points take the form of angelic statues holding a giant blue gem. At them, you can either save your game, or equip new weapons.
88	* SaveThePrincess: Princess Isabelle went missing, so it's up to the hero to rescue her. [[spoiler:Subverted early in the game, because she was never kidnapped, but instead she took up a bow and went on her own adventure to rescue her father.]]
89	* ShoutOut: This game loves to reference many others, with artwork, names, enemies, and even certain weapons shouting out to its forebears.
90	** One person gives the knight a giant treasure chest, saying [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!"]].
91	** In another part of the game, you encounter an old man who says [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse "What a horrible night to have a curse."]].
92	** Many, many enemies in the game reference other popular franchises. You can find [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog a blue hedgehog that curls into a ball and rolls at you]], Axe Armor, Medusa Heads, and Skeletons from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', a [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda fairy that exclaims "HEY! LISTEN!"]] when you take contact damage from her, a [[VideoGame/GhostsAndGoblins knight throwing lances that has his armor shatter when you hurt him, exposing him in his underwear]], and quite a few more.
93	** Several of the 'Loading' Rooms seen in the game reference several other games. One elaborately-decorated hallway looks like it came straight out of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', while another loading screen has a segmented ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' style boss door in front of it, complete with sound effect when it opens up to let you in.
94	** Frog Knight, a recurring frog boss in the game, wields a sword, uses his tongue in combat, and thinks a lot about the princess, just like a certain Frog from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. After you defeat him the second time, he begs for mercy the same way [[Franchise/MegaMan Dr. Wily]] does upon defeat.
95	** An [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 oddly-familiar grey pipe]] that [[SchmuckBait warns the player not to try and pass through it]] shows up in Alexandria early in the game.
96	** One of the hidden endings references the EasyModeMockery of ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', complete with a ribbon for the your protagonist. The world artwork in this hidden ending includes hills with eyes from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', and a castle straight out of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1''.
97	** One of the vertical rooms in the Crystal Tower has no platforms except for a bunch of Tetrominos straight out of ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' for you to climb up.
98	** The ManEatingPlant boss greets you with the saying of "Hello! Baby!" before eating a civilian, and in the Castle Entrance, you can find a secret room with a dead red lizard-like creature that says "Sorry, I'm dead". Both of these are references to the first two bosses of the ''VideoGame/MonsterParty''.
99	** The game contains two references to ''VideoGame/EightEyes'': one of the magical powers you can learn is an ability to summon a falcon called Citrus, a reference to Cutrus. Much like Cutrus, Citrus assists you by attacking enemies and activating special levers (marked with falcon silhouettes). Also, one of the bonus dungeons is called the House of Ruth, exactly just like the final level of ''8 Eyes''.
100	** The Clock Tower contains a secret state of [[VideoGame/CaveStory Balrog]].
101	* SideView: How the game's viewed.
102	* SoleSurvivor: The PlayerCharacter is the only guard who survives the monster attack on Alexandria.
103	* SpikesOfDoom: There are spikes that will hurt the knight, including ones that drop and kill him instantly, as well as ones that extend and retract from the floor.
104	* {{Superboss}}: The game has two extraordinarily difficult bosses whose defeat allows the player to obtain [[InfinityPlusOneSword the strongest weapon and magic in the game]].
105	** [[LetXBeTheUnknown X]], the enigmatic dimensional guardian, can be fought only in the Crystal Tower, which is very difficult to bring forth and requires a hidden item to summon it, and he can be fought only after defeating two other difficult {{optional boss}}es. And he doesn't pull any punches; X possesses an OneHitKO attack and [[BulletHell summons many projectiles that can be very difficult to dodge]]. He also has [[SequentialBoss a second phase]] where his head detaches from his body to bounce around the arena and inflict CollisionDamage, and fire down a [[WaveMotionGun devastating laser beam]] that inflicts tons of damage to the player, and considering that his head floats around everywhere, it would be very hard for the player to hit it. After defeat, he bestows X-Sword, the strongest magic in the game, upon the player before disappearing.
106	** Appolyon, a giant EldritchAbomination with [[GiantEnemyCrab crab-like]] shell that can be fought only on optional path in Sorcerer's Quarters, possesses lots of health, can fire either many blocks from below the arena or a laser that requires a precisely timed double-jump to dodge, and [[FlunkyBoss summon a group of bug-like flunkies]]. After that, it reveals its fleshy, winged, cycloptic core that fires bullets in 8 directions and needs to be attacked to damage the boss. Once the player depletes its health, it [[VictoryFakeout feigns defeat]] before revealing its second phase where [[DidntNeedThoseAnyway the core separates itself from the body]] to attack the player. It attacks faster than usual, can fly around and frequently summon bug-like servants, and is vulnerable only to magical attacks, but can be attacked at any time. After its defeat, the player can obtain Castael, the sword of light, and the strongest weapon in the game.
107	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Though the PlayerCharacter can't swim until he obtains the Mermaid Statue, he can still remain underwater for indefinite period of time.
108	* SuspiciouslyCrackedWall: Several walls are covered in cracks. They can be destroyed to reveal hidden paths, rooms or treasure.
109	* TemporaryPlatform: Both crumbling blocks and ''Mega Man'' style Yoku Blocks show up here.
110	* TennisBoss:
111	** Camillo, the first boss of the game, can be beaten by deflecting its attacks back at it. An [=NPC=] even gives you a clue about it before the encounter.
112	** Defender, the boss of the Windy Ruins, can be beaten only by deflecting its crystal orb attacks back at it. This is the only way to destroy it; attempting to attack its eye would do nothing.
113	* {{Troll}}: Hilariously enough, there's a somewhat difficult to find sword and armor actually called "Troll Sword" and "Troll Armor", meant to be a joke as getting them involves falling down a pit into the side-chamber with no way out but to fall into the spikes at the bottom of the pit, resulting in continuing from the last save point without the equipment.
114	* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Once the player obtains the White Orb and has Ruth enchant it, it gets revealed that the Dark Sorcerer is actually the possessed King. Once he's purified of the darkness, the true villain, the Demon King, is fought as the final boss of the game.]]
115	* UndergroundMonkey: Several enemies possess harder counterparts with different colors, which have more health and have some behavioral changes. For example, in Agros Forest, Zombies are replaced with the Rotting Zombies, who spawn [[MessyMaggots maggots]] after death, while [[DemBones Arreys]] are replaced with Red Arreys that blow apart into damaging bones once they're killed.
116	* UnderwaterBossBattle: Donamazu, one of two {{Optional Boss}}es of the Sunken Temple, is fought entirely underwater.
117	* VictoryByEndurance: [[spoiler:In the GoldenEnding route, the player must not fight the Dark Sorcerer. Instead, they must wait until the White Orb purifies him of the darkness that possessed him, dodging his attacks all the while.]]
118	* WakeUpCallBoss: The General, an end-boss of Alexandria, marks the moment when the game stops pulling any punches against the player. It's got very large hitbox (''including'' the sword), can be damaged only by being attacked into its face, preferrably with a {{Fireball}} (which requires you to constantly hop up on the platform in front of it), and its sword swing attack takes up a lot of range, also bringing down a block from ceiling at the player. And to prevent the player from cheesing it by constantly standing on the block in front of it, it can [[EyeBeams fire a beam from its eyes]] to force the player to hop down. To make matters worse, it constantly comes closer, meaning that if the player stays idle for too long, there will be no room to dodge its sword attack. All of this means the player has to put quite an effort into their strategy to beat it, thus clearly marking the NintendoHard tone of the game.
119	* WaterfrontBossBattle: Leviathan, one of two {{Optional Boss}}es of the Sunken Temple, is fought over a water current that constantly pushes the player backwards towards instakilling SpikesOfDoom.
120	* WarmUpBoss: The first three bosses in the game (Camillo, Bubble Dragon, and Mr. Arrey) have simplistic attack patterns that are easy to avoid, and can be beaten fairly quickly, merely serving as a warm-up for what the rest of the game has prepared for the player.
121	* YouHaveResearchedBreathing: You need to find the Mermaid Statue in order to be able to swim, though this could be handwaved as it allowing you to swim in your armor.

Context VideoGame / CastleInTheDarkness