Line #25 VideoGame/HallowsEnd


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen013.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:256:From left to right: Craig, Clyde and Sally. And to think, all they wanted was a few extra pieces of candy.]]
3
4	-> ''It’s October 31st, 2010. Halloween night. Sally, Clyde, and Craig are excited to go trick or treating this year. But while trick or treating, they suddenly find themselves thrust into a strange and hostile world. Can they find the source of the problem and stop it, all before school next morning?''
5	--> '''The official summary by the hack's creator'''
6
7	''Hallow's End'' is a ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' [[GameMod ROM Hack]] made by "H.S." set on Halloween night, 2010. In many ways, people in the ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' fandom consider this to be the LighterAndSofter Halloween alternative to ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack''. It also gets a lot of comparisons to ''VideoGame/CostumeQuest'', though the plot is quite different from it.
8
9	The game stars Sally, Clyde, and Craig, setting out on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating. After a brief run around town, and rather depressed at the haul this year, the kids were about to head home, when Craig suggests possibly seeing if old man Gantt's house has any candy left. Reluctant at first due to the rumors surrounding him, the kids eventually agree to check it out. Upon reaching the house and finding no one there, the kids eventually return home, disappointed that they worked up the courage for nothing.
10
11	However, things quickly take a turn for the strange, as no sooner do they leave the house do monsters begin littering the streets, as well as getting accusations of being monsters themselves their way, and the few that do realize they're not monsters no longer remember who they are and, notably, no one seems to be dressed up for Halloween anymore, or even know what Halloween is...
12
13	The hack is surprisingly well put together, reconstructing the maps from the ground up to create completely new areas not seen in the original ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'', as well as a plethora of new enemies and containing a plot that, while has some dark moments, manages to stay true to the ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' experience. With a surprising amount of playtime to it, rivaling that of SNES games of old, it's definitely a must see for any ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' fan, even if it isn't around Halloween time.
14
15	The most recent patch for the game can be found [[http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/Hallow-s-End/first here.]] The hack uses its own patch file made specifically for ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' and can't be applied with an ISP patcher, and instead requires its own patcher to apply it and play. Said patcher [[https://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/EarthBound-Patcher-and-EarthBound-Hack-Vault/page/1 can be found and downloaded here.]] You'll have to search out your own ROM though, as per-Wiki policy.
16
17	For a much, ''much'' darker Halloween ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' hack alternative, check out VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack.
18
19	------
20	!! This game contains the following tropes:
21
22	* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler:Miss Anna joins your party during the FinalBoss fight.]]
23	* AbandonedHospital: Hollyanna suburbs has one, naturally, considering the theme of the game. You're sent there to deal with [[TheMole Jenkins]], in turn as a way to gain access to the Meresti building. Thankfully, it's nowhere near as extreme as some examples of this trope.
24	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Hollyanna sewers, which you have to go through in order to reach the suburbs because the police currently have it blocked off. Oh, not because of the zombies or anything, mind you. It's because of the horrid rumor that ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking apple embezzlement]]'' is going on!
25	* AffectionateParody: This game parodies a lot of things, be it from other games, movies, or the like, but one example shines above them all... [[spoiler:Which is, the game doing a parody of ''the beginning of VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}} itself late in the game!'']]
26	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: If [[spoiler: her fight with the cursed woods monster]] is anything to go by, Sally is this, or at least feels this way at times.
27	* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The entire game outside of the start and the ending is an illusion created by the [[ArtifactOfDoom Mara Statue.]] Thankfully, it keeps from being a ShaggyDogStory due to the fact that the Mara Statue really ''was'' attempting to TakeOverTheWorld, and the protagonists were able to destroy it.]]
28	* AntiFrustrationFeature: During the sections of the game where you have to traverse without seeing your sprite, a mysterious fourth party member joins the gang, who not only makes sure to keep their health up, but also can deal a good amount of damage to the enemy. It's never revealed who this mysterious fourth character is, though given the aesthetics of the area, [[spoiler:one interpretation is it's the spirit trapped in the vase from the beginning of the game, who's able to help you fight off the illusions of the Mara Statue, if ever so slightly, because the children wandered over to it outside of the illusion.]]
29	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The reason [[spoiler:Giant Step in Onett]] is blocked off this time is because it's inhabited by a 80 tall monster that weighs 6000 pounds and could destroy people with a mere thought. It also smells bad.
30	* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler:The Mara Statue. It can create illusions around the characters and slowly destroys the person's mind, as well as being implied that it hoped to TakeOverTheWorld. The trio manages to destroy it shortly before it manages to do so. The vase you see at the start of the game is a {{Subverted}} example. It's alive, too, but ''far'' more benevolent, being the voice that was guiding Craig in an attempt to save them. It still appears to be a bit petty though, as it ''does'' make a comment about how it likes being the most valuable thing in the house now.]]
31	* ApatheticCitizens: An NPC in Hollyanna [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how he's the only who seems even mildly worried that ''zombies have taken over Hollyanna suburbs''.
32	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The entire game from the point you enter Old Man Gantt's house to the point you finally destroy the Mara Statue, and in turn kill the Mara Demon trapped inside it, is this. The Mara Demon is trying to wear down the protagonists' minds to keep them from destroying it in hopes that it'll be able to escape one day and TakeOverTheWorld. Thankfully, the benevolent spirit trapped inside the vase seen upon entering the house spends most of the game helping the trio fight off the influence as they wander around the illusions the demon cooks up. Granted, this doesn't become apparent until the Meresti building, where the plot looks like it's gone flying out the window, and the protagonists themselves don't even realize this until after killing the demon and destroying the statue it was trapped in.]]
33	* BossInMookClothing: The Emsleyan Lucina. High HP, has a wide variety of PSI attacks and abilities, and hits like a truck when you first encounter it. The "best" part? They look ''EXACTLY'' like magic butterflies in the overworld, with only a very subtle tell to differentiate the two. [[SarcasmMode Have fun trying to tell them apart, especially if you're in need of a PP recharge.]]
34	* BringMyBrownPants: Clyde admits that when [[spoiler: Azathoth]] came out of the portal, he may have peed himself a little. [[{{Squick}} Sally reacts accordingly]].
35	* CashGate: The items in the first town cost a ''lot'' for that early in the game. Technically, you ''can'' ignore them and attempt to continue the story, but it's [[NintendoHard not a particularly wise thing to do.]]
36	* TheCity: Hollyanna city. It's near ''three times bigger than Fourside'' from [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 the original game.]]
37	* ChestMonster: The "Bomb-In-The-Box". You still get good items from them should you beat them, but they can easily rack up the damage on the trio. They also share the Territorial Oak's habit of exploding on defeat. You have been warned...
38	* DeathMountain: Dead Mountain. Fittingly, it has the Dark World Death Mountain music from VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast playing as it's background theme.
39	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
40	** [[spoiler:Or at least, [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Azathoth.]] And he's ''the very first boss in the game too!'']]
41	** [[spoiler:Much later, you manage to punch out the demon trapped inside of the Mara Statue, which was the cause of the game's plot.]]
42	* DivideAndConquer: How the monster of the curse woods works, from what the NPC warns the group about. [[spoiler:It can apparently take different forms as well, as both Clyde and Craig, and Sally were attacked by different monsters that preyed on their weaknesses when Sally split off from the group.]]
43	* DuelBoss: Sally [[spoiler:fights her interpretation of the cursed woods monster]] by herself. Thankfully, in addition to being the [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]] (and thus having access to a lot of healing and status spells, in addition to having a good attack stat) of the game, [=ElectroShock=] has a ''much'' higher hit rate than PSI Thunder, allowing Sally to get multiple hits in on it.
44	* EasterEgg: You actually ''can'' encounter the original four chosen ones from ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' in the game, with some being right out in the open (Jeff walking around the streets of Hollyanna city) to some being in more obscure locations (Poo being hidden somewhere in Dead Mountain). However, [[OutOfFocus they are just minor NPCs with no bearing to the plot of the game in any way...]] [[spoiler: all except one...]]
45	* EasyLevelsHardBosses: Generally, the bosses tend to cause ''far'' more trouble than the enemies in the levels before them, who never raise beyond a mild annoyance. Once you get into the late game, though (which is near the end of the Meresti building), it starts to, for lack of a better term, [[NintendoHard level out.]] (And even then, the bosses still tend to be far more difficult by comparison.)
46	* EscapeRope: The save points in the middle of dungeons act like this, in addition to letting you save. They teleport you directly to the dungeon's entrance. Good for grinding or building up money to get some of the more expensive equipment in the game.
47	* {{Expy}}: Battle wise, Clyde is essentially Jeff from the original game. Even though he doesn't make a wide variety of weapons, he still has no PSI attacks, and has a good amount of combat items only he can use. {{Averted}} though personality wise, as Clyde is pretty much Jeff's opposite in that regard.
48	* FakinMacGuffin: After finding out about it, the trio plans to [[spoiler:fake a Sun Sphere so they can meet with, and hopefully stop, the monster's boss, having been mistaken as recruits that were about to be sent to Hollyanna city to look for it.]]
49	* FissionMailed: Late in the game, [[spoiler:when fighting MISSINGNO and M4, occasionally you'll get a message that your party has been whipped out, complete with the jingle... only for the battle to continue as normal.]] Additionally, no matter how glitchy [[spoiler:Onett]] may seem, do not worry. It's all part of the hack.
50	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
51	** [[spoiler:One of the bosses in the game is ''the Photo Man from VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}''! Complete with a DarkReprise of his normal encounter jingle!]]
52	** [[spoiler:Later on, when you end up going through a parody of the beginning of ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'', a wild [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} MISSINGNO]] APPEARS!]]
53	* GroinAttack: The Runaway Pants enemies' main attack is to kick the characters in the crotch. Notably, this attack does as just much to Sally as it does Clyde and Craig. [[labelnote:*]]Which is TruthInTelevision. Getting kicked between the legs hurts just as much, if not ''more'' so for girls as it does for guys.[[/labelnote]]
54	* GuideDangit: The hack creator made a map pack of some of the game's larger and / or more convoluted areas of the game. Believe us when we say you ''will'' need it at some point. [[TheLostWoods Especially for the cursed woods.]]
55	* HalloweenEpisode: When the plot of the game takes place. Notably, it actually does have a major meaning to the plot, as [[spoiler:the monsters of the MonsterTown say they can only enact their plan on October 31st, [[ShownTheirWork the day when the barrier between the human and spirit realms is supposed to be at its weakest, as with the original Halloween Celtic Mythology.]]]]
56	* HereWeGoAgain: Craig has this reaction upon hearing they have to be part of the gang in order to meet with the boss of the Mereseti building [[spoiler:who has the replica of the sun stone they're after. Considering they needed to join the monsters in order to meet with their boss, which sent them there to get the ''actual'' sun stone to begin with...]]
57	* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: If what it says is true, the [[spoiler: cursed woods]] monster had been following the group since they entered [[spoiler: the cursed woods.]]
58	* HubLevel: Hollyanna City. Once you get there, you'll often end up coming back there, as most of the plot either takes place near i's outskirts or the Mereseti building, which is in said town.
59	* InkblotTest: In enemy form! Notably, each inkblot has different strengths and weaknesses based on their appearance, despite all being referred to as the same enemy.
60	* InterfaceScrew: At certain sections of [[spoiler: he darker version of Poo's homelands [[ItMakesSenseInContext in the Meresti building]]]], there will be certain areas that are "no sprites allowed!" which means it removes character and enemy sprites.
61	* KissingInATree: Upon reaching the jewelry store [[spoiler:in an attempt to buy something that looks like the sun sphere to trick the monsters with,]] Clyde starts looking for something for Sally's upcoming birthday party. Calling Craig over, he asks if he'd be willing to help. Craig responses with "Oh, ''I'' get it" and proceeds to recite the famous rhyme, much to Clyde's chagrin.
62	* LastRequest: Sally [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this trope while talking to the jewelry store clerk [[spoiler: about who bought the jewel they were intending on using as a fake sun sphere, since the clerk couldn't say otherwise]], saying it was her late father's dying wish that she take it to his grave. It manages to touch the clerk enough that she reveals it was taken to the Meresti Building. Craig compliments Sally on how sly it was.
63	--> '''Sally''': ''I do what I can.''
64	* TheLeader: Sally appointed herself as the leader of the group sometime before the events of the game. It was implied that Craig was once in the running for this position, but lost it when he [[NoodleIncident got them lost in a forest and somehow eventually led them to a highway.]]
65	* LeftHanging: [[spoiler:The Sun Sphere plot.]] Even though there's a reason it quickly becomes unimportant, we never find out if [[spoiler:the sun sphere the kids intended to fake was real or not. From what the jeweler said, it was a rare and valuable antique, which seemed to {{Foreshadow}} that it may have been RealAfterAll... however, upon giving it to the monsters, anything regarding it was quickly dropped, and even the FinalBoss you end up fighting shortly after doesn't comment on whether it really ''was'' the genuine sun sphere or not.]]
66	* LegacyBossBattle: At one point late in the game, not only do you fight [[spoiler:a "Glitchy" Titanic Ant]], but you also end up fighting [[spoiler:''Ness'' himself.]]
67	* TheLostWoods: The cursed woods are a very confusing place to navigate, with the exits of the current screen often taking you to a previous screen you've been to. [[GuideDangit If you didn't download the map pack that came with the patch beforehand, expect to do so upon getting there.]]
68	* MacGuffin: [[spoiler:The sun sphere. The monsters want it so they can bring about TheNightThatNeverEnds.]]
69	* MarathonBoss: The FinalBoss is this. It has three forms, each one having a large amount of HP to it. Even if you're max-leveled, at best it will be degraded to a DamageSpongeBoss.
70	* MetalSlime: Actual [[VideoGame/DragonQuest Metal Slimes]] do appear in [[spoiler:Onett]]. While they don't give out as much experience as they do in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, they still give out the best experience for that area, and are protected by psychic shield to keep you from oneashotting them with your spells. [[spoiler:Though Sally's [=ElectroShock=] makes quick work of them...]]
71	* MetaGuy: Sally tends to react in a similar way the player likely would, from finding it odd how Craig has some ArbitrarySkepticism about [[spoiler:the sun sphere]] after everything they've seen so far, to getting rather annoyed at how long it was taking to get through the Meresti building. Clyde and Craig tend to also have some reactions the player would likely have, but to a much lesser extent.
72	* MonsterTown: [[spoiler:A rather run down variation of this trope can be found on Dead Mountain. From what the [=NPCs=] say, they didn't come there willingly.]]
73	* OldDarkHouse: Old man Gantt's house.
74	* OneOfTheBoys: Sally. Her two best friends are boys, and [[spoiler: when the cursed woods monster is psychologically attacking her, one thing it uses against her is the fact that]] she doesn't have any female friends.
75	* PaperThinDisguise: Craig's costume is literally just a zombie mask that only covers the front of his face. You can even ''see'' the straps holding it to his face on his in-game sprite. Despite this, [[spoiler:the citizens of the MonsterTown don't seem to notice the fact that he's human. The ''only'' one of the group they had problems with was Clyde, and that's because ninjas aren't monsters.]]
76	* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: All of the chosen four appear in some manor as minor cameos... [[spoiler:However, you actually have to ''fight'' Ness late in the game as a boss.]]
77	* ShoutOut:
78	** At the start of the game, you encounter a man in a house who recites the infamous "I AM ERROR" line from VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink.
79	** When Sally asks Craig where Clyde is at the start of the game, Craig says he's taking some time because his costume is so, in his own words, "[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries super special awesome]]".
80	** The watcher enemy is [[spoiler: te final boss from VideoGame/DragonQuestI.]]
81	** There's a mountain in the game called [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast Dead Mountain.]] Fittingly, it has the DarkWorld DeathMountain music playing while you're there.
82	*** Much later on, there's also a man in a cave who charges you one hundred dollars for the door repair.
83	** When [[spoiler:the trio are attempting to enter the MonsterTown,]] the monster guarding it notices Clyde's attire. His response to it is "Sorry, [[Anime/{{Naruto}} Narooto]], but no ninja's allowed!".
84	** During Hollyanna sewers, Hollyanna suburbs, and the [[AbandonedHospital abandoned Hollyanna hospital]], save points in those areas replace the telephones with [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil typewriters, which you can use because you apparently have an infinite supply of ink ribbons.]]
85	*** Additionally, Jenkins works in biochemistry for Parasol cooperation, and is responsible for the P-Virus that created the zombies in the suburbs.
86	*** Really, the entirety of Hollyanna suburbs is one big shout out to VideoGame/ResidentEvil. Besides all that, you need to get a lockpick from the police station to get into the AbandonedHospital (to which an nearby NPC references the MasterOfUnlocking meme), and along the way you end up encountering a merchant that speaks in the same manner as the one from VideoGame/ResidentEvil4.
87	** Several enemies from this game were directly taken from ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''.
88	** One of the brooms Sally can equip is called the [[Franchise/HarryPotter Nimbus 2000]].
89	** You can actually encounter enemy [[VideoGame/DragonQuest slimes]] in one of the later areas.
90	** You also end up fighting [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} MISSINGNO]] and its glitchy kin]] as a boss and enemies later in the game.
91	* SkewedPriorities: The police blocked off Hollyanna suburbs, which is currently swarmed with zombies. Not because of the zombies, mind you, but because there were rumors of ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking apple embezzlement]]'' going on!
92	* SquishyWizard: Like Paula, Craig can dish out the damage with a wide variety of PSI attacks, but he sure can't take much damage himself.
93	* {{Suburbia}}: Hollyanna suburbs. It's roughly the combined size of ''Onett, Twoson, and Threed put together!''
94	* {{Superboss}}: The watcher enemy, AKA [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/DragonQuestI the Dragonlord.]]]] They appear randomly in certain areas of the game, technically making them a BossInMookClothing as well. An NPC even warns you about it before you enter the area with them in it, and rather fitting too, considering they ''will'' kill you if you try to fight them when you encounter them in the Cursed Woods. You can fight them again much, ''much'' later on, but thankfully, [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind they forgot to level grind.]] Still doesn't stop them from being a challenge. You can get some really nice stat boosting items if you trade-in their dragon tail drop to an NPC the second time you encounter them too.
95	* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: While nowhere near as bad as ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'', this game does have some surprisingly dark moments. A notable instance is the Hellhounds (which are notably rotting and bleeding) and the soulless zombies.
96	* TalkToEveryone: The game starts off with the kids trick or treating. In order to advance further, you need to go to all the houses possible and get candy from them.
97	* TakeThat:
98	** This game notably takes a lot of potshots at people who desperately try to keep up with the latest technology and trends in an attempt to be cool, from parodying their general attitude through several [=NPC=]s to even ''having them be an encounter-able enemy in one of the later areas.'' It also pokes fun at [[{{Hipster}} how trying to do the exact opposite in an attempt to look cool is]] just as equally ridiculous.
99	** Sally also slips in a line about how thinking Ninjas are cool is for seven year olds. (Though Clyde still thinks they're awesome.)
100	** An NPC in [[spoiler:Onett]] mentions how he's annoyed at how the town's name keeps getting changed every other day or so, citing that no matter how many times they change the name, it will always be [[spoiler:Onett.]] This may be a jab at fellow ROM Hack creators, as most people often change the name of [[spoiler:Onett]] for story purposes in their hacks without touching anything else about it in almost any ROM Hack it appears in.
101	* TheEndOrIsIt: Appears during the end credits.
102	* TheMole: Jenkins, who you're sent after in order to gain access of the Meresti building.
103	* TheNewTens: The plot of the game takes place during 2010, as opposed to the [[{{Eagleland}} idealized]] [[TheFifties 1950s]] vibe of ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}''. Naturally, it pokes a lot of fun at common pop culture at the time, {{Hipster}}s in particular.
104	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: [[spoiler:The goal of the monsters. They want to get the Sun Sphere which has the power to control sunlight so they can plunge the world into an eternal night; that way Halloween would never end and they would be free to walk around the human world forever.]]
105	* TheVoice: Throughout the game, there's a voice that seems to be guiding the trio in their quest to figure out exactly what's going on... [[spoiler:Turns out it's the vase you see upon entering Gantt's house.]]
106	* ThisIsReality: When Craig is suggesting that they attempt to [[spoiler:find the Sun Sphere so they can meet and stop the monsters' boss,]] Sally suggests that he can't actually be thinking of helping [[spoiler:the monsters.]] Craig responds that [[spoiler:they're only going to pretend to]] since such a thing can't really exist, since this isn't a fantasy world, it's reality. [[LampshadeHanging Sally points out she's surprised that Craig can still think that after everything they've saw so far.]]
107	* TrendAesop: This game likes poking fun at how ridiculous people end up looking when it comes to trying to follow the latest trend and technology. However, it also shows that [[{{Hipster}} trying your hardest to go out of your way to avoid it in an attempt to seem cool]] is equally ridiculous looking.
108	* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Sally (girl), Clyde (guy), and Craig (guy).
109	* VictoryFakeOut: {{Inverted}}. [[spoiler:While fighting MISSINGNO and it's 'glitchy' companion, you'll occasionally get the message that Sally and Craig (since Clyde isn't there) have fainted, and you get the party defeated music... only for the battle to continue like normal.]]
110	* WholePlotReference: The entirety of Hollyanna suburbs is basically an abridged parody of the VideoGame/ResidentEvil story line, stripped down to its base elements.
111	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: {{Subverted}}. While the game was released late in 2010, the plot of the game itself canonically takes place on Halloween, 2010. As a result, any period pieces from the time (such as the over abundance of {{Hipster}} jokes) makes sense InUniverse.
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Context VideoGame / HallowsEnd