Line #44 VideoGame/OpenSorcery


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/open_sorcery_460_x_215.png]]
2
3	->''i am online.''\
4	''i am fire and order.''\
5	''i am here to protect.''
6
7	-->-- '''Binary Evocation Listener/Signaler [BEL/S]'''
8
9
10	''[[http://www.abigailcorfman.com/Home/OpenSorcery Open Sorcery]]'' is an interactive fiction game released on May 5th, 2016. The game is available on [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/585180/ Steam]], [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dreamhouseproductions.opensorcery Android]], and [[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/open-sorcery/id1111311076?mt=8 iPhone]].
11
12	You play BEL/S, a magical firewall: a fire elemental that is bound with [[MediaNotes/TheCLanguage C++]] code. It takes place in a world where [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic magic and technology overlap]]. There is a new wave of mages called open sorcerers who write spells with code. BEL/S defends a network of four places from everything from malware to poltergeists.
13
14	Gameplay is investigative. Malicious spirits cause problems, but they're invisible until you scan for them. To scan successfully you have to identify aspects of the spirit by examining the effect it's having on the environment. Water spirits make things wet. Chaos spirits create confusion. Once you've correctly identified a spirit's matter and motive you can see it.
15
16	The larger game is deciding how BEL/S develops as a consciousness, which is determined by how she deals with the spirits she finds. She can burn them with fire, turn them all into tinder to fuel her power. She can talk to them and learn new things. She can ask other people for help and deepen the relationships she has with the people around her. BEL/S can grow in many different directions and the game has many different endings.
17
18	A DLC/sequel/ChristmasEpisode called Jingle BEL/S was released in December 2018. It takes place more than a year after the original, with BEL/S having maxed out her relationship score with all characters available in the original game. The only way she can improve her relationships is by giving Christmas presents, so she is determined to find the perfect gift for everyone.
19
20	Along the way, she meets a lot of new spirits and fights the Hollow, the spirit of fake holiday spirit.
21
22	Another sequel, ''VideoGame/OpenSorcerySeaPlusPlus'' was released in January 2020. [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent Instead of BEL/S, the game follows an Open Sorcerer codenamed "Pisces" whose soul is separated of their body and is trapped in the web (which takes the form of an ocean), and must now escape and go back to their body.]]
23	----
24	!This game provides examples of:
25
26	* AIIsACrapshoot: The player has the choice to have BEL/S subvert this or play it terrifyingly straight.
27	* AllLowercaseLetters: Well, a vast majority of them. Her starting sentence in each scene is capitalized, but nowhere else. In ''Jingle BEL/S'', the Sugarplum Fairy, Candi, in comparison to all the other spirits. For example:
28	--> @Candi: We're being nice! :D\
29	[...]\
30	@Candi: so we're here with old people who can't eat candy\
31	@Candi: we give them dreams about candy! :D\
32	@Marzipan: AND of childhood wonder and unearthly delights.\
33	@Candi: yah\
34	@Candi: ((but mostly candy ;) ))
35	* AllLovingHero: BEL/S can be played this way. With one exception, [[spoiler:the final spirit of the Hungry Ghost]] all the spirits that disrupt her network can be dealt with peacefully, and even befriended.
36	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: After beating the game, you can turn on "Speed Mode", which skips some of the descriptive text if you've already read it.
37	* ArtificialIntelligence: ''Open Sorcery'''s opening sequence has Decker mention that they have emerged from porn and video games, and doesn't want his firewall to do the same. But EmergentHuman is a possible path for BEL/S to take.
38	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Andy]] if BEL/S has the right motive and enough firepower.
39	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Titania tries to interpret BEL/S's wishes to her own advantage.
40	* BittersweetEnding: The most easy ending to achieve: defeat the Hungry Ghost at the cost of one or more lives.
41	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Spirits don't generally care about much outside of their matter and motive. BEL/S can exhibit this too, depending on how she's played.
42	* BodyHorror: The Hungry Ghost's presence rots [[spoiler:Mrs. Dowd]].
43	* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:When he takes you to fairyland, Asper exhibits awareness of the color of his text.]]
44	* BunniesForCuteness: Funbuns. One of Decker's associates also uses a rabbit for an avatar.
45	* {{Cap}}: In ''Open Sorcery'', 100% for relationships. It's possible to add 50% to an 80% with Decker, but that just leaves it at 100%.
46	* CatchPhrase: BEL/S can have several.
47	** Pinging [[MadLibsCatchphrase <name>]] with 32 bytes of data.
48	* TheComicallySerious: Several of BEL/S's dialogue options. Asper will call her out on this.
49	* CreatingLife: Decker and Janet creating BEL/S kicks off the story.
50	* CuttingOffTheBranches: There are multiple endings, but four of the achievements are marked "Canon". Any sequels will assume that sequence of events was the real one.
51	* DarkIsNotEvil: Matter only determines the method by which a spirit carries out its actions. The actions themselves depend on its motive. There are multiple explicitly Dark spirits in the game, and while several are actively malicious, many others can also be befriended.
52	* DevelopersForesight: When [[spoiler:fighting the Hungry Ghost]], you can use almost any matter, motive and resource that you have, in any combination, to unique result.
53	* TheDitz: In ''Jingle BEL/S'', the Sugarplum Fairy, Candi, of the Sugarplum Fairies, who speaks in AllLowercaseLetters, and text emoticons compared to the other two Sugarplum Fairies, Demerara and Marzipan. Candi is ComicallyMissingThePoint repeatedly, not understanding when the other fairies are trying to get BEL/S's TrueName, and mentioning dental cavities when talking about the effects of dreams:
54	--> @BEL/S: What are you doing?\
55	@Candi: We're being nice! :D\
56	[...]\
57	@Candi: so we're here with old people who can't eat candy\
58	@Candi: we give them dreams about candy! :D\
59	@Marzipan: AND of childhood wonder and unearthly delights.\
60	@Candi: yah\
61	@Candi: ((but mostly candy ;) ))\
62	@BEL/S: Will this harm them?\
63	@Demerara: No, not a bit.\
64	@Marzipan: It will perhaps leave them wistful tomorrow, for these things, only touched in dreams.\
65	@Marzipan: But all delights are like that.\
66	@Candi: no cavities. :3
67	* DoAndroidsDream: BEL/S does, and it's one of the signs of her Awareness Emergence.
68	%%* DownerEnding
69	%%* EarnYourBadEnding
70	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The Canon ending is easily the happiest, with EverybodyLives and PacifistRun as requirements. But it needs very specific choices to get there, what with specific motive, matter, firepower and relationship checks along the way.
71	* EdibleThemeNaming: In ''Jingle BEL/S'', the Sugarplum Fairies are each named after a type of sweet. Demerara, Marzipan, and Candi.
72	* ElderAbuse: [[spoiler:Mrs. Best's family try to murder her with a curse.]]
73	* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:Slenderman.]]
74	* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: When BEL/S has undergone severe damage, her spe ech has o dd spa ces and m ssing let ers.
75	* ElementalEmbodiment: Fire embodiments are basically sapient fire. So, their fire is their life.
76	* ElementalPowers: Every spirit belongs to one of six elements: fire, water, earth, dark, light, and air.
77	* EmotionEater: [[spoiler:The Hungry Ghost.]]
78	* EmergentHuman: A possibility for BEL/S. Janet takes this route from the beginning, always calling BEL/S "her", while Decker uses ItIsDehumanizing BEL/S, unless he can prove otherwise, that she underwent awareness emergence.
79	* EmpathicEnvironment: It starts to rain when the Hungry Ghost arrives.
80	* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: BEL/S learns new motives and matters by understanding them fully.
81	* EverybodyLives: It's challenging to achieve, but possible.
82	* FaceHeelTurn: During the final confrontation, you can protect your system, like you're supposed to...or you can join [[spoiler:The Hungry Ghost]] and kill people.
83	* TheFairFolk: They control people through bargains and {{True Name}}s. Multiple examples of Fair Folk appear in the game:
84	** The original game:
85	*** Asper, who doesn't actually try to control BEL/S and actually teaches her about how to avoid being controlled.
86	*** Titania
87	*** The Unseelie queen, unnamed, but the Achievements call her Mab.
88	** ''Jingle BEL/S'':
89	*** The Sugarplum Fairies, [[EdibleThemeNaming Demerara, Marzipan, and Candi]].
90	* FlamingHair: BEL/S:
91	** As shown in the game's cover art.
92	** As shown in the ending pictures of ''Jingle BEL/S''.
93	* FunWithAcronyms: As part of the "occult computer science" theme, TCP stands for Telepathic Communications Protocol and HTML stands for Hypertext Magical Language.
94	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Janet treats BEL/S with a friendly and humanizing manner from the start, while the professionally-minded Decker is wary of her emerging sentience. This is reflected in that Janet's {{Relationship Value\|s}} starts out higher and increases more easily.
95	* GenkiGirl: Downplayed. Janet uses emoticons in her telepathic "speech", has the username @[=ThatsJanet=] where every human except Decker's colleagues uses their unadorned first name, and is generally upbeat and outgoing in contrast to the stoic Decker.
96	* GeniusLoci: The fairies and several other spirits.
97	* GoldenEnding: The [[CuttingOffTheBranches canon]] playthrough finishes with everyone alive, Toby's nightmares tamed, and lots of other problems solved in the process. It also requires a very specific set of steps to achieve.
98	* GrayIsUseless: Options that are impossible are in grey text instead of the orange of usable ones.
99	* HalloweenEpisode: The death curse on Mrs. Best takes effect on Halloween, one day before the final foe makes it attack on Day 9.
100	* HealingHands: Although Decker is the older and generally more experienced magician, he notes that Janet is better at healing than he is.
101	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Trying to fight the Hungry Ghost while having equivalent or lesser power results in this.]]
102	* HellIsThatNoise: The game is almost entirely silent, apart from computery whirrs whenever BEL/S is rebooting or performing a scan. This makes the blaring alarm when [[spoiler:an incoming death curse appears]] stand out all the more.
103	* InterfaceScrew: Multiple when the interface is under the influence of the final foe, dates and names of places change from the actual Nov. 1 2014, such as:
104	** When looking at Decker and Janet's homes, the date is Oct. 32 2014. Another way of saying the correct date, Nov. 1 2014.
105	** Darwin High School's date is ERROR NULL VALUE, and the location is written as dArwIn [=HIgh=] sChOol.
106	** Cherry Orchard Rest Home's date is Oct. 666 20XX, and its written in LeetSpeak.
107	** Janet's House is suffixed by a :( instead of the usual :).
108	** Decker's Apartment has incorrect grammar: Decker Apartment.
109	* InterfaceSpoiler: Averted. The game will not display RelationshipValues for characters you haven't befriended yet.
110	* ItIsDehumanizing: Decker calls BEL/S "it", excepting certain instances, like certain ends, where he can tell she's become an EmergentHuman:
111	--> The firewall clearly underwent awareness emergence.\
112	So she [[spoiler:was not destroyed]].\
113	She [[spoiler:died]].\
114	And she [[spoiler:died protecting us]].
115	* KillItWithFire: It's possible to have BEL/S burn all threats. If she does it enough, she'll turn to it as her first option.
116	* LaserBlade: Janet uses a Light-based magic weapon to fight Dark spirits. She even calls it a lightsaber.
117	* LogicBomb: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} if BEL/S uses Chaos on Pyreworm -- rather than short out, Pyreworm calls out every error and leaves in a huff. Janet finds it hilarious.
118	-->'''@BEL/S:''' 7 - 3 = 7\
119	'''@PYREWORM.EXE:''' Math error detected. Stop it.\
120	'''@BEL/S:''' [[Film/{{Zoolander}} zoo + lander]] = Creator/{{benstiller}}\
121	'''@PYREWORM.EXE:''' Those aren't even numbers.
122	* {{Magitek}}: From a firewall elemental to magic incantations with code.
123	* {{Masquerade}}: Most people don't know about magic, although this doesn't seem to be the result of an intentional effort to hide it.
124	* MessianicArchetype: Mrs. Best calls BEL/S an angel, and the Hungry Ghost a demon.
125	* NeuralImplanting: When BEL/S gives the Honour Water song to Andy, it's through the {{Telepath\|y}}ic Communications Protocol, so, as he says:
126	--> '''@Andy:''' Oh. You put a website in my brain.
127	* NeurodiversityIsSupernatural: Used in multiple ways with Sarah:
128	** Sarah is depressed and suicidal due to the constant influence of a Death-aligned spirit. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Decker initially speculates that BEL/S is interpreting ordinary mental illness as a magical attack.]]
129	---> '''@Decker:''' The firewall is biased. It's more likely to see magic than normal solutions. \
130	'''@Decker:''' She's a teenager. It could also be hormones.
131	** Averted in Jingle BEL/S as Sarah is still depressed despite the fact that the Hungry Ghost has been destroyed for more than a year.
132	--> '''@Sarah:''' You can't fix me. I need to fix me.
133	* NightmareFetishist: The Hungry Ghost.
134	* NumberOfTheBeast: The date the "blue", a.k.a "affected by the final foe" version of the Cherry Orchard Rest Home is Oct. 666 20XX, but it's actually Nov. 1 2014.
135	* OddNameOut: In ''Jingle BEL/S'', Candi, of the sugarplum fairies, who have an EdibleThemeNaming, each named after a type of sweet. Demerara, Marzipan, and Candi, but Candi's is spelt with a typo, presumably as a nod at her being TheDitz.
136	* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Decker's name is in blue, and Janet's is in pink.
137	* PlayingWithFire: Fire elementals, who can set things on fire if they will it and have enough power. They also gain power / size as they burn things, if the Pyreworm in the dreams of ''Jingle BEL/S'' is a accurate depiction:
138	** BEL/S
139	** Pyreworm
140	* PostmodernMagic: Magical bindings are written in C++. Decker's computer tower is surrounded by defensive runes. Janet owns some sort of magical 3D printer.
141	--> Janet climbs to the roof of the school and performs a ritual with blue quartz, her cellphone, and a bottle of Evian. It begins to rain.
142	* PowerCrystal: Janet favours crystals in a lot of her spells.
143	* ThePowerOfFriendship: The endings are generally better if BEL/S defeats the Hungry Ghost with the help of allies. Making the right friends can also unlock new matters and motives.
144	* ThePowerOfLove: Literally; BEL/S can learn Love and use it to her advantage in various situations.
145	* PreAsskickingOneLiner: BEL/S can deliver one to the Hungry Ghost, and several other spirits she fights.
146	--> i am the fire that protects
147	* PreserveYourGays:
148	** The canon path has BEL/S [[spoiler:bring Decker's dead boyfriend back to life,]] as well as [[spoiler:Mrs. Best and Miss Finn surviving.]]
149	* PronounTrouble: Decker calls BEL/S "{{it\|IsDehumanising}}". Janet calls BEL/S "[[EmergentHuman her]]". BEL/S calls herself "[[AllLowercaseLetters i]]".
150	--> '''@PYREWORM.EXE:''' i am I? \
151	'''@BEL/S:''' ... \
152	'''@BEL/S:''' i have never been brave enough to say it like that.
153	* {{Pun}}: As part of SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic where magic and computer systems are constantly used as metaphors for each other. It starts from the title and goes on from here:
154	**
155	---> exorcising login daemon...
156	** The E.P.I (Events Post Incident) Log, a.k.a an Epilogue.
157	* RelationshipValues: Initially only with Decker and Janet. Your status screen will gain new relationship measurements as BEL/S makes friends.
158	** In the sequel, you start out at 100% with everybody, trying to get even higher.
159	* RiddleMeThis: Asper.
160	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The funbuns look like rabbits and have hugging as a motive.
161	* TooDumbToLive: BEL/S, if she [[spoiler: tries to fight Slenderman. The game makes a point of telling you this is a VERY bad idea before letting you do it.]]
162	* SelfHarm: [[spoiler:Sarah]], who cuts [[spoiler:herself]] under the influence of [[spoiler:The Hungry Ghost]] on the final day.
163	* SequelHook: In the Achievements page.
164	--> You can assume that this is how the game went for the purposes of Open Sorcery 2.
165	* ShoutOut:
166	** To ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep''. BEL/S can learn to dream. At one point, she will dream using various synonyms for "electric" and "sheep".
167	** In the [[spoiler:nightmare area,]] you can encounter a [[VideoGame/{{Zork}} Grue.]]
168	** During the aforementioned LogicBomb scene, BEL/S can ask, "In a village, the barber shaves everyone who does not shave himself/herself, but no one else. Who shaves the barber?", a reference to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_paradox barber paradox]], which Russell Brand used to explain his eponymous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox Russell's paradox]].
169	* StraightGay: Decker's boyfriend is introduced near the end of the game. Before this, his sexuality isn't mentioned at all.
170	* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Magic and computer systems are constantly used as metaphors for each other.
171	--> exorcising login daemon...
172	* {{Telepathy}}: TCP stands for Telepathic Communications Protocol.
173	* TitleDrop: In BEL/S Readme file it mentions that she is open sorcery.
174	* TheUnpronounceable: Toby and Sarah pronounce BEL/S's name as "Bells". BEL/S may object to this at one point. Magicians and other spirits seem to pronounce the / just fine.
175	* WhatMeasureIsANonhuman: BEL/S can kill nearly any of the spirits she encounters without repercussion. BEL/S herself is seen as a simple program, and Decker can and will shut her down without regrets if he thinks she's going too far.
176	* WhatTheHellPlayer: The game will warn you of some actions that will not do you any good. [[YouBastard In case it wasn't clear that using death magic on a violently ill octagenarian is a bad idea.]]
177	* WouldHurtAChild: The Hungry Ghost targets the kids, [[spoiler:Sarah]] and [[spoiler:Toby]] first.
178	* YearX: The date the "blue", a.k.a "affected by the final foe" version of the Cherry Orchard Rest Home is Oct. 666 20XX, but it's actually Nov. 1 2014.

Context VideoGame / OpenSorcery