Line #9 VideoGame/Paranormal


1	[[quoteright:322:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paranormal_vaporware.png]]
2	->''"Hello, my name is Mattel Clark. I'm an artist, and I've come to believe that my house is haunted. Lately, things have been going bump in the night. A lot. So, I've set up cameras around my studio, and I've got one here, and I've started recording things to try and prove to people that I'm'' not ''going crazy."''
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5	''Paranormal'' is an indie-produced horror game for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]]. It entered UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'s Early Access in 2012, and [[{{Vaporware}} is still there as of 2019]].
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7	The game's style is reminiscent of FoundFootageFilms, as the player directs a new homeowner's attempts to capture his (very) haunted house's ever-intensifying supernatural manifestations via InUniverseCamera. Every running of ''Paranormal'' is unique, as the spooky events and increasingly-dangerous apparitions are generated randomly each time, becoming more extreme as Mattel's investigation stretches out over several nights. Assuming he lasts that long...
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10	!!Tropes:
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12	* ApocalypticLog: Diary pages from the house's previous owner appear in random locations, providing clues to her tragic fate. Mattel's tapes become this if you die.
13	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the full ending, Mattel learns the truth about the haunting and uses the furnace in the basement to destroy the house and the being haunting it, but dies doing so.]]
14	* BloodBath: One haunting [[spoiler: that's actually important to the plot]] has Mattel get locked in the bathroom while the plumbing pours out blood. It fills the tub and sink as the toilet overflows with red.
15	* BloodyHandprint: Several, and bloody ''footprints'' too, not always on the floor.
16	* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In the full ending, [[spoiler: Mattel destroys the house, killing the HumanoidAbomination haunting it, but also dying himself]].
17	* CameraAbuse: It's raining in Mattel's backyard, and smears of distortion slip across the camera's image when he goes outside, representing raindrops on the lens. In one [=CCTV=] scare, a soda can is flung into the camera hard enough to crack the lens.
18	* CreepyChangingPainting: Several paintings and murals around the house change their appearance and/or swap places between one night and the next.
19	* CreepyDoll: The puppet-like mannequins Mattel uses to visualize space for his work are creepy enough ''before'' they start moving around the house.
20	* DeathOfAChild:
21	-->"[[spoiler: The baby is gone.]]"
22	* DramaticSlip: Mattel occasionally trips and falls, which can be alarming if he's sprinting back to bed before the camera's battery times out.
23	%%* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler: The ghost.]]
24	** HumanoidAbomination: When it does appear it is by no means less frightening.
25	* ElectromagneticGhosts: The haunting messes with the car's lights and the radio, sometimes the television also.
26	* EvilDetectingDog: Mattel's dog Cory evidently had a run-in with the haunting before his master did, and subsequently sat staring at the foot of the steps, as if watching for its return. [[spoiler: By the time Mattel starts recording things and the game begins, the dog has wasted away and died.]]
27	* FacialHorror / {{Jawbreaker}}: A sex slave's body was found in the house many years ago with her jaw torn off. [[spoiler: Her ghost still shows this mutilation.]]
28	* FantasticallyIndifferent: Even when objects are floating in midair, the plumbing is bleeding, and mannequins are creeping around behind him, Mattel's reactions tend to be muted at best.
29	* FoundFootageFilms: Done in the style of such films.
30	%%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The best ending.]]
31	* GoryDiscretionShot: If Mattel dies, a mannequin appears before the InUniverseCamera in a corpse-like pose in lieu of an actual corpse.
32	* GuideDangIt: The full ending (which actually explains what's going on and [[spoiler: lets you stop it]]) is very difficult to get if you don't know what you're doing.
33	%%* HauntedHouse
34	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The last night of Mattel's recording is the night of July 4th (Independence Day in the USA).
35	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: How the body of one of the house's previous owners was found. [[spoiler: Also how the kitchen apparition appears, pinned to the wall by a large pipe.]]
36	* InUniverseCamera: Mattel carries a camera with him while exploring his house at night; by day, while he's sleeping, closed-circuit cameras monitor cut-scene hauntings elsewhere in the house.
37	* OffscreenTeleportation: Mannequins suddenly appear in places Mattel ''just'' turned away from, a second ago.
38	* OuijaBoard: There's one in the bedroom that spells out threats.
39	%%* {{Poltergeist}}
40	* RedHerring: The previous owner's notes show her becoming convinced that her late husband is the being haunting the place. [[spoiler: It's not. It's some kind of HumanoidAbomination summoned by a previous owner.]]
41	* RoomFullOfCrazy: Red writing appears on the walls and floor, sometimes when Mattel is sleeping and other times when he merely turns his back.
42	* StoryBreadcrumbs: The diary pages tell the previous owners' story, while cassettes and phone messages tell Mattel's.
43	%%* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: The ''best'' available ending for Mattel is this trope.]]
44	* TimedMission: You have to get Mattel back to his room and into bed when his camera's battery runs low, giving it a chance to recharge while he sleeps (and the game, time to prepare the next night's scares).
45	* YouAreAlreadyDead: When the battery reaches it's last bar, that's your signal to get to bed ASAP. Dawdle long enough for the red bar to start blinking, and you're doomed; the house will supernaturally-trap you in whatever room you're currently in, shortly before suffering a room-specific scripted death. [[spoiler: This also happens if you go to sleep on the final night instead of taking the necessary steps to get the best ending - you'll promptly be dragged out of bed and torn apart by the entity.]]
46	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Mattel states at the beginning that he's making these tapes so others ''will'' have to believe him, rather than assume he's crazy and/or perpetuating an Internet hoax to get famous.

Context VideoGame / Paranormal