Line #9 VideoGame/Perception2017


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/perception_1.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Although the world is full of suffering, it's also full of overcoming it."''
4	-->-- '''Helen Keller'''
5
6	Perception is a SurvivalHorror video game developed by The Deep End Games and published by Feardemic.
7
8	The story follows Cassie Thornton, a blind woman who perceives the world using echolocation. Her adventure begins when she is drawn to a large mansion, which is ostensibly the source of her nightmares.
9
10	The game was funded on Website/{{Kickstarter}} on June 23rd, 2015. It was released for Microsoft Windows on May 30, 2017, followed by the Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne versions on June 6, and by the Platform/NintendoSwitch version on October 31.
11
12	The entire game's premise isn't as simple as "blind woman explores weird house," so beware of spoilers.
13	----
14	!!The game provides examples of:
15	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cassie's classmates used to exploit her blindness to make fun of her.
16	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Echolocation mechanics aside, only need to tap landmarks and hiding spots once and they'll be remain "visible" so long as you're a certain distance near them.
17	** Doors will be locked, seemingly at random. While this does a good job in letting you know the house is fucking with you, it also makes sure that you don't get ''too'' lost.
18	* ArcSymbol: Every chapter ends with an explanation for one of the items that shows up in Cassie's dreams.
19	** The rope is [[spoiler: what Felicia used to hang herself.]]
20	** The ticket was [[spoiler: for a trip that Betty was never able to board.]]
21	** The apple was [[spoiler: how Heinrich died, as he was stoned to death with them.]]
22	** The axe [[spoiler: hadn't come into use yet, but it's what Cassie needs to cut down Susannah's body.]]
23	* BasedOnATrueStory: The game claims at the start that the story is inspired by true events, but doesn't specify what those events are. [[spoiler: The finale reveals that they're based on the Salem witch trials, as the house was cursed by a victim of the trials, one of Cassie's ancestors.]]
24	* BlackoutBasement: The ''entire game'' is this, but not because of the lack of external light sources.
25	* BookEnds: The first supernatural instance Cassie encounters is [[spoiler: a fireplace starting by itself. She sets the whole house on fire by the time it ends.]]
26	* BottomlessMagazines: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. [[spoiler: The dolls]] shooting at her will reload, giving you time to abscond to your next location.
27	* BreakThemByTalking: [[spoiler: The house]] tries to do this to Cassie, by mentioning her partner.
28	-->''He doesn't need you. You've pushed him away.
29	* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth / MacabreMothMotif: Whenever a ghost disappears, it explodes into moths. Moths are also mentioned by former residents of the house [[spoiler: all of which are dead.]] Every now and then, Cassie can hide from the presence inside oversized cocoons.
30	* CellPhonesAreUseless: ''Very much'' averted. Cassie's phone is a vital tool for her survival, as her "Friendly Eyes" app lets her contact Nick, who helps her navigate the mansion, and her text-to-speech app lets her read the various documents scattered around.
31	* ClosedCircle: Doors leading to the exits can occasionally lock themselves. [[spoiler: By the end of Part 1, thick brambles grow to physically block Cassie's way.]] She is, however, completely capable of contacting the outside world. Serge can call her and she regularly uses the Friendly Eyes app to contact Nick. She sends him photos and he interprets them for her. [[spoiler: This changes near the end of the game, where Serge can't call her from his plane, and Nick is possessed.]]
32	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: What you normally "see" when you use your echolocation is in blue. Landmarks and other important items are green. When you're in danger, everything that is usually blue turns yellow. When the environment turns red, you're in for a surprise.
33	* ComputerVoice: Cassie's text-to-speech app, Delphi, lets her read the various letters lying around.
34	* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: As early as halfway through Chapter 1, Cassie stops questioning the supernatural things happening around her.
35	* CouldntFindAPen: Heavily implied. Cassie takes a photo of a mirror and sends it to Nick. He says that the words "Durem" scrawled over and over in what appears to be lipstick. At least he hopes it's lipstick.
36	* CurseEscapeClause: [[spoiler: Cassie's nightmares and the sanity slippage of the house's former residents were caused by sins committed against them. Cassie breaks free by rescuing Susannah from being hanged.]]
37	* CreepyDoll: Chapter 3 is inundated with these.
38	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Dr. Bosch is stoned to death by apples.]]
39	* DeadpanSnarker: Cassie. It might be a coping mechanism for the stress as she becomes progressively more glib as the game carries on.
40	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Betty is continually rejected from being a soldier in the 1940's because she is a woman. This contributes to [[spoiler: her deteriorating mental state and eventual suicide.]]
41	* {{Dedication}}: We dedicate this game to anyone who has been misunderstood or misjudged. To anyone who has been underestimated. And to anyone who has been told they can't do something."
42	* {{Determinator}}: Cassie, by resolving to figure out the strangeness behind the house, regardless of her disadvantages.
43	** Betty counts as well, doing everything in her power to be a part of the war effort despite continually being rejected. [[spoiler: She ends up breaking down and committing suicide when she misses her chance to see her lover in Europe.]]
44	* DisabilitySuperpower: On account of being blind, Cassie has developed echolocation to make her way around.
45	* DisabledSnarker: Cassie has quite the sharp tongue.
46	* DontYouDarePityMe: Serge calls up Cassie, telling her that he needs to be around to make sure she's safe. She treats this as CondescendingCompassion. According to her, once she starts accepting help, she'll never stop.
47	* DrivenToSuicide:
48	** [[spoiler: Felicia to hangs herself at the end of chapter one.]]
49	** [[spoiler: Chapter 2 ends with the revelation that Betty drowned herself in the bathtub.]]
50	* EldritchLocation: The house Cassie explores will lock doors, randomly catch on fire, grow vines to stop her from escaping and will teleport her to various locales and time periods.
51	* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Bosch]], in his last audiolog, declares he won't do anything to escape his fate as the door he's hiding behind gets pounded.
52	* GaveUpTooSoon: [[spoiler: After trying and failing to join the army to be with her lover, Betty breaks down and kills herself... right before her lover comes back on leave.]]
53	* GhostMemory: The various trinkets she picks up while exploring trigger memories that belong to previous residents of the house.
54	* GhostReunionEnding: Towards the end, [[spoiler: the ghosts of Cassie's past return to help her defeat the Presence once and for all.]]
55	* HauntedHouse: Cassie regularly encounters ghosts in the house she's exploring. Most of them are rather neutral towards her.
56	* HearingVoices: Ghost whispers pop up with regularity and it makes Cassie question her sanity.
57	* HeroicMime: You have the option to play Cassie as this. Otherwise, she would speak and react to the things happening around her.
58	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Cassie's father tries to lower her down to safety while the flames consumed him. He succeeds in saving her life, but ends up dropping her a fair distance. This blinds her.]]
59	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: One of the clues to a password in chapter 3 is a painting of this.
60	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: In order of increasing difficulty, Story, Spooky, and Scary. Story allows you to browse through the game casually, Scary will make enemies more aggressive and boot you to the start if you die. Spooky is the "default" mode to play and you'll only be sent to the front door of the house, all your progress saved.
61	* JumpScare: Every time something loud, like a door slamming or a TV turning on, counts as this.
62	* LightswitchSurprise: Every now and then, you'll find yourself completely pitch black. You tap your cane to make sense of your surroundings and immediately end up regretting it.
63	* LivingMotionDetector: By necessity. Cassie uses echolocation, which means she can "see" a short distance in front of her with every step she takes. More importantly, she uses this to sense where the monsters are coming from.
64	* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Felicia and her husband are actually Cassie's parents and every resident of the house prior was their ancestor.]]
65	* MadScientist: Dr. Heinrich Osmond Bosch. Just walk around his lab and you'll see why.
66	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: A few examples, most from the previous owners of the house.
67	** Felicia [[spoiler: hangs herself after she's burned her husband and child to death.]]
68	** Bosch laments the fate of [[spoiler: the children he "rescued". This leads him to accept his death.]]
69	* NoticeThis: Landmarks and other important things (such as lockers to hide in) are marked green and can usually be seen without needing to generate noise.
70	** While not necessary to proceed, the audio logs containing the backstory constantly emit static that Cassie can perceive.
71	* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: [[spoiler: All of the ghosts whose memories Cassie uncovers returns to help her defeat the presence. Heinrich even creates some sort of invention that can trap it.]]
72	* OminousMusicBoxTune: One of these plays behind a plot door in Chapter 3.
73	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Nick is very cheery and overlooks doesn't find the pictures you send him strange. This all changes when you drop down into ankle-deep liquid. You send him the photo and he becomes unnerved, offering to call the police if you think it's necessary. [[spoiler: Cassie unknowingly sent him a picture of a dead body.]]
74	* OrphanageOfLove / HappilyAdopted: We don't know much about Cassie's childhood other than that she lived in an orphanage before finding a foster home. Not much is said about her experiences there, but she is keeps correspondence with one of her fellow orphans.
75	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Some of the more prevalent puzzles in the game is looking for passwords, some of which are found in the same room as the locked object.
76	* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The ghosts are Cassie's ancestors and Felicia is her mother. She was blinded after she fell from the tower as he father tried to rescue her from the fire.]]
77	* ShoutOut:
78	** When a strange French man asks for the password to enter a door, Cassie quips that she has to be all [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes "Sherlocky"]] to find it.
79	** Cassie becomes pissed off that she travels through time despite never entering a [[Series/DoctorWho phone booth or police box.]]
80	** Nick makes a pun about ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' when Cassie shows him blueprints for an asylum escape. Cassie does not get it.
81	** The achievements for finding poppets are titled [[Music/SnoopDogg Like it's Hot.]]
82	** The achievement for finding one key is called [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil Master of...]]
83	* StoryBreadCrumbs: There are audiologs scattered around for Cassie to find that reveal the history of the house she's exploring. These provide greater context to the previous inhabitants.
84	* SurvivalHorror: Notable in that, by default, you are shrouded in darkness (on account of being blind), and the only time you can actually "see" anything is if you have landmarks or if something produces sound.
85	* ThisIsSomethingShesGotToDoHerself: Cassie's reason for not accepting Serge's offer to help her.
86	* TimeTravel: The house doesn't limit itself to bringing memories to her. It brings her to the memories.
87	* ToughRoom: Nick makes a joke that Cassie doesn't respond to (not that she actually responds whenever she contacts him). He calls her this.
88	* UnfinishedBusiness: Implied to be the reason the ghosts of [[spoiler:Felicia, Betty, Heinrich, and Susanna]] are still around.
89	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: ZigZaggedTrope. Cassie understandably freaks out whenever hostile ghosts appear, but she's rather nonplussed about other supernatural phenomena. For example, she doesn't care that one of the house's rooms turns into a barn.
90	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The game was based off of Susannah Martin, the ancestor of the director of the game, Bill Gardner. [[spoiler:Susannah was charged with practicing witchcraft and hanged in 1692.]]
91	* VoiceChangeling: The presence only seems capable of repeating phrases it's heard other people say. [[spoiler: It mimics Serge's voice over the phone to lure Cassie into a trap... but it fails when Cassie remembers that Serge is on a plane, and shouldn't be able to call her.]]
92	* WitchHunt: [[spoiler:Susannah]] was a victim of this, and why the house was cursed in the first place.
93	* WouldHurtAChild: The memories in Chapter Three allude to this, as it's children complaining about having to do things. [[spoiler:Subverted as Bosch wanted to help them, but since he "rescued" them from an asylum, he might not have been able to care for them as much as he wanted to.]]
94	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Your very last conversation with Nick [[spoiler: leaves him seemingly possessed by the Presence.]] We don't know if this is permanent, or if it's just a temporary thing.
95	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Cassie does ''not'' like fire, and briefly freaks out whenever something bursts into flames in front of her. [[spoiler: This is implied to be a result of her house burning down when she was a baby, which ultimately resulted in her blindness.]]

Context VideoGame / Perception2017