Line #21 VideoGame/Rhem


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhem.png]]
2	''Rhem'' is a German series of PointAndClick [[AdventureGame adventure games]] for [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], developed by Knut Muller, and published first by Got Game Entertainment, and later by Runesoft. The games in the series are:
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4	* ''Rhem'', 2003
5	* ''Rhem 2: The Cave'', 2005
6	* ''Rhem 3: The Secret Library'', 2008
7	* ''Rhem 4: The Golden Fragments'', 2010
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9	Each game generally involves visiting the titular country by rail car in search of a DismantledMacGuffin for archaeologist brothers Kales and Zetais.
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11	In 2016, there was also an UpdatedRerelease of the fourth game, ''RHEM IV: The Golden Fragments SE'', followed in 2017 by ''RHEM I SE: The Mysterious Land'', 2018's ''RHEM II SE: The Cave'', and ''RHEM III SE: The Secret Library'' in 2021.
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13	!!The Rhem games contain examples of:
14	* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Rhem 3 has an optional bonus puzzle to be solved at the endgame, which leads to a DevelopersRoom containing photo albums of all 3 games, and a SequelHook from Kales.
15	** The Special Edition versions of every game include a similar bonus puzzle as well.
16	* AirVentPassageway: Used in the second game as a secret passage back to the starting level.
17	* TheAloner: The story gradually unfolds that Kales had been marooned on Rhem for some time, with your presence needed to unlock more portions of the country. [[spoiler: By the fourth game, you're actually able to free him.]]
18	* ApocalypticLog: Rhem 4 includes a journal written by Kales entailing his research. He takes it when you aren't looking after a certain point, and adds more entries at the endgame.
19	* {{Ambient}}: The third and fourth games add a minimalist, industrial soundtrack for atmosphere.
20	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
21	** The third and fourth games include the ability to copy clues down in-game.
22	** ''Rhem 1 SE'' includes a few [[DoorToBefore shortcut mechanisms]] to alleviate some of the game's backtracking.
23	** ''Rhem III SE'' bypasses a door puzzle after the player solves it for the first time.
24	* BeautifulVoid: Rhem 1 seems like this throughout most of the game, apart from the one character who steals your rail car at the beginning. Then you start to come across the cave inhabitants in the later games.
25	* BookEnds: Each game begins with a rail car ride into Rhem, and ends leaving it.
26	* BrokenBridge: One of the series' staple puzzles, ranging from rotating bridges that can only be operated from one side, to floating bridges that require a certain amount of water to cross.
27	* CallBack:
28	** Rhem 3 has framed screenshots of the first two games, and Kales' [=iPod=] contains video clips from them as well.
29	** Kales' last journal entries at the end of Rhem 4 reference the stolen rail car from Rhem 1.
30	** At one point in Rhem 3, the player can find the fourth part of the rotating bridge at the end of Rhem 2, which would've been accessible then if the Lady in Red hadn't cut the power.
31	* ClosedCircle:
32	** On your ride into Rhem in the first game, a crashed rail car can be seen near the end of the track. Later, the owner of the crashed vehicle shows up, explains his desperation to escape, and steals your rail car to do so, marooning you on Rhem.
33	** In the later games, some contrivance is set to prevent you from leaving until the endgame.
34	* DoorToBefore: Finding doors that loop around to previous areas often indicates the presence of a hidden clue on the other side.
35	* DroneOfDread: 3 crystals in Rhem 2 emit an eerie humming sound when tuned correctly.
36	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first game is rendered at a lower resolution than the later titles, has more {{Backtracking}} between locations, and a Myst-style flyby at the very end.
37	* EnterSolutionHere: Most of the puzzles involve exploring to collect information, to be entered at a certain location to unlock more locations or retrieve parts of the {{MacGuffin}}.
38	* EpilogueLetter:
39	** Rhem 1 involves collecting four pieces of a letter to Zetais. You can read it at the end, largely serving to frame the second game.
40	** Zetais sends you letters at the start and end of Rhem 3 and 4.
41	** This is also used in Rhem 2 SE, replacing the [[LiveActionCutscene live action cutscenes]] of Zetais used in the original.
42	* FeaturelessProtagonist: You have no identity or name throughout the series. By Rhem 4, Kales calls you "The Messenger" in his journal.
43	* FictionalPainting:
44	** Several rooms in Rhem 3 contain a variety of paintings that contain clues to other puzzles.
45	** Subverted in Rhem 4, where a gallery features edited versions of real-life portraits, including a few by '' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Holbein_the_Younger Holbein]] ''.
46	* FunWithSubtitles: Subtitles for the characters are shown in one solid paragraph on-screen.
47	* GhostButler: Most of the doors in the series close on their own after you pass through them. Doors that don't automatically close usually have a clue on the other side, or block something when open.
48	* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: The third game, titled ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Secret Library]]'', has such a location a third of the way in, whose books hold clues for a large chunk of the game's puzzles.
49	* IndoEuropeanAlienLanguage: The minute you meet her face to face, the Lady in Red talks to you in an unfamiliar, German-esque language. By the third, a different, but similarly dressed woman speaks English.
50	* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Water in the series is treated as a ''No Walk Zone''. Most egregious in the first game, where it has to be lowered just to cross five feet between a pair of ladders.
51	* LadyInRed: A few are revealed in the second game onwards, which Kales believes are Rhemian natives. You actually meet one of them up close in the second and third games.
52	* LogoJoke: In the [=GotGame=] Entertainment release of Rhem 3, the company logo appears from a ball of light, pulsing in time with the game's theme music.
53	* MacGuffinEscortMission: At the beginning of each game starting from Rhem 2, Zetais sends you off with an item to use in Rhem, and Kales gives you your main objectives upon arrival.
54	* TheMaze:
55	** The Glass Labyrinth in the second game qualifies, compounded on with doors that open and close like an airlock.
56	** The entirety of each game could qualify, as they are laid out in highly geometric ways. And in many of them, you have to find a way back to the start, close a door or flip a switch, then circle back around to see what changed on the other side.
57	* MessageInABottle: The first game has a puzzle in one area where the player has to fill a well with enough water to be able to reach a bottle that has a clue inside.
58	* MinecartMadness: Rail cars are the primary Rhemian mode of transportation.
59	* NoPlotNoProblem: Despite having similar gameplay mechanics to ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'', Rhem has very little in terms of a story, beyond fulfilling Kales and Zetais' work.
60	* ReachingThroughTheFourthWall:
61	** Near the end of Rhem 2, the Lady in Red [[spoiler: reaches into your inventory and [[GiveMeYourInventoryItem takes the keycard to your rail car]], then hands you a token and releases you from the prison cell you fell into. She gives you back the card in exchange for the [=MacGuffin=] after you photograph it.]]
62	** In the original version of the same game, Zetias hands you a live action prop of another [=MacGuffin=] at the start, which becomes a digital icon in your inventory. At the endgame, the same plays in reverse with him picking up the photograph you took in-game. The ''SE'' version replaces this with the EpilogueLetter entry above.
63	* SequelHook:
64	** Around Rhem 3 are star-shaped keyholes on several devices and doors, with the bonus puzzle implying that a key for them would show up at some point. [[AbortedArc Rhem 4 never reveals this key]], though Kales admits in his journal that he couldn't find it.
65	** [[spoiler: The added bonus puzzles in each ''Special Edition'' version unlock pieces of a medallion to be used in the upcoming ''Rhem 5''.]]
66	* SongsInTheKeyOfLock: One puzzle in the fourth game involves playing eight tones on a set of bells, first heard from a vinyl record.
67	* UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective: One of the series' Myst-like elements.
68	* UndergroundLevel: The second game largely takes place in underground caverns.
69	* ZipMode: A limited variant, where a special set of diagonal cursors allow the player to turn 90 degrees around corners.

Context VideoGame / Rhem