Line #3 VideoGame/Shardlight


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shardlight_representative.png]]
2	''Shardlight'' is a post-apocalyptic [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] {{adventure game}} created by Creator/WadjetEyeGames and released in 2016.
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4	WorldWarThree happened sometime in the early two thousands. When the [[NukeEm bombs fell]] society as we know it [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt was destroyed]], and the few survivors [[AfterTheEnd eke out a bleak existence]] in the [[CrapsackWorld ruined remains of the old world's cities]]. Amy Wellard, a young girl who was barely five when the world ended, has a repair shop where she fixes vehicles and technological items [[ScavengerWorld with whatever still-usable junk she can find]], but she starts feeling symptoms of [[ThePlague Green Lung]], a terrible sickness that's been infecting lots of people and has everybody scared witless. The [[TheGovernment Aristocracy]] is trying to deal with it by distributing a vaccine, but there isn't nearly enough to go around, so a daily lottery is held where people who have a ticket -- given as compensation for government jobs -- are given a chance at winning a dose.
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6	Scared and resigned to doing dirty, difficult jobs for the government in the hope of surviving, Amy is assigned to fix one of the many reactors that power what's left of the city, but through an unexpected meeting she gets in touch with the Rebellion -- determined to end the authoritarian rule of the Aristocracy and give justice back to the people -- and the [[ApocalypseCult Acolytes of the Reaper]], a cult with a [[DeathSeeker literal dying wish]]. Needless to say, not everything is as clear-cut as it seems, and Amy's in for more than one shock...
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8	In 2013, while the game was still in production, two of the developers, Ben Chandler and Francisco "Grundislav" Gonzalez, each released two playable teasers set in the ''Shardlight'' universe. The first one, titled ''The Rebirth'', is essentially a {{prequel}} set JustBeforeTheEnd (and even a bit during the end), following a government official and his assistant at an unusual day at work, while the second ''The Reaper'' is a short side-story more in tune with the game proper that follows a mechanic and his friend as they do some bird watching. [[http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1704/ Both can be found here]].
9	----
10	!!This work provides examples of:
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12	* AfterTheEnd: The entire society is scrapping from the ruins after a nuclear war.
13	* AlternateHistory: It is quite obvious that the society that existed before the bombs fell was not really like our own. Its aesthetics and values appears to have been rooted in Victorian ideals for instance.
14	* ApocalypseCult: The Acolytes of the Reaper have decided that, being that death in the short-term is a virtual certainty, it shouldn't be feared and avoided but rather welcomed, as it's a step to leave the horrors of the world and ascend to the Promised Land.
15	* ApocalypseHow: Class 1 due to the existence of government after the nuclear war, albeit a much-malign one.
16	* AristocratsAreEvil: The Aristocracy, like their namesake, which are made up like upper class members who show little to no care towards those below their station.
17	* TheBadGuyWins: If Amy [[spoiler:spares Tiberius and kills Danton]], the rebellion will be crushed once and for all and Tiberius will have [[KarmaHoudini gotten away with everything he did]]. Slightly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], as Tiberius' HeelRealization means that things won't be as bad as they were before, but even so.
18	* BloodKnight: As the final showdown approaches [[spoiler:Danton]] gives worrying signs of this, first with needless brutality and aggression and then with [[spoiler:all the talk about justice and freedom for the people suddenly being displaced by rhetoric about taking the villain's place and tearing down his government]]. Indeed, if one of the two non-ideal endings is selected, [[spoiler:Danton just goes on fighting and shedding blood -- she admits the possibility of future diplomacy, but more like an afterthought]].
19	* CrapsackWorld: Any sort of self-sustaining economy has long vanished, everyone's turned to scavenging, a deadly plague is spreading like wildfire and the Aristocracy is only helping the rich while the poor die like flies. It's so bad that there's a group of people who've just decided that the best course of action is simply to wait for death.
20	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to other Wadjet Eye productions. Not that they aren't fond of tropes dealing with death and destruction, but they ''really'' cranked the macabre up to eleven here. Diseased corpses everywhere, decay and devastation to tremendous scale, death seen by many as ''the desirable way out'', and what's worse is that ''everybody's become so used to it that they consider it all normal''.
21	* DarkIsNotEvil: The Acolytes of the Reaper are a somewhat creepy death cult who wear black top hats and look forward to dying, but they are peaceful and don't encourage suicide or death by unnatural means. Every person you meet who is affiliated with them is friendly and kind.
22	** The real example of this trope, though, is [[spoiler:the Reaper himself. He's the traditional skeleton in a black cloak, has an army of ravens, and is associated with death... and he's actually a disguise invented by Dr. Edwin Aquino, a scientist working on a cure for Green Lung and probably the closest thing to a BigGood left in this world.]]
23	* DaysOfFuturePast: The entire society in Shardlight is based on 18th century with flintlock muskets and aristocrat-ruled government co-existing with ruined skyscrapers and motorized vehicle.
24	** Alternatively, the people who took power after civilization collapsed really liked the late 18th century theme and just decided to base the aristocratic culture off of it.
25	* DrivenToMadness: [[spoiler:Tiberius]] lost his family when the bombs fell, and it somewhat broke his grip on reality. Though he remains mostly lucid he's [[spoiler:put the fetus of his unborn son in a jar and talks to it as if it were a grown child, even going so far as to educate "him" in science. To be clear, the fetus is just that -- it's never shown as even remotely sentient, nor even biologically alive]].
26	* DrivenToSuicide: The technician at the beginning, having been crushed by rocks and knowing he has no chance of making it out alive, prefers to go out on his own terms.
27	* FaceHeelTurn: A [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] version in one of the endings. [[spoiler:If Amy choose to side with Tiberius, she will have ensured he and the Aristocracy will have complete control, breaking her promises to everyone she befriended on her journey. This is downplayed because Tiberius does keep his word by distributing a cure for Green Lung, but Amy is still rewarded for siding with the man who had her friends killed.]]
28	* FacialCompositeFailure: [[spoiler:The sketch of Amy on her WantedPoster depicts her with a protruding brow ridge. She complains aloud that it doesn't even look like her.]]
29	* FindTheCure: Amy has Green Lung. Her illness drives her motivation to find a possible cure. [[spoiler:After Aquino successfully makes one, she's no longer this.]]
30	* FullCircleRevolution: Invoked and defied; [[spoiler:Danton's ultimate scheme is to take up Tiberius' mask and become the new leader of the Aristocracy... so she can drive them off a cliff with crazy orders and give the rest of the population enough motivation to complete her uprising. And after hearing this scheme, Amy can kill her and Tiberius, ending the revolution and instating leaders who aren't extremists.]]
31	* GovernmentConspiracy: [[spoiler:The Aristocracy's been hoarding vaccine for decades and could give it to ''everybody'', but they don't because the leadership believes that to do so would ruin any semblance of order, and the newfound prosperity would cause another attack to the country]].
32	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Amy, a kind, affable woman in the [[CrapsackWorld world she lives in]]. Although she's forced to do less than savory things a few times in order to survive, it's clear she always prefers not to.
33	* HeavenSeeker: The Acolytes of the Reaper don't have a clue what's on the other side, but they figure that ''whatever'' it is -- even if it's nothing at all -- the living world is so terrible that it can only be better in comparison.
34	* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Tiberius became somewhat-saner after his TraumaCongaLine from having seen the jar containing his unborn son's preserved fetus smashed in his duel against Danton along with the uprising caused by the vaccine-hoarding measure if Amy chose to spare him.]]
35	* HehHehYouSaidX: When Amy studies the factory furnace with Denby nearby:
36	-->'''Amy:''' Nothing in there but ash.\
37	'''Denby:''' Ha ha ha, ''what?!''\
38	'''Amy:''' ''([[ActuallyPrettyFunny holding back a chuckle]])'' I said "ash", Denby!
39	* ICannotSelfTerminate: When specifically asked why they don't just kill themselves, the Acolytes answer that to do so would alter the Reaper's plans and anger him. They want to die, but only when their time comes.
40	* KarmaHoudini: In the ending where Amy [[spoiler:sides with him, Tiberius will go unpunished for everything he has done and all the people he has killed (both via the guards and the people he let die or Green Lung). He even becomes a VillainWithGoodPublicity when the people credit him for curing Green Lung]].
41	* KillAndReplace:
42	** [[spoiler:Danton plans on doing this to Tiberius so she can bring down the Aristocracy from the inside. She'll do just that if you kill Tiberius at the end.]]
43	** [[spoiler:If you kill both Tiberius and Danton, Amy will be the one who takes on the Tiberius persona.]]
44	* LaResistance: Turns out that there is one, simply known as "The Rebellion", and [[spoiler:Danton is their leader]].
45	* LastSecondEndingChoice: Two minutes before the credits roll, [[spoiler:you choose to kill Tiberius, Danton, or both and get an ending based on your choice]].
46	* MercyKill: Given to the technician, [[spoiler:Milton]], right at the beginning of the game. [[spoiler:Optionally given to Denby as a way of sparing him from being tortured further]].
47	* MoodWhiplash: As mentioned in [[https://www.giantbomb.com/wadjet-eye-games/3010-2157/forums/a-year-of-wadjet-eye-games-a-retrospective-and-ran-1900311/ this post from the Giant Bomb forums]]:
48	--> "The gameplay and story itself is very compelling, but suffers badly from violent swings in tone between wacky hijinx (having a friendly crow harass a guard to sneak by him,) to ultra-violence (ultimately escaping by causing an unmaintained HVAC unit to fall on said guard, pulverising his skull in a mass of blood.)"
49	* MortonsFork: When Denby [[spoiler:is being tortured you can MercyKill him by shooting an arrow into his heart. If you try to save him by shooting the man torturing him, the guard next to them will kill Denby with his bayonet. If you shoot the guard, the man doing the torturing will pull out a knife and kill Denby. These are your only options, and there is no way to save Denby]].
50	* MultipleEndings: As with most Wadjet Eye games. ''Shardlight'' has three, one of which is clearly intended to be the ideal one.
51	* OmnicidalNeutral: Amy can choose to embrace this at the end of the game [[spoiler:by killing Tiberius and then backstabbing Dalton for good measure. Since they're both extremists, this can be considered a good thing]].
52	* PrematurelyGreyHaired: [[spoiler:Jess is one of the few people who has had an encounter with the mysterious Reaper and lived to tell the tale. The encounter was so terrifying that her hair turned white over night.]]
53	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: [[spoiler:Danton]] is arguably the personification of this trope to the point.
54	** Somewhat foreshadowed by the fact [[spoiler:her]] name is a very obvious reference to [[spoiler:Georges Danton, one of the French Revolutionaries. Who, coincidentally, ended up being executed by another faction of French Revolutionaries]].
55	* SceneryGorn: And how! Everything is ruined in ''Shardlight'''s world, and the game makes no attempt to hide it or pretty up the picture. Crumbling buildings are everywhere, the sky is permanently yellow and every skyline view has devastation as far as the eye can see.
56	* ShoutOut:
57	** One of the books you can read is ''[[VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment The Nature of Man]]'', by [[PunnyName T. N. Juan]].
58	--->Some have given examples of extreme changes in people, driven by such motives as revenge, love, fear, or regret. However, it cannot be universally agreed upon which of these things can truly change the nature of man.
59	** The Rebellion's poster of rules lists [[Film/FightClub Rule 1 as "Do not talk about the Rebellion", Rule 2 is "Do NOT talk about the Rebellion"]].
60	** One of the street signs Amy can examine marks an intersection between Jordan Street and Booth Avenue, a reference to the characters Ben Jordan and Simon Booth from Francisco Gonzalez's previous project, the ''VideoGame/BenJordanParanormalInvestigator'' series.
61	* TakeAThirdOption: The ending. [[spoiler:Tiberius and Danton fight and, being mostly matched in skill, it comes to Amy to choose whom of the two to kill and how to end the game. But Amy can take the option to kill both -- which in fact gives the best ending]].
62	* TragicKeepsake: The Quicksilver, an old model car Amy and her father spent their time tinkering with before he passed away. In the story's present time, it's held up in Amy's garage gathering dust due to being unable to find the proper components for such a model. [[spoiler:During her hallucinogenic trip in the Acolytes of the Reaper, Amy reveals her guilt of never finishing, believing it would let her father down. He (or, a hallucination of him) quickly shuts that down.]]
63	* TrustPassword: Members of LaResistance identify each other and their collaborators with the phrase "[[spoiler:I'd have / I've got the perfect life.]]"
64	* WantedPoster: [[spoiler:Posters of Amy goes up in the market district after she manages to evade capture by Tiberius' guards.]]
65	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out what happens to Gordon and the experiment performed on him.
66	* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Several puzzles involve killing members of the Aristocracy's guards, who are mostly shown to be decent guys just doing their jobs. The narrative doesn't comment on this, which stands out because it ''does'' comment on Amy being shaken up even over mercy kills.
67	* WhatTheHellHero: During the final showdown Danton really goes nuts with her sword, and the brutality of her attacks clearly cause Amy to be shocked at the needless bloodshed.
68	* WrenchWench: Amy, like her father before her. Her knowledge of machinery helps many times throughout the story. Additionally, she can distinguish any car, including their model and year, should the player examine them.

Context VideoGame / Shardlight