Line #56 VideoGame/TheTwentyFifthWard


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_40_6.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} KILL the LIFE]]]]
3
4	->''Yet another "perfect lifestyle" has been born, and the dreamlike life based on despair contaminates the people.''
5
6	''The 25th Ward: The Silver Case'' (Japanese: シルバー事件25区) is the sequel to ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'' and ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain''. Like its predecessors, it is a Creator/GrasshopperManufacture visual novel/adventure game directed and co-written by Creator/Suda51 with a complicated and surreal mystery story.
7
8	In the year 2005, a new 25th Ward has been built as a successor to the 24th Ward project. This so-called utopian city was constructed with the purpose of providing a perfectly orderly lifestyle, but its ideal of order is soon threatened by the impending chaos represented by [[TheDreaded Kamui Uehara]].
9
10	The story is divided into three different "story threads", which each take place from a different perspective and parallel each other as they cover the same events in different lights. These are:
11
12	* '''Correctness''' (written by Goichi Suda), which follows the 25th Ward Heinous Crimes Unit investigating the secrets of the 25th Ward's conspiracies. Correctness cases are denoted with #s.
13	* '''Matchmaker''' (written by Masahiro Yuki), which follows the Regional Adjustment Bureau, a team of glorified government hitmen who "adjust" undesirable residents of the city. Matchmaker "cases" are denoted with “s.
14	* '''Placebo''' (written by Masahi Ooka), which follows returning character Tokio Morishima, who has lost most of his memories. Placebo reports are denoted with *s.
15
16	These three different stories together tell a labyrinthine and exceedingly bizarre tale about city infrastructure, murderous intent, big data, [[OrderVersusChaos order and chaos]], observation, and the nature of {{protagonist}}s.
17
18	''The 25th Ward'' has a complex release history; it was originally only released episodically on Japanese flip-phones in 2005, which means that very few people had a chance to play it before it went down. For this reason, it was long considered lost media and a "phantom game", until a full remake was released in 2018 on PC and [=PS4=], complete with four new chapters (#06: white out, #07: black out, 00: UTSUTSU and 06: YUKI).
19
20	----
21	!! Don't depend on the tropes. Depend on the tropes. God lives in the tropes. The tropes will lead you to all knowledge and wisdom. Doubt the tropes. Save the tropes. Kill the tropes.
22
23	* AbortedArc: One of the big themes at the beginning - the chaotic introduction of Kamui into the Ward, and the order/chaos divide it symbolizes - is dropped around the chapter 3s, with the observers/[[spoiler:Kurumizawa]] plot taking the focus instead. In fact, in "digital man", [[spoiler: Sumio Kodai ends the chapter by metaphorically shooting Shiroyabu in the head (probably?) and stating that "Kamui can [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] off".]]
24	** [[spoiler:Ultimately PlayedWith: Kamui does bring about chaotic change in Ward 25, but not with him directly appearing for it; Kurumizawa, who exists within Kamui's power, becomes a former cog in the machine of Ward 25's society, while Mokutaro Shiroyabu--revealed afterward as Mokutaro Shimohira, making him the ''son'' of Kamui Uehara--ascends to Kurumizawa's level in order to go after him. By the time of black out, the story is effectively already over when Uehara becomes Kamui Uehara; his name serves more as a distraction to the characters, letting current events and the real antagonists take them by surprise.]]
25	* AlienGeometries: The abandoned Thousand Hotel. It's described as the floors being alive and shifting, but in practice, it's more like this trope in that the exit can't be found physically but only through taking a certain path. Going the wrong direction leads directly back to the starting point, necessitating the directions found on...a coffee can?
26	* AmbiguousSituation: One could argue that the whole game is this, but one standout example resides in Correctness/[[spoiler:Transmitter]] case #04: digital man. The game does not clarify which [[spoiler:Sumio (Kodai or Mondo)]] we are playing as, at least at first. He's one of the few characters identified in dialogue labels by their first name, leaving this person's identity up to interpretation. [[spoiler:Kurumizawa refers to him as "Agent Kodai", which would make him the same detective--and member of the terrorist group the Mikumo Boys--from the first game, but having gone through the journey depicted in ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain''.]]
27	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Unlike the first game, in which you strictly played as two protagonists, ''The 25th Ward'' switches the player character a lot. #3: "boys don't cry" changes you to Shiroyabu[[note]]Granted, he was already a protagonist as far as the story is concerned, but not the player character[[/note]]; #4: "digital man"[[note]]which changes the story thread name from Correctness to Transmitter[[/note]] to [[spoiler:Sumio Kodai, as well as a brief segment with Sakura]]; #6: white out to [[spoiler:Akira/Big Dick, the protagonist of the first game]]; and *6: YUKI to, well, [[spoiler:Yuki Shimohira]].
28	* ArcNumber: 25, naturally. The setting is Ward 25, the year is '''2'''00'''5'''[[note]]though it could just be a coincidence[[/note]], various magazines and websites have "25" or "Quarter" in them, the 25-sided polyhedron in the lower-right corner of the screen [[spoiler:who is actually the BigBad's current [[LivingPolyhedron form]]]], etc.
29	* ArcSymbol:
30	** The Moon arises as a recurring symbol in this game, per Grasshopper tradition. As with the original game, every single chapter ends with a shot of a colored glowing Moon. Matchmaker is the thread most dominated by the Moon: its protagonist is named Tsuki (meaning "moon"), the key appraiser Okamoto speaks through a round window with multiple round holes (visually similar to the Moon and its many craters), and the last two chapter titles involve the Moon (the lunar orbit and moon over 25).
31	* ArcWelding: Certain endings in #7: black out cross over with other Suda works, and [[spoiler:*6: YUKI returns to the setting and subject matter of the ''Twilight Syndrome'' series, compounded by a Hinashiro coffee shop named [[VideoGame/TravisStrikesAgainNoMoreHeroes Strike Again]] Coffee.]]
32	* ArcWords: In Correctness, "Kill the Life"; In Matchmaker, "Save the Life". In both cases, "the Life" (日常, ''nichijou'') refers to the seemingly-utopian way of life in the 25th Ward upheld by sinister government agencies. People outside of Ward 25, such as Kousaka and possibly [[spoiler:Kurumizawa]], seek to destroy this twisted Life.
33	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Taken to an absurd level. [[spoiler:The reason why "Goddess" (the murder victim from #00/#01) was killed by the deliverymen, as Tokio finds after *01: NAGARE? Because ''she didn't separate her flammable and non-flammable trash correctly''. And she wasn't their first victim offed for such bizarre reasoning. Rather than being PlayedForLaughs, this just goes to show how the citizens of Ward 25 are willing to weed each other out for not fitting into the Life.]]
34	* ArtShift: Like in the original game, though not quite as frequently.
35	** The Correctness, Matchmaker and Placebo story threads each have their own different artist and style, as well as different composers.
36	** In #04: "digital man", [[spoiler:the eponymous Kurumizawa's depiction in reality changes every time we see him. In one shot, he appears cel-shaded whilst standing over a dead body. Another shot shows him as a Platform/PlayStation1-era video game character model. When Sumio finds him, he appears to be a lifesize image that stepped off of a TV screen, complete with scanlines and unstable frames]].
37	** On the Internet in TIGIRI, characters have more cartoonish or anime designs, and the 3D environment is based on early dungeon crawlers.
38	** YUKI's style is even softer than the rest of Placebo, and uses lots of colored highlights, at least one significant highlight per panel of art used.
39	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:In the end, Kurumizawa succeeds in what he set out to do: usher chaos into the 25th Ward.]]
40	* BaitAndSwitch: In *06: YUKI, [[spoiler:for those who have completed the epilogue of [[VideoGame/TheSilverCase the original game's remake's]] Placebo thread. A character who looks a lot like Tokio around the time he's headed to Lospass Island cheerfully comments to Yuki about having matching frappacinos, which seems OutOfCharacter for a character like [[DeadpanSnarker Tokio]]. He even introduces himself as a freelance reporter, just like Tokio... Well, it's ''not'' Tokio; the immediate next line reveals that this is a different man altogether, a journalist named Hiiragi. He just happens to look like post-''Silver'' Tokio down to the outfit and hairdo. The real Tokio appears later, having grown his hair our longer, among other things that have changed in the 12 years following his departure from the 25th Ward.]]
41	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Kosuke Kurumizawa, although in true Suda fashion, his role is very non-traditional. He is introduced as a murdered apartment manager in Correctness, brought up and dropped out of nowhere; but then he appears throughout the story threads appearing very much alive, and wherever he goes, [[BreakingTheFourthWall reality starts to come apart for the other characters]].]]
42	* BittersweetEnding:
43	** Matchmaker: [[spoiler:Tsuki has lost all of his friends and colleagues in the Regional Adjustment Bureau, including his protégé Yotaro Osato. However, Tsuki has finally eliminated all of the people who had destroyed his life in the past, and walks away from the 25th Ward. Though effectively unemployed now, Tsuki can finally be himself again...starting by finally heading off to buy some Mont Blanc dessert, his old favorite.]]
44	** Placebo: [[spoiler:Tokio regains his memories, and with them their burden: he has to complete his true mission in the 25th Ward, and he releases his pet turtle Red. As Tokio leaves the 25th Ward to its obliteration, he tears out the artificial Silver Eye out of his head and destroys it. Leaving his past behind--including a sibling who may already be dead or may not be real--Tokio instead becomes a mentor to people who share his abilities, resurfacing in the year 2017 in Hinashiro to help Yuki Shimohira.]]
45	* BlackAndGreyMorality: To an even greater degree than ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'' proper, making the cast in that game almost seem squeaky-clean in comparison. The various protagonists do ''highly'' morally questionable things to accomplish their goals, while the actual villains either try to maintain a dystopia, cause general chaos, or toy with said protagonists for their own sick, twisted amusement.
46	* BloodFromEveryOrifice: Matchmaker "case" “02: quiet cradle introduces a suicide drug called Bloody High. Tsuki and Osato see its effects up-close when the guy they're tasked with assassinating, Shonai, injects himself with it, soon spurting blood from his nose, eyes, and mouth.
47	* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:#7: black out shatters it completely]].
48	* BullyingADragon: Some of the [[MultipleEndings many endings]] in #7: black out gives you the choice to have Uehara kill or maim Kuroyanagi, whom he's been escorting. The outcome is seldom beneficial for Uehara and usually results in [[YetAnotherStupidDeath him getting mercilessly killed by her]].
49	* TheBusCameBack:
50	** [[spoiler:#04: digital man features Koshimizu from ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain'', now a detective for the Ward 24 HCU after the events of Lospass Island.]]
51	** [[spoiler:*6: YUKI brings back the setting of Hinashiro City to the Kill the Past series, which hadn't been mentioned since Human Entertainment's ''Moonlight Syndrome'' in 1997]].
52	* BusCrash: That said, despite the above, not everyone made it through the time between ''The Silver Case'' (1999) and ''The 25th Ward'' (2005). For example, Central official Sakaguchi (from ''Silver''[='=]s third case "Parade") is confirmed dead in #01: new world order.
53	* CarnivalOfKillers: The Okiai hitmen in #3: boys don't cry. [[spoiler:They were all hired by Kousaka to go after Shiroyabu in order to "awaken" his criminal power.]]
54	* CentralTheme:
55	** "Killing the past", as in the original. Matchmaker protagonist Tsuki ends his storyline by [[spoiler:killing Shigino, quitting his job at the RA Bureau, and departs the 25th Ward...but first, he decides to get some Mont Blanc, his favorite dessert that he's decided to get back to again]]. Placebo ends with [[spoiler:Tokio leaving the 25th Ward before its destruction. *06: YUKI serves as a DistantEpilogue, showing that Tokio is still alive and kicking in Hinashiro City, where he gives the new protagonist, high schooler Yuki Shimohira, some much needed advice.]]
56	** "Killing the Life", or rather, the "way of life". [[spoiler:The 25th Ward ultimately kills off those who don't fit into the 25th Ward's "way of life", on the word of mouth of its own citizens. Instead of being slaves to the Life, characters like Kurumizawa seek to bring it crashing down, while some like Tsuki leave it behind so that it does not decide their lives for them anymore.]]
57	* ChekhovsGunman:
58	** You know Kosuke Kurumizawa, the dead guy who gets abruptly brought up and abruptly dropped very early on in the game? [[spoiler:Turns out he's the main antagonist]].
59	** Yagisawa, the random man who Tokio tricks early on [[spoiler:was actually not the man Tokio contacted online. This was somebody else who Meru was used as a body by proxy. Yagisawa is also mute; Meru gave him her voice by use of a portable speaker]].
60	** Aoyama and Akama are very minor characters in the main game, only there to fill out the HC Unit's ranks. [[spoiler:In black out, they reveal themselves to be time cops who play important roles in the plot of both this game [[VideoGame/TravisStrikesAgainNoMoreHeroes and others]]]].
61	* {{Cliffhanger}}: white out resolves the SequelHook left by the "Whiteout prologue" from the ''Silver Case'' remake. Remember the gunshot that ended the prologue? [[spoiler:It's not Officer Shiroyabu who shoots Big Dick--it's ''Tetsugoro Kusabi'' who shows up and shoots Officer Shiroyabu in the ear first.]]
62	* ColourfulThemeNaming: Four of the HC Unit members fit into this: [[DarkActionGirl Kuro]]yanagi, [[MysticalWhiteHair Shiro]]yabu, [[RedOniBlueOni Akama and Aoyama]].
63	* ContemplateOurNavels: Early on in #05: electride, a delivery man muses about the 25th Ward's nature and his mission in it.
64	* CreepyChild: Alice in #4: "digital man", being the first entity to confront [[spoiler:Sumio]] in the chapter's surreal opening.
65	* {{Cyberpunk}}: Even more so than in the previous game. Transhumanism is a more prevalent theme that is explored in both positive and negative ways, and the line is blurred even more between the city and a computer system. Placebo hits the nail on the head by showing [[spoiler:Tokio having a cable plugged into his eye socket...the one containing an artificial Silver Eye.]]
66	* DarkerAndEdgier: The original ''Silver Case'' was dark, but ''The 25th Ward'' is filled with sociopaths; even Correctness protagonist Shiroyabu is blatantly guilty of police brutality [[spoiler:before diving off the deep end all together and getting death-filed]]. [[spoiler:The game also wraps up on a much more ambiguous note than the first.]]
67	* DenserAndWackier: Despite the characters and story being far darker than ''The Silver Case'', the scenarios are more overtly fantastical and over-the-top compared to the relatively grounded scenarios of its direct predecessor, which only occasionally dipped into [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane the more supernatural elements]]. [[spoiler:The ending also completely demolishes the fourth wall and the narrative structure in general.]]
68	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:electride reveals that the BigBad was disguised this whole time. What's the disguise, you ask? Well...he's ''[[LivingPolyhedron that 25-sided 3D shape]] in the lower-right corner of the screen'', which doubles as the cursor you use to move around and solve puzzles. [[ParanoiaFuel He's been with you this whole time]].]]
69	* EldritchLocation: The Red Room (why, yes, that is borrowed from ''Series/TwinPeaks'') and its adjacent Blue Room [[spoiler:and White Room]].
70	* {{Expy}}: Engawa from “02: quiet cradle is one for Enzawa, the Kamui fanatic that Tokio spoke with in the original game. Both are people who admire and worship Kamui, both threaten to kill the protagonists who encounter them, and both are neutralized by assassins. Unlike Enzawa, Engawa is presumably the leader of the Kamui Fan Club (Pending)[[note]]Yes, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer the (Pending) is actually in the group name]].[[/note]] that Tsuki and Osato are led to, pitting the two assassins against several people. [[DidNotThinkThisThrough Unfortunately for the fan club]], it turns out that threatening to offer two dead ''assassins'' to Kamui is not a good idea for a bunch of non-assassins to actually do. Tsuki and Osato respond by mocking the fan club, then killing all of them except for a [[OhCrap terrified]] Engawa. Maejima then arrives to take Engawa, extracting information from his brain before cutting him loose, [[FateWorseThanDeath having severely lost much brain function in the ordeal.]]
71	* EverybodyDiesEnding: By the end of Matchmaker, [[spoiler:Tsuki and Maejima are the only RAB members left that are confirmed to be alive. The rest have either been killed off or vanished as a result of the machinations of Shigino and the Postal Federation]].
72	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Kosaka. He hires assassins to go after Shiroyabu in #03: "boys don't cry", and pulls a rifle or SMG on [[DaChief HCU chief Hatoba]] in #05: "electride".]]
73	* FirstEpisodeTwist: [[spoiler:The Postal Federation is a government organization of deliverymen assassins, who have been killing people in the high-rise. This just leaves the question of "why", however.]]
74	* TheFourGods: One version of the puzzle to reach a convenience store's "WC"[[note]]for "white chair" the toilet of a restroom[[/note]] involves inputting their names on the right directions.
75	* GainaxEnding: Several sequential ones.
76	* GambitPileup: It's much less possible to sort out than Suda's other pileups, due to us missing several pieces of the puzzle regarding who's aligned with who.
77	* GoryDiscretionShot: *06: YUKI starts with a woman falling onto the train tracks at the station just as a train rolls in. We only hear some gruesome noises before the scene fades to Yuki's house.
78	* GovernmentConspiracy: Too many to list; the entire city is muddled with conspiracies on all sides.
79	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: As you might expect from a game played from three separate perspectives. Even then, though, it's a particularly complex one, with some of the pieces being in previous games while others have yet to come.
80	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Tokio is suffering from this. [[spoiler:{{Justified}}: this was a measure that Kipple took to protect Tokio from the forces at play in the 25th Ward from noticing him. The more it wears off, the more that people in the government do notice him, as is the case when Tsuki and Osato sneak into Tokio's boat.]].
81	* LivingPolyhedron: Well, "living" might be a bit of a stretch, but [[spoiler:the 25-sided polyhedron in the screen's lower-right corner--the one that serves as the player's cursor--is actually Kurumizawa, who was declared dead in the beginning of the game.]].
82	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Or rather, Meaningful Background Visual Noise. Much like ''The Silver Case'' before it, ''The 25th Ward'' uses the screen behind the windows of CGI and art cuts to show simple graphics unique to each and every chapter. One includes an ever-moving web of lines, one uses black paint strokes, one uses genetic-test-like rectangles, one uses raindrops against water, one includes a flickering orange that moves like a flame on a bomb fuse... [[spoiler:The only chapter to abandon this entirely is #07: black out.]]
83	* MeleeATrois: The HC Unit, the RA Bureau/observers and the Okiai Syndicate[[spoiler:/Postal Federation]] are all at war, with Tokio caught right in the middle of it.
84	* MilkmanConspiracy: [[spoiler:The Postal Federation is behind the government-contracted murders of undesirable inhabitants within the 25th Ward. They mainly use assassins posing as deliverymen to accomplish this.]]
85	* MindScrew: One of Suda's biggest, especially in Correctness, the scenario he wrote.
86	** #03: boys don't cry has Shiroyabu show up at two different [=ATMs=] to fight the last two assassins...somehow [[spoiler:at the same time. This appears to be a sign that Shiroyabu has awakened to his criminal power.]]
87	** #06: white out ends with Big Dick and Officer Shiroyabu [[spoiler:seeing Joker unmasked as...an older Shiroyabu.]]
88	* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler:{{Parodied}} in the final chapter, black out, which features a full 100 of them, chosen arbitrarily from a menu. They range from completely ridiculous to ominous and sinister to crossovers with other Suda and Grasshopper properties. It also lies about deleting your save data after making your choice. There ''is'' a "true ending", but the only way to see it is by going through all 100 endings, each of which requires you to play through black out again to see]]. Also doubles as an extreme example of LastSecondEndingChoice.
89	* MythologyGag:
90	** [[spoiler:YUKI features one to ''VideoGame/Killer7'', of all things, in the form of Rina and Slash. Rina is a personality that Yuki Shimohira took into herself, and Slash is Tokio's hacker contact who died and was taken into Tokio's self. These cases are remarkably similar to Harman Smith's multiple personalities in ''[=Killer7=]'', though how they manifest in YUKI is different.]]
91	* NostalgiaLevel: digital man and white out for ''The Silver Case''; YUKI for the [[spoiler:''Twilight Syndrome'']] series.
92	* NoEnding: In the original mobile version of the game, Correctness ends extremely abruptly. The HD version's additional chapters give it an at-least-somewhat-smoother ending.
93	* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: YUKI, which is tonally and artistically very different from the rest of ''The 25th Ward'', and stars a new protagonist. It also serves as the epilogue to the Placebo story thread, with Morishima returning in a supporting role to Yuki.
94	* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: The chapter white out [[spoiler:stars protagonist Big Dick from ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'']].
95	* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Correctness, but especially #3: boys don't cry, is this for [[spoiler:Shiroyabu. He starts off as a good-intentioned detective; trigger-happy and reckless, but not any more evil than the other trigger-happy cops in the game's world. In boys don't cry, he's left to his own devices for an investigation and ends up killing civilians, sexually assaulting one of the bad guys (or bad girl in this case) trying to kill him, and becomes a pawn of the villain. At the very end of electride he might have a HeelRealization, but the circumstances are unclear]].
96	* RecapEpisode: The remake adds Placebo report *00: UTSUTSU, which sums up the events of ''The Silver Case'' starting from 1979 and ending before 2005. It's framed a message by Tokio to his future self, in preparation for his memory loss during this game.
97	* RedOniBlueOni: The HotBlooded Kuroyanagi (who also wears red lipstick) and her {{Foil}} partner Shiroyabu (who also wears a blue necktie). More obviously is Aoyama (lit. "blue mountain") and Akama (lit. "red gate").
98	* RememberTheNewGuy: [[spoiler:Matchmaker protagonist Tsuki was actually a member of the Republic task force that appeared in [[VideoGame/TheSilverCase the original game]], recruited by Daigo Natsume after the former was arrested and his syndicate was officially cracked down upon. The reason Tsuki didn't appear in "lunatics" or "decoyman" was because he'd been injured during training, and was thus off Republic's active team at the time they were effectively destroyed.]]
99	* SchmuckBait: The apartment puzzle in #05: electride, which asks you to investigate the 2nd through 80th floors of an apartment building, even making a point of telling you that you need to look over every nook and cranny of the building and check every single apartment. But there must be some trick to it, though, because it also tells you that you'll receive "no hints," which is itself a bit of a hint that you ''don't'' really need to do all that. [[spoiler:The secret is that the rooms you have to check aren't actually specific rooms; going to any floor and checking the first door will make the person you need to find be in that room, and the room you need to find to finish the puzzle can be any one of many that follows certain rules. You don't actually have to investigate thousands of rooms, but the only way to solve the puzzle is to buy into the idea of doing so...at least, until after checking every room of a few floors you notice that only the first apartment of each floor has anybody in it]].
100	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:In "5: moon over 25, RAB cleanup man Maejima meets with Tsuki one last time to pass on some information before he goes off the 25th Ward's grid.]]
101	* SequelHook: {{Subverted}}. [[spoiler:Every single one of black out's 100 endings ends with a "TO BE CONTINUED..." If the player doesn't bother to go back through the chapter 99 more times to get every single ending, he/she will think this is a sequel hook. It's not. It's actually a hint that the player needs to get all the 100 endings because the game isn't quite over yet. Once you finally get the 100th ending, after it plays, a brand new ending will play. This is the game's true ending, finishing up on a definitive "THE END."]]. Other elements of the final few chapters definitely do imply multiple continuing plot threads in future works, though.
102	** Played straight with one of the endings: choosing the [[spoiler:"Kill Aoyama and Akama simultaneously"]] ending will lead the game to the events of ''[[spoiler:VideoGame/TravisStrikesAgainNoMoreHeroes]]''.
103	** Also played straight with the ''Red, Blue and Green'' short stories that introduce Midori Midorikawa, which end abruptly, but her character arc would later come into play for ''[[spoiler:VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII]]''.
104	* SequelTheOriginalTitle: How this game formats its title, since ''The 25th Ward'' follows up on more than just the original ''Silver Case'', but also ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain'' [[spoiler:and the ''Twilight/Moonlight Syndrome'' games]].
105	* ShoutOut: In #3: "boys don't cry", [[spoiler:Shiroyabu]] becomes completely bald as a result of being death-filed. This new appearance is one red necktie away from being a match for [[VideoGame/{{Hitman}} Agent 47's]].
106	* SixthRanger: Discussed by the characters, who compare Joker, the new member of the Kamui-emulating criminal group TRUMP (the guys from #5: lifecut from ''The Silver Case''), to one of these.
107	* SuddenlyVoiced: A version that has no voice actors whatsoever. [[spoiler:Uehara begins talking in the true ending, and from what he says, it's either a pretty big deal ''or'' [[TrollingCreator the developers]] poking fun at the player for actually playing through black out 100 times. He declares himself Kamui Uehara, plans to change the world (and knowing it is an expensive undertaking), and asks the player to...loan him [[CallBack 50,000 yen]]?]]
108	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Correctness' protagonist "Uehara" is so similar to Big Dick/Akira from the first game that it's very easy to assume they ''are'' the same person; only one easily-forgettable line early on (implicitly comparing Uehara to Akira) indicates that they aren't.
109	* TakeThat: #07: black out is very much a Take That to critics of Suda's previous visual novels, [[spoiler: as well as to the idea that visual novels ''have'' to have choices, branching stories, and MultipleEndings. For once in the entire series, you are given true freedom to affect the story in any way you choose...as in, actually choose from a list of a hundred, while being told [[TakeThatCritics "this is what you wanted."]] The endings are only barebones sentences in sequence, with absolutely no expounding on any of it. Only a small number of them have ''anything'' to do with resolving the MexicanStandoff that led up to this; the rest involve things like walking away from it, NonSequitur answers involving things like [[Manga/MobileSuitGundam Mobile Suits to pilot]] or spontaneously exploding for no reason... And to top it all off, you literally cannot get the game's true ending unless you painstakingly replay the final chapter a full 100 times through and choose every single ending one by one. And yes...it's as painful and time-consuming as it sounds.]]
110	* TheStinger: {{Exaggerated}}. Although the chapter order is up to you, proceeding in the most normal method (rotating between the storylines) means that there's as many as ''five whole chapters'' after the game's credits, besides the stinger to their own chapter. And ''then,'' after you play through all of the game's chapters, ''another'' chapter opens up which is itself a stinger to the rest of the game. [[spoiler:And then, even that chapter has a stinger in the form of the game's true ending, which won't play until after you play through that chapter no fewer than ''100 times.'']] Holy [[Creator/GrasshopperManufacture grasshoppers]], Batman.
111	* ThemeNaming:
112	** In the official soundtrack, the music for each story thread share naming conventions. For example, Matchmaker's songs are named after essential oils (e.g. Lavender peppermint, Kakadu plum); while Placebo's tracks all have single-word titles in all-uppercase letters (e.g. ZERO, ORACLE, ROLLING, GRAVE, and WILL).
113	* TimeSkip: YUKI takes place in [[spoiler:2017, 12 years after the events of ''The 25th Ward'' (the year 2005)]].
114	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Although the player switches POV to several different protagonists during the game, the cursor used for gameplay and the running wireframe man used to select the chapters are both Kurumizawa, meaning that the player was playing from their perspective all along. Though, it's said that Kurumizawa exists "within Kamui's power", which gives another perspective: that the player is the true nature of Kamui]].
115	** #06: white out reveals that [[spoiler:Shiroyabu never knew that he was actually Kamui Uehara's son, Mokutaro Shimohira. "05: moon over 25 makes a similar reveal regarding Yotaro Osato's Sundance lineage, and his RA Bureau colleagues knowing who he really is while he himself does not.]]
116	* TrashTheSet: [[spoiler:Tokio watches the destruction of the 25th Ward at the end of *05: MISOGI.]]
117	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: Similarly to the first game, the most sensible playing order is to rotate between the storylines, only there's three instead of two this time.
118	* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:The last we see of RAB chief Kiryu and Ichigaya, they are fighting to the death. When some of the remaining RA Bureau members return, they notice that the two are nowhere to be found, so it's likely that they've [[MutualKill killed each other]] or the survivor left the 25th Ward. Either way, their microchip signals no longer being tracked indicates that they're completely gone from the city.]]
119	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: boys don't cry and SIZUKU feature very unexpected turn-based RPG combat, with Shiroyabu fighting assassins who attack him at [=ATMs=], and Tokio [[spoiler:fighting his hacker friend Slash to the death]].
120	* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:The chat room manager Meru, AKA Goddess, is eventually revealed to be a trans woman on life support. By the time Tokio meets her, she's been dead for hours]].
121	** [[spoiler:The fact that Meru/Goddess is actually trans doesn't bother Tokio that much. What ironically ''does'' is when he hears his pet turtle Red speak during a dream, having an old woman's voice.]]
122	* VillainProtagonist: Matchmaker's protagonists are part of the 25th Ward's government-assassin conspiracy.
123	* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:HC Unit member Sakaki gets killed off by a delivery man, in #01: new world order. She does return in several of #7: black out's endings.]]
124	* WhamLine:
125	** A major one from #02: good looking guy:
126	--->'''Kuroyanagi''': Machiko, I have just one final question. Where are you from?\
127	'''Machiko''': [[spoiler:The shelter.]]\
128	'''Kuroyanagi''': I see... [[spoiler:Same as me. I'm from the shelter, too.]]
129	** In "05: moon over 25, Tsuki says, [[spoiler:"The fact that Osato was an illegitimate child of Sundance..."]]. But only if [[spoiler:you've played ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain'']].
130	** In #06: white out, [[spoiler:Kusabi identifies Mokutaro Shiroyabu as Kamui Uehara's son, Mokutaro ''Shimohira''.]]
131	** *06: YUKI offers some insight into Yuki, the protagonist of this chapter. [[spoiler:At the shoeboxes at school, checking Yuki's Student ID identifies her as Yuki ''Shimohira'', which would likely make her the offspring of a grown-up 24 Wards Shelter child.]]
132	* WhamShot:
133	** “02: quiet cradle has [[TheChessmaster The Translator]] make an ominous warning about giving Tsuki a present. [[spoiler:The "present" is Yabukawa's body, murdered and deposited in front of the Regional Adjustment Bureau office.]]
134	** “03: about nighthawk features one after introducing the Translator's employer to Tsuki and Sasa, Yabukawa's partner: [[spoiler:[[{{Betrayal}} Sasa]] aiming his gun at Tsuki, revealing himself as a mole in the RAB.]]
135	** “04: the lunar orbit ends with a shot of [[spoiler:Osato's face, his eyes now inexplicably catlike]].
136	** Two in #06: white out:
137	### The [[NoEnding abrupt]] SequelHook of "Whiteout prologue" is followed up on: [[spoiler:The gunshot takes a chunk out of Officer Shiroyabu's ear before he can shoot and kill Big Dick. Who shot Shiroyabu? [[BigDamnHeroes Tetsugoro Kusabi]].]]
138	### [[spoiler:When Big Dick and Officer Shiroyabu get to Joker as his mask comes off, and the camera zooms in to reveal him to be...[[MindScrew Shiroyabu]] himself]].
139	* WhatNowEnding: Matchmaker unambiguously ends on this note. [[spoiler:The RAB has been effectively dismantled, the Okiai Syndicate is wiped out for good, and Tsuki's partner Osato is dead. Left at a crossroads for the first time in years, Tsuki decides not to remain in the 25th Ward's grid anymore...after having himself some Mont Blanc.]]
140	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:In the ending of Placebo, Tokio Morishima rips out his silver eye and shoots it, giving up his immortality. When we see him again in *06: YUKI, he obviously looks much older, as one would expect in a 12-year gap.]]
141	* {{Yakuza}}: The Okiai syndicate, which Tsuki was a former member of.
142	----
143
144	-> ''(A digital moon appears)''

Context VideoGame / TheTwentyFifthWard