Chorus is a 2021 science fiction arcade space simulator developed by Fishlabs and published by Deep Silver.
The story focuses on Nara, who was once one of the Circle cult's deadliest servants, and was invaluable in spreading the Prophet's will across the galaxy alongside her sentient starfighter known as Forsaken. One day, after a fateful event, Nara decides to leave Forsaken and the life she knew behind, and flees to the edges of known space, eking out a living as a space pilot, protecting the locals against space pirates, all while trying to remain hidden from the Prophet and his minions.
Then, the Prophet's forces arrive at her new home, seeking more people to convert to their faith, and ready to kill those who refuse.
Chorus contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Nara was the finest pilot the Circle had, now she's the finest pilot opposing them.
- Artificial Intelligence: Forsaken, the AI that powers Nara's fighter craft.
- The Atoner:
- While with the Circle, Nara killed an entire planet. She does not feel she deserves forgiveness but once she commits to fighting the Prophet she is determined to do everything she can to balance the scale even just a bit.
- The leader of the Enclave, Sav, sold out the route of the massive colony ship, the Artok, to the Circle. He seems not to have understood what they were going to do, but this still led to the ship's destruction and the death of all aboard. His desire to protect the Enclave springs from this guilt.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The Rite of Control allows the player to grab enemies and throw them as projectiles. However, this comes in near the very end of the game, and by the time you get it, it ends up not being that useful in combat compared to the other Rites or the player's weapons.
- Big Bad: The Great Prophet, leader of the Circle. Once a genuinely good person looking to make people's lives better via his religion but now focused on forcing his religion onto others by any means.
- Chain Lightning: One of the upgrades to the Rite of the Storm allows it to chain between multiple targets.
- Dash Attack: The Rite of the Star lets you charge forward at high speed and deal heavy damage to anything that crosses your path. During the final battle, after Nara fuses with Forsaken, the Rite of the Star becomes powerful enough to one-shot the Circle's battlecruisers.
- Defector from Decadence: Nara left the Circle in horror for what she did and ultimately stands against them. As the story progresses, Nara discovers a number of other members of the Circle who have also rejected the Prophet even if not the entire religion.
- Demonic Possession: The Faceless can control humans via suppressed emotions. If this goes on too long, the human's soul is lost and they are just an empty shell for the Faceless to inhabit. Near the end of the game it is revealed that this happened to the Prophet.
- The Dragon: Elder Sysys, the only still living Elder loyal to the Prophet. Although in this case, "loyal" means ruling the Circle with an iron fist while the Prophet is otherwise engaged.
- The Dreaded: By the time Nara reaches the Nimika system, she's become known far and wide as the Cult Slayer.
- Flash Step: The Rite of the Hunt allows the player to teleport themselves behind an enemy target. This can be used to get into a good attack position or to avoid enemy fire.
- Fusion Dance: Right at the end of the game Nara and Forsaken merge into a single entity, becoming immensely powerful, able to destroy capital ships in a single strike.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: The first stage of the finale involves chasing the final boss in a looping tunnel while avoiding walls and mines summoned by the boss.
- Haunted Technology: The AI in Forsaken is an extradimensional entity implanted into the ship. In fact, it's actually the Prophet's soul.
- Inner Monologue: Nara's inner thoughts are voiced with a whisper.
- It Was with You All Along: At the end of the game, Forsaken's AI is revealed to contain the Prophet's soul, separated from his body after he ventured into the Void.
- Join or Die: The Circle wants all to convert to their religion. They are not making this optional.
- Mind Rape: The Prophet can use Void energy to forcibly convert people to submit to his will.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Prophet gives Nara one during the final battle that, despite everything she had done to get this far, she still hadn't conquered her fear of rejection (by those who would despise her for destroying Nimika Prime) or her fear of being alone. This doesn't stop Nara for long.
- So Proud of You: During the ending sequence, the Prophet confesses how proud he is that Nara succeeded where he failed in uniting the galaxy in harmony.
- Space Fighter: The game is mostly focused on battles between fighters and Nara has a special one.
- Theme Naming: The Circle names its fighter models after scavenger birds (Crows, Ravens, Vultures) and its capital ship models after words for ghosts (Wraith, Spirits, Phantoms).
