Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is a traditional turn based strategy RPG released by Nippon Ichi released in 2019 for the Playstation 4 and the Nintendo Switch.
The game takes place in the town of Clocknee at the turn of the millennium, on December 31, 1999. The game focuses on 10-year-old Sherry Aldeis and her friend Pegreo Bachfaren. At midnight, as the town and residents celebrate the new year, all time freezes. People stop moving in place, the fireworks are frozen in air, and aggressive machines, from television sets to steam irons to pinball machines, appear out of portals and begin attacking people. Only Sherry, Pegreo, and a few others, including the eccentric Dr. Cheatstein, are not frozen. Sherry and Pegreo also discover Isaac, a large robot, who is tasked with protecting Sherry. Sherry, Pegreo, and Isaac begin investigating what caused time to freeze and how to save their town, with their adventures taking them back and forth through time.
In addition to being a traditional turn based RPG, enemies appear in the overworld with battles taking place separately after touching an enemy. A main feature is Isaac and his abilities to transform into different forms. These forms range from a firefighter with healing abilities, a gunslinger that targets enemy weakness, and a boxer with fast moves. Isaac is a key component of the game and if his health reaches '0', it is an automatic game over.
This game provides examples of:
- After the End: Clocknee in 2030 is this. An event called the Cataclysm in 2000 destroyed the town.
- Alternate Timeline: With time travel being key to the plot, this was inevitable. Some of these timelines overlap each other, with characters' personal timelines changing as a result.
- Timeline 1: In 1970, after defeating status MAX, Truth failed to save Aria. By 1985, he and Dr. Cheatstein have built Isaac and travel back to 1970, as Soul Man, to save her. Sherry would not have been born in Timeline 1.
- Timeline 2: In 1970, 1985!Truth saves Aria and gives 1970!Truth his guitar. The 1985!Truth travels back to his present, discovering he married Aria, and have Sherry. At some point in the future, Sherry and Pegreo marry and have Altana. This becomes the timeline in which the 2000 Cataclysm happens. Timelines 3, 4, and 5 diverge from here.
- Timeline 3: Sherry, Pegreo, and Isaac travel to 1970 and defeat status MAX, with Soul Man (Truth in disguise) saving Aria again. Meanwhile, after the 2000 Cataclysm, Altana travels back to 2000 to help stop it.
- Timeline 4: After Altana joins and they defeat status MAX, Sherry learns her Papa died in 1999 trying to stop Sir Angolmois. They travel to 1999 and save Truth before this can happen, changing their present again.
- Timeline 5: After traveling back and forth in time, including 1000 years into the past, Altana helped avert the Cataclysm. In 2030, Clocknee is still a flourishing town.
- Big Bad: The Goddess, the original protector of Clocknee, who has become a malevolent entity called Deathgear.
- The Big Guy: Isaac. Fittingly, he was designed to be this.
- Big Good: The Clocknee Clock, the first gift the Goddess gave to Clocknee, became this sometime before the game.
- Cowardly Lion: Pegreo is scared all the time, but still helps out Sherry and overcomes his fear.
- Connected All Along: After traveling 1000 years to the founding of the town, Sherry learns she is a descendant of the town's founder Adamski Aldeis. Also, she finds out the reason she, Pegreo, and a few others were not frozen in time. The Goddess especially loved the Aldeis family, and chose not to freeze them. This included Dr. Cheatstein, who is revealed as a distant relative, and family members who married into the family like Pegreo, who marries Sherry in the future.
- Death from Above: A result of the Goddess' Kill Sat. It is implied that without Isaac to protect the town, this is what led to the Clocknee Cataclysm.
- Elemental Powers: Fire, ice, and electricity are abilities both the heroes and enemies can use. Some enemies and playable characters are resistant or weaker to certain element types.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Pegreo, as well as his uncle Dumpty, are great at making gears and improvised weapons. Pegreo's weapon of choice is a wrench, signifying his gadgetry skills.
- Henshin Hero: Soulman, the hero who saved Clocknee in 1970. He even has a Red Baron title, the Speaker Of Souls. He's actually Sherry's father, who invented the persona as a disguise for when he traveled through time to save Aria.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Isaac uses all of his energy to defend against the Goddess' Kill Sat attack. He reflects the attack back at the Goddess, killing her but dying as well.
- During Timeline 4, Soulman sacrifices himself to save Clocknee. Thanks to time travel, though, it's averted.
- Improbable Weapon User: Sherry uses a blow dryer as a laser gun. Less offensive is Kid!Truth's weapon of choice: a guitar, which he uses to hit enemies with.
- Interface Spoiler: The game is guilty of revealing very early on who will join your party, including Child!Truth from 1970 and Altana from the year 2030.
- Jack of All Stats: Sherry. She gets a wide variety of skills that can target enemy weaknesses, but has average attack and HP. She also has the best accuracy in the game.
- Love Makes You Evil: Sort of occurs with the Goddess, the original protector of Clocknee. She gave the residents gifts of technology, but the people unknowingly exploited her. This led the Goddess from originally loving the town to wanting to destroy it.
- Mad Scientist: Dr. Cheatstein seems to be this and is viewed as eccentric by the townsfolk, but is actually quite level-headed.
- Meaningful Name: Sherry Aldeis, pronounced "all days", time travels throughout all the days important to her and her town's fate.
- Millennium Bug: As the new year 1/1/2000 begins, almost on cue robots begin attacking Clocknee town.
- Multiform Balance: This is Isaac's shtick. He can change his form and his abilities depending on the situation. Each form has advantages and disadvantages:
- Defense Form: Isaac's original form. It has the best defense.
- Rescue Form: A firefighter form. It has healing abilities but less attack.
- Outlaw Form: A gunslinger form. It has decent attack and accuracy. It can target opponent's weaknesses and cause debuffs.
- Champion Form: A boxer form. It has the highest speed.
- Samurai Form: A samurai form. It has the highest attack but lowest accuracy.
- Beast Form: A teddy bear like form. It has all-around good attack and elemental attacks with high speed.
- My Future Self and Me: Soul Man is the future, adult Truth. The younger version never discovers the truth.
- Once More, with Clarity: At the beginning of the game, Sherry has been waiting 5 months for her Papa to return from work. A flashback shows this interaction before he leaves. Later in the game reveals he was preparing to go fight a malevolent robot called Sir Angolmois.
- Period Piece: Sort of. The game begins in the year 1999 and the year 2000, as well as 1970 when the group travels 30 years into the past. There is not much indication of the different periods other than slight differences with technology, such as boxier cable televisions.
- Required Party Member: Isaac is the only party member that can't be switched out and is required.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Isaac's Beast Form, which takes the form of an adorable teddy bear.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Despite changing the past, several characters retain memories of their original timelines despite those timelines technically not existing anymore. Some examples are:
- Adult!Truth traveled back in time to save his crush, Aria, when they were children. When he returned to his present, in 1985, he discovered he had been married to Aria, but had no memory of ever being with her.
- At the end of the game, it is implied Future!Sherry also retained her memories of the past destruction of Clocknee, despite that event never occurring. Altana also retained his memory, despite changing his personal timeline.
- Screw Destiny: A main feature of the game. Dr. Cheatstein believes destiny can't be changed and even if it is, something else will happen later as a course correction. Both Sherry and Adult!Truth believe they can change destiny.
- Show Within a Show: Altana first appears as a character in a movie Sherry and her grandmother enjoy watching. The game does not explain how this is possible.
- Suicide by Cop: Sherry thinks the Goddess wanted to be stopped and knew she was going crazy, but couldn't do anything to stop herself.
- The Unfought: Sort of with the Goddess' final form. She is technically fought in battle, but the party can't damage her at all. She is defeated by Isaac in a cutscene.
- Time Machine: Isaac essentially is one, though technically he uses a device installed inside of him to actually time travel.
- Time Stands Still: Time freezes for Clocknee as the date changes from 12/31/1999 to 1/1/2000. Only Sherry, Pegreo, and a few others escape this fate.
- We Cannot Go On Without You: Isaac is key to the game. If he dies in battle, it is an automatic game over.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Status MAX, a malevolent machine in 1970, and later in 2000, sucks up people's souls and uses them to power his robotic followers.
