Video Game / Suzerain

A Morgna wes core, Vectern sis da!

"A Morgna wes core, Vectern sis da!
(Morning will come, Victory is close!)"

— Motto of the Republic of Sordland.

Suzerain is a text-based Political Strategy Game and RPG in where you play as Anton Rayne, newly elected President of the Republic of Sordland, a fictional country in the also fictional continent of Eastern Merkopa, that stands in the middle of a cold war between two opposing nuclear superpowers, Arcasia and United Contana.

The country lies in a bad state, between regional rivalries, increasingly aggressive neighbors, an economic recession that is on the verge of becoming a full crisis, increasingly powerful separatist movements, politically motivated violence and widespread corruption. The objective is to shape the country as you see fit, possibly surviving the backlash that is going to form both internally and externally.

The game was published by Fellow Traveller on 4 December 2020 and developed by the Berlin-based developer Torpor Games. Two additional major content releases have been confirmed for the game: Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia is an Expansion Pack set four years before the events of the main game, and casts the player in the role of King Romus Toras of Rizia as they navigate the challenges of a monarchy. The second, Amendment, is a significant free "2.0" update for the original campaign featuring new presentation improvements and balancing changes, plus expanded storylines and events for several plot threads including Bludish rights and unrest, the constitutional amendment, and the ATO vs. CSP cold war.

A prequel set in the same universe, named The Conformist, has been also announced. It will be a more personal narrative adventure game, casting you in the role of Orwin, a Sordland propagandist shortly after the country's civil war.

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Suzerain contains examples of:

Republic of Sordland

• The '50s: The game begins in 1953 and spans the length of a four-year presidential term.
• Achievement Mockery:
  • Another Alphonso: Turn the USP against you, have them obstruct the government, and cause an economic depression
  • Chessmaster: Lose a chess match against Lucian, don't pick him as VP, and get betrayed at the Party Congress or Supreme Court
  • Every Vote Matters: Lose the vote on the Constitutional Amendment by only one vote.
  • Hail the Queen: Go to war with Rumburg and lose.
  • Just Another Funeral: You need to attend the funeral of Bernard Circas, Petr Vectern and Serge Volkner. You need to get Vectern and Volkner killed by your decisions.
• The Alcoholic:
  • President Patricio Alvarez of Lespia. Before a meeting with Prime Minister Hoorten he is so drunk that his plane is forced to circle for hours over Staalport. While meeting with President Rayne he first arrives late, then completely forget the trade deal they went to negotiate.
  • Vice President Petr Vectern. Petr makes frequent references to drinking over the course of the game, and can be referred to as "perpetually pickled."
• All There in the Manual: The online codex website contains some details not yet found in the game, most notably a wider map of The Antacean.
• Atlantis: The islands of Kyrule were allegedly the center of the prehistoric Antacean civilization, with evidence of ancient, advanced mega-cities six thousand years ago.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Tarquin Soll can personally appear in parliament to stop the player from becoming a tyrant and, if they are not sufficiently prepared, will succeed. Granted, he will also do this to block a benevolent dictatorship or a democratic constitution.
  • If Rumburg invades Sordland, Soll will appear during the war planning meeting and use his military expertise to personally advise Rayne on what to do. Even if Rayne failed to put Soll on trial.
• Breather Episode: Amendment adds a small subplot if you choose to take ownership of FC Anrica involving their attempt to qualify for the Merkopan Cup. Though still relevant for the political simulation, it's also a chance for many of the game's characters to be seen in a much lighter mood than usual.
• The Chains of Commanding: The game's narrative frequently points out how Presidential duty is gruelling, tiresome, stressful and at times downright unpleasant. Anton Rayne himself can admit as much and even retire immediately after his first term.
• Chummy Commies:
  • The Worker's Party of Bludia and the Communist Party of Sordland are democratic socialist parties that fight to protect the rights of workers, minorities and women. A reformist, socialist Rayne will pursue policies close to these parties.
  • Chancellor Hegel is an ill-tempered shoe-banger and aggressive diplomatically, but consistently fights for his worker-driven Valgslandian Socialism and a better life for his people, even firing a foreign manager for refusing to pay his workers' salaries. He'll also be extremely friendly and supportive of Rayne if he agrees with him compared to the other neighbouring leaders.
  • An authoritarian socialist President Rayne can turn out to be a Good Is Not Soft version of this. Despite writing an authoritarian constitution, it's quite likely that Rayne will receive significant liberal support on this route, and executive-oriented constitutional reforms can be used to bring Soll to justice for his crimes, remove the military and the Old Guard's power over the Sordish state, and (ironically) establish a more democratic Sordland.
• Cincinnatus: Anton Rayne can become this trope if he amends the Constitution to grant himself nearly unlimited power but imposes term limits, meaning he's ready and willing to give up said unlimited power as soon as his terms expire. Doubly so if he then decides to retire at the endgame, meaning he gives up his power after his first and only term.
• Commie Land: United Contana is an in-game version of the Soviet Union, and is engaged in a Cold War with Arcasia, while spreading Malenyevism in Eastern Merkopa.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: If you order a nationwide mandatory vaccination in order to prevent mass Polio pandemic, several newspapers will condemn your decision, either because "it's not that dangerous, why waste our money on it" or because saving people's lives violates their personal freedoms somehow. The "wasting money" argument can be especially egregious of you have funded Healthcare earlier and therefore don't spend any additional funds on vaccination.
• Conlang: The Sordish language. While there is very little visible text written in it in the game, it seems to have some resemblance to German. The fans have managed to expand it into a proper conlang.
• Culture Chop Suey: All over the place, as most of the nations in the game borrow from several Real Life nations each.
  • Sordland broadly mirrors the politics and ethnic composition of mid-20th century Turkey, but their names are mostly Western, Southern and even Northern European. Most of their trademark food is rather Mediterranean-inspired (wine, pasta and bean stew), but Erlory is also famed for its whiskey distilleries. Greiser‘s police uniform looks American, Lancea‘s army uniform resembles that of the Red Army, and Valken Kruger‘s army uniform is clearly inspired by the British Army. The Supreme Court justices‘ dress strongly resembles that of the Norwegian Supreme Court.
  • Rumburg has British names and aesthetics, but otherwise appears to be mostly informed by turn-of-the-century Bulgaria.
  • Wehlen has Polish names and aesthetics, but otherwise resembles Saddam Hussein‘s Iraq. Their national dish, meanwhile, is Strudel.
  • Agnolia‘s names and aesthetics are Dutch, but its political system resembles that of Germany. Their national drink, meanwhile, is vodka.
  • United Contana takes cues from both the Soviet Union and (if their leader Malenyev is any indication) North American First Nations.
  • Valgsland takes its language, culture and visuals from East Germany. Its geographic location and status as a major naval power harkens back to the United Kingdom.
• Defensive Feint Trap: In contrast to Valken's plan of pushing into Rumburg as soon as possible, Iosef's plan consist into luring the Kingdom's armies into a trap, faking the retreat of the 1st Army, then attack the advancing force with the 2nd and 6th from the back.
• Dirty Commies: A National-Malenyevist President Rayne can be a hardcore communist, crushing people's freedoms in the name of the communist revolution and even allying with the ultranationalists to support the Sordish state in oppression of minorities.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: A chilling example with Operation Bear Trap; as Wiktor is an Expy of Saddam Hussein, his massacre of Bludish communities is a direct reference to the Anfal Campaign in the 1980s.
• Double Take: At a certain point of the game, Petr may suggest to Rayne that one way to ensure electoral victory is to start a war. One of Rayne's possible responses is to essentially go, "Wait, what?".
• Downer Ending: The game has multiple, ranging from a Coup d'Etat, your Assassination or Impeachment, you being forced out of the party, losing the war with Rumburg or causing an all-out Nuclear War.
• Eagle Land: Arcasia is basically a in-game version of the United States, being on the opposite side of the political spectrum compared to United Contana and fighting a fictional version of the Cold War against it. They're largely Type 1 as a beacon of democracy and social freedom, although this is grayed by complaints about economic exploitation of other nations and human rights violations in prisons. Amendment pushes Arcasia more towards a Type 2, with some news reports about the nation painting them as having some downright Cyberpunk-esque issues with corporate libertarianism.
• Emergency Authority: If you agree to stop the constitutional reform, the Supreme Court will allow you to declare a state of emergency in Sordland instead, giving you expanded presidential and police powers to protect Sordland from internal and external threats.
• End-Game Results Screen: At the very end of the game (regardless of ending), you get a summary screen that reveals your position on a political compass (the economic axis being Malenyevism vs Arcasian Capitalism, and the social axis being Sollism vs Sordish Reformism), and a list of statistical factoids about all the achievements (good and bad) of your reign.
• The End of the World as We Know It: If you plan on attacking Rumburg, aligning yourself with a superpower seems like a safe bet, having the ability to access the industrial might and the manpower of Arcasia or United Contana to finally put an end the the ambitions of the Kingdom up north. If you enter a state of war with Rumburg while allied with a superpower, the rival power, seeing it as a threat to the balance of power in Merkopa, will side with Rumburg and declare war on you by extension. Now the two rival superpower are at war with each other, and both have nukes. Then Rumburg, that was able to start their own nuclear program, will nuke Holsord, kickstarting nuclear exchanges between the two rival blocks.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Iosef Lancea and Valken Kruger could not dislike each other more, but if you annoy the military and take a path that radically diverges from Sollism, they will team up on you with a coup.
  • Nia is a committed reformist who will turn against you as soon as you aim for an authoritarian constitution, but if you fully support the Justice Ministry on an authoritarian path, she'll set up the Anti-Corruption Police and help you fight the Old Guard or the Oligarchs, even if that means the Old Guard will back an authoritarian constitution.
  • It's possible for a Sollist Rayne or even a hard-line Malenyevist, to work with capitalist Oligarch Marcel Koronti. Koronti doesn't like corporate taxes or workers' rights, but so long as his assets aren't touched, he can still be a powerful ally to a nationalizing President.
  • If Rayne plays his diplomatic cards right and reveals the Queen of Rumburg for a peace-threatening warmonger she is, ATO and CSP will put aside their differences to put heavy sanctions on Rumburg and preserve peace in Eastern Merkopa.
• Every Man Has His Price: President Rayne can attempt to bribe multiple people within the political landscape to earn their support. These bribes can either be paid from Rayne's personal wealth or promises to make political decisions in favor of the bribe's target. Rayne can also be on the other end of this trope, taking bribes in exchange of political support.
• Expansion Pack: Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia, which shifts the game's focus to the titular kingdom and puts you in the role of its monarch.
• Fallen Hero: Some reformers view Soll as the hero that saved the country from a ruinous civil war and created the foundations of their government. Then he gradually stopped helping the people and acted solely for the benefit of himself and his allies.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion:
  • Eastern Merkopa's primary religion is Nurity, which is a very broad combination of Christianity and Islam. It is described as the third-largest religion in the world, and is a monotheistic religion revolving around Saint Dast, who received a message of God's intent on what is now celebrated as Descension Day. Nurists believe that individual salvation is achieved through living by the religion's teachings, and that this will eventually lead to the completion of 'Golconda' and the salvation of all life. Nurity is split into two denominations: Dastnurity only considers the original teachings of Saint Dast and the Eleven Pillars of Nurity as canonical, and emphasises individual purity and the importance of priests in the process of purification. Wruhecism believes that Saint Wruhec was Dast's divinely appointed successor, and believe that the teachings of Saint Dast's disciples are canonical. Wruhecists believes that curiosity, skepticism and selfless acts are an important part of achieving purity, and congregations are led by the less hierarchical Wiscerer (wise person).
  • Golcondism, a controversial Wruhecist sect, appears to be a combination of Sikh martialism, Hellenistic pederasty, as well as the strongly patriarchal nature and contentious geopolitical situation of various Islamic fundamentalist movements.
• Fictional Counterpart: The game is filled with these.
  • The superpowers are obvious imitations of the United States (Arcasia) and the Soviet Union (United Contana), and their respective alliances, ATO and the CSP, are equivalent to NATO and the Warsaw Pact to boot.
  • Sordland itself is very strongly based on pre-Bayar Turkey down to its ruling party's adherence to a codified, big-tent, and republican ideology (Sollism, corresponding to Kemalism) as well as its pitched ethnic tensions with an ethnic group located in its south (the Bluds, corresponding to the Kurds) and its non-aligned stance between the regional and global powers. Even the game's epigraph originates from a real Turkish poet.
  • Wehlen is immensely similar to Iraq under Saddam Hussein, being murderously oppressive of the not-Kurd Bluds and lying to the south of the equivalent of Turkey (though to the southwest instead of the southeast). Unlike Saddam's Iraq, Wehlen is poor compared to the rest of Sordland's neighbors, but possesses vast oil wealth.
  • The Watchtower of Human Rights is a very obvious stand-in for Amnesty International. Other pan-national organisations include the Organization for Merkopan Economic Development (European Economic Community) and the Alliance of Nations (United Nations).
  • Rumberg is essentially a Tsarist Autocracy with the serial numbers filed off, and Beatrice's regime fits closely with that of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria or to a lesser extent Nicholas I and Alexander III of Russia, as a brutal, expansionist authoritarian empire bent on annexing foreign territory (and especially parts of Sordland) using a nationalist, mythological heritage.
• Fictional Country: Every country in Eastern Merkopa, which are at least loosely based on real-world European and Middle Eastern nations around the mid-20th century.
  • Sordland is heavily inspired by Turkey with its non-aligned foreign policy, big-tent one-party republicanism, and ethnic tensions with a stateless ethnic minority on its southern border.
  • Arcasia and United Contana are the United States and Soviet Union stand-ins respectively, being major world superpowers and the key foreign-policy advocates for capitalism and communism.
  • Wehlen is inspired by early Saddam Hussein-era Iraq, as a broadly neutral but communist-aligned nation who is currently engaged in an ethnic cleansing campaign against its major ethnic minority.
  • Agnolia takes its flavor from The Netherlands, being a capitalist-aligned but left-leaning sea-faring mercantile nation. Its current circumstances are closer to Germany as it is a parliamentary republic famous for coal and steel with the Merkopan equivalent of a Christian Democratic party as its major political force. The nation is emerging from a major economic crisis during which both capitalist and communist aid flooded into the country, mirroring Germany's situation in the aftermath of World War 2, though this has yet to lead to a divided nation.
  • Lespia takes some inspiration from Italy, a capitalist nation representing a relatively recent unification of a large number of city states and duchies. Its current situation is more broadly a general representation of NATO-alligned Western European powers.
  • Valgsland is a mix of Britain (a 19th century sea-faring colonial power), Russia (went through a communist revolution in the 1920's), and Finland (is now a more socialist-sympathetic nation with heavy economic ties to the communist bloc).
  • Rumburg is the only nation without an obvious real-world parallel. Culturally, it's outwardly British, but as a 19th century colonial power with vast territory across tundra that is currently a de-facto absolute monarchy with an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy, 19th century Tsarist Russia mixed with early 20th century Tsarist Bulgaria under Tsar Ferdinand I are the closest parallels, down to the fact that Rumburg BADLY botches diplomacy but this does make it a slight anachronism for the game's general mid-20th century inspiration, as Tsarist Russia did not survive WWI and Bulgaria's defeat in that war saw Ferdinand (and his hyperbellicose, Beatrice-like posturing) be removed in favor of his much more level-headed son before the monarchy was crushed by the Soviets in WWII.
• Fictional Political Party: Sordland has five parties competing for the election (as well as a sixth banned party).
  • The United Sordland Party is the ruling party, and has been since the restoration of the Republic. As the governing party of a de-facto one-party state, they've developed into a big tent; the party core are Sollists (believing in nationalist values, a strong military, international nonalignment and a planned economy), while the reformist wing favor capitalism and managed democracy and are less dogmatic on foreign policy. Those two wings hold 70 of 150 seats USP holds in the national Assembly, while the rest are a mix of moderates, careerists, supporters of Rayne, and a small number of socialist leaning members. Another faction in the party are the Old Guard, a group of the most powerful and hardcore Sollists. They're too few in number to comprise a legislative faction, but they make up nearly half of the Supreme Court and include some of the most powerful people in Sordland, and will assist a President who agrees to declare a state of emergency.
  • The People's Freedom and Justice Party are the main opposition. They are a liberal democratic party and the spearhead of constitutional reform. They're traditionally social-democratic and have a "radical progressive" wing and activist base that lean socialist, but their current leader is strongly capitalist and pro-Arcasia. They'll work with a reformist President to pass the new constitution.
  • The National Front Party are a far-right opposition party. Their goal is a Sordish ethnostate run on Nurist religious principles, where women know their place and minorities don't exist. Unlike the Sollists, they have no position on free-market versus planned economics, and they aren't committed to Colonel Soll's cult of personality. They'll be willing to negotiate with a President who wants to set up an authoritarian constitution, regardless if left or right. They have close ties to the Young Sords militant group.
  • The Worker's Party of Bludia are a democratic socialist party representing the Bludish minority. They are firmly committed to equal rights for all ethnic groups (though they try not to talk about women's rights), as well as labor rights, unions and participatory democracy. They haven't made it into the Assembly due to the electoral threshold, but their leader Mansoun Leke has been elected as an independent, and they are planning a to form an electoral coalition called People's Front with the Communists, though should electoral threshold be lowered this will not happen. They can be banned by Rayne if he signs emergency degree.
  • The Communist Party of Sordland are a merger of the various non-Bludish left-wing parties. Their official platform is democratic socialist, but a significant minority of their membership are Malenyevist (authoritarian socialist). They aren't in Assembly due to the electoral threshold,but are planning to make it in in the next election under an electoral coalition called People's Front with the WPB, though should electoral threshold be lowered this will not happen.
  • The Bludish Freedom Party were a Bludish nationalist party until they were banned in 1933, due to alleged ties to the Bludish Freedom Front militants. The Worker's Party of Bludia are seen as their successors. They can be unbanned by Rayne.
  • Finally, if Rayne loses the USP leadership election, he has the option to start his own party. There'll be several possible party names, depending on his ideology.
• Fictional United Nations: The Alliance of Nations serves as an obvious counterpart to United Nations.
• Fission Mailed: If you suffer an assassination attempt but are saved by Serge's gifted pocket watch, the scene is presented in the same style as the game's endings.
• Foreshadowing: During the first turn in the media strategy discussion Lucian will mention the possible and high risk of scandals occurring. And then the new secretary, who is in fact a Rumburg spy and will cause a large national security scandal, will arrive. Petr, who causes the sex scandal to happen, will comment on the secretary's "assets" too.
• Fun with Acronyms: The international organisation for monarchies is named "GRACE" (The Guild of Royal Allies for Commercial Exchange).
• Fun with Homophones: In the late game, Lucian reports that the Archbishop of Deyr, one of the most important clerics in Sordish Nurity, has conveyed a message of support for the Raynes - "I bless the Raynes down in Anrica".
• Golden Ending: It's challenging without a guide or a lot of restarts but it's entirely possible to pass constitutional reforms, prevent a pandemic, end the recession, avoid war, protect the Bludish minority, expand the rights of women, arrest the corrupt and conspiratorial members of the government, win a second term, and have a happy family.
• Golden Mean Fallacy: A running theme through the game is that attempting to find halfway compromises between competing policies virtually never works out, and it is far better to fully commit to something, even if changing circumstances risks making it seem less optimal. The decision on military reform is a good example of this: Creating a smaller, more professional and well-equipped military is ideal for fighting Rumburg, but keeping the current, large conscript force will still work as long as you commit to it. Going halfway through reform before getting cold feet is an easy way to lose the war.
• Government Conspiracy: The Old Guard and many other die-hard Sollists are part of this. Fiercely loyal to Tarquin Soll, they oppose the player's attempts at reform in favor of keeping the ideals that founded the Republic of Sordland. If the player forms the Anti-Corruption Police, it is further revealed that the assassination of Bernard Circas was deliberately planned by the Old Guard in an attempt to distract Rayne from going through with his reforms.
• Gunboat Diplomacy: This unsurprisingly happens a lot:
  • Rumberg's negotiations with Sordland, backed by its comparatively large army, are considerably aggressive, and escalate over the course of the game.
  • Valgsland's overtures about taking back the Helji Islands are backed by them pointing their navy at the territory. If you give Valgsland your unconditional political and military support, they will go through with the liberation.
• Hide Your Lesbians: There seems to be something going on between Ciara and Nia, but they deny it if you ask. (Of course, since it's The '50s, they can't safely come out.)
• Historical In-Joke:
  • In the Alliance of Nations meeting, Chancellor Hegel of Valgsland will bang his shoes on the table during Arcasian President Walker's speech.
    Anton (optionally): I have no words. The chancellor has gone mad.
  • At the same Alliance of Nations meeting, United Contana (USSR stand-in) leader Leon Malenyev will say "Communism will bury you", a reference to Nikita Khrushchev's supposed speech towards western diplomats.
• I Lied: You're a politician, so any promises or deals you make can be freely broken, often with no real consequences.
• Inherent in the System: You came to power through the existing structures of a flawed democracy, and championing further democratization requires you to work with people who benefit from the current system. In particular, this leads to one potentially-ugly Morton's Fork: the only way to remove the military's influence over politics is to seize dictatorial powers for yourself.
• Inter-Service Rivalry:
  • A recurring trend throughout the game is that multiple government departures have feuds over how much resources and attention they should get, and it's near impossible to appease everybody.
  • An issue with Sordland's law enforcement apparatus is that it is split between the civil Sordish Police Force and the military's Gendarmerie of the Republic of Sordland, each of which are managed within different government departments. A late game scandal involves an attempted drug ring bust failing due to the two branches attempting to conduct their own operations separately without communicating, and you are given the option to move the Gendarmerie to the Ministry of the Interior as a solution. This does make them more effective as a police force, but this will weaken the Gendarmerie as a military force in the event that Rumburg invades.
• Long-Lived: Egmund Norsord, the only King of Sordland, had an exceptionally long life. He enters the history books in 1859 at the beginning of a seven-year-long nationalist revolution against the Renan Aristocracy, ending when he proclaims the Kingdom of Sordland in 1866 and is crowned King. He then reigns for 57 years, before his forced abdication in 1923, though it is acknowledged by then that he is quite old. One of the reasons he is deposed is because of the Heir Club for Men — he only manages to have a daughter. Therefore he must still be alive four years later, in 1927, when the monarchist and conservative nationalist General Luderin launches a coup; the Royal Family, having been moved to Duru Island, is exiled in 1931 (and never mentioned again). Even assuming that Egmund was as young as 21 in 1859, then by 1931 he would be a positively geriatric 93 years old, having been forced to abdicate at age 85.
• Lore Codex: The game features a codex that keeps track of characters, organisations, nations and historical events for you. Throughout the game, names and events will be highlighted within the dialogue, allowing you to click them to quickly access their codex entry for a recap. An official website has also been created to provide Antacea's history outside the game, and is updated with new details too.
• Media Watchdog: President Rayne can establish the Supreme Radio and Television Council, which can either regulate Sordish media or flat out censor it (thus preventing any leaks about his corrupt dealings). A somewhat positive example, as moderate regulation prevents biased media from spreading their narratives.
• Military Coup: Sordland already experienced 2 coups in rapid succession during the 1920's, one by nationalist General Luderin that overthrew the elected government of Artor S. Wisci and the counter-coup of the communist General Rikard, that kickstarted the Sordish Civil War. There is also the chance that, if the Army is left unhappy and the player moves toward an alliance with United Contana, Iosef Lancea or Valken Kruger can orchestrate a coup to depose President Rayne.
• Mob War: A mob war between Sordland's two major crime families is stated to be starting when Anton enters office. The player can verbally downplay the war as a non-issue compared to the many existential issues threatening Sordland and indeed, unless the player makes the certain choices to go after them, the situation is only brought up occasionally in the newspapers, in-between the far more concerning issues.
• Motive Decay: Tarquin Soll, once the hero that saved Sordland from the civil war and created the new political establishment of the Republic, is now an old grumpy man which spirit still lives in the Old Guard of the USP, and will obstruct any reforms of the Constitution brought forwards by both the opposition and the reformists in his own party. Its' very possible he is also still moving the strings of the Old Guard and organized the fall of President Alphonso.
• Multiple Endings: A fluid example, as the game doesn't track specific endings or even whether they're 'good' or 'bad', but there are many ways that Rayne's first presidential term can end.
• Nepotism: Rayne can get his son into his alma mater, even if Franc didn't earn the spot through his entrance exam.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It's entirely possible that you will make things worse. Symon your minister of the economy will resign towards the end of your term if the economy is doing worse and blame himself.
• No Communities Were Harmed: The archipelago of Heljiland’s name is reminiscent of the tiny German archipelago of Heligoland (which too has historically ping-ponged between other owners like Denmark and Britain, though that’s where the similarities end).
• Only Six Faces: Kept to a minimum, though fans have noticed that Karl Greiser◊ is just Ewald Alphonso◊ in a police uniform. The devs have acknowledged that one is a result of time constraints.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: During turn 9 the Rumburgian military will shoot down a Sordish warplane, which both Iosef and Valken assure was in Sordish national airspace. You can respond by issuing a diplomatic protest, shooting down one of their warplanes in retaliation, or outright declaring war on Rumburg.
• People's Republic of Tyranny:
  • The bordering country of Wehlen can be described as this. The country is nominally a Presidential Republic, but the leader Wiktor Smolak rule as a military despot. He is an isolationist, self-centered and militaristic leader, as we can see when we visit the country trying to organize a trade deal.
  • The Kingdom of Rumburg is ostensibly a constitutional monarchy run by an elected Parliament of Rumburg, but in practice Queen Beatrice Livingston is an absolute monarch with the power centralised around her.
  • Sordland was this under President Soll, a former colonel who took power initially through a coup, governed for twenty years, brutally oppressed the Bludish minority and secured the power of the government through a Supreme Court primarily loyal to himself. Under a less-democratic President Rayne, Sordland can go even further. Abolishing Constitutional protections through a state of emergency or changing the constitution to strengthen Presidential authority, expanding the oppression of the Bluds, seizing control of the media through several means, and ensuring that elections are watched over by pro-government paramilitaries are all ways that President Rayne can keep Sordland on its proper course.
• Pocket Protector: Should Rayne accept a lucky pocket watch from his driver Serge, it can block an assassin's bullet should he face it.
• Press X to Die: In the endgame, there is an option to cede parts of your country to Rumburg to avoid a war. This automatically leads to a coup d'etat unless you go into exile, regardless of what you do.
• Private Military Company: A news report mentions an Arcasian PMC, Palantor Security Solutions, operates as a company specialising at setting up resource extraction operations within conflict zones.
• The Purge: You can conduct two of these.
  • If you form the Anti-Corruption Police and investigate the Old Guard, you discover Lileas Graf's conspiracy. You can either arrest her, or employ this trope and arrest anyone remotely tied to her.
  • If you give yourself expanded powers of decree, you can purge the General Staff, weakening the army but preventing any possibility of a coup.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Anton Rayne can be played as a responsible leader who sincerely cares about his citizens and is ready to take decisive actions under difficult circumstances.
  • Many ministers and members of the Assembly are also people who are trying to do their jobs properly and improve Sordland's wellbeing.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: The Royal Family is sent to the remote Duru Island after being deposed, though after he takes power President Soll exiles them from Sordland entirely, ostensibly for their own protection (but probably to be rid of a potential threat to his own power). Fittingly enough, once Soll himself is forced out of office he sets himself up on the very same island, though he occasionally (and increasingly) leaves it to meddle in political affairs.
• Resources Management Gameplay: You have two to manage: Budget (your national budget) and Wealth (your personal wealth). Many actions may increase or decrease either, and they can go into the negative with potential consequences for doing so.
• Revenge: Both the Bluds, a large minority living in Sordland, and the Oligarchs will have revenge if you mistreated or attacked them, like openly discriminating in the Bluds communities or seizing all the assents of the two major Oligarchs, Walther Tusk and Marcel Koronti. These acts of revenge consists on taking over a dam for the Bluds or freezing very large investments for the Oligarchs, and they will both try to assassinate you.
• Ripped from the Headlines: A late game bill, the Citizen Mobility Act, implements free public transport across Sordland. This is very possibly inspired by Luxembourg implementing the same policy in 2020, becoming the first to do so on a country-wide scale.
• Ruritania: All the country in game are fictional, and the ones of Eastern Merkopa are provably modeled after Eastern Europe.
• Secret Police: If you increase the security budget, then decide to spend it in the Ministry of Interior, Lileas Graf will propose the formation of the Secret State Police to "take care" of various problematic individuals and "silence" them. However, its effectiveness is notably dampened when going against the Old Guard due to its head being part of the Government Conspiracy to stop the player.
• Shadow Dictator: Colonel Tarquin Soll is retired from politics. That doesn't stop him from still holding significant power under the Constitution and having influence over the Old Guard, who are doing their best to stop constitutional reforms.
• Shout-Out:
  • With good relations with the Archbishop of Deyr, he will send you a message of support that reads "I bless the Raynes down in Anrica".
  • One investment opportunity is to purchase a vineyard previously owned by "Giralt of Ribery". Doubling down on the reference, his personal brand of wine is named "Dandelion", after Geralt's friend and narrator of the series.
  • Implementing surveillance laws in response to unrest will give you a communication note about how the measures have allowed for the arrest of 1,984 dissidents.
  • At Petr's funeral, you begin to tear up and your daughter asks if you're crying. One of the possible responses is "It's raining."
• Space Cold War: The geopolitical situation in the world is dominated by the Cold War, with ICBM tests and satellites occurring in-game that roughly match the historical arms and space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• Sparse List of Rules: The Sordland constitution, naturally. We don't see it in full, but do get an idea of some of its articles when relevant:
  • Article 5 states that an amendment with the support of a minimum of 150 signatures may be proposed to the Grand National Assembly.
  • Article 6 designates that every citizen of Sordland, regardless of their ethnic background, is a "Sord" under the law. Article 7 gives every Sord equal protection under the law.
  • Article 17 gives sole authority to the Supreme Court to impeach the President.
  • Articles 18 and 51 define the President's ability to enact decrees.
  • Article 50 defines the electoral threshold for the Grand National Assembly.
  • Articles 77 and 82 deal with the President's power of legislative veto.
  • Article 99 defines the 'Member of Honor' title and the privileges granted alongside it.
  • Article 100 defines the President's ability to use emergency powers to govern.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Very prevalent in Sordish society. Girls are educated in a homemaking curriculum and barred from science and maths classes. Gloria Tory, the speaker of the Assembly is noted for having her high-ranking position because of her conservative values. Ciara Walda, the Minister of Education, and even Monica Rayne, Anton's wife work hard to change this attitude.
• Story Branching: The main branching point, which occurs during Chapter 1, is about what you decide to do with the constitutional reforms and the Supreme Court.^note All route names are Fan Nicknames.
  • The Reformist path has Rayne work with the reformists to enact their constitutional reforms. These reforms limit the power of the Supreme Court, but also the unrestricted power of the President, balancing his power with the Assembly's. On this path, Nia Morgana's faction in the Supreme Court will support you, and the PFJP are a potential ally, as are the Bludish independents.
  • The Dictator path has Rayne work to amend the Constitution in a different direction, strengthening the power of the executive. The new constitution will still remove the Supreme Court's veto over constitutional amendments, but also has options for strengthening executive authority and keeping the President's legislative veto. It also shares some options regarding elections and Tarquin Soll with the Reformist route. On the downside, the PFJP and the Court reformists will be adamantly opposed to this, though the NFP are open to a deal and the Bluds will support an authoritarian who protects their rights.
  • The Autocrat route is completely different from the other two. In a deal with Chief Justice Orso Hawker, you agree to cancel the constitutional reforms in exchange for the Supreme Court's agreement to grant you Emergency Authority. On this route, your Presidential powers are only limited by the Old Guard and a possible revocation of emergency power by the Assembly, and you can pass emergency decrees suspending the human rights guaranteed in the Constitution, particularly the rule against arrest without trial. Just remember to keep the Old Guard happy if you want to stay in power.
• Strawman News Media: The game provides six newspapers that offer articles discussing decisions that Anton Rayne makes over the course of his presidency. Four of them are overtly slanted toward different ideological viewpoints.
  • The Holdsord Post is a conservative outlet, even Sollist at some points, supporting nationalization of companies, and generally against progressive minded reforms. It is also pro USP, and as long as your actions are not too progressive/anti-Sollist it will find a way to support USP.
  • Sordland Today is part of the Heart of Sordland conglomerate, owned by Marcel Koronti. It supports whatever Koronti supports, which depends on how you deal with him as the President It can be turned into an arm of the state media.
  • The Lachaven Times is a moderate liberal-leaning newspaper, generally being sympathetic towards ethnic minorities and workers but opposing violence and revolution.
  • The Radical is a proudly contrarian left-wing outlet, usually progressive minded and supportive of constitutional reforms. They often write stories about the Bluds, and are suspicious of President Rayne even when he does what they want.
  • Ekonomists is an outlet focused on economics. Their position is against any nationalization or planned economy, and supportive of free market economics; it is the clearest Expy of the six newspapers, namely one of The Economist. Unlike their real-life inspiration, which has its own holding company, the Ekonomist is heavily implied to be a mouthpiece for the Oligarchs.
  • Geopolitico is the only outlet that is not overtly slanted towards an ideology, politically or economically. It focuses on foreign affairs, avoiding partisanship most of the times.
• The Theocracy: There are two within Merkopa: The Holy Federation of Free Cities, and the Nurist Republic of Derdia.
• Title Drop:
  • If Sordland decisively defeats Rumburg in the war and forces Livingston's surrender, Rayne can Scare Her Straight shortly after she signs the relevant documentation:
    Anton: Before you go, there is one more thing.
    Beatrice: What is it?
    Anton: Don't you ever forget who your Suzerain is.
  • If Rayne retires from politics, he can write a memoir titled Suzerain.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • You potentially, should you for example make a lot of corrupt deals with oligarchy and then form Anti-Corruption Police to investigate oligarchy's corruption.
  • Also to some extent Head of the Armed Forces Valken Kruger, who will want you to go to war with Rumburg without any allies, never mind the fact that Rumburg has much larger army which he even acknowledges.
• Treacherous Advisor:
  • Lileas Graf, Minister of the Interior, is a die-hard Sollist that arranged the assassination of a communist MP to stoke violence between communists and nationalists. That was in order to derail the reforms that Rayne promised to get elected. She will even side with Rumburg should Rayne go to war with them while being an anti-Sollist, which will lead to Sordland's destruction if she isn't properly dealt with.
  • Downplayed with several other members of Rayne's cabinet in that they will turn on you should you go against them too hard or too often. The most shocking one comes from Lucian Galade, your chief strategist. Appearing as nothing but loyal throughout the entire game, should you spurn him one time too many, he will leak the details of your shady backroom dealings to the media just before the next term election. Deals he arranged and encouraged you to make in the first place. One does wonder where his loyalties truly lie.
• True Companions:
  • Anton Rayne and Petr Vectern were this since school. Whether they can preserve their friendship through trials and temptations of power is the main question of their plotline.
  • In a surprisingly heartwarming move for the game about Realpolitik, a reform-minded and progressive President Rayne can form a group of allies who support him not because of his position or any personal favor, but because they genuinely believe in what he stands and fights for. This group potentially includes Nia Morgna, Ciara Walda, Paskal Beniwoll and even Rayne's own wife Monica.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change:
  • The Day of Descension Ceremony suddenly tasks you with a simple memory puzzle, in which you must memorise (or have the foresight to write down) the steps to a ritual to avoid embarrassing yourself during a televised broadcast of a significant religious event. The game sneakily places the instructions and the ceremony in two separate conversations, so you cannot rely on simply reading back the conversation log to get through the scene.
  • Amendment adds an opportunity to play a game of chess with Lucian, which you of course almost always lose. Your only saving grace is that this is still a visual novel and your options' outcomes are as limited as the options themselves.
• Vestigial Empire: Valgsland was once the Empire of Valgos, the largest empire in the region with its influence spanning across the Central Ocean. After a socialist revolution, it underwent a policy of decolonisation, during which an opportunist Agnolia seized Helji Island in a land grab. During the events of the game, a now democratised Valgsland is seeking a return of The Helji to them, and is making military overtures to do so.
• Viewers Are Geniuses: The game requires players to have a fairly solid grasp of politics, economics, law and sociology. Some concepts are simplified for the sake of entertainment, but still, good luck getting re-elected without knowing what "legislative powers" means.
• We Have Reserves: In contrast to Iosef's idea, which consists of making the Sordish Armed Forces into a smaller and professional force, General Valken's idea consists of a massive army of well-enough soldiers, opposing the idea brought by Iosef of removing conscription.
• Zeppelins from Another World: Amendment reveals that airships are a common mode of transport in this universe, alongside aeroplanes. It is also stated that the overdependence on airships is the reason Sordish railways and highways are in such a poor state.

Kingdom of Rizia

• Color-Coded Characters: Rizia's three royal houses are helpfully differentiated by their primary colours: red (House Toras), blue (House Azaro) and yellow (House Sazon).
• Contrasting Sequel Setting: Rizia is very different from Sorland in several ways:
  • Obviously, Sordland is a republic while Rizia is a monarchy. Whereas Sordland's status quo features a very powerful legislative and judicial branch that makes it difficult for a President to enact meaningful reform, Rizia's legislature is largely ceremonial, and the King has sweeping powers to pass national laws.
  • While Sordland in 1953 is in a state of economic malaise, Rizia in 1950 is economically stable, albeit with headwinds on the horizon. Sordland's economy had the context of it having just gone through a wave of privatisation, with several oligarchs and major companies gaining political prominence. In contrast, while Rizia is also a market economy, it also has vast state wealth from its nationalised resource extraction and trade industries.
  • Rizia is on good terms with Wehlen and Rumburg and antagonistic to Lespia, a broad inverse of Sordland's foreign relations.
• Culture Chop Suey:
  • Rizia takes its culture, language and rough geographic composition from Spain (and to a lesser extent Italy). Its status as an autocratic petro-monarchy, on the other hand, has more in common with pre-revolution Persia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and (in respects to its semi-federal feudal nature) the UAE.
  • Pales is a minuscule, German-speaking and very wealthy monarchy like Liechtenstein or Luxembourg. Its geography and seafaring nature is inspired by Monaco. Its status as a (former) overseas empire‘s outpost is reminiscent of Gibraltar or Ceuta.
• Fictional Country: This game focuses on a mix of new and returning countries from Republic of Sordland, each with their own traits and real-world comparisons.
  • The Kingdom of Rizia appears to take a lot from Spain, being a monarchy with bulls as a cultural icon, alongside many place and character names having a Spanish and/or romance language flavor. Its relationship with neighbouring Pales, a peninsula which Rizia has historically claimed but which it has struggled to re-conquer, is reminiscent in the broad strokes to Spain's relationship with Gibraltar.
  • The Grand Duchy of Pales, a small fortress nation on a peninsula bordering Rizia that became separated from its parent nation due to historical colonialism, is something of Al Andalus or Granada mixed with a bigger Gibraltar. Its political history, a small monarchy descended from the aristocracy of a now-dead empire, is a parallel to Liechtenstein or the Muslim "Taifas" of Southern Spain.
  • The Republic of Morella is a historically nationalist and authoritarian state that has very recently seen a left-wing coalition come to power.
  • The Republic of Kyrute is a neutral island nation with a high level of social development and whose policies are reminiscent of Switzerland.
  • The Nurist Republic of Derdia bears similarities to post-revolution Iran, being a western-backed nation that saw an uprising from religious nationalists who implemented a government with strong theocratic principles.
• No Blood for Phlebotinum: A running theme through this campaign. A new Rizia-Pales war can potentially kick off over a dispute surrounding a massive new offshore gas field that both nations have a claim over. Over in Zille, the dispute over that territory involves the area's massive industry and gold deposits, along with Wehlen's dependence on oil imports from Rumburg.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: King Romus Toras is a dead ringer for another autocratic mid-20th century monarch, a young Mohammad Reza Shah.
• Resources Management Gameplay: Since King Toras is a monarch who counts the state as a personal possession, personal wealth isn't a resource in this campaign. Alongside the state budget, there are two other resources: Authority (representing the political capital and time needed to enact policies) and Energy (representing Rizia's export economy and ability to sustain its own industry).
• Romance Sidequest: King Toras has the opportunity to find a second love, either Lucita Azaro or Pabel Adria. There's also a secondary romance plot involving your daughter, Vina Toras, as she has several suitors with implications for the Kingdom's outlook: She can marry either Manus Sazon, Rico Toras, or Axel Reinhart.
• Strawman News Media: Unlike in Sordland, Rizia's media is completely state-managed. There is just one national newspaper, The Royal Herald, who enforces an always-positive view on the royal family. Choosing to relax press censorship will result in the formation of Voice of Rizia, an opposition newspaper.
• The Theocracy:
  • Not a full-on example, but a Religious Councillor is a part of Rizia's Royal Council, having a say in the country's religious policy.
  • For an actual full-on example, the game introduces the Nurist Republic of Derdia, a revolutionary nation that abides by a martial and fundamentalist interpretation of Wruhecism.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: Part of the Rizia campaign involves taking charge of your military's deployment and logistics along the front with Pales that plays out on a second map, functioning very much like the military management side of Hearts of Iron on a tiny scale.
• Vestigial Empire: The Kingdom of Rizia has taken two significant blows to its territorial integrity. The peninsula of Pales was conquered by the Empire of Valgos many years ago, and upon its independence, Rizia waged a war of reclamation over it, which was drawn-out and ultimately a failure. To stabilize the front, Rizia took a deal from Wehlen, who in turn got the port city of Zille and its surroundings on a 25-year lease, which is due to expire in King Romus Toras' term.

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