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"Great. You still think this is a dream. Why don't you open the door and find out?"
Yaesol

A series of 2D Survival Horror games created by Devespresso Games.

The Coma: Cutting Class takes place in the Korean school of Sehwa High. On his way to Summer classes, Youngho Choi sees a schoolmate of his being transported to the hospital and picks up an amulet he dropped. Inside is a picture of a young woman that reminds Youngho of his teacher Miss Song.

During the latest rounds of exams, Youngho ends up falling asleep and wakes up much later in a dark and empty school. Night has fallen and he tries to leave, only to learn he's stuck. A mysterious young woman introduces herself as Yaesol Han and explains that he is in an alternate world called The Coma.

She explains that he needs to find the Relic he used that actually brought him to The Coma in order to return. Now Youngho is searching for this Relic in a mysterious location that looks less and less like his school, only to learn that he's not as alone as he thinks he is — a murderous monstrosity that takes the form of his teacher is stalking the halls. And to top it all off, Youngho finds out that his grades are abysmal, and tries to fix those before returning to the real world.

The Coma: Cutting Class released on Steam in October 2015, with an updated edition called The Coma: Recut being released on Steam, GOG.com and the Playstation 4 in 2017. The updated version was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018. The original ''Cutting Class' edition is no longer available for purchase.

The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is the direct sequel. After the end of the previous game, the focus turns to Yougnho's childhood friend Mina Park because she came into possession of the old amulet last.

It's the night of a Super Blood Moon, and Mina ends up being held back in class by Miss Song because of her latest English grade. On her way out, she sees Seho Gill entering the old storage room and follows him out of curiosity. She inspects a Book of Memories and faints, finding herself in what she later finds out is The Coma.

Yaesol explains to her that the fate of the world is at stake that night because the Super Blood Moon is the opportunity that an entity called Vicious Sister has been waiting for. She plans to perform a ritual that lets her enter the waking world, and that the Ghost Vigilantes are attempting to stop it.

The sequel was released on Steam in November 2019.


The Coma contains the following Tropes:

    open/close all folders 

    Tropes Applying To Both Games 
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Myung-gil and Seho have crushes on Mina, but she doesn't care for either of them. It's all but stated that she's in love with Youngho, who has a crush on Miss Song.
  • An Economy Is You: The school's vending machines provide the protagonists with all the consumable items they need. This ranges from food and drinks to bandages and antidotes and, in the sequel, mace.
  • Apocalyptic Log: Torn Pages are strewn over the locations and can be collected. They tend to reveal background information about The Coma, as well as detailing personal revelations like Seho's Start of Darkness and how Vicious Sister ended up created.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Rosewood Flute. This instrument is the Relic that has its personal tie to Vicious Sister, and is the item that Seho found. He used it to manipulate Vicious Sister for his personal use for some time. He actually loses it in the first game, which allows Vicious Sister to take over his body, and she regains possession of the flute again.
  • Chekhov's Army: All of the characters named in the beginning of the first game play a bigger part later on. Aside from Yaesol being a mixture of an aloof mentor and veteran at exploring The Coma, Miss Song is the person the monster takes its form after, and the schoolmate Taehoon ends up being the previous victim to The Coma.
  • Dark World: Called The Coma. It's described as being an alternate world that is a manifestation of humanity's dark side, with its appearance leaning on locations of the real world, but with odd eldritch tentacles all over the place, and inhabited by shadows of real humans called 'Shades'.
  • Hell Is That Noise: The footsteps of high heels signify the presence of 'Dark Song', the monster that roams the locations and will kill the protagonists, if they are sighted and caught by her.
  • Hiding In A Bathroom Stall: One of the locations the protagonists can hide in. In the second game, it's the best place to hide in because it's quiet, and the Quick-Time Event to remain hidden is easiest.
  • Hyperactive Metabolism: The protagonists can eat burgers, chips, and chocolate bars en masse to restore their health.
  • Implacable Man: The monstrous version of Miss Song that roams the locations. She cannot be stopped in her tracks, leaving the protagonists to avoid her or hide from her until she moves on.
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: The protagonists can scavenge through bags, boxes, and briefcases left lying around for money or items. The second game mentions that those bags in The Coma are actually placed there intentionally for people traversing there by The Minister.
  • Limited Loadout: The original version allowed Youngho to carry a total of 24 consumable items in his backpack. The Recut edition limited it to only having 6 item slots. The second game further reduced this to 4 slots, though there was a late-game sidequest to obtain a bigger backpack and upgrade to 6 slots.
  • MacGuffin: Called Relics. These items are what allow someone to enter The Coma, though this leads to the Relic being separated into the waking world version the owner is holding, and a Coma version. Both need to be reunited, to safely leave The Coma again.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different
    • They are shadows of real people. This includes having the shadow versions of schoolmates, vendors, and hospital patients sticking around, acting like regular people. The shadows do possess the original version's memories, and are capable of feeling pain.
    • There are also Shades, which are pale human-esque entities. Entities like the Noteman and Vicious Sister are part of this species, and they originate from The Coma dimension. They are capable of indepedent thought and choice.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In 4 of the 5 endings of the first game, Mina will call Myung-gil out on his behavior. In the second game, Mina gives one to the shadow version of Myung-gil.
  • Run or Die: When seen by Dark Song, the protagonist can only run and hide or get killed.
  • Spell My Name With An S: There are mild inconsistencies with how the names of three characters are supposed to be spelled. Seho Ghil versus Gill, Miss Nah versus Na, and Sumi Park versus Soomi.
  • Status Effects: The protagonists can get afflicted with Bleeding and Poison. Bleeding can cause damage over time or lower the max health until it stops, which usually requires a bandage or waiting it out. Poison will slowly cause damage, unless it's healed with an antidote.
  • Tentacled Terror: Toxic tendril hazards are all over the place in The Coma, with the second game revealing they are called Eldritch Tentacles. They resemble a cross between cephalopods and vines.

    Tropes Applying To The Coma: Cutting Class/Recut 
  • Adults Are Useless: Mister Ma is described as a well-intentioned Stern Teacher and school counselor that is determined to stop bullying. Turns out that he's inept when it comes to actually changing the bullies. All that happens is the bullies victimize others under the pretense of 'peer-to-peer mediation'.
  • Alien Hair: Dark Song's final transformation has tentacles instead of hair.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Yaesol gains a new outfit after beating the game.
  • Back Tracking: Main part of the game is to backtrack to sections of the school that were already explored to find new things.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: If Youngho heals the injuries that the shadow version of Mina sustained with a First Aid Kit, she'll appear to help him get rid of the shadow version of Myung-gil, who is blocking the North Building's first floor.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Yaesol saves Youngho from Dark Song towards the end of the game, telling him to hurry up and return to his classroom now that he has the Relic he need. She fights Dark Song to distract her.
  • Bland-Name Product: Youngho is a fan of Underwatch and Spacecraft.
  • The Can Kicked Him: An unnamed girl's twitching shadow corpse was stuffed down one of the toilets. She's not visibly injured, so it's likely she was drowned via swirlie.
  • Cast from Stamina: Youngo can do a tactical roll or hold his breath as long as he has Stamina.
  • Collapsing Lair: The Coma version of Sehwa High starts to collapse towards the end of the game.
  • Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: The events of the game started because of Seho's curiosity towards the mysterious girl that had a connection to the old recorder flute he found.
  • Evil Makes You Monstrous: As the game progresses, the appearance of Dark Song changes from mildly disheveled to turning into an abomination that has sharp teeth for eyes and unnaturally long arms.
  • Fetch Quest
    • The Shade possessing Seho won't move from the hallway in the Main Building, until Youngho brings the recorder.
    • There are several sidequests to fulfill, which actually alter the ending.
  • Hearts Are Health: Youngho's health is represented by five chalk-drawn hearts.
  • Hot Teacher: Youngho mentions that majority of the male student body in Sehwa High believe that Miss Song looks like a K-Pop idol.
  • Infinite Flashlight: The flashlight Youngho carries never needs recharging.
  • The Internet Is for Porn: It turns out that Headmaster Mott was looking at porn on his computer at Sehwa High. When Youngho manages to get access to that computer, there are two suspicious images on the screen that are heavily blurred.
  • Messy Hair: Dark Song starts off with her hair in the fashionable upturn, but it's not as well-down as that of the real Miss Song. As Dark Song becomes more monstrous, her hair becomes more messy, too.
  • Multiple Endings
    • True Ending: Obtained by completing all the sidequests concerning Youngho's grades, and finding the amulet Relic. Youngho has fixed his grades and obtained the Relic he needs to return safely to the waking world. But he fails at leaving The Coma properly and ends up comatose and taken to the hospital. Mina picks up the amulet he dropped, with Yaesol informing someone that the culprit of the Sehwa High incidents has been found out (Seho), but that the flute Relic has been returned to its shadow owner, and that Youngho might prove important to the Ghost Vigilantes. This is the canon ending, and where the sequel continues on from.
    • Bad Ending: Four different versions, though they all play out the same, with minor dialogue differences that are based on what sidequests the player has completed. Youngho fails to escape The Coma and experiences a seizure in the real world, leaving him to be taken away by an ambulance.
  • Mundane Utility: Changes made in the Coma version of Sehwa High ripple into the waking world. Seho Gill mostly used it to cheat on school exams, though that was merely testing this out. Youngho can use it to fix his own grades.
  • Murderous Thighs: The Shade wraps her thighs around Seho's neck.
  • No Ontological Inertia: The Coma version of Sehwa High begins to distort and self-destruct towards the end of the game, with the Shade becoming more desperate to get rid of Youngho.
  • Office Romance: Miss Nah and Headmaster Mott are in a secret, sexual relationship. It turns out to be more complex than that, as she started the relationship because she needed money to cover her school debts, and he offered to pay for it in exchange for 'compensation'.
  • One-Winged Angel: Dark Song transforms more and more into a tentacle-haired, elongnated-limbed monster as the game progresses.
  • Overworked Sleep: Youngho is tired from pulling an all-nighter for his upcoming exams. This leads to him falling asleep while taking the exams and ending up in The Coma.
  • Power-Upgrading Deformation: Dark Song becomes less human and more faster and stronger, the further the game progresses. She ends up with eyes for teeth — changed to Black Eyes of Evil in the Recut edition, and becomes so strong that she can One-Hit Kill Youngho.
  • Oxygen Meter: The Stamina meter doubles as one. Youngho has to turn off his flashlight, so he can crouch down and hold his breath. When the meter is full to begin with, this gives him enough air to hide in plain sight from Dark Song.
  • The Rival: Headmaster Mott and Principal Lee are at each other's throat because of their different backgrounds. He is a wealthy American man, whose family founded the Sehwa High, while she is a Korean woman that earned her position through hard work.
  • Sexual Extortion: The basis for the relationship between Miss Nah and Headmaster Mott.
  • Shout-Out
  • Sinister Surveillance: Sehwa High has security cameras all over the place, even in bathrooms. Youngho remarks that the surveillance is akin to North Korea.
  • Trail of Blood: As Youngho progresses through the school, he finds more.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Even before finding out about The Coma, Youngho doesn't question Yaesol wearing bandages.
  • Updated Re-release: The Coma: Recut improves on the controls, does some minor visual changes, and lowered the number of items Youngho can carry.
  • Voice of the Legion: Youngho mentions that the possessed Seho speaks this way.
  • Voodoo Doll: The Shade can use life-sized mannequins to manipulate certain people in Sehwa High.
  • Why Won't You Die?: One of The Shade's notes states intense frustration that Youngho is still surviving.

    Tropes Applying To The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters 
  • Big Damn Heroes
    • The first section of the game ends with Mina being saved by a mysterious hero that gets her away from Sehwa High and Dark Song. Her savior turns out to be Youngho.
    • Mina gets to be the big damn hero that saves the waking world by stopping Vicious Sister.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Jang-mi is seen in the Doakkebi Market purchasing a Spectral Incense, and mentioning that she needs another one. Said Spectral Incense can be gotten later on, and used to save Chance near the end of the game, which is required to obtain an item for the good ending.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The new English teacher Chance turns out to be one of the Ghost Vigilantes that came to Korea specifically to stop Vicious Sister.
  • Cast from Stamina: Mina can evade enemies by using up Stamina that is equivalent to one section of her health.
  • Downloadable Content: In the form of giving Mina new outfits. This includes her wearing the Winter uniform of Sehwa High, as well as visual makeovers that are labelled as 'School Bully', 'Model Student', and 'Locks of Love'. There's also one called 'Summer Child', which also changes her uniform into casual clothes.
  • Dwindling Party: Out of the several Ghost Vigilantes that were sent into The Coma to stop Vicious Sister only Yaesol and Chance remain.
  • Fetch Quest: Done repeatedly, with Mina needing to find items to progress in the game. This also goes for finding items that allow her to make something that will come in useful at the end of the section.
  • Go On Without Me: Chance tells Mina to run ahead to the school, while they remain behind to fight the Mad Shadows. He can be saved, if an item is gotten in a sidequest.
  • Implacable Man: The Doakkebi Market section has a part where this role is filled by a butcher. He acts the same way Miss Song does, and actually gets replaced by her for the last part of the Market section.
  • MacGuffin: The Moon Incense is an item that is said to be required to stop Vicious Sister, and can only be wielded by a shamanka. Mina obtains it from Sumi Park through Taejo's Mirror late in the game.
  • Multiple Endings:
    • Done for the end of the Police Station, Doakkebi Market, Subway Station, and Hospital sections of the game. If the player did the sidequest of crafting an item, the end-of-section scene will play out differently than without the item — and the difference comes in whether Mina's maximum health remains intact or gets lowered.
    • Ending A: Obtained by having the Blood Ruby and Holy Water of Separation in the inventory prior to the final battle. The Moon Incense is fully purified by these items. After Youngho is freed from the eldritch vines, he snags the amulet Relic away from Vicious Sister, and he and Mina stab her together. Vicious Sister is defeated and both return home safely. Mina happily rekindles her friendship with Da-hyun, and Youngho wakes up and gets released from the hospital. The amulet itself gets returned to Miss Song.
    • Ending B: Obtained by having only the Blood Ruby or the Holy Water of Separation or neither in the inventory prior to the final battle. The Moon Incense isn't purified at all, or only slightly, depending on what items are in the inventory. Youngho gets freed from the eldritch vines, but it's Yaesol that rips the amulet away from Vicious Sister. Mina stabs her. Vicious Sister is defeated, but Youngho ends up dying. Mina rekindles her friendship with Da-hyun, but is mourning for Youngho and Yaesol is seen visiting his grave.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mina signing the receipt of the Doakkebi leads to her true name being known in The Coma, and brings Dark Song into the Market. It also leads to Jang-mi's death.
  • Press X to Not Die
    • Hiding from Dark Song includes pressing buttons in a certain order to not be found out in the current hiding spot. The same goes for when caught while carrying mace. Pressing the shown button leads to the mace being used and Dark Song letting go, giving Mina another chance to run and hide.
    • Certain buttons need to be pushed in order to successfully craft the items at the crafting benches.
  • Shout-Out: The achievements in English have tons of them.
    • The achievements for getting Mina's maximum health lowered four times are all named after lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail's scene with the Black Knight. "Tis But A Scratch", "I've Had Worse", "It's Just A Flesh Wound", and "I'm Invincible", respectively.
    • Obtaining the Blood Ruby gives the Romancing the Stone achievement.
    • Obtaining the Holy Water of Separation gives the The Exorcist achievement.
  • Stalker without a Crush: The aptly-named Stalker Shadows that begin to pop up from the Doakkebi Market section onward. They appear and start to follow Mina and will attack her, if she doesn't dodge them.
  • Sudden Name Change: The main antagonist was merely referred to as The Shade in the previous game, but is suddenly called Vicious Sister here.
  • Supernatural Repellent: The Spectral Matches can be used to get rid of Grasping Hands that are draped around boxes that may contain helpful items. The Matches also keep Stalker Shadows away.
  • Time Travel: The Sehwa High Gymnasium section has a door that ends up teleporting Mina to the 1954 version of the school.
  • Trail of Blood: Used by Mina as a distraction in the end-of-section scene for the hospital. She uses the modified RC Car with the blood pack attached to it to distract Dark Song, giving Mina time to get away.
  • Wham Line: Seho tells Mina that the Ghost Vigilantes plan to kill the Vessel that Vicious Sister is planning to possess to enter the waking world.
    "Youngho IS the Vessel."
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside: Mina mentions that the day Youngho fell into a coma occurred three weeks ago. Youngho mentions that in The Coma, it's been years.

Alternative Title(s): The Coma

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