What Kind Of Reality Will You Create?
The Power to Manipulate Reality
The Struggle Between Two Worlds and Their Plagued Co-Existence
A Political Battle On The Verge Of Revolution
A Mysterious String Of Murders, Claiming Family and Friends
At The Heart of It All — Is You
Major\Minor is a 2016 Visual Novel game published by Tall Tail Studios and developed by the furry community member Klace (aka. Kyle Lambert). The player is caught up in the middle of a murder mystery known as The Midnight Deaths in Akihabara, Japan, that seem to begin once the arrival of Popstar Klace's world tour. Things only get more strange, as the player character is told that they have been chosen to inherit great powers from a mysterious resident of an astral plane known as The Ark, and that they are The Savior of another reality known as Terra, which is in the middle of political turmoil as a hopeful politician named Lord Plair is up against the current King, "The Immortal King" Velasquez. But it is soon revealed that Earth and Terra have more in common with each other than even the residents of both worlds would think, and at the center of it all is The Player.
The game is your typical Visual Novel, with the player having to click through large amounts of text and being presented with an option every so often. Though these choices tend to be headway into a large amount of Story Branching, as supposedly darn near every decision in the game can affect how certain scenes play out and even what characters do in the ending - and this is on top of the game having Multiple Endings. There's also an Affection System, as some of these choices can add or take away "Affection Points" from characters, and these too can have an effect on the plot.
This game is available on Steam, being initially released as an Early Access episodic game in December 2015, before gaining a full release on October 2016, in both the regular edition and the Complete Edition. The original version was eventually delisted from online sales, and in July 2021, the Complete Edition became free-to-play with a "Support Donation" option for players still wanting to support the developers. There appears to be no discernable difference between the two editions in gameplay, so the tropes on this page apply to both versions of the game.
A Spiritual Successor, Winds of Change, was released in 2019 after having a successful Kickstarter and Greenlight campaign behind it.
Not to be confused with Major Minor's Majestic March, a completely unrelated Rhythm Game for the Wii (which, amusingly, also happens to predominantly have anthropomorphic characters).
Major\Minor provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: On Earth, we've got Rook, Acheron, Kila...and then you have names like Jade, Max, and Eddie.
- The Ageless: King Velasquez is dubbed "The Immortal King" of Terra as time seems to move much slower for him.
- Alliterative Title: Major\Minor.
- Alone with the Psycho: This is the Midnight Killer's MO.
- Ambidextrous Sprite: This game's got it. Acheron's a prime example: his scar will always be showing despite it supposedly only being on one side of his face. It'll also be obvious for any character who has heterochromia.
- Ambition Is Evil: Played straight with Nagi, Nami and with Max. Inverted by Acheron and Velasquez; Acheron wants the power of The Ark to prevent his possibly psychotic sister from getting it, and to act as a counter to death, while Velasquez's lifelong ambition is to find a new source of power to aid the Galactic Federation as well as finding a way to reunite all the worlds.
- Anachronic Order: Happens at times. You might get a scene that took place earlier or at very different times, such as showing Max being chosen by Reiyo as a contestant for The Ark shortly before seeing her take action in the present day.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: The game will periodically show what's happening on the world that you aren't currently on: on Earth you'll see scenes of what's happening on Terra and vice versa.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The game will let you keep your True Ending Flags from run to run, and you can earn points on the same events that you earned them on previous runs. The game will also at times hint at the consequences of certain actions; these hints range from blatant ("This Choice Will Affect The Flow of the Story") to a little more vague ("Word Has Way Of Spreading Around").
- Anyone Can Die: Klace dies in Chapter 1, and then after either Kila or Rook is murdered in Chapter 6 more only proceed to die. The Player even has a few brushes with death.
- Arc Symbol: Gears. Besides the game's title screen featuring one, almost all the characters who use magic in some form have a gear symbol somewhere on them: Max, Nagi, Nemi, and Reiyo.
- Batman Gambit: This is how Acheron defeats Max. He and Singe essentially stage one huge Batman Gambit that results with her being behind bars and the surviving tour members hidden in a bunker until midnight.
- Big Bad: The Midnight Killer for Earth; Nagi and Nemi for Terra and later the whole of reality.
- Big Damn Heroes: Inumi, Acheron and The Player for whoever The Player decides to rescue from Max's bomb. Reiyo does this twice, once in Lord Plair's ballroom to prevent Nagi from killing The Player, and again during the climax with Acheron in tow.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Maxine Armstrong, the Midnight Killer.
- Bittersweet Ending: Both Good and Neutral Endings have hints of this.
- In the Neutral Ending Nagi is erased from existence, so Nemi is the only one that attacked King Velasquez. Both Terra and Earth are isolated from each other - and presumably the rest of the Galaxy is, too, and people are still dead. Despite this, the survivors make the most of what they're left with, and several characters turn out alright.
- In the Good Ending Nagi and Nemi are both erased from existence, their attacks on the Galaxy now having never happened. But characters like Rook, Inumi and Shock more than likely still suffer their horrible pasts, though all of them seem to have overcome them for the better. The Player/Exodus is also seemingly erased from history...until the scene after the credits, that is.
- Bookends: If one gets the True Ending a post credits sequence plays where Reiyo talks to Exodus/The Player, and the game opened with Reiyo talking to The Player in The Ark.
- Born of Magic: Nagi, Nemi, The Player/Exodus, and Reiyo.
- Central Theme: The death of loved ones and the various things people do to cope or move on. Having the power to affect and change one's future is also a theme that pops up, especially during the last few chapters.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Maxine Armstrong, and especially Lord Plair's assistant, Riley. The latter tries to play practically everyone involved in the Terra subplot for a shot at the throne.
- Chekhov's Skill/Just in Time: Good thing Inumi has a knack for remembering the answers to math problems, otherwise he, Acheron, The Player, and whoever The Player chooses to save in Chapter 6 would've gotten blown to high hell.
- The Chessmaster: Acheron to a tee. Riley tried to be this but didn't count on Riley putting him in permanent checkmate.
- The Chosen One: At least Reiyo seems to treat The Player like this, I mean they're even The Savior of Terra! It turns out they were engineered to fulfill this destiny.
- Creator Cameo: Klace, the pop idol whose tour is about to launch, is the fursona of the developer.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Reiyo attempts to subvert this by telling Max that she must master both death and life if she is to successfully rule The Ark. Since she's mastered life, she must now master death by killing.
- Dark Secret: Ever wonder why Rook is on his damn tablet so much? It's linked to an AI he programmed that acts like his dead mentor, and he's afraid everyone will ostracize him if they find out.
- Darkest Hour: Nagi both times when he stabs The Player.
- Distracted by the Sexy: A few characters in the convention center accuse Acheron of being distracted by Dazz.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Two instances; Maxine always prefers to be called Max, and Samantha always prefers to be called Sam. Both go so far as to correct other characters who refer to them by their full name.
- Dramatic Irony: Max is shown to be The Midnight Killer before The Player and his friends find out. Which ramps up the tension when we see her setting up appointments with Kila and Rook.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Velazquez gets run through by Nemi's Gearsword and what does he do? Walk forward and further impale himself, while delivering a speech on never giving up on hope, and when he's close enough he returns the favor with his magic-imbued scepter, which causes both characters to be assimilated into Nemi's Gearsword.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: If the sad backstories that characters weren't enough the events of the game go and throw fuel on the fire. However, the True Ending gives pretty much everyone aside from Nagi, Nemi, Eclair, and Max (both of whom noticeably absent from the end monologue) happy endings. Even in the Neutral Ending most characters seem to move on and better their lives, though in a more bittersweet fashion.
- Fake Defector: Acheron fakes an alliance with Max in order to record her confession to being The Midnight Killer.
- Fanboy: Kila at first seems like he's the biggest fanboy of Klace and all things Japan. Well, the real Kila is, anyway...
- Flashback: All over the damn place.
- Foreshadowing: When you first meet Max, take note of the Gear pendant around her neck. It's a gift from Reiyo and houses the powers he gave her.
- Early on in the storyline, The Player notes that they feel conflicted, like many voices were speaking in their mind. Around the end, it's revealed that The Player is a unification of many souls.
- Inumi asks Acheron in the limo for some help with a math problem. After Acheron solves it, Inumi quips about how "it could save your life".
- Another instance: Early on in Terra The Player muses about how it's interesting that so many Terran lives intersect with each others' past. Kinda like a lot of the backstories of those involved with the tour.
- For Great Justice: After either Kila or Rook dies they make a Badass Boast that they'll both find a way to revive them and be Terra's savior.
- French Maid Outfit: Eclair's Cafe Chat uniform seems to be inspired by this.
- Golden Ending: The "True Ending" of the game. Exodus ends up having enough power to become a Reality Warper and obliterates Nagi and Nami from the timeline, erasing them from existence for good. They then reset the world, removing the events that had led up to the plot happening, and seems to add a few finishing touches as links to and from Terra and Earth exist, with Earth being isolationist for the time being, and Terra having joined the Galactic Federation. Meanwhile on Earth, Klace's tour is a success, and numerous characters find happiness such as Kila who not only wins the contest and gets to meet his idol, but later teams up with Eddie in order to found charity organizations that assist with cancer treatments and discovers cures for several illnesses.
- Guide Dang It!: Looking to get all the achievements? Good luck, they're all hidden, outside of achievements for completing chapters and seeing the game's endings. Oh, and want to see the True Ending? Good luck, as you pretty much have to experiment to find out what triggers a True Ending Flag. A special beep does sound when you trigger one, so at least there's that.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Nagi is defeated via Gearsword assimilation, one of the swords being his own.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The Player can be named. It turns out this isn't their real name, as they're merely an amalgamation of souls, but it is the name of the most dominant soul that's able to take control of their body.
- Hidden Depths: Most of the cast, especially if you get them to open up to you.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: The drink that had to be guzzled to win the contest? PopStarr.
- Interface Spoiler: The game tries to keep Klace's appearance a secret until the true ending, but he can still appear as a Steam trading card and has his own profile background and emoticon too.
- Jerkass: Rook easily comes off as this.
- The Juggernaut: Nagi and Nemi seem to be this. It takes Velazquez's magic scepter to defeat Nemi, and it takes a Time Freeze that catches Nagi off guard so Acheron and Reiyo can use the gearswords against him.
- Killed Off for Real: If you don't get the True Ending then this is the fate of Klace, Rocker, Endymion, Kabu, Phidget, Eddie "Kila"/Rook and Velazquez. Regardless of which of the two endings you get, Nagi and Nami will always be dead. All that changes is who the Terrans remember attacking them.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Early on in the game The Player wonders exactly what the powers are that Reiyo gave to him, and feels like he could go back and change choices that he had made. Kinda like someone playing a video game with a load/save feature.
- In the True Ending it does turn out that he can change reality, as the combined power of himself and Nagi and Nemi's Gearswords enable him to become a Reality Warper.
- Light Is Not Good: Nagi attempts to invoke this during the climax.
- Living a Double Life: Kila...or should we call him by his real name: Eddie. Velasquez has potential shades of this, as the "ruler" of Terra.
- Magic Countdown: Just how long does it take for 20 seconds to count down? Good thing Talking Is a Free Action!
- MegaCorp: Armstrong, Inc.
- Missing Mom: One day we just know Phidget's Mom will come through the doors of the Wayfarrer's Inn, right? Well she does in the True Ending anyways, since The Exodus Project never happened and thus she was never sacrificed. Then on Earth there's Acheron, Max, Klace, and Inumi.
- Multiple Endings: On top of there being two major endings there's different outcomes that can happen for the cast on the Neutral Ending.
- Near-Villain Victory: Nagi almost twice kills the player and absorbs their power. Riley almost wins his gambit for Terra's Throne, only for Lord Plair to kill him in revenge for killing Kabu. And on Earth Max looks like she's going to win Reiyo's contest....until she's Out-Gambitted by Acheron.
- Necessary Fail: Letting Rocker and Rook/Kila die is important for Maxine to become overconfident and underestimate Acheron's abilities.
- The Player being stabbed by Nagi in the ballroom is necessary for Reiyo to harness The Player's power and send them back in time to build their power.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: You can deliberately choose the ever-so-bittersweet Neutral Ending even after you can choose the True Ending.
- Not Quite Dead: Exodus in the True Ending's Stinger.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Acheron pretends to have a good grip on the Idiot Ball, all for the purpose of inflating Max's ego to get her to slip up.
- Out-Gambitted: Max gets played like a fiddle by Acheron. Guess she never thought her brother would betray her, eh? Riley attempts to do this, but ends with a knife through the throat.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Chapter 1's death of Klace seems to kick everything off, as the next day more people die. Though this was invoked directly by Reiyo and the conditions set for Max and Acheron's "game".
- Point of No Return: The game literally tells you that you won't be able to save after you go to The Terminus' deck.
- Police Are Useless: Justified in the case of the Midnight Deaths, as they couldn't possibly match someone like Max who can use time manipulation to make it look like her murders are suicide. Double Subverted by Acheron later, as he pretends to be useless to set up Max, and he even gets the police ready to apprehend Max after he records her confessing.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Aside from some minor dialogue changes, the gender of your protagonist is, well, purely aesthetic.
- Reality Warper: The Player/Exodus if they're able to attain The True Ending.
- Run or Die: Acheron's suggestion to the player regarding Maxine.
- Sacrificial Lamb: In Chapter 1 Klace, the Fursona of the game's developer and pop idol whom was about to tour around the world with Kila and The Player in tow, dies. And more die the next day.
- Sadistic Choice: Rook and Kila are both strapped to bombs, The Player can only save one. Saving Rook is the one that provides the True Ending Flag, however.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Nagi does this after Velasquez gets himself and Nemi assimilated into her gearsword.
- Screen Shake: Used here and there, such as when the train starts up again in Chapter 1 or during an especially explosive scene.
- Sequel Hook: The Stingers in both endings seem to suggest this, though the True Ending Stinger seems to be more direct.
- Serial Killer: The Midnight Killer.
- Shout-Out: The Midnight Killer puts the player in a scenario where two of the characters (Kila and Rook) are strapped to a bomb and only one can be saved in time. Sounds like a similar scene from the The Dark Knight.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: If you bonded enough with Acheron, he will tell the player his backstory about his departure from the Armstrong family company, which includes a description of how his parents died in a chemical accident while they were manufacturing a weapon. The description could offer
Nightmare Fuel, yet the touching music that plays over it makes it feel awkward. - Straw Character: Lord Plair might initially come off as your typical "rich guy blaming the poor/immigrants to justify his own greed", but it turns out that the manifest that proves he's hoarding food during a shortage is not only forged, but his idea of closing Terra off to immigration ends up helping the planet get a foothold on its economic problems. Guess Straw Kitty Has A Point?
- Technical Pacifist: Acheron wins the contest by not killing anyone - but he let two people die.
- Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: The Midnight Deaths start happening in Tokyo the month of Klace's arrival there, and the main plot of the game happens during the player's trip to Japan.
- Tonight, Someone Dies: The Midnight Killer's MO: since Klace's arrival in Japan, every night somebody has died. Also, she makes this very clear to you that this will happen after the conference.Max, via texts: One of your friends will die today. It will be your fault.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Nagi and Nemi, who were created by King Velasquez.
- Unexplained Recovery: The Player coming back to life on Terra following his skewering by Nagi seems like this to many-a Terran. Though it makes enough sense to The Player, as Reiyo literally said a few scenes back that he would save The Player and his friends.
- Visual Gag: When you first meet Righty he's standing on the left side of the screen, and remarks he's uncomfortable. He switches to the right side of the screen and notes that he feels more comfortable.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 6. Have fun not only choosing to save either Rook or Kila, but blowing the other one to high hell as the code to deactivate the bomb of the one you choose to save detonates the other one.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: For both endings.
- The Worf Effect: How do we know that Nagi is an uncontested baddass? He swats aside Righty with little effort, with The Player even thinking that no one could take Nagi if he disposed of Righty that easily.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Lord Plair, Riley, and Righty on one side versus Endymion, Konrad, and Velasquez on Terra, with The Player able to pick sides. And on Earth we have Acheron versus The Midnight Killer. Little does the killer know Acheron already has a Batman Gambit in play.
