History VideoGame / HypnospaceOutlaw

* DiscOneNuke: Two examples:

** [[spoiler:There is a page probably by [=T1MAGEDDON=] that will sell you his FLST password for 99 [=HypnoCoins=] on the first day. This is the only way to get into FLST on the first night of the game since the clue to cracking some weak passwords is not present until the second night. However, it is [=SamWich=] encrypted, forcing you to find a way to decrypt it. The price rises to 199 [=HypnoCoins=] on the second night of the game, probably to try to encourage you to find another way to crack someone's weak FLST password.]]

** ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' itself has elements of this as well. Collect more [=HypnoCoin=], collect software, collect new music for your Tunebox and sample packs for your SGS, collect new wallpapers and themes.... [[spoiler:Collecting ''all of Hypnospace'' in your access device's absurdly large storage-memory serves as your final job.]]

* MoneyForNothing: While money is somewhat hard to come by for the majority of the game -- flagging violations or playing certain minigames are the only ways to earn it -- by the endgame, you effectively have a resource for infinite money [[spoiler:through [=HypnOS=] Dreamtoolz]]. In addition, most of the required payments can be gotten around through other methods (for example, [[spoiler:re3koning provides a cracked copy of [=HypnoCure Pro=] for 1 [=HypnoCoin=]]]), meaning that it's basically never mandatory to have money to progress. The various cosmetics and albums you can spend money on serve as the primary MoneySink.

* AffablyEvil: Invoked: the lawyer/rep for the equivalent of the RIAA who threatens to take legal action against [=MerchantSoft=] if they don't take down all pirated soundtracks of works under their copyright (and this is ''the'' biggest threat to [=MerchantSoft=] operations so far, as no one wants to have an expensive tangle with the record industry, even for a big tech company) is noted to be very nice and polite by the responding MS employee.

* GlobalCurrencyException: An in-universe example; Hypnocoins are used for Hypnospace transactions but have no real-world value, and one of your jobs as an enforcer is to crack down on [=CapaCoin=], which is part of a scheme to get around this restriction.

** One that doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}: the SAI Freelands is run by an [[spoiler:apparently friendly nerd who just wants to protect fellow nerds. In reality, he's a whitebread tyrant who gets off on raging at anyone who doesn't fall under his vision of the internet actively making things worse and abusing people who want to help.]] Not unlike [=MerchantSoft=], really.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: Unfortunately for the SAI Freelands, they're rather like [=MerchantSoft=]: [[spoiler:glitchy pieces of shit that abuse power like mad over the pettiest of things and prone to manchild rageouts over perceived defiance.]]

* BigGood: [[spoiler:Samantha and [=Re3koning_inc=], in different ways. Samantha motivates the player to find and expose the Merchant brothers' crimes. [=Re3koning_inc=] already did most of the heavy lifting for the player in regards to actually finding evidence to convict the Merchants, spying their chatlogs and done enough digging to compile a list of solid evidence. Most of the endgame revolves around finding a way into [=Re3koning_inc=]'s hacker group [=m1nx=], using the [=allseeing3y3=] program to uncover their hidden messages, and using those to find the two sets of files they uploaded showing that Hypnospace is unsafe, and that the brothers knew about this.]]

* DeconReconSwitch: At first, Hypnospace appears to be a mocking parody of the late '90s internet, both in design and user behavior. Over the course of the game, it becomes a passionate tribute to the creative power and freedom of the late '90s internet, celebrating its creativity and the individuality of every user.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The game was released in 2019 and is initially set in 1999. Meanwhile, ''Dreamsettler'' was revealed in 2022 and is set from 2003 to 2005.

** [[{{Downplayed}} Subtle]], but Hypnospace has the same general values of real-world 1999. When [=T1MAGEDDON=] breaks into Zane's page, his idea of comedy is to make the page of a macho {{Jerkass}} into a crude CampGay stereotype -- and he insults the Dumpster by calling its writer a "fruity fairy", two outdated homophobic slurs that have since been reclaimed -- while actual LGBT users generally avoid explicitly stating their sexuality in favor of the "hs_lifestyles" tag, whose meaning is obvious to the modern reader with its rainbow coloring but avoids directly stating anything. The use of the word "lifestyles" in the tag's name additionally invokes the common misconception at the time that being LGBT+ is a choice.

** [[{{Downplayed}} Subtle]], but Hypnospace has the same general values of real-world 1999. When [=T1MAGEDDON=] breaks into Zane's page, his idea of comedy is to make the page of a macho {{Jerkass}} into a crude CampGay stereotype, while actual LGBT users generally avoid explicitly stating their sexuality in favor of the "hs_lifestyles" tag, whose meaning is obvious to the modern reader with its rainbow coloring but avoids directly stating anything. The use of the word "lifestyles" in the tag's name additionally invokes the common misconception at the time that being LGBT+ is a choice.

** As it turns out, [[spoiler:Dylan Merchant.]] Appearing to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and fellow geek, [[spoiler:he, instead, is a typical techbro with an ego bigger than the sun. Even before his accidental murder of at least four [=HypnoSpace=] users and the subsequent cover-up, he [[spoiler:begins screaming in all caps whenever he thinks his competence (which is nil) is vaguely questioned, even if it's reasonable criticism. He tries to fire a female underling ''and'' dox her when she raises concerns about a program Dylan worked on, steals credit in multiple ways like piracy, and kicks the player off moderation duty in a fit of rage when his aforementioned piracy is reported.]]

* {{Bowdlerise}}: ''Hypnospace Plus'' changes Corey's animation of Zane [[OffWithHisHead being decapitated]] into an animation of him getting his teeth punched out instead. According to Jay Tholen, this was originally a one-off change he made for his young cousin, but he liked the new animation enough to make it a permanent change, as he felt it was more in-character for Corey.

* ArtifactTitle: ''Outlaw'' was originally the main focus of the game, with the web pages of individual users being accessed by catching them. As the development team shifted focus to Hypnospace itself, the game was kept in as a side project developed by Dylan Merchant, [[spoiler: and it does still play a significant role in the plot]]. This isn't obvious until [[spoiler: the Mindcrash]], though.

* BaitAndSwitch: If you can't figure out a password for FLIST, you can buy one from Tim. He sends you a text file saying [[spoiler: thanks4thehc]]. Seems like you got tricked and Tim is taunting you... but the password is actually that.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: The Enforcer canonically banned Zane from Hypnospace, and he is ''still'' salty about it [[https://twitter.com/Zane_Rocks_36/status/1501669034152054786 on present day Twitter]].

** [[spoiler: Counselor Ronnie]] is revealed later in the game to be completely made up by [[spoiler: the [=m1nx=] hacker group. Dylan is aware of this, and allows it anyway because it earns Merchantsoft ''a federal grant''.]]

** A hidden page features a "wedding" for two users of the Hypnospace Discord, whose avatars are Weedy from ''VideoGame/{{Unhack}}'' and Rikka from ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions''. The ''Plus'' update has their icons redrawn in a [[StylisticSuck deliberately amateurish style]], though they are still recognizably the same characters.

In April 2022, the creators [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufMl2DlWX7w announced]] a sequel to ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' titled ''Dreamsettler'', which puts you in the shoes of a Sleepnet private detective during an alternate history period of 2003-2005. At the same time, they announced a spin-off game called ''Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer'', a {{VideoGame/Doom}}-like FPS game created by Zane (one of the characters from ''Hypnospace Outlaw'', now 37 years old) [[StylisticSuck based on ideas from when he was a teenager]].

* DisguisedHorrorStory: The game starts out as a wacky, pastel-shaded pastiche of late-'90s internet, full of SurrealHumor and quirky characters. And then it gets ''dark'', as it explores the serious consequences of what an ailing BrainComputerInterface web service can do to people. While it becomes a DeconReconSwitch by the end, it still culminates in [[spoiler:a hardware issue that kills at least four people and hospitalizes numerous others]].

* DisguisedHorrorStory: The game starts out as a wacky, pastel-shaded pastiche of late-'90s internet, full of SurrealHumor and quirky characters. And then it gets ''dark'', as it explores the serious consequences of what an ailing BrainComputerInterface web service can do to people. While it becomes a DeconReconSwitch by the end, it still culminates in [[spoiler:a virus that kills at least four people and hospitalizes numerous others]].

* SurpriseCreepy: A wacky, pastel-shaded pastiche of late-'90s internet, full of SurrealHumor and quirky characters. And then it gets ''dark''.

** The indirect ShoutOut to ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is a mild anachronism, as while the series had been around since 1987, it was largely unknown outside of Japan besides a few early '90s [=OVAs=] and [[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture a 1998 fighting game]]. An American teenager in 1999 knowing about it would be implausible, but not impossible. ''Hypnospace'' taking place in an alternate universe also throws a wrench into things.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The game was released in 2019 and is initially set in 1999. Meanwhile, ''Dreamsetter'' was revealed in 2022 and is set from 2003 to 2005.

** [[spoiler:Dylan mentions on [=m1nx=] that despite having a whole board dedicated to it, the Coolpunk movement boiled down to "a few kids being weird online." Though not directly stated, it's implied that Gray's Peak and Merchantsoft were attempting to make it a much bigger deal than it really was.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: If you can't figure out a password forFLIST, you can buy one from Tim. He sends you a text file saying [[spoiler: thanks4thehc]]. Seems like you got tricked and Tim is taunting you... but the password is actually that.

* ArtisticLicense: Even with the [[StylisticSuck glitchy, low-resolution aesthetic]], Hypnospace is a lot more fluid and dynamic than the real-world internet of the time.

* AssholeVictim: [=ThatBrassyKid=]'s longer suspension and labeling as a "loner" to be moderated harder, compared to Zane's slap on the wrist, seems unfair. Then you check his and his (now ex-)girlfriend's page, and it's clear he's harassing and being an overall "Nice Guy"[[note]]Entitled men who think being nice to a girl means they must return their investment in the form of sex and/or a relationship[[/note]] and creep towards another teenager, to the point of ''dumping his existing and supportive girlfriend to chase her''.

** Harris Lawton appears to be (a very childish) one, if his coolpunk pages are of any indication.

* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:Zane and Carl can be prevented from dying in the Mindcrash]], but only if they haven't been banned from Hypnospace. Knowing this in advance and still not banning them ends up being this trope on part of the player.

** [[spoiler:[=HypnOS=] Dreamtoolz, [=re3koning_inc=]'s personal debug/site-hacking toolkit reverse-engineered and improved from Merchantsoft's own. Using it isn't strictly necessary, but it allows you to download songs directly from the pages that they play over (the only way to collect quite a few tracks), get as much Hypnocoin as you want, and make your virtual pet ''significantly'' less irritating by letting you set their health and happiness values to “infinite” and reducing how often they poop.]]

* FourOneNineScam: Subverted. At first, you get Hypnomail from one Dimitry S Jackson, about him looking for donations to help him and a wealthy individual fund an expedition to find a hidden treasure. You can choose to fund this or ignore it. [[spoiler: After the final timeskip, you find that he was not actually trying to scam you, but that he's gone missing. One quest involves helping catalog his last known location, which he posted the coordinates to on Hypnospace before leaving on his expedition. Thanks to your donation, he could have become LostAtSea or could have been involved in a SinkingShipScenario. NiceJobBreakingItHero!]]

-->'''Dylan''': [[spoiler:(Rodney's family) disgusted me. They smelled like body odor. Their clothes were stained, stretched out, and dirty. They wore flip-flops]].

** The Dumpster's entire schtick. This said, [[EveryoneHasStandards they prefer going after corporations and publicly-available content rather than ordinary people when the opportunity presents itself]], and their article on Zane goes out of its way to point out that his genuine cruelty has earned him an exception to their usual [[WouldNotHurtAChild “don't mock people under 18” rule]].

** The members of the local hacker group [[spoiler:[=m1nx=]]] are much smarter, more capable, and more subtle than [[LeetSpeak T1MAGEDDON]], though their leader briefly considers letting him join. Among other pranks, they have convinced users to put an annoying song on their pages to prevent their headbands from exploding, [[spoiler:singlehandedly made and spread the Beefbrain hoax]], and [[spoiler:''created Teentopia's community leader.'']] They also have their limits, as shown when [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=] uses what little time remains between the Year 2000 update and the ''Outlaw'' release to desperately spread the word that the headbands actually are dangerous, going so far as to post in what is probably an administrators-only zone and link to evidence. Unfortunately, the evidence is very quickly removed by other Hypnospace enforcers (or Dylan Merchant himself) and the page is a mess of CHIME-violation messages by the time you can access it. Tim's “Mindcrash” takeover provides a perfect scapegoat for when something ''does'' go horribly wrong.]]

* {{Creepypasta}}: Parodied with a small group that make “scaries,” CYOA-style sites which often include creepypasta-esque plots. They're mostly teen-rated, of course, but [[spoiler:Tim's are a bit more disturbing, and serve to foreshadow both the True Tranquility and Mindcrash viruses he makes.]]

* EarlyBirdCameo: During the tutorial segment, the instructor's audio has been abruptly re-recorded at several points, likely to accommodate for changes to the system that were made after the original recording. [[spoiler: The voice you hear is in fact Roddy Wall, one of the developers at Merchantsoft, but you won't know this until you hear that same voice in relation to his "Trial of the Axxelerator" hints. The video rants added in ''Plus'' are also by him, poorly disguising his identity.]]

* FantasticDrug: T-Nubs, a suppository said to be taken primarily by teenagers that can cause rashes when used for weeks at a time. [[spoiler: It's a fake one, of course, since the one who divulges this information is [[InventedIndividual Counselor Ronnie]], mostly to cause a stir among Hypnospace's adults.]]

** Out-of-universe, the initial release of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch version had a problem with occasional crashes during the visual glitching effect that occurs when trying to load the in-universe-outdated [=NetSettler=] pages or [[spoiler: randomly throughout all of Hypnospace on New Year's Eve]]. It was infrequent enough to not be that much of a problem, coupled with autosave mitigating the potential damage, but the issue was common enough for a patch to address it.

** It seems like almost ''everyone'' can't stand Zane, and most pages that reference him aren't doing so nicely. The only exception is his girlfriend... [[spoiler: [[GirlfriendInCanada who's completely made up]].]]

** [[spoiler: Both Zane and Corey made accounts and homepages for fake girlfriends. Corey's is even listed as [[GirlfriendInCanada living in Alberta.]]]]
** [[spoiler: There is a page gushing about [=Fre3zer's=] music and how cute he is. After all the backlash about Coolfest '99, she's still defending him. Her ID is, of course, the same as [=Fre3zer=]. The page is deleted after he leaves Hypnospace.]]

** In the [[spoiler: [=M1NX=] board posts]] you can read, [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=]]] comes across as this. They are ''very'' snarky and disapproving of [[spoiler:Dylan being on the team, seeing him as a corporate sellout and a two-faced dick.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint And they're totally right.]]

** One of the pages on [=WITW=] has a guide for setting up an easy-to-remember password, entirely using personal information. A lot of people follow it to the letter, which makes accessing some hidden pages easy since you have access to every user's info. This includes the person who ''wrote'' the page, giving you a solution to a particularly important puzzle.

* PeripheryDemographic: In-universe. Hypnospace is a service meant for ordinary people to connect with each other, but a significant portion of its users (at least a third, by Dylan's estimate) are "nerds" into niche music, gaming, sci-fi, and so on. A running theme through the game is that Merchantsoft wants to make Hypnospace more mainstream at the expense of its existing audience.

** HYPPI, the floating head that delivers notifications and reads out text on command is by name a reference to Clippy, Microsoft's most well-known Office Assistant.

* InsaneTrollLogic: At first, the hidden socialism page written by an apparently mild-mannered Hypnospace user proclaims that the Gumshoe Gooper estate removing "unauthorised" reproductions of the titular character in any shape or form must be a comrade, as they are actively removing a "imperialist propaganda" cartoon... even though it later turns out the estate was just removing the reproductions for copyright (and thus capitalist) reasons.