History VideoGame / LobotomyCorporation

** Hokma's purpose in the facility [[spoiler: is to manage the [=TimeTrack2=] protocol and the creation of {{ExpendableClone}}s as your agents and clerks. He is the one who allows you to return to the memory repository and manage your agents by adjusting their stats, as every person that's been hired by the company is subjected to Cogito implantation and used to breed abnormalities. In reality, every single member of your facility is [[CloningBlues a clone of an individual who is long dead.]]]]

** Repression work for [[spoiler:CENSORED]] is replaced with Sacrifice, which needs a randomly chosen human sacrifice, which will be torn apart in a series of LudicrousGibs. This increases its Qliphoth Counter by 1 if it goes below 2. It's not mandatory either, since [[spoiler:CENSORED lacks the sporadically destructive effects seen in the Fetus.]]

** Repression work for [[spoiler:CENSORED]] is replaced with Sacrifice, which needs a randomly chosen human sacrifice. This increases its Qliphoth Counter by 1 if it goes below 2. It's not mandatory either, since [[spoiler:CENSORED lacks the sporadically destructive effects seen in the Fetus.]]

* LotteryOfDoom: Multiple:
** If [[spoiler:Nameless Fetus]] is unhappy, it will slowly make other Abnormalities breach, and the only way to stop its crying is with a randomly chosen human sacrifice.
** Repression work for [[spoiler:CENSORED]] is replaced with Sacrifice, which needs a randomly chosen human sacrifice.

*** [=WhiteNight=] in a nutshell. If it ever breaches, it will kill 12 employees and turn them into Apostles, 11 of them which pack sufficient power to kill any employee not in your line of sight. The massive amounts of deaths induced, alongside [=WhiteNight=] being an ALEPH is sufficient to throw the entire facility to a level 3 alert and allow other dangerous Abnormalities such as [[spoiler:Big Bird]] or [[spoiler:Mountain of Smiling Bodies]] to wreck havoc with it.

*** Judgement Bird in a nutshell. If it starts attacking, anyone in the same room as it will take damage, and more often than not, die off.
*** This is also [[spoiler:Big Bird's]] thing, as it ignores its Qliphoth counter and instantly escapes should you reach a level 2 alert, which means that you'll already have abnormalities rampaging when it decides to breach containment.

* ViolenceIsNotAnOption: Downplayed. While you should suppress most Abnormalities who breach, it takes time to train powerful employees and if they perish the death is permanent, so unless one has very high management skills, so it is actually ill-advised to go into repeated combat with extremely powerful Abnormalities or fight multiple of them at the same time.

* [[{{JokeCharacter}} Joke Abnormality:]] "You're Bald..." is a strange sphere whose effect (Keep Calm and Go Bald) is purely cosmetic.
-->"Come back after watching ''[[Film/FuriousSeven Fast and Furious 7]]'' for more than five times." (From Legacy version)

* GuideDangIt: '''All over the place'''. A majority of the game's most frustrating aspects come from that researching Abnormalities are basically trial-and-error, and there's no way to know when or how you will taste their consequences (which can arrange from minor breaches to {{One Hit Kill}}s or even mass deaths) without experiencing them beforehand or reading a guide. Even the clearing objective can come across as this; you actually have to [[spoiler:clear all nine Core Suppression tasks and clear day 47 - 50, with researching most available Abnormalities required to see the GoldenEnding.]] This is listed or hinted ''nowhere'' in the game unless one manages to trigger [[spoiler:a Core Suppression]], and the player can easily get stuck without an idea what to do if they just stumble around.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to even find out your win condition. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment]] [[{{Permadeath}} permanently is also very prevalent]] -- despite how the narrative tells you that the employees are dispensable, the gameplay proper actively conflicts with this, requiring you to use fairly squishy employees to frequently go against facility-wiping {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and avoiding lesser Abnormalities that will inevitably nab random deaths out of them.

* GuideDangIt: '''All over the place'''. A majority of the game's most frustrating aspects come from that researching Abnormalities are basically trial-and-error, and there's no way to know when or how you will taste the worst of their consequences without experiencing them beforehand or reading a guide. Even the clearing objective can come across as this; you actually have to [[spoiler:clear all nine Core Suppression tasks and clear day 47 - 50, with researching most available Abnormalities required to see the GoldenEnding.]] This is listed or hinted ''nowhere'' in the game unless one manages to trigger [[spoiler:a Core Suppression]], and the player can easily get stuck without an idea what to do if they just stumble around.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to find out your win condition[[labelnote:Your clear condition -- Spoilers ahead!]]You actually have to clear all of the Sephirot Core suppressions then clear day 46 to 50[[/labelnote]]. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment]] [[{{Permadeath}} permanently is also very prevalent]] -- despite how the narrative tells you that the employees are dispensable, the gameplay proper actively conflicts with this, requiring you to use fairly squishy employees to frequently go against facility-wiping {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and avoiding lesser Abnormalities that will inevitably nab random deaths out of them.

** On Day 46, [[spoiler: you need to suppress The Claw to properly end the day. As long as you play your cards right, you never have to see him again, since the rest of the three remaining days have completion objectives that will likely be fulfilled before he even shows up. This is good, because he's one of the hardest hitting enemies in the game and would make the following days next to impossible.]]
** On Day 47, [[spoiler: the Asiyah Sefirot will stack their bonuses one at a time instead of all at once. This makes it easier to get a headstart by working on higher-tier, dangerous abnormalities to build up an energy base before Hod's suppression debuff begins.]]
** On Day 48, [[spoiler: Chesed will turn off his damage buff when Gebura shows up. This is ''huge'', since The Red Mist with a five times damage bonus to any of her attacks would decimate even the strongest agent in a single swing. Though he does turn it back on if you reach a high enough Qliphoth Meltdown level, the option is always there to mostly ignore Gebura and simply focus on working your way to the end of the day.]]
** On Day 49, [[spoiler: Hokma's time pause debuff cancels out Binah's time pause cancellation in her third phase, meaning you can pause to take care of the Meltdown of Pillars in exchange for some of your agents dying or panicking. While at least some of your agents will die, it's a fair price to pay for being able to deal with the Meltdown of Pillars without resorting to Backwards Clock, and makes the fight at least a little fairer.]]

** On Day 49, [[spoiler: Hokma's time pause debuff cancels out Gebura's time pause cancellation in her third phase, meaning you can pause to take care of the Meltdown of Pillars in exchange for some of your agents dying or panicking. While at least some of your agents will die, it's a fair price to pay for being able to deal with the Meltdown of Pillars without resorting to Backwards Clock, and makes the fight at least a little fairer.]]

** Qliphoth Meltdowns will not occur in branches where [[spoiler:Sephirah]] are melting down. Furthermore, for [[spoiler: Gebura and Binah's]] Meltdowns, the player only needs to suppress them and need not worry about energy for the day. Lastly, once a [[spoiler: Sephirah has been suppressed, the department they govern will never suffer from Qliphoth Meltdowns ever again.]]

** On Day 47, [[spoiler: the Asiyah sephirah will stack their bonuses one at a time instead of all at once. This makes it easier to get a headstart by working on higher-tier, dangerous abnormalities to build up an energy base before Hod's suppression debuff begins.]]

* BossBattle: A downplayed example. [[spoiler:Sephirah will eventually have their own version of a Meltdown,]] which causes them to mutate into a biomechanical monstrosity. Most of them, with a couple of exceptions, are not destructible entities however; what they do instead is cause a bunch of unwanted effects that worsen as the workday goes on, and you must advance the day to a certain point to win. [[spoiler:The last few days before endgame will features [[BossRush multiple Sephirah Meltdowns at once]].]]

** The Sephirah themselves and their respective departments are also tied to a certain color, respectively brown for Malkuth, purple for Yesod, orange for Hod, Green for Netzach, Yellow for Tipereth, Red for Gebura, Blue for Chesed, Black for Binah, Grey for Hokma, and finally [[spoiler:White for [=Kether/you=]]]. These are actually the colors represented by the Sephirot in the actual Kabbalah.

** Ending A: [[spoiler:Fail to suppress all of the Asiyah Sephirah.]] [[spoiler:Abel says you are not ready to see what is behind the door and sends you away.]] This can also be triggered if you did clear all [[spoiler:Asiyah Sephirah meltdowns]], but fail to answer [[spoiler:Abel's questions correctly.]]
** Ending B: [[spoiler:Fail to suppress all of the Briah Sephirah.]] [[spoiler:Abram blows up the facility to stay with Carmen forever.]] This can also be triggered if you did clear all [[spoiler:Briah Sephirah meltdowns]], but fail to answer [[spoiler:Abram's questions correctly.]]
** Ending C: [[spoiler:Fail to suppress all of the Atziluth Sephirah.]] [[spoiler:Adam fulfills Carmen's ambition and unleashes all of the previously contained abnormalities onto the world.]] This can also be triggered if you did clear all [[spoiler:Atziluth Sephirah meltdowns]], but fail to answer [[spoiler:Adam's questions correctly.]]
** True Ending: [[spoiler:Complete Day 50 synchronized with every Sephirah.]] [[spoiler:The Tree of Light is executed and a seed of hope is planted. The facility is shut down and all of the Sephirahs are finally put to rest.]] [[spoiler:Except Angela goes rogue and uses the light for her own plans to be free, [[VideoGame/LibraryOfRuina wishing to build a great library for all of the City's knowledge]].]]

** A's true role in the facility [[spoiler: is X, the manager who you play as. X is, in reality, A with most of his memories wiped. This is due to A not being able to handle the mental trauma of being responsible for the demise of his friends, as well as the stress of running the Seed of Light scenario. Midway into the game, X has his memories returned to him, at which point all of the Sephirah refer to you as A.]]

* WhamShot: Day 24. First, [[spoiler:the revelation of the Sephirah's true forms]], quickly followed by [[spoiler:Tiphereth B being crushed under a press with [[BrainUploading a little bit of brain showing through the scraps.]]]]

** We Can Change Anything is immune to Qliphoth Meltdowns, meaning you don't have to send your employees to an insta-kill tool and get punished for not doing so.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to find out your win condition[[labelnote:Your clear condition -- Spoilers ahead!]]You actually have to clear all of the Sephirot Core suppressions then clear day 46 to 50[[/labelnote]]. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment]] [[{{Permadeath}} permanently is also very prevalent]] -- despite how the narrative tells you that the employees are dispensable, the gameplay proper actively conflicts with this, requiring you to use fairly squishy employees to frequently go against facility-wiping {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and avoiding lesser Abnormalities that will inevitably nab random deaths. out of them.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to find out your win condition[[labelnote:Your clear condition -- Spoilers ahead!]]You actually have to clear all of the Sephirot Core suppressions then clear day 46 to 50[[/labelnote]]. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment]] [[{{Permadeath}} permanently is also very prevalent]], since even with top equipment your agents are generally not built for repeated combat, many high-tier Abnormalities are facility wiping threats and even weaker Abnormalities can be lethal if handled incorrectly.

* HideYourChildren: Averted with some of the Abnormalities:
** The final encyclopedia entry for All-Around Helper is an audio log of a mother, her child, and the robot when it decides to do some [[DeadlyEuphemism cleaning.]]
** Scorched Girl is implied to be the soul of a girl who sold matches, who saw a better life in the flames of the matches she sold and accidentally burned herself to death.

* ReligiousHorror: Two of the Abnormalities; A harmless, sin-eating skull embedded into a cross (One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds) and [[spoiler:an [[LightIsNotGood angelic entity that is the single most dangerous abnormality in the game]] that transforms agents into its Apostles ([=WhiteNight=]).]]

** Mimicry, the E.G.O. of Nothing There, is the best Red damage weapon in the game. It attacks lightning fast, has a special scythe move that deals ludicrous damage, and heals for 25% of all damage done. Any person who equips this becomes a StoneWall who heals faster than almost anything else in the game can damage them for. CENSORED's E.G.O. gift... uh, CENSORED, has a similar effect of healing 40% of all damage done, but attacks much slower and deals Black damage instead. Both weapons complement each other quite well.

* {{Permadeath}}: If any of your agents die, the death is permanent and all E.G.O. equipped on it will be lost. A way to completely avert the second part is available, but not before clearing one of the hardest [[spoiler:Core Suppressions]] of the game.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to find out your win condition[[labelnote:Your clear condition -- Spoilers ahead!]]You actually have to clear all of the Sephirot Core suppressions then clear day 46 to 50[[/labelnote]]. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment permanently is also very prevalent]], since even with top equipment your agents are generally not built for repeated combat, many high-tier Abnormalities are facility wiping threats and even weaker Abnormalities can be lethal if handled incorrectly.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls. This applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, there is no way to find out your win condition[[labelnote:Your clear condition -- Spoilers ahead!]]You actually have to clear all of the Sephirot Core suppressions then clear day 46 to 50[[/labelnote]]. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment permanently is also very prevalent]], especially when combined with many high-tier Abnormalities being facility wiping threats if not handled carefully.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: ...Although some Abnormalities can and will breach if a set number of employees die.

* NintendoHard: The game liberally runs on GuideDangIt trial-and-error and has no hand-holding whatsoever out of basic controls; this applies not only to Abnormality management/drafting, but also applies to the ''clearing condition'' itself; without a walkthrough, it's easy to get stuck without an idea how to progress. The threat of [[ContinuingIsPainful losing powerful employees and equipment permanently is also very prevalent]], especially when combined with many high-tier Abnormalities being facility wiping threats if not handled carefully.

* PlagueDoctor: One of your monsters. He appears to have giant crow wings.

** An In-Universe example occurs [[spoiler:during the Head invasion against former L Corp when it was still a small company instead of a Wing. The Head, under intel from their spy Michelle, decided to raid the laboratory using several Claws and an Arbiter named Garion. It is all but stated that almost nobody survives a Claw raid, let alone an Arbiter raid; these are singularity enhanced fighters who can decimate entire Wings or Complexes in an instant. However, out of all unbelievable odds, L Corp's executives survived the assault... with the price being the death of numerous employees, the death of the executive Daniel who bowed down to Garion's coercion to evade the assault, the death of the Red Mist Kali under the hands of Garion, and the traitor Michelle hanging herself out of guilt because she really doesn't want to rat L Corp out to the authorities but had to per her occupation. And when Ayin and Benjamin saw the wreckage, the former decided to kill Garion and subject her to a second life of torture as well, despite Kali gravely injuring her right before she died and she's still conscious.]] After L Corp [[spoiler:became a Wing and most of Ayin's inner circle have been converted into AI people, Gebura (Kali) and Chesed (Daniel) are still heavily guilt ridden and traumatized on from that day, Hod (Michelle) became a guilt-ridden girl trying to atone with no avail, and Binah (Garion) was doomed to be integrated into the facility.]]

** Mimicry, the E.G.O. of Nothing There, is the best Red damage weapon in the game. It attacks lightning fast, has a special scythe move that deals ludicrous damage, and heals for 25% of all damage done. Any person who equips this becomes a StoneWall who heals faster than almost anything else in the game can damage them for. CENSORED's E.G.O. gift... uh, [[NamesTheSame CENSORED]], has a similar effect of healing 40% of all damage done, but attacks much slower and deals Black damage instead. Both weapons complement each other quite well.

* DifficultButAwesome: Managing [=WAWs=] and [=ALEPHs=]. The former are incredibly hostile entities hellbent on breaking out as soon as possible to run rampant throughout your facility, while the latter are powerful EldritchAbominations that, if allowed to breach, can begin potentially game-ending scenarios. Your reward for managing them is twofold- on one hand, you gain energy levels in the low twenties to high thirties with Good work on them, which is often enough to power a large portion of the required energy on their own, and the E.G.O. equipment they give are easily the best in the entire game and downright necessary to win the final few levels.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Paradise Lost E.G.O., the only such in the game that does room wide pale damage. Very few things in the game resist Pale damage so this weapon can have an employee destroy entire rooms full of abnormalities or Ordeals. How do you get it? Well [[spoiler:by suppressing [=WhiteNight=], an insanely powerful abnormality where even the slightest mistake can have it killing off your entire facility easily]]. Good luck.