History VideoGame / MsDirector

* HorrorComedy: Despite the premise of an access trying to escape a HauntedHouse and avoid becoming the star of a SnuffFilm, the game is rather lighthearted in tone with plenty of comical character interactions between Patricia and the spirits. It only gets dark and serious when the titular murderous Director or her monstrous creations enter the picture.

* VagueAge: Aside from all characters being adults, nobody's age is given. A comment from Joanna implies Ida looks very young, but this is relative to other characters whose ages are also unknown.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The worst ending is earned by betraying Ida's trust by [[spoiler:accepting a bribe from Josephine at the last moment.]] It is possible to do this even after [[spoiler:kissing Ida, showing that you trust her after she defied Josephine.]] ''Whoof.''
* VillainousLineage: The Director's late uncle and grandmother are both responsible for the necromantic tools, occult education, and corrupt influences that led Josephine to her current career choice.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Patty must help the ghosts move on by granting their last wishes, and they will reward her with some item or information she needs in order to escape.

* AntagonistTitle: The Ms. Director in question is Josephine Violante, who traps and murders innocent girls in her mansion.

* TheBadGuyWins: Endings 1 and 5. In both cases, Patty gives up on trying to defeat Josephine, allowing her to continue her murderous experiments. In Ending 5, [[spoiler: Patty becomes one of those experiments herself.]]
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: Josephine has trapped the ghosts in the mansion until Patty helps them move on. [[spoiler:Even after moving on, they're still trapped in limbo and Josephine can call them back at will.]]

** However, it is still possible [[spoiler:to get the very worst ending after this happens. Ouch...]]

* BodyOfBodies: The Director's monsters are patched together with parts of other corpses, especially when they start to rot. One even appears to be a giant mass of several corpses fused together.

* ClosetGay: Discussed as part of the homophobia inherent in the setting. Anna is very careful not to out herself when talking about her girlfriend Donna. At other times morality clauses in Hollywood contracts are mentioned.

* EnforcedMethodActing: In-universe, Josephine ''claims'' this is what she has been doing, needing the illusion of real danger to get real terror out of Patty. Of course, it was real danger all along. Not that this makes any difference to Josephine.

* FogFeet: All ghosts are a wispy tail from the waist-down.

* {{Gayngster}}: Daisy, a member of the mob, is bisexual. [[spoiler:And so is her ex, the wannabe-mobster Ida.]]

* GhostAmnesia: The poor ghost in the infirmary; The only way to bring her spirit peace is to help her remember her identity as [[spoiler:Madeline, the Violante family nurse.]]
* HardboiledDetective: Ida Bainbridge... sort of. She was hired as an actress to play the part of a detective before she was murdered, and is consequentially stuck wearing the costume she died in. This does not stop her from introducing herself as a detective to everyone she meets, or from using dime store crime novel lingo. [[spoiler: In the GoldenEnding, she decides to become a detective for real, and is last seen trying to convince Patty to start an agency with her.]]
* HauntedHouse: Patty is trapped in Josephine's mansion full of ghosts and zombies, both created from the Director's previous victims.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Ida was murdered because she witnessed the crime scene of Anna's murder.

* HumanoidAbomination: Some of the monsters are more humanoid than others, most notably the large one with the tophat who pursues Patty several times. All of them are made from resurrected human corpses.
* IChooseToStay: In endings 3 and 4, [[spoiler:Ida chooses not to pass on to the next life, and instead remain as a ghost with Patty.]] In all scenarios, regardless of the player's choices, Daisy chooses not to pass on.
* ItsAllMyFault: Anna blames herself for Donna's death, because she knew the audition call seemed incredibly suspicious, but did not warn Donna to stay away from the mansion.
* JacobMarleyApparel: Ghosts wear the clothes they died in, which most do not have a problem with, but Joanna complains she's doomed to spend eternity in her 4th-best evening gown and wishes she had dressed up better before dying. Ida is stuck in a HardboiledDetective costume, but this doesn't bother her at all, aside from Daisy making fun of it.

* LipstickLesbian: Patty, the very picture of feminine Hollywood glamour, has relationships with other women and outright states she does not like men that way. Some of the other girls would apply here too.
* LivingDollCollector: Between the reanimated corpses, semi-corporeal ghosts, and [[spoiler:Patty in the Morbid Puppet ending]], Josephine has plenty of toys with which to make her films.
* MasterOfUnlocking: When Ida joins the party, she can now open many of the mansion's locked doors without keys, having Ida phase through the door to unlock it from the other side. Some locks still require a lockpick, which Ida is also skilled with, but others are too complex entirely.
* MirrorMonster: The first scare in the game; when Patty goes to the bathroom to calm herself down after meeting the Director, she is attacked by the monster in her reflection.
** Mirrored by the worst ending, [[spoiler:where Ida attacks her through her bedroom vanity.]]
* {{Necromancy}}: The Director has learned the art of bringing the dead back to life, but her incompetence results in creating both a zombie and a ghost from the same corpse.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The semi-corporeal ghosts produced by Josephine's methods are more tangible and self-sufficient than the average spirit. Among other things, they can freely interact with the physical world, phase through doors, and go completely invisible/intangible at will. [[spoiler:The downside, of course, is being trapped under ''Josephine's'' will...]]

* RomanceOnTheSet: In-universe, between Patty and [[spoiler:her ex, Joanna]]; also between Patty and an unnamed ex.

* SerialKiller: Josephine lures actresses to her mansion with the promise of a starring role, then films their gruesome deaths.

As it becomes quickly apparent, she was [[SnuffFilm never intended to leave alive]], and her only chance at escape is to help the restless spirits of [[BigBad the Director]]'s previous victims. Luckily, she soon meets up with Ida Bainbridge, a ghost detective, and the two decide to work together to escape, bonding in the process.

* HorrorComedy: Despite the premise of an access trying to escape a HauntedHouse and avoid becoming the star of a SnuffFilm, the game is rather lighthearted in tone with the horror elements primarily played for jokes.

''Ms. Director'' is an indie horror puzzle adventure game created by SketchyNonsense in UsefulNotes/RPGMaker VX Ace, and released [[https://sketchynonesense.itch.io/msdirectorgame on itch.io]] on October 20th, 2020 and officially [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1462430/MsDirector/ on Steam]] on May 18th, 2021. A free demo is available [[https://sketchynonesense.itch.io/msdirector-demo on itch.]]

Hollywood, 1937. Patricia Dahl is a desperate actress, having lost her career in the wake of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode's harsh restrictions on the film industry. Her only hope now is a suspicious audition being held by an offputting director, at night, in a creepy mansion, in the middle of nowhere.... surely nothing will go wrong, right?

As it becomes quickly apparent, she was never intended to leave alive, and her only chance at escape is to help the restless spirits of the Director's previous victims.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Josephine ''claims'' this is what she has been doing, needing the illusion of real danger to get real terror out of Patty. Of course, it was real danger all along. Not that this makes any difference to Josephine.

* FogFeet: All ghosts are a wispy tail from the waist-down.

* OminousSavePrompt: At certain times, the save point phones will greet you with either uncomfortable silence, or a very worrying statement from the operator on the other side. [[spoiler:Eventually, the Director herself can be heard arguing with the operator, and later takes her place in order to taunt you - though she'll still save your game afterwards.]]

* MasterOfUnlocking: When Ida joins the party, Patty can now open the many locked doors without keys, since Ida can phase through the door and unlock it from the other side. Although some doors still require finding a lockpick first.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The semi-corporeal ghosts produced by Josephine's methods are more tangible and self-sufficient than the average spirit. Among other things, they can freely interact with the physical world, phase through doors, and go completely invisible at will. [[spoiler:The downside, of course, is being trapped under ''Josephine's'' will...]]

* RomanceOnTheSet: Between Patty and [[spoiler:her ex, Joanna]]; also between Patty and an unnamed ex.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Josephine ''claims'' this is what she has been doing, needed the illusion of real danger to get real terror out of Patty. Of course, it was real danger all along. Not that this makes any difference to Josephine.

* BigFancyHouse: The Violante mansion, where Josephine grew up. Among the various rooms necessary to progress the game, there is also a swimming pool and a conservatory, for no other reason than to show this is a massive rich person's mansion (and as a ShoutOut to TabletopGame/Clue). In the intro cutscene, Patty notes that Josephine seems incredible wealthy for an unknown up-and-coming director.

* BigFancyHouse: The Violante mansion, where Josephine grew up. Among the various rooms necessary to progress the game, there is also a swimming pool and a conservatory, for no other reason than to show this is a massive rich person's mansion (and as a ShoutOut to {{Clue}}). In the intro cutscene, Patty notes that Josephine seems incredible wealthy for an unknown up-and-coming director.

* BookEnds: The beginning and of the variants of Ending 1 both involve [[spoiler: a monster coming out of a mirror to attack Patty.]]