Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 67 (click to see context) from:
* SpiritualSuccessor: TimeHollow for the Nintendo DS, made by the same writer.
to:
* SpiritualSuccessor: TimeHollow ''VisualNovel/TimeHollow'' for the Nintendo DS, made by the same writer.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Early on in the game Homunculus says he needs Eike's help because he's physically so weak he couldn't even lift a small baby. By the end of the game you'll know he's saying that from a very specific experience.
to:
* [[Foreshadowing]]: {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on in the game Homunculus says he needs Eike's help because he's physically so weak he couldn't even lift a small baby. By the end of the game you'll know he's saying that from a very specific experience.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Early on in the game Homunculus says he needs Eike's help because he's physically so weak he couldn't even lift a small baby. By the end of the game you'll know he's saying that from a very specific experience.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 61,62 (click to see context) from:
* PricelessMingVase: Eike has one of these thrown onto his head.Also TapontheHead.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee.Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand out.Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.Eike may also fall into the category of Socially-AwkwardHero as he bumbles around most conversations.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee.Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand out.Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.Eike may also fall into the category of Socially-AwkwardHero as he bumbles around most conversations.
to:
* PricelessMingVase: Eike has one of these thrown onto his head. Also TapontheHead.TapOnTheHead.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee. Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him standout.out. Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.screen. Eike may also fall into the category of Socially-AwkwardHero as he bumbles around most conversations.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee. Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
* BackStab : Happens to Eike at least three times;First in the beggining,then in the second and fourth chapters.
to:
* BackStab : BackStab: Happens to Eike at least three times;First times; First in the beggining,then beginning, then in the second and fourth chapters.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* UnreliableNarrator: Implied in Ending E. Homonculus tells Dana and Eike how he [[spoiler:supposedly just killed Wagner when Wagner made his wish]], but the account comes off as highly embellished, with Homonculus making a snarky remark that he ''didn't'' in Ending D, as well as the Pentagram from said ending never cropping up.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.In every era there are people who resemble the citizens in the other eras. In fact, the main character even lampshades this once. The game ends up subverting it once however, in the biggest plot twist of the game. [[spoiler: A character you spend most of the game assuming is your ancestor (though he doesn't exactly resemble you) turns out to be ''you''.]]
to:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.In every era there are people who resemble the citizens in the other eras. In fact, the main character even lampshades this once. The game ends up subverting it once however, [[spoiler: in the biggest plot twist of the game. [[spoiler: A character you spend most of the game assuming is your ancestor (though he doesn't exactly resemble you) turns out to be ''you''.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.In every era there are people who resemble the citizens in the other eras. In fact, the main character even lampshades this once. The game ends up subverting it once however, in the biggest plot twist of the game. A character you spend most of the game assuming is your ancestor (though he doesn't exactly resemble you) turns out to be ''you''.
to:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.In every era there are people who resemble the citizens in the other eras. In fact, the main character even lampshades this once. The game ends up subverting it once however, in the biggest plot twist of the game. [[spoiler: A character you spend most of the game assuming is your ancestor (though he doesn't exactly resemble you) turns out to be ''you''. ''you''.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
** C: Eike travels back in time to prevent Hugo's experiment. [[spoiler:This accidentally causes Hugo's death, as he comes in contact with his older self, [[StableTimeLoop who taught his younger self how to perform said experiment]]. As for Eike, he gets run over by a car]].
to:
** C: Eike travels back in time to prevent Hugo's experiment. [[spoiler:This accidentally causes Hugo's death, as he comes in contact with his older self, [[StableTimeLoop who taught his younger self how to perform said experiment]]. As for Eike, he gains a new appreciation for life and the important lesson to cherish everything and every moment he has just before he gets run over by a car]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Crosses with ButThouMust, as even if the player stays in the present and attempts to make Eike do the simple and obvious thing such as those as suggested above (walk away from the tree, not take the poison, etc.) the game forces Eike to either stay where he is for whatever reason and get killed, die by some other means, or [[CutsceneIncompetence triggers a cutscene to cause the death to happen sooner than it would have if he didn't.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Misc.
Changed line(s) 75 (click to see context) from:
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.).For example Dana and Margarete two characters switched at birth to the others different timeline both wish to return to their respective time periods within realising it.
to:
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.).MindScrew). For example example, Dana and Margarete two (two characters switched at birth to the others and are from different timeline time periods) both wish to return to their respective time periods within without realising it.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Misc.
Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: In Chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
to:
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: In Chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Apostrophes for time periods are recommended against due to apostrophe misuse nowadays. Furthermore, fixed misc erros.
Changed line(s) 67,68 (click to see context) from:
* SwitchedatBirth: Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
to:
* SwitchedatBirth: SwitchedAtBirth: Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.Homunculus. The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's 1500s and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.1980. By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.Somme. The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers mother's arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: Inchapter Chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink: In
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Fixing ridiculous grammar mistakes.
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* MyOwnGrampa: In chapter 3 Eike meets Eckhart Brum whose cat has just had a large litter of kittens.Later on Eike meets Alfred Brum,Eckharts grandfather who has a daughter Sibylla who is lonely.To console her Eike decides to give her one of Eckharts kittens thus making the kitten its own ancestor
to:
* MyOwnGrampa: In chapter 3 Chapter 3, Eike meets Eckhart Brum whose cat has just had a large litter of kittens.Later on kittens. Later, Eike meets Alfred Brum,Eckharts Brum, Eckhart's grandfather who has a daughter named Sibylla who is lonely.To lonely. So as to console her her, Eike decides to give her one of Eckharts Eckhart's kittens thus thereby making the kitten its own ancestorancestor.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 61 (click to see context) from:
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee.Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand out.Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.
to:
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee.Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand out.Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.Eike may also fall into the category of Socially-AwkwardHero as he bumbles around most conversations.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Eike down to a tee.Despite being the main character Eike has no depth or any characteristics that make him stand out.Eckhart Brum in fact has much more depth and complexity and he appears only a few times on screen.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 67 (click to see context) from:
* Tampering with Food and Drink:In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
to:
* Tampering with Food and Drink:In TamperingwithFoodandDrink: In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 67 (click to see context) from:
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink:In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
to:
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink:In Tampering with Food and Drink:In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BackStab : Happens to Eike at least three times;First in the beggining,then in the second and fourth chapters.
Added DiffLines:
* PricelessMingVase: Eike has one of these thrown onto his head.Also TapontheHead.
Added DiffLines:
* TamperingwithFoodandDrink:In chapter 5 Eike has his food poisoned with the sea hare poison.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.
to:
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.In every era there are people who resemble the citizens in the other eras. In fact, the main character even lampshades this once. The game ends up subverting it once however, in the biggest plot twist of the game. A character you spend most of the game assuming is your ancestor (though he doesn't exactly resemble you) turns out to be ''you''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* SwitchedatBirth:Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
to:
* SwitchedatBirth:Dana SwitchedatBirth: Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* Switched at Birth:Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
to:
* Switched at Birth:Dana SwitchedatBirth:Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* Switched at Birth:Dana and Margarete by Homunculus.The real Margarete Wagner was born in the late 1500's and was dropped off with foster parents in 1980.By 2001 she is working as a waitress at the Cafe Somme.The real Dana was stolen from her dying mothers arms in 1980 and sent to live with the Wagners and grew up as Margarete.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.)
to:
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.)).For example Dana and Margarete two characters switched at birth to the others different timeline both wish to return to their respective time periods within realising it.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
**This is however explained by the fact that the Digipads & Homunculu's power to go back in time has limitations it can only go back to certain points.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* MyOwnGrampa: In chapter 3 Eike meets Eckhart Brum whose cat has just had a large litter of kittens.Later on Eike meets Alfred Brum,Eckharts grandfather who has a daughter Sibylla who is lonely.To console her Eike decides to give her one of Eckharts kittens thus making the kitten its own ancestor
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* EasilyForgiven: Eike, no question. He accepts Mr. Eckhart's apology for [[spoiler:trying to murder him]] without hesitation. More jarringly, in Ending E, he even forgives [[spoiler:Hugo despite his multiple attempts to kill Eike!]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[spoiler:This is how Eike can get the EX endings. The dialog options on the NewGamePlus change to reflect that he knows he's had this happen before. Armed with [[OutOfCharacter Out of Character]] knowledge, he can change his actions and end the game in the opening chapter! And erase himself from existence in the process.]]
Deleted line(s) 65 (click to see context) :
* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[spoiler:This is how Eike can get the EX endings. The dialog options on the NewGamePlus change to reflect that he knows he's had this happen before. Armed with [[OutOfCharacter Out of Character]] knowledge, he can change his actions and end the game in the opening chapter! And erase himself from existence in the process.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:276:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ShadowMemories.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:276:Eike, meet MineralMacGuffin. Now say goodbye for five chapters!]]
An AdventureGame released for the PS2 by Konami in 2001, and titled ''Shadow of Memories'' originally and outside of the US. It was later ported to the PC, XBox, and eventually the PSP.
The main character of the game is Eike Kusch, a young man who is murdered during the game's first cutscene. Pretty short game? Well, not really -- Eike is promptly revived by a being called Homunculus, who offers him the chance to change his fate. Eike, naturally enough, accepts. However, the killer isn't going to be put off by being thwarted just once. If Eike wants to live, he'll have to find the real reason someone's out for his blood, which may be rooted deeper in history than he can imagine.
The game soon falls into a pattern: Eike is killed at the beginning of a level, revived, and then must travel into the past in order to prevent his death from occurring. The plot, however, swiftly becomes very complicated, as details about the reason for Eike's deaths, the possible identities of his killer, and the Homunculus's true motives are brought into play. The choices the player makes over the course of the game retroactively decide Eike's true origin and nature, and determine which of the six [[MultipleEndings possible endings]] will be shown. Another two endings become available once the first six have been completed.
----
!!This game provides examples of the following tropes:
* AffablyEvil: Homunculus - he's polite and doesn't really do anything evil ([[spoiler:with the notable exception of kidnapping people and having them sent into different points in time]]), but he often leaves disconcerting messages to Eike. Also, his plan isn't as bad as you would think - [[spoiler:he just wants to ensure that he isn't RetGone[=d=] from existence]]. He's even friendly and chatty with Eike at points, though his default reaction to finding out Eike has been killed and having to pull his soul out of the time stream hovers somewhere between polite amusement and mild exasperation that Eike's taking a while to figure out how to escape death.
** About the evilest things he does [[spoiler:involve killing the doctor or Hugo in two different endings (the former of which he lied about). And of course there's the little detail that '''''he owns Eike's soul'''''. The doctor sold his soul to Homunculus for immortality and became Eike. It's why he can continually be brought back.]]
** To add on to the politeness, in one of the endings Homunculus only needs to collect the digipad from Eike to wrap up his plan, instead of just taking it he even reminds Eike beforehand that he's forgotten to return someone to their own time and lets him do so if he wants.
* AmbiguousGender: Homunculus. He's referred to as male and has a male voice, but you'd be forgiven for thinking he was a girl.
* ArtificialHuman: Homunculus. [[spoiler:Or so we are led to believe.]]
* ComplexityAddiction: Eike's schemes to prevent his demise are comically complicated. A notable example is going back in time, saving a woman from harassment, meeting said woman's family, and then performing a minor fetch quest all to prevent a tree that the killer will hide behind from ever being planted rather than just not standing near the tree.
** Other hare brained schemes include telling a man in the 1900's to build a library so that Eike can research the cure to Sea Hare poison ''in the present'', and find some even ''further'' back in the past (as opposed to not eating the poison). Giving an aspiring film-maker a pep-talk so his film poster gathers a crowd to scare away an assassin (instead of not walking out at night). And a long chain of deals involving a faberge egg expy to get a street sign/frying pan to use as makeshift body armor to avoid getting stabbed.
** To top it all off, Eike could have spent one jump to spy on or directly confront the killer. Even if it failed, knowing the identity of the killer would have let him resolve the plot in at least half the time.
* DeadToBeginWith: Eike is murdered before gameplay even begins.
** WhodunnitToMe: ...And he spends most of the game trying to figure out who's trying to kill him.
* DealWithTheDevil: Subverted. Eike assumes that Homunculus wants his soul in exchange for bringing him back to life, but Homunculus considers such a deal old-fashioned. [[spoiler:This is then [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]] in Endings D and E.]]
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The levels set in the distant (1900's) and far past (1500's) are shown as shades of gray and sepia, respectively.
* EmptyRoomPsych: The Cathedral. It's present in every timeline, but can only be entered in two occasions in the present, and it has ''nothing'' inside. Well, except for some interesting architecture and an energy unit, but [[SceneryPorn who cares about that?]]
** The Wagner's house and parts of the Museum also qualify, both have a lot of nice rooms with nothing in them, not even paintings to add to your OneHundredPercentCompletion.
* EvilPlan: Homunculus's plot, which [[spoiler:was the creation of a StableTimeLoop that would result in his unsealing becoming assured and thus giving him full immortality and protection from TemporalParadox.]] In fact, this could be bordering on GambitRoulette...
* FortuneTeller: Eike visits one in order to learn the estimated times in which an attempt on his life will be made. She used to be the page image. [[spoiler:She's also the result of an experiment GoneHorriblyWrong.]]
* GainaxEnding: Particularly the EX endings.
* GenreSavvy: Eike in the EX endings. [[spoiler:Subverted, as he ends up erasing himself from existence because of his own Genre Savviness]].
* GossipyHens: The two older women and the little girl. Especially their incarnations in the medieval era.
* HaveANiceDeath: "I don't think returning to the present is the way to solve this problem."
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.
* IdiotHero: Eike takes a mind-bogglingly long time to grasp the full implications of time travel, or even realize that's what's going on at all. Amusingly, he also tends to make ridiculously complicated plans and changes; he might very well be the only instance of someone being both an IdiotHero ''and'' TheChessmaster.
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Eike Kusch. Since the game appears to be set in Germany, the name is most likely supposed to be pronounced "Eye-kuh Koosh", but the English voice actors pronounce it as "Ike Kush". Dr. Wagner's name is continuously mispronounced as "Wag-ner", whereas anyone with even a passing knowledge of classical music can tell you it should be "Vahg-ner".
** Eike's name is actually pronounced that way in the Japanese version as well, so it wasn't a localisation mistake in any case.[[note]]His name is written as "Aiku Kasshu" in Japanese phonetics, which would sound like "Ike Kush".[[/note]] Same deal with the mispronunciation of Wagner, which is "Wāgunā" in Japanese phonetics, which is the same as how the original Wagner's name is written in Japanese. The only one whose pronunciation did change was Dana, who was "Day-na" in the English version but "Dan-na" ("Dana" in Japanese phonetics) in the Japanese version. Incidentally, both are acceptable pronunciations of the name.
*** Wagner's pronunciation was corrected on the PSP version.
* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: "I guess this is as far as I go."
* JustifiedExtraLives
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Inflicted upon Dr. Wagner by Homunculus so he does not get to enjoy his eternal youth.]]
* LiteralGenie: [[spoiler:Homunculus during Ending E. Although it's fairly obvious, given his personality and actions throughout the game, that he's just being [[{{Jerkass}} cruel for the sake of it.]]]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Eike is closer to Dana and Hugo than any of them realize....]]
* MineralMacGuffin: The Philosopher's Stone.
* MindScrew: With a plot designed to make sense after you've played the game six times, it's only to be expected.
* MultipleEndings: An interesting example, as the game's time travel theme essential means all the endings are possible in their own way.
** A: Eike discovers the truth about Homunculus [[spoiler:it was [[SealedEvilInACan "created"]] by Wagner and it switched Dana and Margarete]] and the fortune-teller [[spoiler:she's the lingering spirit of Helena, Wagner's wife and Hugo's mother]]. "Wagner", brought back by Homunculus, dissuades Hugo from trying to use the Stone, and everyone returns to their time.
** B: this ending has two variations, which depends on what truth Eike discovers, the fortune-teller's or Homunculus'. In the former, [[spoiler:she sacrifices herself to stop Hugo]]; in the latter, [[spoiler:Eckart manages to dissuade Hugo from killing his daughter]]. In both cases, Eike doesn't know the whole story.
** C: Eike travels back in time to prevent Hugo's experiment. [[spoiler:This accidentally causes Hugo's death, as he comes in contact with his older self, [[StableTimeLoop who taught his younger self how to perform said experiment]]. As for Eike, he gets run over by a car]].
** D: Eike creates a paradox by burning Wagner's notes, preventing the story from happening in the first place. A flashback reveals that [[spoiler:Eike is Wagner, cursed with eternal youth and regularly scheduled amnesia by Homunculus]].
** E: Eike brings Margarete in his time; she then convinces Hugo to drop his plans and return home. Dana stays in the present. [[spoiler:Eike doesn't know that Homunculus switched the two girls]].
** Additionally, two "Extra" endings are available after obtaining all the "normal" ones.
*** EX 1: Eike gives Wagner the Stone, so that he could save his wife. The story never happened.
*** EX 2: Eike gives Homunculus the stone. [[spoiler:[[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet Poof]]]].
* MyGrandsonMyself: [[spoiler:Eike, though he doesn't know it.]]
* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: If Eike ever touches a past or future self, both get erased from time. Notably, this is one of the only ways you can get a GameOver. In one possible outcome, you can have [[spoiler:Hugo erase himself from time when he grabs his older self to protect his sister.]] Also, [[spoiler:one of the secret endings involves you destroying Homunculus by throwing the Philosopher's Stone at him and destroying him. This works because the stone is basically him crystallized as SealedEvilInACan.]]
* NewGamePlus: The EX endings, accessible by playing the game after completing all six regular endings.
* PlaceBeyondTime: Homunculus' pad. A checkered floor floating in darkness, artfully decorated with broken statuary, strewn books, grandfather clocks, and a [[CrystalBall floating window]]. For an immortal genie, he's a bit of a slob. This is where Eike gets dumped after dying. Homunculus mostly hangs here to [[spoiler:avoid paradox erasing him from existence if Eike dies.]]
* ParentalIncest: Ending E, where Eike ends up with [[spoiler:Dana, who is his own biological daughter from the medieval period.]] While neither of them are aware of this though, there is a vestigial remnant of familial feeling as [[spoiler:Dana]] gets a "cool dad" vibe from Eike as he seems (in her own words), [[StraightMan "with it all".]] However, this doesn't stop them at all from acting on their mutual attraction.
* ScrewDestiny: One of the main themes of the game is that you can choose your fate, as demonstrated by Eike.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Ending C. Oh, God, ''Ending C''.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: TimeHollow for the Nintendo DS, made by the same writer.
* StoryToGameplayRatio: The game is very story-heavy, essentially being a lengthy film with a few intermittent bursts of gameplay in between.
* TimeTravel
** SanDimasTime: Used to give each level a half hour time limit.
** StableTimeLoop: The game is full of these, lots of them in optional sidequests. [[spoiler:In fact, the main plot could be considered a stable time loop.]]
** TimeyWimeyBall: Averted on occasion, but there are times where the game doesn't seem to follow its own rules.
** TrickedOutTime is how Eike survives a good deal of his deaths.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[spoiler:This is how Eike can get the EX endings. The dialog options on the NewGamePlus change to reflect that he knows he's had this happen before. Armed with [[OutOfCharacter Out of Character]] knowledge, he can change his actions and end the game in the opening chapter! And erase himself from existence in the process.]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Eike probably would have survived Ending C if he wasn't laying on the road. Homunculus even ''warned'' him beforehand that his life was in danger, and he ignored it.]]
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.)
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Averted in the extra endings.
----
[[caption-width-right:276:Eike, meet MineralMacGuffin. Now say goodbye for five chapters!]]
An AdventureGame released for the PS2 by Konami in 2001, and titled ''Shadow of Memories'' originally and outside of the US. It was later ported to the PC, XBox, and eventually the PSP.
The main character of the game is Eike Kusch, a young man who is murdered during the game's first cutscene. Pretty short game? Well, not really -- Eike is promptly revived by a being called Homunculus, who offers him the chance to change his fate. Eike, naturally enough, accepts. However, the killer isn't going to be put off by being thwarted just once. If Eike wants to live, he'll have to find the real reason someone's out for his blood, which may be rooted deeper in history than he can imagine.
The game soon falls into a pattern: Eike is killed at the beginning of a level, revived, and then must travel into the past in order to prevent his death from occurring. The plot, however, swiftly becomes very complicated, as details about the reason for Eike's deaths, the possible identities of his killer, and the Homunculus's true motives are brought into play. The choices the player makes over the course of the game retroactively decide Eike's true origin and nature, and determine which of the six [[MultipleEndings possible endings]] will be shown. Another two endings become available once the first six have been completed.
----
!!This game provides examples of the following tropes:
* AffablyEvil: Homunculus - he's polite and doesn't really do anything evil ([[spoiler:with the notable exception of kidnapping people and having them sent into different points in time]]), but he often leaves disconcerting messages to Eike. Also, his plan isn't as bad as you would think - [[spoiler:he just wants to ensure that he isn't RetGone[=d=] from existence]]. He's even friendly and chatty with Eike at points, though his default reaction to finding out Eike has been killed and having to pull his soul out of the time stream hovers somewhere between polite amusement and mild exasperation that Eike's taking a while to figure out how to escape death.
** About the evilest things he does [[spoiler:involve killing the doctor or Hugo in two different endings (the former of which he lied about). And of course there's the little detail that '''''he owns Eike's soul'''''. The doctor sold his soul to Homunculus for immortality and became Eike. It's why he can continually be brought back.]]
** To add on to the politeness, in one of the endings Homunculus only needs to collect the digipad from Eike to wrap up his plan, instead of just taking it he even reminds Eike beforehand that he's forgotten to return someone to their own time and lets him do so if he wants.
* AmbiguousGender: Homunculus. He's referred to as male and has a male voice, but you'd be forgiven for thinking he was a girl.
* ArtificialHuman: Homunculus. [[spoiler:Or so we are led to believe.]]
* ComplexityAddiction: Eike's schemes to prevent his demise are comically complicated. A notable example is going back in time, saving a woman from harassment, meeting said woman's family, and then performing a minor fetch quest all to prevent a tree that the killer will hide behind from ever being planted rather than just not standing near the tree.
** Other hare brained schemes include telling a man in the 1900's to build a library so that Eike can research the cure to Sea Hare poison ''in the present'', and find some even ''further'' back in the past (as opposed to not eating the poison). Giving an aspiring film-maker a pep-talk so his film poster gathers a crowd to scare away an assassin (instead of not walking out at night). And a long chain of deals involving a faberge egg expy to get a street sign/frying pan to use as makeshift body armor to avoid getting stabbed.
** To top it all off, Eike could have spent one jump to spy on or directly confront the killer. Even if it failed, knowing the identity of the killer would have let him resolve the plot in at least half the time.
* DeadToBeginWith: Eike is murdered before gameplay even begins.
** WhodunnitToMe: ...And he spends most of the game trying to figure out who's trying to kill him.
* DealWithTheDevil: Subverted. Eike assumes that Homunculus wants his soul in exchange for bringing him back to life, but Homunculus considers such a deal old-fashioned. [[spoiler:This is then [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]] in Endings D and E.]]
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The levels set in the distant (1900's) and far past (1500's) are shown as shades of gray and sepia, respectively.
* EmptyRoomPsych: The Cathedral. It's present in every timeline, but can only be entered in two occasions in the present, and it has ''nothing'' inside. Well, except for some interesting architecture and an energy unit, but [[SceneryPorn who cares about that?]]
** The Wagner's house and parts of the Museum also qualify, both have a lot of nice rooms with nothing in them, not even paintings to add to your OneHundredPercentCompletion.
* EvilPlan: Homunculus's plot, which [[spoiler:was the creation of a StableTimeLoop that would result in his unsealing becoming assured and thus giving him full immortality and protection from TemporalParadox.]] In fact, this could be bordering on GambitRoulette...
* FortuneTeller: Eike visits one in order to learn the estimated times in which an attempt on his life will be made. She used to be the page image. [[spoiler:She's also the result of an experiment GoneHorriblyWrong.]]
* GainaxEnding: Particularly the EX endings.
* GenreSavvy: Eike in the EX endings. [[spoiler:Subverted, as he ends up erasing himself from existence because of his own Genre Savviness]].
* GossipyHens: The two older women and the little girl. Especially their incarnations in the medieval era.
* HaveANiceDeath: "I don't think returning to the present is the way to solve this problem."
* IdenticalGrandson: Many of the characters in each era.
* IdiotHero: Eike takes a mind-bogglingly long time to grasp the full implications of time travel, or even realize that's what's going on at all. Amusingly, he also tends to make ridiculously complicated plans and changes; he might very well be the only instance of someone being both an IdiotHero ''and'' TheChessmaster.
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Eike Kusch. Since the game appears to be set in Germany, the name is most likely supposed to be pronounced "Eye-kuh Koosh", but the English voice actors pronounce it as "Ike Kush". Dr. Wagner's name is continuously mispronounced as "Wag-ner", whereas anyone with even a passing knowledge of classical music can tell you it should be "Vahg-ner".
** Eike's name is actually pronounced that way in the Japanese version as well, so it wasn't a localisation mistake in any case.[[note]]His name is written as "Aiku Kasshu" in Japanese phonetics, which would sound like "Ike Kush".[[/note]] Same deal with the mispronunciation of Wagner, which is "Wāgunā" in Japanese phonetics, which is the same as how the original Wagner's name is written in Japanese. The only one whose pronunciation did change was Dana, who was "Day-na" in the English version but "Dan-na" ("Dana" in Japanese phonetics) in the Japanese version. Incidentally, both are acceptable pronunciations of the name.
*** Wagner's pronunciation was corrected on the PSP version.
* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: "I guess this is as far as I go."
* JustifiedExtraLives
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Inflicted upon Dr. Wagner by Homunculus so he does not get to enjoy his eternal youth.]]
* LiteralGenie: [[spoiler:Homunculus during Ending E. Although it's fairly obvious, given his personality and actions throughout the game, that he's just being [[{{Jerkass}} cruel for the sake of it.]]]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Eike is closer to Dana and Hugo than any of them realize....]]
* MineralMacGuffin: The Philosopher's Stone.
* MindScrew: With a plot designed to make sense after you've played the game six times, it's only to be expected.
* MultipleEndings: An interesting example, as the game's time travel theme essential means all the endings are possible in their own way.
** A: Eike discovers the truth about Homunculus [[spoiler:it was [[SealedEvilInACan "created"]] by Wagner and it switched Dana and Margarete]] and the fortune-teller [[spoiler:she's the lingering spirit of Helena, Wagner's wife and Hugo's mother]]. "Wagner", brought back by Homunculus, dissuades Hugo from trying to use the Stone, and everyone returns to their time.
** B: this ending has two variations, which depends on what truth Eike discovers, the fortune-teller's or Homunculus'. In the former, [[spoiler:she sacrifices herself to stop Hugo]]; in the latter, [[spoiler:Eckart manages to dissuade Hugo from killing his daughter]]. In both cases, Eike doesn't know the whole story.
** C: Eike travels back in time to prevent Hugo's experiment. [[spoiler:This accidentally causes Hugo's death, as he comes in contact with his older self, [[StableTimeLoop who taught his younger self how to perform said experiment]]. As for Eike, he gets run over by a car]].
** D: Eike creates a paradox by burning Wagner's notes, preventing the story from happening in the first place. A flashback reveals that [[spoiler:Eike is Wagner, cursed with eternal youth and regularly scheduled amnesia by Homunculus]].
** E: Eike brings Margarete in his time; she then convinces Hugo to drop his plans and return home. Dana stays in the present. [[spoiler:Eike doesn't know that Homunculus switched the two girls]].
** Additionally, two "Extra" endings are available after obtaining all the "normal" ones.
*** EX 1: Eike gives Wagner the Stone, so that he could save his wife. The story never happened.
*** EX 2: Eike gives Homunculus the stone. [[spoiler:[[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet Poof]]]].
* MyGrandsonMyself: [[spoiler:Eike, though he doesn't know it.]]
* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: If Eike ever touches a past or future self, both get erased from time. Notably, this is one of the only ways you can get a GameOver. In one possible outcome, you can have [[spoiler:Hugo erase himself from time when he grabs his older self to protect his sister.]] Also, [[spoiler:one of the secret endings involves you destroying Homunculus by throwing the Philosopher's Stone at him and destroying him. This works because the stone is basically him crystallized as SealedEvilInACan.]]
* NewGamePlus: The EX endings, accessible by playing the game after completing all six regular endings.
* PlaceBeyondTime: Homunculus' pad. A checkered floor floating in darkness, artfully decorated with broken statuary, strewn books, grandfather clocks, and a [[CrystalBall floating window]]. For an immortal genie, he's a bit of a slob. This is where Eike gets dumped after dying. Homunculus mostly hangs here to [[spoiler:avoid paradox erasing him from existence if Eike dies.]]
* ParentalIncest: Ending E, where Eike ends up with [[spoiler:Dana, who is his own biological daughter from the medieval period.]] While neither of them are aware of this though, there is a vestigial remnant of familial feeling as [[spoiler:Dana]] gets a "cool dad" vibe from Eike as he seems (in her own words), [[StraightMan "with it all".]] However, this doesn't stop them at all from acting on their mutual attraction.
* ScrewDestiny: One of the main themes of the game is that you can choose your fate, as demonstrated by Eike.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Ending C. Oh, God, ''Ending C''.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: TimeHollow for the Nintendo DS, made by the same writer.
* StoryToGameplayRatio: The game is very story-heavy, essentially being a lengthy film with a few intermittent bursts of gameplay in between.
* TimeTravel
** SanDimasTime: Used to give each level a half hour time limit.
** StableTimeLoop: The game is full of these, lots of them in optional sidequests. [[spoiler:In fact, the main plot could be considered a stable time loop.]]
** TimeyWimeyBall: Averted on occasion, but there are times where the game doesn't seem to follow its own rules.
** TrickedOutTime is how Eike survives a good deal of his deaths.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[spoiler:This is how Eike can get the EX endings. The dialog options on the NewGamePlus change to reflect that he knows he's had this happen before. Armed with [[OutOfCharacter Out of Character]] knowledge, he can change his actions and end the game in the opening chapter! And erase himself from existence in the process.]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Eike probably would have survived Ending C if he wasn't laying on the road. Homunculus even ''warned'' him beforehand that his life was in danger, and he ignored it.]]
* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the game is you can't fight what's coming to you, as demonstrated by Homunculus. (Yes, this directly contradicts the ScrewDestiny theme. We told you it was a MindScrew.)
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Averted in the extra endings.
----
