History VideoGame / SoulTide

! ''Soul Tide'' provides examples of the following:

* ColorCodedItemTiers: For all consumable items, there are five backgrounds of color denoting their rarity, starting from lowest to highest: grey -> green -> blue -> purple -> gold. Verves follow the same tier ranking, although it has no grey-rarity tier.

* CrapsackWorld: Not Continent Crescent [[CrapsaccharineWorld for the most part]], but some of the other worlds the Dolls come from certainly fulfill this trope. To name a few examples:
** Asuna was a high school girl who lived in a modern city not unlike Earth's Japan in real life, except it was really a [[TheDictatorship militaristic dictatorship]] that motivated her into rebelling against this system.
** Dreizhen came from a wartorn world where LivingIsMoreThanSurviving is likely an unfathomable concept to its inhabitants, where she fought for an army that turned her into a RobotGirl without her consent [[ChildSoldiers from a young age]].
** Gawana's world has been dying for a long while due to a [[ReducedToDust desertification problem]] affecting plants and animals alike that has made her nomadic tribe's life difficult.
** Lilyiro's world has elves and goblins fighting each other for no apparent reason other than [[FantasticRacism racial animosity]]. Made worse when Lilyiro's Past makes it clear that [[spoiler:elves and goblins are one and the same, and all they've essentially done is fight against and kill their own brethren]], sparking Lilyiro's own brand of justice.

** When visiting friends, players can open up to five cardboard boxes (though there are always only three in each mansion) that contains some coin and Crystals, which also fulfills the quest for it.

* ValentinesDayEpisode: The game had an event in 2023, which gave Evokers a chance of getting a blue-tier Doll present, a bouquet of roses, whenever a crop is harvested, as well as the Dolls giving a unique line for this occasion. For the 2024 Valentine's Day however, a special side story is added that shows the Dolls celebrating with the Evoker, popping up in his room that day having prepared a surprise party, all while things get chaotic as ever as everyone tries to profess their love for their Evoker.

* ValentinesDayEpisode: The game had an event in 2023, which gave Evokers a chance of getting a blue-tier Doll present, a bouquet of roses, whenever a crop is harvested. For the 2024 Valentine's Day however, a special side story is added that shows the Dolls celebrating with the Evoker, popping up in his room that day having prepared a surprise party, all while things get chaotic as ever as everyone tries to profess their love for their Evoker.

* YellowLightningBlueLightning: The Lightning element is characterized with yellow colors, with skill animations matching it. Some animations however color the sparks blue, special mention going to [[BlueIsHeroic Dreizehn]], all of whose lightning abilities are primarily blue.

*** In every stage, whenever you reach the [[BossBattle Overlord]], an Overlord Portal will appear next to it that transports you back to the start of the stage. The portal is two-way, so one could double back for whatever was missed and come back for the Overlord later, or skip the obstacles and go straight for the Overlord if you had to quit the stage for whatever reason, like changing your team composition.

* AnAdventurerIsYou: There are three roles your Dolls can have in battle depending on what skillset they are using: [[DamagerHealerTank Attacker, Defender, and Supporter]]. Get your player level to 15 and your Dolls' levels to that point too, and your Dolls will gain access to their second skillset, which may or may not have a different role and/or primary element; Level 20 allows for a third customizable skillset to mix-and-match skills between the two previous default sets, but be wary that the skill associated with their role grant specific stat boosts (skills of a Defender boost HP and defense, Attacker skills boost attack, and so on).

* EvilTaintedThePlace: The Ruins, right next to Litoris Island. They were the epicenter of the Grand Earthquake ten years ago and though Litoris has restored itself since then, the Ruins were left alone because of the potential dangers of an unknown 'curse' that is making [[GaiasLament plant life incapable of growing on the still-barren land]], even though it's being investigated if there is one. Not even Ithil, an accomplished magician (though arguably specialized in destruction rather than creation), could reverse any of the damage in one patrol there. The Evoker, though, notes that there ''are'' some plants growing between the rocks, so there's hope the curse will be overcome.

* ShoutOut: The ''Dream Quest 5.0'' event is this to Star Wars, taking place in a futuristic galactic setting with Arc Knights instead of Jedi Knights, Electromagnetic Force instead of the Force, the Sins instead of the Sith, and the Rebel Alliance instead of the Rebel Alliance.

* CityOfAdventure: Litoris, where the main cast are stationed in, has many distinct locations that essentially provide a sense of wonder to anyone that steps within its premises, from lush forests to great ruins.

* CrapsackWorld: Not Continent Crescent for the most part, but some of the other worlds the Dolls come from certainly fulfill this trope. To name a few examples:

* InexplicableTreasureChests: Besides some junk piles, you'll stumble upon actual treasure chests in delves you can run over to open for loot, usually coins, Sigil upgrade materials, and Verves. This can be justified by the fact that Graveland takes over worlds formerly inhabited by civilizations, so you're more likely [[RobbingTheDead taking a deceased's possessions they kept in storage]].

* LevelCap: The Dolls' level cap depends on the player's level, leveled up through completing story dungeons and doing daily quests. It initially reached up to Level 40 on release, then a subsequent update raised the cap to Level 55, and once more to 60.

* MaleGaze: As it's a game oriented towards a male audience, the Dolls can appear as such, especially with [[MsFanservice the more fanservice-laden Dolls even in their normal outfits]].

* QuantityVsQuality: Quantity for the heroes against quality for antagonists, at least most of the time.
** For the main story, you, your squadmates and Dolls are a big family pitted against whatever issue comes your way, often overcoming it by having each other's back and forming new allies as opposed to the villains often acting in fewer numbers that make up for it with their own advantages, at times only united for a common objective.
** Zigzagged from a gameplay perspective. You always have a squad of five Dolls whenever delving through Graveland or facing against bosses. You only ever face five enemies at maximum in any battle, but, discounting the empowered versions of regular {{mooks}}, the bosses are incredibly strong on their own and can take a lot planning and team management to defeat.

* StarterMon: Virgina, followed by Asuna and Freesia, then Lin Nankung from the gacha, and finally Lilyiro. You also gain their character shards by completing missions given to players starting out.
** You can also get Benten Kaminori by buying a starter pack using real-world money.

** This is zigzagged with the Evoker in the ''Stringed Puppet'' event, where he goes into a coma from a truck crashing into him and for once is the one being evoked to another world. Luckily, his body back in Continent Crescent is still living and gives him a chance of returning.

* FictionalBoardGame: "Luna Chess", a virtual board game created by the Great Sage Egbert as a means of promoting the Templar Order of Luna. It's meant for 2~4 players, which combines TabletopGame/{{chess}} with a CollectibleCardGame (''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' is a close example), mixed with elements of TabletopGame/{{go}} and/or TabletopGame/{{Blokus}}. The details are as follows: 1) The game is played on a grid divided into 366 cells based on Continent Crescent which is shrouded in the darkness of a Witch; the players' objective is to dispel this gloom with their light, [[ColorCodedArmies winning by having the most captured area]]; 2) each player starts from a corner and control a chess piece they move once per turn (unless there is a card skill that affects this); 3) cards are drawn every round and are activated during a player's turn, which have skills that confer unique effects such as increasing the grid range of a chess piece's light.

** The events ''Dream Quest v1.0'' and ''v2.0'' feature no combat, just story cutscenes and event currencies you gain by playing a game of VideoGame/{{Minesweeper}} in essence, only in a hexagonal format.

* CounterAttack: Ennis's Lightning Ultimate, '''Lightning Form''', grants her the ''Intangibility'' buff, increasing her defense, reducing damage taken, restore 1% of her HP per debuff negated (up to 4 times a turn), and--upon its third upgrade--return 10% of the damage she takes to the attacker. The counter-attack itself isn't much, but it's useful against multiple enemies gunning for a single Defender.

* QuantityVsQuality: Quantity for the heroes against quality for antagonists, at least most of the time.
** For the main story, you, your squadmates and Dolls are a big family pitted against whatever issue comes your way, often overcoming it by having each other's back and forming new allies as opposed to the villains often acting in fewer numbers that make up for it with their own advantages, at times only united for a common objective.
** Zigzagged from a gameplay perspective. You always have a squad of five Dolls whenever delving through Graveland or facing against bosses. You only ever face five enemies at maximum in any battle, but, discounting the empowered versions of regular {{mooks}}, the bosses are incredibly strong on their own and can take a lot planning and team management to defeat.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Aurora and Colcher are pretty princesses, but they are certainly no helpless DamselInDistress (ignoring Aurora's past, at least).

* DysfunctionJunction: In regards to Dolls, the very premise of evoking long dead souls should already be a warning sign of whatever DarkAndTroubledPast they went through. Let's start with the first five Dolls you meet: [[spoiler:Virgina cannot turn down pleas for help, and was accused as a witch and died burning at the stake; Asuna was a rebel schoolgirl who fought against tyranny but lost her ordinary life and eventually her comrades; Lilyiro is obsessed with doing good acts to make up for how much blood she spilt during war in her world; Freesia hates adults, having been tortured by them for her gemstone tears and committed suicide; and Nankung gave up her childhood for training to control her inhuman strength.]]

* WeirdMoon: As pointed out in Benten's third Present story, the moon that comes out at night is a round object surrounded by a halo with a mark inscribed by Shera on it.

* MaleGaze: As it's a game oriented towards a male audience, the Dolls can appear as such, especially with [[MissFanservice the more fanservice-laden Dolls even in their normal outfits]].

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: No matter which Doll you bring into the Graveland stages, the story will proceed with the Dolls that may seem relevant for the current world, as the story also assumes the Evoker has gathered all the Dolls that can be summoned.