History VideoGame / TheConsumingShadow

'''The Consuming Shadow''' is a [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] {{Roguelike}} by [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]], inspired by ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', and the {{board game|s}} ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror''. The game was released in July 2015, and is currently available through [[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/conshadow/ Yahtzee's website]] or [[https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/theconsumingshadow_specialed_storefront the Humble Store]] [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/403830/ and Steam]].

* AnonymousBenefactor: You sometimes receive random donations, oftentimes from untraceable numbers. Some of the clues also come in the form of anonymous notes from someone who tells you that he knows you're reading his note. There's some implication that [[spoiler:the [[EnemyMine enemy of the invader is behind the latter, and possibly the former]].]]

* OccultDetective: You play as one. The Ministry Man actually works for the British "Ministry of Occultism", making him one who is officially employed by the government.

* PuppeteerParasite: One enemy is a guy colonized by the small, Spider-like enemies who crawls slowly towards you. [[AsteroidsMonster Kill the host and a horde of them jumps off his corpse.]]

** Especially noticeable when playing as the Ministry Man. His starting flavor text implies the point of divergence was the death of the Scholar, the diary pages are implied to be written by an alternative version of him, and one random text message is literally sent to him by an AU version of him (or at least someone/something claiming to be such). [[spoiler:They say they are dead, and happy with that fact. Lost sanity.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: You have 60 hours (24 as the Ministry Man) to stop a god to invade the world.

* TooAwesomeToUse: Spells pack quite a punch in battle and have several beneficial uses outside combat. The problem is that they put quite a drain on the Sanity Meter (except for the Wizard, who suffers from other spell-related limitations), and you really don't want the protagonist to go insane before the end-game, especially since he can't cast spells with too low sanity.

'''The Consuming Shadow''' is a [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] {{Roguelike}} by [[BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]], inspired by ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', and the {{board game|s}} ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror''. The game was released in July 2015, and is currently available through [[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/conshadow/ Yahtzee's website]] or [[https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/theconsumingshadow_specialed_storefront the Humble Store]] [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/403830/ and Steam]].

* TimedMission: You have 60 hours (24 if you play as the Ministry Man) to stop the invading god. There's a timer when the player characters travels on the UK's map, a real-time one when you explore a dungeon, and some events (looking for a merchant in town, random events when travelling) consumes time as well.

** Several of the achievements are earned for doing things that would rarely come naturally to the average player. For instance, the "Why The Hell Did I Bring This" achievement is rewarded for bringing the car muffler to Stonehenge, where it is of no use to the player and takes up equipment space that could be used for another, much more useful item. Its icon even shows the Scholar staring at the muffler in bemusement. Alternately, randomly casting magic is a bad idea in this game, as a failed spell will cause damage to your character's already limited and fragile sanity... except if you manage to discover a spell this way by blind luck, whereupon you get an achievement, "The Scientific Method."

* MythologyGag:
** References to VideoGame/ChzoMythos are scattered all over the place.

* PressXToDie: You can commit suicide at the "start game" screen.

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: In some dungeons, after completing the objective, a boss is spawned and the objective becomes "GET OUT" or something along those lines. One such boss is a gradually screen-crossing face that, if it catches you, will wreck your health and sanity and dump you somewhere random.
** Also, the [[spoiler:Ancient final boss' underlying "attack" pattern is to slowly pull itself towards you, should you allow it tether itself to the left wall with its tentacles.]]

* BadassBookworm: The main character is a scholar, and he's quite the master of kicking eldritch ass.

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: It's all but outright said that "T" from the Ministry of Occult Affairs is [[spoiler:Trilby, some time after [[VideoGame/ChzoMythos 5 Days a Stranger/Trilby's Notes.]]]] The Consuming Shadow fanmade wiki actually refers to him as that.

** [[spoiler:If the player fails to get to Stonehenge in 72 hours, the protagonist shoots himself to avoid getting absorbed by the darkness.]]

* SquishyWizard: Appropriately enough, The Wizard. She gives up her ability to melee attack in exchange for not losing sanity when casting spells (though she still needs to check the runes to keep them in her memory).

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The Shadow will engulf the world if you don't manage to stop the god that is invading.

** Especially noticeable when playing as the Ministry Man. His starting flavor text imply the point of divergence was the death of the Scholar, the diary pages are implied to be written by an alternative version of him, and one random text message is literally sent to him by an AU version of him (or at least someone/something claiming to be such). [[spoiler:They say they are dead, and happy with that fact. Lost sanity.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: On occasion the player will get to be this, for the few people you manage to free from being kidnapped while they are alive and untainted by the shadow.

** The two Scholar endings where you cast the Ritual of Banishment successfully and either [[spoiler:flub the FinalBoss or win with very low sanity.]]

* BonusBoss: An interesting case in which [[spoiler:it's technically the final boss. You've already won if you're fighting the Ancient directly, it's just trying to kill you out of spite. Since it's been massively weakened, though, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu you can make it seriously regret trying]].]]

* CosmicHorrorStory: A typical EldritchAbomination invasion scenario. You must assemble the rune to seal away the god that is currently invading Earth, the problem is there are three gods. there are one is helping the invading god and the other one is working against the god and potentially your ally. If you seal away the wrong god, [[TheEndofTheWorldAsWeKnowIt well...]]

** And if you [[spoiler:banish the wrong god, the invading one leaves you alone, possibly seeing you as an ally. Your character considers living through the apocalypse... but decides not.]]

** "Objective: pain pain pain pain pain pain pain" (a reference to "it hurts", which is another possible "objective".
* NeverMyFault: The Warrior and Wizard in ending D, where you banish the wrong god. The Warrior states that the Scholar's notes that he followed must have been wrong, while the Wizard [[UpToEleven blames the universe itself for altering its rules in such a way that forced her to fail.]]

** Many of the equippable items reference other Survival Horror games, such as the flashlight (VideoGame/SilentHill2) and gun stock (Franchise/ResidentEvil).
** The "YOU DIED" text is similar to the equivalent text in VideoGame/DarkSouls.
** The cougher and puker enemies are slightly similar to the [[http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Lying_Figure lying figure]] enemies from VideoGame/SilentHill2; the cougher in particular also has a similar method of attack (sprays acid mist).

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The Shadow will engulf the world of you don't managed to stop the god that is invading.

* TheEndofTheWorldasWeKnowIt: The Shadow will engulf the world of you don't managed to stop the god that is invading.

* CosmicHorrorStory: A typical EldritchAbomination invasion scenario, you must assemble the rune to seal away the god that is currently invading Earth. The problem is there are three gods, there are one is helping the invading god and the other one is working against the god and potentially your ally. If you seal away the wrong god, [TheEndofTheWorldAsWeKnowIt well...]

* CosmicHorrorStory: This game is inspired by Lovecraft, you know that?

** Especially noticeable when playing as the Ministry Man. His starting flavor text imply the point of divergence was the death of the Scholar, the diary pages are implied to be written by an alternative version of him, and one random text message is literally sent to him by an AU version of him. [[spoiler:Dead, and happy with that fact. Lost sanity.]]

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: As you play the game, you unlock new main characters with different playstyles.

** Especially noticeable when playing as the Ministry Man. His starting flavor text imply the point of divergence was the death of the Scholar, the diary pages are implied to be written by an alternative version of him, and one random text message is literally sent to him by an AU version of him. [[spoiler: Dead, and happy with that fact. Lost sanity.]]

* AnonymousBenefactor: You sometimes receive random donations, oftentimes from untraceable numbers. Some of the clues also come in the form of anonymous notes from someone who tells you that he knows you're reading his note. There's some implication that [[spoiler: the [[EnemyMine enemy of the invader is behind the latter, and possibly the former]].]]

*** [[spoiler:If you seal the correct Ancient One and lose, your character is either eaten or permanently trapped in the Ancient's world, but it's still lost the war-the seal holds.]]
** [[spoiler: The ending in which The Ministry Man manages to banish the Ancient and get out alive and sane. He's still wanted for murder of one of his (partially turned) colleagues he committed when trying to get out of the Ministry.]]
* BlackMagic: Magic in this world draws upon the Ancients, and while you ''need'' it, it's not something that human minds have any business messing with. Only the Wizard can use spells without losing sanity - and her mind is already a bit cracked.

* BonusBoss: An interesting case in which [[spoiler:it's technically the final boss. You've already won if you're fighting the Ancient directly, it's just trying to kill you out of spite. Since it's been massively weakened though, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu you can make it seriously regret trying]].]]
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Given the genre, it's more surprising that you can ''avert'' this. Two endings still qualify, where you banish the Shadow, but [[spoiler: are eaten by or trapped with it, or else beat it back but go insane in the process]].

* DegradedBoss: The birther, a human who's been colonized by spiders, is a weak boss monster early on (though he's actually weaker tham most mook monsters). Later in the game he can be found in ordinary rooms as a regular mook, as the threat level of the Shadow increases.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: Even when facing horrific monstrosities, The Warrior will almost never use a gun, instead relying on kicks for combat and a knife for the PressXToNotDie sequences. [[spoiler: The only time he uses one is if time runs out and the shadow is upon him, in which case he will use it on himself.]]

** [[spoiler: If the player fails to get to Stonehenge in 72 hours, the protagonist shoots himself to avoid getting absorbed by the darkness.]]
** And if you [[spoiler: banish the wrong god, the invading one leaves you alone, possibly seeing you as an ally. Your character considers living through the apocalypse... but decides not.]]

* FighterMageThief: The Warrior (better melee attack and dodge, but no gun), the Wizard (no melee, but can cast spells with no sanity loss) and the Ministry Man (no special abilities, but enough money to buy good equipment at the start).

** While driving, random faces or hands, in complete white will show up in front of the windscreen [[JumpScare out of nowhere, then disappear immediately after.]]

--> For some reason I can't shake the sensation of deja vu. I have memories of assembling a ritual, fleeing through darkened hallways, and firing a gun at something unimaginable. I feel like some distant part of me may have died this way. Hundreds of times. Perhaps thousands.

* MentalTimeTravel: It's implied your character is doing this each time you restart, serving as the explanation as why you retain your levels.

** Some messages are sent by "T", who may well be Trilby. [[spoiler: He's unlocked as a playable character after beating the game for the first time, and the silhouette definitely looks the part.]]

* NewGamePlus: XP is earned at the end of a game, after you've either stopped the Ancient or failed to. It's carried over to your next game, allowing you to buy perks like health, sanity, ammo capacity and car speed.
* NintendoHard: A given, it's a roguelike after all.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Implied to be the reason The Ministry Man is given only 24 hours to stop the shadow, rather than the other characters' usual 60. [[spoiler: The diary reveals it wasn't the case - the shadow took over the Ministry building, and he barely managed to escape.]]

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: It's all but outright said that "T" from the Ministry of Occult Affairs is [[spoiler: Trilby, some time after [[VideoGame/ChzoMythos 5 Days a Stranger/Trilby's Notes.]]]] The Consuming Shadow fanmade wiki actually refers to him as that.

* ResourcesManagementGameplay: You have only so much time, money, health and sanity. The tradeoffs become important; for example, to get money, you either [[RandomlyDrops find it in a dungeon]] or get it from a job, both of which take up time and risk damage to health and sanity. Similarly, filling your medical kit costs money, and you also have the tough choice of using precious bullets to terminate minions or going into hand-to-hand with them and risking your health. And spells cost sanity to use...but they can also save your hide, or be "I win" buttons under the right circumstances.

** The "YOU DIED" text is similar to the equivalent text in VideoGame/DarkSouls
** The cougher and puker enemies are slightly similar to the [[http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Lying_Figure lying figure]] enemies from VideoGame/SilentHill2, the cougher in particular also has a similar method of attack (sprays acid mist).

* TakeYourTime: Averted. Time runs even as you complete sidequests and main objectives. And it is quite possible for you to run out out of time in the DefinitelyFinalDungeon.

* EnemyMine: Of the three Ancient ones, the one that is neither the invader or the accomplice, a bystander is trying to help humans for its own reasons. This doesn't mean that he'll tell his monsters to stop eating you, though.

* ActionGirl: The unlockable character "The Wizard" is this.