History VideoGame / TheDevilInMe

** According to modern research, the vast majority of Holmes' crimes were almost certainly fabrications by unscrupulous media, crooked cops seeking to blame a lot of Chicago's myriad of unexplained crimes on Holmes, and Holmes himself who [[AttentionWhore reveled in the attention]]. The secret passages in the "Murder Castle" were more likely not a DeathTrap house of horrors but a means to hide building materials and other items Holmes stole or bought on credit with no intention of paying them back. While Holmes is suspected of killing 10 people including [[WouldHurtAChild three children]] (and would eventually only be convicted for the murder of Benjamin Pietzel), all of those murders had specific motives in mind (financial, covering up botched abortions, InsuranceFraud, etc) which makes him a sociopathic murderer but not a SerialKiller in the strictest definition of the phrase. However, the game deliberately goes with the highly sensationalized legend of Holmes, including the claim that he killed 200 people (which was the single most ludicrous estimate thrown at the time).

** Holmes is shown requesting that he be buried deep and have his casket and grave filled with cement because "being dead will not stop me from killing again". While Holmes did make and was granted that request, he wasn't concerned about rising from the grave but rather people [[GraveRobbing digging up his corpse]]: something he himself did quite a lot of in order to sell the corpses to medical schools or use them in insurance scams.

** In a twist on the trope, [[spoiler:the only way for Connie the dog to die is if ''the player'' chooses to kill him. Du'met shows absolutely no interest in killing the dog, not even when Connie bites him to protect the character(s)]].

* BloodierAndGorier: ''The Devil in Me'' is being advertised as such. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqe7OjFSaE This interview]] outright confirms it.

* EleventhHourSuperPower: Late in the game, Kate or Jamie have a chance to replace their compact mirror with a light or pen flashlight respectively with a carry handle flashlight that significantly improves how much you can see in the dark.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The final words the Curator tells the player that they'll see each other in the future, both in the interpretation that they'll see each other in another time, and that the theme of the next game will be set in the distant future.

* PlayerInventory: For the first time in a Supermassive game, character inventories will be an element of gameplay.

* SequelEscalation: As the SeasonFinale of the Dark Pictures Anthology, trailers, gameplay footage and interviews demonstrate that ''The Devil in Me'' has several features and expansions not seen in previous games, such as an inventory system, tool-based puzzles, and the ability to run, jump, climb, hide, and squeeze through narrow passages and balance across beams. It's also been mentioned that the game will take at least seven hours to complete (compared to four or five hours for previous games in the anthology), and it will be BloodierAndGorier than anything seen previously.

* GuideDangIt: The game doesn't make the answer clear for some of the most critical choices, and essentially boils down to either guessing and relying on blind luck, or consulting a guide to figure out the correct course of action, such as:
** When Erin [[spoiler:encounters Du'met for the first time. You are supposed to accept the inhaler he offers to her, rather than try and fight back against him, otherwise he kills Erin.]]
** In the Silver Ash episode, Erin has just [[spoiler:survived the above encounter with Du'Met where she was lured into a trap by a recording. She then hears an odd message allegedly from Jamie telling her to hide. It seems like the game is leading you to not trust voices you hear because they could be manipulated, but hiding is actually the correct option, as choosing to run leads to an incredibly dumb death for Erin.]]

** During the [[spoiler:moving wall trap sequence, the correct course of action is to send the wall towards the person holding the screwdriver, since the screwdriver happens to be the key item to surviving that trap.]]

* HeroicDog: Provided the player [[spoiler:does not have Jamie kill]] Connie the dog, he can potentially bite Du'Met twice to defend the survivors.

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler: Almost literally too, as Connie's only death comes at the player's hands, as either Jamies or Kate will kill him to keep him from giving away their hiding spot when they are hiding from Du'Met in the farmhouse.]]

** When Erin [[spoiler:encounters Du'met for the first time. You are supposed to accept the inhaler he offers to her, rather than try and fight back against him otherwise he kills Erin.]]
** In the Silver Ash episode, Erin has just [[spoiler:survived an encounter with Du'Met where she was lured into a trap by a recording. She then hears an odd message allegedly from Jamie telling her to hide. It seems like the game is leading you to not trust voices you hear because they could be manipulated, but hiding is actually the correct option, as choosing to run leads to an incredibly dumb death for Erin.]]

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: According to the description for the Collector's Edition of the game, the SerialKiller recovered the corpse of his mentor (who was also a serial killer and executed for his crimes) and created an animatronic out of it.

* HeroicDog: Provided the player [[spoiler:does not have Jamie kill]] Connie the dog, he can potentially bite Du'Met twice to defend the survivors, which doesn't do much besides distract the killer.

* MadArtist: According to the teaser trailer, the unnamed killer (based on H. H. Holmes, America's first SerialKiller) is shown to be this. His idea of "true art" is to watch the life bleed out of someone as they plead and beg for the sweet release of death, and he believes that this is "the mark he's left on the world".
* NoodleIncident: The crew will occasionally mention a shoot gone bad in Topeka, which somehow resulted in Kate being stuck in the city with no money or working phone.

** Mark [[spoiler:is confronted by heights at multiple times throughout the story. Unlike Charlie and Jamie, however, he can never die by falling]].
* SadisticChoice: The Steam page mentions "terrifying tests of loyalty", and that you may choose whether to risk your life for somebody else. In fact, many of the deathtraps in the game are centered around this.

* PlayerInventory: For the first time in a SuperMassive game, character inventories will be an element of gameplay.

* PlayerInventory: The Steam page mentions that, for the first time, character inventories will be in the game.

** According to modern research, the vast majority of Holmes' crimes were almost certainly fabrications by unscrupulous media, crooked cops seeking to blame a lot of Chicago's hundreds of unexplained disappearances on Holmes, and Holmes himself who [[AttentionWhore reveled in the attention]]. The secret passages in the "Murder Castle" were more likely not a DeathTrap house of horrors but a means to hide building materials and other items Holmes stole or bought on credit with no intention of paying them back. While Holmes is suspected of killing 10 people including [[WouldHurtAChild three children]] (and would eventually only be convicted for the murder of Benjamin Pietzel), all of those murders had specific motives in mind (financial, covering up botched abortions, InsuranceFraud, etc) which makes him a sociopathic murderer but definitely not a SerialKiller in any sense of the word. However, the game deliberately goes with the highly sensationalized legend of Holmes, including the claim that he killed 200 people (which was the single most ludicrous estimate thrown at the time).

* PoliceAreUseless: Naturally for this sort of story, especially since the characters are on an isolated island. [[spoiler:When the survivors do encounter a police officer, he's shaken from just having discovered two bodies and is initially antagonistic toward them. Du'Met takes advantage of the confusion to blow up the cop's boat and kill him.]]

* ShoutOut: The title of the game is a reference to the quote from the real H. H. Holmes (the guy the SerialKiller is based on); "I was born with '''the devil in me'''".

''The Devil in Me'' is a game developed by ''Creator/SupermassiveGames'', and the season one finale of ''VideoGame/TheDarkPicturesAnthology''. It was released on November 18, 2022.

It is to be followed by the Season Two premiere of the Dark Pictures Anthology, titled "Directive 8020".

!!Tropes:

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: One of the first signs that ''something'' isn't right is the cabin Charlie and Mark sneak into, where they discover a makeshift taxidermy workshop. One of the walls is "decorated" with the bodies of local wildlife, and there's an incomplete animatronic made from the body of a dead crow.

* BloodierAndGorier: ''The Devil In Me'' is being advertised as such. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqe7OjFSaE This interview]] outright confirms it.

** This is the first installment of the anthology where there are more female playable characters than male ones. Previous entries either had TwoGirlsToATeam, or (as was the case in ''House of Ashes'') [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only one]], while ''The Devil In Me'' has three women and two men.
** Unlike the previous three entries, ''The Devil In Me'' was released ''after'' Halloween, not before it.

* SeasonFinale: ''The Devil In Me'' serves as the finale of "Season One" of the franchise, introducing several new gameplay mechanics and even more violence than previous titles. The Curator, the series' HorrorHost, reveals some new insights about himself and teases hints of a larger story going on beyond the walls of his repository.
* SequelEscalation: As the SeasonFinale of the Dark Pictures Anthology, trailers, gameplay footage and interviews demonstrate that ''The Devil In Me'' has several features and expansions not seen in previous games, such as an inventory system, tool-based puzzles, and the ability to run, jump, climb, hide, and squeeze through narrow passages and balance across beams. It's also been mentioned that the game will take at least seven hours to complete (compared to four or five hours for previous games in the anthology), and it will be BloodierAndGorier than anything seen previously.
* SerialKiller: The main antagonist will be a serial killer based on H.H.Holmes and his infamous "Murder Castle". Additional information from the Steam page mentions that the killer is not just ''any'' killer, he's hellbent on becoming the deadliest killer in American history.
* ShoutOut: The title of the game is a reference to the quote from the real H.H.Holmes (the guy the SerialKiller is based on); "I was born with '''the devil in me'''".
* TooDumbToLive: Du'Met's invitation to Charlie and his crew practically throws red flags into their faces, such as the fact that Du'Met somehow knew the crew was working on an HH Holmes episode, invites them to his isolated estate on a remote island, and immediately confiscates their phones upon arrival. However, Charlie ignores all the signs because he's too desperate to save his show and pressures his crew to follow.

** According to modern research, the vast majority of Holmes' crimes were almost certainly fabrications by unscrupulous media, crooked cops seeking to blame a lot of Chicago's hundreds of unexplained disappearances on Holmes, and Holmes himself who [[AttentionWhore revelled in the attention]]. The secret passages in the "Murder Castle" were more likely not a DeathTrap house of horrors but a means to hide building materials and other items Holmes stole or bought on credit with no intention of paying them back. While Holmes is suspected of killing 10 people including [[WouldHurtAChild three children]] (and would eventually only be convicted for the murder of Benjamin Pietzel), all of those murders had specific motives in mind (financial, covering up botched abortions, InsuranceFraud, etc) which makes him a sociopathic murderer but definitely not a SerialKiller in any sense of the word. However, the game deliberately goes with the highly sensationalized legend of Holmes, including the claim that he killed 200 people (which was the single most ludicrous estimate thrown at the time).

** In a twist on the trope, [[spoiler: the only way for Connie the dog to die is if ''the player'' chooses to kill him. Du'met shows absolutely no interest in killing the dog, not even when Connie bites him to protect the character(s)]].

** The antagonist is not a supernatural threat ([[spoiler: hallucination or otherwise]]), but a SerialKiller following in the footsteps of the most infamous killer in American history. His speech in the teaser trailer about how "watching the life bleed out of someone is true art" is ''terrifying''.

** [[spoiler: This is the first ''Dark Pictures Anthology'' game that features no real or implied supernatural elements. Other than the classic slasher trope of Du'Met being MadeOfIron and engaging in copious OffScreenTeleportation, he is never implied to be anything other than an ordinary human SerialKiller.]]
* CensoredChildDeath: Du'Met's previous victims can be discovered throughout the chapters, some in horrific detail. In the finale, the bodies of [[spoiler: Morello and his daughter]] are discovered at the docks, but only the adult is uncovered. The little girl's body remains covered, with only her small feet visible to confirm that the body is a child.

** [[spoiler: If Erin finds a tape of Charlie apparently conspiring with Du'Met and survives until at least the vacuum chamber, she can alert the other crew members. This can lead to Charlie being tied up near the end of the game, leading to his death. Mark can also find tapes that exonerate Charlie by proving Du'Met remixed the audio.]]
** [[spoiler: Kate's anxiety stemming from her PTSD comes into play in two major ways. First, she gifts Charlie a book on managing anxiety, which he tosses down the hallway in annoyance. Later, this book prevents a wall from closing and trapping Kate. Additionally, Kate can find the healing crystal in her room, which she uses instead of medication to deal with her anxiety. Kate can equip this during Don't Move segments to make them significantly easier. She can also throw it as a distraction to escape from Du'Met.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Naturally for this sort of story, especially since the characters are on an isolated island. [[spoiler: When the survivors do encounter a police officer, he's shaken from just having discovered two bodies and is initially antagonistic toward them. Du'Met takes advantage of the confusion to blow up the cop's boat and kill him.]]

** [[spoiler:Erin can die in the vacuum chamber. However, this is not directly related to her breathing problems. Kate is only able to survive because her chamber had a flaw allowing Mark to break it open. Furthermore, when confronted by Du'Met early on, going for the inhaler instead of attacking is actually the correct, non-lethal option.]]
** [[spoiler:Charlie is lured into a trap using cigarettes. However, his purported breathing problems that the crew taunts him about at the beginning of the game play no factor. Notably, Charlie can survive smoke inhalation in the incinerator trap if he hides under the grate instead of forcing the door.]]
** [[spoiler: Mark is confronted by heights at multiple times throughout the story. Unlike Charlie and Jamie, however, he can never die by falling.]]

** When Charlie [[spoiler:steps on a pressure plate that will kill the Groundskeeper if he steps off of it, but is in reach of Du'Met who threatens him with a knife, forcing him to either step off to save his own skin and kill the Groundskeeper, or leave himself at the mercy of Du'Met.]]
** When Kate and Erin are [[spoiler:trapped in a pair of vacuum chambers, with Jamie forced to choose which chamber gets air and which one does not.]]
** When Kate and Jamie are [[spoiler:are trapped in a chamber with a moving wall that risks crushing Jamie, she has the choice of pushing a button that will reverse the direction of the wall but crush Kate instead.]]

** Holmes is shown giving a truncated version of his infamous "[[TitleDrop devil in me]]" followed by requesting that he be buried deep and have his casket and grave filled with cement because "being dead will not stop me from killing again". While Holmes did make and was granted that request, he wasn't concerned about rising from the grave but rather people [[GraveRobbing digging up his corpse]]: something he himself did quite a lot of in order to sell the corpses to medical schools or use them in insurance scams.

** Charlie gets a big one late in the game as well, which is not the player's choice. [[spoiler:He and Mark will investigate a barn filled with preserved murder victims. Du'Met will enter, and the pair will hide in freezers. Charlie will, for some reason, keep his lid cracked open and the lighter lit, making it painfully obvious that somebody is inside. For some reason, Du'Met will only notice this if Charlie fails a "Don't Move" segment, which will lead to a horrifying death for Charlie.]]

** [[spoiler: This is the first ''Dark Pictures Anthology'' game that features no real or implied supernatural elements. Other than the classic slasher trope of Du'Met being MadeOfIron, he is never implied to be anything other than an ordinary human SerialKiller.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: Subverted. [[spoiler:Early in the game, Erin can find a tape with a message supposedly of Charlie telling Du'Met that he wants his team dead, implying that the whole visit was a ploy to kill everyone on the team. Later, Mark will find a tape with the same words on it, only with the words spaced out. After fiddling with the recorder he finds out that the words are spaced out because it was an [[QuoteMine edited version of his call made to seem as if that's what he was inquiring]].]]

** During the [[spoiler:vacuum trap sequence, there's no way to know that the window to Kate's chamber is faulty, so the correct choice is to save Erin so Mark can knock out the window and save Kate.]]

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: One of the first signs that ''something'' isn't right is the cabin Charlie and Mark sneak into, where they discover a makeshift taxidermy workshop. One of the walls is "decorated" with the bodies of local wildlife, and there's an imcompleted animatronic made with a dead crow.

%%No citation* SeasonFinale: ''The Devil In Me'' is referred to as the "season one finale" of the anthology.

* ArtificialZombie: According to the description for the Collector's Edition of the game, the SerialKiller recovered the corpse of his mentor (who was also a serial killer and executed for his crimes) and created an animatronic out of it.

* WhatTheHellHero: If the player manages to achieve the ending where all of the protagonists die, including [[ShootTheDog the dog]] they find, the Curator will express shock that the player went so far as to even get the dog killed, which he didn't even think was ''possible.''

* FireForgedFriends: It is necessary for Kate and Jamie to become this to achieve the GoldenEnding. They consistently snipe at each other, [[and Jamie can nearly condemn Kate to die in the SadisticChoice-themed traps, but Kate can still choose to rescue her from Du'Met]].