Line #13 VideoGame/Philophobia

Context VideoGame / Philophobia

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1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yt_thumb_7.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Love is Hell]]
3
4	->''"Deny the pain. Feed the rage. Doubt your feelings. Accept decay."''
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6	''Philophobia: The Fear of Love'' is a precision platformer created by solo developer Tim Ruswick and released on Steam on February 10th, 2020. Philophobia is based on the five stages of grief, where love is literal Hell, and the game world is made entirely out of hearts. It employs a unique shadow mechanic which hides any part of the level not directly in the the character's line of sight from the player. The game's story and themes were inspired by Ruswick's own experience with heartbreak, and Ruswick livestreamed much of the game's five year development.
7
8	!!''Philophobia'' provides examples of:
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10	* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[spoiler:The boss of Chapter 2 is suddenly taken down by the boss of Chapter 3.]]
11	* [[spoiler:BossRush]]: [[spoiler: Played with. The climax of the game pits you against all four Demons of Grief, but they are used as stage obstacles and are not re-fought in their entirety.]]
12	* CardiovascularLove: Played with. The hearts are used in the first cutscene to represent Stuart's love, but shortly after his big gold heart is ripped in two (heart''[[IncrediblyLamePun break]]''). Then in the game proper, all the heart creatures are trying to, and will, kill you.
13	%% * CirclesOfHell: Each corresponding to the five stages of grief.
14	* DefendCommand: "Denying the pain"; where you press the 'shift' on keyboard or 'left shoulder' on a controller to shield yourself from heart bullets.
15	* DrivenToSuicide: Implied for Stuart, in the opening sequence. The narration says he chose to '[[DeadlyEuphemism turn the world black]]', with the silhouette of a noose fading into the scene.
16	%% * EmotionEater: Implied with the Four Demons of Grief, but it is possible they are just [[{{Sadist}} sadists]].
17	%% * FireAndBrimstoneHell: Chapter 2.
18	%% * FiveStagesOfGrief: The realms are designed based on this.
19	%% * FlunkyBoss: Solace.
20	%% * FogOfWar: Interestingly implemented in a 2D Platformer.
21	%% * HeartSymbol: Obviously. Every enemy and boss in the game are modeled using hearts.
22	%% * IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming
23	%% * IronicHell
24	%% * IronicName: Each of the Four Demons of Grief has one.
25	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The Four Demons of Grief are [[EmotionEater sadistic monsters that feed off despair]], and each represent a stage of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression) and has an IronicName.
26	* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Stuart's broken heart can function as a boomerang in later levels to flip switches.
27	* RhymesOnADime: The opening and cutscenes are narrated via rhyme.
28	%% * RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue: This is the first line of the story, it's true.
29	%% * SnakesAreSinister: The boss of Chapter 3.
30	%% * SpidersAreScary: Solace, the demon of depression.

Context VideoGame / Philophobia