Line #14 VideoGame/SongBirdSymphony


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mobileheaderimage.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Time to sing!]]
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4	''[=SongBird=] Symphony'' is a video game alternating sections of PlatformGame and RhythmGame developed by Joysteak Studios. It was released for PC, Platform/NintendoSwitch and Platform/PlayStation4 on July 25, 2019.
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6	You play as Birb, a young chick living with Uncle Pea the peacock. Realising he's probably not a peacock himself, Birb decides to go looking for his origins. He seeks help from the Owl, said to be the wisest bird of the whole forest. The Owl shows Birb an artifact he holds that can grant any wish, and says that they can use it to find Birb's parents, but it needs six notes from the birds around the forest to function. The Owl already has two and sends Birb to find the rest. On his journey, Birb, accompanied by the unhatched chicken Egbert, meets many birds of several species and tries to help anyone needing a wing. But not all the birds are friendly, for the mysterious [[BigBad Masked Bird]], leader of a gang of Magpies, aims to stop Birb from getting the notes.
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8	The whole game revolves around music, and not only during the RhythmGame sections. Birb needs to sing to activate moving blocks during the PlatformGame sections, helping him reach new zones or solve puzzles, and most of his accomplishments unlock notes which in turn add new notes or instruments to the soundtrack. The RhythmGame sections use several kinds of gameplay you discover along the plot, and alternate moments when you have to input notes with characters singing (the game is not voice acted, but you have karaokes).
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10	The official page of the studio can be found [[https://joysteak.com/ here]].
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12	----
13	!!''[=SongBird=] Symphony'' contains examples of:
14	* ArcWords: "May the music guide your wings!"
15	* ArtShift: Uncle Pea sometimes switches from cartoony goggly eyes to big, shiny, {{Animesque}} eyes.
16	* BigBad: The [[MalevolentMaskedMen Masked Bird]] leads the trio of Magpies in opposing Birb's quest to get the four notes to power the Owl's artifact and find Birb's parents. The Masked Bird is actually [[spoiler:[[LukeIAmYourFather Birb's mother]] and [[GoodAllAlong a good bird]] trying to stop [[TreacherousAdvisor the Owl]], who killed almost every songbird in the past, from finishing the job and conquering the forest]].
17	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Inverted. [[spoiler:When the Masked Bird reveals herself as Birb's mother, Birb is in StunnedSilence. Before he can ask why she didn't just tell him, the Lyrebird explains that she thought Birb wouldn't believe her. In addition, she spent so long hiding from the Owl that she wasn't ready to reveal herself even though Birb was telling the Magpies he was trying to find his family]].
18	* CreativeClosingCredits: They feature a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, along with some fan-made bird designs from Patreon patrons and contest winners.
19	* CreepyCrows: The Magpies are the main antagonists, and they repeatedly try to intimidate Birb into giving up his quest. [[spoiler: The "creepy" part is later [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], as they're GoodAllAlong and only want to stop [[BigBad the Owl]] from conquering the forest.]]
20	* DanceOff: Between the penguins' leader and the blue-footed boobies' chef. [[spoiler:It ends in a draw.]]
21	* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Each time Birb defeats one of the Magpies, they explode and get sent flying until they're ATwinkleInTheSky. [[UnexplainedRecovery Strangely, all of them survive this.]]
22	* DiscoDan: The Penguin Leader ''loves'' disco, and even has bees providing the necessary lights. Birb just goes with it and dances along.
23	* ADogNamedDog: All over the place. There's a bird named Birb, a peacock named Pea, an egg named Egbert, and a cassowary named Cassie.
24	* DramaticUnmask: [[spoiler:The Masked Bird unmasks herself towards the end of the game, revealing herself to Birb as [[LukeIAmYourFather his mother]] and the last of the Lyrebirds.]]
25	* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Birb finds out what he is, reunites with his mother, reconciles with Uncle Pea, and defeats the Owl. He settles into a changed life where Egbert constantly visits, and he is comfortable in his own skin. Birb's singing also brings prosperity to the penguins and blue-footed boobies, friendship to Cassie, and family to the bowerbird by reuniting them with their chick Egbert]].
26	* ExactWords: Birb is ''very careful'' with his word choice when explaining to Cassie what he learned from the Kookaburras. Technically speaking, they ''are'' [[spoiler:concerned about her]]... just not in the way he makes it sound.
27	* FalseReassurance: [[spoiler:The Owl]] apologizes for nearly trying to [[spoiler:kill Birb, after having trapped the little guy, his mother and Uncle Pea. When the Lyrebird calls the Owl out for thinking an apology makes up for all the suffering he caused, the Owl clarifies that he's sorry because [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou he needed Birb to give the last note]]]].
28	* FantasticRacism: The Owl considers songbirds "the scum of the forest", as they have mastered the power of music but [[PowerCorrupts choose to abuse it for their own ends]]. [[spoiler:Except, they don't. The Lyrebirds use their power merely to entertain and help others. As such, [[BigBad the Owl]] felt he deserved power far more than them, and this ultimately led him to ''[[FinalSolution wipe them out]]''.]]
29	* FeatherFingers: The Owl is depicted this way in some of his sprites, stroking his chin with wings that are drawn like human hands.
30	* FinalExamBoss:
31	** The Magpies serve as a recurring example: whenever they challenge you, they copy the various styles of birdsong you've encountered thus far.
32	** The final battle against [[spoiler:the Owl's OneWingedAngel form]] contains every single style of birdsong in the game.
33	* FinalSolution: [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment Yes, really.]] It turns out that [[spoiler: [[BigBad the Owl]] was responsible for wiping out the Lyrebirds in order to claim dominion over the forest.]]
34	* FlintstoneTheming: With birds, obviously.
35	* FollowTheBouncingBall: Used whenever a song has lyrics.
36	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Birb has the exact same colors as the Masked Bird[[spoiler: [[LukeIAmYourFather , his mother.]]]] [[spoiler: Turns out the Owl was lying to him the whole time.]]
37	* FreeRangeChildren: {{Downplayed}} in Gallus Palace; though several chicks are running around unsupervised, this is against their harried mother's wishes. The guards are also competent enough to keep the chicks inside, though they're willing to let Birb and Egbert pass.
38	* {{Gangbangers}}: The Magpies have shades of this, being a gang of large, intimidating birds. One of them even has a [[ThievingMagpie gold chain]] around their neck.
39	* GenocideBackfire: [[spoiler: Birb, who turns out to be the son of the SoleSurvivor of [[BigBad the Owl]]'s attempted genocide of the Lyrebirds, eventually defeats the Owl in a birdsong battle and sends him packing.]]
40	* GentleGiant: Cassie the Cassowary may seem intimidating due to her sheer size, but she's actually more of a ShrinkingViolet who's ProneToTears.
41	* GrayRainOfDepression: It starts raining just when the usually cheerful Birb hits the saddest point of his journey.
42	* InterspeciesAdoption: While they are both birds, Birb is not from the same species as Uncle Pea. [[spoiler:Also, Egbert is not a chicken - he's a bowerbird.]]
43	* InterspeciesFriendship: Birb and Egbert are not from the same species of bird. [[spoiler: Specifically, they're a lyrebird and a bowerbird, respectively.]]
44	* IronicEcho: The lines Owl sings during his first meeting with Birb in "The Owl's Opera" song are repeated in the twisted form in [[spoiler:"The Owl's Magnum Opus" song at the end of the game]].
45	** To compare, "The Owl's Opera" lyrics:
46	--->''Whoooo do we have here?\
47	A lost little bird, oh dear!\
48	Little one, there's nothing to fear!\
49	<...>\
50	You've come to the right place\
51	I'll gladly take this case\
52	There's no other bird who can!\
53	Let's pick up the pace\
54	That was just a little taste\
55	Come now, my little friend!''
56	** And [[spoiler:"The Owl's Magnum Opus"]] lyrics:
57	--->[[spoiler:''Whoooo do we have here?\
58	A reckless chick, for sure!\
59	Little one, have you no fear?\
60	<...>\
61	You've come to the wrong place\
62	Now I'll have to erase\
63	you right from where you stand!\
64	Let's pick up the pace\
65	That was just a little taste\
66	My power knows no end!'']]
67	* KidsAreCruel: Both Birb and Egbert are victims of this:
68	** The peafowl chicks laugh about how Birb doesn't look the same as them. While some of their parents scold them for this, their own comments show that they aren't much better than their children, gossiping among themselves about Uncle's Pea's 'questionable decision'.
69	** Some of the younger chickens at Gallus Palace harass Egbert by making him be their ball. After intervening, Birb notes that there seem to be bullies everywhere you go.
70	* LiterallyLaughableQuestion: How the Kookaburras react to Birb asking about their behavior.
71	* LuckyCharmsTitle: The d at the end of [=SongBird=] is written as an eighth note, and the S at the start of Symphony is written with a G-clef.
72	* LukeIAmYourFather: Twice. [[spoiler:The [[MalevolentMaskedMen Masked Bird]] is Birb's mother]], and [[spoiler:the Bowerbird is Egbert's father]].
73	* MagicMusic: Singing the right notes in the right patterns and places can trigger all kinds of effects.
74	* MalevolentMaskedMen: A mysterious, [[SilentAntagonist silent]] masked bird is the leader of the Magpies. [[spoiler: But she is ultimately [[GoodAllAlong not as malevolent as she appears]], and the mask merely serves to hide her identity and her [[ScarsAreForever facial scars]] from the Owl.]]
75	* MarathonBoss: The FinalBoss lasts for roughly eight minutes nonstop.
76	* MirthlessLaughter: The Kookaburras laugh at ''everything'', even when they're upset and afraid. [[spoiler:This is why they've been laughing whenever they check on Cassie; they're absolutely ''terrified'' of her.]]
77	* MissingChild: Poor Uncle Pea. One morning, your beloved son joins you for a dancing lesson, then says he'll meet you back home for breakfast... but doesn't show up, having disappeared without warning.
78	* MosesInTheBulrushes: [[spoiler: Birb's mother hid him away as an egg to stop him from dying at [[BigBad the Owl]]'s hands. Then he was discovered by a peacock, and the rest is history.]]
79	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
80	** Subverted if [[spoiler:Birb frees the Chicken Pixie. She tries to be evil, but she is very bad at doing it]].
81	** Played straight when a horrified Birb realizes that [[spoiler:he accidentally gave the Owl the power to wipe out the rest of the Songbirds, and left Uncle Pea open to an ambush from the Owl. He makes up for it by taking on the Owl and defeating him]].
82	* ObliviousAdoption: Birb at the very beginning of the game. The realization that Uncle Pea is probably not his biological family is what prompts him to go looking for answers about his origins.
83	* OcularGushers: Cassie is naturally prone to these.
84	* OffscreenTeleportation: Egbert does this in order to avoid being left too far behind.
85	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: When the Owl's artifact is activated, he transforms into a huge, [[LightIsNotGood glowing white]] bird that resembles a [[ScarySkeleton giant owl skeleton]].]]
86	* OrderIsNotGood: [[spoiler: The Owl wants to activate the artifact because he wants to use the Lyrebirds' power to bring order back to the forest. And to that end, he tried to ''[[FinalSolution wipe out their entire race!]]'']]
87	* PointOfNoReturn: The game repeatedly warns players before the cutoff point, culminating in Birb himself musing aloud that he'd better make sure he's completed all his business before moving forward.
88	* PoorCommunicationKills:
89	** One of the reasons that Cassie is so miserable is because she keeps hearing laughter coming from above, and believes that the culprits keep visiting just to mock her. When Birb investigates, he discovers that [[spoiler:the Kookaburra are actually scared of her due to her sheer size, and have been spying on her, tittering nervously. Not exactly ''good'', but not as dire as she'd assumed, either]].
90	** [[spoiler:The Masked Bird and the Magpies are unable to ''explain'' to Birb why he should not continue his quest (the Owl is manipulating Birb as part of his plan to conquer the forest); they just scream at him to stop, even if they do have a real reason to want him to. But well, given that their leader doesn't even talk until far later, it can be argued that they tried.]]
91	* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Magpie Gang, consisting of a masked bird leader and three magpie goons who try to stop Birb in his quest.
92	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Each of the Magpies gets angry red eyes in their last verse, showing that they've gotten serious. [[spoiler: Later in the game, [[BigBad the Owl]]'s eyes turn red when he reveals he was EvilAllAlong.]]
93	* RedHerring: The Chicken Fairie/pixie in the Gallus Pallace. You can encounter her during an optional quest and [[spoiler:free her with the right feather. It turns out she is a mischievous pixie who wants to get revenge on her captors, and she has an EvilPlan. You can encounter her again trying to teach penguins to fight the chickens, and Birb nervously wishes her luck. It turns out, however, that she isn't the BigBad. That honor goes to the Owl]].
94	* RelativeButton: Birb may have been fine with [[spoiler:staying away from the Owl after the latter tries to kill him and Egbert, letting him try and fail to complete the Artifact]]. But then [[spoiler:the Owl kidnaps Uncle Pea, traps the Lyrebird, and uses them to coerce Birb to give him the last note. After that, Birb at his RageBreakingPoint goes to confront the Owl and stop him once and for all]].
95	* SamusIsAGirl: The ominous [[MalevolentMaskedMen Masked Bird]] turns out to be [[spoiler: [[LukeIAmYourFather Birb's mother]] and the last of the Lyrebirds.]]
96	* ShownTheirWork:
97	** Kookaburras don't laugh to show that they're happy. [[spoiler:They laugh to express fear, which is why they were laughing near Cassie]].
98	** [[spoiler:Owls prey on smaller birds. Thus, it is remarkable that Owl tolerated Birb for that long before revealing that he killed all the lyrebirds ForTheEvulz]].
99	** [[spoiler:Lyrebirds really can [[VoiceChangeling mimic]] any birdsong of their choice.]]
100	** [[spoiler:The Owl's powered-up form has huge, dark pits for eyes and holes in his beak because [[SkullForAHead that's what an owl skull looks like in real life]].]]
101	* SlidingScaleOfAnimalCast: Level 1, all-animal cast.
102	* SpannerInTheWorks: After [[spoiler:the Owl has Birb, Birb's mother and Uncle Pea helplessly trapped in cages, it's none other than Egbert who frees Birb to face the Owl]].
103	* SuddenlySpeaking: [[spoiler: Once Egbert hatches, he stops being TheSilentBob and starts speaking clear English.]]
104	* ThievingMagpie: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], but the first member of the Magpie Gang has a gold chain around their neck like a [[{{Gangbangers}} stereotypical gangster]].
105	* ThisCannotBe: [[spoiler:The Owl]] [[VillainSong sings]] several shades of this upon defeat.
106	--> "No! This cannot be! The victor should be me! No way! This is absurd! My plan had no flaws! How could I have lost?! Not to this little bird!"
107	* ToothyBird: Mostly averted, except for one special case - [[spoiler: when the Owl reveals himself as the BigBad, he cracks a wicked SlasherSmile full of teeth.]]
108	* VirtueIsWeakness: During his MotiveRant, [[spoiler:the Owl]] declares that helping everybirdy out just makes others weak and dependent.
109	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The credits include a slideshow of the various birds after the events of the game.
110	** [[spoiler:The Woodpecker has completed a [[BambooTechnology wooden]] HumongousMecha to terrorize the chickens of Gallus Palace.]]
111	** [[spoiler:One of the Kookaburras perches on Cassie's beak and laughs. The other two [[CharacterDevelopment don't seem as enthusiastic]].]]
112	** [[spoiler:King Booby and Queen Penguin dance together, surrounded by {{Bishie Sparkle}}s. A few boobies seem perturbed by the display.]]
113	** [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Owl]] broods after his defeat with a [[InstantBandages bandage]] on his wing.]]
114	** [[spoiler:Egbert and Birb cavort through a field together. The former is apparently [[PuppyLove crushing]] on the latter, not going unnoticed by Uncle Pea and the Bowerbird.]]
115	** [[spoiler:Birb's mother tucks him into bed, shedding TearsOfJoy.]]
116	** [[spoiler:Birb sits on a cliff, happily watching the sun on the horizon.]]
117	** [[spoiler:And finally, a [[GroupPictureEnding group picture]] of Birb, Egbert, their parents, Uncle Pea, and the [[GoodAllAlong Magpie Gang]].]]

Context VideoGame / SongBirdSymphony