Ad Infinitum is a survival horror game developed by Hekate and published by Nacon.
Set during World War I, the player is thrust into the shoes of a German soldier who, following the disastrous events of "Operation Morgengrauen", suffer nightmarish hallucinations after returning home, manifesting through a combination of trauma the soldier has experienced in the trenches and the volatile relationship with his family.
The game was released on September 14, 2023 for PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series Xand S.
On your feet, Troper!
- Abusive Parents: Because of his late father's lasting influence, Karl was obsessed with military life and pushed his sons to one day join the army, something Madelein took issue with. While Madelein treated Johannes well until his disfigurement, she did not seem to share the same affection for Paul and ignored him outright, believing he would turn out like Karl and his grandfather.
- Awful Wedded Life: Madelein and Karl, suffice to say, do not have a good wedded life. It's implied that while they did have a good relationship, it eventually turned sour due to Karl's father's toxic influence on his son and Karl's own inadequacy and failure to live up to his father's expectations.
- Bait-and-Switch: The first chapter of the game implies that the game you're experiencing some sort of afterlife or personal Hell, as Madelein hysterically claims Johannes and Paul are both dead and even asked for spiritual guidance from a priest. It's not until much later that you realize the game is actually Paul going through some sort of nightmarish trial from self-loathing and PTSD from the war.
- Body Horror: The medical notes found throughout Chapter 4 do not paint a pleasant picture. Between hacking off limbs with unsterilized tools and "electroshock therapy", the monsters you see wandering the medical halls give you a clear look at what they've suffered. Thankfully, it's all in Paul's head.
- Decoy Protagonist: The game's prologue opens with you in the role of Johannes, who is left for dead within the opening minutes of the game. The game's actual protagonist is Johannes' younger brother.
- Dysfunctional Family: The family relationship with the Schmidts is so charged with tension and rife with abuse, it's a wonder how it didn't explode. Between Karl's view on military life and insistence that his sons do what he couldn't and live up to their grandfather's legacy and Madelein's growing frustration and madness from dealing with Karl's toxicity, Paul's life at home understandably sucks, making it little wonder why he views his family as literal monsters. Fortunately, all family members reconcile with one another in the Golden Ending.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Paul is the foolish to Johannes' responsible. The former is a Manchild who's view of the military doesn't line up with reality and makes questionable decisions that ultimately hurt his men than it helps them. His brother was better adjusted and by all rights a competent soldier and wanted to have a better life in arts and painting when the war ended. The war ultimately helps Paul mature in the game's best ending.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Downplayed. Karl's father, Lother von Schmidt, is long dead by the events of the game, but it's his influence and belief in the glory of military life that torments the Schmidts, with Karl pressuring his sons to live up their family's legacy and Paul being tainted by such views and suffering for it when reality cruelly does not fit what he was taught.
- Hide Your Otherness: Johannes was decried as a "pervert" by German society and his father after Paul told Karl he saw Johannes and Cristopher in the attic together. Given the context and period the game takes place, it's all but stated Johannes was gay.
- Hope Spot: Played with. Madelein prayed Johannes would return home safely, and she sort of got her wish; he came home, but was disfigured and covered in bandages. Madelein, however, believes Johannes isn't her son, but a "cuckoo" taking his place and treats him horribly because of it, trapping him in the attic and giving him only black ink to drink and paint with.
- Mental Monster: Each of the monsters encountered in the chapter represents Paul's view on what's become of his family and their home life. Johannes, for example, takes the form of a bird-like monster with a disfigured face, representing what happened to Johannes during the operation and their mother's accusations that Johannes is a "cuckoo" invading their home. The mooks of the first chapter, the Hunger, also represent Paul's company as they suffer from starvation.
- Multiple Endings: The game has three, determined by whether you spared or killed the Arc Villains of each chapter.
- Worst Ending: Achieved by killing all the monsters. The Officer congratulates Paul for "culling his weakness" and hands him an Iron Cross, telling him the front lines are his home now and tells him to return. This ending implies Paul's family situation deteriorated to the point where his brother died while trapped in the attic, his mother fell into the well and died, and his father committed suicide.
- Bad Ending: Achieved by having spared and killed at least one monster. The Officer expresses his disappointment with him for having failed to "cull" his weaknesses and pulls forces Paul to point a gun at himself before pulling the trigger. The stress of military life and the failed operation drove Paul to the brink of insanity and was thrown into an asylum. Assuming the visit from his family was real and not a hallucination, Paul cannot see his family as anything but monsters.
- Golden Ending: Achieved by sparing all the monsters. It shows a brief flashback sequence where Paul is given the order to commence "Operation Morgengrauen" by Supreme Command, and later retraces his brother's steps at the start of the game before finding Johannes amid the barbed wire. The Officer, now revealed to be a representation of Paul's upbringing by Karl and patriotism for Germany, accuses Paul of cowardice and for not dying with the rest of his company. When it shifts back to the real world, Paul rejoins his family, all of whom have now reconciled.
- Manchild: Brutally deconstructed. Paul is decried as this by his company and even Johannes, being too young to be a military commander and issuing sometimes questionable orders while giving unreasonable punishments for little to no reason at all. He even calls the company doctor by some nickname from a show or cartoon he's seen, convinced he can bring back the dead despite the doctor telling him he is nowhere near that good. The reason it's deconstructed is that this all happens during the first world war, i.e. one of the most brutal conflicts in human history. This is even reflected in the game itself, where in Chapter 3, Paul envisions exactly what the company doctor is capable of; nightmarish monstrosities with brutal experiments conducted on so-called "traitors".
- Masking the Deformity: In the game's endings, Johannes is shown covered in bandages from head to toe and missing his left hand. The bandages help to hide how almost the entire left half of his face has been destroyed.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Karl's view of military life and his family's duty to serve comes under question when Johannes returns home from the war, disfigured and covered in bandages. In the Golden Ending, he even asks himself what he was thinking and expresses his relief that both his sons have returned home, though he now poses the question of how he could earn their forgiveness after all he's done to them. It's also implied that the war effort in general and Johannes' disfigurement led to him trying to shut down the munitions factory.
- One of the driving reasons behind the game's events is Paul's PTSD from the war and for having left Johannes to die while the latter was trapped and mangled in a bunch of barbed wire. A drawing Johannes makes in the ending tells him what happened wasn't his fault and should not blame himself for it.
- Only Sane Man: Johannes is the only sane person in the Schmidt family by a mile, more disgusted by his father's insistence that they enlist in the military and bring glory to their family name and how it's poisoned Paul's mind and made his mother suffer. While he might chaff and curse at Paul when he becomes his company's new Leutnant, Johannes does still care for him, even telling Paul what happened to him was in no way his fault.
- Parental Favoritism: Johannes was the Schmidts' favorite child before Karl discovered his son was gay. Madelein loved and adored him and Karl wanted him to be the successor to the family name by enlisting.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Defied hard. It's made blatantly clear that Paul was not fit to be in the leadership role whatsoever, either giving the soldiers unreasonable tasks or expecting far too much. It did not help that Paul was too young to even be a Leutnant, having apparently earned the position thanks to Karl's influence in the military.
- Sanity Slippage: Between her abusive relationship with Karl and his father's toxic influence on their household well after her death, Madelein's mental state took a nosedive. It grew worse when her sons returned home from the war, but Johannes' disfigurement was so severe she was convinced he was not her son but a "cuckoo" come to take his place. Depending on the ending, she either gets better or dies falling into the well.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Karl uses his influence in the military to propel Johannes' relative's career, which allows him to become the Leutnant of the company despite his young age, something that rankles the other soldiers and even Johannes himself. That said, Karl did pull enough strings and intentionally put Paul in the same company as Johannes so the latter could look after his younger brother.
- Sole Survivor: The Officer is apparently the only person besides Paul himself left in the trenches when the monsters show up. Then it turns out the Officer is not even real; the game takes place in Paul's mind, suffering from a combination of PTSD and self-loathing and the Officer is actually Paul, representing his disillusioned views of the military and his father's teachings.
- Tempting Fate: During his time in the trenches, Johannes and some of his fellow soldiers planned to host an art exhibition when the war ended. With the exception of Johannes himself, all his friends are dead, which he bitterly notes in a letter you find later in the game.
- Tragic Keepsake: Downplayed. Johannes' diary. In the Golden Ending, Paul has it on his person after being captured by French soldiers, having been the one thing keeping him going during his time as a POW. Thankfully, Johannes isn't dead, but Paul had no way of knowing that at the time.
- Un-person: While Madelein loved Johannes, she did not express the same for Paul. In notes written by her, she feels as though Paul is far too much like Karl's father and bitterly remarks how Johannes leaving to join the military means she'll be left alone with her abusive husband, with no mention of Paul whatsoever. In another note, she's excited when she learns Johannes is returning home after being declared unfit for active duty, again wth no acknowledgement or question as to what happened to Pual. In the best ending, she realizes how cruel she was being and resolves to do better by her sons.
- War Is Hell: Given that the game is set during World War I, it's not so surprising. Although Karl espouses the glories of military life, it's made abundantly clear the war is brutal and unforgiving, especially for Paul and Johannes; the former is confronted by how war is not at all like what his father and grandfather described while Johannes while Johannes loses his closest friends during the conflict. The company they work with is not exempt from woe, either, with notes detailing how they suffer under Paul's incompetent leadership and the stress of combat in the trenches, with one even learning how his fiancé has given up on him and moved on. One soldier was apparently so hungry he cooked and ate a rat who bit him.
- You Should Have Died Instead: Madelein is under the belief that Johannes actually died out on the front lines and the person who came home is actually an imposter. As such, she wishes for god to take Paul's life and bring back her eldest son instead. Paul himself believes he should have died with the rest of his company out in the trenches and for leaving a mangled and disfigured Johannes in the barbed wire.
