"...Which, I am afraid to say, is the cause of much of the wrongdoing we see upon these very streets. We have forgotten who we are."
— Mr. Whittock
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey is an Adventure Game developed by Salix Games, and released on PC through Steam on April 5th, 2019.
The time of King Arthur is long past, but due to some strange magic, Lancelot and Morgana still walk the streets of Britain. Now they work as investigators, hunting down the many criminals and demonic creatures that prey on humanity. Their latest quarry is a London serial killer called Jack the Ripper.
Meanwhile, Mary Kelly strives to make ends meet in her Whitechapel home. She hopes for enough rent money to last out the week...and perhaps a cure for those strange dreams she's been having. Unfortunately, she is soon swept up in Du Lac and Fey's investigation.
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey provides examples of:
- Action Pet: Saluki sighthounds are pretty cool in Real Life, but they would be hard-pressed to talk to animals or climb ladders like Morgana does. (Of course, she is closer to "unwillingly dependent on human shelter and support" than "pet".)
- Art-Style Clash: Interestingly, the game features real-time rendered 3D models alongside 2D cartoon-like characters. The effect can be quite jarring.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Appropriately for a game about investigating the Ripper. Particularly Mary's death. Not only is her torso ripped apart like the other victims, but her heart is also carved out and eaten, her face is so badly mutilated she's completely unrecognizable, and her tibia is exposed for the world to see. And the player will see her
brutally butchered body on full display. - Driven to Suicide: Towards the end of the game, both Mary and Du Lac have each hit their lowest points and express in their diaries a desire for their lives to end.
- Forced Transformation: Morgana Fey, famous sorceress and occult expert, was polymorphed into a dog. And she hates it. Her main goal throughout the game is to find Merlin and get him to reverse his spell.
- Ye Goode Olde Days: The Middle Ages aren't depicted, but even mortal characters describe it as having the honor and magic that has been all-but-lost by the industrial era. (Given how unsafe the latter was, they may have a point.) Lancelot is still coming to terms with the fact that that civilized world no longer exists.
- The Heart: Mary recognizes just about everybody in her district and often takes time out of her day to chat with them.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Mary is well-regarded by most everyone in Whitechapel and is not shy about her profession as a woman of negotiable affection.
- Honor Before Reason: Lancelot, in keeping with his canon portrayal, gives away the money he and Morgana have earned to a person in need. As Morgana points out, they are also in need- she hasn't eaten for days, and the innkeeper is about to throw them out for lack of payment.
- Howl of Sorrow: Upon learning that Mary is dead, regardless of everything they did to help her, Morgana throws back her head and howls. As she does, she briefly flickers between her true form and her cursed form.
- Immortality Bisexuality: Du Lac is an immortal being who has the option to share the night with a male prostitute, lovingly speaks of fellow knight Sir Tristan in a way that strongly implies a romantic relationship, and also counts Tabiry and, famously, Queen Guinevere among his lovers.
- Mood Whiplash: Mary is delighted at the idea of returning home to Ireland to see her daughter again, but that delight turns to horror when she realizes her guest is the Ripper come to murder her.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Jack the Ripper certainly lives up to the name.
- Not So Above It All: While enjoying a drunken game of truth or dare, Mary dares Fey to draw something they've seen that day.
- Fey: I drew a penis with my mouth.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: In the Victorian equivalent of a curio shop, Lancelot is shown a painting of a nude woman. The painting is of Elaine of Benoic. In other words, his mom. Cue squick when he realizes this.
- The Scapegoat: The true killer targets "immoral" women as a twisted form a justice for the crime of living while the killer's devout brother dies of disease. And also for revenge against one such "fallen woman" whom she belives caused her to be imprisoned for a decade. Naturally, the supposed narc is not among the victims.
- Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: Fey, who utterly hates being a dog, expresses it through witty sarcasm.
