Video Game / Die Young

Live or Die Young

"My crew was always the people living on the edge... Still, nothing could've prepared me for what happened on that island..."

-Daphne

Die Young is a Wide-Open Sandbox, Survival Horror game by IndieGala. You take the role of Daphne, a young thrill-seeking socialite who wakes up one day at the bottom of a well on a strange island somewhere in the Mediterranean. With only the clothes on her back and mysterious instructions to reach a distant tower, Daphne must locate her missing friends, Jennifer, Rose, Rachid, Dave, and Andre, then find a way off the island. But along the way, she must brave the dangerous environment, vicious wild animals, crazed junkies, and murderous cultists.

Die Young Entered Steam Early Access in June 2017, and has garnered fairly positive reviews thus far.

Die Young: Prologue was release for free on June 15, 2019. Set a few hours before the main game, you play as Nehir, a field agent sent to kill the leader of the cult. The mission failed, and now Nehir is in a desperate race to escape.

The full game was released on September 12, 2019.

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This game contains examples of the following:

Die Young

• Action Survivor: Daphne is your average sports car-driving, mountain-climbing thrill-seeker. But she's not prepared to deal with such dangers on the island. The game enforces this by making most weapons rather ineffective, putting focus on Flight over Fight. Nevertheless, she has excellent survival ingenuity and can easily figure out a way to replicate a found tool/weapon using scraps of wood and metal.
• An Arm and a Leg: Various corpses can be found of the many people who ventured to the island in the past, and most of them are missing limbs.
  • You will also suffer this if you receive a killing blow from the Lumberjack or Executioner.
• Ax-Crazy: Junkies are so completely broken by drugs that they are all violently insane, spewing inanities and attacking on sight. The Lumberjack gets bonus points for actually wielding an ax, and is of the sadistic variety as he is revealed to not even be a lumberjack. He just loves dressing up in various costumes while he maims, torments, and murders people.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Pretty much in all the endings. In "Join", Daphne accepts the preaching of Brother No. 1 and joins his precious Community. In "Imprison", she fails to meet the rendezvous, and is locked up with many other prisoners. In "Escape" she successfully makes it to the rendezvous with incriminating files, but by using them to get the Turkish government to disavow knowledge of the island, it allows the Community to relocate safely and in total secrecy.
• Big Brother Is Watching You: Upon reaching the High Tower and getting the radio, Brother No. 1 reveals that he's been watching Daphne's progress the entire time, and a side area reveals that he accomplishes this with remote controlled drones.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Good/True ending. Daphne successfully escapes the island with incriminating files that will force the local government to disavow its existence, and she can eventually get back to her own life. But, all of her closest friends are dead or betrayed her, and it's unlikely she'll ever fully recover from the nightmarish experience. Meanwhile on the island, her escape was part of a side plot to get the island disavowed so they could relocate and continue their Community in total secrecy.
• Boom, Headshot!: Crossbow hits to the head deal exceptional damage, instantly killing all but the largest targets. The Lumberjack is immune on account that he wears a thick shielded helmet.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: The Executioner, Lumberjack, and Big Hammer Guy from Prologue are all giant brutes with equally large barbaric weapons.
• Bullfight Boss: Cujo, the abnormally large dog who guards the tower, is so strong that normal attacks have no effect, and he must be lured into ramming electrified fences.
• Cherry Tapping: It's possible to pick up small rocks and throw them. They can distract enemies, as well as hurt them (for a measly 3 damage). It's entirely possible to beat the snot out of someone to their last sliver of health, and then finish them off with a small rock... Even the big guys.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Workers and Militiamen who betray the Community are often subject to this. According to various documents, Brother No. 3, AKA the Lumberjack, takes a sadistic joy in brutally maiming, executing, and tormenting people.
  Daphne: Ugh! A torture room... [sigh] Why does that not surprise me?
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Daphne was already plenty snarky, but as she goes through the island, braving various horrors and enemies, if something doesn't totally disgust her, then she now looks at it with indifference, such as the torture room mentioned above. Even in combat, sometimes instead of gasping in terror upon being chased, she'll give an exasperated sigh.
• Corrupt Politician: Various documents and NPCs state that the Community has a deal with the neighboring Turkish mainland officials, who turn a blind eye to their clearly shady existence, what with so many visitors sailing out to the island and never returning. It's much worse than just them turning a blind eye however. The island exists because of the government. Ibrahim states how this "Community was initially just a dumping ground for the local government's "trash", meaning political rivals, addicts, and other refuse the country didn't want hanging around.
• Deadpan Snarker: Daphne may be in a horrific life or death situation, but that won't stop her from making the odd quip here and there.
  Daphne: [Upon finding a corpse with a symbol carved into his back] Looks like someone's rockin' a new tattoo.
  Daphne: [On seeing the bloodstains on the chair in the Lumberjack's shack] Somebody sneezed while on her period.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: The only way to defeat the 3 larger enemies if you don't have a crossbow to get those powerful headshots. They all have at least 2000 hp (for perspective, a warthog has about 80), and your strongest melee weapons only hit for about 30 with a normal strike (and that's with your damage set to maximum in the difficulty settings).
  • Pretty much the only way to kill Brother No. 3/the Lumberjack, since he wears a shielded helmet and mask that completely block headshots, so even with a crossbow, you're gonna need a lot of ammo to take him down.
• Defector from Decadence: One of the ideals behind the cult. Some joined up because they despised their old lives being poisoned by capitalist greed, and chose a more humble lifestyle on the island. The launch trailer has a monologue from Brother No. 1 lecturing on how anyone who adopts any degree of capitalist lifestyle is "guilty".
• Dirty Coward: Dave... Maybe. He's found on the Beach, handcuffed to a pyre. As part of Daphne's "Last Trial" Brother No. 1 wants her to kill him because he's "a parasite who betrayed others to save his own skin." Supposedly he got Jennifer and Rachid killed by sacrificing them to other dangers, and took advantage of the help of a Community farmer to overcome the Trials. It's up to Daphne to decide his fate.
  • Also Andre, who kills Dave if Daphne didn't already do so, and is revealed to have been shadowing Daphne the entire time, all so he could take advantage of her situation to secure his own freedom.
• Elite Mook: The Executioner, Lumberjack, and Beekeeper set themselves apart from other enemies by being massive hulks of flesh, wielding inhumanly large weapons (With the exception of the Beekeeper who is unarmed), having boss-level health pools, and capable of killing you in a couple hits.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Rose, Daphne's friend, met this fate, as her body is found torn in half Deadpool-style. Whether she was killed by other means and voracious beasts tore her apart later, or someone like the Executioner sealed her fate, is unknown. Neither is a pleasant thought.
• I Choose to Stay: Pretty much what happens to people who come to the island and passed the Trials to join the Community over the years. One possible ending has Daphne succumb to the goading of Brother No. 1 to kill her friend, and head to the main Village to join the Community.
• Improvised Weapon: The first weapon you'll likely ever wield is a common stick. You can also find wrenches, shovels, crowbars and even a Mining Pick, which serves as weapons and useful utility items.
• Item Crafting: An important element of the game's Survival Horror nature. You'll need to find ingredients to craft weapons, tools, and medicine; in order to stay alive and to replace the ones that inevitably break.
• Join or Die: The purpose of the Trials is to weed out those too weak, physically or mentally, to join the socialist utopia on the island. If you complete the Trials, you are welcomed with open arms, but anyone who refuses to join, who wasn't already killed by the dangers throughout, will be imprisoned or killed anyway, as the Community values its secrecy and can't allow anyone to escape.
• Kill It with Fire: Molotovs and a Torch are possible weapons to be crafted, Molotovs in particular being exceptionally powerful.
• Lawman Baton: Some enemies wield batons, which are fast like a knife or stick, but hit harder and have generous durability.
• Le Parkour: Daphne's means of exploration. You'll find yourself doing a great deal of running, jumping, vaulting, and climbing to traverse the island, or escape danger.
• Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: Daphne starts the game barefoot, due to her shoes and all her other possessions being taken from her. Later on, Jennifer's body is found with only one shoe on, after having been mauled to death by a rottweiler; who took one of her shoes. Daphne can take Jennifer's remaining shoe right away, but will likely have to kill the dog nearby, in order to get the other shoe.
• The Mole: Ibrahim was playing you, his partner Nehir, and possibly even Brother No. 1 from the start. The Stinger of the Good Ending reveals that he was working with Brother No. 1 with a side plot so that if Daphne succeeded in escaping the island with incriminating files to disgrace the government, it would force them to deny all allegations and severe ties to the Community, allowing them to relocate to a new island where they can truly have their hidden socialist utopia.
• Multiple Endings: Depending on how things turn out, there are 3 possible endings.
  • Join - Daphne finishes the Last Trial, killing either Dave or Andre at Pyre Beach, then is invited to the gates of the main village, where she drinks drugged water, passes out, and wakes up in a shack, already changed into work clothes, and opens the door to a rather idyllic farming area where she is welcomed as part of the Community.
  • Bad - Daphne calls in a rescue chopper, but fails to arrive on time. She finds the pilot dead by multiple arrows, and is surrounded by several archers, who knock her out. She wakes up some time later dressed like a Junkie, and stuck in a random prison cell, never to be heard from again.
  • Good - Daphne calls in a rescue, and arrives on time. After a tense battle against more than a dozen enemies, possibly including either the Executioner or the Lumberjack, Daphne successfully escapes on the chopper, while Brother No. 1 continues to lecture her on her decision to go back to the world.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: It's revealed through some dialogue and notes that at least one farmer was punished for helping a foreigner overcome the Trials.
• One Woman Army: By the end of the game, it's possible for Daphne to have killed at least 50 enemies, ranging from animals to giant armored hulks.
• Poisoned Weapons: If she acquires the knowledge, Daphne can craft 2 forms of poisoned bait, and poisoned arrows. One bait will put hostile animals to sleep, the other will kill. The arrow will instantly kill most enemies, but for the 3 big guys, it'll deal normal damage and apply a damage-over-time effect.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: One of the tenets of the Community is that no existing workers are allowed to help foreigners in any way, such as assisting them in completing the Trials. Documents and dialogue reveal that at least one worker has recently been punished harshly for doing so.
  • Andre feels like he played this straight by killing Dave if Daphne hadn't already done so, since he had a radio and heard everything Brother No. 1 was telling Daphne. It's also his potential fate, as he thought doing what Daphne was meant to do would get him his freedom from Brother No. 1, but only gets him tied to another pyre, and Daphne can finish him off right there.
• Rich Bitch: Averted. Despite being born into wealth, Daphne is honest and puts an effort into all the things she does, and doesn't feel like her wealth puts her above the law. A flashback even has her call her mother telling her she just got a job at a friend's company, and never had to break the law like her mother did.
• Robbing the Dead: All throughout, Daphne will find remnants of people who arrived and died on the island long before she showed up. Some of them have useful clothes and equipment that improve her abilities, such as gloves that reduce stamina drain when climbing.
• Scenery Porn: It may all be the stage of a brutal life-or-death situation, but stepping back and simply taking in the view shows off the beauty of this seemingly idyllic Mediterranean island.
• Secret Test of Character: "The Trials": The reason Daphne and her friends were captured and released instead of hunted down outright. All were given a crude map telling them to go to the tower, and upon reaching the top, Brother no. 1 makes contact via radio to tell Daphne that she should feel like a better person, having braved the horrors of the island that some of her friends succumbed to, through shear willpower and by taking her life into her own hands.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: One side quest involves freeing a man trapped in a cellar. Another involves locating each member of a camping group who were all hunted down by the cult militia, save for one who can't be found in the area. By the time you get the key to the cellar (a good 15 hours in, most like), Daphne finds that not only is the prisoner the missing camper, he had already hanged himself by the time you got back.
• Sinister Scythe: The Executioner wields an enormous gnarly looking scythe.
• Sinister Surveillance: Upon reaching the base of the tower, a nearby shack can be explored to reveal that the island has a fleet of drones at its disposal, allowing the Community to watch new arrivals during the Trials.
• Talkative Loon: Junkies, the most common non-animal enemy, who in their drug-addled state spew almost-nonstop complete and utter nonsense.
  "I don't want to go to church today!"
  "Where's my chicken nugget?!"
  "My tits are melting!"
  "Am I just some character in a video game?!"
• Thrill Seeker: Daphne, and her friends to an extent, which bites them all in their asses as their recent excursion led to their current predicament.
• Took a Level in Badass: Daphne, potentially. You start the game with nothing but a shirt and shorts, a compass, and no means of hand-to-hand combat. But throughout the game you can acquire all kinds of improvised weapons from tools, and actual weapons like a harpoon and crossbow, as well as defensive equipment such as body armor and leg protectors to reduce incoming damage. By the end of the game, with all this equipment, Daphne can tank hits from even the strongest enemies, and have the means to fight back.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Upon acquiring the radio, Brother No. 1 continues to contact Daphne and lecture her on her choices.
• Wrench Whack: A simple pipe wrench can be found in several locations, and it has probably the best balance between speed and damage of all the tools.

Prologue

• Action Girl: Nehir plays identically to Daphne, but doesn't suffer dehydration like she does, gets access to the deadliest weapons early on to reap carnage with, and makes ample use of Molotovs.
• Meaningful Name: Huge Hammer Guy, the prologue's boss fight, is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
• Off with His Head!: Nehir's fate at the end. It's all in first person POV too, so you get a nice shot of your recently decapitated corpse as your head rolls to the floor.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Upon reaching the docks where Nehir's accomplice waits with their escape boat, she finds that he's already been killed by multiple arrows, and the barbed wire gate is locked... Then the Huge Hammer Guy shows up with a bunch of dogs and archers. Happens again as upon defeating him, and using his key to go through another route, she's immediately captured and executed by the Lumberjack.

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