Insanity is a freeware survival horror adventure game made in Wolf RPG Editor by Uri. It's notable for being her first game. The original game, which hasn't been translated to English due to Uri herself disliking it, was made sometime in the 2000's. It received an updated remake in 2020, which is available in English. The English version can be downloaded here
. The gimmick is that there are multiple playable characters that you can switch between and doing so is necessary to complete the game; for instance, some puzzles can only be done as one character.
You play as a group of high school friends who decide to explore the abandoned, supposedly haunted Murai mansion. However, soon after entering they realize they're not alone there - a mysterious, murderous stalker is also inside the mansion and isn't happy about being disturbed. They must uncover the mansion's dark secrets if they want to leave alive....
Tropes found in Insanity include:
- Abandoned Area: The mansion is supposed to be abandoned, as no one has been seen there in a long time. As it turns out, it's not.
- Anachronic Order: A downplayed example. Switching between different characters sometimes results in the story jumping forwards or backwards slightly, though only by minutes or hours at most.
- Apocalyptic Log: The diary belonging to the butler, Yanase, serves as this, shedding light on what happened to the Murai family.
- Big Bad: Dr. Shigeki Murai is the man stalking the kids in the mansion and trying to kill them so he can revive his loved ones.
- Chairman of the Brawl: Kyouko can use a chair to strike the Big Bad, and thus save Riho.
- Chekhov's Gun: A medical book and blood pack, two collectible items in the basement area, do not seem to have any purpose at first. It's essential that Kenta collect them, as it's the only way he can survive being stabbed by Shigeki. Though this discovery happens only a small while after they can be found.
- Death of a Child:
- The premature passing away of Dr. Murai's daughter Emiko is what kicked off the entire plot.
- In the bad endings, six teens end up trapped in a basement and slowly die down there. It's unknown if or when they were found, but it wasn't in time to save most of them, while the only possible survivor has gone mad from trauma.
- Didn't Think This Through: At one point, Keisuke discovers Yuuki stuck in a locker, having hidden in there from the Big Bad. Upon hearing him returning, they both jump into the locker to hide. It's only after Shigeki has gone that Keisuke points out that Yuuki got trapped in the same locker they just shut themselves in.
- Downer Ending: The bad endings; in both endings, Shigeki kills himself and refuses to give the kids the elevator code. They're trapped in the basement and slowly die one by one. Keisuke is the only survivor, but has started to go mad and has little hope of rescue.
- Due to the Dead:
- If Kenta dies, Keisuke will cover his body with his jacket.
- If Riho dies, Kyouko will untie her and return her necklace to her.
- Everybody Lives: In the good endings, all the protagonists survive. In fact, keeping everyone alive is the only way to get a good ending; if either Kenta or Riho are killed, you'll always get a bad ending.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: In the bad endings, Keisuke is the last protagonist living and begins losing his mind as a result.
- Guide Dang It!: Some players get tripped up trying to avoid Kenta's death, as you need specific items to save him, and it's not indicated that they're important to collect. Getting one of them also requires you to first complete a puzzle with Keisuke, but it is likely you will encounter Yuuki first and trigger the event that prevents you from playing as Keisuke, preventing you from getting the item.
- Jump Scare: Not many, but there are a few involving the Big Bad popping up seemingly out of nowhere, brandishing a knife. His first appearance provides one of the biggest jumpscares; shortly after Ryouji and Riho enter a bedroom, he rushes out of hiding and attacks Ryouji, making Riho scream.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Early on, the group splits up to explore the house; it's justified here because as far they know, the house is abandoned and they're not in danger. Later, when they get locked in and Ryouji is attacked, Keisuke and Kenta set out in their own to find an exit while leaving Yuuki and the girls to look after Ryouji.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: There's one located in the basement, belonging to Shigeki. It's not too creepy or bizarre-looking… well, except for the over-sized cages and the human corpses.
- Multiple Endings: Four, two bad and two good. Which one you get depends on certain actions you take (or don't take) at specific points in the game.
- Bad End 1: Undermined by Insanity. Occurs if Kyouko fails to save Riho and/or Kenta is fatally stabbed trying to free Ryouji. If Riho died, Ryouji commits suicide in despair. After cornering Shigeki, Keisuke attacks him in a rage for what he did to his friends, trying to force him to help them escape. Shigeki slashes him with a hidden box cutter, then kills himself with it, leaving the group trapped as Shigeki was the only one who knew how to work the elevator – their only means of escape. Everyone dies except for Keisuke, who starts going mad and tries to develop a revival potion to bring his friends back.
- Bad End 2: The Dead Are Arrogant. Can only occur if Kenta survives the stabbing attempt and Kyouko saves Riho. After cornering Shigeki in the basement lab, he agrees to turn himself in. He tells Keisuke to call the police from the phone in the next room; however, Keisuke finds the line has been cut then hears Riho scream. He returns to find that Shigeki has slashed his own throat with a box cutter. He refuses to give them the elevator code before dying. The group are trapped in the basement; they all die except for Keisuke, who begins going mad, hearing the voices of the dead mocking him.
- Good End 1: Beyond the Door. Can only occur if both Kenta and Riho survive. After freeing Ryouji and cornering Shigeki in the lab, Keisuke is told to use the phone in the next room to contact the police. Before leaving, Keisuke has to instruct Yuuki and Ryouji to stand guard either side of Shigeki. As a result, when Shigeki tries to kill himself with the box cutter, Ryouji and Yuuki are able to stop him. The group, though primarily Yuuki and Kyouko, are able to prevent him from taking his own life, persuading him it isn’t too late to atone. Yuuki tells Shigeki he's Toshiko Yamada's grandson, how she used to tell him stories about working here, and how she wished she could’ve seen them again. Shigeki guides the kids out of the basement via the elevator and they go to the police. Shigeki is taken into custody and dies a few days later from malnutrition. The kids' lives return to normal eventually. In the final scene, Keisuke talks to Kyouko on the school's roof; they both express hope that Shigeki found peace and got to be with his family again.
- Good End 2: Crawling Out of Insanity. This ending can only be unlocked on the second playthrough. It plays out much the same as the first good ending, the difference being there are additional scenes from the villain's perspective in which he expresses remorse for his crimes and gratitude toward the protagonists for saving him from his insanity.
- New Game Plus: Once you've completed the game for the first time, the second playthrough adds flashback scenes and monologues from the Big Bad, to further flesh out the backstory or add context to the plot. It's also the only way to get the second good ending.
- Nice to the Waiter: The Murai's servants were treated as part of the family, which is especially evident in the flashbacks. At least until Shigeki went crazy and started killing everyone one by one, though he was also convinced he could bring them all back to life, so everything would work out okay.
- Old, Dark House: The setting of the game is an old, seemingly abandoned mansion on the edge of town, which is rumored to be haunted. The protagonists become trapped there and can't call for help because all the phone lines have been cut. It turns out to have a very dark and tragic history.
- Outliving One's Offspring: It's revealed that the inciting incident of the whole story was the death of Emiko, who is Shigeki and Miwako's teenage daughter, which the former was never able to come to terms with.
- Permadeath: Downplayed. Most of the time, getting killed simply results in a game over, but there a few occasions where certain characters can be permanently killed unless the player makes choices to avoid it.
- Sanity Slippage:
- The Big Bad slowly went insane over a number of years due to being unable to cope with the loss of his daughter.
- In the bad endings, Keisuke starts going insane as well.
- Shrine to the Fallen: Emiko's bedroom was kept exactly the same after she died. In a flashback, it's revealed that there was another reason for this besides memorializing her; Shigeki believed he could resurrect her and so wanted her room maintained so she could still use it.
- Tag Team: When the gang splits up into three groups, you can freely switch between them up to a certain event. You have to accomplish each group's tasks but the game leaves it up to you in what order you want to do it.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: In the good endings, the protagonists all persuade Shigeki not to kill himself.
- This Is Unforgivable!: The flashbacks reveal that the final straw for Takahashi was Shigeki removing Emiko's funeral urn for his experiments.
- Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: In his madness, Shigeki believes Kyouko to be his daughter, Emiko, come back to life. In fairness, they look similar and she's around the same age that Emiko was when she died.
- Together in Death: Kyouko mentions in the good endings that she hopes Shigeki finally got to be with his family again in the afterlife.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you just stand there and let Shigeki stab a helpless Riho (though it's also possible to accidentally fail even if you're trying to save her), you're guaranteed to get a bad ending.
- Video Game Remake: The game received a remake in 2020. This is the only version of the game that was translated from Japanese and is also the 'recommended' version to play, as it greatly improves on the original, mostly in terms of gameplay (the story remains largely unchanged).
