Pradheep is an American-developed Eastern RPG made through RPG Maker and developed by Snow Dog Studios. The game follows our Reluctant Hero, Pradheep, as he is tasked by Queen Smelinore to stop the evil Lord Colton from taking over an entire continent.
Set in a Standard Fantasy Setting, the game consists mainly of the kind of JRPG gameplay that players are accustomed to using a POV battle system similar to Dragon Quest and EarthBound (1994). Throughout the game, players will recruit numerous party members, including Joey The Paladin, Sarah The White Mage, and Jason The Quirky Bard.
The opening narration of the game suggests that it is Very Loosely Based on a True Story, but the fantastical setting of the game puts some doubt on that claim.The game's subredddit where it can be downloaded: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pradheep/
Pradheep provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Most of the main cast have very average American names (Joey, Sarah, Michael, Jason, Ryan, etc.). But some of their friends include Jwong and Smelinore.
- Anachronism Stew: Despite taking place in a medieval fantasy world, the film series Star Wars and video game franchise Hyperdimension Neptunia are said to exist. However it is implied that in this world they are books rather than films or video games. Anime is mentioned but is implied to be books with moving pictures due to magic. The character Jonathan mentions World of Tanks but it seems to be a board game. Also,
Word of God says that the "real-life" aspects of the game were gathered over the course of 4 years, but the game's plot is contained within about a week. - Battle Couple: Pradheep and Sarah. Tori and Mike. Villanous examples of Sam N. and Julia. Colton and Lauren.
- Bash Brothers: Conor and Joey. Ethan and David. Jason and Ryan.
- Beta Couple: Tori and Mike are the betas, with Pradheep and Sarah being the main couple.
- Big Bad: Lord Colton, along with Lauren, his lover.
- Crooks Are Better Armed: Comically inverted. In a side quest, a man named Devon robs a local store at spoonpoint.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sam N. joins Lord Colton and seeks to destroy Pradheep. Why? Because Pradheep beat him at a board game.
- The Dragon: Though Brayden is the most prominent example, this duty is also shared by both Sams, as well as Hamilton, Lord Colton's literal dragon.
- Dungeon Crawling: Plenty of it.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Towards the end of the adventure all the party members have come to appreciate each other's company and all they have been through together. Even Pradheep admits to admiring everyone sticking by for so long.
- Heel Realization: Upon being deafeated, Sam N. expresses regret for his actions.
- Jive Turkey: Many characters speak with slang including Ethan, Conor, Joey, Ryan, and David, who all refer to each as "boyo" as a term of endearment. Sam M. and Devon speak in African-American Vernacular English. Queen Ellie speaks with an American Southern accent. In contrast, Pradheep, Jwong, and Jason all speak very formally.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Upon being tasked with clearing a cave of monsters, Joey sarcastically comments that Role-Playing Games never involve monster hunting.
- Nuke 'em: One of Lord Colton's go-to moves, Nuclear, deals massive damage to all active party members.
- Police Brutality: After being chased off by Pradheep and company, Devon, a black man, is shot to death by a police officer, despite being unarmed. It's a strange moment that borders on being an Unexpectedly Dark Episode.
- Planet of Steves: There are two Justin's and two Sam's. In addition, there are also two Paul's, both of which are younger brothers of the main characters.
- Press X to Die: Consuming a Snow Dog or an Organic Snow Dog will cause the character's health to instantly drop to 0.
- Shout-Out:
- When the gang runs into Marc in Lord Colton's castle, Joey references The Room (2003) by quoting some of its most infamous lines.
- Twice done by Jason, in reference to Suicide Squad (2016)
Jason: What are we, some kind of "Rescue" squad?Jason (at a later point):: What are we, some kind of "self-destruction" squad?- Colton paraphrases Don Vito from the The Godfather
- Pradheep quotes Don't Hug Me I'm Scared when speaking to Ellie's head chef.
Pradheep: Green is not a creative color.- One of Queen Ellie's strategists quotes Dr. Strangelove in the War Room.
- Colton has a tendency to quote Sheev Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith Brayden also frequently quotes Grievous and Dooku from the same film.
- The intro text is an homage to the opening title crawl of Revenge of the Sith
- Take Up My Sword: After Sam N. is killed, Lord Colton appoints Sam M. in his place.
- Two Girls to a Team: Sarah and Tori are the only recruit-able female members of the party. If the player misses Tori, then it's The Smurfette Principle.
- Villain Song: The sound of Stephen's singing can be heard both during his boss battle and throughout the dungeon in which he appears.
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Vocal Minority: Pradheep seems to be the only one who objects to killing people. Not even uber-moralist Jason seems to mind. - Warm-Up Boss: Rajiv, at the end of the Noob Cave.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Smelinore's country inflections are commented on by Conor in a bit of Lampshade Hanging.
