A Game of Reincarnation...
The Deer God is a 2D platformer game created by Crescent Moon Games and funded
on Kickstarter. The Alpha version was released on September, 2014 and can be preordered here.
It follows a big game hunter who, after his death, is reincarnated by the eponymous God into a fawn's body.
It includes the following tropes:
- The Atoner: The player character, if he note is good-aligned. The God states that he was reborn to atone for his crimes against nature.
- Bears Are Bad News: A possible predator, and one of the hardest to kill.
- Cheat Code: Several were shared by the creator; most of them involve pressing a specific letter key.
- Early Game Hell: The fawn body you start with is weak, easily killed by predators, and can't jump very high. Once you grow into an adult and get some powerups, things get better.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: An evil-aligned character eventually obtains the ability to conjure all three.
- Glowing Eyes: The Deer God has bright, pupilless blue eyes.
- Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Naturally, given the game's 2D layout. For example, hedgehogs aren't able to move through even the smallest bushes.
- Karma Meter:
- Ostensibly determines the type of powers you get, although players have differing reports on this.
- If the PC is evil-aligned, they may be reborn as a frail, inconsequential creature, such as a rabbit.
- Light Is Good: The birth of a new fawn is marked by a column of light descending to earth, and the God is surrounded by white light every time you see her.
- The Marvelous Deer: The Deer God is a white, ethereal being, with no real body to speak of. Oddly, despite having a female voice actor, she has a stag's antlers.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: The player character's (accidental) killing of a fawn is what spurs the Deer God to act.
- One-Hit Kill: Falling into one of the (many) spike pits scattered around will kill the PC. Always. The upshot of this is that it also works on enemies. A sufficiently agile player can jump over the pit and watch their would-be predators fall.
- Scenery Porn: The game has bright, vivid pixel art that depicts the setting magnificently. It's so detailed that new players may have trouble distinguishing between the background and the actual field of play.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Every predator, unless you kill them or something blocks their path.
- Too Awesome to Use: The collectable item that allows you to temporarily fly. You'll never really need it, but you'll always want it... and never feel justified in using it.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: The evil-aligned path offers myriad ways to kill your enemies... or whatever cute little woodland creature gets in your way.
