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Visual Novel / Scrambled: Syd City

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Scrambled: Syd City is a Freeware Visual Novel made by the team behind Love Is Strange. The game follows Syd, a C-List superhero under the name Scrambled, who lives in Sapphron City. After she interrupts an attempted museum heist, she decides to look deeper into the background of one of the two women involved: Enchantress, the magician thief, or Frequency, the retired A-List hero.

It can be found here.


Scrambled: Syd City contains examples of:

  • '90s Anti-Hero: Frequency used to be one, and Syd references this at one point:
    Syd: Guess she really is an anti-hero of the 90s.
  • Accidental Murder: It's implied that Enchantress didn't intend to kill her teammate.
  • Action Mom: Frequency used to be an A-Lister and is still pretty badass. She's also Mindstorm's mother.
  • Atrocious Alias: Syd's superhero name is "Scrambled," which most people assume is after the egg dish. She indicates on several occasions that that's not the actual meaning behind it, but the true meaning is never actually revealed.
  • Badass Normal: Frequency doesn't have any powers, just muscles and a lot of gadgets, but that didn't stop her from being an A-List superhero in her prime.
  • Bland-Name Product: Normally avoided—sites such as Twitter are mentioned by name—but Enchantress' first title card shows what's obviously a McDonald's fry container with "WLW"note  in place of the M.
  • Burner Phones: In Frequency's route, after Enchantress steals Syd's phone, Frequency gives her one that wipes itself every day, which she refers to as "basically a burner."
  • …But He Sounds Handsome: In Frequency's route, if Syd tells "Karen" that she'd like invisibility as a superpower, she'll attempt to talk up Scrambled without revealing that she is Scrambled. It doesn't work very well.
  • Butch Lesbian: Syd.
  • The Casino: Enchantress intends to pull a heist in one.
  • Chameleon Camouflage: Syd's superpower allows her to camouflage herself — as well as people and things that she touches — with her surroundings.
  • Clear My Name: In Enchantress' bad ending, Scrambled tries and fails to stop Enchantress' casino heist, and as a result of Scrambled decloaking before her pursuit, she's seen and photographed following after her. The media begins to speculate that Scrambled is Enchantress' accomplice and was involved in the theft. However, the story ends before we find out what (if anything) Syd does to try to clear Scrambled's name.
  • Code Name: All three of the main characters have superhero or supervillain code names, and the practice is common for others in the setting as well.
  • Dating Catwoman: Syd can romance Enchantress, who is a thieving villain.
  • Domino Mask: Both Scrambled and Enchantress wear these.
  • Dynamic Akimbo: When confronting Enchantress after she robbed a grocery store, Scrambled puts her hands on her hips in a "superhero pose" because it's supposed to help with confidence.
  • Fallen Hero: Enchantress used to be called The Magician and was in the superhero team Shock Wave, until she killed one of her teammates. Now she's a thief.
  • Heel–Face Turn: In Enchantress' good ending, she gives up her life of crime.
  • Insistent Terminology: Syd often corrects people who say that her power is invisibility by telling them that no, she doesn't turn invisible, she camouflages herself. Frequency points out that this makes her power sound less impressive than it is.
  • The Internet Is for Porn: When Syd tries googling "blonde women with teleportation powers" to find information about Enchantress, she mostly finds a lot of porn.
    Syd: Okay, I guess I should've expected this.
  • Irisless Eye Mask Of Mystery: Both Scrambled and Enchantress sport these in their costumes.
  • Kiss of Distraction: In Frequency's good ending, Syd manages to stall for time, and ultimately save Enchantress' life, by kissing Frequency.
  • May–December Romance: Frequency is a good deal older than Syd, but is one of her love interests.
  • Multiple Endings: There are four endings, one good and one bad for each route.
  • Off with His Head!: How Enchantress killed her former teammate.
  • Out of Focus: Enchantress plays a large role in Frequency's route, as the main antagonist, whereas Frequency is barely even mentioned in Enchantress' route.
  • Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: Enchantress does this at her casino show, which Syd speculates is an intentional jab at the stereotype of magicians.
  • Retired Badass: Frequency used to be a big name A-List superhero, but she dropped out of the spotlight some time ago.
  • Secret Identity: All three of the main characters have superhero or supervillain alter-egos.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Syd lists saving Arcadia Bay among the things that C-List superheroes sometimes get to do if they're lucky.
    • In Enchantress' route, she and Syd watch Ocean's 8.
    • Syd has a Three Bee Moon poster on her wall.
  • Smoke Out: In Enchantress' bad end, she uses a smoke bomb to cause a distraction and allow her to escape.
  • Stage Magician: Enchantress has the aesthetic, and does actually do magic shows.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Enchantress is noticeably tall, at a good half a head taller than Syd.
  • Super Team: A number of superhero teams are referenced, notable examples being Enchantress' former team Shock Wave and Frequency's former team Deth Squad.
  • Teleportation with Drawbacks: In a twist on the typical way this power works, Enchantress can teleport objects from place to place, but not herself.
  • Terms of Endangerment: Enchantress likes to call Syd "darling" when they're facing off.
  • Tomboyish Name: Both Syd (short for Sydney) and Charlie (short for Charlotte) have these.
  • Unscrupulous Hero: Frequency has genuinely heroic motivations for what she does, but she was formerly on a Super Team that didn't take prisoners if they didn't have to, and the main conflict of her route comes from her determination to kill Enchantress.

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