VALIS/YMMV

YMMV in Literature/Valis

 * Jerkass Woobie: a misanthropic cancer patient.
 * Paranoia Fuel: you will never see the color pink the same way again. EVER.

YMMV in Video Game/Valis

 * Alas, Poor Villain: Every game except the 4th one has one of these. Yuko mourns Reiko after killing her in the 1st game, and the Big Bads of the 2nd and 3rd games each using their dying words to explain their sympathetic motives to Yuko after she defeats them. All the bad guys in the 4th game are Card Carrying Villains, and are sliced and diced with impunity.
 * That One Boss: The third game, the boss of the first level after finding Nazetti. Raining boulders, an attack that goes across the whole screen, and, of course, an absurd amount of health.
 * In the first game, the Twin-headed lightning dragon boss gets annoying really fast due to the lightning spell. And then you fight Reiko, who can take away 48% of your health in a single spell cast (said spell is considerably weaker in your hands). The only way to dodge it is with a frame-perfect spell casting. The Final Boss is much easier due to not having a spell that hits the entire screen.