Leo & Leah: A Love Story

Leo & Leah: A Love Story is a freeware RPG made by Strangeluv in RPG Maker 2003. It tells the tale of the titular couple, two lion cubs. One day, however, while venturing out into the wilderness, Leah is captured by a psychopathic huntress who intends to sell her to the highest bidder -- or worse. Leo takes it upon himself to rescue his Love Interest, though the journey takes longer than expected and soon grows in proportion beyond his wildest dreams.

The story starts off very lighthearted, hardly taking anything serious at all, with humour reminiscent of EarthBound and Super Mario RPG. Eventually, however, a deeper narrative emerges that arguably deconstructs the genre -- Leo must confront his doubts and ask himself how far he is really willing to go for Leah's sake.

Download the game here for a bizarre and thought-provoking tale.

An article by Strangeluv on a very important section of the game detailing his thoughts and inspirations for making it can be found here. Spoilers abound, of course.

Tropes used in Leo & Leah: A Love Story include:

Absurdly High Level Cap: The level cap is 99. Most players will end the game around level 20.
Action Girl: Brandy.
Battle Theme Music: Justified in the case of the Final Boss, as before you fight him, a huge orchestra suddenly appears and starts playing.
BGM Override: In chapter 4.
Boss Banter: Illusion Leah, Brandy, and Charlie Quinn.
- Done in a rather disturbing fashion for the first, whose "banter" consists of screams for mercy that get more and more desperate as the battle goes on.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Used for both horrific and heartwarming effect.
Breather Episode: After the horror and Mind Screw of chapter 4, chapter 5 switches back to a more lighthearted mood. At least until the end...
But Now I Must Go: Daisy, at the end.
Charged Attack: War Cry, kind of.
Chekhov's Gun: Minor example, but used for gut-wrenching effect; when you first get the Bug Suit, the description tells you that every time you use it, a Belgian widow cries. Most players will probably chalk this up to the game's tongue-in-cheek over-the-top silliness. However, in The Void, you can meet that very same Beligan widow, who curses you for making her cry so many times.
Climax Boss: Brandy and Whiskey.
- Arguably Illusion Leah as well.
Crystal Dragon Jesus: Charlie Darwin, apparently.
Continuity Nod: Lots, to A Home Far Away.
Deconstruction: Of the typical Damsel in Distress and Rescue Romance plot.
Damsel in Distress: Leah.
Dual Boss: Brandy and Whiskey.
Duel Boss: Illusion Leah in chapter 4.
Everything's Better with Monkeys
Fantastic Racism: Plants, bugs, frogs, and mammals all hate each other.
Gang Plank Galleon / Big Boo's Haunt: Chapter 4. And it's played for all the horror it's worth.
Hyperactive Metabolism: HP/SP healing points are even food! Adorable, live food called "Yummyhops" who beg you not to eat them before you mercilessly devour them, Played for Laughs.
- ...And then played with no laughs at all in chapter 4.
Interspecies Romance: Zara and Zinn, which causes problems due to the Fantastic Racism mentioned above. Arguably subverted/deconstructed; it ends with Zinn abandoning Zara for the Queen Bee, and Zara being brutally murdered.
Leitmotif: Brandy.
Lost Forever: Everything, potentially, since you can't return to previous areas after the end of a chapter. However, most of it's just common items and seashells -- the only really important things are balloons and skill bells, which are rather hard to miss.
Love Interest: Leah, natch.
One-Hit Kill: The Final Boss' "Spotlight of Death" spell.
Party in My Pocket: Daisy doesn't even appear during cutscenes, most of the time.
Rare Candy: Red and green balloons, which increase HP and SP, respectively.
Save Point: Black cats! They're part of an international corporation that wants to remove the stereotype of black cats bringing bad luck, so they became save points so that people would be happy when a black cat crossed their path.
Sheathe Your Sword: Strangely enough, inverted with Illusion Leah.
Shotguns Are Just Better: Brandy.
Silent Bob / Heroic Mime: Leo. This would be justified due to the fact that he's a lion, but every other animal in the game can also speak, and he can understand human speech... (Also subverted, since he often speaks through his actions and one can learn a lot about his character that way.)
Status Buff: Enguarde.
Theme Naming: Brandy and Whiskey.
The Unfettered: Explored with Leo in his quest to save Leah.

Spoiler tropes; read at your own risk:

Abusive Parent: Brandy's father. It was so bad that she killed him.
Accidental Murder: Brandy, to Whiskey. She does not take it well.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: Illusion Leah, possibly.
Circus of Fear
Driven to Suicide: Brandy after she kills Whiskey.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Deconstructed, and arguably the central point of the narrative.
Emotion Eater: Harlie and Charlie Quinn. According to Word of God, they recognized the extreme amount of love Leo possessed, and wanted to have a feast of it by capturing him and his Love Interest.
Family-Unfriendly Death: After Brandy's Villainous Breakdown, Leo kills her by mauling her repeatedly and bloodily until the "end of chapter" screen suddenly pops up.
Freudian Excuse: Brandy had Abusive Parents who traumatized her by constantly talking about how they'd treat her like an animal (i.e. kill her) if she disobeyed them; this caused her to become psychopathic and hate animals.
Interface Screw: Kind of; though it isn't direct, in chapter 4, many elements of the game normally taken for granted start acting weirdly and creepily; black cats start talking about how they hate the haunted ship and how they're frightened instead of saying silly things; Yummyhops attack you and tell you that by eating them you're "eating your own soul"; and the previously-helpful signposts start saying disturbing things: "Give up", "You've failed, [player name]", "Leah is dead", etc. It only gets trippier when you go into The Void itself.
Mauve Shirt: Zara.
Mind Screw: Everything in The Void.
Monster Clown: Charlie Quinn.
Mood Whiplash / Surprise Creepy: Cranked Up to Eleven with chapter 4.
- In addition, the tone usually darkens considerably and abruptly whenever Brandy is around.
Psychopathic Manchild: Brandy.
Self-Made Orphan: Brandy.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Chapter 2 is this for Zara. It seems like its plot is about overcoming the Fantastic Racism present among the animals, probably due to The Power of Love. But nope. Turns out Zinn never intended to marry her, and abandons her for the Queen B as soon as he can. A heartbroken wreck, Zara decides to just go home...and then Brandy shoots her.
- Although it's hard to tell what Leo's thinking, he seems to feel guilty for what happened, since Zara's ghost haunts him in chapter 4.
Unstoppable Rage: Leo, to Brandy, by the end of the game.
Villainous Breakdown: Brandy, and how.
You Bastard: Didn't feel bad about devouring all those Yummyhops? You will in chapter 4.

"Go on, eat [me]! You'll only be eating your own soul!"

- Oddly enough, it seems to make Leo feel bad - before The Void, once you talk to a Yummyhop, you automatically eat it. After The Void, you are prompted each time as to whether you want to eat it. Whether you choose Yes or No ultimately makes no difference, but it does suggest that the whole experience gave Leo second thoughts about chomping down sentient creatures on a whim.