You Lose At Zero Trust/Playing With

Basic Trope: A Video Game punishes the player for neglecting their Relationship Values with other characters.

• Straight: Hiro has to work to befriend his teammates Mana, Pike, Ichigo, Kowalski, Cherry, Ayanami and Mark. If he neglects their relationship, he can't team up with them for Combination Attacks.
• Exaggerated: If he neglects to befriend any of his teammates, they may leave or turn on him.
  • On top of having to manage his relationships with all of his True Companions, Hiro also has to consider his relationship with important NPCs like Princess Velvet, her sister Satine, their maids Minako and Kaya, the head of the knights Issac, his best man Kelvin... the list goes on and on. Neglecting any of them could trigger a Nonstandard Game Over.
• Justified: Hiro starts as a total stranger and must earn their trust; otherwise, he can't function effectively as their leader.
  • Hiro runs on The Power of Friendship.
• Inverted: Hiro has to push his Locked Out of the Loop friends away, or they wind up Killed to Uphold the Masquerade, causing him to suffer a Heroic BSOD and ending his story.
  • Hiro's relationships with the other characters are directly connected to his fighting ability, so failing to get all the best equipment will make everyone hate him.
• Subverted: Hero and his party are all on a mission to save the world, and all recognise that they need each other, even if they cannot stand each other at all.
• Double Subverted: Hero and his party are all on a mission to save the world, and all recognise that they need each other, even if they cannot stand each other at all, right up until a pivotal moment in the plot where it turns out only the power of friendship can save mankind.
• Parodied: The party will stop fighting mid-battle, and insist the Hiro give them gifts or spend time with them before they will fight.
• Deconstructed: Hiro magically becomes stronger or weaker depending on whether he is liked or disliked by society at large. Because hardly anyone knows who he is, he starts off very weak...
• Reconstructed: ...however, as he travels, meeting people and defeating monsters, he starts gaining a reputation among the populace. So, the farther in the game he gets the more he must refrain from taking actions which will hurt his reputation, as every infraction will drastically decrease his strength.
• Zig Zagged: In the beginning, relationship meters are purely cosmetic, not even affecting dialogue. However, later in the game, the party starts gaining stronger abilities which are Lost Forever if Hiro has a low relationship with them. Eventually though, the same party members gain stronger abilities exclusively if your relationship with them is low.
• Averted: Relationship meters are purely cosmetic, or aren't included.
• Enforced: The various relationships Hiro can forge in the game unlock various choices and decisions that lead to the game's various endings; failing to work on them properly means the player will wind up stuck with a Bad Ending or even a mere Nonstandard Game Over.
• Lampshaded: "It's petty of me to leave you when you're trying to save the world, Hiro, but I can't take you anymore."
• Invoked: Emperor Evulz sends his agents to sow distrust among the True Companions that Hiro must work to overcome.
• Exploited: Emperor Evulz' spies inform him of the strained relationships, and he tries to tempt those allies into joining The Empire.
• Defied: ???
• Discussed: ???
• Conversed: ???
• Played For Laughs:
• Played For Drama: As their trust in him fades, Hiro's companions grow increasingly distant and grow less likely to listen to him. If Hiro doesn't find some way to repair the relationship, he risks losing them for good -- one way or another.

---

Back to You Lose At Zero Trust.