| “ | Don't you ever miss your school days? After all, it was the last time you were innocent. | ” |
– Bierce when you start the level | ||
"Elementary Evil" is the second level in the game, Dark Deception. It is playable in Chapter 2. This level takes place in a nightmarish school inhabited by Agatha, joined by Malak in the final act of the level. This level includes two zones and allows players to utilize their newly-obtained speed mechanic. This is the 2nd level to have a boss in the main level and a boss enemy, Agatha.
Dark Deception[]
Introduction[]
| “ | Oh, a new friend! I'm so excited! Welcome! | ” |
– Agatha, greeting the player for the first time | ||
The level begins in a circular room serving as the school's entrance. After Bierce notes on the player's connection to the school, they must utilize their speed power to break the red barrier laid ahead of them. The door opens to a crashed school bus in the wall, and the hallway ahead leads to the school's auditorium.
When the player proceeds into the auditorium, the stage lights activate, music will play and Agatha will teleport onto the stage to welcome the player. She then explains that she prepared a welcoming party for her, and, after conversing with the player a little bit in an unsettling manner, disappears. The school bell rings, and Bierce notes that "school is back in session". The player must now collect 283 soul shards (433 for the S rank) across the map to beat the level, just like in the previous level. This time, however, there are two zones to explore, meaning the player must collect shards in two separate areas.
The player must then proceed through the left auditorium entrance to begin the chase in zone 1, which contains 127 soul shards.
Act I[]
| “ | Looks like school is back in session... | ” |
– Bierce, announcing the start of the shard hunt. | ||
After collecting the first few shards, the player will encounter yet another red barrier. Simply do what you did last time to get past. Once the player starts exploring the zone, Agatha will announce the chase, and the music will start.
Unlike most other enemies, Agatha doesn't always know the player's location; instead, she relies on hearing to locate the player. Although there is only one of her, she can hear any doors they open, and can even detect the player when they are close. She spends most of her time slowly wandering around the map, often stopping to taunt the player or ask for their location. If she spots the player, she will pursue them at a quick speed, being able to outrun them at normal speed. In order to escape from her when she spots you, you must use your speed boost to escape. She can even occasionally teleport in short distances.
The player must use this knowledge to avoid Agatha as they search for all 127 shards in the first zone. Since there are doors spread across the entire map, Agatha can use this to her advantage. There are various rooms and hallways to explore, as well as desks and chairs that can get in the player's way. There is also a projection room displaying a graveyard, which Bierce states include an unmarked grave that must be Agatha's. Like the hotel, the area even includes secret rooms found across the map, either behind doors or walls, and contains either a file or nothing at all. Like the hotel rooms, these rooms can also be found on the map.
Once all 127 shards have been collected, Bierce will inform them it is only half of the shards and tells them to travel to the next zone, previously guarded by a barrier in the playground. This area also contains the ring altar, which Bierce reveals is found in the heart of every nightmare. The player must then proceed to zone 2, Agatha Elementary.
Act II[]
| “ | Like what I done with the place? | ” |
– Agatha, at the start of act II of the level. | ||
Upon entering Agatha Elementary, the player will come across a spacious, abandoned-looking room containing shelves, cases, and doors. Malak can also be seen in his humanoid form, walking across the balcony above while looking at the player and chuckling evilly before disappearing. The door ahead is then accessible, and the player will once again meet up with Agatha. She explains that by taking the soul shards, the player has taken her "friends", and disbands her "relationship" with the player before demonstrating her true powers. She then disappears, allowing the player to proceed into the abandoned area.
When the player enters the area, they will see silhouettes of young students or children behind the classroom windows, beating on them in an attempt to escape or plea for help as they appear to laugh in glee. Agatha remarks on what she did to the place, and Bierce explains that these children are her victims, now trapped within the classrooms. The player must collect the remaining shards in zone 2, all while avoiding Agatha once more, who can now teleport in long distances and cut off the player or catch up with them. Other than this, along with her new aggressiveness, her mechanics are still the same.
The layout has elements similar to zone 1's elements and even has the same projection room showing the graveyard. However, a cafeteria is also present and includes a cluster of shards within it. The rooms and hallways are similar, the secrets are very similar to the previous zone's secrets, and new paranormal activities, background effects, and chaotic elements such as raging fire throughout the area are present. For soul shard collecting, the method is mostly the same without the previously-mentioned changes.
Once the final amount of shards have been collected, Agatha, now in frenzy mode, expresses her refusal to let them take the ring piece, now desperate to slaughter the player. The player once again, however, manages to obtain the ring piece in the playground.
Final Act[]
| “ | End of the road, mortal. | ” |
– Malak, after the ring piece is obtained. | ||
With the ring piece obtained, the player is now given the objective to return to the portal, but the playground exit closes as they approach it. Agatha appears once again, now berating the player for their actions, saying they don't care about what she did for them, and that they are a bad person who only wishes to steal from them in a frustrated tone. She then tells them that Malak, who she refers to as "daddy", is now upset with the player, before disappearing. Malak himself then appears behind the doorway in his humanoid form, taunting the player before transforming into his reaper form and giving chase.
Malak is now in pursuit of the player; he can usually keep up with them but can be evaded with the speed power-up. He is immune to any special soul shards and can be heard levitating when he is close. The player must now escape back to the auditorium, all while avoiding Agatha's fake portals, which are traps that cause her to join Malak in the chase when activated. If they try to escape through the closer entrance, the doors will shut in front of them, with Agatha saying there are no shortcuts. The player must take a detour through the entrance they came in from to get back, all while avoiding Malak or both of them.
When the player returns to the auditorium, Agatha will close off the exit and then makes all the chairs disappear, make the room darker, beginning her fight with the player. During the fight, she'll teleport around then run after the player. The fake portals will spawn as the fight continues and will explode if the player gets too close to them. After the fight, the doors open, as Bierce announces this it causes Agatha to yell at her in anger. Agatha then screams at the player as she chases them to the portal, but the player once again escapes in success.
Secrets[]
- In one of the corners of the playground, there's a slide which, if interacted with, unlocks the achievement Playtime!.
- A large secret room can be found that contains a drawing depicting a girl and her mother's presumable death as they drown in a burning, sinking car. The father shown in the drawing stands on a cliff above the accident, smiling maliciously at his crime. It is now known that this is the accident that killed Tammy and Elise. The walls of the same room left quotes like "They trusted you" and "No forgiveness", as the words seem to be directed at Doug, and along with the message given after the level (Doug saying "She was about the same age"), it is speculated that Doug might have done similar actions against his own family prior to the events of Dark Deception, thus the need for them to 'redeem' himself.
- There is a secret room close to the large secret room in the first part of the school.
- There is a very small secret room in the first part of the school, somewhere on the outskirts of the map.
- There is a secret room in the corner of the first part of the school. This goes for the second part of the school as well.
- Another large secret room can be found in the second part of the school. Since that part mirrors the first, the room will be found in the same place. The room contains a large well, discovering this unlocks the achievement Peer into Darkness, suggesting said well is the spawning point of Agatha in zone 2. A note can also be found here from E.
S-rank[]
To obtain an S-rank, the player must achieve all of the criteria listed below.
- Time: Less than 20 minutes (+60)
- Soul Shards: 283 (+0)
- Bonus Shards: 2 (+15)
- Secrets: 4 (+25)
- Lives Lost: 1 or less (+25)
- Shard Streak: 250 (+25)
- Total Shards obtainable: 433
An S-rank must be achieved to obtain an excerpt of Bierce's Diary.
Achievements[]
| Picture | Name | Description |
|
Ahead of the Class | Beat Elementary Evil without using any stun orbs. |
|
Peer into Darkness | Found Agatha's hiding place. |
|
Playtime! | Slid down the playground slide. |
|
Smarty Pants | Didn't touch any fake portals. |
|
Too Cool for School | Earn an S Rank in Elementary Evil. |
Known Bugs[]
- You can fall out of bounds using the school bus.
- Using Telepathy reveals an enemy on the stage, but there is none.
- Agatha can get stuck on opened doors.
- Agatha may teleport through doors unnecessarily.
- Agatha can't teleport through the doors in playground.
- When you open the secret room doors, the back of the door still remains interactable.
- When finding the secret room with Agatha's drawing, the sound, which plays after opening the doors, plays the second time when entering the room.
- You can get stuck in the playground.
- By leaving the last shard near the zone entrance and then dying, you can get Agatha to spawn despite the zone already being completed. This causes 2 Agathas to be present at once in Zone 2.
- There are floating exit signs in the cafeteria.
- Agatha's animations may not play during cutscenes.
- The back of secret room doors is flipped in the wrong direction.
- If you face towards a place where Agatha cannot teleport to (in Zone 2), she will teleport all the way back to Zone 1.
- Malak cannot go through closed doors.
- If you stand on top of the pigs in playground, enemies won't be able to get to you.
- During the boss fight, when the fake portals eventually despawn, they do not actually get removed and can still kill you.
- Likewise, when you activate the portals, they still don't actually get removed.
- Agatha can get stuck on the bus.
- The frenzy Agatha at the very end of the level has no kill animations.
Monsters & Mortals[]
This level is represented by zone 1 from the original. Some rooms have been replaced with corners and hallways. The beginning of the original is also cut from this because of it being a dead end. The exit area that leads to zone 2 is also missing and replaced with a playground area. The Fake Portals that spawn from trap time will explode when a player gets too close like from the boss fight with Agatha. This also has bosses unlike the original, the bosses are The Alphabet Letters and when they spawn in they run around and swarm players and attack them.
Stats[]
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 300 | 2.30 |
| Wave 2 | 250 | 2 |
| Wave 3 | 250 | 1.30 |
| Wave 4 | 200 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 1 |
| Total | 1200 | 8 |
| Required | 600 | < 8 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 400 | 2 |
| Wave 2 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 3 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 4 | 400 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 400 | 1 |
| Total | 2000 | 6 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 500 | 4 |
| Wave 2 | 400 | 2.30 |
| Wave 3 | 300 | 1.30 |
| Wave 4 | 200 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 0.35 |
| Total | 1600 | 9.35 > |
Soundtrack[]
- Main Article: Dark Deception: Chapters 1-3 (Original Soundtrack)
Trivia[]
- This is the first level to introduce traps.
- Before Dark Deception Enhanced, the Fake Portals during the escape sequence spawned Agatha upon contact instead of exploding and killing the player.
- Various elements present in this level share a similarity with different distinctive elements in the game, Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning. Both involve chases, the environments both take place in a a schoolhouse, the antagonists harmlessly greeting the protagonist verbally and in an unsettling way before being convinced to attack them, They increase aggressiveness as the chase continues, and both make an attempt to catch the player as they leave to their fullest effort.
- In addition, one of the billboards say "Stop Monkeying Around - No Running In The Halls!" The last phrase is a quote from Principal of The Thing.
- This is the first level that Malak attempts to kill the player.
- In the 2014 build of the game, the school was originally called "Wilhelm Elementary".
- Wilhelm Elementary is a reference to the "Wilhelm Scream", a popular sound effect of a man screaming.
- At an earlier stage of development, the level was going to have over 400 soul shards to collect rather than the current number of 283. This can be seen here.
- In fact, the 2014 demo of the level had 600 shards, only two can be taken before level starts.
- Only one person played the 2014 demo of this level and it was Kira Komrad.
- Agatha can't teleport into the playground, making it a safe zone when all the doors are closed.
- Alternatively, the player can trap Agatha in the playground, seeing as she can't teleport through the doors (this only works for Act 1).
- This was later fixed in Dark Deception Enhanced.
- This level is home to the smallest canon boss, Agatha.
- However she is not the smallest boss in the series, with that title belonging to The Alphabet Letters.
- This is the first level to feature just one single enemy when not including Malak.
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