Eternal Daughter

Eternal Daughter is a side-scrolling Action Adventure platformer made by the duo of Derek Yu and Jon Perry, under the guise of Blackeye Software. Created with Multimedia Fusion, it was warmly received by the Klik community, and is often listed under the best freeware games made for the PC.

Eternal Daughter is set in an alternate universe, populated by four races: the forest-dwelling Lorians, the technologically advanced and militaristic Dungaga, the enigmatic Shulin in the mountains, and the rugged, loyal Grodol in underground caves. The story follows the epic quest of a young Lorian girl Mia, as she escapes the enslavement shared by her people at the hands of the Dungaga. In the initial part of the game, it appears that the Dungaga and their militaristic empire are the true villains. However, about one-third of the way into the game, it is revealed that the Dungaga were mere dupes, and the true cause of the evil in the world is the dark God Baphomet, who is using the Dungaga's greed for ore to uncover the Portal where he lies hidden. Mia must then confront his henchmen, endure trials to earn the blessings of the four races' gods, and finally face off against Baphomet in single combat.

It can be downloaded here.

A video walkthrough is available here, and most but not all of the beautiful soundtrack (the portion composed by Swedish virtuoso David Saulesco) can be found here free for download. The walkthrough thoroughly abuses glitches in the game and doesn't particularly show off the plot or give the watcher a good chance to appreciate the soundtrack for it, so the best way to experience it is still (fortunately or unfortunately) by playing the game itself.

Tropes used in Eternal Daughter include:

Action Girl: Mia, though her interactions with other characters suggest that there is something of the Badass Adorable about her as well.
Ambidextrous Sprite: Not to mention ambidextrous reading ability: she can read the book in either direction if you wait long enough.
Armies Are Evil: Played straight, and then subverted. In the beginning, the Dungaga army are portrayed as oppressive and tyrannical, enslaving the Lorians and despoiling Nature. However, a faction led by the Dungaga general Heziod soon go over to Mia's side, and by the end of the game, the entire Dungaga army, including her half-brother Hume, help in the fight against Baphomet.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Mia, in the ending.
Attack Drone: The familiar obtained halfway through the game flies up to and breathes fire on enemies, more effectively the more fruit he eats.
Ballistic Bone: Thrown by skeletons.
Beef Gate: Make a wrong turn, and you'll find enemies wax most of your health. Not that you can tell the difference.
Big Bad: Baphomet, of course.
Big Creepy-Crawlies: The First Rider has a quartet of giant flies that he uses for attacks and as a makeshift shield.
Boss Remix: Sort of. Baphomet's boss music is an amped-up remix of the normal boss music.
Charged Attack: If you hold down the attack button, then Mia will eventually shoot an energy projectile instead of simply taking a swipe with her weapon thing. It has pitiful range and the charge-up time is pretty long, but unlike other projectiles, it can be used indefinitely.
Check Point Starvation: You'll usually have to pass 6-8 enemies to get from one checkpoint to another. These enemies are usually quite tough, Mia dies in a couple of hits from them and healing items are rare.
Crystal Dragon Jesus: Arguable, but consider the facts. Mia "has the best parts of the gods and the mortals with her." Her father is the God of Light, Eluriel, whose name sounds suspiciously like an old name ("El-Elyon") for the God of Judaism and Christianity. She faces evil personified on her own, dies painfully, and ascends to heaven. There are other, less obvious, allusions at other points in the game.
Developer's Room
Divine Parentage: Mia.
Double Jump: Once you get a certain item, you can do this.
Downer Ending: Baphomet is killed, and Mia's hometown is rebuilt. But Mia won't live in the world she helped to save. Moreover, it is implied that she was in pain for weeks before dying. Also, her beloved familiar stays at her grave for about a year before continuing his life. Top it off by the people obviously forgetting to tend to the grave of their world-saving-heroine and this is one sad ending, indeed.
- Somewhat alleviated by it being heavily implied that Mia ascended to a higher plane of existence, and joined her father's side.
The Dragon: The Three Riders. Interestingly, you kill them at the halfway point, rather then during the climatic battle.
Drought Level of Doom: The last level, which is also a maze.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Given, every daughter is "eternal" as she will always be the daughter in the eyes of her parent. Still, you can't get much more "eternal" than dying, being transformed to a goddess and spending all eternity next to your father.
Final Boss: Baphomet, and he isn't going down without a fight.
Flunky Boss: The undead Grodol king and the first two Riders.
Fungus Humongous
Game Over Man: That sprite.
Gentle Giant: The Grodol live in slime caves, speak a rather ungrammatical dialect, and look like trolls. However, they are actually brave and loyal allies in Mia's quest, initially fighting off the Dungaga army, and later assisting her in the final battle.
Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The archer frog, the ice knight (twice), the roots of a big plant, a Giant Enemy Crab and a huge garbage-eating head.
God of Evil: Baphomet.
Gravity Barrier: Many of them exist. You can actually bypass some of them using the hyper-dash glitch, but there are other barriers before you can reach anything interesting.
Half-Human Hybrid: Hume, and he has all kinds of issues because of it.
- And let's not forget Mia herself, a half-Lorian, half-goddess.
Heel Face Turn: Some of the Dungaga, most notably Hume.
Helpful Mook: These little critters. They don't attack you, they don't interact with you... but you can kill them to use them as jump boards... Which is necessary to get 1 additional hit point.
It's All Upstairs From Here: The tower, of course.
Klingon Promotion: You help Morgrom achieve this so he can lend his people's support.
Little Miss Almighty: Mia is a demigod.
Lost Forever: An NPC in the tower, if rescued, will go to the desert and refill your gems to full if you visit. Assuming you get him out before the tower is destroyed.
Meaningful Name: Baphomet, the game's dark god/Satan figure. Depending on whom you ask, the "real" Baphomet is either a pagan fertility god, a mistranslation of "Mahomet", or a Satanic figure. Regardless, the name carries enough baggage with it that it's an excellent choice for the game's Big Bad.
Mentors: Haldor, and later the Shulin Elder, are both this for Mia.
Nintendo Hard: Some of the levels and most of the bosses can be quite... trying. But the game is no less fun for it.
Redemption Equals Death: Exemplified by Mia's Dungaga half-brother Hume, who begins the game as a complete monster who kills his mother. However, he later sees the light, and dies while saving Mia's life from an attack by an archer.
Save Game Limits: Save points are extremely sparse. Even more annoying is the fact that they're your only reliable source of healing. Combine this with the fact that enemies can kill you in three hits or less, and you get Fake Difficulty.
Science Is Bad: Subverted. Early on in the story, the player is led to believe that the Dungaga, or Men Of Steel, are the antagonists. However, we later learn that they were misled by Baphomet, and the Dungaga army plays an important role in helping Mia in the final battle. To complete the subversion, the game world even includes a God of Technology, Zod, who gives Mia a gift essential to complete her quest.
Sequential Boss: Throm, the fifth boss, as well as Baphomet.
Shifting Sand Land
Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Blue Mountain.
Spin Attack/Spin to Deflect Stuff
Springy Spores: Watch out, as there are also fake ones that bite you.
Stepping Stone Sword: The mojak.
Taking the Bullet: Or, to be exact, the arrow: Hume does this to save Mia, completing his redemption, and earning him Mia's forgiveness.
Tell Me About My Father: When the game begins, Mia's mother Thelia is the slave of a Dungaga warlord, who keeps her for his own personal pleasures, and she does not know who her father is. Several characters in the game hint at his identity, but all is revealed only just before the final battle, when she learns that Eluriel, the Lorian God, is her father.
Triumphant Reprise: Just when the ending gets to its saddest point... you hear a triumphant, glorious orchestration of the theme from the first area of the game.
Wall Jump: Once you find a certain item, you can do this.