Corrupt

Corrupt is a RPG Maker fangame that was adapted into a Super Mario 64 Machinima, a first for Shyrx. The game is a short horror game structured similarly to a .exe game, with the player going through different memory files to try and figure out what is happening within the RPG world. The events that happen within are canonical to the overall timeline, taking place after Super Mario 64 Bloopers but sometime before World Traveler 64.

Development
Corrupt was first teased in the secret ending of SR217's Rushed Adventure, after the player defeats Waluigi. The creator (Shyrx) talks to the player about his possible next project, which he thinks is going to be a horror game.

The game was teased again at the end of the channel's five year anniversary special, where Shyrx talked directly to the viewer, explaining the new plot point that there are actually multiple different versions of Rhys across the universe. The video ends with static with a transparent picture of a color inverted SuperRhys217.

Less than a week later, a mysterious video titled "MEM_FOREST_01.avi" was uploaded, showing the first gameplay of Corrupt. The description was written in binary, which translated to "Something's wrong. I can't access the RPG world. Perhaps you can help me." The game made no further appearance on the YouTube channel, but did get its own GameJolt page shortly afterwards.

After a few screenshots were posted, the game was released to the public on November 2nd, 2018. A few updates were planned for the game, but they have not been released as of now.

Almost a year later, a machinima adaption of Corrupt was premiered on September 2nd, 2019. The plot was relatively the same, but had some alterations to make it fit better within a machinima setting, such as the removal of Shyrx's dialogue at the beginning as well as only featuring the original game's "good" ending.

Gameplay
Unlike Shyrx's other RPG Maker games, Corrupt features no battle system. Instead, the game is relatively simple, with the player only needing to interact with objects and explore the area to advance. Corrupt has three endings: a bad ending, a good ending, and a secret ending.

The player goes through four different memory files (plus a fifth one exclusive to the good ending), all of which feature a different playable character. The first and second memory files are relatively the same, with you simply needing to move from one area to the next. The third, however, requires more exploration of the area to progress. The fourth has a chase sequence where the player needs to run away from the antagonist.

There are only two instances where the player can die: the first is if you make a bad decision in the third memory file, and the second is during the chase sequence mentioned above. If the player does get killed, they restart the memory file from the beginning.

As mentioned before, the game has three separate endings. The player gets the bad ending if they just play through the game normally, but the good ending requires the collection of various objects in each of the memory files. The first memory file requires the player to examine two flower tiles before heading back to the beginning and finding the object in the grass. Every memory file afterwards just requires the examination of other objects to obtain the item, but they need to be collected in sequential order, otherwise the player gets locked out of getting the good ending. Each item is related to one of the versions of Rhys, and starts a dialogue-only cutscene with them once each of them are obtained.

The secret ending is a simple easter egg, and doesn't require playing the game to the very end. In the third memory file, the player needs to go inside of the inn and check the oven in the kitchen several times to get the ending.

Plot
Anything within this box features alternate scenes that are most likely not canonical.

The game starts with Shyrx talking directly to the player, who tells them about the world that they are currently in and how it is parallel to the Mario 64 world. He then tells them about something that has entered the world and prevented him from accessing it himself, and proceeds to ask them to figure out what's going on by looking through various memory files. The player is given a choice, but no matter what they pick, they are still forced to access the memory files.

In the machinima version, everything above is completely removed, and is instead replaced with sounds of somebody rummaging through what is presumably a desk before starting the first memory file.

MEM_FOREST_01 / MEM_FORTRESS_01
SuperRhys217 appears in a forest, where he is haunted by a mysterious purple figure.

In the machinima version, the forest is replaced with Whomp's Fortress, but the figure's dialogue is all the same.

MEM_CASTLE_02
Startled by an odd noise, Mario gets up and decides to check it out. He stumbles upon what he thinks is SuperRhys217, only to get charged at.

This is relatively the same in the machinima version.

MEM_VILLAGE_03
Uatarlovegames walks into Toadiere Village, where he decides to stay at the inn to try and warm up. He has to go inside the store first and find a clue as to where the key to the inn is, but he manages to find it and gets his rest. Right before the memory file ends, the purple figure is seen standing right next to Uatar while he sleeps.

Before looking for the key to the inn, the player is given a choice to bash down the door or not. If yes is selected, Uatar will be able to go inside, however he won't be able to fall asleep. Before entering the kitchen, a sound from outside is heard. Uatar goes outside to check it out, only to get caught by the creature.

The machinima adaption is relatively the same, though it skips the sequence where Uatar has to look for a key to the inn (which is also replaced with a generic house).

MEM_CELL_04 / MEM_DCASTLE_04
SuperBhys712 is resting in his cell, where he complains about not being able to do what he wants. Suddenly, his cell door opens without explanation, so he decides to leave. He comes to a long hallway which he doesn't recognize, until suddenly he hears a noise from behind him. He decides to run for it, thinking it's a cop that is chasing him. He hides in a closet, and luckily, the thing goes away.

Bhys sees that the nearby door has opened, and he decides to check it out. He finds himself within a long dark hallway, where the figure speaks to him. It tells SuperBhys712 that it has "corrupted" SuperRhys217 and his friends, and that they are on their side now. The figure then asks if Bhys would like to join it in taking over the world, which Bhys agrees on.

The machinima version is structurally similar, but everything else about it is completely different. Bhys is still the main focus, however it takes place in his castle instead of a prison, and SB712's dialogue has changed to reflect this.

MEM_SUB_05 (Good ending)
This memory file is a cutscene only with no gameplay, and is only accessed after collecting all of the important items. It has SuperRhys217 wake up in a mysterious area and get talked to by the figure again. The figure then reveals himself to be Shyrx, the original Rhys. He explains that SuperRhys217, along with others such as Star Featherpow and William Redgem, are actually fragments of Rhys' soul from when he got fractured many years ago. His goal is to reclaim all of his fragments and become whole again, though this will make the individual fragments no longer exist physically. SuperRhys217 disagrees to this, but Shyrx ignores this request. He then thanks the player for giving him access to the RPG world and boots them back to the title screen.

In the machinima adaption, all mentions of the player were removed, and other dialogue was altered. SuperRhys217 is also visible during the whole sequence instead of being offscreen, with Shyrx still being a disembodied voice.

GameJolt page
https://gamejolt.com/games/Corruptbyshyrx/374523

Trivia

 * Corrupt was originally going to be more like Mario: The Music Box, but was changed to something that was more like a .exe game.
 * This is Shyrx's first game to use RPG Maker MV instead of RPG Maker VX Ace.
 * In the machinima version after the credits, new dialogue was added, saying "This turned out worse than I thought... What have you done, Shyrx?" This dialogue is said by Chrono in World Traveler 64.