Contrast

Contrast is a puzzle-based platform style video game developed by Compulsion Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

The game sets in a mysterious world predominately inhabited by shadows. It begins in the 1920s, in the bedroom of Didi Malenkaya, a young girl with an imaginary friend named Dawn. They are assumed to be the only individuals that appear in 3D form, however Dawn has the amazing ability to phase from shadow to 3D in an instant.

Didi's mother, Kat Malenkaya, enters the room and tells her not to sneak out of the house while she is gone, again. Child services had already threatened to take Didi once, due to Kat's inability to properly watch over her daughter and due to the assumption that Didi maybe be 'mentally disturbed'. Child services notes that because of Kat's absence during the night it has taken a toll on Didi, causing her to act out (sneak out) and talk to 'imaginary people' (Dawn). Kat is given only two options; to find a more stable job or, preferably, return to her husband. Kat works as a singing act at a cabaret venue called the 'Ghost Note', in hopes of catching her big break. She begs Didi to promise not to sneak out, so that she will not get into trouble again. Didi promises but before she heads out, Didi asks if her father will return home. Kat answers that she does not know and leaves.
Didi and Dawn sneak out of the house to follow and watch Kat perform. Before finishing her song, Kat leaves the stage with a man, who happens to be Didi's father, Johnny Fenris. While eavesdropping on their conversation, Didi finds out that her father did not leave, but had been kicked out of their home by her mother. Johnny is known for making deals with gangsters and for 'passing bad checks', which has landed him in prison once before. Johnny tells Kat he wants to come home and begs her to take him back. Kat refuses, telling him that his lifestyle is not healthy for Didi. He promises that things have changed and asks Kat to visit him at the hotel Excelsior, saying that he has some big plans that will improve all of their lives. Kat reluctantly agrees before dismissing him to get back to her performance.

Didi tails her father to a bar and listens in on another one of his conversations. Here he meets with Vincenzo, a famous illusionist. Vincenzo is to be the main attraction in a circus that Johnny is organizing. Johnny asks for a film reel of Vincenzo's act, to show to his 'investors' how amazing he truly is. However, Vincenzo refuses, as he does not believe Johnny has the means to pay him, based on his rocky past and history of sending insufficient checks. He also requires more of his payment upfront to ensure that Johnny is not lying. Johnny nervously agrees to pay him more and promises that the circus will be a hit. However, it is obvious that he has no idea how exactly he would accomplish that without Vincenzo's film reel. Dawn, at the urging of Didi, sneaks into the office of Vincenzo's agent and steals a cinema reel of his performances.

Dawn and Didi deliver the reel to her father at the cinema, who tells her about his

plan to run a circus. He tells her that the circus will help their family and hopefully he will be able to come back home. Before Didi can hand over Vincenzo's film reel, Johnny urges her to leave because his investors 'don't really like kids'. Didi tries to tell him about the reel, but quickly shoo's her off before she can say anything. She discovers that one of her father's investors happens to be Carmine Bruni, a gangster that was acquitted twice for murder. Carmine and his lackey do not believe Vincenzo is on board with the circus, and becomes agitated when Johnny asks for more money to pay Vincenzo. Carmine's lackey beats Johnny until Dawn plays the film reel on the theater's projector. Carmine tells his wing man to stop after he sees a bit of Vincenzo's act. He likes his act and decides to give Johnny the extra money, however Johnny is not done with him yet until he has paid his '$20 large' debt. Afterwards, Didi follows her father to the Excelsior hotel, where he and Kat fall into another argument. During the argument, it is revealed that Vincenzo is actually Didi's real father. As the fight escalates Kat pulls out a gun and first points it at Johnny, but then turns it onto herself. Didi interferes, stopping Kat and making her tell Didi that it was just a toy. Kat tosses the gun away and says that they were just having a little fight. Didi tells her mother that her father needs their help and insists that she takes him back. Kat reluctantly makes up with Johnny, who is now finally allowed to come back home.

Some time passes over to the opening night of Johnny's circus and Didi is found sitting in her room again. Bothered by the fact that Johnny is not her father, Didi decides she wants to meet Vincenzo and speak with him. That night, she walks downstairs to find an eviction notice on the table. Worried that everything will fall apart she sneaks out with Dawn and heads over to the circus, intent on making things right for her family. Johnny and Vincenzo are found talking about the circus venue. Vincenzo is irate over the fact that three attractions are already in disrepair and Johnny has done nothing to fix them. Johnny reassures Vincenzo that all the attractions will be fixed and everyone will come to see him perform. Not convinced, Vincenzo leaves. In an effort to help her father, Dawn and Didi repair the attractions to their full glory and then travel to Vincenzo's workshop at the clock tower. In his workshop, Vincenzo is not pleased that Didi was smart enough to get in. He proceeds to tell her that he is only a performer and a performer must dedicate all of their time to their craft. He also states that he never asked to have a child and never wanted one. It is later known that Kat used to be Vincenzo's assistant during his travels to exotic destinations. Kat became pregnant with Didi, however Vincenzo refused to assume responsibility and Kat was forced to leave her job as his assistant. Hurt by Vincenzo's ruthlessness Didi begins to cry. Vincenzo, now feeling guilty, offers her two free tickets to the show and to call her mother for her. She sobbingly agrees.
Didi returns to Kat, who is now upset with her for seeing Vincenzo and for now knowing the truth. However, knowing that Didi really did nothing wrong she tells her that they will talk more about it after Vincenzo's act. As the show begins the lights on the stage break, and both Dawn and Didi leave again to help the show run. At a nearby lighthouse, Didi has the clever idea of using the light for the show. However, as Dawn makes her way through the lighthouse, the player learns the truth behind Dawn's origins. Dawn was originally Vincenzo's assistant in the past however, due to a miscalculation in their disappearing act, Dawn disappeared 'permanently'. This caused Vincenzo to take a hiatus on performing, but promised to eventually return. This explains his recruiting of Kat as his next assistant. Vincenzo told authorities that he believed Dawn had indeed disappeared, but only to another sort of dimension. Different scientific studies explain that there is a universe, one sparsely connected to our world, where people have the ability to manipulate their surroundings with their own shadows, as Dawn does within the game. Eventually the stage is finally lit and Vincenzo can proceed with his show.

During Vincenzo's performance, he talks about said alternate universes and appears to pull objects out of those unworldly dimensions. After the show ends, Didi, Kat, Johnny, and Vincenzo are found backstage. Although the opening night was a success, Johnny tells them he is not a good father and asks Vincenzo to take them with him. Johnny believes Vincenzo can give them a better life, however Vincenzo believes Johnny is really the only person they will ever need. Didi proceeds to tells her father about fixing all of the broken parts at the attractions and says that she can always help him when something goes wrong. Kat agrees to take him back and Johnny returns to his family permanently. As Vincenzo says goodbye to Didi, he magically phases into Dawn's world. Didi is flabbergasted at this ability he has shown. He no longer appears as a shadow but as a 3D figure and specifically thanks Dawn for looking after Didi.

At this point, it is thought that Vincenzo eventually perfected this trick. Afraid what others might do if it was revealed, he kept his ability heavily guarded and in secret, with only he and Dawn knowing how it worked. It is also speculated that after Didi was born, Kat and Johnny discovered that she had this incredible ability, although she did not fully understand how to phase shift by herself, leaving players with only Dawn and Didi as 3D characters. Determined to know what it was, they sought out Vincenzo to understand how she could do it, thinking she may have inherited it from him. However, once Vincenzo learned of Didi's abilities, he continued to refuse any sort of communication with Didi and her parents. Vincenzo was still guilty of what he had refused to do and asked Dawn to watch over her until she learns how to shift in and out of these different dimensions by herself. Thus, this would allow him to continue on with his career and will help provide Didi with the proper care she would need until she could fully control her ability to shift from shadow and 3D.