The literary world of the Retrospectre is riddled with many themes that are inherited by the game system.
- Man vs. Machine — Man is the human element, while machine can be any designed system from bureaucracy to technology.
- Webs of Lies — In the story, secrets and falsehoods entangle people into inextricable circumstances.
- Defining Humanity — At what point does something without human form become recognizably human? At what point does a person go beyond humanity?
- Corporatocracy — What happens when democracy caves to corporate interests?
- Runaway Technology — When progress happens for the sake of progress, our values get bulldozed under our ambition.
- Existential Threat from Within — The ways in which we have become our own worst enemy.
- Ethics Under Desperation — In our worst circumstances, can good and bad remain useful designations?