Dear Readers,
Now to try out this game in the Guild series. The designer behind this one is Kaz Ayabe and he's known for making games about having a nice summer as a kid in Japan, or at least, that's the impression I get. I've briefly heard about the other games he was involved with too.
It starts with some interesting logos like "Millennium Kitchen" and this is the label I saw in the video trailer about this game where Kaz Ayabe himself talks about it. Then there's this little history/cultural lesson where it talks about the kaiju movies of the 1950s and the hero shows of the 1960s and '70s with tall heroes that fought the kaiju. No doubt they're talking about the likes of Ultraman and Godzilla. The thing to note was that the heroes were like friends to the children of Japan or like a protective father. The game starts with a nice theme song with lyrics.
My mother calls my name, Sohta. I'm a 10-year old boy and the son of parents who run a laundry. The first scene has all the sounds and atmosphere of summer. I come downstairs and my mother calls me her treasure and asks me to deliver some laundry to the bakery. My father's working hard in the background. I complained about having to do this chore but my dad tells me not to be such a whiner.
Just observing the nice 3D effect with stuff in the foreground like clothes and bushes and dialogue boxes really popping out nicely! Also, the font is the same or at least almost the same as the one used in the Pikmin games. It is a nice font! The dialogue sound comes in in pleasant taps and bips.
Another thing to note about the 3D effect is that the scenery is static, which provides a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the 3D feature, since looking at static images like photographs is always fun even though moving or scrolling video images isn't always fun. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of the 3D feature.
Mom did some giving out to Dad as well because of a customer earlier. I noticed that she didn't go about things the right way but she was reliable and my dad took pride in his work but he had low self-esteem. Mom gave me a backpack full of laundry and I was on my way.
As I was leaving, she told me that monsters were coming out today since it was Friday and told me not to be late!
I wonder if it's like when grown ups used to tell us to come home before the fairies came out, haha! :)
I asked her if she meant the real monsters or the ones on TV. She told me the real ones were big and scary and to be careful! I asked her if she knew that a show called "Guardians! Blue Planet Space Defenders!" was recorded here in this city. She said I must be glad to have TV here in Tokyo.
After saying goodbye episode 1 began, titled "A Fateful Friday Errand!" and I was able to move and learn about stuff. This feature called "Word to the Wise" popped up with a voiced tutorial. I wonder if this is a Japanese TV thing. I poked around in the menus and there's stuff about cards.
I went back inside home and found a Colossal Crustacean Glim in the right-hand corner at the side of the stairs along with another Word to the Wise telling me what it is. Looks like I'll have to explore lots, even in obscured areas.
I went outside again and found a Botanical Beast Glim straight away, gleaming to the left. I headed towards my goal on the map and found another glim of this kind just mentioned along with an Atrocious Avian Glim.
Again, noting the sounds of summer! Insects chirping, though I don't know exactly what kind. Crickets or cicadas or something. There was also the ringing which sounded like a level crossing for a train. Then there was the slightly muffled sound of the TVs or radios in the area. Of course, there was the noisy machines in our family laundry too.
I talked to the strange lady and she was unhappy about something and mentioned someone named Emily. Then she left. I went inside the bakery she was blocking and found no one inside there. I was disappointed because I was hoping to be paid in sweets. Then some dialogue appeared, saying episode 2 had started and it was titled "Love, Courage, and Confections"
I left the bakery and there was a boy with glasses. He was Teruo Tanaue, from the 3rd grade, which was one behind mine. He said everyone called him A Plus. I introduced myself to him after asking his name. I was still new in town I suppose, seeing how I was a transfer student. I asked him why he was called A Plus and he said he'd rather not say as it was too embarrassing. He asked me if I noticed all the smoke that came out of the factory chimneys and that they got really smokey on Fridays. He said maybe they did all their frying on Fridays! I asked him why and he said he didn't know, but the monsters came out on Friday and that's when the chimneys start smoking so much. I found it pretty mysterious!
A Plus then said a lot of the kids were going to meet at the vacant lot before the monsters appear and invited me to come. I asked him where it was and he said to meet him at the TV station. Then he left before I got a chance to ask him where the TV station was! The narrator's voice then said I should finish my errand before going out to play like this! This made "Episode 3: Meet at the Vacant Lot!" begin, so multiple episodes can happen at the same time. I found a Mesozoic Mosquito Glim here as well.
I found Dad outside the barber shop. He said the barber left in a hurry which left him hanging because he was hoping to get his hair cut while the laundry was drying. He said it made sense since it was Friday and giant monsters were going to be around.
I went past dad and found more glims, including a Primeval Plesiosaur one.
I found the bakery lady at the police station. She was giving out to a cop about forgetting his lunch. They noticed me and said hello. He introduced himself as Officer Kobayashi and said I could tell him if there was any trouble. I introduced myself and said I had to deliver some laundry for the bakery lady, who introduced herself as Emily. She was impressed that I was carrying a full week's worth of uniforms by myself. I asked if they were friends with my childhood curiosity and she said not in the slightest! She said her name was Emiko Kobayashi, or Emily for short. I thought they were husband and wife but they clarified that they were father and daughter. She said again they weren't friends when I asked. Then she left.
The narrator added in some details. I wondered if I forgot something and the narrator said I completely forgot! Whatever that was. This made "Episode 4: The Errant Errand" start.
I chatted with the cop again. We saluted each other when I did and he said he was more worried about the feud between him and his daughter than he did about the monsters. I went back to Emily, who was still grumpy with her dad forgetting his lunch every day. I found another Botanical Beast Glim nearby next to some paints.
Well, that's it for the first post. Getting to know some characters. More mingling next time.
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