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 Thanks to Makku for the banner art! Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask is a video game built on a lie. There is no secret, there is no curse, and I guess there's a mask. The truth is that Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask is a PS2 role-playing game released in 2004 and tying in with the anime/manga series of the like named. Y'know, the one from Adult Swim. In it, you play as a young man or woman from the present who finds themselves trapped in the feudal era of Japan and joins up with the main cast of the anime to find their way back to their own time. My feelings about this game...well...I pretty much loved the poo poo out of it when I was a wee teen, had a short period where I started to become more aware of the game's shortcomings and turned away from it, then I started to appreciate it once more for what it was. See, this is not what you'd call a "good" game. The battle system is absolutely barebones and the game is piss-easy, the graphics are unimpressive for the most part, both the writing AND localization leave quite a bit to be desired, and the overall production values are pretty low. However, it is also not what you would call a "bad" game. The story, while not, y'know, good, is pretty mid-2000s Fanfiction.net in only the best of ways. The gameplay may be simple, but the game itself is generally well put together on a technical level, and it's not unpleasant to play. The difficulty is pretty nonexistent, but that almost serves to make the experience of playing the game better to go through, because without having to worry too much about the systems, one can just let the narrative wash over them. It's led to this being one of my most replayed games, in fact. At one time, it was a yearly ritual to play through each summer. It's a comfy game, and I've honestly been waiting a decade to do this LP. So, this LP is going to be a casual playthrough of the game, I'm not going to go for 100% (mainly because that realistically requires at least 11 discreet playthroughs) but I'm going to do as much as I can in a single run and not sweat the small stuff. There's not much outside the main plot anyway. As for spoilers, since the story of this game is completely independent from the main series, talk about that all you want. Just don't talk about anything in this game, please. Also feel free to provide fanart, as I have the wild dream of curating the largest collection of Cursed Mask fanart on the net. CHAPTERS                                 
Waffleman_ fucked around with this message at 15:50 on May 11, 2020 |
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Nov 23, 2018 20:48
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This post is reserved.
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Nov 23, 2018 20:48
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 Attract Mode This opening movie isn't really anything special. I think it might just be the first opening of the actual anime with a couple game-specific things included. Even has the same generic music that's on the Netflix version of the show due to issues licensing Change the World.  And with that, welcome to Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask! Only about two of the words in this title will be present in the game and one of them is Inuyasha. Upon pressing Start, we're given the opions of New Game, Continue, and Bonus. The first two are obvious, but we won't worry ourselves with Bonus for a while. Right now, New Game is what we need.  We're given the choice between a male protagonist and a female protagonist. The game touts these two characters as being designed by Rumiko Takahashi herself, but since there's no real information about the development of this game, I can't really tell you to what extent she was involved. There are actually differences between the guy and the girl, as their stats are slightly different, they learn techniques in a different order, and there's a subplot that can involve different characters based on who you pick. However, the last difference is really the only one you need to worry about.  Because this game knows exactly who it's aiming for, the female protagonist is highlighted by default, which we will pick. You might notice that she's got a set surname of Kururugi. This was actually a way for the original Japanese version to easily have characters address the protagonist in voice acting. This doesn't work quite as well in English. The male protagonist's default name is Michiru.  In fact, outside of the beginning of the game, your protagonist is hardly ever addressed by name in the English version. Which is why we're naming her after my first love. Once we press X, the adventure begins!  Anime Kururugi's Bizarre Adventure If you didn't watch the video, we got home late from school, went to the shed in the back of the house to help with a festival, and fell through some rotted wood.   We fell down a hole into a forest that's nowhere near our house. Makes sense to me.  Where's my house? I have to get ready for the festival. ♫ "Cutscene 1" This game never got an official OST release, so all I have to go on is unofficial recordings directly from the game. Please understand. Anime walks around a bit as ominous music begins to play. Father... Please answer me. Mom! Dad! Why won't you answer me? Where is everyone? Everyone... And now we're given control of Anime for like a second, heading to the next screen on the left.  ...Huh. This is definitely not our house. No one's here. How could that be? That's right, my cell! I'll call the house with my cell phone.Yes! Okay! Good idea. Let's just call Mom and ask her to drive us home.   ... I can't get through!drat, no signal. Within 1% reliability my rear end. Let's try again just to be sure. I can't get through! I'm outside, but there's no signal. That's weird. We're given control once again, so I have to do something reeeeal quick.  The config menu is solely changing button configurations. The default is on the top, and you can see why the gently caress I'm changing it. Who uses Square for cancel?! Not a good first impression. I'm using the American-style layout in the middle.  Moving along, finally we meet some other people! Maybe we can ask them that's going on. Oh, there's some people there. Maybe if I talk to them, they could tell me where I am...Good. Then I can go home.That's what I said, stop LPing the game for me. Huh? Kimonos? Why are they wearing kimonos?Well, I mean, we live at a shrine and there was a festival going on. Doesn't seem too outta place.  Rude. What?! RUDE! ♫"Normal Battle" The three mysterious people step forward, kicking in the battle music. This isn't good.  With the models in this game, sometimes you have to use your imagination.  Careful! It's a demon!What?! I can't hear you over the music! What? A demon? What are you talking... Demon, where have you taken my daughter?Seriously, these guys are barely audible over the bad audio mixing. Wait. I just... What are you saying now? Alright, let's catch it, Get it! [sic] Catch it and get my daughter back! These guys are weird. What's going on? Don't let it get away. Catch it! Yes, don't let it get away!WELL STOP TALKING AND DO IT ALREADY!  I need to run away! Cheese it!  Whew, lost 'em. But, what's happening? I don't understand what's going on. Mom, Dad! I'm scared.A sounc comes from the trees! Huh?♫"Cutscene 2"  Aaaa! It's a demon!What? Where?  Oh, there.  I thought I smelled something tasty. It's a human! I was just getting hungry. How convenient!I mean, if I had any signal, I could get us some Five Guys on Doordash, but I don't so it's not THAT convenient. What?! Whar are you? Don't come near me!You literally just said he was a demon, girl.  Well, we're certainly not trying. ♫"Normal Battle"   A for effort. I'm gonna eat you! Yeah, he actually just kinda says ROAR. Ha ha ha ha! He's gonna eat me.There are a lot of points in this game where I'm not sure if it's badly written or just badly localized, and I think both are true at different points.  At least the voice actor's having fun.      ...What happened to me?What the heck was that? Am I dead????: Hey, are you awake yet? Who's that?The voice sounds familiar... I'm alive! Oh hey it's the fella what's name is on the box.  Hey, wait a minute. So in dialogue, most major characters outside of Anime will have these sprites on them. They're pretty nice. But you have dog ears and fangs.Does Inuyasha have fangs? He's got some pretty sharp canines, but does that qualify as a fang? I'm scared. Don't come near me! Never mind, you were great! What kind of technique was that?I think mostly crying and begging? It's more effective than you'd think. You beat that demon by shining that light on him. Technique? Demon?I know this is a weird new situation, but Anime's not exactly the quickest girl.  I thought I was dead, but I'm alive. Why? You came from "the present," didn't you? Do you know where I came from? Please, tell me how I can get back. Huh, the present? Yeah. What do you mean? The present....you know, That doesn't help! Wait. Please, help me understand. What a hassle! Come on, follow me. If you ask Kagome, she can probably explain things. Who's Kagome? The voice acting says "Kaede's Village" but the ingame text will say "Kaede village" multiple times. I'm a little scared, but I guess I should go. There might be someone that knows me there.  It's kinda hard to see, but there's a purple cloud on the left side of the screen. Hey, wait! There's a strange smell. I think that demon's buddies are around. What? The smell of demons is coming from that purple light. What should I do? What are you talking about? Let's go after 'em!! It should be easy if you use the red light again. Hey, here they come! Despite the dialogue seeming to segue directly into a battle, we're given control and have to walk into it. You can see that Inuyasha is following behind us. When we get more party members, we can decide who follows us by rearranging the party order. Now, the clouds. These purple clouds will appear frequently and your random encounter rate rises as you pass through them. You can use the walk button to slowly go through and counteract the rate up, but it's a crapshoot. In fact, it is entirely possible to get through this screen and to the next segment of the game without fighting any battles, despite what the story suggests.   We're not that lucky this time. And I will actually save me the time and trouble of covering this battle or explaining the system at this moment. At this point in the game, literally nothing in the battle system is available to us besides pressing attack, so there's really no use in going into detail now.  All I'll say is that the enemy designs in this game are less than inspired.  After every battle, the character that landed the killing blow gives a one-liner. Inuyasha of course did it because Anime has basically no power for the beginning part of the game.   This fight is enough to level Inuyasha up and give him an actual techinique. I'll go over that with the rest of the battle system. Also there's no actual currency in the game, just "money."  Hey, why didn't you use that last move again? I didn't know how to. Literally everyone I've met so far has been rude. But I don't know what to do. A small man!  She was so afraid to die, she did it unconsciously. Who is that? It's just Myoga.You're not good at explaining things, Inuyasha. What a small person. Is he a demon too? Yes. I am Inuyasha's personal bodyguard. My name is Myoga. Also when you are quite small. Never mind that. I can still sense demons around us. This girl's power has not yet awakened. We need to be careful. You're right. I can still smell the demons too. What should I do? You have to fight hard and make sure you don't slow Inuyasha down. We're getting close to Kaede's Village. Well, Inuyasha, I'm going ahead. Be careful. Hey, Myoga! Wait! drat, he's run off again. The demons around here are pathetic. Let's get going. Okay.   With this, we are given back control and after three uneventful screens and one healing item, we're out of this starting area.  And this is the map screen. The little crescent moons represent each location, with most major locations separated by a road to that location. Right now, the only place we can go is also the place with the plot marker on it.  You can press Triangle to save on the map, which I choose to do because this is where we're gonna end for now. Next time, we get to the bottom of this nonsense. Chapter 1 Highlight Reel Waffleman_ fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Nov 28, 2018 |
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Nov 23, 2018 20:49
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I remember watching my older brother play this when I was little. He got stuck on this one boss and I think restarted over with the male protag and got stuck in the same place. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm getting absolutely pummeled by nostalgia right now.
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Nov 23, 2018 21:35
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I didn't really pay attention to who was making this LP in the New LP thread so just looking at the art I assumed Chorpsaway had begun another LP. For how much it was on throughout Toonami I'm surprised I wasn't aware of dozens of Inuyasha games like with Naruto.
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Nov 23, 2018 23:32
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You know, I've always wanted to visit the underground forests of Tokyo. Anyway, my only time playing this game was a part of a project on another forum of watching the entire series. I wasn't that impressed by this one, what with Kururugi being an obvious SI, an idiot, and starting off with a lower strength stat than the team toddler. Still, the game isn't bad per say, they just didn't put in the effort needed to make it good. I've got some issues on that front with how they handled the battles in particular. But while the main plot isn't worth a thing some of the optional side stuff could occasionally be decent, which is honestly kinda how I felt about the actual show. And no matter how much of a Mary Sue Kururugi could be and how stupid this plot could get I will give it one bit of credit: Janis and the DS Inuyasha RPG were sooooooo much worse.
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Nov 24, 2018 00:02
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I've only played a little bit of Divine Jewel, but hoo boy.
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Nov 24, 2018 00:19
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I had no idea this even existed. It's interesting they chose to make the game about an original character instead of just... doing whatever plot they could from the show.
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Nov 24, 2018 01:49
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Well, you have to consider the target audience. By this point teens writing self insert fan fics was a known thing. So they intentionally tried to appeal to that audience. It's actually kinda funny just how much they figured that most players would be picking the girl, as while I never completed the game with the guy, I distinctly remember them using female pronouns regarding him at several points. Usually companies assume players are going to pick to be a guy if given the choice and write accordingly, but this game did the opposite.
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Nov 24, 2018 02:22
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There's kinda that, but there's also just not a lot of effort put into the localization. The next update is going to be full of that stuff.
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Nov 24, 2018 02:27
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I think I finished this game, but it was always a shameful purchase instead of - I dunno, buying another copy of Nocturne? I picked dude because I thought it'd be funny to try and not be an rear end in a top hat guy in a Takahashi inspired media, but it didn't really matter much when you're mostly the weird new punching bag of the group. I've always been a sucker for any game that scratched the itch of making your own character in an anime setting I guess I always will.
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Nov 24, 2018 04:11
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Waffleman_ posted:Because this game knows exactly who it's aiming for, the female protagonist is highlighted by default, which we will pick. You might notice that she's got a set surname of Kururugi. This was actually a way for the original Japanese version to easily have characters address the protagonist in voice acting. This doesn't work quite as well in English. The male protagonist's default name is Michiru. Edvarius posted:Well, you have to consider the target audience. By this point teens writing self insert fan fics was a known thing. So they intentionally tried to appeal to that audience. It's actually kinda funny just how much they figured that most players would be picking the girl, as while I never completed the game with the guy, I distinctly remember them using female pronouns regarding him at several points. Usually companies assume players are going to pick to be a guy if given the choice and write accordingly, but this game did the opposite.
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Nov 24, 2018 07:20
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Oh boy, I remember playing this game years ago when I was a teen. It was a huge bitch at some point. I never beat it. So, naturally, I'll be following this LP. Keep it up. 
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Nov 24, 2018 07:35
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The graphics of this game, at least from Screenshot form, kinda give me a Digimon World 1 vibe. Considering how bad the translation is then perhaps we're not to far off. Also is this game better or worse than the flash game Demon Tournament?
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Nov 25, 2018 00:16
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The Shame Boy posted:The graphics of this game, at least from Screenshot form, kinda give me a Digimon World 1 vibe. Considering how bad the translation is then perhaps we're not to far off. Listen, the translation is bad, but I'm convinced that the original script was also pretty much garbage.
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Nov 25, 2018 00:50
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♫ "Map"  Alright, this time we're gonna figure out what the heck is goin' on here. Wanna go home. ♫ "Kaede's Village"  This is extremely not home. Finally, we've arrived. This is Kaede's Village. It can't be...a horse? Have you seen those things? Their legs are fingers! But... Nope, it's Ohio. The kimonos gave it away. What are you thinking about? If you don't hurry, I'll leave you behind. ???: Inuyasha! This voice clip is not given a text box or anything, which is odd because this is really the only time it happens. ♫ "Comical Scene"   This girl looks quite cross and is also given a full body sprite sweep, which also never really happens again.  Hey, Inuyasha! Where have you been?Yep, it's Kagome! There was a demon outside of the village and we needed your help to defeat it. You're never there when we need you.  Now with two sprites! Hey, who are you? Oh yeah, this kid was being chased by one of the small demons, so I stepped in. Oh, great! Where am I? This is Japan, right? There's horses, and weird hairstyles, and even demons! My cell doesn't work, there's no police stations, no cars, no convenience strores. Not even a supermarket. Listen, I know you're a time traveler, but you're being pretty glib about our distress right now and I don't appreciate it. I don't know why, but you were sure excited. I'm sorry. I was so happy, cuz I thought I had found a normal person. That's understandable, but please calm down.All this dialogue being voiced really hammers in how badly written/localized it is.  I think you've come from the present.Yeah, you know. The present! Yes. I fell through a hole in the storage house and all of a sudden I was in the woods. I see. Okay, I need you to listen to me carefully. This isn't the present.I think we knew that from the acknowledgement that the present was something we could be from here. Not the present? Then where am I?Wait, then what was that "Yes" earlier?! This is the Feudal era. The feudal era?! The time of Nobunaga Oda and when guns first came to Japan? Yes, I'm sure it's surprising. But it's true. It can't be. I couldn't believe it at first either. But, I've only read about the feudal era in my textbooks. This is absurd. Yes, that's right.What? I was even attacked by demons. I see. Are you hurt? I'm fine. This village is safe. You can stay here for a while. Thank you. I'm really glad you're here. If you weren't, I don't know what I'd do. Don't be rude. You'd be bawling too, if you had to go through all that. Eh... Reminds me of someone else that cries all the time. What do you mean by that? Me? Always mad? Yeah right. See, you're mad right now. You're so short-tempered. You guys really get along, huh?Hey, Anime, it's rude for a stranger to comment on romantic tension, okay? What? Hey what are you saying? Who does she think she is. [sic] Oh, stop it. Don't be shy.Incredibly rude.  Why? Don't you want to go back? That's right. What do you mean? That's how I got here.That's awful convenient. You mean... You may be able to go back if you pass through there. Wow! Really?! Please take me there! Okay. It's on the eastern outskirts of this village. ♫ "Kaede's Village" Kagome is absorbed into Anime and we head on our way.  On our way, we find this farmer who tells us about the mysterious field. This is about the only sidequest in the game. Over the course of the game, we'll receive different seeds and fertilizers, which we can combine at this field. Different combinations will yield different crops. Most combinations will give you different items, but there are special combinations that provide special scenes, which is probably your main goal. I'll try to get as many as I can, but a lot of this stuff is easily missable, and the reward isn't particularly interesting most of the time. Also, it's not really worth starting on until later in the game, so we'll get there when we get there.  There's some NPCs and another screen and neither are interesting. ♫ "Cutscene 1"   It looks really old. Almost like demons could come out of it.Oh so now we're an expert. Yeah, it does. Hey, don't say that. You're going to scare them.Did not want to program and record two lines. Whatever. The demons were dead anyway. You know what I mean, Inuyasha. You're so insensitive. Sorry, Anime.I never introduced myself.  Yeah. If you jump in, it should take you right back to the present. Jump in?  What are you scared of?THE DEMON CORPSES  Here I go. One, two...th-th...  AND HE PUSHES US IN. Huh? Well, I'd like to thank you for joining me to revisit this unsung classic. It's pretty short, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. Goodnight everyone.  oh wait Ouch! I don't think so.♫ "Comical Scene"  Wow, you two look great for it being like 500 years in the future.  I couldn't help it. What if she got hurt? Shut up! I was just helpin' out. What?! How's that? Excuse me? What? Can you stop fighting and help me. [sic] I'm startin' to think... ...this ain't the present. I don't know why, but you can't seem to get through. Yeah. Don't worry. I'm sure there is another way. Okay. But what do I do now? Well, Kaede helped me out when it was my turn. Who's Kaede? But she's always nagging me. Only because you're always getting into trouble. Well, I don't really understand, but she doesn't sound like a bad person. I'd like to meet her. Okay, let's go. She lives on the west side of the village square. And go we did, directly to the left of the first screen of the village. This is Priestess Kaede's house. Okay, I know this wasn't exactly a AAA game, but this is pretty lazy. Hmmm? What?! There's two of you, Kagome?!???: [In a decidedly not Kagome voice] Kagome's back! So Kagome has a twin????: Twins? What are you saying? Hey, behave yourself Shippo. I should note that the voice acting says "What is SHE supposed to think" instead of "one." ♫ "Comical Scene"   A child! What happened? Kagome turned into a child! Transformation? How can you do that? Are you pulling my leg? You use the art of transformation when you want to trick someone.I feel like we are having different conversations. I see.DO YOU? So what's your name? My name is Anime. I came from the present, like Kagome. My name's Shippo. Are you Kagome's friend? Um, not really. I thought Kagome brought you from the well. I wish. Seems like you've got a problem. Yes. You seem really calm, even though you're a kid.I have literally no idea what these people are talking about half the time.  Don't be such a smart-aleck. What did you say, Inuyasha? We're going to Kaede's house, right? Cut it out, Shippo.*Whap!*  That's it. Inuyasha, sit! Hey, what was that? Wow, Kagome! This is the power of Priestess Kaede. Come on, let's go talk to Kaede. Okay.  Um, hello. My name is Anime. From the look of your clothes, I guess you came from the same place as Kagome. Yes. You can relax. No one's going to eat you....Okay? Um...I was looking for something in the storehouse, when I suddenly blacked out. When I came to, I was in this world.Technically the same world, just a different time, but I get you. I would like to go home. Can you please tell me how to do that? Hmm, you want to go home. I thought you were Kagome's friend. It seems like a difficult situation. Tell me your story from the beginning. And then I said Shippo was really calm for a kid. I dunno why I said that, it didn't make much sense and wasn't really germane to the situaiton.  The well didn't work. Well? The Bone-Eater's Well? Okay, if this line seems weird, then you're absolutely right. Anime should be saying this. It's not only mistakenly attributed to Kagome, but if you watch the video, you will see that it is also mistakenly voiced by Kagome's actress. This is one of the main pieces of evidence that Bandai just did not care on either side of the Pacific, because it would be EXTRA EFFORT to add this mistake into the localization, which means it must have been in the Japanese version. Which means that this line went from script to VO booth without anyone noticing, TWICE. Amazing. UPDATE: It's been brought to my attention that Kagome's weird line is in fact a mistranslation. In Japanese, often the subject of a sentence is omitted if the context can be inferred. As you can see, this is what happened. I suspect that the localization team did NOT have this context and mistranslated the subject as being Kagome herself. I see. Do you know why I can't get through? I really wanna go home. Hmm. Unfortunately, I don't know why. But...please, you've got to help me. Hmmm, I don't know how I can help... I just don't know what to do. Gosh, I feel for you. Yeah. You mean I can't get home? Mom... Dad...On the one hand, everyone I've ever known and all the conveniences of modern life that I've come to depend on are centuries away. On the other hand, no Twitter.  ... Whatever. It's not like she's gonna die if she can't get home. That's true, but you could be a little nicer. Kagome. Inuyasha. Stop fighting.It's super fine, little dude. Being nice isn't gonna find the way home. I fyou wanna go home, you need to find a way to do that. Find a way? Is that what you're trying to say, Inuyasha? Well, what else? ...I guess I won't get anywhere by being upset. You can be upset anytime you want. Okay, I'll just have to keep trying. That's enough, Inuyasha.He's not actually being that mean.  you might as well stay here with Inuyasha and everyone else.Yay like an anime! What? Now that's going a little too far. Oh, I couldn't...Anime, we literally have nowhere else to go. Take the fuckin' offer. Wait a minute, Inuyasha. Just like when Kagome arrived in this world, This is no trivial matter either. [sic] So what? If something should happen it would be better if you were together. Fine. Whatever. Yes. Thank you so much. It's decided then. Let's go listen to the village gossip. Maybe we'll find a clue from something we hear. Okay. Now we're back in gameplay, and what we're supposed to do here...is a bit unclear.  I've always just kinda assumed it's talk to everyone in town, which is...well, a lovely way to design a game.  But it's also not entirely reliable. So I just kinda go back and forth for a while talking to people until I get results. It's not interesting and nobody has anything to say.    Well, screw you too.  Halfway through, we get a little scene. I agree, but we don't have any clues... Hmm, I don't know. It would help if you had seen anything out of the ordinary. Hey, something's bothering me. Why couldn't you use the Bone-Eater's Well, but Kagome could? Well, I know. Probably because I didn't get here through the Bone-Eater's Well. That would mean that there's something like the Bone-Eater's Well near where you first woke up, don't you think? Yeah. But I can't remember where that was now. I was frantically trying to run away at the time. What a scardy cat. [sic] And back to wandering until we head back to the Well.  If someone had been with you at the time, we could ask them. But you were alone, weren't you? Yes. Oh yeah, I met a bunch of strange villagers near there. They were all desperately looking for something.They also tried to kill you. Well, then, we should ask them.Not a good idea, maybe. Or at least they may have seen something that could give us a clue. Yes. When I came into this world, they were nearby. Alright, let's go look for those villagers.Then we head back to the town square to finish this thing.  Yes, we have. But I haven't seen anyone that looks like those villagers. Oh! There's a village nearby? It could be the people from there. Is Akebi Village near here? Yes, it's not that far, but... But... But there's all kinds of demons on the road going there. He's right. Demons come after you even if you're only a little ways from the village. Yes, so you need to be careful. As long as I'm with you, you've got nothin' to worry about from those demons. That's right. Heheheh. Yeah, you've got no brains, but plenty of brawn! Shut up, Shippo! Cut it out, Inuyasha! Come to think of it, you two are demons. It's very surprising. I thought all demons were scary. And here we are all together. Inuyasha isn't really a demon. That's enough, Kagome. But... It's okay Kagome. I'm not too concerned with that kind of thing. Do you think you could take me to the next village? Of course we can. Let's all go to Akebi Village. But we should prepare for our trip before we go. That's a good idea. The road there is pretty rugged. Okay, let's go shopping first. There isn't anything that we need. Hey, you're the one that's always complaining about not having this or that. It's a store. You know 'em.  I'm not gonna buy anything right now, though. This game is very easy.  And with all that questionably-written exposition out of the way, the adventure begins! Next time. Chapter 2 Highlight Reel Waffleman_ fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Nov 29, 2018 |
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Nov 28, 2018 22:53
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So now that we've met a bit more of the cast, it's time to make a decision. This game has what could be described as a primitive form of social links, where at certain times in the story, you will be able to spend time with one of each of the characters in an interval and befriend them, or even more. Now, there's not enough intervals to have every event with every character. Really, you'll only get a character's full route if you spend all your time with them. With this in mind, and the desire to not have my recording come to a standstill every time this happens, I will let us vote on one character to spend our time with, which is why I have Sango and Miroku here, despite the fact that they're not going to join until after the first interval point. For those who might not be quite so familiar with the characters, I've provided a quick rundown. Inuyasha Half dog demon, all attitude Pros: Will throw down for you, is a jerk but has a heart of gold Cons: Dander, has a heart of gold but is a jerk  Kagome Time traveler with a bow and arrow Pros: Easy to relate to, carries a first aid kit Cons: We have enough present friends at home  Shippo A wily little fox Pros: Childlike wonder, can turn into cool things Cons: An actual child, does not turn into cool things  Sango Pros: Fuckoff boomerang, has a cat Cons: Never not fighting demons, brother might have problems  Miroku Cursed monk, and I don't mean gently caress Pros: Devout, travels around the world Cons: Black hole in his hand, 500 years behind on what is and is not sexual harrassment Vote here! https://www.strawpoll.me/16937498 I'll run the poll until Saturday.
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Nov 28, 2018 22:55
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quote:You accidentally put in the above image 3 times, which messed up the rest of the image-sequence in the update so it doesn't sync with the text.
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Nov 28, 2018 23:29
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The mistakes you make at the end of a long update, eh? Fixed.
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Nov 28, 2018 23:34
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Man, the dialogue in this game is pretty surreal. I'm frankly lost half the time, and I've seen some of the anime/manga before. I suspect the dialogue with Kagome talking about falling down the well isn't actually misattributed; it's possible that it's a localization gaffe as well. Japanese can frequently be kind of vague on what the subject of a sentence is if it can be inferred from context, from what I understand. If the localizers were just given a spreadsheet of text dialogue (frequently in the order the dialogue is in the game files, which can have little to no relation to its placement in the plot) with little or no context, they might have assumed that she was talking about herself, especially if they're familiar with the series and know that she time-travels using that well. That kind of thing is depressingly common in bad Japanese-English localizations.
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Nov 28, 2018 23:47
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I will say, the dialogue does get a lot better. In that the characters are actually talking to each other.
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Nov 28, 2018 23:50
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Christ I do not remember the dialogue being this stilted when I was a kid.
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Nov 29, 2018 00:18
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Also for full disclosure, spending time with Inuyasha and Miroku will result in a romance route, while Kagome, Sango, and Shippo are friendship. This game is not gay.
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Nov 29, 2018 00:22
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Waffleman_ posted:Also for full disclosure, spending time with Inuyasha and Miroku will result in a romance route, while Kagome, Sango, and Shippo are friendship. This game is not gay. I'm assuming it's the other way around for the male MC, right?
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Nov 29, 2018 00:24
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I mean, there's probably no Shippo route for a guy, either. He's a kid. And also male.
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Nov 29, 2018 00:26
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Yeah, it's opposite for the male, and Shippo is always a friendship.
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Nov 29, 2018 00:28
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Commander Keene posted:I suspect the dialogue with Kagome talking about falling down the well isn't actually misattributed; it's possible that it's a localization gaffe as well. Japanese can frequently be kind of vague on what the subject of a sentence is if it can be inferred from context, from what I understand. If the localizers were just given a spreadsheet of text dialogue (frequently in the order the dialogue is in the game files, which can have little to no relation to its placement in the plot) with little or no context, they might have assumed that she was talking about herself, especially if they're familiar with the series and know that she time-travels using that well. That kind of thing is depressingly common in bad Japanese-English localizations.
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Nov 29, 2018 05:08
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^^ I'm gonna put that in the update. Finally, one of my lifelong mysteries solved. Also, I fixed my fixing of the images. You try to fix one thing and more problems come up. Waffleman_ fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Nov 29, 2018 |
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Nov 29, 2018 05:12
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Oh god, yes. I'm looking forward to this. My feelings on the game are largely the same as Waffleman_. There's something about it that still made it charming, despite all the flaws and the glacial pace of battles/menus. Plus, they weirdly put in a lot of work on one aspect of this game that I thought was loving mindblowing at the time. I still think it's a huge shame that this game is basically the only place I've really seen it. I still have my PS2 copy. 
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Nov 30, 2018 14:57
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Psycho Knight posted:I still have my PS2 copy. I do as well. I tried streaming it for some people a year or two back just to prove it existed
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Nov 30, 2018 16:35
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Psycho Knight posted:Plus, they weirdly put in a lot of work on one aspect of this game that I thought was loving mindblowing at the time. I still think it's a huge shame that this game is basically the only place I've really seen it. Yeah I think more games should let you date Inuyasha as well.
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Nov 30, 2018 16:45
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 So unless there's a massive upset in the next few hours, it looks like Sango's gonna be our buddy on this adventure.
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Nov 30, 2018 21:10
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funny I stumble on this after a binge reading of Ranma 1/2, and have to say in hindsight despite the shitload of gender/sex issues that Ranma 1/2 might be the better series as Takahashi's sheer allergy to plot progression doesn't hurt a comedy series as badly as it did the more 'dramatic' series like Inu Yasha. (that and you're not suppose to like Ranma 1/2's resident Creep character while Miroku is suppose to be charming) But man, this is probably a game I would've picked up if I knew it existed.
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Nov 30, 2018 22:20
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Does the source material ever explain why the man who is both an inu and a yasha is called "Inuyasha"?
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Dec 1, 2018 00:51
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Because his mom named him that.
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Dec 1, 2018 00:57
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ChorpSaway posted:Yeah I think more games should let you date Inuyasha as well. It's a very under-served market! Waffleman_ posted:I've only played a little bit of Divine Jewel, but hoo boy. I still have a copy of it, but I can't for the life of me remember playing it. I mean, I must have, because I remember the protagonist girl (apparently they didn't even bother with a male MC for that game. The team behind that one realized it was pointless). I just don't remember anything else other than that. Maybe I blocked it from memory for good reason. @Waffleman_ - By the way, are you looking for people to point out spelling/grammar corrections in your updates? I'm not sure if you plan to archive it or not, so I didn't want to just post corrections. mateo360 posted:I do as well. I tried streaming it for some people a year or two back just to prove it existed Do you (or anyone else that still has this game) still have the "Super Special Trading Card" that came included? I'm curious to know if they were random or if it was the same card for every copy.
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Dec 1, 2018 20:29
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Psycho Knight posted:I still have a copy of it, but I can't for the life of me remember playing it. I mean, I must have, because I remember the protagonist girl (apparently they didn't even bother with a male MC for that game. The team behind that one realized it was pointless). I just don't remember anything else other than that. Maybe I blocked it from memory for good reason.
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Dec 1, 2018 21:45
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Also, Divine Jewel was only released in the US for some reason.
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Dec 1, 2018 21:49
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Psycho Knight posted:
I pretty sure it was suppose to be the same. here is mine. It's the same one they show on the back of the box. 
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Dec 2, 2018 03:55
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Waffleman_ posted:So now that we've met a bit more of the cast, it's time to make a decision. This game has what could be described as a primitive form of social links, where at certain times in the story, you will be able to spend time with one of each of the characters in an interval and befriend them, or even more. Now, there's not enough intervals to have every event with every character. Really, you'll only get a character's full route if you spend all your time with them. If you're willing to put in a bit of work, you could just make separate save files and play through the game 5 times to get all routes as Anime. Then do it all over again for Michiru. Hahahaha no I'm just kidding  ChorpSaway posted:Yeah I think more games should let you date Inuyasha as well.
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Dec 2, 2018 05:50
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