Monday, November 28, 2022

Live-a-Live #9 - Akira

Two chapters left... the future chapters. I take on the near-future chapter first, and it turns out to basically be a ripoff of the movie Akira.



Matter of fact... the main character's name is Akira.

It opens with an odd question from a pair of eyes. This chapter is creepy right from the word go.

 If you say yes, it replies with this. If you say no, it simply replies with "too bad, but your life belongs to you". Not sure what the point of this was...

 Our hero has a flashback. Apparently there was some sort of war, and he lost his father in it.

 He and his sister were orphaned, but they were taken in by a nearby woman named Taeko. ...she's a bit of a hottie. Oh yeahhhh.

Akira wakes up on a park bench after all those flashbacks. The water is oddly slime-like.

 I get control, and start talking to people to try and figure out this strange post-war world I've landed in.

 Akira can also read people's minds, which is a pretty novel concept for a game like this.

 
Har har, this is awesome.

 
You don't do this and that anymore? That's awful. I'm sorry. I don't either, man. 

 Akira gets ambushed by a bunch of goons in skull masks! Next thing we know, a spiky-haired guy on a motorcycle rolls in and interrupts the proceedings. GO WITH HIM IF YOU WANT TO LIVE.

 They team up and proceed to beat down the skull-mask hooligans.

This is Kenichi Matsu, the "cool guy in town". He gives Akira some advice, then takes off.

 The game then breaks into some sort of neon music video with giant robots, color strobe-lights, and lyrics on screen.

 The music ends, and Matsu drops Akira off at his house.

 Taeko wants to bandage Akira up.

 He'll have none of it, and quotes "Nookie" by Limp Bizkit.

 A bunch of kids are in here watching pro wrestling while the adoptive mom is nowhere to be found.

 I recognize those names. What follows is an extended narration. Yep, the creators of this game sure did like pro wrestling:

 
Not sure who actually won the match...or what exactly happened. I think they ran out of time and the show ended in the middle of the match. Like a Nitro main event!

Here's Akira's odd sister, no doubt dreaming about marrying THE ROCK.

 The EXTREME LIVE-A-LIVE ACTION continues as Akira washes his hands!

 And goes to the bathroom!

 Wait, the match is back on? Huh. Maybe it was just a commercial break.

 In any case, time to hit the overworld. This is the first chapter to actually HAVE an overworld, if I'm not mistaken. There are skull mask goons wandering around out here.

 Here's the insane Dr. Toei, who is apparently building a teleportation device.

 Kaori's pet turtle, Taro, apparently died. Now the doctor wants to liquify him to use in robots. WTF at this.

 I head back to Taeko's house, where chicanery is afoot.

...dunno, I'm kinda just waiting for something to happen here.

 If it's about your period, we already talked about that. It's not a curse, it's a natural manifestation of your womanhood.

 Dr. Toei reanimates Kaori's turtle into a lean, mean, fighting machine. What...the...fuck?

This game is heavily patterned after the SaGa series, right down to robots getting more powerful when equipped with parts (rather than exp).

 That's a lot of...remote-controlled cars. Take out their controller, and they all blow up.

 ...or rather, "Beak Down". In some games, they would break down. Not in this one.

 Akira has a sweet counterattack called Holy Ghost that summons a sexy, sword-wielding angel.

Akira and Motorcycle Dude, despite being badasses, start a park lemonade stand to raise money. No, seriously. I then use that money to buy a bunch of healing items. You can choose how much to charge people for their lemonades, and some people will actually pay 10,000.

 Returning to the orphanage, Taeko has some news.

This chapter has an interesting world and a potentially interesting main character, but the massive amount of NOTHING HAPPENING is really tiring me out.

 Akira goes to the bathroom, and Watanabe barges in. It seems Akira asked Watanabe (one of the other boys who lives there) to steal their adoptive mom's panties. No doubt so he could wear them as a face-mask.

 He'd know Taeko's lady-scent anywhere, and THIS IS A FAKE.

 Here's a consolation prize. If all of this stuff is right out of the laundry, isn't it kinda useless? It won't smell like her.

...why am I thinking about this?

 Taeko is INFURIATED!

 Akira goes back to the bathroom, and Watanabe barges in again. Seriously, dude! Cut it out!

 This time, they're the real deal, with the scent of sweat and dandelion fields.

Akira is pleased. Now he needs to be alone for a while.

I apologize for this post. Just... I'm sorry. I'm speechless, again.

More Live-a-Live Posts HERE


3 comments:

  1. I'm a big fan of what they're trying to do with this scenario, and of Akira's mind-reading, and of Matsu's amazing sprite with that haircut.

    Music break? WHOOA! You haven't mentioned any of the music of this game so far so I assume it's average. I've been listening to CT for the last 90 minutes fwiw.

    "GO AWAY MOM!" ahh, really is a teenager.

    HAHAHAHA that THE ROCK joke was amazing.

    Some people will pay 10,000? I believe it. It's Tokyo, and there are rich thirsty businessmen who NEED A DRINK!

    Akira wants WHAT? OK kid that's way too weird. If you want these do the damn laundry yourself. Also she's your mom now.

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  2. What on earth is an elbow spin?!

    ...and suddenly this game got really weird.

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  3. I don't know if she's actually the adoptive mother type character or a big sister type. Dunno if it's ever explained but she wants to bang the green haired biker so she's probably the mom type. Then again all girls wants to fuck badboys so she might be the big sister.

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