Part 1: Asuka City
Update #1a: Loading the Rest of the Update, Please Wait
Hey, remember these guys? They used to make some pretty good games. I wonder what happened to them.
They should follow Konami's lead and head to pachinko machines.
Apparently, they merged with Namco and are now producing Dark Souls games. Kind of a step up, I guess.
Click here to watch the video! Highly suggested for the full viewing pleasure.
Oh god, that's an eye in the camera.
Guys, guys, there's enough room for all of you.
That bear...I'm calling him Mr. Fuzzums.
A giant gate opens up in the sky.
The gate is actually a giant fuckoff monster.
I haven't played this game, so tell me, people in the thread, is there an eye fetish? The intro already has 2 close-up shots of them.
Mr. Fuzzums no
While those dweebs book it from the Armageddemon (yeah, that's what it's called) we switch to some guy trying way too hard to look cool on his motorcycle.
We have Charmander, Charmeleon, Mr.Fuzzums, Badly Named Enemy, and Final Fantasy Character Reject. This will be a fun game.
The Armageddemon apparently has laserbeams made of fire.
Charmander no
Not shown: Beelzemon smirking. He has fangs.
Annnd his name is Squall.
Game. Game, c'mon, don't hit peak anime thirty seconds in. (This is a dirty lie - we won't be hitting peak anime for a while.)
Before they can be eaten, Beelzemon rolls up.
Sup, Charmeleon. What level are you? I much rather have a Charizard
Kumamon (the bear) and Guilmon (the red lizard, as opposed to Agumon, the yellow lizard) initiate
Bullshit. Two Rookies can not DNA Digivolve to a Mega. (If this makes no sense to you right now, don't worry, I'll be explaining Digivolution later. Short version: They went from rank 1 to rank 4 with no steps inbetween.) And Gallantmon is Guilmon's Mega form anyway, he doesn't NEED to DNA Digivolve!
Man, glad to see that Digimon ripped off Mega Evolutions
Gallantmon and Beelzemon engage in high-speed aerial combat, presumably while Agumon and Armageddemon munch popcorn from down below.
I'm not sure I'm following this intro, speaking purely from a 'First timer' standpoint. The intro should probably be more dynamic in terms of location to display a more adventurous feel. Right now, we just have two high-powered monsters, going at it. Which isn't bad, but I feel that should be saved for later
By the way, this opening? Yeah, none of it's in the actual game aside from the characters. It's basically 'Look at all this cool shit you don't get to do'.
Well, that just makes it worse.
Gallantmon and Beelzemon land (Also Armageddemon has disappeared somewhere, don't ask me where) and square off before Gallantmon gets distracted by something.
Huh?
Note that this dude is bigger than literally every building. By at least their height again.
Welcome, everyone! You stuck around through the opening scenes, I guess.
We don't have anything to load, so we're just gonna jump straight in. By the way, if you're playing along for some reason? Get used to seeing this screen and variants thereof. You get a loading screen every time you A) Go to a new screen, B) Save or load, and C) anytime you OPEN YOUR MENU.
Ugh, poorly optimized PS1 games.
Click for ambience!
This game actually has a bunch of really neat animations for little things like this. For those of you who've played Final Fantasy Tactics, it's less robust but similar. I'll be doing my best to show the cooler ones.
That goes a LONG way in keeping your audience invested. Never underestimate the power of flavor animations.
Junior: We won't have time to play Digimon Online... I didn't want Ivy to come, but Teddy and his big mouth told her. They should have gotten a Login Pass ahead of time...
Aaaand, welcome to our protagonist, Junior. He's a bit of a brat and dense as a brick, though I'm pretty sure that's mainly because he falls in the age group where he thinks he's an adult, but is still convinced girls are icky.
He taps his foot a lot more. To the point where I'm not sure if this is a cutscene, or if it's an idle animation and I got control without realizing it.
Kid in the corner, go into the street, nothing bad will happen.
Just as he's about to go inside, every TV starts showing the same news bulletin.
Announcement: ...This just in. International Police, S.A.P have located the European HQ of the crime group A.o.A. Together with the army, they raided their headquarters at midnight last night and have arrested the leaders of the A.o.A inside the compound. Officials believe these arrests will connect recent internet terrorism to the A.o.A.
I'm sure we'll never have anything to do with these A.o.A jokers.
Internet terrorism? Are we ripping off Battle Network now?
Junior: I can't believe anyone would make Digimon do bad things!
I don't know about you all, but I'm perfectly willing to believe that if something exists someone's used it for evil.
"did bad things?" How old is this kid?
Cool thing that happens: Throughout the cutscene, we've only been getting ambient street noises (like the cars that keep driving by). For the brief moment while these two dorkuses walk out, we get cheery convenience store music, only for it to stop playing immediately after the sliding doors shut again.
Ugh, and here's my least favorite part of transcribing - how the fuck do you transcribe dialogue that's like this?
Junior: About time Teddy! And why is Ivy here in the first place? You always say that Digimon are for kids!
Also yeah, all spelling/grammar errors in transcription should be [sic], but I'm not perfect.
Yeah, Digimon are for kids, but Pokemon are for grown-ups. Get rekt, thread.
Ivy: ...and I never said that I hated Digimon!
This game is weird.
Oh! Oh! Slap fight! SLAAAAAP FIGHT!!!!
After getting over his brief career as a ballerina, Teddy tries to play peacekeeper.
It works FLAWLESSLY.
Keep walking into the street without stopping, please.
I'd be okay with this. But they have right of way - see the stoplight?
Click for music!
Just a heads-up: if you ever see me in a different area than where I was an image ago, know that I cut out at least one loading screen. It's ridiculous.
I'll simulate that so we can get the full experience.
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LOADING
Junior: So this is the MAGAMI Online Center? Cool!
Teddy: Yeah, this is the Matrix System! It digitizes our ideas and thoughts and sends them to the net. I wonder how it works? I want to see what makes it tick.
Junior: Come on, let's set up an account and login to the Digital World!
Junior ain't got time for this shit. He's got DIGIMON to get to.
Account Clerk: Welcome to the MAGAMI Online Center. This service is for those traveling into the Digital World. Is this your first time playing Digimon Online?
The kids nod.
Account Clerk: Before we set up your account, you will have to choose your partner Digimon. Choose one Starter Pack: A, B, or C.
Account Clerk: Each pack has three types of Digimon. A is a Balanced Pack: Kotemon, Renamon, Patamon. B is a Powerful Pack: Monmon, Agumon, Renamon. C is a Maniac Pack: Kumamon, Guilmon, Patamon. Which of the three would you like?
What about a credit card?
I'd give Junior shit over this, but to be fair I usually just flip coins when it comes to making decisions, so
Yeah, I'd have a hard time as well. I'd just go with the pack that has Kuma-, I MEAN MR. FUZZUMS
Ivy: Just pick a pack that has a Digimon you like!
For some reason, they walk away from the counter to have this little discussion. I like to imagine that the clerk is just sitting there watching them, perfectly able to hear what they're talking about.
Ivy: Which Digimon don't you like, then? Don't get the pack that has Digimon you don't like, and pick!
Junior: I love all Digimon!
Ivy: Well, if you like all Digimon, then you don't have to worry!
Kid, c'mon, it's not the end of the world. We get the rest of the partners eventually.Also I challenge you to find something likeable about Numemon. It is
That in of itself sounds like a reason.
Ivy: Junior! You still haven't made up your mind?
Idiot Boy wanders up to the counter.
Account Clerk: Have you all decided?
Idiot Boy, unsurprisingly, is still on the fence.
Ivy: Junior! I'm really going to leave you here.
Just do Eeny Meeny Miney Moe, kid. Christ.
I'm really hoping this is the longest cutscene in the game, but I know it's not. I don't even remember, but I just have a gut feeling that there's a cutscene out there that's TWICE the length of this stupid intro sequence. (Oh yeah, we're not even HALF done with the intro.)
There's a such thing as conveying character, and then there's bad pacing.
Tron: We will begin registration of your online account and partner Digimon. The account name will be your name in the Digital World. Please choose your partner Digimon from one of the three Starter Packs.
Right! So this is where the thread comes into play. We need a name for our account.
We also need to pick out a pack of Digimon to start with. Full details regarding this will be at the end of this first update (or at the end of the second half, if it gets too large.)
For the sakes of getting through this interminably long opening, though, we'll be rolling with Junior and Balanced Pack for now.
Fucking finally, it only took like A WEEK
Junior: OK, Teddy, Ivy! Let's go to the Digital World!
I think Junior's a bit excited to be playing with his Digimon, don't you?
Understandable.
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LOADING
Welcome to the
Junior: Wow! So this is the Chamber Room? I can start playing the game... This is exciting!
Junior: It's Junior!
He's so proud of that. Especially once you jerks stick me with something stupid like 'Dickball'.
You give my shitposting abilities far too little credit.
Unrelated note: this operator is where the weirdness of the faces in this game struck me. Look at her eyes: they look like they're slanted. The isomorphic view is not doing any favors for her, that's for certain.
The operator turns and taps on her console for a bit.
Operator: ...Confirmed. Thank you. Please enter the Chamber Capsule over there.
Junior: OK!
Stone cold, dude, just leaving your friends behind like that.
Teddy: Junior, wait up!
Ivy: Hey! Are you leaving without us?
All signs point to yes.
He's well on his way to being just like me.
I don't even KNOW what's going on here: anyone that's seen the first animated movie (the first season kids versus Diaboromon) it's basically the same thing as that.
I'm like 90% sure this is porn, so we're getting rerouted.
Eventually we get accepted. One of the freeze-frames said 'Access Denied: Yamato', which is one of the Digimon Online servers, so I'm assuming this is where we're getting assigned to a server.
Can our character migrate between servers, or will we have to pay a fine to do the transfer?
One last swoop and...
And then loading screen.
How many minutes has it been? We've had an intro, start screen, loading screen, intro cutscene, loading screen, cutscene, loading screen, cutscene and finally loading screen. Jesus, get to it, game!
Click for music!
Welcome to the Digital World! We will never again set foot in the Real World.
Who needs the real world anyway
Account Clerk: Please retrieve your Digimon data at the lobby.
Junior: Huh? Digimon?
Only a jRPG protag can be THIS stupid.I don't understand how a character this stupid is supposed to be likable. It's not even funny-stupid.
Junior: Oh, I understand. I'll go right now!
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LOADING
This is the Main Lobby. The stairs on the left side of the screen take us towards plot progression.
Newbie Shiro: I can't believe that we're inside the net.
Which, naturally, means that we have to talk to EVERYONE ELSE FIRST.
In all fairness, you should probably do that in RPGs for hidden info, all the time.
Maniac Phillip: Aside from Digimon Battles, you can Card Battle with your cards! You've got to be good at both to be World Champ!
I dunno, I think Giver and I have a pretty good track record when it comes to online battling and card games.
Hail to the King
Lazy Alan: Of course I have one too, but you can't see it.
Our next stop is through the door immediately behind Lazy Alan. This'll lead to good things, right?
Or, not.
So wait, you are forced into a loading screen, only to be forced back, making you sit through ANOTHER loading screen?
This game, right
Well, since they're being supremely unhelpful on that side, what's behind Door Number Two? (By the way, this arrow pops up every time going through the door will lead to a loading screen and a new area.)
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LOADING
Arena Reception: Oh? You don't have your partner Digimon yet. Go to the lobby to download the data from your satellite.
You can't make me!
...Or maybe you can. If we try to leave (either through this door here or the one on the bottom right, Junior stops and turns around.
This one's a (fairly useful) quick help menu and rundown of what to expect.
Digimon Online: Digimon Online is administered on 5 servers: Amaterasu, Izumo, Asuka, Yamato, and Ikaruga. In each server is a city with the same name (Asuka City), and they are organized in the same fashion. Players cannot go to other servers, but Server Champs can battle with each other to be the next World Champ.
Objective: The goal in Digimon Online is to become the strongest of the over 200,000 players and become World Champ. Only Server Champs, the winner of the Server Tournaments, can enter the World Champ Tournament. You must defeat the 4 City Leaders in order to enter the Server Tournament, so good luck!
City Guide: There are cities other than Asuka City within the server. If you see a city during your journey, stop by. In the cities are Item Shops, and Inns that restore your Digimon. Data can be saved by Guardromon in the Inns. There are unique sights in each city. Asuka City has the only Digimon Lab, where all tamers visit.
Field Guide: Outside the city, you will battle with wild Digimon. Be prepared before you leave. There are Inns outside the city. If your partner Digimon gets hurt during battle, let them rest. At first, stay away from areas with strong opponents. Train your partner Digimon before going there.
Battle Tips: You travel with 3 partner Digimon, but only one can battle at a time. You may switch them during battle. During battle, tamers control their Digimon with commands. Select a command suitable for the situation. You also have special techs that use MP, and even use items. Go to the Digimon Lab for more info.
Training Basics: Partner Digimon gain EXP (experience) during battle. They level up according to the EXP they have gained. Digimon get stronger as they level up and fight stronger opponents. The stronger the opponent, the more EXP. A Digimon's abilities can also be increased by training. Find out more about training at the Digimon Lab.
Status Screen: When on the move, you can open the Status Screen from your satellite by pushing the START button. You can look at your partner Digimon, use items, and check the map in the Status Screen.
Oof, that's a lot of text. Basically, it boils down to A) Wander the world and beat up the Gym Leaders to be the best. B) If you're getting wrecked by wild Digimon, don't be there. Instead, be somewhere weaker and grind. C) Go to Digimon training gyms.
But what about Team Rocket?
After we've had our fill of faffing about, we just talk to her for the next bit of cutscene. That was a nice... thirty seconds of control.
Tamer Service: Please wait at the online mark on the floor.
Enter Goofus and Gallant, stage right. Or stage left? I can never remember. Either way, Teddy and Ivy come up the steps.
Teddy: ...oh! Hey Junior!
Junior: Hey, what were you two doing? You're so slow!
Teddy: What? No, no, you're the one that's fast. Right, Ivy?
Junior: Kail? That's your account name? That's weird. It sounds like a guy's name!
Haha let's all poke fun at stupid usernames. Right, Giver336?
Suck my dick, it was a random name I made to gain access, then it stuck.
Teddy: I was too lazy so I'm still Teddy!
It's actually a pretty neat little animation.
Junior: Oh, cool! Here are my Digimon!
Teddy: Wow! I wonder who came up with this?
Kail: Me too.
Akihiko Kayaba?
Each of the seven Digimon partners has their own line.
Kotemon: I'm going to fight my best. Thank you!
Renamon: Let's all aim to become World Champ...
Patamon: Hi! I won't disappoint you.
Monmon: I fight good! Everyone good! Let's go!
Agumon: Hi Junior! Let's all do our best.
Guilmon: Guilmon's going to make Junior into a champion!
It's a weird place to put effort, but sure, why not.
Junior: Let's go!
Junior: OK, I'm heading out!
Kail: ...alright. Let's split up from here.
Teddy: See you later.
And then Junior and his Digimon play follow-the-leader out the door.
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LOADING
As soon as we take a step outside we are IMMEDIATELY mugged by this guy.
Tamer Genji: Ho ho ho. I haven't seen you before. Are you new here?
Junior: Yeah! I just got my Digimon!
Tamer Genji: Then I'll battle with you boy. Don't worry if you don't understand the rules! Gaining experience is the important thing!
Fucking griefers, man.
So, yeah, we're immediately mugged by an octogenarian. Great way to start things off.
By the way, for those playing along, get used to seeing this particular screen wipe. The encounter rate in the US version of DW3 is through the roof for some reason.
Anyway, time for a crash course in how the battle system works! While it may look scary (Kuwagamon is a Champion Digimon (Rank 2) while we're only Rookie (Rank 1) we outnumber him. Honestly, this fight is just a glorified tutorial - the only Digimon that I've seen actually get knocked out is Kumamon because that bear is a glass cannon with no defense.
Mr. FUZZUMS!
But enough about bears. Let's talk battle systems!
Digimon World 3 has a turn-based RPG structure to it - you select your action, and then the fight begins. The top left is the enemy's current Digimon and party - the number of squares shows the Digimon and their status. Right now, he's only got one Digimon at basically full health. We, on the other hand, have three. Kotemon happens to have 150/150 health. (Don't worry about the little bar gauge thing below our health, I'll explain it later.)
As for our actions, we have six options. Fight is just a regular attack; Tech uses a special ability; DV is short for Digivolve (which I will get into when we can actually do so); Tag switches which Digimon is fighting, though whoever you're switching to is gonna eat an attack; Item, of which we have none at the moment; and Run, which lets you try to flee battles. You can't flee Tamer battles.
Kotemon only has one Tech, Hot Head, but that's more than enough to defeat Kuwagamon. Fun fact: Kumamon doesn't even have enough MP to use his only Tech right away. Fuck that bear.
Nooooo
When we use Techs, we usually get a neat little display like this. Regular attacks just have our Digimon jump over and attack (or, in the case of Monmon, pull out the slingshot and attack).
Like I said, Kuwagamon isn't even a speedbump. Unless you're using Kumamon. In which case you're fucked.
Special note: Kuwagamon happens to be weak to Patamon's Boom Bubble, which does 600+ damage to him in one shot. I'll go over weaknesses when there's actual reason to discuss them.
After every battle, you get a certain amount of experience split up amongst everyone that participated. We also get some filthy lucre (about 50 BITs, which is essentially pocket change). BITs are the currency of the hour.
Congratulations, you beat up a Grampa.
Yeah, kick the griefers in the nuts.
Tamer Genji: You're pretty good for a first timer. You have potential to be World Champ some day!
Junior: That's my dream!
Tamer Genji: In order to do that, you should learn more about Digimon. You should visit the Digimon Lab before going outside the city.
Junior: Digimon Lab. OK, I got it. Thanks!
Junior: ...What? What's that?
Oh, only the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE
Tamer Genji: I see. You had better go to the Yellow Cruiser. They'll teach you all you need to know about Card Battles. ...Now go. I'm counting on you kid. Ho ho ho!
Alright, folks, I'm gonna cut the update here - it's getting long. The rest of it won't be as packed with stuff, but this is the last of the official intro non-playable segment. We have full control now!
Update #1b: Asuka City
After we beat Genji, we are unceremoniously dumped here in the Digimon Lab (which, as it turns out, is what was off to the right back from the Main Lab. Pretty neat.)
Good news: We now have full control for the forseeable future. Bad news: I immediately use said control to go through about three or four more tutorials because I hate myself
Come now, Yeti, you're the LPer, you shouldn't need no stinkin' tutorials.
I don't need them, but I'm being thorough. Since several of your questions have already been answered by the tutorials, I don't want to hear it from you.
Lazy Yuka (the girl right next to us): Hmm... how should I raise my Digimon? Their parameters differ depending on how you raise them.
Digivolve Navi: We will give you data about some Digimon digivolution... However, not all Digimon digivolution can be taught.
Kotemon: Can learn Agumon and Veemon types. If you train machine tolerance...
Monmon: Once it learns Ultimate, train its strength, machine and wind tolerance.
Kumamon: Train wisdom and spirit, which are hardest to increase.
Renamon: Train spirit or strength and defense.
Patamon: Train wisdom or strength.
Agumon: If you increase dark tolerance, it will learn dark type digivolution.
Guilmon: Its parameters are partial, so the key is to strengthen its weaknesses.
Digivolution Navi: That's all of the information. Well, good luck!
Good luck, she says. GOOD LUCK, she says. You don't even fucking KNOW.
I'm not sure if each Digimon having its own evolving requirements intrigues me, or turns me off.
The other lady has some information about our partners in general.
Types of Attacks: Use physical, magic and support techniques as needed.
Attack Attributes: Attack opponents with opposing attributes and use ally attributes.
Technique Effects: Effectiveness of poison, paralysis and others differ with Digimon.
Status Ailments: Status ailments except "curse" by Cardmon will go away after battle.
DNA Digivolve: Combine two Digimon into one. After DNA digivolve, the two will switch.
EXP Distribution: All Digimon that appeared in battle will receive EXP.
Training: Digimon can be trained at a gym by using TP (Training Points).
Digivolution Skills: Digivolved form skills will increase as you gain EXP.
The game briefly hints at this, but yeah, you have elemental attributes to your attacks and various resistances. Other things mentioned but not fully explained: EXP is split up evenly (rounding off numbers, usually down) among everyone that participated. In other words, if I'd had two Digimon fight that Kuwagamon earlier each would have received 2 EXP instead of Kotemon getting all 4; TP is earned at each level up, 5 per level with a max of 99. Other things I'll be talking about when they're relevant.
Next on our list of people to talk to is Dr. Kadomatsu.
Dr. Kadomatsu: You can digivolve and switch Digimon in this Digimon Lab!
We don't have any other Digimon or digivolutions, so there's no real reason to talk to this guy for now.
Click for music!
Surprisingly, a lot of the NPCs have new dialogue. We only hit one flag, and already we've got to go back and talk to people...
Energetic Yuki: Even though I come here everyday, I don't get bored!
Teddy: Later!
Kail: I'll look around Asuka City for now. So go ahead!
Digimon Fan Mary: Hm, I want to digivolve my Digimon... Which is better, Gallantmon or Beelzemon...?
These are the two guys that were fighting in the opening cinematic!
Is she the final boss
Lazy Alan: Each Digimon has its own attribute. A good tamer should understand each attribute.
Next! Tutorials on basic tamer information!
Preparation for Journey: Select and decide on Digimon and digivolution at the Digimon Lab. Make sure you equip Digimon with weapons and armor and line up your Digimon for battle.
Card Battle: In Digimon Online, you can Card Battle as well. Detailed information is available at the Yellow Cruiser.
Saving: Just in case of trouble, save frequently. Guardromon, in charge of saving, stand at each of the Inns. Guardromon in battle will not save!
Game Over: When all partner Digimon are defeated, the game ends. Stay away from unreasonable battles.
Adding Partners: You can add partner Digimon besides the three you've chosen. This is all I can tell you.
Don't play coy, game. It's unbecoming. Anyway, no real news in here aside from the existence of weapons and armor.
There's new people in the Arena Front Desk (right door), so let's go check them out!
Uncle Carlos: ...what all players of Digimon Online dream of!
Fight Fan Midori: Digimon Battle is the greatest! Omnimon was so awesome!
Arena Reception: This is the registration for the Server Champ tournament. To enter the tournament, you need the 4 City Badges. Please defeat each of the City Leaders and collect the Badges.
Fine, fine, I know when I'm not wanted.
Click for music!
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LOADING
So, what's the spawn camper up to?
Tamer Genji: Ho ho ho. You there..[sic] You seem to be doing well.
Well, that was pointless.
Out in the cities, you'll find random Digimon to talk to, not just Tamers.
Agumon: You need to do more than fight to train your Digimon. It would be good to train your Digimon at the nearby gym.
Yeah, he's not lying. The gym is where you get most of your stat boosts - but once again, I'll go over that when it's relevant.
These three buildings are the main three buildings you'll find in every City. From left to right, they're the Weapon shop, the Item shop, and the Inn.
First stop: the Inn.
Gatomon: If you want to stay at the Inn, please talk to us.
Each Inn will have a Gatomon and (usually) a Guardromon. Gatomon are the Innkeepers - you talk to them to rest and recover all of your HP and MP. Since the only one of my Digimon missing anything is Kotemon, we'll be skipping this for now. Prices of the inns are relative to both where the Inn is and what level your Digimon are, I believe.
Guardromon: IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THEN TALK TO US!
Good to see that Zoah's voice actor is still getting work after Chrono Cross.
This game has a lot of cool Pokemon. I AM GIVER AND I APPROVE
Guardromon: PREPARE TO SAVE.
However, there is one pretty neat thing to saving, and it's this:
The gif doesn't really do it justice; the ball of light is actually shimmering a little bit. Sorry. Saving itself isn't worth showing off, so let's move on, shall we?
Well, I guess I can't say there wasn't any love put into this game.
Our next stop is the second floor of the Inn. From left to right, we have Biyomon, Terriermon, and Gabumon snoozing.
Biyomon: I'm tired. Zzzzzz...
Terriermon: ...mmmm, Mou-man-tai mou-man-tai.
Gabumon: Zzzz... Zzzzzzz
Terriermon's 'momentai' line is a reference to Digimon Tamers. That was a weird show.
This is bullshit. The first town is ALWAYS flooded with noobs and bots selling random shit. This screen should be flooded with NPCs.
Chicago Green: But I wonder how you can participate...?
Aside from the existence of a black market, that was useless. Maybe the basement has more interesting things.
Fussy Freda: Clean and dust and... I just have to clean anything that's dirty.
You can actually examine these barrels here.
Anyway, the door to the left leads to the Lamb Chop and some pretty good music. The Lamb Chop is (I think) some sort of saloon-esque store. We can't actually do anything here at the moment, though, so let's talk to the patrons.
Waitress Debbie (the lady by Patamon): Mr. Alexei is upset again. I guess there's some tough things in the Real World.
Master John (the bartender): This is Lamb Chop. Everyone comes here.
Everyone comes here, didn't you know?
But what if you were a vegan?
So we know what it looks like. Before anyone asks, no, we can't go talk to the waitress in the back.
DAMN!
Anyway, the Lamb Chop comes out down this ramp. Also, get used to seeing those weird flashes of blue loading panels in the screenshots; I'll try not to have any, but if I take a screenshot while we're running around they might pop up. They're this game's way of pretending to (or actually, I don't know how much they keep in memory) load in the graphics.
Masato: Seiryu City is straight east from this city.
This is as good a time as any: because we're in an isomorphic view, the compass rose is angled too. North is top-right, so East is bottom-right.
Patamon (hers, not mine): Sorry. We can only digivolve during battle.
Pictured: how the devs managed to get away with only having a small selection of models following you around.
Small mercies. You don't want an even slower game, do you?
If we kept following this path, we'd find an entrance way that leads to the Digimon Lab. Fuck going back in there, though.
And this way leads to the exit of the city... But we still haven't found the Yellow Cruiser yet.
Astute viewers might have already seen this, but there are some buildings down to the right. There's a way to get there...
...And it's through the Inn, for whatever reason. We took the left door to enter the Lamp Chop, so let's go through the right door this time.
The person working for this online game who planned an MMO map like this should probably get knocked upside the head.
This is the Underground Path. I don't know why it's here at all, except to have an excuse to put a ladder here.
If we head through the door at the bottom of the ladder, it comes out here, in the sewers. There's also a chest.
Junior: Yeah! I got 300 BIT!
He says that after every chest we pick up, by the by. It'll get old fast enough.
Cool it, kid, you got like 30 cents.
The other end of the Underground Path leads to the lower half of Asuka City.
Guilmon: The damage we sustain from battle remains even after the battle is over. But we'll get better if you use capsules or sleep at an Inn.
It's got a nice little grassy area, as well as a pretty big tree.
Grandma Beth: There's a way to become Digimon in this world. Do you know how?
Jake: I want to be a Digimon just once in my life. Hyo hyo hyo.
No, you fools! This is how you get Digimon Frontier. Do you want Digimon Frontier?
Oh God, it's this game's version of Other-kin. RUN! RUN FOR THE HILLS
Moving on... This is the Cargo Tower, and there's nothing for us to do here just yet.
no shit
Anyway, these two buildings are the ones that we want. First, though, NPCs.
Maniac Jack: Not all Digimon can hold the same kind of Weapon.
Masahiro: Looks like the higher-ups of the A.o.A got caught. I wonder what they were up to...
Eh, probably nothing that'll affect us.
Naaaaaah. They were only mentioned during the first cutscene as flavor text!
First stop, the blue house. It's also got the Lamb Chop music playing, which immediately makes it 50% better.
Item Freak Ken: Oh? You're not a member, are you? Your Digimon aren't that cool looking either. You can't be a member.
We're then unceremoniously kicked out back into Asuka City proper. Jerk.
Kick him in the nuts, take his shit, get out.
This here's the Yellow Cruiser. Normally, I'd be showing off what's inside, but the update is starting to drag on a bit, so let's just keep moving, shall we? Long story short, we got the Folder Bag and a few cards to start off with. I'll be going over all this stuff when it becomes relevant, as usual.
That leaves only one place we haven't been: the Weapon/Item shop.
The Smith's Shop, as it's officially known, is where we can buy everything we need to go adventuring and not get our faces pounded in by a wild Rookie.
Item Lover Sandy: But Mr. Smith said that he doesn't know about that!
Agent Smith? What are you doing here?
Purpose. Purpose is what created us. Purpose is what divides us, that guides us, that drives us. It is purpose that defines us.
Wizardmon are the ones in charge of the Item Shop. These are the consumables that we can use both inside and out of battle.
The Pawn Shop is where we get accessories, like rings and bands. (More on this later, when they're actually in my price range.)
Finally, we have the Armory, run by the Gargomon. These guys carry equipment to boost our stats while we have it equipped.
Here's what the Armory has in stock right now; it's not much, and we can't really afford much of anything. I end up grabbing a Short Sword for Kotemon, as well as a Hide Helmet. I also pick up a few of the healing items from the Item Shop, Power Charges.
All in all, I've blown through all of my budget and have 10 BITs to my name.
Fucking RPG pleb, right here. You don't need to buy from the first Weapon shop! You get that stuff in dungeons!
Except that gave us a 14 point boost to Strength, and this is solely a numbers game. Besides, we need three copies of everything.
This is the Asuka Bridge - the final path between us and the wild encounters. Fortunately, there are a few kind guards here to talk to.
DO Guard #1: This is Asuka City, the center of Asuka Server.
DO Guard #2: All tamers start and end their journeys here...
Thanks, guys. You're swell.
I have to admit, it is a pretty good-looking game for the time it was developed.
But enough about that! This is Central Park, the first area of Central Sector. We're officially in the wild now!
But we'll be exploring that next time. For now, thread, you have a job to do! See, we need an account name and a starting pack. Character limit for the name is 8 characters, using the ones you saw in the screenshot above. Keep things relatively civil; the game does use our name in textboxes fairly frequently, and I'd rather not have to deal with people talking to DONGS all the time. Not to mention, your name appears in your own textboxes and Junior's a chatty kid.
Remember guys, vote for the pack with MR.FUZZUMS