The Let's Play Archive

Rakuen

by really queer Christmas

Part 1: Boy Meets Yami

Update 1 - Boy Meets Yami





The Keepers (main menu)



Welcome to Rakuen! Though there is no intro video or anything of the like, we are greeted by a great menu song that I may or may not have listened to for hours. It's incredibly calming... yet has a sense of sadness to it.



That said, we can't sit here forever. Let us begin.



Storage Area





Our protagonist is this young boy in a hospital bed. He's just been woken up by some knocking at the door and this eerie red light.



No one responds to him, and so he tries to go back to sleep. A very sensible thing to do.







... Unless you're being watched by some creepy kid.

How'd you get in here?
Your door's unlocked man.
Oh.
Who are you?



Did you just move in or something?
No, I think I got here around the same time as you. But they never let me out of my room.
Oh... I'm sorry.
Eh, it's okay.
I sneak out at night when the nurses aren't watching.
Heh.



I promise.
So how long are you in here for?
I dunno... Mom says it could be a while.
Same here.
It gets really boring sometimes.
I know what you mean.

*Footsteps can be heard*



Sorry man, I gotta go.



Yeah?
Maybe I could visit you sometime.
It's not as boring when there's two.
You won't be able to get into my room.
I'm not even supposed to leave, remember?
Oh yeah...
But don't worry, I'll come visit you again.
I promise.



Yami?
Where'd you go?



Some time later...





Now we can move! It's really basic controls in this game, arrow keys to move, space/enter to perform an action, esc is the menu, etc. Though the "Q" key has a special use later...

Since we can move, let's go investigate the desk in our room.





We don't know the date, so its unclear how long ago this medication was administered. But as we are the only ones in the room, this was definitely given to us.



>The cabinet is empty



The front door is locked, presumably from the outside or Yami wouldn't have been able to get in. There's a door right next to us that leads to...



The bathroom of course! What else would be in a creepy perfectly normal hospital room?



Ah, now that we have light. We can do something important...



Fill the sink with water. We will be doing this...quite a few more times. Sometimes for mischief, other times to help people in need, and maybe other times just because we're a bored kid.

In order to progress, we need to check the door in the back of the room.



>There is a sign on the door... it says "Storage Area 5B. Patients not allowed beyond this point."

*The phone begins to ring*

We head over to the phone to answer it.



Hello dear it's Mom.
Mom!!
Just wanted to let you know that my train was delayed, so I'm going to be a bit late.
Oh...
Okay.



It's okay, Mom, I understand.
But I'm off work this week, and I dropped off your Little Brother at Grandma's. So... We'll be able to spend lots of time together! We can play games, I'll read to you, it'll be like our own little party!
Thanks, Mom.
I love you.
I love you, too.



side note: the mom does have a portrait, but we aren't going to see it until later





These Grey Walls (hospital)

No one told me I couldn't walk around...
Hah!
Okay wise guy, I've got a couple things to tell you. First of all, some good news. Your tests have come back, and it turns out things are looking pretty good. In fact, I think it might be okay for you to walk around the halls a bit today.
You mean...
I get to leave my room?
Indeed.



Not so fast... there's something else I need to talk to you about.
This morning, the cafeteria reported that a lot of food and drink was stolen from the kitchen. Since the wing was all locked up last night, we believe the thief might still be in the building somewhere. So can you take a moment to just check and see if any of your belongings were stolen?
Okay.



*A shiny blue spot has appeared on the desk*

Oh no...
It's gone!!!
: Doctor, they took it...
They took Rakuen!

Well thats the quickest ending to a game I've seen. Guess we gotta get the ending dlc by opening up elite lootboxes to find out what happens next.

What did they take?
Rakuen. It's my favorite book in the whole world...
My Mom reads it to me every night, it's very special.
Are you completely sure you didn't just misplace it?



After Mom finishes reading, she ALWAYS puts it back in the same place.
It's our tradition!
Okay, calm down.
What did your book look like?
Hmm... It has a brown cover...
It looks very old...
And there is a clasp made of silver with a hole for a key.
Silver clasp, eh?



Well I'm really sorry about this... I can only imagine how important it must have been to you. I want you to know that we'll be doing all we can to track down the thief.
Mom's gonna be so sad...



The portraits are really nicely done. I know that it's not something unique to this game, but the art is so bright and happy, that when the characters are upset it helps to hit those gut punches a bit better.

You know what...
What?
Since you're allowed to leave your room today, why don't you go talk to some of the othjer folks around the floor?
Who knows... maybe someone will be able to help you get your book back.



Next time... we'll follow her out the door and see who else is in this hospital.