Part 3: Day 2: Don't Kill Me (part 2)

Day 2: Don't Kill Me (part 2)


You know, it's pretty odd that the game takes so long to unlock its own main menu.



Music: It's So Wonderful

The main menu isn't even decked out yet.

At the top we've got a listing of popular brands which I'll let the game explain when it gets to them, a map of Shibuya that shows important events and brand rankings, along with the day and current location.

The bottom screen has all the options. Five locked menus, the items, pins, and saving the game.

Level can be adjusted at any time, as all it affects is the drop rate multiplier and your current HP, +50 per level. Since some pin drops end up as fractions of a percent increasing the base drop rate is important.

Difficulty can be adjusted once we get the stickers for it, and the Auto thing adjusts how quickly the AI takes over once you stop pressing buttons. I keep it on fast so they pick up the slack if I get too focused on the bottom screen suddenly.

On to the item menu!


You can try eating things, but we don't have any food. Neku won't eat his own abilities.


Nor will he wear tutorials.

The wallet is our basic one, max yen of 99,999 which barely buys anything neat. The CD is the current music that's playing, Isn't It Wonderful linked up there. The rest is the pile of tutorials and stickers from the first two days. We don't have any actual swag since all of this has been automatic so far.


I prefer Shockwave and Force Rounds at first. Psychokinesis can be powerful but it's dependent on shit laying around and that isn't always assured.

Efficiency is a bitch this early. Shiki's attacks have 100% and her finisher has 200% so she'll usually out-damage Neku.

You start out with two pin slots but there's room for six.


You can sell pins you get. Most of the yen pins come pre-mastered so there isn't too much point to them but selling.


Anyway, going north, to the supposed exit to Hachiko, in order to trigger another scene.





: I knew it.
: So... We just have to defeat some Noise, right?
: She is so SLOW! Do I have to do everything?
: Neku! Where are you--



: You’re a Reaper.
: I don’t get paid to chitchat. Play the Game.
: Hmph. That was a waste of time. Lift the statue’s curse, huh? That sounds just like the mission. But Hachiko is PAST the wall... Wait--
: Please, STOP walking off without me!
: Hey.
: Arrgh! My name is Shiki. Can you say "Shiki"?



: Like Easter Island? What’s a Moai doing here?
: "Moyai"! With a Y! Never thought about where it came from...
: Think it’s cursed?
: I don’t know. It looks pretty normal to me.
: Let’s find out.


So NOW fights have stopped being tutorials and will start killing us. Getting hit isn't usually something I do, though.


The red noise are random encounters, while yellow are required to advance the plot. You can go the entire game without fighting any red noise, since there's no need too.

But I like to fight.

Battle Video: Random Encounters.

...I don't know if it's me being rusty or if it's the weak pins but I remember being able to get stars for time, too.

Speaking of which, I did this because I needed to level my pins some. Leveling up pins can increase their power, the number of uses before it needs to reboot, and booting times.


The pig icon next to signal has been lightened up, meaning there was a piggy hiding somewhere in this area.

Battle Video: Pig Samba

Music: Dancer In The Street

Pigs are gimmick battles that show up in specific spots of specific screens on specific days. The Pig Samba is the basic pig, you just have a limited amount of time to take it out before it escapes. Pigs reward you with somewhat special pins and don't respawn. While the pins right now aren't worth much, Pigs eventually hand over some real swag.


The man standing next to the Moyai statue can be scanned, and he has some dialogue if you stand near him.



: You can tell me. ...Something on your mind?
: That guy... Who is he talking to?
: ...Tell me what's ailing you. ...We're not all made of stone.
: ......
: Neku. Give the man some space...
: ......



These Noise aren't anything special compared to the random encounters.


I still wish I could get an S-rank on them, though.

Anyway, with both of them dead...



: So the Moyai was possessed by Noise... and we had to scan to find it.
: The guy in red... Yup. He’s gone. But we can probably get through now.
: We freed the cursed sculpture. Does that mean we cleared the mission?
: No, that was just to cross the wall. See? My clock’s still ticking.
: Yeah...mine too. Well, at least the wall’s gone.
: Let’s go find this "Hachiko"...Our real target.
: Neku... You talk like you’ve never heard of it.
: Nope. What’s Hachiko?


Shiki really cares about statues.

: ......
: Remember where we met yesterday? There’s a statue of a dog in the plaza. That’s Hachiko. Now, I have a question. How’d you figure out how to get past the wall?
: ......
: Not again...
: ......
: ...... All Right! Fine. Let’s just head for Hachiko.


Well that was a lot sooner than I remember. I slap Pyrokinesis in the new slot.


These fights have been dropping yen pins, including this one. 100 yen sells for 100 yen. My snot is probably worth more.

But we're on the Tin Pin menu which has words and numbers that don't make sense yet but since I've played this game before they make too much sense.


So deck 4 is dedicated to 100 yen for this mysterious "Tin Pin".


Oh hey there's the other three I'll need eventually!

Moving to Hachiko's screen nets a creepy silhouetted guy on a rooftop saying a few ominous, foreboding lines.


Shibuya must have the worst-lit rooftops in the world.


Anyway, we're finally here at Hachiko.

: We made it! And with plenty of time left!
: This is where we met yesterday... So the two places are connected.
: OK! Let’s lift Hachiko’s curse!
: And how do you propose we do that?
: Well...umm... Maybe we could erase the Noise around it, or...yeah.
: She’s clueless. This is why I can’t count on other people. ...They’re all clueless.

However, scanning reveals nothing but thoughts.


Shibuya is a strange place.



: Then Hachiko must not be cursed?
: Could we have the wrong statue?
: Huh? Hey, look, Neku!
: Crap...We don’t have time to hunt for another statue...
: EARTH TO NEKU!
: What!
: Something’s wrong with Hachiko.
: Like what?
: Hmm...I’m not sure. But it looks different from when I saw it at Hachi Fest.
: Then let’s take a closer look.



There is, however, another Pig Sambo. This one gives 500 yen as well.


I'm pretty sure this is optional but Shiki really needs to explain what's up.

: What’s Hachi Fest?
: Oh, it’s a blast! It’s this festival where you touch Hachiko for good luck! If you touch the right place in the right way, your wishes come true!
: Wow. Charming.
: They hold it every year. And each time, the place you have to touch changes.
:But if you get it wrong...
: ...You explode?
: You get cursed!
: Hmm... Sound pretty extreme.

How intriguing.


That blue spot is a bit odd, but otherwise it looks like a statue of a dog.

We have to go back to the guy by the moyai and scan him.


Well, that yellow text makes our next course of action pretty obvious.


Polishing the statue is accomplished by rubbing it with the stylus.



: You say something, Neku?
: Nope.
: You know... It seems the more we polish... the less this looks like Hachiko...
: GRRRRR....
: Stop growling and polish!
: I’m not growling...




Three Garage Wolves, but they spawn on the same side so Neku's Shockwave gets the whole lot of them at once.


+1 defense, independent of clothing or her base. Handy.

: Neku, we did it! The timer’s gone! So there was Noise possessing both the Moyai AND Hachiko.
: And our mission was to get rid of both.
: Hey, Neku...
: Yeah?
: You said before you don’t need any friends.
: Yeah. Your point?
: Well, you couldn’t have solved Hachiko’s riddle without me.
: What? Get real.
: If I hadn’t noticed the pattern, we might not have cleared the mission.
: Listen, Stalker. I don’t need you to solved one stupid riddle.
: Riiight. Well, if you ask me--



: Huh!?
: That voice... You were at 104 yesterday!
: You’re that Reaper!



: Then it’s true?
: A Reaper... She gives out the missions?
: You know, you owe me a bowl of ramen. For not disappearing like you’re s’posed to.
: This...girl is a Reaper?
: What’s wrong? Too spooked to answer?



Battle Video: Metal Corehog

Music: Ooparts

The Metal Corehog is the first real boss noise as it doesn't appear anywhere but this point. It can launch its quills which will explode a short moment later. Neku can dodge them but Shiki's reduced to pummeling them to death.

Of course, I still smoke the bastard.


I don't think any of you can quite understand how much I was missing this bastard, but more on that later.

: Huff...huff...
: Nngh... These Noise are tougher than the others...
: Wow. You’re, like, stronger than I thought. But I’m not done playing yet. This next Noise will be a killer.

She summons a swarm of Noise.



: I’ve got one chance.
: Hmm?
: I have to take her out!
: Please tell me you’re not planning on fighting me? Ha ha ha ha! How stupid can you get? You’ll never win against a Reaper! But all right.



: What!? She erased her own Noise?
: You seem surprised.
: Aren’t the Noise on your side?
: Eww, gross! Don’t group us together. The Noise are nothing but tools. Pawns. Just like you Players. Ha ha!
: Rrgh...I can’t let this brat win! But can I stop her? I have no idea how strong she is... Doesn’t matter. I have to try!
: Don’t, Neku! You don’t want to take her on! She can erase you in a second! Ohh...
: Hmph.
: Aww, what? You’re giving up? Booo-ring. Don’t get my hopes up like that. Killjoy. Now that I’m in the mood...



: Huh!?



: Well, this is a pickle...



: If you pull it off, I’ll let you out of the Reapers’ Game!
: You...you will?
: You betcha! Sweet deal, huh? So, like, what do you say?
: A ticket out...
: Neku, don’t! Don’t listen!
: You back there. Shut up! Now, are you in, or are you out?



: Neku!
: Whee! ‘Atta boy! Now, let’s get started. Oh, I forgot to mention. If you fail... I erase you.
: What!?
: Thankfully the rules are veeery simple. You have one minute...



: What? Erase her?
: Yup. Poof! Kaput! Easy, right? Just pretend you’re erasing the Noise. Whew, this one’s already in the bag. All right. Ready? Start!
: W-wait! Dammit... She’s asking me to kill someone. There’s no way I can do that. But if I don’t...
: Neku...
: 30 seconds! Still on the fence?



: What? She’s a spy?
: Hey! What are you saying!
: Thanks for checking in so often. We couldn’t have done it without you.
: Shut up! Don’t lie! Neku...She’s making all of this--
: Your phone. Why did you keep playing with your phone?
: Huh!? Oh... I was...just...
: Just SPYING. She’s not very good at covering it up.
: I didn’t spy! I swear!
: G’bye. And thanks for playing. 10 seconds... You’re the star, kiddo. Just do things your way.
: ...
: What are you waiting for? Do what comes naturally. Save yourself. Screw everybody else, right?





Cutscene video: Don't Kill Me