#zodi streams

[lazodiac]

A long-ish time ago, I saw someone stream a video game. This is not an uncommon occurrence I watch a number of videos game streamers. It is an enjoyable activity that I do. But this time, I saw a game that immediately hit me as like, incredibly quite good. A game good enough that I bought it for basically everyone I knew so they could play it. No one did, tragically, so I must take it into my own hands to show everyone…

JENNY LECLUE - DETECTIVU!

Video Length: 4:33:28

We are the titular Jenny LeClue, a young teenage detective genius, and she has a problem; she is getting tired of not having real actual mysteries to solve. Jenny LeClue also has another problem; it is a long-running young teenage detective genius genre mystery novel series, which has slumped in popularity due to formulaic writing and lack of any stakes or progression. The latter problem forces the hand of the author, and in doing so begins to solve the former problem… but in doing so, what new issues will occur? Arthur, the author, is conflicted about the direction the story honestly needs to take for his book series to continue- he loves his characters, his world, and the static comfort of it all. But at this point, now that the brakes are off, even Jenny seems to be fighting against him…

Jenny LeClue is a point and click adventure game, in the mystery genre. Those of you who know me may recognize that I… generally don't like that sort of game. Phoenix Wright is fantastic of course, but things like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango are games that bounce off me like one of those high-tension spring mattresses. So when I say this is one of my favorite games of all time, that's gotta mean something. As Jenny you must search your environment for scraps of post cards, concept art, and of course actual clues to help progress the story, solve the mysteries you encounter, and get to the bottom of the odd things going down in Arthurton.

This game also has a (relatively light) choose-your-own-adventure style to the dialogue, ala games like Mass Effect and the like. Your choosiness will influence the characters and the story somewhat here and there, but is ultimately not the be-all end-all deciding factor of things, which makes it a bit easier to work with. Generally, Jenny is a pretty rude and sassy girl (befitting a child detective sort) so even if you're trying to be nice, it might take a bit before she figures out how. And when you have her be mean… well, she doesn't pull punches.

In this episode, we get all the way to the actual major mystery; the death of a beloved local figure and fan-favorite character. Oh no! We're also introduced to a number of folk who'll be important in the future; Jenny's Mom, the concept of her Dad, her friend Keith, her "local older guy who she hangs out with due to genre conventions" CJ the Conspiracy Jheorist, Dean Strausberry, and of course her cousin Susan Quincy Glatz. The voice work in this game is incredible, perfectly capturing the feel of one of these child detective novels, and I love it.

Next time, join us as we escape our current predicament (trying not to spoil things TOO much in the write-up, this is a mystery after all) and begin our pursuit of the case in earnest…

[lazodiac]

(sorry for the delay in getting this thread up, but in my defense my internet has been bad and Dawntrail released)

Control is a game by Remedy- the first of theirs I actually played, believe it or not, which made all the stories of "Remedy made one(1) good game and the rest of their catalog sucks) feel very strange. But enough about me and my experiences with the game. All you need to know going into this is that it's one of my favorite games, it's SCP Adjacent but without all the loser edgelord stuff (and only a little bit of the trying too hard) and is really just, genuinely fantastic an experience. I hope you're ready to peer behind the poster…

Video Length: 3:58:03

We start off with a brief narration from our good friend Jesse Faden, setting up the vibe as we head into the Federal Bureau of Control. The dream-like atmosphere establishes itself immediately as we meet Ahti, the lovely Finnish janitor who is everybody's friend and not suspicious at all, as he welcomes the new hire for janitor's assistant. The way opens up for us to the head office, where Director Trench would be… and instead we find his body, and an ever shifting gun of cubes and thought. The Service Weapon, our bread-and-butter for the game. One might think a simple revolver wouldn't quite fit the aesthetic of a game like this, but the presentation of what this gun IS, like literally IS, helps push that over from simple gun to something a bit more. The fact that it doesn't need ammo helps.

Interfacing with the Service Weapon also introduces us to the Board, which I constantly call the Board of Directors because even though they aren't Directors (we're the Director) they are the Board, and in business terms the Board has to be of something and ergo they are the board OF directors. Not that they are directors on the board, but they are the board in charge of Directors. It makes sense if you think about it sideways enough. They advise us that the FBC is currently undergoing a minor hostile takeover attempt and it is up to us to put an end to this deal and politely ask the deal-maker to leave. Thanks to something unique about Jesse (or the presence she talks to) she's able to do just that, when her Service Weapon proves insufficient at negotiations at any rate.

Jesse has many tasks to do as director/janitor's assistant, and we accomplish a number of them this stream. We engage with some of our employees, we figure out how to navigate the Hotel to get to our special phone-line, we find an old floppy disc that gives us the single most satisfying telekinetic throw I have ever experience in any video game ever oh my god the sheer joy of YEETING something with such extreme speeds is to die for, and we find a funny carousel horse that lets us air dash. We also make sure to read all the documents that pass our desk, listen to voice-mails from our predecessor, and watch a few episodes of our in-house children's programming, for better or worse. All in a days work for Jesse.

So yeah. Control. Hope you enjoy, I look forward to subjecting you all to more of it. Thank you for watching and take care, we will continue this journey every Thursday… within reason, I may or may not be getting a job soon which would by necessity change my schedule. We'll see.

[lazodiac]

Onwards, ever onwards, up into the… depths(?) of space, to Sol Marta itself! My girlfriend, ever lovely and wonderful @qwertystop and I continue Ar Tonelico 2!

(internet problems caused the stream to split in half, sorry)

In this episode, we make our way into Sol Marta, the final dungeon- and the first one to have any sort of engaging mechanical THING. We need to open a locked door again, as is the norm for some of these end-game dungeons, but in this case instead of just back-tracking, we need to move around a bridge that allows us to access rooms previously inaccessible. This, plus the fact that some of the enemies in this layer (especially the Poms who have mastered the power of friendship) pack quite the punch, means this is actually a pretty real dungeon! The most dangerous threat is of course the IPDs in our way, who range from fair fights to brutal slugfests.

The end result of all this is that we end up face to face with Raki, the war-machine maid herself, assigned by whoever is currently sitting on Frelia's throne to strike down any intruders. Strike us down she will… especially me, since I have to contend with a game breaking bug! If she makes it to her third turn alive, or without taking enough damage, she'll use an attack that fully hard-locks the game, requiring a reset! This is clearly incredibly powerful a move, but not the intended gameplay experience. Luckily, with some good equipment choices, spell use, and just dogged determination, I get through it fine and dandy!

Of course, after that, we're face with the unfortunate truth… of course the door's locked from the inside. There's nothing we can do. We're stuck here, and our journey ends…

Except not, obviously. Jakuri continues to be overwhelmingly clutch in saving the day, saying she can easily hack into Raki's brain and open the door. When she DOES however… we learn that, hilariously, she's just flat out lying. She doesn't know a thing about this. Shurelia, however, does! Shurelia is the third reyvetal of the first game, a kind and stalwart religious leader… and the first game's Frelia equivalent. Talk about phoning a friend huh. It works (in a sense, Shurelia just knocks open every single door regardless of purpose) and we get what we all kinda just assumed; the person in charge of all of this is Infel herself. She siccs another of her plushie viruses at us- as weak as it was back then- and leaves us with what is very clearly a warning.

Also we unlock the ability to do an Atelier game dive on Frelia. Woo.

[lazodiac]

Lets get crackin' on that final stretch of Jenny LeClue, Detectivu!

Video Length: 4:24:21

We resume our exploration of the graveyard, in search of the biggest cross… or should I say, the tallest Cross! While the puzzle isn't as tricky as it could be, I've always liked the little twist in what the puzzle actually is- searching not for a gravestone by a body. It's fun! And thanks to that little search, we slowly but surely find our way deeper, deeper into the mysteries of Arthurton…

To be blunt, we finish the game this stream, and writing it all out would actually spoil the discussion, so lets leave it there. I'll give my non-spoilery thoughts here, and we can discuss how it goes once folk have actually watched it.

Jenny LeClue is, genuinely, a really good story, and for a game like this that above all else is paramount. Mechanically I can understand people not being super enthused by it, since it is fairly basic adventure game stuff… though without the possibility of hard-locking the game to death like certain other adventure games. It's mechanics are more a vehicle for the story, and in that they shine brightly, making you feel like the junior detective Jenny is. Her interrogations and deductions are fun, and searching around for puzzles and stuff really does feel like you're unraveling some darker secrets. The "choosiness" aspect of the story helps make Jenny feel more real as a character… AND ties into the meta narrative of this being an author trying desperately to save his series.

The only real negative I can lay on the game is, well, the ending, and that is simply because "I would like to experience the sequel please video game maker man please please please", and honestly if that's the worst thing I can say about you that's praising with faint damnations. The good news is that as of 2022 we know Jenny LeTwo is in production, but beyond that radio silence. I'll try adjusting the red, green, and blue lines to see if I can get it clearer, and when that sequel does come out we're absolutely playing it blind.

[lazodiac]

Jenny time!

In this episode, Jenny makes her way across town in search of her detective gear, wondering all the while about who actually killed the Dean and why. With so many questions surrounding his mysterious death, with so many odd happenings going on in town, it seems that even the faintest scrap of information pointing us towards the real killer simply opens up far more questions than answers. Luckily, CJ gives us a tool that'll help us in the long run- his compass, that points towards Them… and in doing so, Jenny stumbles upon something far grander than one single murder.

As Jenny begins unraveling the darkest secrets Arthurton has hidden just belong that idyllic surface, the deeper those secrets seem to run… and the deeper Arthur's cup of brandy seems to be. The despair inherent in writing a story where your beloved characters start getting hurt, scared- when they're really, truly in danger? That can be a lot. But you don't become the author of a 37 book long series that has started to decline without having once been an up-and-coming author with a number of quality books under your belt.

While Jenny's world may have devolved into more saccharine, simple stories, I think it's reasonable to assume that these books were once good. I think the core of that is Jenny's father- his death seems like such a… normal, known quantity, by the characters that it must have been in the series since the beginning. It is that emotion of loss, beyond just the standard LeClue family desire to know everything, that I think spurred Jenny into becoming the detective she is… and made people lock in to the series at the beginning. And Arthur knows that. He's a good writer, clearly, he's just been in a rut… but even as he despairs about what he's writing, even he can tell that this is some of the best work he's written in ages. The story has a mind of its own now, and wherever it is going is the right way. He just needs to direct it, one step at a time…

[lazodiac]

Once more into the breach! Join me and @qwertystop as we continue our text comparision of Ar Tonelico 2's original translation and the fan translation, now along-side the original Japanese script courtesy of her own bit of song magic, OVERLANG.

Video Length: 3:34:44

Shockingly not a lot to talk about, despite advancing the plot. We head to the slums to locate the elevator to the Gyro Stabilizer, are blocked by the Divine Army robos… and saved by the Cloche Fan Club, Reine and a new character, which Qwerty absolutely called hell yeah. With those dealt with, we then descend into the deepest part of the tower we can access, within the Sea of Death, a dangerous area sure to test our might…

… which the game promptly forgets is the set up because not only is there no sign of the Sea of Death anywhere within the facility, not only are we fighting enemies that barely register on the scale, there isn't even a dungeon to really go through! It's just a straight shot up to the end, then a straight shot down, then back up. Unless you're Qwerty and playing the fan translation, which pulls perhaps the funniest prank of all time; dummying back in the actual dungeon mechanics!

Though to call them mechanics is… rather generous. The final room, where the Veela crystal we're after, is located has two barriers on either side of it. One must go to the very top of each pathway to click an non-descript button to deactivate both, so that we can even get to it. This is an advanced form of the dungeoneering we've done in the rest of the game purely in the sense that it is now TWO buttons instead of just one that must be found, but is otherwise, I feel, kind of a mistake?

The dummied out text we've seen so far has mostly just been additionally asides in the cutscenes that don't REALLY add much, but putting them back in seems fine to me, but I have a feeling the developers dummied these barriers out for a reason- in this case, because the entire conceit of the dungeon is to get to the top, encounter the Divine Beam, learn you need to go back down to find its control crystal, then climb back up to face it. On either of these loops back, you can go the path you didn't on your way up and thus do a complete sweep of the area, and it is likely by the end of the dungeon you'll have drained all the encounters (Qwerty drains them all a little sooner due to having to find the damn buttons, but if I hadn't been running from fights I would have ran out of them just about before the boss itself). So perhaps the devs decided this kind of busy-work puzzle wasn't necessary for the mechanical pacing of the game, and so removed it- but due to time constraints couldn't fully remove it, so just left it unactivated. One could argue that turning it back on makes the dungeon more… of anything, given the fact that this area is supposed to BE something important and threatening world wise, and it really just isn't at all, but I think 100 hours into an RPG there needs to be some give and take between "interesting dungeon" and "you're searching for two buttons".

Anyway, lets talk about the Divine Beam as well, since it is like, legitimately a thing. While it doesn't do much damage, and its minions (while threatening early game) are basically nothing, it has a funny prank to pull as well… a prank that I fell into and Qwerty avoided, because symmetry is fun. As it turns out, despite this being a manufacturer for the Divine Army, when you destroy its minions it doesn't make more… it enters ARMAGEDDON MODE and proceeds to try its absolutely damndest to turbo murder you in defense of itself. It will occasionally use its weaker "clean shot" attack, but more of its moves are gonna be things like Heat Ray that roasts a vanguard and their reyveteil, or DEATH WAIL that seemingly just instant kills people??? And Judgement Blade, a move that feels like a charged special that hits the whole party and is quite dangerous, is just a basic move too! Wow! Game has teeth when it wants to I guess!

But with the Beam defeated, and power successfully cut to the shield around the Veela crystal, we pick it up and prepare for the next leg of our journey- installing it to Luca and singing the song that'll reveal the Tower to the world. I'm excited for it, but we'll take a look at it next time!

… huh. I had more to talk about than I expected.