rikimaru: (Default)
Riki ([personal profile] rikimaru) wrote2013-02-09 02:49 pm

Wonderful Worlds Week 1 summary

Week 1: Day 1
Location:
Shinjuku
The Game’s first day and the day filled with the most confusion. Players, Reapers and RGers alike explored the Shinjuku Train Station with curious eyes and varying knowledge of their situation. The RGers were simply brought along for the ride, but the Players and Reapers all knew that in order to get where they were, they had to die. All attempts to contact anyone outside of Shinjuku were met with failure, so they had to play their parts in this Game, whether they wanted to or not.

Perhaps the most surprising participants in this Game were the Shibuya Game’s composer, Yoshiya “Joshua” Kiryuu, and the Game’s champion of three consecutive weeks, Neku Sakuraba. Even with their knowledge of Shibuya’s Game, they had no choice but to take part in this one, even with the former city so close by. The best they could do was to play their roles as Reapers.

Mission: "Reach the windmill-tilter's namesake."

With few alternatives available, the Players and Reapers simply went along for the ride, carrying out with the mission and making things complicated for the Players, respectively. Notable pacts were formed between Zecora and Sasuke and Rhyme and Grovyle; the day’s mission was cleared with ease and served as an introductory course to the Game’s natural flow to everyone involved. The only strange factor to report was the ratio of “Champion” (as in PCs) Reapers to “Champion” Players being roughly 3 to 1. Still, they kept things easy for the Players with either simple wall missions or walls mandating pacts.

Week 1: Day 2
Mission:
"Fly the copter."

This mission was intended to inform Players of resources available to them, namely the Pin Trader’s services; in exchange for rare metals and other such valuables, Players could receive worthwhile pins. The Champion Players endured Reaper meeting after Reaper meeting, making them aware of the aforementioned ratio between them. Nonetheless, they dealt with it as they saw fit, mostly through battle with Noise.

The players decided to spread their search across the Fire Museum, the site for this day’s mission. Credit for the clear goes to Zecora, who learned of the Pin Trader’s business and used it to her advantage: After asking Ichigo to send Noise to attack her, she obtained the Rare Metal Pin she needed for her trade. After trading it for a telekinesis pin, Zecora made for the helicopter and used the pin to make it fly. Though brief, it was enough for a clear.

Week 1: Day 3
Mission:
"Defeat the Boss of Taito Station"

Set in the legendary Taito Game Station, this mission revolved around a stuffed bear that served as a prize for a new video game they were promoting: Grizzly Gaiden. The bear itself was strange enough to even the RGers, but to Players? It felt as if there were something more to it than that…but that was aside from the extremely valuable pin an NPC Player attached to it. A hefty sacrifice, but a necessary one to keep the mission moving.

The main wall was set up by Neku and the mission was to simply play him in Tin Pin Slammer because he’s a huge Tin Pin Dork. He and Ichigo played a game for fun and in turn, he possibly gave the Shinigami a new addiction to tinker with. Sasuke picked up on the basics rather quickly and nearly bested Neku in the game (though the Reaper was intentionally using weaker pins and holding back), but ultimately lost. However, the wall was lowered and allowed Sasuke and the other players to investigate the arcade.

An unintentional intervention in the mission came from Kreutzer, one of the game’s many reapers and a pink pony named Pinkie Pie, an RGer. The pony was tragically down on her luck and started a miniature business telling fortunes with her magic candy. After receiving her fortune, Kreutzer gave Pinkie a doll with a 5,000 yen pin attached to it. After her interaction, the pony pondered her financial situation in the Taito Game Station, where Sasuke successfully imprinted the idea of getting the prized bear due to its high value and how much it could help her. With the meme in her mind, Pinkie tried her hoof in Grizzly Gaiden and despite the odds, successfully won the bear and the valuable pin attached to it. As such, credit for this mission’s clear goes to Sasuke and Pinkie Pie, with Kreutzer having a hand in its involvement.

Week 1: Day 4
Mission:
"Watch a film from start to finish."

Though the overly simplistic mission left many implications, it didn’t take them long to figure out that the Reapers were meant to use this time to surprise the Players with Noise Attacks. The Reapers, however, had different agendas in mind. As in they watched a few movies alongside the Players and enjoyed themselves as such. Several of the involved characters never encountered movies before and had the chance to experience them for the first time, time that also allowed them to share their ideas about the Game and each other. Everyone cleared the mission without a single hitch going off.

Week 1: Day 5
Mission:
"Observe from Tocho."

The higher-ups were very upset at the lack of action taken against Players during a mission that was intended to allow for such. Therefore? The Reapers were threatened to do their jobs or face punishment, whether it be demotion to a Player or flat out erasure. Though the Champion Reapers were forced to be extra aggressive (with bonus points going to Ichigo), the wall condition to enter the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building was as easy as dressing the part.

Grovyle separated himself from Rhyme to look into more complicated facts about the Game, fishing for information from an NPC Reaper. Unfortunately, this Reaper twisted Grovyle’s intentions around when relaying their meeting to Rhyme, implanting doubt in the young girl’s mind and potentially planting a wedge in their relationship.

A strange sort of relationship kindled between Ichigo and Joshua as the former composer witnessed the hollow erase three Players in one go and take the moment to devour a Noise. Though they spoke before, today was the day to officially establish something close to a friendship. Or at least a partnership.

Interesting developments came about at the entrance of two characters. The first was a new Reaper, one Ryoji Mochizuki. Though he decided against taking any kind of action against Players, he quickly got acquainted with others, particularly Rhyme and fellow Reaper, Xion. He identified with his fellow Reaper and even went on a quick date with Rhyme, thus confirming that even death can’t put a stop to his flirtatious nature.

The second was someone very familiar to both Neku and Joshua: Sanae Hanekoma. Despite being pulled from an earlier point in time, he appeared almost out of nowhere to try and help the others decode what’s driving this game forward.

The mission clear was thanks to several NPC Players who saw a strange sigil in the park from Tocho. There was another in Cocoon Tower. Perhaps it was something that would soon require investigation…

Week 1: Day 6
Mission:
"Erase the boss noise."

Tensions grew as the end of the week drew near and the mission called for several tough battles. Since the Reapers mostly worked off their punishment, they instead used their harrying to give Players a warm up for what would be a difficult fight with a Mammoth Noise and a Fox Noise. Separated Champion Players were reunited for this purpose and in a way, brought everyone closer together. Because it was either that or get erased and no one wanted the latter.

Neku encountered a Player trying to erase his partner for his own benefit, identifying with that Player and calling back how he tried to do the same to his first partner, Shiki. He swiftly interrupted by throwing intentionally difficult Noise and in turn, Erasing the Player. Realizing that very well could’ve been him nearly a month ago, he buried himself in regret and had to be dug up by Joshua and Ryoji.

The latter, convinced he made Neku agree to go on a date with him, went through with said date but attempted to comfort the boy more than make any kind of moves on him. At the very least, he reconciled with Rhyme after he accepted the awkwardness of making his moves on her and her accepting him for who he really is after he transformed into Thanatos. Their relationship definitely took a step forward.

Pinkie Pie, after her incredible luck back on day 3, started a business of baking and selling pastries with her new food cart, which was mysteriously decorated with the Reaper Decal. Aside from meeting with Kreutzer once again and repaying the girl’s gratitude, kept her business successful for the rest of the week.

The mission clear was thanks to Zecora and Sasuke for bringing down the Mammoth boss and NPC players who erased the Fox boss.

Week 1: Day 7
Mission:
"Survive until the time limit."

The overconfident GM, Satomi Kurosawa, gave the Players a time limit of the entire day to escape her clutches. There was, however, the chance to defeat her in battle, but as mentioned, she was too confident to even mention that in the mission. Instead, she had several copies of herself roam across Shinjuku, hunting Players down as she encountered them.

Ichigo made an effort to search for her and any answers she had. All she told him was the same information Joshua did days prior: to speak with the Conductor, he had to keep playing by the rules and earning points. That was the only way for Reapers to move on up; Satomi’s answer confirmed this.

In contrast, Ryoji set up a wall covering an area he intended to be used as a haven for Players to hide in until the day was done. It was very much against the rules, but all that mattered was their safety. An NPC Reaper saw this and believed it to be a very clever ploy: lead Players into a false sense of security and take them all out in one fell swoop. She attacked a Player heading for his sanctuary and congratulated him. Horrified by the sight, Ryoji had no choice but to play along and claim the kill should be his. Calling his bluff, the Reaper told him to take the points since the NPC Player was still alive. With a heavy heart and much hesitation, he transformed into Thanatos and erased the Player with one swipe of his great sword. Impressed and shaken by the sight, the NPC Reaper left Ryoji to his sobs and his wall.

Rhyme and Grovyle narrowly avoided a confrontation with the GM and soon stumbled their way to Ryoji before his encounter with the other Reaper. He and Rhyme shared a strong moment as they confessed their love to each other and promised to see each other again once the week was finished. Grovyle didn’t trust him and saw this as a trap, but was reassured by his partner that this was better than blindly running and could come up with an escape route for the worst case scenario. He agreed and into the safe haven they went.

Meanwhile, Kreutzer was taking advantage of the lifted rule against directly attacking Players. Though she wouldn’t have done so under normal circumstances, the stress of the Game and guilt from events in her past caused a mental relapse that not only lead to brutal killings of several Players, but to a section of Shinjuku being blown to smithereens. Ichigo rushed to the scene and ordered her to stop, but after confirming that she was too far gone for reason, decided to take action himself and forced her into battle. Her defeat served to return Kreutzer to her senses and after becoming aware of her actions, hastily fled the scene.

Zecora and Sasuke also found Ryoji’s hideout, but aside from doubting its validity, also wondered if this was a test to filter the brave Players from everyone else. There was also the possibility of ending the Game early if they took Satomi down, so they instead decided to do battle against her rather than hide. They didn’t have to search very hard as the GM found them rather quickly, but after the tough battle, the two were victorious. Unfortunately, it was one of her clones. Even so, they continued their search.

They ran out of time before they could pinpoint the real Satomi, but since they (as well as Grovyle and Rhyme) survived, the mission was completed.