Let's Play Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth! (screenshot LP)

Part 4: Best. Kidnapping. Ever.

So, just to reiterate what happened over the course of the last couple updates. We entered a manmade digital world, got hacked, got creeped on by a ghost, met the ghost's living twin who gave us a Digimon, fought a bizarre tentacle monster, and very nearly didn't make it back.

But hey, everything should be fine now, right?



WRONG. THIS IS A JRPG.



The appearance of a strange half-there humanoid made out of flowing data in a busy intersection is, unsurprisingly, causing a commotion. Hey, I'm kinda ghosty now too!

While we look our new self over, a voice rings out over the commotion. A voice that sounds like an underpaid, overworked public servant.



Yup, it's a policewoman. Or, as she insists under threat of arrest for anyone who gets it wrong, a detective. She threatens to arrest people a lot. That's her thing, I guess.

In any case, the lady cop/detective finds us so gross she decides to arrest us immediately.
wow, that's the first time that's happened before I even talk to the girl ba-dum tssshh

But wait, what's that sound? Has a savior arrived?





IT IS A SWEET AS BALLS RIDE

But what's inside the car, dear reader, is even better.



"That's an interesting look you have... it's quite fascinating."

I mean, look at those beautiful seats! Those are so comfortable I could sit in that car for days. Is that Italian leather? ...what? Oh, right, the pretty blonde lady.

She tells us to get in, and while we have no idea if we can trust her I'm totally gonna take the nice woman offering me a ride in her rad car over the scary cop threatening to arrest everyone every six seconds. In any case, if I'm being kidnapped right now this is the best kidnapping ever.

We hop in and the car speeds off. Naturally, the cop shouts after threatening to arrest our getaway driver. Man, we got cops chasing us and our own getaway driver. And this is just our first day as a hacker!



As we drive to somewhere we can only guess at, the mystery beauty tries to figure out what's going on with us. Considering the state we're in, she is remarkably chill. She ascertains that we're human and able to understand her and communicate in return, and learns that we, naturally, have no idea what the heck has happened to us. She tells us we're welcome to ask her anything about the situation and she'll answer as best we can.



We have three options to choose from. We have to go through them all to proceed, so let's just go through them one by one.

First: Where is this?
Thankfully that's a pretty straightforward question. The mystery beauty tells us we're in Shinjuku, which is a real-life ward, or district, of Tokyo. Shinjuku has a bit of history with Digimon already, being the primary real-world locale of Digimon Tamers. You may recognize this building.

She also explains that her coming upon us was a genuine coincidence - she was on some work-related business and happened to spot what was going on. We're headed to her office where we can tell her the whole story.

It's a heck of a coincidence, but she seems trustworthy and we need all the help we can get right now.

Second: What happened to my body?
Well, there's nothing concrete, but as far as she can guess our body looks like we had jumped back into the real world while still in the form of a digital avatar.

Does that mean I'm just a bunch of data and my real body is still elsewhere? Who can say...?

Third: Are my friends nearby?
The mysterious beauty confirms that we were alone in the intersection where she found us. She asks if they could be in the same state we're in. Well, that's unlikely since Mercury is the only one who got grabbed by the monster, while Nokia and Arata escaped unscathed.

In that case, we should be most concerned about taking care of ourselves right now. There's one other question that we can ask after the first three:



Fourth: Who are you?

Our rescuer apologizes for not introducing herself sooner, having been caught up in fascination with the whole "glowing blue data body" thing. She gives us her name, Kyoko Kuremi, and tells us she's a detective.

Quick Japanese lesson! No, that's not the same kind of detective as the short-tempered cop was demanding to be called. The word she used there was keiji, as in the police rank detective. The word Kyoko uses here is tantei, as in a private eye. The kind you might call... hard-boiled.



Yeah, like that. I dunno why, he always shows up when I say that. See, watch. "Hard-boiled."


get out of here Kamen Rider Skull this isn't even the right franchise

In any case, we leave the rest for when we reach Kyoko's detective agency. It's located in Nakano Broadway, yet another real-world location.



And as we lead into the agency, we get a trophy! That's for reaching Chapter 1.

That's right. Everything up until now was the prologue. You knew what you were getting into! I told you it was a JRPG!







(sign reads "From Beginning to End")

It's a mess, but of the welcoming, "this is a place where someone lives and works" variety. Kyoko gets the entirety of our tale from us, and confirms what already seemed to be the case: the body we're in right now is just our consciousness in a digital avatar, somehow manifested in the real world. Our body is... well, wherever we left it, I assume. That, or our physical body was somehow transferred to Shinjuku and corrupted into this state.

Don't think too hard about it, it'll probably make sense later.

Overwhelmed by Kyoko's understanding and generosity, Mercury asks just why she's helping us. Kyoko proudly states that the Kuremi Detective Agency has a proven track record of solving cybercrimes and strange phenomenon, so this the best possible place for us to get help, right?

Even better, she's taking our case pro bono. Getting to see something as fascinating as what's happening to us is reward enough.

(Kyoko's kind of my favorite character.)

There is, of course, the matter of getting us back to normal. Kyoko's concerned about what'd happen if we went outside, and she's convinced that we're currently a digital form bound by the physical laws of the real world - but our body could be unstable.

Fortunately, this is a simple obstacle to overcome - all we need is to get the right data and we can stabilize our form and regain our appearance. It'd be just like our EDEN avatar.



Kyoko isn't so sure we'll be able to login, but Mercury takes this moment to check out the big-screen TV. A voice calls out... telling us to jump in the TV.

Wait a minute, I didn't swap game cards with Persona 4, did I?



Ah, nope. If I don't make it back back Rise is best giiiiiiiiirlllllll


Next Time: More Digimon, More Tutorials
(No, seriously. It's gonna be a text-heavy chapter.)

Part 5: More Digimon, More Tutorials

Last time, we fell back into the real world with our body less-than-intact, only to get picked up by a beautiful detective and brought back to her agency, where we heard a disembodied voice tell us to jump into the TV. Which we then did.

This game lets me type great sentences, let me tell you.





Inside the television is this trippy-looking place. Somehow we managed to enter the network that the TV is connected to! Mercury decides that the only thing to do is keep pressing forward.





There's Digimon here, too. I maaaay have been mistaken when I said Botamon was present in the last area, but in any case it's here now. We can also run into the In-Training level Bukamon, an entirely new species to us at this point.

I take the opportunity to do a little grinding for experience, money, and data. After I'm satisfied with what I've done, I realize I need to show off what the Digimon stat screen looks like.



So, here's Hagurumon, having freshly reached level 10. The top left, that part that says Lv. 10 and then some stuff in parentheses, says that his current level is 10 and his maximum level is 15. Each Digimon has a maximum level, but it'll go up with evolution and degeneration. The absolute max is Level 99.

Going down the right (ignore the stuff in the bottom left for now), we have HP and SP, which are pretty self-explanatory. Hagurumon's got pretty good HP. The next few stats, going down, are Attack, Defense, Intelligence, and Speed. From what I understand, Intelligence governs both magical attack and defense, not unlike the Special stat in first-generation Pokemon games, but I'm not entirely sure what attacks are divided between "physical" and "magical" yet.

The stat with a zero is "potential" or "talent." No, the game isn't insulting our little buddy, that's another stat that will increase with repeated evolution and degeneration. It has no battle effect, but some evolutions require this stat to be at a certain number. The stat with a value of 28% is friendship. Again, some evolutions have requirements based on this stat. Friendship seems to go up about 1% per battle, but only if the Digimon participated. The stat to the right of friendship is what type of battler the Digimon is. In this case, Hagurumon is a defensive type.

The bar underneath is his experience bar, as you may have guessed. Below that is his equipment list - we don't have any right now, so don't worry about it. Also, I believe all those "+0"s next to stats would change if we had the right equipment, and would show the value added to the base. I will try to figure this out as we go along.

As you can see, right now Hagurumon is a very tanky Digimon, and surprisingly his speed is better than his attack or intelligence. These humble numbers will, in time, get quite large.



What d'you know, in the time it took me to explain all that Mercury got to the end of the area. Fantastic!



At the end of the digital tunnel is... EDEN? Yup, not too surprising considering how they're trying to spread their network everywhere. This is an unfamiliar area, one we haven't visited before - but it's a public place, not dangerous like the Coulomb.

Also, that flashing point of light? It's how we got in here. It disappears, meaning we have to find another way out. Thankfully there's a warp pad nearby. You can talk to the NPCs hanging around this area (it's a small place), but they say nothing useful besides occasionally commenting on your appearance.



We get a call from Kyoko on our digivice. She hypothesizes that, since we're made of data, we now have the ability to travel through network lines. She dubs our new power Connect Jump, and explains that, as long as we're near a terminal, we'll be able to jump into cyberspace at any time. Even better, it makes it easier for us to track down the data we need to get some avatar data!

Kyoko directs us back to the Coulomb, and we take the warp pad out. As we leave, though, we hear that unknown voice beckoning us again...



...and end up somewhere magical. Welcome to the Digilab.



The... attendant, for lack of a better word, introduces herself as Mirei Mikagura. She describes this place as being a location that occasionally intersects with the digital world - a paradise for Digimon.

While she has a knack for being ambiguous, Mirei tells us that we somehow "called out to her" when we obtained the power that enabled us to connect with Digimon. As such, she's giving us free rein in this place so we can learn about and nurture our Digimon, and our own abilities.

Mirei isn't actually native to this game! She debuted in the previous game, the PSP's Digimon World Re:Digitize and its 3DS port, subtitled Decode. She comes from an entirely different human and digital world to the one in this game, but don't dwell on that for now.

So! Let's get cracking with the Digilab. If Kyoko's office is our home base for our real-world operations, then this is our home away from home in the digiworld. We'll be spending a lot of time here - good thing it's so useful.



The game provides a list of Digilab functions. Going down the list:

• Digi-Bank: Organize party and evolve or degenerate.
  
• Digi-Farm: A place where Digimon can feed and train intensely.
  
• Mirror Dungeon: Replay completed dungeons.
  
• Shop: Purchase items for the Digi-Farm.
  
• Coliseum: Network play.
  
• Medical Machine: Restore party Digimon HP and SP.
  

Let's start at the top of the list - which is also the most important function for us, especially right now. That little blurb forgot to mention one other thing the Digi-Bank computer does: converting new Digimon. You can access it via the computer directly to Mirei's left (her left, so our right).





The game basically recaps our Digimon Capture skill. Face Digimon, get scan data. If you get 100%, you can convert that data into a Digimon of your own. Data over 100% gets small stat bonuses - nothing gamebreaking, but a nice early start for your new partner.

I got a lot of scan data, so get ready to see a whole bunch of new partners in a little bit...





The game also explains how we can use this computer to evolve Digimon, turning them into a higher form, or degenerate them into a lower form. You can only do so one level at a time, and you must meet the prerequisite stat requirements. Also, unlike the DS Digimon Story games, you must do this here. No evolving mid-dungeon for you - though dungeons will contain terminals that let us warp back to the Digi-Lab easily!



To get an idea of just how many possibilities there are, take a look at Hagurumon's current evolutionary data. He can potentially evolve into five Champions, and each of them into more Digimon from there. There's a total of 240 Digimon in the game. Since we haven't seen any of the other Digimon here, their images on the chart are blacked out. Once we see them, either by evolving them or meeting them in battle (even if they're on our side), we'll be able to see their image properly. The gray NG means they can't turn into that form, and will be replaced with a red OK when turning into that form is possible.

Hagurumon's actually pretty close to evolving, but I hold off for now. We'll get there in due time.

What's that 13/20 in the top right, you ask? Oh, it has something to do with our new friends...





...because I scanned a lot of Digimon. Meet Botamon, the first of many additions to our burgeoning army.



The game tells us some more rules about Digimon. We can have up to eleven in our party at one time, but don't get too excited. There's another limitation. More on that in a second.

There's also the Digi-Bank proper, where freshly scanned Digimon are placed. You can keep them there, or move them to a farm island, which is the Digi-Farm mentioned earlier. We'll get a few farm islands, but for now we have one - and ten Digimon are able to stay on one island.



So here's that other limitation I just mentioned. Each Digimon takes up a certain amount of memory in our digivice. You can only have Digimon on your team whose combined memory is equal to or less than your current maximum memory. Naturally, highly-evolved Digimon take up more memory.

Right now, our limit is 20. Yes, that's very little, but we can also find memory expansion items that boost our memory. We will be wanting every one of those we can find.



Here's the mirror dungeon portal. It lets you head back to previously-completed dungeons to get more experience, money, and scan data, and also pick up items you may have missed. Right now we can go back to the network line that we jumped into from Kyoko's TV, but we'll just end up back in the lab if we try to exit.



The Coliseum portal, for local or online battling. We won't be using this, most likely.



The medical machine heals your party completely for a nominal fee.



A commemorative picture! After I finish all I can do in here at the moment, I decide to show my then-current team - er, after a little bit of grinding. The level 5 Koromon was the Botamon I just showed you, and Tanemon evolved from a Pabumon I scanned. So... let's grind some more!

Oh right, I should explain the element mechanics while we do this. Basically, there are eight Digimon elements. Fire, Water, and Grass form a type triangle, as do Earth, Electric, and Wind. Light and Dark oppose each other. There's also a null-type with no strengths or weaknesses.

Digimon also have general families, consisting of Virus, Data, and Vaccine. Virus beats Data beats Vaccine beats Virus. If this is all a bit much to remember on top of the other exposition, just check out this handy infographic.



Here's the combo mechanic, something I really don't understand. Sometimes your Digimon will work together like this to...



...do a more-damaging attack, which... kinda overkill right now. I don't know how this functions or triggers, aside from it having to do something with the "combo" meter shown on the turn lineup. Hopefully I can figure this out.
also this is the only reference to Xros Wars in the game which makes me sad

OK, more grinding! Still stuff to do before I finish this gargantuan update!



Guilmon evolves from our higher-level Koromon, who was our first scan Botamon...



Tanemon evolves into Renamon...



Punimon evolves into Tsunomon, then Goblimon...



Our second Koromon evolves into ToyAgumon...



Bukamon becomes... well, actually, the first one I scanned became Gomamon but I forgot a picture. This is my second Bukamon, who is now Otamamon!



And last but definitely not least, we scan another Punimon, who evolves into Nyaromon and then Salamon.



Unfortunately, the game decided to spring one last mechanic on me while I did the last of that grinding. This is, as you may guess from the background, an instant messenger client. We'll receive messages from our Digimon on the farm and human characters we interact with. Sometimes, you'll even have a choice of what reply to send.

This is the first bit of dialogue I translated with the Google Translate phone app. From here on out translations may get a bit shaky, so... bear with me here.

If I understand this correctly, Gomamon was messing about with the trees on the Digi-Farm when something big fell off one, which he devoured. Mercury makes a joke about Gomamon being so hungry he could eat a human, then suddenly wonders if he should be worried...

With that... strangely dark note, this ends the update. And, believe it or not, my picture buffer - which means we're caught up, which also means... it's party voting time!


So, here's how it'll work. At the end of each update, I'll list (in a spoiler) the current roster and their typings, my party memory, and how much memory they take. Sometimes I'll make some decisions about someone having to go or stay behind, but otherwise I'll be open to input. My only other request is that you let everybody take a turn in the spotlight. There's plenty of teammates I still haven't obtained yet, too!

Current Roster Information!:

Next Time: Body Got Back

Cool, more updates! More digis! I'm really interested in how the main character has a digital body in the real world... hopefully he gets back to normal soon, that looks uncomfortable! Kyoko is a really cool character, I hope she gets to do some badass things!

Also...

Mercury45 wrote:Kyoko isn't so sure we'll be able to login, but Mercury takes this moment to check out the big-screen TV. A voice calls out... telling us to jump in the TV.

Wait a minute, I didn't swap game cards with Persona 4, did I?



Ah, nope. If I don't make it back back Rise is best giiiiiiiiirlllllll

I laughed a lot xD ...But you're wrong, Naoto is #1 waifu.

As for the poll, I suggest: Hagurumon, Guilmon, Gomamon, and Salamon.

I like Guilmon, Toyagumon, Otamamon, and Renamon. Also as far as long term parties go I only ever really watched the first series of the show (although I played some games that had later ones like Guilmon in them, so I love Guilmon) but if you're able to get Andromon, Etemon (or Metaletemon is even better), or Leomon I'd be the happiest guy in the world. By the way, you're very good at this and it's a lot of fun so far, keep it up!

Involuntary Twitch wrote:But you're wrong, Naoto is #1 waifu.

...I support Kanji x Naoto too hard to do romance route with Naoto, hahaha.
also may or may not have a weakness for Rise's hairstyle whoops

theredwolf wrote:if you're able to get Andromon, Etemon (or Metaletemon is even better), or Leomon I'd be the happiest guy in the world.  By the way, you're very good at this and it's a lot of fun so far, keep it up!

Well, I have my whole team planned out all the way to their final stages, so you'll just have to wait and see what I use! But hopefully I will at least show every Digimon in the game at some point - and all of those are in the game so you might just get to see them! Plus if I get enough Digi-Farm space I can just put in some extra guys to demonstrate what all that stuff is like.

And thank you! I'm enjoying the run a lot, so it's uplifting to see a positive response to all this.

Oh, if you already have your team planned out then why are you letting us vote on what we want included at the moment?

Because I'm not going to be able to include all my Digimon all the time (due to the memory limit), so I can at least provide a little interactivity in letting people express who they'd like to see out of that group.

I'm hoping by the end I can get everyone on the team at once, but we'll see how that turns out.

Fair enough.

Yes, sorry for not making it clearer before. I went back and edited the first post to clarify what I meant. I promise I'll try to show all the Digimon I can, though!

(For what it's worth I'm a big MetalEtemon fan - he's always great in these games, and I very nearly used him again before I decided I needed to break out of my comfort zone!)

Well, I've had quite a day. Intended to put this up sooner - but on the other hand, while I was away I managed to play some more and get enough for another update, huzzah.

Also, I'm thinking of changing the voting thing again. I know, I should have planned this out better. But since I'm trying to raise my Digimon evenly, I'm thinking of limiting votes to major boss battles. I have more-or-less an idea of when they're going to be and what they are, so I may just ask for opinions on who should be my frontliners when I take on a boss, so you guys can still have a say while I can still raise the Digimon I need to.

So yeah, thoughts on that? It might make things easier for all of us in the long run. And speaking of runs, it's the time for the next chapter in this one.

Part 6: Body Got Back



Conveniently, the game reminds us just as we're about to leave that we need to actually show everything off... or more accurately, that I haven't actually visited the farm island yet. Whoops.





I explained the purpose of a farm island in the last update, so I won't reiterate here. But boy, does it look nifty or what?

Total honesty, after I finish this game I might do one of the DS Digimon Story games just to compare how far this has come. It tickles me to see this function return.



Eventually we'll be able to put up to five items on an island that increase or alter the results of training there.



The options are Train, Develop, and something else. Train is what it sounds like - each of your Digimon gets to exercise for a little while, at an intensity that you choose from one of three levels, and they get stat boosts decided by which Digimon is the "leader" of the island. Remember how I said Hagurumon was a defensive-type battler? If I trained with him in the lead, our guys would see bigger defense boosts. The more intense the training, the bigger the boosts, but also bigger the hit to friendship. Don't overtrain your Digimon without taking them along for adventures.

The second option, Develop, has your Digimon... I don't know, actually. But hey, you get free items and stuff out of it. You can even get rare equipment, some of which I'll be gunning for at some point because a certain thing gets you tons of experience.

The third option I have entirely forgotten and will edit in something later as though this never happened.



The first option takes you to the train/develop menu, the third is setting up farm goods, and the second... is feeding your Digimon.



THROW MEAT RIGHT AT THEIR FACES

Eventually, I believe we will be able to get different kinds of food that boost different stats when fed to a Digimon. This meat raises Friendship.

Sometimes Digimon don't pay enough attention and the food just bounces right off their faces. It's a waste of food but it's hilarious.



You will occasionally receive IM updates from Mirei about things going on at the farm - if a Digimon has hit max level, for example, or if development has yielded an item of some kind. I prefer this to the DS games where a message would come in and interrupt the flow of the game. Much more convenient.



I didn't get a pic of him last time, but here's Gomamon! As you can see, he's pretty well-rounded. His evo line won't be what you expect, but I promise there will big rewards (even if they come in small packages).

Now that we've examined all the functions of the lab, we can finally head out!



...after Mirei talks some more. As always, she talks about how special Digimon are, and how important it is that we understand them. Oh, and she also has a gift for us.



With this intense glow emanating from our body, we may now begin a techno rave any time at any place. Glowsticks not included.

...okay, not really.



No, we have obtained hacking powers! Mirei explains that we have been granted the power to affect digital space through the power of the Digimon we bring with us. If our Digimon are the right types and-



Stop trying to get the last word, game! As I was saying, our hacking powers are quite varied, but depend on the types and levels of Digimon in our party. This is another reason I'm reconsidering how voting works - I will need these powers throughout the game, and I'd like to avoid backtracking to grab a Digimon just to solve a puzzle when I can just have the right one on hand.



Mirei gives us the go-ahead to leave, and graciously sends us directly to the Coulomb. We were going there to get data for our body, remember? Unfortunately, despite her doing nothing the rest of the time she won't be our personal taxi service, and we have to use various terminals to move around from here on out.



Get used to seeing these, because these are our bridge between worlds. A yellow terminal is in the real world and lets us access the EDEN network, while those blue ones are in the digital world and allow us to access the lab.

Much like a heal point at the end of a long dungeon, you will learn to love the sight of that floating blue thing.



The gang's all here! Based on suggestions I put together a team from some of those that got votes. Renamon, Guilmon, and Gomamon make a solid team, while Hagurumon's sitting on the bench in case. (We won't need him. This part is easy.)



Square button brings up the hacking menu, incidentally. And good thing, too, because...



Remember how this blocked the way out for Nokia and me way back in the first update or so? It's still here, but now we have the power to get past it.



This skill requires a Rookie Digimon, of which we have several.



Cracking the program and bringing the firewall down is followed by a call from Kyoko, who had been trying unsuccessfully to contact us before this point. Surprisingly, she already seems to know who Mirei is, though she downplays this surprise by calling the purple-haired woman "just an acquaintance." Diverting the topic back to our purpose for being here, she's surprised to learn that we already have leet hacking skillz, and reminds us that we need to scout the area to find avatar data.

Also, she has an aside here that made no sense to me. Something about "48 specters," which after a little research is apparently the first sight of a character trait of hers - that she loves quoting proverbs. Since most of these are Japanese proverbs that make no sense I'll avoid transcribing them. In any case, she wishes us luck and says she looks forward to seeing our proper body.



Although I've gotten a couple of these already, it's another explanation for the instant messenger, which is apparently called "Digirain." I'm not sure I get the pun here.

We can get friendship boosts from giving our Digimon the right answers, but messages to other people don't affect anything so we can do whatever dialogue choice we like.



The first piece of avatar data! It's not as easy as it looks - Digimon will jump you whenever you try to grab one. This might be a tad difficult if you only have your starter, but with three Rookies it's a snap.



The game decides now is the best time to explain the "Digimon picture book," which is a compendium of Digimon. The faded image is one that we've seen but haven't had. A clear image is a Digimon we have possessed at some point.



The enemy who attacked here is a pair of nonthreatening Koromon. Gomamon shows them the power of fish.



The next piece of data is the hardest... by process of elimination. Three Rookies would be a challenge had I brought Hagurumon alone. Biyomon is a Wind/Vaccine Digimon, Gotsumon is Earth/Data, and Syakomon is Water/Virus.

It's a rounded party, but fortunately I have brought the same to bear. I'm not going to post the images, but the game takes a minute to explain the type and attribute effectiveness at this time, so consider this a tutorial as to why a balanced party is a good thing.

Anyway, we win because my Digimon are awesome, so moving on.



I'll try to show off signature moves when possible. Renamon's should be familiar to viewers of Tamers.



Oh no, a surprise attack! Whatever shall I do against these two weak Baby Digimon?
win brutally

You can also get initiative. Basic RPG stuff.



Guilmon shows off his special move. I guess there's already enough fire breath attacks, so his is the Earth-elemental Rock Breaker. It gives him a little bit of versatility early on, though, so I can't complain.



Guilmon's victory pose. I'll show off some of the good ones of these, too. He's so adorable.



Nothing to see here, just a standard level-up screen. Hagurumon can totally evolve now Stop undermining my cleverness, small sarcastic text. never



The enemy that jumps us here is... a single Poyomon. I don't know why either.





The game explains status effects in the first screen. Poyomon does something to one of our team but I defeat it in the next move so it never comes into play. The other screen describes buffs and debuffs.

There's actually one status effect in this game that's really funny, and I hope to show it off at some point.





In this chest we find the dungeon-escape item. I could use it once we're done here, but I'll be saving it for a rainy day. The kind of rainy day where we're about to die and I need to get out.

Or the kind where I'm just feeling lazy. It's a tossup.



The final piece of avatar data is right here, where we made our harrowing escape and just barely avoided getting eaten by that monster. Our enemy this time is a Tsunomon and Poyomon.



Good news, everyone! I figured out how this works!





First of all, a combo can only be performed by two Digimon who are in adjacent zones. Presumably a three-mon combo can only be started by the one in the middle. There are four types of combo. "Chain Attack" has the participants fire off their signature moves at an enemy. "Damage Up" has the participants lend a hand to boost the initiating Digimon's attack (and the participants keep their turn after). "Heal Up" increases the effectiveness of healing moves. "Skill Up" is a little unclear, but I believe it increases the power of buffs and debuffs somehow.

Repeated attacks (not quite sure what that means yet, this is just what I translated) raise the gauge on the turn order. A more filled gauge increases the odds of a Xros Combo activating. Turns out friendship also increases the odds of a combo triggering, which means it's worth it to keep building those bonds!



Well, we have four pieces of avatar data, so it's time to say goodbye to our glowy blue body...



...and welcome back our original form.



Kyoko calls again (how does she time that so well?) and congratulates us, asking us to come back to the office. But, uh... how do we get back? It's a good question, and Kyoko theorizes that, since our body is now like an avatar, all we have to do is log out from the place we entered the Coulomb, and we'll be able to return to the real world where we entered from.

She then jokes that if it doesn't work, she'll do her best to gather up whatever bits of data are left scattered around. Oh, Kyoko.



Come to think, this is the first time our Digimon, aside from Hagurumon, have seen what Mercury really looks like. I wonder if it's jarring?



On the way out, I pop by the lab again and swap Hagurumon for Salamon. I start rotating my team a bit from this point on. Mirei doesn't say anything of import in the lab, so let's head on out!





The logout works successfully, and we reappear in Kyoko's office!



So, with another update out of the way, and another bit of a buffer built up, there won't be any voting this time since I'm reconsidering that business. Remember, voting will still be a thing for boss battles! Also, my Digimon haven't evolved or degenerated at all, so there's that too.


Next Time: The Hospital is the Best Place to Pick Up Chicks

Have to admit that I'm kinda sad you're not using hagurumon as much anymore. I always get attached to my starter in games like Pokemon, and since he's your version of a starter in this (and can apparently evolve/digivolve/whatever already) that you'd have him more active.

Don't worry, he'll stick with us throughout the game. I just rotate my Digimon out so they can all get some screentime and training time (and it raises their friendship). In the next update or two we'll be seeing the results of his hard work thus far!

Also he has some of my favorite final evolutions in the game, given the path I'll be taking him, so rest assured this is hardly the last we've seen of him. He's just being gracious and letting everyone take a turn, haha.

I thought you could carry like 10 with you though and just swap them out? Or do you have to unlock those other slots?

The maximum is eleven, but we're limited based on how much memory we have and how much of it Digimon take up. Check back in update 5, I explained more in-depth there!

I only semi-recalled it, but I getcha now. Thanks.

You got your body back body back body back! Yay!

Can't say I fully understand all the battle mechanics, but then I tell myself it's a JRPG and to just go with it. Interested in seeing the intricacies of type matchups and status effects come into play... so far, it seems like the battles are pretty easy, but I know that can change come the first real Boss battle.

One of the criticisms I hear about this game is that it's quite easy, but then I also see that coming from people who min-max their Digimon even during the story, so I can't say for sure. An upcoming boss battle gave me a little difficulty when I test ran the game, so we'll see how that goes.

Right now battle strategies are just "smack enemies around, don't use weak elements or attributes too much." Helps that most opponents are still In-Training, as well. But hey, now it's time to get into more plot, woop woop.

Part 7: The Hospital is the Best Place to Pick Up Chicks
(please don't try it in real life)

So, as you may remember from last time, Mercury got enough data to make his body appear normal again, began training his Digimon in earnest, and started to master his hacking and Connect Jump powers. Now all we need is an old man to teach us how to shoot energy out of our hands and I can pretend this is leaked footage from Dragon Ball Super.



Having logged out of EDEN, Kyoko's theory plays out and Mercury materializes right where he left - in the Kuremi Detective Agency. Ahh, I missed everything being not a shade of blue.

Kyoko, for her part, is pleased she guessed correctly. Before we can get too deep into discussing all that happened, though, there's a knock at the door.



This old fellow, currently described as "bitter man" by the text box, walks in. He stares us down for a moment...



...then promptly proceeds to greet Kyoko like an old friend. I immediately take a liking to the old dude. He comments on how Kyoko is fortunate to have grown into a beautiful woman and a talented detective - although he calls her Kyo-chan, suggesting there's warmth and familiarity between the two. Kyoko's a little embarrassed by the nickname, the first we've seen her cool facade crack a little bit, and it's apparent that "old friends" is exactly the right term.

Clearly "bitter" refers more to his appearance than his personality. (He has a line before he enters the office where he's designated as "cool voice." I'm inclined to agree here.)



Finally noticing Mercury standing there, he apologizes and says he'll let Kyoko finish with us before he gets to his request. It's okay, Mercury doesn't stand out much. He just kinda hangs around awkwardly without saying much of anything.
this game does a remarkable job of letting me roleplay as if I'm actually the character



He asks what we're up to here, and we have two options to reply. The top one is "I'm a detective's assistant." The bottom is "It's a secret." Yeah, like it's even a choice. We're totally gonna be an assistant detective!

This pleases our new acquaintance. Also, look at the side-eye Kyoko's giving Mercury in that screenshot. She knows what we're gonna say and she's pleased.

I HAVE MADE SENPAI PROUD



Kyoko fills in the gaps for what we've already figured out. (This is a part where translation was a bit iffy, so bear with me as always.) The man's name is Goro Matayoshi, and apparently he and Kyoko's father go way back, meaning he's known Kyoko since she was a child. He's also a detective, though the word here is "keiji" so that means he's definitely the police sort. Some of Kyoko's dialogue translated to something about a government office, so it's possible that Matayoshi's pretty important. In any case, Kyoko's the one he goes to for advice about cybertechnology-related cases.



Now, this bit here tripped me up. Actually, it did several times. You might ask, "but Mercury, why is this so difficult? You have a phone app that can translate things, right?"

Yes, but here's the thing. Google Translate isn't 100% reliable, as anyone who's ever used it can tell you. Also, Japanese is a finicky language, and this game is written in a style that's more adult-oriented, i.e. lacks the furigana that would usually be used to help younger or unfamiliar-with-the-language readers decipher meaning.

The first word Matayoshi says here made me spend a good fifteen minutes just now trying to figure out what the hell he meant. See that word? It's お っと (and boy I hope this text translates on the forums), which is read o tto - and that space is important!

The problem, however, is that for whatever reason, Translate messed up and read it as a different word, pronounced otto. The kanji for that would be 夫. You know what that means? It means "husband." I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out why he'd be talking about husbands. In fact, he uses this word several times throughout this scene! Is he saying Kyoko needs to get married? Is he confusing me for her husband? totally be fine with that in all honesty What did he mean? It confused me when I played through this segment and it confused me again now. Which, as you may guess, is what led me on this tangent talking about how I tried to translate one word.

Oh, what did お っと/o tto actually mean?

IT MEANS "OOPS." I SPENT THIRTY MINUTES DECIPHERING THE WORD "OOPS."
I don't even know what the rest of the sentence says, I felt too deflated after this

Anyway, moral of the story: this stuff is hard to do and I spend a lot of time on it, and even if it's not always perfect I hope you understand the work I put into figuring out what's happening in this story. Also, appreciate the work done by professional translators, because this stuff is difficult.



Kyoko gets us back on track by asking what case Matayoshi's brought to us today. Right, there's a plot here.





She offers to brew some "delicious coffee," which Matayoshi hastily declines, saying he's already had enough coffee today. Hmmmm.



Matayoshi's case is definitely something that interests us, though. He claims to have some rumors about something called "EDEN Syndrome."





Ooh, yay, scenery change. Matayoshi isn't entirely comfortable talking about the clearly sensitive case around us, but Kyoko assures him that we're something of a specialist when it comes to investigating EDEN.

I'll sum up what Matayoshi explains from here on out. The "EDEN Syndrome" he mentioned is a strange medical condition that's been popping up lately. Some people who log into EDEN never log out, and their bodies are completely comatose. It seems news of this illness has been kept on the down-low thanks to Kamishiro Enterprises pushing their weight around, but Matayoshi happens to have had a lead on just where these victims may have ended up.

Specifically, it's at "Central Hospital," which just so happens to be owned by - you guessed it - Kamishiro. Stranger still, there's an entire ward that seems to have been blocked off to visitors, and armed guards are watching over it at all times. Since all he has is a suspicion, Matayoshi doesn't have the authority to investigate any further, but he's letting Kyoko know to see if there isn't something she can dig up.

Got all that? Phew! Oh, and as Matayoshi leaves, he gives Mercury a quiet warning...



...to not drink the coffee Kyoko's brewing.



This can only end well!



Kyoko definitely thinks this is something worth checking out, and decides she's going to Central Hospital post-haste. She also suggests we come along too... because if the similarities to what we've heard aren't just a coincidence, there may be some information about what happened to Mercury too.





We arrive at Central Hospital, and Kyoko tells us it's our job to sniff out information. Trying to get information head-on won't lead us anywhere (and she commends us when we choose a dialogue option saying as such), but with our unique talents we might just be able to find something worthwhile about.

Also she tells us that she wasn't lying when she told Matayoshi that we were an expert, and that this is our chance to prove ourselves as a detective's apprentice.

You know, Mercury's day didn't start out the greatest, but everything turned out all right in the end. So now it's time to see if we can find any leads-



Ooh, an animated cutscene, I bet that's important.







AUGH PERSONAL SPACE



-oh, okay, that was just a zoom. Phew. Mercury and the "reticent girl" have a bit of a staredown.



(Hmmm... maybe she's also a silent protagonist and that's why she isn't talking. This is awkward, I should bring up a dialogue box or something.)



The three options here are as follows: "Hello!" "Hey, look what I have!" and "Hey, girl, have I met you somewhere before?"

Hospitals are a great place to chat up girls, right? Especially ones that look totally down like this, right?
I have no idea if this is a dating sim, but between Nokia, Kyoko, and this gal I think we may be heading for the harem route



Look at him. He looks so proud of himself, and he's such an awkward dork. It's like I'm really in the game.



No, there is no "I hate to see you leave but I love to watch you go" dialogue option here. Would that I could, dear reader. Besides, we have no time to be flirting awkwardly! There's work to be done. We'll have to get detective-ing, however, in the next update.


Next Time: A Star is Born

Sorry for a bit of delay on this one, folks, life happened. Hopefully this is worth the wait!
also weather happened, this would've been up yesterday had it not been for storms in my area

Part 8: A Star is Born

So, let's recap. Last time on Cyber Sleuth, one of Kyoko's contacts brought her a lead on the mysterious "EDEN Syndrome," which might also shed some light on the strange condition our hero is experiencing. Our investigation takes us to Central Hospital, where we're about to start sleuthing for a trail.



Immediately before us is this helpful nurse, who tells us that if we're here to visit someone, the 12th floor is where we need to go. Might be worth checking out.



This young woman tells us that there's a spooky rumor of a secret ward where nobody is allowed visitors, even family. That definitely sounds like something we should investigate. There's some other people in the reception area but none of them have any info relevant to the case.

There's also a nurse who indirectly confirms that there is a "special ward" by telling us she can't talk about confidential patient information. Hmm...



Hey, it's a message from Mirei! I did a little digging and the name of the IM client is, in fact, "DigiLine," not "DigiRain." That makes a lot more sense.

She says our Digimon found a "Flare Guard DX" thanks to their development efforts. We'll check in on that -



...well, how about right now? This is the first terminal that we've come across in the real world, and I revisit a lot during the course of my investigation in the hospital. From here, we can access EDEN and return to everywhere we've already been. For now, our goal is the first Coulomb, where we've already seen one of the access terminals that lets us return to the lab.



Hitting up the DigiFarm nets us the item, which is intended for usage in-battle. The Flare Guard DX reduces the effect of fire damage on our Digimon. I might just have a use for this sooner or later...



Check it! Hagurumon hit max level while we were out training before, meaning that from here on out he can't gain any experience or, naturally, levels.



So this means it's time to evolve! As I've shown before, there are a lot of evolution options for most Digimon. Any of these Champion-levels would be a solid foundation for Hagurumon's future, though I have a specific one in mind. Also, note that while you can't tell exactly what the Digimon are, you can make a reasoned guess based on the silhouettes if you're familiar with the franchise.



Let's rock and roll, partner.



Now our starter has gone from Rookie Hagurumon to the Champion-level Starmon, and what a change it is. While some of his stats have gone down a little, most have enjoyed a boost thanks to the new form - and the ones that have shrunk will catch back up in time, and be even larger than before.

Most notably is the increase in level cap to 37, the change from Virus/Electric to Data/Null, and the increase in potential from 0 to 3. Oh, and he can equip two pieces of equipment!

Also, I found out that the traits - remember how I talked about Hagurumon being a "Defender" type before? - also influence which of their stats grow the most. Starmon will still take blows like a champ pun unintended but could hypothetically change if I gave him a certain item that will be available later.

But forget all that, we have our first Champion Digimon! I'm proud of my boy.



Kyoko sends us a DigiLine message reminding us of how useful the function is, and is impressed with the speed of our reply. Making a good impression on the boss, aw yeah.



With all that out of the way, we can finally take the elevator the rather quiet girl we met last time. Mercury's options are to head directly to the "special ward" (curious that they put that as an option), the twelfth floor, and back here. Let's hit up floor 12!



I get that it would have been silly to program in eleven entirely irrelevant floors, but I find it highly amusing that we can just go straight here.



This is about all that's here, though. A long hallway, some rooms you can't go in, and a lot of people.



Here's my favorite NPCs on this floor. The little girl is worried that she'll be kept inside forever due to her sickness, but her father tells her that that's just a rumor, and she'll be able to back to school when she's feeling better.

Good parenting, sir. Good parents in JRPGs are hard to find.

...where even are Mercury's parents?
well we're in a JRPG so they're either dead or one is the main villain





I may be guilty of a slight fib when I said you can't enter any of the rooms. This one's open! Inside is a Kunemon medal. It's a Digimon I like a lot but sadly isn't obtainable in this game.

That's all on this floor, let's head up to the special ward.



Yeah, that's about what I was expecting. Talking to the guards yields nothing, aside from the obvious fact that we're not allowed in here.



Kyoko calls in to offer some advice on what we can do. Her first suggestion is knocking out the guards, followed by hacking the door and breaking in.

I'm not even joking here, that's what this screenshot says.

Her second, and much more practical solution, is using our trump card - our Connect Jump ability. Kyoko says the terminal at the nurse's station back on Floor 12 should be our key to getting in the special ward and finding out just what's in there.





Heading back down brings up a refresher on Connect Jump and how to use it. Just as Kyoko said, the nurse's station has a computer we can use for our purposes.



Much like with Kyoko's television, entering the computer lets us enter the network lines and find a path. There are Digimon here, too, by the way, so you know what that means. Grinding time! Here's the highlights reel:



Accompanying Poyomon is Motimon, who happens to be Hagurumon's In-Training form. We couldn't degenerate to Motimon before because we hadn't already possessed one, I believe.



Salamon shows off her signature move, Puppy Howling.



And her victory pose. Not one of my favorites, really.



The team changes up a little so I can train the others.



Oh hey, Goblimon can evolve. Not his intended path but -



OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?! Nanimon is... yeeeaaahhh. His official profile states he's an invader from another dimension, and he is in fact based on a Tamagotchi character called Oyajitchi. Digimon are in fact based off - and from the same company as - Tamagotchi. They were originally designed to be a boy-oriented counterpart to the other toy, which was more popular among young girls.

Nanimon swaps out with Renamon in the party so I can at least see his moves and such. I may regret this.





...I regret this.

that's totally just strawberry ice cream, don't let anybody tell you different



First chance I get I'm taking you back to the lab and turning you back into Goblimon.



Let's make up for that disturbing evolution with some ToyAgumon cuteness!







Now this... this I regret nothing about.



Salamon learns a new move. The more healing options I have, the better.



Otamamon can evolve now too!



Please don't hate me, Otamamon. Now he's the Champion Numemon and, unlike Nanimon (who also devolves back to Goblimon in the middle of all this), this is his intended evolution.

There's a point to it, I swear. You'll see eventually.





ToyAgumon doesn't have the necessary stat to evolve to his intended Champion form yet, so Guardromon will have to do for now.



After all the grinding is done, I put a solid team back together to finish our mission. Hey, you wanna know what Starmon's special move is?



DROPPING METEORS FROM THE SKY

Clearly the best choices have been made with my starter. I'll brook no objections.



Even his victory pose is awesome.



Goblimon attempts to emulate it, but without as much success. I still think you're cool too, Goblimon.





Guilmon learns what I believe is our very first buff skill. As you can see, it raises the attack of one Digimon on our side. Simple, but quite useful.





I scan in a couple new Digimon, as well. Getting Motimon will prove to be very useful in the future.



I evolve him to Hagurumon's twin Solarmon for the time being. He won't be sticking this way, I just wanted to add another Digimon to my "seen" list.



I finally get a triple Xros Combo going! This earns me a trophy as well. From careful observation during battle, I found out that Digimon do not have to be in adjacent battle zones for this - I think it may mean "adjacent on the turn order" but I will have to experiment more to be sure.

In any case... that's a lot of grinding! Let's see what's on the other end of the network line, eh?



Ahh, now this should be most informative...


Next Time: Drop it Like it's Plot

Alright, addressing things in order:

Dude, can you rename Digimon? Because if so your starter needs to be named Keton, because he looks like Space King Keton from Gurren Lagann.

HOLY HELL THAT THING IS TERRIFYING KILL IT WITH FIRE oh thank goodness he's a goblin again.

Is the numemon so you can get a monzaemon later?

Is there any chance you can reveal what toy agumon's intended evolution is?

Nope, no renaming Digimon in this one. I think the resemblance to King Kittan will be much more obvious in his next evolution, haha.

Nanimon was worth it for showing off more Digimon in the game. It was not worth it for the trauma we all received. Goblimon says he's really sorry.

Numemon can evolve into Monzaemon in this game! However, that's not the path he'll be heading down... as for ToyAgumon, you'll just have to see when we get to that point!

EDIT: I LIED YOU CAN TOTALLY RENAME DIGIMON

...actually, I didn't know this before, but I got told just a little while ago. I'll be picking out suitable names for my team, I hope.

Oh man, monzaemon rocks. Unless you can get...what was it, waru-monzaemon? Is that the corrupted one? That one rocks.

Nanimon... yeesh! That thing is freaky-lookin'!

Looking forward to Salamon's evo into... Gatomon? Angemon? Who knows? I can tell you're planning something, but I'm still clueless as to what...

Monzaemon is pretty cool, and without saying too much I can guarantee we'll be seeing one eventually. WaruMonzaemon is not present in Cyber Sleuth, though.

As for Salamon... well, I played ahead and developed another buffer, so it won't be too long before you see her Champion form. And oh, I am planning a great many things. Hopefully they aren't entirely expected!

I want you all to know that I was in the middle of typing this update when an ad decided to redirect me to a different site.

So I've had to retype this. It's the second time I've done this update, and that's after I had delays due to weather and real life stuff. My fury is incandescent.

ah whatever we all know what we're here for

Part 9: Drop it Like it's Plot

So last time we did some grinding for a long time in the hospital's network and materialized in the secret ward that hopefully has some information about what's going on!

Let's get to investimagating.



...once I take this call. Kyoko informs us that we're looking for a network control center in the back, meaning we're close to completing our mission.



The ward is occupied with plenty of beds. Just how many people are suffering from this mystery illness?



Trying to lead gets us a friendly reminder that A: we haven't finished our mission and B: there are armed guards outside.

Has there been a reason given why our Digimon can't enter the real world yet? I think Starmon could knock those guards' heads together faster than they could do anything. I'd watch that cutscene.

Something catches Mercury's eye as he proceeds toward the control room and...



Oh.

Oh.



Our hero theorizes that if his body is here being treated for EDEN Syndrome, then the other people here might well have gone through something quite similar to what we did. Not a settling thought by any means.

In any case, there's no time to celebrate our actual body being safe and sound, so let's move on with the mission.





File 001: About EDEN Syndrome

Let's just skim this for important bits... initially referred to symptoms of vomiting and illness caused by unfamiliarity with the virtual world... eventually grew to unconsciousness while logged in... even one case of death caused by complications from being comatose long-term... well, that's pretty sim-

WAIT DEATH WHAT



File 002: Treatment of EDEN Syndrome

Currently the illness is treated as unclassified and research is undergoing. They hope to get support from the government...

Okay, that's great, but can we get back to the part where someone died already?!



File 003: Policy of Cooperation with Kamishiro Enterprises

...now we're talking.

Unfortunately this doesn't tell us much that we don't already know or had suspected - the hospital's owned/funded by Kamishiro, who has their fingers in all sorts of pies, and the tech being used to monitor the victims of EDEN Syndrome comes from them as well.

Well, there's the long and short of it. Let's get out of here and tell Kyoko. What a remarkably short update due to the lack of plot twists in our path!



Well, I guess I better come up with a witty title for next time then. Hmm, I wonder what I could do...





Ohhhhhh. Right, I wondered what happened to her.

OK, look, about hitting on you before, that was just because I thought choosing that option would be funny, I didn't think you'd actually take it seriously or anything! You didn't have to follow me all the way up here to say no!



"Reticent girl" stops being so reticent and immediately demands to know who we are and what we're doing here. And, y'know, how we got past the armed guards.
it's because I'M BATMAN



After an awkward pause, we have another choice of answers. Sadly, none of them are asking for her number. I wish I could roleplay Mercury as awkwardly attempting to hit on every woman he ends up in a tense situation with because he can't think of anything else, but sadly the game does not let me do so this time.

The questions, in order, are "Who are you?" "Are you related to one of the patients?" and "Are you with Kamishiro?"



"...come on, don't answer the question with another question."



Our hero attempts to play it off and be cool by repeating Kyoko's line about being a humble detective, just trying to help.



The girl mutters something about "this might be Kuremi" and - okay, wait, hold on a second. Do I look anything like Kyoko? Her hair's long and blond, mine's short and red. I dress in normal clothes but incredibly garish, while she wears normal clothes in extremely small amounts. ALSO SHE IS A WOMAN AND I AM NOT.

In any case, the girl's tone changes immediately and she offers to tell us everything she knows about EDEN Syndrome.



Yeah, that's about my reaction here too.

The girl goes on to explain that she merely wants to prove that there is no wrongdoing going on here, and admits that she's affiliated with Kamishiro. Mercury gives it some thought and decides to hear her out. Meaning it's question time!


have I ever mentioned how much I hate when the lower-right stuff on the screencaps covers up the text because I really hate that

Taking it from the top:
1. "EDEN Syndrome can be cured, right?"
Apparently not, because the oldest case known thus far has lasted eight years. Criminy. The girl expresses a desire that someday someone will find a cure, but the look on her face says it all. She doesn't have much hope, and it's genuinely tearing her up. Clearly, she's not a bad person.

2. "After someone gets EDEN Syndrome, what happens?
Apparently what we see is what they get. So far, everyone who suffers from the illness exhibits exactly the same symptoms, with no known differentiation between patients.

That's kinda freaky.

3. "And the patient at the far end?" (referring to Mercury's body)



Unsurprisingly, she's very confused by this. She notes that the "patient" has only recently been moved in, and she wonders if it's an uncanny resemblance between strangers or that it's a close relative. Yeah, something like that.





Asking about the dark rumors surrounding Kamishiro sets the girl off, and she exclaims that it's all a misunderstanding, that Kamishiro is trying to help, and then a bunch of stuff I can't translate but seems very clearly like it's something personal for her. She seems almost on the verge of tears. Mercury's a little surprised by her outburst.



Kyoko takes this moment to interrupt, saying that we're about to have uninvited company.



And right on cue, we hear a feminine, sing-song voice outside the door. It's the voice of a woman who acts cute, but is about as empathetic as a shark. She's congratulating the guards for their "hard work" and saying she's about to come in.

The text box calls this person "Uninvited guest?" I love it.



"R- Rie-san...?! She's not supposed to be here today...!

For the uninitiated, "-san" is a Japanese honorific usually used to address one's superior, whether it be a boss, one's senior in school, or just anyone the speaker respects. It's mostly commonly translated as "Mr." or "M(r)s." when those terms would be applicable. In this case, our new friend would probably be calling the intruder "Ms. Rie." The use of a first name, however, indicates some familiarity between the two.
say what you will about my translation ability, but at least this run is educational

Meanwhile, still outside the door, this Rie character is apparently admiring one of the guard's chests... because his heartbeat has increased quite drastically. Whoever this Rie is, she must be pretty intimidating.



And then she decides she's coming in.

Although we haven't officially met her yet, Rie's dialogue is difficult to translate because of the way her sing-songy voice is transcribed. The tilde is like a lilt in the voice while the dots between characters express that each syllable is said in a punctuated manner.

Like I said, sounds cutesy, anything but in terms of kindness. I have to give credit to the voice actor in this scene because it really does sound like Rie is slightly crazy.

One of the guards tries to point out that they've been on duty the whole time and nobody could've come in, but Rie isn't paying attention. Incidentally, the guard calls her "Kishibe-san," which is a more formal take on the whole honorific thing I mentioned above. Also this means we know our mystery intruder's full name is Rie Kishibe.
wow, first time we've known a character's name in this game before seeing what they look like



Kyoko contacts us and lets us know we should high-tail it out of there. Apparently this Rie Kishibe is one of Kamishiro's executive officers, and getting caught by her would make this entire operation pointless. So, time to get out the way we came! Kyoko reminds us not to panic, and says she'll meet us back in the lobby.



Apparently our unnamed friend can't hear what Kyoko tells us, but she agrees with the sentiment and tells us we need to hide quickly. And we run for it.

Mercury's panicked animation of looking around him back and forth is hilarious.





And at long last, we see the woman herself. Yup, she craycray.
and thus marks the only time in my life I will ever use that phrase



"Oh Yuko-cha~an, it's on. Ly. You?"
see what I have to work with here

Besides introducing the diminutive honorific "-chan," which is used for girls who are your junior in school/young children and can also be used in an insulting way, Rie also names our pal as Yuko. Thank goodness, another name I don't have to keep typing around.



While we hide in the back room, we eavesdrop on their conversation. Rie claims to be able to "sense" things that are going on and, uh, well, she's crazy. Yuko insists she's alone here, but Rie decides to tease her about it.

You know, instead of transcribing the dialogue here, I think I'm just gonna show off some of the body language in this scene and let you decide for yourself.



For example, here? This is Yuko's line. Rie is just standing there with her mouth wide open - and no, that's not a thing with her model. The dialogue parts of this game are good about having characters' lip flaps match what they say fairly well, and they close their mouths when they're talking. Except here. She just keeps that expression on her face. It's creepy.







I could take the time to discuss the concept of body language and how it can be quite easy to understand across language and culture, but honestly I'm just glad that, the second time through typing this update, I have an easy part.

But yeah, you can figure out their relationship, and the kind of person Rie is, pretty easily.



When she's bored of playing with Yuko, Rie walks up to the door and talks directly to us inside, telling "Yuko's lover" to come out. No, I'm not making it up, that's the exact phrase she uses.
should've known that throwaway joke a couple updates ago would come back with a vengeance

And when she opens the door...





Like a ninja. A cyber ninja. ...sleuth.

Realizing that there is in fact no one here, at least not anymore, Rie takes one last opportunity to taunt Yuko about her so-called boyfriend and then leaves.



"That person... where did he go?"



Cyberspace, that's where.


Next Time: We Should Have Listened About the Coffee

Are you really Batman?

(Interesting story update, sad to see no Digimon action though, but you can't win 'em all)