If you haven't, I advise you to read my introduction to the series. It's always on the sidebar too.
Either way, you should check out the intro for the game above, it's pretty weird and sets a good atmosphere for what you are about to see. Following its conclusion, comes the title screen.
As you can see, I'm playing the PSP port, as it is the easiest one to screenshot, however it lacks the DS port's route showing feature, making things a bit harder for me. Anyway, the title options are:
"Start" - "Continue" - "Sharing" - "Extras" - "Options Menu"
In case you're wondering, the 'Sharing' menu is for this game's online aspect, which I can't access due to... computational factors. However, the Extras menu does have accessible content, an audio drama in fact! But, I won't translate it for now. Let's choose 'Start.'
Two more options popped up, the first is "Prologue," our destination, and the other is "Scenario Selection," which we'll use later. Immediately after choosing it, a scrolling shot appears.
The shot is of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area; along with it, there is some text. It goes as follows:
"Rumors propagated through word-of-mouth between friends of friends."
"Bizarre and fascinating rumors whose authenticity seemingly cannot be determined."
"Rumors that can make one believe that at least half of it may be true."
Definition of urban legends by Brunvand, leading authority on the study of urban legends in the United States.
After it, the game drops the prologue's title, with no translation required this time:
Also, from now on, my commentary will become scarce, as I want you to experience the game as closely as the developers intended (and not because I don't know how to commentate, no no no). I'll only write for actions I could not screenshot, in italics, and fun facts or helpful notes, in [].
Where... am I? One day, without any preamble, I suddenly appeared here.
An involuntary mechanism is switched on, and before long, I gradually awaken.
Until that moment, every breath, heartbeat, memory, and even every cell may have been in suspended animation.
I could recognize only myself, having been stripped clean of everything.
I thought that even my eyesight had been taken from me in this completely pitch-black world, but it seems that was not the case.
The fairy [or elf/sprite] of time must have given it back to me after the denizens of the dark snatched it away.
It's dark here. Akin to a dark room. I'm in a windowless locked room closed from all sides by concrete. It's impossible to tell if I'm above or below ground as if I was in an oversized coffin.
"Have you heard of the term 'F.O.A.F.'?"
The voice of a devil reverberated in this world ruled by darkness. Of course, I've never seen a devil before, but this inhuman and apathetic voice reminded me of one.
"Have you heard of the term 'F.O.A.F.'?"
The devil's voice repeated the same question.
Eff - Oh - Ey - Eff...? This term I've heard for the first time ruminates within my mind.
I barely spoke because I felt that had I said it out loud, some mysterious power contained within those words would have summoned that devil.
I surprised myself over how wary I had become over a term I'd only heard once.
"F.O.A.F. stands for Friend Of A Friend. Literally, it refers to a supposed friend of a friend." [Sorry about the repetition, but this was because they used English terms]
The owner of the voice didn't seem to care about my wariness. Without hesitation, it continued explaining about F.O.A.F.
"I heard from a friend of a friend... A friend of a friend saw... A friend of a friend..."
"A person that brings about foolish gossip, yet whose existence cannot be confirmed."
"It spread from a friend to their friends, and then to those friends' friends until it came to be told as fact."
"You've heard of these before, right? Hanako-san of the toilet, the disappearing hitchhiker, the axeman under the bed..."
"All of them are ridiculous stories that no adult would believe. However, in reality, these rumors called 'ghost stories', 'urban legends', 'earmuffs' [You better check the Database entry for this one, it's a lengthy explanation for its meaning], and so on continue propagating all around us."
"Have you ever thought why is that?"
> "I've never thought about it."
> "I think about it every day."
[Okay, before we continue, let's talk about the Database and the choices. Firstly, I will put database entries as their own posts, each with the Database label and another one for the episode it originates from. This may bloat the blog but also means no interruptions during the story. Secondly, as said in the introductory post, I'll initially follow my choices, then go after the max rank, and finally get all the other routes. Thankfully, this choice here doesn't matter, so I'll show the text for both choices.]
I've never thought about it. That was my answer. The replying voice had grown hoarse, and with it came a scorching pain.
"Of course you haven't. Most people never consider such thoughts. However, you are not like most people. You have no choice but to come into our world."
> "I think about it every day."
"Fufu... It's not good to pretend to be something you're not. No normal, sensible human being should believe this type of tale."
"I asked you this because you have no choice but to come into our world.
For the first time, emotions intruded in the voice that once had been mechanically mumbling words. There were threats, coercion, and manipulation seeping from it.
"Look at this photo."
A cheap desk and a pile of documents are the only things to color this most dreary room. A single photograph lay atop them.
From within the photo in my hand, a man I don't recognize smiles back at me.
"You need to know who this person is."
"Firstly, let's take a look at his profile. His name is---"
[Alright, we've reached the point where we name the protagonist. From the image, you can see that a name has already been inputted. The default, or canon, name is '風海純也' Junya (pronounced Jun-ya) Kazami. Let's keep it, it'll help with immersion.]
"Indeed. His name is Junya Kazami. He was a detective in a peculiar department within the police organization."
"However, he suddenly disappeared one day..."
"When? Where? Why? No one knows. This information has never been reported in its totality in any newspaper or on TV."
"After all, what is shown in the news is nothing more than the surface layer of the truth."
"The side hidden in the shadows, that as easily as it appeared disappears, that is our world--- our territory."
"Do you think that only the information provided by the media is true?"
"Of course, most of their facts are true. But, the truth is not always the only thing being told."
"There is also a small part of the truths uncovered that is washed away."
"Those truths will never be revealed publicly, instead, they will be heard by the masses by becoming urban legends and ghost stories to be spread by the friend of a friend..."
What the hell is this guy talking about?
So what? Is he trying to say that the silly rumors covered by gossip magazines are true?
That's ridiculous...
However, as if he saw through my doubts, the devil assured me.
"Believe it or not, it's your choice. But, you'll have to accept it even if you don't like it."
And together with it came a prophecy of disaster that would befall me soon.
"Incidentally, have you ever heard of this story?"
"This is something I heard from a friend of a friend..."
【Tutorial "Database"】
During the course of an investigation, expert knowledge may come into play.
For example, the leading researcher on urban legends, Brunvand...
will be registered in the database like this.
You can access the registered terms at any time by pressing the triangle button and selecting "Database".
The Database covers a total of 200 items.
Please note that some terms may not be registered depending on the route taken.
New paths may be unlocked depending on the completion rate of the database...
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Episode 0: Chain Mail
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And with this, the prologue is done! We have been automatically sent to the scenario selection screen, where only the first (or zeroth, I guess) episode is unlocked. It is significantly longer than the prologue, with 2 choices already taking place in the same amount of time as it took to complete.
See you then, and don't forget to read the unlocked Database entries!
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