PHASE I [ 6 00 ] You wake up, and you're in a camp ground. The graphics aren't bad here, not really, but they're definitely last gen -- not the type of quality expected out of ViViD. On top of that, every once in awhile, the scenery sort of... glitches before going right back to normal as if nothing ever happened. If you're particularly unlucky, your own body parts might glitch out for a moment too, appearing as nothing more than broken code and then back to normal. Pretty weird, right? Oh well, don't worry about it. Totally harmless.
Glitches or not, you're still in a camp ground along with everyone else. There's a fire, there's some tents, some trees. Maybe some s'mores? You got it all. You're also not wearing what you were before. No, now you're wearing some sexy shorts, or maybe you've got a whip at your side, or maybe you've got a really classy fedora. And if you're one of those lucky few who have all three at once? Good for you! Try not to blind everyone with all that sexy.
Or, you know, the game will glitch out again and you'll be stuck wearing something else. That's definitely not as sexy.
PHASE II [ 730 ] If you decide to finally go exploring that crazy jungle, you'll find that you have a wide range of exploring options. Seems ViViD's taking a crack at their very own open world game -- this one modeled after your run of the mill adventure game. There are rivers to swim through (complete with alligators)! There are cliffs to scale (complete with angry birds ready to peck at your face)! There are even ravines to swing across on vines (just like Tarzan)!
Actually, the game is made to allow you to do just that -- those vines are all conveniently lined up for everyone to use them to swing across. Go on, it'll be fun. If you miss, you'll just lose a life, right?
Of course, if you overshoot your goal, you might run into one of the other glitches; the white space that you'll stumble into implies that you flew right off the world map and are now in unprogrammed space. Don't worry, you'll dissolve eventually, slowly but surely, and will reappear on the cliff so you can try again. There's no other way around that ravine either. Still, it's only a little frightening watching your body disappear piece by piece, right?
PHASE III [ 900 ] If you manage to scale one of those cliffs or swing across that ravine or cross that river, you may find yourself a chest. It's a treasure chest, and you don't even need a key to open it! Open it right up, a cute little jingle will play, and… nothing will be there.
Or the item will be there, hovering in the air, something amazing, fantastic, incredible that you've always dreamed of having and wanting, and -- you can't touch it. No matter what you try, it hovers right out of reach, and you can't interact with it at all.
Oh, and the cute little jingle is going to follow you around now, on constant loop.
PHASE IV [ xxxx ] So you died.
No big deal. Perhaps you got eaten by a crocodile. Perhaps you fell off a cliff. Perhaps another player stabbed you (that's rude). Either way, you've only lost one life and you have two more so it's nothing. After all, this is just a video game, right? It's fine.
Except it's really not fine.
You'll find yourself in a graveyard, tombstones all around you (maybe one of them has your name on it -- hope the epitaph doesn't suck). It's nighttime, it's foggy, and you're with the other players who have also lost a life. For a while, nothing will happen. The cold and quiet of the night will start to seep into your bones -- and then a figure appears. It can't be killed, it is silent and grim, and it does not speak.
Instead, it approaches each person there, reaches out and touches them on the forehead. Even you. All you can see for a long moment is corpses around you, the dead faces of everyone who had been with you in the ViViD level, flesh rotting away and faces caught in expressions of horror --
And then you're all dropped back into the camp ground together again. It's sunny and cheery and everything is fine, and you're down to two lives. Just, you know... don't lose the rest, okay?
BONUS [ xxxx ] You have a butler now, congratulations! He's following you around everywhere. He's an NPC, and not a very well-made one; sometimes his face glitches out, and he doesn't so much walk behind you as just… appears right next to you. He's handy though because if you ask him to, he'll pull up the start menu. You can sort out your inventory there and exit the game if you wish (except no matter how many times you press the "quit" button, you... can't).
Sometimes, though, that doesn't work out so well. Not the start menu but the butler himself. He might appear next to you on a narrow cliff face, knocking you right off the edge, or appear right on top of a hornet's nest, making them angry enough to go after, well, you. Maybe he accidentally summons a bear when all you were trying to do was ask him where the next dungeon is. That's unfortunate.
You can't seem to get rid of him either, no matter what you do. How annoying. Hopefully he doesn't cause you too much trouble because that bear... well, that bear's pretty angry.
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i - omg wheatley
irritation set palpable as he pivots his back to the campsite, as he tries his best to ignore clothes that look like they were made for some terrible cosplay and instead grips at the hilt of his sword.
he would have been fine to walk away, to flow smoothly into independent action when the inane clutter starts, metal against metal and his turn is incredulous. ] Mm?
[ as is his stare. a - robot? a talking robot. with what seems to be a very complex ai.
though not complex enough to apparently have any walking instructions. a click of his tongue, and a cautious approach. ] Tch - what questions?
no subject
When you're Wheatley, most things are nerve-wracking.
Once he's acknowledged, he comes to a stop, the momentum causing him to overbalance and throw his arms out in an effort to catch himself. It works, miraculously, but the overall effect is more than a little ridiculous.]
Well, uh, where we are, for one. If you know, because I--because I don't. Have you done this before? I mean, is this--is it real? Because if it is, I'm really not, ha--the humidity's a bit much, for me. Not sure my delicate inner workings are agreeing with it, if you know what I mean.
[Translation: he's made of metal and doesn't want to get wet.]
no subject
there's that momentary beat of teetering stability, where the machine hinges forward and he isn't sure whether to catch the thing or let it fall, his arm raised in a halfhearted attempt at the former.
this really was ridiculous, and his expression draws a frown. ] You weren't listening before? [ granted, some of that powerpoint presentation seemed like complete bullshit, while the rest he still refused to believe. ] It's virtual reality. Don't know how real that makes any of this though.
... [ a beat, a look mixed of scrutiny as he considers the workings of this thing. he was right, getting technology wet would most likely break it. ] - tch. The game gives you three lives. You could test it out. [ he isn't of the most helpful sorts. ]
no subject
[That's what Wheatley says about most things he doesn't understand. He's still got his arms out, slightly, as if trying to keep his balance, but once he's stable he seems a bit more confident.
That does not, however, mean he isn't nervous, and his optic darts around them, taking in the jungle. He seems almost offended by the notion that he should test out his allotted lives.]
I'm not going to go out there intending to die, if that's what you mean!