We don't always like being nonplussed

Monday, October 1, 2012

Black Matrix Zero Part 1: My Little Sister Can't Be This Mysteriously Ill!?

Isstvan did the last Flail and he's really busy for his channel, so I'm up! Back in August when we had our second anniversary contest, more than half of the entrants asked us to do Black Matrix Zero for GBA, so here we are doing a brand new text Flail!

I know absolutely nothing about this game except that it's a Tactics-type game, which I like! And it involves angels and demons, which I'm okay with. I think as a story thing they're a bit played out, maybe not as much so as vampires, zombies or shadowy government conspiracies, but up there, definitely. But hey, let's see what we've got!


 

 We open with a typical narrative screen full of kanji...


And then go into some hieroglyphics showing, yes, angels and demons.


After which we get dialogue from none other than Char Aznable! ...except blue. If Char's the Red Comet, this guy is the... Blue... Asteroid? That'll do until we get a name.



Chapter One: Kanji and Stuff.



This Adorable Preteen Girl is calling for Cain, which is not a name I'm surprised to see, considering. I'm curious to see how the whole angel/demon motif plays out, as Japanese pop culture in general plays as fast and loose with Biblical references as it does anything else.



And this is Cain, AKA Adorable Preteen Boy. And they both know a dude named Mephisto! Nice to know he's taking a break from contrivedly erasing superhero messages to befriend small children.

...or actually, maybe it's not.



It turns out the girl's name is Matia, or something like it. This guy is Niko. He's scared of Mephisto, so the only character here with some sense has just made a hasty exit. Then we go to a house in the woods to meet someone named Yohane.(Johann, maybe?)
 


 ...who turns out to be the Blue Asteroid!


They talk for a while, and then Matia has A Bad Feeling About This. (A trademark of Lucasfilm Limited, all rights reserved.) I'm betting the Asteroid is our hero, because he talks in ellipses a hell of a lot, which is one of the most obvious symptoms of Anime Hero Syndrome. (The only known treatment is to hit the person with a stick repeatedly while screaming "THERE ARE NEVER MORE OR LESS THAN THREE PERIODS IN AN ELLIPSE!")



And here's Mephisto. Wholesome-looking fella, huh? Mephisto also speaks in ellipses, but to a greater volume. His are not Hero Ellipses so much as Speech Disorder Ellipses. This has Matia upset, and I can understand that. But the fact that Mephisto and Yohane are Angels, they take in stride.


The demon girl, they do not seem to be taking in stride quite as much. She doesn't introduce herself that I can see, but after she leaves Matia has another plot-important dizzy spell. She probably has an important destiny or some crap. ...or possibly she's going to collapse and have an important plot-based sickness that Asteroid and Cain have to cure somehow.


Then purple-haired demon chick comes back, and asks Cain to make a choice. No clue what they say, so it's choice #1 for me!

Cain needs an adult. She introduces herself as Luca (or rather, "Ruka." But I'll go with Luca because I feel like it.) Kain goes to get the priest to look at Matia...

...and I'm reasonably confident in saying that the priest is this guy.


...shit.

I recognize the first word on the second line: "Insesuto." Or in plain English, "incest." But as long as we're not in some godawful sitcom with a declarative-statement title like "My Little Sister Can't Be This Mysteriously Ill!?" we'll probably be alright. I think Knight Guy's name is Fidem, but it's too early to know how much that matters.
 
He gets one look at Cain and says "Incest...(Ignore last three periods- the ellipse should end HERE, dammit)!"

Shit.

2 comments:

  1. Hello I was wondering if I could get a story summary from you. I have this game and really want to know whats going on.thanks much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I knew! I don't know enough Japanese to say "I don't know Japanese," so everything in my posts is a total off-the-cuff guess. Sorry about that!

      Delete