[LETSPLAY] A Slightly Altered Game
Due to certain recent awesomeness perpetrated by Radiation, I'm sure I needn't introduce the concept of a Let's Play. Basically, I'm going to start a Let's Play of EarthBound, only I'm going to mix things up a little in ways that don't happen in a normal run. At least for now, these will be fairly simple changes that can be accomplished via debug menu and a bit of narrative license. Of course I can't make an entirely distinct Let's Play based on these small changes - I have confidence that there is enough depth in EarthBound itself to support more than one retelling.
I am in no way copying Radiation, though his success is inspiring, and I will be closely following his Let's Play as I write this to ensure that nothing I write imitates his work.
This idea started as a simple following of Spitball Sparky's Paula solo run, and will begin as a Paula solo run. This is in no way meant to steal his thunder, though as I said in that thread I have long wanted to do the same thing.
This is also why the windows are strawberry flavor. I know some of you hate it. I apologize to you - it'll change at some point, I'm sure.
Let's Play benefits greatly from its audiences, so of course I shall welcome all suggestions and challenges henceforth. I already have the first bit written, however.
Enough of this explanation - let us proceed to exposition.
My name is Paula. I am a 12-year-old girl, and I live in Twoson, a medium-small town just south of Onett.
What you probably would've wanted me to tell you before even that - it seems to be what everyone focuses on - is I'm psychic. I can sense people's emotions, move small objects with my mind, and recently have begun manipulating more subtle things such as heat. Also, my dreams have always had an uncanny accuracy - that is why I am here...
I had one of these dreams shortly after going to bed tonight. Something was about to happen in Onett, and somehow I felt I needed to be there.
I got up, gathered $20 and a snack and the teddy bear I always have nearby, slipped out the window, and headed north. I knew the way, as my family would sometimes take picnics at Beak Point. I could be back before dawn, and my protective father wouldn't have to worry.
It wasn't hard to find the happenings - the Onett police had set up roadblocks and sirens. Luckily, my dear father had taught me about dealing with policemen; it is a necessary skill in Twoson, where officers exist to protect and serve mainly themselves and their interests. I was able to pass their roadblocks "just this once, young lady".
Just past the roadblocks, I met a boy about my age, emerging from his house still dressed in pajamas. As we seemed to be investigating the same general occurrences, he and I wandered together. He said his name was Ness, but everyone called him Nessy. I idly wondered why a child would need a silly nickname when his given name was so strange already, and sighed at what must surely be some thoughtless parents. I help out at the Polestar Preschool, and so have seen the sad results of being oddly named firsthand.
We first asked around at Ness's neighbors' to see whether they knew anything.
I once read a story called "The Pokey Little Puppy" to the preschoolers. Apparently I had found its inspiration.
The next neighbor told us of the meteorite on the hill. We wandered up there, still talking idly to each other about our lives. We were friendlier than usual for kids having just met, and he seemed to have a more personal interest in my "gifts" than many people. The whole thing gave me an odd feeling, of the type I'm known for.
When we finally reached the hilltop, we found the aforementioned Pokey there, making the police irritable with his rubbernecking - too irritable for us to negotiate past the roadblocks to the meteorite.
The policeman tried three times to discourage Pokey, but none of them was the charm.
Anyway, Ness invited me into his house for a light snack of pie while we decided what to do next. But I had barely met Ness's mother and been seated when Pokey ran up behind us. He explained that the police were leaving...
Ness whispered that without that reminder he surely would've thought the police were doubling as Coast Guard.
He then said his little brother was missing, and begged our help to find him. He also revealed that he considered someone who (understandably) quite disliked him to be his best friend. Despite his behavior so far, that made me feel a little sorry for him.
However, he apparently wasn't too preoccupied to forgo snide comments. We made him promise to shut up before agreeing to help him.
Remember, always treat your pets for fleas and ticks, or they'll become unreliable.
I left my teddy with Ness's sister, Tracy. I somehow felt I could trust her, and I didn't want it to get so dirty that Mom might notice when she did the wash.
When we were all ready to go, Ness's mother announced that while it was noble of her little boy to want to help Pokey, she felt he shouldn't continue neglecting his sleep. I had gotten the feeling she had been waiting to say something.
Ness said reluctantly that he couldn't disobey her, but that he would be with me in spirit.
Ness's father then called to give some advice that was really terrible, and which might explain his constant absence. Also he apparently hears his son's voice so little that he didn't question my identity.
Ness's father seems to be living his dreams through his son. That isn't very healthy.
We waited a moment longer after he hung up to see whether there would be any more complications. There weren't. We walked bravely out into the night...
(well, the dog and I walked bravely; Pokey just walked)
...and were ambushed by a stray dog. I used a PSI technique I'd recently learned, which involves drawing heat out of the air, to give the creature acute frostbite. We moved on.
I learned from Pokey that Onett had a real problem with wild animals. It seemed that the police were the only reason we hadn't been assaulted before. I used another freezing attack to save this hillside eccentric from another vicious dog.
I was beginning to worry. I only had enough power to use Freeze two or three times, and the animals had managed to hit me a few times. Over loud complaints from Pokey, we returned to Ness's. If I could just relax for a minute and meditate, I could recover my energies.
This conversation started hopefully, then quickly became very dismaying. I apparently was welcome, but not to stay for even a short time just sitting down. She gently escorted us out into the night again, and closed the door. In her haste, she neglected to retrieve the dog.
This was bad. I was out of psychic power, and there were hostile animals in every direction, especially to the south. Why hadn't I thought to bring a weapon?
I ate the bread roll I'd packed to regain some physical strength. We returned to the hill, because we really didn't have much choice and Picky was still missing. Sure enough, we were attacked again. My bare fists were useless.
It looked hopeless. All other options gone, I sank to my knees in prayer.
A bright light flashed in our eyes, which did nothing to the coil snake. I had turned to the powers-that-be for help in my time of need, and they had seen fit to momentarily blind us when we were already vulnerable. I... I...
I was a little upset.
Thankfully, Ness's dog managed to maul the snake.
I continually prayed despite that disappointment. It was a comforting and familiar ritual, and so made me feel a little better despite everything, but I shudder to think what would've happened had the dog not won our fights for us.
During a lull between battles, I recovered a small amount of power, and flash-froze Spanky's coat in gratitude, hoping to thin his flea population and give him one less distraction.
We found Picky hiding behind a bush near the meteorite. Ordinarily I'd have examined the meteorite first, but I wanted to make sure the boy was OK - not that I could really do much if he wasn't. There was a golden light from behind, and Pokey shrieked that he heard a bee nearby.
"A bee I am..."
The small flier made several startling pronouncements. He had traveled back in time to find a chosen one, who was prophesied to defeat an imminent cosmic evil. It was incredible, and yet somehow I could feel the truth of every word. Oddly, he spoke as though Ness were actually present, saying that he was the chosen boy. He then joined us, and we walked down the hill again, stunned.
My thanks for saving this creepy old guy earlier was to have him hit on me. Ugh.
Also, Spanky was wandering around unconcerned now. Odd. But apparently there were no more enemies...
OH DEAR GOD I spoke too soon.
The not-bee somehow shielded us from the starman - and just in time, as the starman let loose with a blast of fire! Apparently I was no longer the only psychic around... It was an amazing realization.
In awe I began to pray again.
Wh- He- He was here? How?!
Eep. Easy come, easy go...
I ceased praying and watched the battle carefully, taking mental notes on the PSI techniques being used.
The small, hard body of our new companion worked like any other projectile when it moved fast enough, tearing a large hole in the starman, which disintegrated.
"Whew! I was taking a big chance there. He came from 10 years in the future to kill me, so we can't relax yet!"
I CAN'T FIGHT THINGS WITHOUT PSI or at least a weapon ;_;
And Spanky had finally had enough and run off, so he wouldn't do it for me.
...so in other words, the entire human race is against me? No one's perfect, you know...
So basically the only things I can trust are plants, fungi, and rocks. Or will those become violent too?
The two boys returned to their home, and I tagged along, as I somehow felt I wasn't through with that family. Their father spanked them, and I heard Pokey squeal rather like a pig. They should've named him Porky.
Then he returned to vent his problems at a complete stranger, starting with his sons, then moving on to his wife, and finally telling me about a loan he'd made to Ness's family.
Much as I currently dislike them, I seem to recall Picky saying earlier that you were at an elegant restaurant... Anyway, not my business.
...by the way, why do you have a streetlamp in your living room?
Then it was the wife's turn to confide in me. I should really be charging counseling fees... oh, but of course, they're in poverty.
Then, disaster. The woman of the house noticed the buzzing, and struck its maker an awful blow.
Oh no, no, no, no... Why did I think I needed to come into the house?
I glared at the fat woman's back as she wandered about, wearing futile makeup and an obviously pasted-on smile. Only years of learned restraint kept me from preserving that smile on her face cryogenically.
The dying one gasped its final words. It told me that I must travel all around the world, collecting eight melodies, which would ultimately repel this alien mastermind Giegue. I felt a strange sense of deja vu at hearing this, as though I had heard it before in another life...
Then I was filled with a powerful sense of purpose and understanding. Yes. This was why I had come to Onett so hastily as to forget a weapon. It was all clear now, even the necessity of this death. I was a chosen one.
I had been mistaken thinking I'd return home before dawn. I didn't let it bother me, as while I had made a few small mistakes in this adventure, overall I knew I had done the right things.
Ness's spirit and I returned to Ness's house, and I retrieved my teddy bear from Tracy. She had apparently stitched up a rip I hadn't realized was there. I was surprised by this act of goodwill, and thanked her. She also insisted that I take a cracked bat from the corner, on the idea that even a weapon I couldn't use was better than none at all. I suspect a weapon one doesn't know how to use is more likely to be knocked free and used against its owner... nonetheless, I accepted it graciously.
I headed south as quickly as possible, eager to return to my home in Twoson and make preparations for whatever lay ahead, and conscious of my vulnerability.
****.
I chided myself for expressing my sentiments so crudely - I've discouraged the preschoolers from using those words, and I didn't wish to be a hypocrite. Nevertheless, it seemed to sum up the situation nicely. I learned that the policeman who had let me through earlier had been reprimanded, and there was no way I would be allowed to pass this time.
It seemed my quest would begin in Onett, ready or not...
I am in no way copying Radiation, though his success is inspiring, and I will be closely following his Let's Play as I write this to ensure that nothing I write imitates his work.
This idea started as a simple following of Spitball Sparky's Paula solo run, and will begin as a Paula solo run. This is in no way meant to steal his thunder, though as I said in that thread I have long wanted to do the same thing.
This is also why the windows are strawberry flavor. I know some of you hate it. I apologize to you - it'll change at some point, I'm sure.
Let's Play benefits greatly from its audiences, so of course I shall welcome all suggestions and challenges henceforth. I already have the first bit written, however.
Enough of this explanation - let us proceed to exposition.
My name is Paula. I am a 12-year-old girl, and I live in Twoson, a medium-small town just south of Onett.
What you probably would've wanted me to tell you before even that - it seems to be what everyone focuses on - is I'm psychic. I can sense people's emotions, move small objects with my mind, and recently have begun manipulating more subtle things such as heat. Also, my dreams have always had an uncanny accuracy - that is why I am here...
I had one of these dreams shortly after going to bed tonight. Something was about to happen in Onett, and somehow I felt I needed to be there.
I got up, gathered $20 and a snack and the teddy bear I always have nearby, slipped out the window, and headed north. I knew the way, as my family would sometimes take picnics at Beak Point. I could be back before dawn, and my protective father wouldn't have to worry.
It wasn't hard to find the happenings - the Onett police had set up roadblocks and sirens. Luckily, my dear father had taught me about dealing with policemen; it is a necessary skill in Twoson, where officers exist to protect and serve mainly themselves and their interests. I was able to pass their roadblocks "just this once, young lady".
Just past the roadblocks, I met a boy about my age, emerging from his house still dressed in pajamas. As we seemed to be investigating the same general occurrences, he and I wandered together. He said his name was Ness, but everyone called him Nessy. I idly wondered why a child would need a silly nickname when his given name was so strange already, and sighed at what must surely be some thoughtless parents. I help out at the Polestar Preschool, and so have seen the sad results of being oddly named firsthand.
We first asked around at Ness's neighbors' to see whether they knew anything.
I once read a story called "The Pokey Little Puppy" to the preschoolers. Apparently I had found its inspiration.
The next neighbor told us of the meteorite on the hill. We wandered up there, still talking idly to each other about our lives. We were friendlier than usual for kids having just met, and he seemed to have a more personal interest in my "gifts" than many people. The whole thing gave me an odd feeling, of the type I'm known for.
When we finally reached the hilltop, we found the aforementioned Pokey there, making the police irritable with his rubbernecking - too irritable for us to negotiate past the roadblocks to the meteorite.
The policeman tried three times to discourage Pokey, but none of them was the charm.
Anyway, Ness invited me into his house for a light snack of pie while we decided what to do next. But I had barely met Ness's mother and been seated when Pokey ran up behind us. He explained that the police were leaving...
Ness whispered that without that reminder he surely would've thought the police were doubling as Coast Guard.
He then said his little brother was missing, and begged our help to find him. He also revealed that he considered someone who (understandably) quite disliked him to be his best friend. Despite his behavior so far, that made me feel a little sorry for him.
However, he apparently wasn't too preoccupied to forgo snide comments. We made him promise to shut up before agreeing to help him.
Remember, always treat your pets for fleas and ticks, or they'll become unreliable.
I left my teddy with Ness's sister, Tracy. I somehow felt I could trust her, and I didn't want it to get so dirty that Mom might notice when she did the wash.
When we were all ready to go, Ness's mother announced that while it was noble of her little boy to want to help Pokey, she felt he shouldn't continue neglecting his sleep. I had gotten the feeling she had been waiting to say something.
Ness said reluctantly that he couldn't disobey her, but that he would be with me in spirit.
Ness's father then called to give some advice that was really terrible, and which might explain his constant absence. Also he apparently hears his son's voice so little that he didn't question my identity.
Ness's father seems to be living his dreams through his son. That isn't very healthy.
We waited a moment longer after he hung up to see whether there would be any more complications. There weren't. We walked bravely out into the night...
(well, the dog and I walked bravely; Pokey just walked)
...and were ambushed by a stray dog. I used a PSI technique I'd recently learned, which involves drawing heat out of the air, to give the creature acute frostbite. We moved on.
I learned from Pokey that Onett had a real problem with wild animals. It seemed that the police were the only reason we hadn't been assaulted before. I used another freezing attack to save this hillside eccentric from another vicious dog.
I was beginning to worry. I only had enough power to use Freeze two or three times, and the animals had managed to hit me a few times. Over loud complaints from Pokey, we returned to Ness's. If I could just relax for a minute and meditate, I could recover my energies.
This conversation started hopefully, then quickly became very dismaying. I apparently was welcome, but not to stay for even a short time just sitting down. She gently escorted us out into the night again, and closed the door. In her haste, she neglected to retrieve the dog.
This was bad. I was out of psychic power, and there were hostile animals in every direction, especially to the south. Why hadn't I thought to bring a weapon?
I ate the bread roll I'd packed to regain some physical strength. We returned to the hill, because we really didn't have much choice and Picky was still missing. Sure enough, we were attacked again. My bare fists were useless.
It looked hopeless. All other options gone, I sank to my knees in prayer.
A bright light flashed in our eyes, which did nothing to the coil snake. I had turned to the powers-that-be for help in my time of need, and they had seen fit to momentarily blind us when we were already vulnerable. I... I...
I was a little upset.
Thankfully, Ness's dog managed to maul the snake.
I continually prayed despite that disappointment. It was a comforting and familiar ritual, and so made me feel a little better despite everything, but I shudder to think what would've happened had the dog not won our fights for us.
During a lull between battles, I recovered a small amount of power, and flash-froze Spanky's coat in gratitude, hoping to thin his flea population and give him one less distraction.
We found Picky hiding behind a bush near the meteorite. Ordinarily I'd have examined the meteorite first, but I wanted to make sure the boy was OK - not that I could really do much if he wasn't. There was a golden light from behind, and Pokey shrieked that he heard a bee nearby.
"A bee I am..."
The small flier made several startling pronouncements. He had traveled back in time to find a chosen one, who was prophesied to defeat an imminent cosmic evil. It was incredible, and yet somehow I could feel the truth of every word. Oddly, he spoke as though Ness were actually present, saying that he was the chosen boy. He then joined us, and we walked down the hill again, stunned.
My thanks for saving this creepy old guy earlier was to have him hit on me. Ugh.
Also, Spanky was wandering around unconcerned now. Odd. But apparently there were no more enemies...
OH DEAR GOD I spoke too soon.
The not-bee somehow shielded us from the starman - and just in time, as the starman let loose with a blast of fire! Apparently I was no longer the only psychic around... It was an amazing realization.
In awe I began to pray again.
Wh- He- He was here? How?!
Eep. Easy come, easy go...
I ceased praying and watched the battle carefully, taking mental notes on the PSI techniques being used.
The small, hard body of our new companion worked like any other projectile when it moved fast enough, tearing a large hole in the starman, which disintegrated.
"Whew! I was taking a big chance there. He came from 10 years in the future to kill me, so we can't relax yet!"
I CAN'T FIGHT THINGS WITHOUT PSI or at least a weapon ;_;
And Spanky had finally had enough and run off, so he wouldn't do it for me.
...so in other words, the entire human race is against me? No one's perfect, you know...
So basically the only things I can trust are plants, fungi, and rocks. Or will those become violent too?
The two boys returned to their home, and I tagged along, as I somehow felt I wasn't through with that family. Their father spanked them, and I heard Pokey squeal rather like a pig. They should've named him Porky.
Then he returned to vent his problems at a complete stranger, starting with his sons, then moving on to his wife, and finally telling me about a loan he'd made to Ness's family.
Much as I currently dislike them, I seem to recall Picky saying earlier that you were at an elegant restaurant... Anyway, not my business.
...by the way, why do you have a streetlamp in your living room?
Then it was the wife's turn to confide in me. I should really be charging counseling fees... oh, but of course, they're in poverty.
Then, disaster. The woman of the house noticed the buzzing, and struck its maker an awful blow.
Oh no, no, no, no... Why did I think I needed to come into the house?
I glared at the fat woman's back as she wandered about, wearing futile makeup and an obviously pasted-on smile. Only years of learned restraint kept me from preserving that smile on her face cryogenically.
The dying one gasped its final words. It told me that I must travel all around the world, collecting eight melodies, which would ultimately repel this alien mastermind Giegue. I felt a strange sense of deja vu at hearing this, as though I had heard it before in another life...
Then I was filled with a powerful sense of purpose and understanding. Yes. This was why I had come to Onett so hastily as to forget a weapon. It was all clear now, even the necessity of this death. I was a chosen one.
I had been mistaken thinking I'd return home before dawn. I didn't let it bother me, as while I had made a few small mistakes in this adventure, overall I knew I had done the right things.
Ness's spirit and I returned to Ness's house, and I retrieved my teddy bear from Tracy. She had apparently stitched up a rip I hadn't realized was there. I was surprised by this act of goodwill, and thanked her. She also insisted that I take a cracked bat from the corner, on the idea that even a weapon I couldn't use was better than none at all. I suspect a weapon one doesn't know how to use is more likely to be knocked free and used against its owner... nonetheless, I accepted it graciously.
I headed south as quickly as possible, eager to return to my home in Twoson and make preparations for whatever lay ahead, and conscious of my vulnerability.
****.
I chided myself for expressing my sentiments so crudely - I've discouraged the preschoolers from using those words, and I didn't wish to be a hypocrite. Nevertheless, it seemed to sum up the situation nicely. I learned that the policeman who had let me through earlier had been reprimanded, and there was no way I would be allowed to pass this time.
It seemed my quest would begin in Onett, ready or not...
I'm so sorry everyone - first I got into Chrono Trigger and it ate my free time, and then I returned to college and I just haven't quite had time to sit down and finish the next bit yet. I haven't forgotten it, I swear.
sparn
I'm not just springing random crap on you. There's a fairly simple and reasonable explanation for it being party member #3, and it's not just that he's next in line. If you can't guess it, will be explained in the next installment. Which I swear you won't have to wait as long for. >.<
