Let's Play "Downtown Tokyo, Present Day"

So... I'm bored, and I thought we could hold a little forum LP. I found this game earlier, and it had Tokyo in the name, so I chose it.

It's a small little text adventure, apparently under 2 hours in length if played "fr srs". It's apparently unique, in that you play both someone watching a movie, and the main character in the movie. You'll tell me commands (1 per post). I'll type them in, and post the results (which are re-typed by me, since screen-shotting wouldn't look so good). Then we continue.

I don't expect to update right as people post (I do sleep, you know). I'll continue down all the posts, as long as it's relevant. For example, if someone says "take blah", and the next person says "look at the room", or something like that, I'll do both, since the first command won't mess up the second.

And uh... don't look up guides or anything. I'm playing this blind and you should too.

And here we goooooooooooooooo.....

The seat is hard and the popcorn is tasteless. A pair of teenagers play-fight in the back row - they probably sneaked in without paying. A distressingly huge and sweaty bulk lowers itself into the seat next to yours, engulfing the armrest.

This had better be worth it...
The teenagers snort at some whispered wisecrack.

Suddenly the lights dim. The murmur of conversation dies and all eyes turn toward the screen.

*****

New players type INFO or HELP

Info

Well, tried to type info, and got this first. It lied.

From now on, -s = new screen, unless marked otherwise.

Downtown Tokyo
Present Day

--------
Prologue

Shadowed streets writhe with coulour and movement. A tide of pedestrians flow through gorges of concrete and glass, rippling and eddying against the store-fronts.

In the backwater of a street cafe sits an English newspaper. The pages lower and we catch a first glimpse of our hero, reading an editorial over his bowl of soup.

A Streetside Cafe
The man sits at an outdoor table surrounded by swirling crowds. He turns a page of his newspaper and takes a sip from a bowl of steaming soup.

And now, with > being choices, and my notes in brackets:

>About the game
>How to contact the author
>Credits
>Disclaimer
>How to play this game
>Hints
>Walk-through [Not allowed.]
>For your amusement

Hm.

"Help"

Hm.

"Help"

...

Pick one of the choices.

Oh, well played Sir. Well played.

"How to play this game"

You choose the course of this game by entering simple commands, to which the game will (hopefully) respond. Commands should be typed at the ">" prompt, and executed by pressing the ENTER key. At a few stages in the game, you will need to press a key, any key, in order for the action to continue - it should be obvious when this applies.

Some of the commands you may use when playing the game include LOOK, EXAMINE, GO, PUSH, PULL, GET IN, GET OUT, EAT, SMELL, and FLY. Many more are possible, though, so use your imagination. Don't be afraid: it should always be immediately obvious if you do something that makes it impossible to win the game, allowing you to UNDO it. Other commands you may find useful include SAVE, RESTORE, and RESTART.

Same choices as before, now.

>Credits

Oh, wow. Fly ehh? I see someone has hacks in real life...

"Fly into movie screen"

Remember, if you want to view that menu again... INFO or HELP. I'll be nice and count INFO/HELP and a choice from that menu as one command.

Many thanks to:

Kathryn leGrove, Shona Lamoureaux, and Gillian Dennis for beta-testing;
all those involved in Competition 98, but especially it's organiser, David Dyte'
and of course Graham Nelson for Inform.

Without their efforts, this game would have been even worse than it already is.

You can't see any such thing.

Err... I think we're in the movie now. Not sure how much we can play with the viewer at this point, though, but I assume we can still do a few things with him.

Fine. Fine. No flying for a while then.

"Order a bowl of Ramen"

That's not a verb I recognise.

This isn't Scribblenauts, you know.

And we're still in that cafe.

>disclaimer

I guess the proper way to say that would be "INFO/HELP, >disclaimer". But obviously, I got what you meant.

All similarities between this game and certain cult movies is purely coincidental. The author has never seen any movie set in Japan, nor (with the exception of the "Die Hard" series) any starring a grotesquely overgrown animal. In particular, this game was conceived and sketched out before the release of a certain recent Hollywood blockbuster, which the author hasn't seen either. In fact, the author has absolutely no idea if this game resembles anything at all, including interactive fiction.

You be the judge.

I demand God powers.

"Examine newspaper"

It is The Times (imported), but we aren't close enough to make out the date. The front page headline reads "GENETIC MISHAP AT JAPANESE AGRICULTURAL LABORATORY"

Oooh, finally decided to get us somewhere? ;p

Shall we risk a genetic mutation?

Yes we shall.

"Go to Japanese Agricultural Laboratory"

You can't see any such thing.

Again, this thing isn't exactly an advanced AI. Trying to be fancy here hurts.

...May I suggest we look around the cafe, or try to do something that's like, physically possible? XD

This game is absolutely amazing.

"Go into the Cafe"

You can't see any such thing.

Hmm. I actually thought that would work. I also tried "go cafe" for you.

That doesn't seem to be important in the current scene.

Well, I'm confused. We have access to hints though.

Maybe I should limit that access?