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Game of the Year: A Naruto Quest

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[X] No. You'll skip the tutorial and go right to the good part.

Childhood sequences? I'd rather not.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by Astra Myst on Sep 4, 2018 at 10:40 AM, finished with 91 posts and 74 votes.
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I don't think this one really needs a countdown and deadline. Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by Vesvius on Sep 4, 2018 at 4:27 PM, finished with 94 posts and 76 votes.
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5. Tutorial: START!
  • Threadmarks
    • You've been thrown into a world that was only fiction in your last life. You're living in a village chock full of ninjas who, if you're remembering things right, can raise the dead and destroy cities with hand-mouths. And to top it all off: you are a baby.

    Yeah, you think playing through the tutorial is a good move. You reach out with your tiny, chubby hands and press the 'Yes' button beneath the prompt. The golden letters promptly disappear, leaving you with only the sight of the inside of your eyelids for moments before you drop deep into proper sleep.

    The next morning, you wake to find yourself no longer being cradled by Mom. Instead, you're in a crib. It's quite the crib honestly; the bars are painted to look like swords and the headboard is painted with some kind of mural that you have to imagine is impressive. But it's still a crib. A tiny baby jail. You want out of this thing.

    But there's nothing you can do to get out- fuck, rolling over is a struggle for your undeveloped limbs. Grasping the bars is easy but doing anything else is impossible. So with no other option, you take a deep breath and let out a mighty wail-

    Only to stop as tiny bars appear in the corner of your vision. Lots of tiny bars. Frankly, an insane amount of tiny bars. You can't count how many there are. The hell?

    As if in answer to your question, large letters begin to scroll in front of you once more.

    WELCOME TO 'Elemental', THE GAME OF SHINOBI. SHINOBI IS AN OPEN WORLD RPG WHERE YOUR ONLY LIMITS ARE YOUR IMAGINATION. BUT EVEN A MIGHTY SHINOBI, WARRIOR, OR SPICE MERCHANT MUST START SOMEWHERE- WELCOME TO THAT SOMEWHERE.

    YOU ARE CURRENTLY A BABY AGED 'Seven Months'. FOR NOW, YOUR OPTIONS ARE LIMITED. YOUR OPTIONS WILL GREATLY EXPAND WHEN YOU REACH THE END OF THIS TUTORIAL.

    FOR NOW, LET US INTRODUCE SOME BASIC FEATURES.

    YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THAT IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF YOUR VISION, YOU HAVE GAINED ACCESS TO YOUR MOTIVES BAR. MOTIVES ARE YOUR BASIC PHYSICAL AND MENTAL NEEDS. THEY RANGE FROM HUNGER-    ​

    One of the bars flash. It's a tiny blue one that's dropping as you look at it. At the rate it's going, it won't be long until it vanishes completely.

    -TO ENERGY-​

    Another, larger bar pulses. This one is dropping much slower.

    -TO MANY MORE. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MOTIVES. SOME MAY BE EXPENDED WITHOUT PENALTY, BUT SHOULD ANY OF THE MAJOR ONES EMPTY FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME, THE CONSEQUENCES ON YOUR HEALTH CAN PROVE DIRE.

    FOR NOW, LET US DEAL WITH YOUR HUNGER MOTIVE. HUNGER MAY BE SATIATED BY-    ​

    "I know how to eat!" you try to yell. And though only gurgles and gaa's escape your mouth, the tutorial seems to get your meaning. The scrawl hurries through it's explanation on what food is and how to consume it in a fraction of a second.

    NOW, IT IS TIME TO FULFILL THAT MOTIVE.​

    The scrawl vanishes, and in it's place appears what looks like a small paper scroll. It's only in your mind though; a quick flail through the space it appears to be occupying reveals nothing but air. But touching it has a side-effect. As your fingers pass through it, the scroll unfurls with a small jangling noise. You read the revealed text quickly.

    Quest Acquired! Hungry Like The Wolf!
    Your hunger motive is getting dangerously low. You should get that taken care of as soon as possible.
    Success Condition: Hunger Motive = 100%
    On Success: You will have learned how to eat!
    On Failure: You will be dead.
    ​
    The scroll vanishes as soon as you're done reading it. A small chime sounds in your ear and a new tab warps into existence in the corner of your vision opposite your motives. You move to touch it, but before you do, the text scrawl begins again.

    YOU HAVE JUST RECEIVED YOUR FIRST QUEST! QUESTS ARE THE PRIMARY WAY OF GAINING PROGRESSING IN 'Elemental'. THEY MAY BE ACQUIRED WHEN YOUR MOTIVES REACH CERTAIN THRESHOLDS, FROM VARIOUS CHARACTERS AROUND YOU, OR IN ANY NUMBER OF OTHER WAYS.

    QUESTS MAY REWARD YOU WITH SEVERAL BENEFITS. THE FIRST IS EXPERIENCE, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A FEW MOMENTS. THEY MAY ALSO REWARD YOU WITH CURRENCY, RARE ITEMS, NEW ABILITIES, AND THE MOST CHALLENGING QUESTS MAY EVEN AWARD YOU ACHIEVEMENTS THAT WILL UNLOCK SPECIAL BENEFITS. EACH OF THESE REWARDS WILL BE EXPLAINED AS YOU ATTAIN THEM.

    FOR NOW, ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE YOUR FIRST QUEST.    ​

    ...did the universe just give you a quest to fucking eat? The hell even is this game?!

    Once you get over your surprise at the hell is happening, the quest is easy enough to complete. A loud wail alerts Mom that you're awake, and she bustles in with a jar full of something that smells kind of like peaches. It only takes half the jar for your stomach to stop it's annoying growling and your hunger motive to climb to it's ceiling.

    There's a sound like a chorus of trumpets in your ear as you down the last mouthful.

    YOU HAVE COMPLETED A QUEST!​

    The new tab is glowing. You tap it, revealing the scroll for the eating quest. Only now it's marked 'COMPLETE'.

    QUESTS OF ALL STATUSES (ACTIVE, COMPLETED, FAILED) MAY BE REVIEWED BY ACCESSING YOUR JOURNAL.

    ...you have a journal?

    ***

    As it turns out, yes, you do have a journal, one that appears if you think 'journal' really loudly. It has a whole variety of things, ranging from your stats (all terrible right now) to your quests to brief summations of important events. But the discovery of the journal isn't the biggest thing to you; no, it's the discovery that thinking things loudly can bring up different screens.

    Your favorite so far is the 'settings' screen, which you immediately use to shift your motives from 'always appear' to 'only negative appear', reducing the amount of dancing light in the corner of your eye. Prompts are turned from visual to verbal, so you don't have to read giant text blocks anymore, instead hearing them whispered in your ear. And 'interface' is shifted from 'touch' to 'thought'- no more pressing invisible buttons for you anymore!

    The next screen you try to pull up is 'pause'. When you activate that one, a menu pops up in front of you, listing each of the other major screens you can bring up. But to your surprise, the world doesn't freeze around you. Which seems odd. Isn't the point of a pause screen to, you know, pause the game?

    "'Elemental' is an open-world RPG," the tutorial whispers, "that functions in real time to prevent interruption."

    You try to ask it for more information, but it only repeats the same sentence over and over again. In the end, you have no choice but to accept it. No time freezing for you.

    Experimenting with the game's functions is tiring work. You do it until dusk, when Mom puts you down to sleep again, and then again the next day. Days pass as you become more accustomed to living in this world and dealing with your body. Days turn into weeks, which turn into a month.

    Over the course of the month, you're not idle. You can't seem to walk but crawling is no big deal, and you use your tiny legs to motor you around your hours like a swaddled dynamo. It really lets you get a feel for your new home. It's a large place; definitely larger than your old apartment. It has two floors, large rooms, and feels entirely too big for just the three of you living there. Maybe it will feel more comfortable as you grow into it.

    Your explorations also take you into the path of the house's third occupant. You get your first good look at him a few weeks after your game start, as your eyes have finally started to focus. He's a burly man, short and squat with his arms thick with muscle. His eyebrows are heavy and dominate his face, merging into one monstrosity that make him look like some kind of simpleton. But you'd guess from the watchful ways his eyes dart around the house at all times and the way he speaks with Mom that that impression couldn't be further from the truth.

    It's during one of those conversations with Mom that you finally learn his name: Tokei. You're not sure if that's his first name or family name; from the way Mom growls it when he's not around, it could be either.

    He and Mom don't exactly seem to get along. It's an impression that's verified by another one of your screens: relationships. Pulling that one up produces a large open screen with a tiny web chart in the middle of it. His arrow towards Mom is 'watchful disdain'. Mom's toward him is 'scorn'.

    You can also pull up another tab on your relationships screen: people's feelings towards you. Mom is 'loving devotion'. Reading that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Meanwhile, Tokei's is 'watchful disdain', same as his towards your Mom's. What's his deal?

    After your discoveries in the relationship screen, you're eager to explore more and learn more about what you can do. But you're cut off the next morning. Instead of the usual peace and quiet you have on waking, you're interrupted by a trio of scroll appearing in your vision. They all unfurl into new quests.

    Quest Acquired! These Feet are Made for Walking!
    You've had enough of this whole crawling thing. You have two feet, you have two legs. It's time to use them as nature intended and get to walking!
    Success Condition: Mastery of the Walking Skill
    On Success: You will have learned to walk and will no longer have to crawl everywhere. Physical stats may be upgraded!
    On Failure: This quest cannot be failed.
    Bonus: Bonuses to physical stats! Relationship gain with Tokei! (may only be acquired by fulfilling this Quest before Silence is Golden but Talking is Priceless and The Art of the Word)

    Quest Acquired! Silence is Golden but Talking is Priceless!
    You can grunt and command people with goos and gaas, but Mom can get way more meaning across with a lot less effort. Talking… yeah, you've gotta get some of that!
    Success Condition: Mastery of the Talking Skill
    On Success: You will have learned how to talk! Gain language: Elemental (childish)
    On Failure: This quest cannot be failed.
    Bonus: Bonuses to social stats! Relationship gain with Satomura Manami! (may only be acquired by fulfilling this Quest before These Feet are Made for Walking and The Art of the Word)

    Quest Acquired! The Art of the Word!
    Mom stares at paper and learns something from it. Tokei stares at paper and learns something from it. Even you can get something from scrolls- in your head. But if you want to read in real life, you'll need to put in some work.
    Success Condition: Mastery of the Reading Skill (Language: Elemental)
    On Success: You will have learned how to read!
    On Failure: This quest cannot be failed.
    Bonus: Bonuses to intelligence stats! Reputation gain with the Konoha Public Library!(may only be acquired by fulfilling this Quest before These Feet are Made for Walking and Silence is Golden but Talking is Priceless.)    ​

    ...huh.

    Well, you're going to do all of these quests. Not being able to talk, read, or walk would be hell. But it looks like there are bonuses for each of them that you only get if you do them first. Which means you should probably focus on one for now.

    Which of your three new quests do you focus on?
    [] These Feet are Made for Walking
    [] Silence is Golden but Talking is Priceless
    [] The Art of the Word
     
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    • [X] These Feet are Made for Walking

    We're going to need physical stats in this world, and this helps us prevent Tokei from becoming an enemy.
     
    [X] Silence is Golden by Talking is Priceless

    I think we might as well start on good terms with Mom.
     
    Slaggedfire said:
    [X] These Feet are Made for Walking

    YOUTH! Yosh, our first steps toward Taijutsu are literally our first steps!



    We are on good terms.

    Physical training should also help our Yang chakra.
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    True, but an early bonus to social could make it easier to gain the allies we'll need to go all William the Bastard on the Land of Iron.
    Adhoc vote count started by DracoDracul on Sep 5, 2018 at 9:57 PM, finished with 27 posts and 24 votes.
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