CAN CRY: TEST DRIVE... 2!

[cancrymods]

CAN CRY: SECOND TDM

Welcome back to Can Cry's second TDM! This is a quick refresher of the game's first test drive meme, in anticipation of the new opening date announcement. If you're unfamiliar with the game, then you can check out the interest check, FAQ, world & setting info page and the powers and abilities page to get up to speed! In order to not spoil the opening of the game for players, the TDM is not canon to Can Cry and will take place in a slightly wonky little AU just over to the left. Characters have awoken in Purgatory after their deaths and been conscripted as Executors by Rei, the sole other Executor in Purgatory. The population of dangerous spirits has gotten out of control and she needs some allies to help her keep things under control. Characters on the TDM will have access to all of their starter powers as outlined on the powers page as well as two unique abiliites to play around with as you please. Some prompts and location details have been provided below for you to play around with but please feel free to go hog wild and have fun!

LIMBO

Limbo is the Executor's main base of operations as it is the top level of Purgatory and the one most populated by non-violent spirits. Distorted by the cognition of all the human souls here, Limbo has taken on the form of a hazy, dream-like recollection of a town. It's full of winding paths that go up, down and all around and the geometries of the town and its surroundings don't always make much sense. Stairs might lead loop back around on themselves or a door to the outside might end up leading right back indoors. It's a bit of a headache, so it's usually best not to think about it too hard. The town is mostly functional, mostly thanks to all the human souls here. Players are free to invent any additions to the town that they would like for their threads, but here are some to get you started: ⚝ Conbini: A seemingly normal Japanese convenience store, full of the sort of fare you'd expect from a cheap 24-7 convenience store. There is a Spectre manning the counter and you can try and pay for anything you buy... but you'll quickly realize it's a little pointless, because they'll accept anything you try to pay with and even then, if you try and leave the store without paying, no one will stop you. As for the store itself, there are four aisles and everything's a bit clustered together, but it's not overly claustrophobic. Things start getting a bit weird when you try and go to the back of the store, though – no matter how long you look, there is always just one more aisle for you to browse and the further back you go, the stranger and more abstract the items on the shelf will look. If you walk too far or turn around you will suddenly find yourself back at the first aisle in the blink of an eye as if you were rubberbanded back there. ⚝ Coffee Bar: It's... a regular old coffee shop. There's nothing particularly weird about it, which might be the actually weird part here. It's also perfectly generic and there doesn't seem to be any kind of concrete branding. It's more like a number of people put their heads together and tried to imagine the platonic ideal of a coffee shop. Which, considering that this is Purgatory, is probably more-or-less what happened. Like the conbini, you don't really need to pay here, though Spectres will accept any old junk in exchange if you do try and pay with it. You can order up anything you'd like here and get it pretty intact, though on occasion, depending on who's serving, you may get an extremely odd drink – a black coffee that literally tastes like the colour black or a hot chocolate that's just molten liquid chocolate dumped into your cup. Sip with caution. ⚝ Movie Theater: Your standard-issue movie theater. The screenings right now appear to be, uh... anything and everything. Thanks to the nature of Purgatory, you can watch pretty much anything you'd like here and the theater itself will claim to be showing movies in line with your character's preferences when they pop into the building to see what's showing. Unlike many other places in Purgatory, the movie theater is not staffed. This is both a blessing and a curse because it means you can eat and drink as much as you want from the concession stands but you also have to work out how to operate them yourselves. The movie theater functions normally most of the time but on occasion, if you're watching a movie, you may find that the screen glitches itself our and you will see flashes of dreams and memories of other Specters in Limbo – perhaps even your fellow Executors or even yourself. These flashes are generally too quick and vague to really give any information though and a moment later, the screen will fix itself. ⚝ Hotel: A so-called luxury hotel that towers over the rest of the buildings in the area. Even if you don't have a reservation, all you have to do is approach the desk and the Spectre there will apparently recognize you and hand over a key to one of the rooms. Except... you can't quite read the number? It seems to fluctuate whenever you try. Not that it matters, because the key will open any of the hundreds of doors in the building, though no one door will ever open onto the same room twice. The layout of each room is subtly off in a number of ways, with the dimensions of the room not seeming quite right no matter how you try to work it out. The decor is luxurious through and the extravagant room service is free, so it's a nice place to relax. Be warned, though – if you misplace your key, you'll find yourself lost in the mazelike halls until you eventually stumble out into the reception with no way of knowing how you got there. ⚝ Bathhouse: An enormous Grecio-Roman styled bathhouse for you to relax in after a hard day's work of dealing with Revenants. There don't seem to be any workers here that you can see, so feel free to let yourself in and make yourself at home. Interestingly, even without anyone around, you'll find the water is always adjusted to a temperature and a fragrance that's most appealing to you and drinks, towels and anything else you need will appear within reach by the side of the baths whenever it occurs to you that you might need it. ⚝ Library: Ew, books. What are you, some kinda nerd?! ... Anyway, it's a pretty normal library. The same spacial distortions that exist in the conbini also happen here. While the library is a pretty decent size at first glance, it's entirely possible for you to end up wandering for hours among endless shelves of books. Thankfully, though, once you've made up your mind to go, the next turn of a corner will deliver you back to the front desk. Scattered everywhere are comfy chairs, beanbags and all sorts of nice, quiet nooks and crannies for you to curl up with a good book. As with the movie theater, Executors will be able to find any kinds of books they like here with no issue and they'll be able to freely borrow as many as they'd like for as long as they please. There's no late fees, but if you lose or destroy any of your books, then the Spectre at the front desk will be quietly disappointed at you with ENORMOUS force. It's honestly kind of devastating. ⚝ Wishing Fountain: An old, slightly worn fountain in the center of town that acts as a useful landmark if you ever find yourself getting turned around in the twisty turning streets of Limbo. While the fountain is always full of water somehow, it appears the mechanism inside is broken or rusted away due to lack of care and the fountain itself isn't functioning. Still, it's said that if you toss something in here and make a wish, it'll be granted. It doesn't work, but it's fun to try, anyway. There's a plaque on the front at has some kind of engraving, but it's so old that most of the writing has worn away and it's pretty hard to read. ⚝ Train Station: A lonely-seeming train station with just a single platform. Old-timey steam trains pass through here frequently and Executors are free to board them. They'll find, however, that regardless of the destination the train claims to travel to (which is random gibberish every time), the train will simply loop the town once and then return to the station. When in doubt: Just get weird with it!

QUESTS

Since it's up to Executors to maintain order in Purgatory, this also means they need to resolve any issues that crop up for the Spectres occupying it. You can come up with any sort of quest you like, but here are some ideas to get you started: ⚝ A lost child will request your help in reuniting with their mother. It's a bit of a struggle for them to communicate with you as they are a freshly-awakened Spectre and it's also not entirely clear if their mother is, in fact, in Purgatory with them. Eventually, careful questioning of the child Spectre and some of the other Spectres around Limbo will lead you to a bookshop where mother and child will be reunited. Happy end! ⚝ Two Spectres are causing a ruckus in town with a screaming-in-each-other's-face tier argument. Calming them both down is going to be a task all on its own, but if you manage to, it turns out the first Spectre is missing a precious object and has accused the other of stealing it. The second Spectre insists the precious object never existed in the first place. Uh... good luck with this. ⚝ A uncommunicative and kind of creepy Spectre is accused by others in the town of being a Revenant in disguise after some of their neighbors disappear in the night. Investigate and uncover the truth! ⚝ While you're out and about in town, a Spectre suddenly rushes past you, nearly knocking you aside in the process. When you look up, they're already speeding away. It's only then that you notice... aren't your pockets a little lighter? Hey! Thief! You've just been pickpocketed! Go after them and get your stuff back! ⚝ A handful of "younger" Specters (probably teenagers in life) have managed to sneak down onto the Underside and are in danger of being hurt or worse by the Revenants. Protect them and get them back to safety! Feel free to NPC Spectres as you need for this TDM!

THE UNDERSIDE OF LIMBO

Though it's the most peaceful level of Purgatory, Limbo is not without its dangers. Directly below Limbo is what's known as the Underside, a darkness cast by the city above where Revenants and malicious spirits linger. It appears as a dark, mirror-reversed version of Limbo, though the geography is much more twisted and confusing. If left unchecked, Revenents from the Underside would attack the town and consume any number of Spectres. It's up to the Executors to head down there and see to them! This is a general prompt for combat-oriented testing, to allow characters to experiment with their new powers as Executors! Because of that, and because combat will function slightly differently in-game, this section is pretty loosey goosey. Like previous posts, you are free to invent locations and NPC Revenants to make things more fun and exciting! You can also check out the Mid-Tier Combat Prompts below to test out how Combat will work in Can Cry before the game opens. Or, if you prefer to thread out your own fights, players are encouraged to invent their own Revenants to fight for this TDM. If you would like some ideas for what sort of Revenants to battle, you can check out this video to see what sort of enemies exist in the original game, but beware that it does contain spoilers for Crystar.

Comments

[overlordad]

We are, huh? Tch, guess it's better than going back to this-

[He gestures at the Spectres, and the tone suggests he means those that are even less aware more than anything.]

I have no damn idea why 'I' know how to do this kinda thing, but even if I can't make any money I'm not letting go of it if it's who 'I' am.

[His Sin is 'Greed' and he's not forgetting it- never again]

[phantasmagorial]

[ At that, Rei gives him a faint smile. ]

... Good. Hold onto that.

I know it's not much, but in a place like this, any little piece of yourself you can find and get to grips with is precious. Maybe if you keep following your instincts, you'll find more of them.

[overlordad]

Something precious...

[That tickles something in his mind, but it's gone just as fast as it came, frustrating and tempting]

Heh, you want me to gather them all up?

[phantasmagorial]

It's better than going back to being a butterfly, wouldn't you say?

[ Her smile's a little thin and without much mirth. ]

And... even without that, wouldn't you just want to know anyway? What you were missing.