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SirPhoebos
Dec 10, 2007

WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED!

The Mackerel was my first death as well. That was when I truely knew this was a Yoko Taro game.

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Sage Grimm
Feb 18, 2013

Let's go explorin' little dude!

Glazius posted:

Jackass is surprisingly bored and curious for someone who just saw a giant earthquake pull the city out from under her.

She was off in the desert doing whatever Jackass does on her day off (blowing stuff up probably), got the call but was too late to catch any of the exciting stuff. So she's miffed that it wasn't her that didn't think of blowing a giant crater in the middle of the city and also pissed that she got told to lug a vendo-porter down there as if she's just an errand-droid.

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


Giant craters are old hat to Jackass. You get desensitised to that kind of poo poo if you make enough of them.

Basically, this is her

Augus
Mar 9, 2015


Red Minjo posted:

So I had been reading your Drakengard 3 LP while playing NieR Automata myself, and I noticed something


I haven't exactly finished reading that LP so I don't know if there's anything more to it in that game, but did Yoko Taro have a traumatic experience with a mackerel?

It's a tough world at there. You're out in the city and you're getting hungry, you're in the mood for sushi. Your buddy says he knows a great place just a few blocks away, for cheap too! Your instincts have always been to avoid discount sushi but you've already had a few, your brain ignores the red flag and you decide, gently caress it, why not? Walk over to the restaurant, have a seat. Pretty nice place, decent decor, waitress is nice, and it's not crowded but not completely empty either. Seems like it isn't a complete hole in the wall, right? You get comfortable, have some sake, enjoy the aesthetic through the light haze of cheap Japanese liquor. You decide you're gonna order a dish that has some mackerel in it. You don't remember what happened next. You wake up to the sterile white interior of an emergency room, covered in what appears to be a full-body cast, some towels freshly soaked with blood lie discarded on a nearby tray. You notice a feeling in you lower abdomen that you can only describe as the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns expanding rapidly into a never-ending supernova. It is at this point you realize that you've made a terrible mistake. You ate the mackerel. You never eat the mackerel.

InequalityGodzilla
May 31, 2012

I chose to interpret it as mackerel having some chemical unique to it that reacts poorly with android innards and causes them to completely lock up and shut down.
As for eating, the androids canonically are able to eat and process food for energy. A quest much later on specifically involves gathering food, even.

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


Too delicious, brain broken.

Maxwell Adams
Oct 21, 2000

T E E F S
I like the idea that the androids are complex enough that they can have a fault that works just like an allergy in a human.

Sunsetaware
Jun 2, 2012

I'd heard the game had non-standard endings, but managed to avoid/miss anything up until then. Then the mackerel incident happened. This is a good game.

Qrr
Aug 14, 2015


Sunsetaware posted:

I'd heard the game had non-standard endings, but managed to avoid/miss anything up until then. Then the mackerel incident happened. This is a good game.

I'm so disappointed by all these people who managed to miss ending U. What has this world come to when you can learn you have a self destruct and not use it immediately? After 9S made me turn it on, the very first thing I did was save (from the menu, because it's too urgent to run to a save point) and then blow up the station.

It's kind of funny when 9S gives his spiel about the save points when you step out of one after reloading - he's really meant to do that when you walk past them.

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

Qrr posted:

What has this world come to when you can learn you have a self destruct and not use it immediately?

I wanted to blow stuff up with it so I waited till I was in a fight.

I mean, what kind of idiot blows themselves up in a space station?

Says the idiot who ate the fish without saving for at least 90 minutes

Momomo
Dec 26, 2009

Dont judge me, I design your manhole
I didn't do it because I didn't realize self-destruct was a thing I could just do, I figured it was a plot thing.

jyrque
Sep 4, 2011

Gravy Boat 2k
Mackerel is delicious both in sushi and fried.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying

Qrr posted:

I'm so disappointed by all these people who managed to miss ending U. What has this world come to when you can learn you have a self destruct and not use it immediately? After 9S made me turn it on, the very first thing I did was save (from the menu, because it's too urgent to run to a save point) and then blow up the station.

It's kind of funny when 9S gives his spiel about the save points when you step out of one after reloading - he's really meant to do that when you walk past them.
I never realized what the controls to self destruct were. :(

I did yank out my brain as soon as I noticed it, however.

iospace
Jan 19, 2038


HOLY MACKEREL, THAT KILLS YOU?

(I'm sorry)

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

Sindai posted:

I did yank out my brain as soon as I noticed it, however.

and then you pulled out B's CPU :haw:

The Dark Id
Aug 13, 2005

Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]
Episode XXVII: In the Name... OF SCIENCE!


Music: Memories of Dust (Quiet)




We’re just going to go ahead and pretend none of that happened... 2B Player Four...? Five...? I’m losing track. Anyway, you’re next up to bat. Try not to eat any strange seafood, alright?



If you’re wondering, any time we get a Bad Ending, the game just dumps us to the title screen and the world acts as if that never happened. So don’t worry about the continuity here. Never happened. Speaking with Jackass again will once more net us the deadly Mackerel, scourge of the androids’ digestive tract. This time, we’ll just sell that sucker for 500G. Thanks for the offer...

I’ve seen people be baffled as to how they progress here for Jackass’ quest as they kept eating the fish and dying. You... just don’t eat the fish, you drat idiot! The same fish you have to open the menu, which defaults to Quick Save the second you open it because you’re in a save zone, to tab over to the Item menu and manually eat said fish. There are a lot of trollish things in this game I won’t defend. You managing to not save for hours and get a bad ending eating that fish? That’s just entirely on you being a goddamn idiot! A huge loving moron. You should be put in a registry that bars you from handling heavy machinery or procreating if that gag got you and you bitched about it on the internet. That’s something that should come up in a background check so I know to toss that resume in the garbage immediately due to extreme incompetence.

ANYWAY, beyond the aborted fish experiment, Jackass also has a proper sidequest if you don’t eat the mackerel like a moron again.



Listen, just ignore that guy. Selfish fool refuses to help me with my work. See, I’m doing a study on the excitement levels of androids while in battle. But I need to record combat data from the newest models in order to reach more steady conclusions. So whatcha think? Fun, right?

We can now agree to help Jackass or “carefully turn her down”. Well... she only killed 2B the one time and she did warn us and flip on the most ominous music possible. We’ll let that slide. Let’s help out!



Here. Follow me.



OK. This quest is fairly short but it does have some important information and rewards. Let’s follow Jackass up the ridge, shall we?



I need you to get combat data for him. Science will pay you back for this, I promise. Now... FIGHT!



Jackass’s Research is entirely a series of combat challenges that takes place in this little pit between the Desert Camp and the desert outskirts. We’ve got to jump into the pit with the machine in question before the challenge begins. All attacking is straight up disabled until we jump down. No cheating science here.


Music: Birth of a Wish (This Cannot Continue)






All we have to do is take out a single Medium Biped. It has about five levels on us. But that’s nothing for basic stock machines like that. Easily done! Now just to return to Jackass...



Hey, did you know that android battle fever is actually quite similar to the human emotion of “love”? So if we want to know what all those old human records are always going on about, all we need to do is let our fists fly! Makes this whole thing feel more romantic, don’t you think?
Hmm, I still don’t have enough data... I could use some more help.
<Give her a hand.>
That’s what I’m talkin’ about!



This quest has several stages to it and each one kindly gives out a modest reward. Let’s continue onward to the next stage...



Now it’s time to fight! In the name... OF SCIENCE!





Well, if science is demanding we don’t take any hits, who are we to argue? This time it’s three Medium Bipeds waiting to rumble. If 2B takes any damage here, Jackass will get pissed, set off the bombs she implanted in all the experiment test subject machines (she did that by the way) and we’ll be forced to try again from scratch. But keeping our distance and wearing down the machines, before going in for the kill, makes this a simple affair.

Back to Jackass...



Speaking of YoRHa goons, I’m a bit surprised you types are so... intellectual. I thought combat models would be a bit more dense. Less thinking, more killing and all that? Frankly, giving you any kind of intellect at all strikes me as pointless.
......



Err... Thanks? Really living up to that name, huh? So what’s next here...?

More data... I NEED MORE DATA! And YOU are going to help me, right? That’s a rhetorical question by the way.
<Give her a hand.>
Still haven’t had enough, eh? I like you! You’ve got GUTS! Metaphorically speaking, of course.



Now it’s time to fight! In the name... OF SCIENCE!





We’ve got a half dozen Stubbies and one Medium Biped, all sporting shields this go around and a thirty second time limit. This mission is almost entirely why we went and picked up Mirage last time we were in the Resistance Camp. Normally, this could be a trick proposition with just our default equipment. But charge up a Level 2 Mirage and let her rip in the middle of these jerks? Suddenly everyone is at 50% or below HP and all their shields are destroyed at once.



A few heavy swipes with our large sword will mop up the Stubby units and a few more seconds to wail on the Medium boy and this mission is over in short order. And hey, another level out of the deal. Spiffy!



Here, look at this. See this reaction? It proves that android brains contain an algorithm which allows them to derive pleasure from battle! Without that, we’d probably have stopped fighting a long time ago. What a brutally efficient piece of evolution! It’s possible this is based on an identical pleasure center in the human brain. Man, those fleshbags really were something!



We’re almost done here. One last round to go for this quest. What’s the score, Jackass?

I just need a teensy bit more data... You look like you’ve got nothing better to do, so give me a hand here!
<Agree to help Jackass.>
Excellent! You’re the best guinea pig a gal could ask for! This should be the last bit of data I need.



Now it’s time to fight! In the name... OF SCIENCE





So these are actually some new versions of previous enemies. Here we have three shielded Stubby units and three Medium Bipeds (one with a shield.) This go around, the shielded boys all have special electrified fields on their shields. Electricity is an element some machine lifeforms will have parts imbued with occasionally. We briefly saw it in play with those lovely worm enemies back in the City Ruins crater. In the case of shield sporting enemies, if 2B should so much as graze their shields she’ll take damage and thus fail this data collection session. Attacking the shields with melee can be a problem since it moves 2B towards them and too close and welp.





That’s why we can once again just charge up Mirage to Level 2 and nip that whole shield business in the bud instantly. Now it’s just a matter of dealing with six normal machines and that’s no big deal. Stubbies are already knocking on death’s door from Mirage and Medium Bipeds have the easiest telegraphed attacks in the game, so they can be punished accordingly.

Mirage is a REALLY GOOD Pod Program!


Music: Memories of Dust (Quiet)




The excitement we feel in battle is caused by a type of pleasure-generating chemical produced in our circuits! Anyway, I think I can localize this substance and turn it into a drug that will help expand our combat capabilities. All these advances, and it’s all thanks to YOU! ...See? I told you science was the best. Anyway, keep an eye out for that drug. Once I get it synthesized, it’s all yours.



Alright. We’re helping out. For science. And we got a sack full of G and some decent experience out of the deal. Not bad.



Occasionally, quests will require 2B to return at a later time to advance to the next stage. This always means we’ve got to travel to another zone to let the area reset and the quest shuffle to the next point.





In this case, taking a brief pit stop back at the Resistance Camp will do the job. As soon as we step out of the transporter, 2B receives a new email. Let’s take a look...



See! There you have it. If a quest seems to have stalled, just hop into the nearest transporter and pick an area away from the current one. It should do the trick. Quitting the game and reloading like Dark Souls will NOT work. Gotta change areas!



Back we go to Jackass at the Desert Camp. She’s once more returned under the tent with the resistance merchant. Let’s see what she’s cooked up...



I’ve already handed it out to a few folks, and man, is it ever popular. One taste and you’re hooked for life! And yeah, it sounds bad when I say it like that, but your YoRHa buddies don’t seem to mind. Sure, there are some side effects... Like a horrifying destabilizing effect on one’s psyche. But none of that should be a problem for combat-focused models like you. Anyway, the first round’s on me. Check it out and let me know what you think.



And so we gain our ultimate reward for this quest: 5,000 G, 500 EXP, and 5 E-Drugs. Yeah, OK... We accidentally helped Jackass create some kind of powerful android narcotic and that’s probably got to be frowned upon in YoRHa regulations somewhere... But, after all... It was for science. And 2B didn’t die this time. So we’re doing fine.



She was asking for the recipe, so I’m sure she’s cooked up a stash of her own.



And that concludes the “Jackass’s Research” sidequest. All in a day’s work! We should get back to the mission now. We’ve spent entirely too long dicking around on sidequests. But...



But well... Hmm... We did get a sample of these E-Drugs from Jackass. After all that effort, it seems like it would be a waste to not... at least try one. Ya know... for science...



I mean... what’s the worst that can happen? 2B already died to a mackerel earlier today. It’s not like it can go poorer than that. Here goes noth—


New Music: Memories of Dust (Chiptune)




































Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)




Ugh... Oh... That... that was a mistake... Uggh... What happened? Why is it so drafty...? Are... are we on a rooftop...?
2B, are you OK?!



Why is it so dark? Are my optics dama—9S... 9S... where are your...?



9S... Where are your pants?
You... umm... you sorta picked me up and tore them off screaming that ‘pants are prohibited’ before tearing off your umm... *looks away blushing*
...And that explains the draft. What... is this on my head...? Why... does it smell like oil and vomit?
Well, after that you ran off and tore off the first machine’s head you found and said you had to ‘gather intel for Command’ and well... I think you can guess where it ended up...
......



...And the boar?
Oh that... That you uppercut and mounted declaring you were ‘subjugating it for the Glory of Mankind.’
.....
How long was all this going on?
About two minutes, give or take. It took a while to catch up to you on the boar. I... didn't know boars could drift...
.....
Proposal: Purge all data on this incident from memory database and back-up drives before resetting state at nearest Access Point.



Agreed.
*nervous nod* Y-Yeah...




OK. E-Drugs might be a bad idea to take, kids. Don’t get hooked. But... Jackass did mention those two YoRHa members scouting the desert oil oasis had taken interest in her E-Drugs. We should PROBABLY check in on those two, right...?





Drug... More drug... Can’t stop fighting... So fuuuuun...
Analysis: Unusual unit behavior is directly correlated to the stimulating effects of the combat substance.
They’re abusing it. Or maybe their lives are just too hard to fathom without it.
...Drugs? Yeah, they’re pretty crazy. I can’t stop fighting!



See you later... Hee! Heeee hee hee hee...



So if we ever wanted to go on another bad trip for some dumb reason, this drugged to poo poo YoRHa member is willing to deal at a reasonable price.



But pfft... You saw what happened. The drugs do give a random buff in exchange for other android senses going completely to poo poo for the 30 second duration. It’s hardly worth ever using... Who’d want to go through that mess again...?

...

......

..........





FOR SCIENCE!






Video: Episode 27 Drug Trip

The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 02:30 on May 15, 2017

MechanicalTomPetty
Oct 30, 2011

Runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
This is your brain on Yoko.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

That is not how I expected Taro Yoko's remake of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" to turn out.

Sordas Volantyr
Jan 11, 2015

Now, everybody, walk like a Jekhar.

(God, these running animations are terrible.)
Somebody make a Nier-themed :catdrugs:, STAT!

Junpei
Oct 4, 2015
Probation
Can't post for 11 years!
ERROR. ERROR. JUNPEI PROCESSING UNIT FAILING. "YOKO TARO INSANITY" CAUSING SYSTEM FAILURE. REBOOTING.

...what the hell just happened?

Deep Dish Fuckfest
Sep 6, 2006

Advanced
Computer Touching


Toilet Rascal

AradoBalanga posted:

That is not how I expected Taro Yoko's remake of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" to turn out.

We were somewhere around Facade, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.

CesspoolofHatred
Apr 3, 2017

Junpei posted:

ERROR. ERROR. JUNPEI PROCESSING UNIT FAILING. "YOKO TARO INSANITY" CAUSING SYSTEM FAILURE. REBOOTING.

...what the hell just happened?

We just helped start a drug trade and made some android junkies who are probably HOOKED FOR LIFE! Heck yeah!

....Wait.

....

:smith:

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


CesspoolofHatred posted:

We just helped start a drug trade and made some android junkies who are probably HOOKED FOR LIFE! Heck yeah!

Glory to Mankind!

Rangpur
Dec 31, 2008

Fuckin' beatuiful, Id.

Synthbuttrange
May 6, 2007

Ahahahh I gave up on that quest because I hadnt discovered the glory of the Mirage pod at the time. Incredible.

Asimo
Sep 23, 2007


CesspoolofHatred posted:

We just helped start a drug trade and made some android junkies who are probably HOOKED FOR LIFE! Heck yeah!

....Wait.

....

:smith:
For the glory of mankind! :911:

Zoe
Jan 19, 2007
Hair Elf
It took me a moment to realize the 'where are your pants' exchange was in italics.

Zagglezig
Oct 16, 2012
I was expecting to find out that Jackass wasn't observing our brains, she was observing her own because she found she really enjoyed watching some quality fights, thus her post fight reactions.

That said, this really hits a niggling bit of me that wonders why an android, which should be all machinery inside, would have their software be affected by a chemical at all, much less have their circuits produce said chemical. I suppose it's just something to toss onto the pile of "It's just a game, relax."

The post drug trip bit was excellent, Id. Nice job.

Jen X
Sep 29, 2014

To bring light to the darkness, whether that darkness be ignorance, injustice, apathy, or stagnation.

Zoe posted:

It took me a moment to realize the 'where are your pants' exchange was in italics.

I was sad that I apparently didn't get that dialogue before I also realized.

To be fair, Jackass is basically written in the same voice as Id's LP narration.

Yeowch!!! My Balls!!!
May 31, 2006

Zagglezig posted:

I was expecting to find out that Jackass wasn't observing our brains, she was observing her own because she found she really enjoyed watching some quality fights, thus her post fight reactions.

That said, this really hits a niggling bit of me that wonders why an android, which should be all machinery inside, would have their software be affected by a chemical at all, much less have their circuits produce said chemical. I suppose it's just something to toss onto the pile of "It's just a game, relax."

The post drug trip bit was excellent, Id. Nice job.

i am going to reiterate my thesis that the designers for the androids were some weird fuckers

Bad Seafood
Dec 10, 2010


If you must blink, do it now.

Zoe posted:

It took me a moment to realize the 'where are your pants' exchange was in italics.
Same.

Never popped any pills, in keeping with "Save all elixirs, just in case," so for a second I thought it was a scene I'd missed.

Fangz
Jul 5, 2007

Oh I see! This must be the Bad Opinion Zone!
Is Mirage affected by your weapon?

The Repo Man
Jul 31, 2013

I Remember...

Fangz posted:

Is Mirage affected by your weapon?

Nope. You can also get hurt while using it.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
I'm pretty sure you I never got hit during the attack itself. You just have to be careful while charging it.

iospace
Jan 19, 2038


I never actually took the drugs or found those two in the desert.

I'm sort of glad I never did now.

dazat
Nov 23, 2007

Zagglezig posted:

That said, this really hits a niggling bit of me that wonders why an android, which should be all machinery inside, would have their software be affected by a chemical at all, much less have their circuits produce said chemical. I suppose it's just something to toss onto the pile of "It's just a game, relax."

They're mentioned in side materials as having organic parts, so they're not straight-up robots. It's complicated!

Namnesor
Jun 29, 2005

Dante's allowance - $100
There's something that's so delightfully perfect about the visual side-effects being a bunch of CRT horseshit.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

With all the nebulous parts and features of the androids, I assume they can also start and stop movies on the Satellite of Love.

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


These androids seem to be pretty close to human, but apparently the closest they're ever going to get to love is combat. That's pretty messed up (and also maybe explains some of the drama on their satellite).

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Arkannoyed
Oct 31, 2003

If you're dissatisfied, disappear.

Bruceski posted:

With all the nebulous parts and features of the androids, I assume they can also start and stop movies on the Satellite of Love.

Robot roll call:
2B!
9S!
Commander!
Paaaaasssscal!

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