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東京心霊大学 tokyo psychic university: class of 20XX
Well, kids,

because of a phone call at five in the god-damned morning, I didn’t get to finish my download of Japanese IME. Which sucks ass, I know. I’ll get around to killing all of you sometime before the end of the week. At present, I’m busy.

As you wait for imminent death, why not read the following description of my soon-to-be-developed, sooner-to-be-smash-hit videogame Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX?

I’ve told a hundred or so people about this already. Then I keep telling people, “Dude, I just got a new idea for Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX today!” And they’re like, “What the fuck is that?” And then I have to explain the hell out of myself. Well, I’m putting this down here, so I have something to refer people to. This will also serve as my update for new shit concerning TPU: DP20XX. So let’s take a magical ride into the realms of imagination, shall we?

**

As you’ve already gathered, my game’s name is:

TOKYO PSYCHIC UNIVERSITY: DEMON-PUNCHER 20XX

(. . . Though I'm open to being suggested to change it to Tokyo Psychic University: Class of 20XX . . .)

The title screen features the above text, with me yelling: “TOU-KYOU SHINREI DAIGAKU! DEI-MON PANCHAA TOENCHI EKKUSU-EKKUSU!”

The player then presses the start button, and is immediately totally immersed in the awesomeness.

From this point on, forgive me if I get incredibly dry. I plan on making this into an actual design document at some point. You know. So . . . ahem.



Billy, Vinny, Randy, and Rose, four college students from different English-speaking corners of the globe, arrive at Narita Airport in Tokyo on a warm day in August of 20XX. This is their first day in Japan. They’ve come as the first-EVER exchange students (ryuugakusei) allowed into Tokyo Shinrei Daigaku.

Now, Tokyo Shinrei Daigaku means “Tokyo Psychic University.” Our heroes don’t know this. As far as they know, it’s just a typical old university. They’re ignorant foreign videogame/anime fans, picked for their poor fanboy/girlish knowledge of the Japanese language, only so that four of Tokyo Psychic University’s best students could be sent to America, Canada, England, and Australia as spies.

While our heroes are getting acquainted with their off-campus dormitories, Yuko Kono (from my novel DH), a senior and a student of psychic art history, is stood up by her boyfriend (name not yet determined). Yuko is from Nagoya, up north of Tokyo, and she hasn’t seen her boyfriend for the entire summer. She asks around at his dorm, only to hear that he’s not around. She doesn’t see him for the first couple weeks of the semester. She hears from her girlfriends that he’s been hanging around the chemistry building. One day, Yuko goes to visit the chemistry building late at night -- only to find her boyfriend conversing through a demonic portal of light to what looks like the new university chancellor!

Little does Yuko know, Midori Onimura, envious non-psychic journalism student, is following her. The next week in the Tokyo University Gazette, a front-page exposé appears, citing Yuko’s boyfriend as a conspiring representative of increasingly corrupt university politics. And -- here’s the kicker -- he’s helping gather intelligence by mind-controlling the four psychic students sent to foreign universities.

Soon, the pictures of the historic first four foreign exchange students are all over the front pages of every university newspaper in Tokyo. Midori becomes something of a revolutionary leader, inciting Tokyo-wide student riots, trying to arrange an overthrow of the corrupt, demonic New Tokyo Psychic University administration. When the administration seek refuge the Tokyo Psychic Pavilion (an ancient five-tiered castle in the middle of Tokyo) and seal the grounds with four psychic energy keys, the four exchange students are targeted -- they must have known about this evil all along, and agreed to go along with it!

Feeling partly responsible, Yuko finds these four confused students -- they all share one tiny room with four beds -- and, in her poor English, attempts to rush them out of Tokyo.

THIS IS WHERE THE GAME BEGINS

On the Narita Line Platform, the ridiculous happens -- a mob of a hundred college students attacks! Following the massive fist-brawl, the students are left in a dazed heap on the floor, seeming as though suffering from amnesia. Our heroes ask Yuko to explain the meaning of the attack, and she tries. A communication error leads our heroes to believe that the administration is attempting to kill them; rather than flee the country, our stubborn foreign heroes decide to head back to Tokyo Psychic University and get to the bottom of the situation the only way their un-psychic foreign selves know how --



Oh, sure, there’ll be storyline twists. Midori Onimura -- is she just a girl jealous of another girl, or is she from a rival demonic clan trying to take down Tokyo Psychic University? The students of all the universities in Tokyo -- are they rallying out of genuine concern for university politics, or is someone else behind them? How can our heroes enter the Tokyo Psychic Pavilion to sort all of this out?

Well, that last question I can answer: they’ll have to defeat the four psychic key-holders, located in four different parts of Tokyo. Each one is a former/future student of Tokyo Psychic University, and somehow related to one of the four students sent from Tokyo Psychic University to another part of the world. Finding them isn’t going to be easy -- it’s going to involve a lot of street-brawls, detective work, re-interpreting a lot of Engrish translations by Yuko (your ever-present assistant), a lot of demon-punching (the way to exorcise the demons possessing the students is a barrage of punches to the throat), NO CLASSES (really, you expect a university to have classes during a semi-demonic student riot?), and shopping, shopping, shopping!



The game’s system is going to be similar to River City Ransom, answering my question of “Why the hell hasn’t anyone ever learned anything from River City Ransom???” with a hearty “In your face, biATCH!”

Control is going to be a 2.5D kind of riff on River City Ransom; TPU: DP20XX may feature wacky cel-shaded graphics a la Jet Set Radio Future, yet will not be a full 3D game. It will be a side-scroller in which players may walk up and down in addition to left and right.

CONTROLS will utilize four buttons. We will use the PlayStation2 controller in our example. The SQUARE button will deliver a punch, the TRIANGLE button a kick, the CIRCLE button will block, and the X button will jump. While blocking, characters may change the direction they’re facing, or even press down to duck. Aerial blocking is allowed, only if the block button is pressed in mid-jump. In the same way, flying punches and kicks may also be delivered.

WEAPONS (ranging from boxes to bats to lead pipes to rocks) may be picked up by crouching atop them -- that is, by holding the block button and pressing down on the control pad. Weapons can be swung with the punch button, used to parry with the block button, and thrown with the kick button. Some weapons (i.e. rocks) are more effective when thrown; some (i.e. bats and kendo swords) are better when swung.

MOVEMENT will be designed with the control pad in mind, though this does not rule out analog playability. The control pad is the preferred method for controlling movement, as it allows for easy double-taps. A double-tap to the right or left causes characters to run; a double-tap up or down results in a quick roll.

SPECIAL MOVES are learned via books (as in River City Ransom) or through Aikido lessons offered at various locations throughout Tokyo. These moves, once learned, are performed in a manner somewhat similar to special moves in Sega’s Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle) series: for example, and uppercut (borrowed from Streets of Rage 2), once learned from your local Aikido master or in a martial-arts magazine (of which our heroes can only view the pictures), would be performed by pressing forward, forward, punch.

STATISTICS will be perhaps the deepest feature of TPU: DP20XX. As in River City Ransom, malls and other shopping centers will feature innumerable stores selling food and various power-ups of differing levels of effectiveness. As in River City Ransom, trinkets can be bought to increase luck or miscellaneous stats, and food items can be eaten to replenish health and perhaps permanently alter stats.

A cup of soba tea at a noodle house might increase your character’s stamina permanently by three points, yet recover only marginal health. Similarly, a chocolate bar may heal your character almost completely, at the cost of a few agility points.

Statistics, which players can build up from numerical scores of 1 (lowest) to 999 (highest), will break down like this:

STAMINA reflects your character’s resilience. As stamina builds up, expect to be able to take more punches. Your character’s life points (in River City Ransom there was a life meter -- in this game, we will use a numerical HP (hit points) system) also increase as your stamina increases.

STRENGTH reflects your character’s ability to do damage in combat. With a higher strength number, expect to be able to knock out weak enemies in a single blow. With a low strength number, expect to get knocked back quite a distance when you block an attack.

AGILITY reflects your character’s movement/attack speed. With a high agility score, your character might be able to kick faster than some enemies can punch. With a low agility score, you might not be able to run away from a large mob of angry students.

LUCK reflects your character’s chances of miraculously dodging an oncoming attack, or perhaps being able to magically recover a few hit points of damage after knocked down. With a high luck score, weird things -- like slow hit point regeneration -- might happen. With a low luck score, the enemies might just decide to steal all of your money (not just half) after knocking you out.

INTELLIGENCE reflects your character’s ability to pick up new moves. With a low intelligence score, you might try to perform a special move, only to find it doesn’t work! Higher intelligence scores will permit you to use special moves more often by giving you more AP (ability points) -- which are required to use special moves.

STYLE will be discussed in detail below.

PUNCH /weapon, KICK /throw, GUARD, and JUMP are the four special stats, each one applying to one of the four buttons used for play. Basically, the more you press each button, the more points you earn for these particular stats. Press the punch button a lot, and mystical things start to happen to your punches. Press the kick button a lot, and you might end up able to throw four kicks in midair! Press the jump button a lot to build up your maximum jumping height/distance. Lots of guarding will perhaps net you the ability to catch enemies’ punches!

The special stats will break down something like this: for every one hundred button presses, you earn an extra stat point. Stat points go from 1 to 999, as with special stats. No, you can’t build up your stats just by standing around and punching air, either. You have to actually be hitting something, whether it’s college students in the train or moving targets in an aikido dojo.

In addition, landed attacks will build other stats. Each landed punch will contribute perhaps 1/200 of a point toward your character’s STRENGTH score. In the same way, landing a jumping attack will build your AGILITY score. Similarly, each time your character is successfully, cleanly hit by an enemy, your stamina will receive growth points. Using special moves will contribute to your INTELLIGENCE stat.

This system of intelligently increasing your characters’ statistics is partly borrowed from the PC game Dungeon Siege; I thought it would apply wonderfully to the River City Ransom formula. Coupled with the FASHION system I will detail below, the gameplay experience will no doubt be completely different for every person who plays the game.

While the four characters Billy, Vinny, Randy, and Rose will be playable from the outset (and featured in all the game’s promotional artwork), players will be able to create their own characters using a customization feature. Players will pick nationality, skin color, hair color, body type, etc. Then, a simple questionnaire will determine players’ opening stats. The gameplay experience will evolve from there.

FASHION will play a key role in this game. Players will start in plain clothes, such as jeans and “Tokyo Psychic University (東京心霊大学)” T-shirts. As money (to be explained below) becomes available, new clothes can be purchased. In addition to looking cool, clothes will also alter characters’ stats.

The key is in matching clothes; wearing three articles of clothing from a certain boutique (hat, scarf, jacket, for example) would be the equivalent of a “legendary set” of armor (as in Diablo II and various PC massively multiplayer online role-playing games), might allow the player unlimited usage of a certain special move at the cost of a few agility points. Wearing gloves and shoes from another boutique might improve both strength and agility stats by ten points.

Colors, as well, must be taken into account. A particular orange scarf might raise stamina by ten points when worn over a blue shirt; it might lower stamina by five points when worn over a red shirt. Good matching, in addition to having various special effects and offering every player a unique way to express him or herself, will also increase a player-character’s STYLE stat. The higher this stat goes, the cooler your character becomes. Get a style stat over 200, and maybe we’ll see strobe-light effects with each landed special attack? Maybe speed-lines will follow your character when your style stat passes 500? And what if you get higher than that? Really, is it possible to be let into Tokyo Psychic Disco? And, once inside . . .

Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX will feature a flowing clock similar to that of Shenmue and Grand Theft Auto III. As time passes, stores open and close; different enemies appear at different hours; you can still buy a can of hot tea at a convenience store at four in the morning; the trains become more crowded -- and more dangerous -- around rush hour.

Several real-life Tokyo locales will be available to visit in Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX. Locations such as the metropolitan center Shinjuku and fashion-hangout Harajuku will be available, as will the seedy, demonic pleasure quarters of Shibuya and Roppongi. Akihabara’s Electric City will also be included -- look out for the computer-science students in the Electric Ghetto!

TRAINS will be the main form of transportation between cities in Tokyo. As stated above, the number of people on board the trains fluctuates from hour-to-hour. The more people on the train, the more of them are college students. The longer your train ride (Shinjuku to Ikebukuro is a short ride; Shinjuku to Akihabara, however, is longer), the more times college students will walk up, get a good look at you, and then launch into attack mode. Be careful not to hit any innocent people -- in the Goemon tradition, you’ll lose money.

When you defeat an enemy in this game, you’ll see a glowing aura escape out of their body. Suddenly, the enemy will look confused, turn red in the face, bow to you, drop money (coins, perhaps), and run away. This is how MONEY is earned in Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX.

Students won’t just attack you on the train, though -- expect violent attacks in back alleys between shopping centers, in parks on sunny Sunday mornings, and definitely in the areas around rival colleges. These students are crazed, possessed by demons -- and they want your blood. This sets up plenty of epic battles at bus terminals, train platforms, movie theaters, and department store roofs. While in the presence of a friendly shopping environment, even the most demonically possessed college student is more excited about buying a new scarf than beating up their enemy; this means no battles inside shopping arcades or in department stores -- the “friendly areas” of Tokyo Psychic University: Demon-Puncher 20XX.

GAME FLOW will move along at the player’s own pace, without time limits. The world will be open-ended, with the potential to explore every part of Tokyo from the game’s outset. Certain buildings (The Tokyo Psychic Pavilion, for example) will be locked, however, requiring you to first talk to someone or trigger some event. Some boss areas will be accessible even before the boss is unlocked, allowing the player to freely explore where he or she sees fit. This will place an emphasis on traveling and exploring, and developing a familiarity with one’s surroundings.



1. To create a world that feels “large” by utilizing a strong element of traveling.
2. To create an immersive world, heavy on stylish sights and sounds -- from surrealistic Tokyo locales to a soundtrack featuring cutting-edge Japanese abstract pop and hip-hop music.
3. To improve on formulas learned from such games as River City Ransom, creating the perfect fusion of deep role-playing and beat-em-up action.
4. To create a system in which no two players’ characters to be the same.
5. To emphasize simultaneous multiplayer vs. or cooperative play.
6. To tell a “mature” -- yet light -- semi-literary -- yet comic-bookish -- story with humorous themes of educational corruption mixed with Eastern mysticism.
7. To make players laugh -- Yuko’s broken English translations will function as subtitles for the spoken Japanese dialogue.
8. To incorporate a save feature that allows players to team up using two different saves.
9. To incorporate online features that will make use of the PlayStation2 and Xbox’s respective hard drives -- ranging from downloadable item packs and new special moves to shareable custom fashion designs and even arena-style fighting tournaments and mission-based online stages that will pit players’ unique characters against one another.

(see here for more.)

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Now, what I want you fine people to do, is read all this shit (if that’s not asking too much), and tell me, seriously, what do you think? Do I have something going here? It started out as a stupid idea between me and Vincent Diamante from InsertCredit.com, and evolved into the few thousand words you see here.

In September, I came up with this idea as something of a joke. Yesterday, while reviewing Star Fox Adventures for Nintendo Gamecube, I realized: I can make a videogame. Not only that, I can make a good videogame -- even a GREAT one. So that’s what I’m trying to do.

I’ve got to start somewhere, you know.

And maybe I should start with going to bed?

Yes. Good night, good people. Good night.

--tim rogers would definitely want to play tokyo psychic university: demon-puncher 20XX