[IC] Kamen Rider Chronicle: Hero Rally Remastered

[clanjos]

Every video game wants to have a big release event. The only shock regarding the event at the release of Kamen Rider Chronicle: Hero Rally was that there were no tickets to be sold, no venue to be rented, no big secret club meeting. No, Golgex just had a digital event. One where a few of the developers answered questions from the viewers, where they'd go over community guidelines and such, and introduce a few of the game's admins and moderators. Three fairly typical looking Japanese men sat in director's chairs, waving to the audience with smiles as the event began.

The mild-looking man on the left, in a turtleneck sweater and glasses, gives a friendly smile and bows.

"My name's Takeshi. I play as Kamen Rider Horde. I'm part of the team that programs the Bugster system. I also created Gururu Monsters, and oversaw development of its stages for our release of Kamen Rider Chronicle."

An energetic looking sort in a suit gives a smile and a salute.

"Yo! I'm Junpei, Kamen Rider Slasher. I'm a dev here at Golgex and... well, I'm kind of a nut for horror movies. I designed the stuff in the Makai Castle Kiva and Kaigan Ghost stages... plus one we're rolling out based on one of our studio's games!"

Third, and finally, the gravelly voiced man in the leather jacket nods curtly. He looks fairly stern, and leans towards the camera to talk.

"I'm Rocky. I'm Kamen Rider Grind, and I'll be working to enforce the community guidelines. That is to say, making sure that PVP is kept to designated zones, and that griefing is kept harmless. Other than that... well, don't be jerks, alright?"

"From here... we're opening it up to questions from users at home! Go ahead and ask us questions in the stream's chat."

[KOgaming]

Joseph had been anticipating the release of Kamen Rider Chronicle to the public for months, but to what seemed to him like years. It was no wonder that he was among the first to click into the stream, and of course, the first post reading "First" written by the user Kamen Rider Point and Shooty. Following this initial post, were others who themselves had the same idea, but had fingers and reactions not nearly as quick nor the dedication to become the first poster as Kamen Rider Point and Shooty. As the stream ran on, Joseph began to spam emojis into the chat, followed by the others who had done the same, with slightly less fervor as they would be joining the first poster, Kamen Rider Point and Shooty.

As questions had become open, Joseph became giddy with excitement, like a child with a new toy. He cracked his fingers and immediately began to post, tapping enthusiastically until he had finished his question, quickly reading it over to make sure it had only the mistakes he needed in the sentence, then proudly pressed the enter key.

His question was as follows: How old is your dick

No question mark. In fact, there was no punctuation mark at all. Still, there it stood, in all its glory: Joseph's clever and well thought out question.

[Duthguy]

While he was mostly interested in the designs for the monsters Yuuji still decided to attend the online release event of Kamen Rider Chronicle: Hero Rally. At first he tried to pay some attention to the chat while the developers talked and introduced themselves, but the immature antics of "first" claimers showed him why that was a bad idea.

Yuuji only had one question and despite being reasonably sure it wouldn't get noticed by Takeshi due to countless people also asking what they wanted to know he decided to go for it. "While I like the designs used for the monsters in Gururu Monsters and used some the descriptions for my own art, I have to wonder why you decided to make monsters based on stories made up by others.

[clanjos]

"...Right, ignoring that first one..."

Takeshi coughs and continues.

"Well, there are certain common themes among the sightings. People always say the Fangires look like stained glass, that the Ganma wear hoodies, that the worms- despite, according to the urban legends, being alien invaders- resemble Earth's insects. Sort of how, in the Americas, Sasquatch sightings are always large hairy apes, or in Scotland the Loch Ness Monster always has a long, serpentine neck, these descriptions have become rather entwined with the alleged monster sightings... and, well, when people want me to design an Invess for Gururu Monsters, I get a lot of complaints if it doesn't look 'right.' But... the monsters are king of the selling point for Helheim Green and Mirror World White, so attention to detail is important."

Rocky speaks up, rising from his chair.

"Well, while we wait for more questions, we'll be showing new players how Kamen Rider Chronicle works."

With that, he takes out a neon green and black game cartridge- the standard Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat- and presses the button. The Gashat vanishes, and around his waist appears a large, pink device...

ENTER THE GAME! PRE-PRE-PREPARE TO RIDE!

...into which he inserts two more Gashats- both stark white. He gives a slight grin as he presses both the buttons.

"Let's get Dangerous."

TADDLE LEGACY! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!

ROUSE UP YOUR CHIVALRY, FORGE A NEW HISTORY! TADDLE LEGACY! I GOTCHA! DANGER! DANGER! DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!

Swishing his cape over his shoulder, Rocky gestures to the camera dramatically.

"Kamen Rider Grind, Level 50! By combining Dangerous Zombie with Taddle Legacy, I can access incredible defensive powers."

"And look like a total tryhard jumping straight to level 50 for a tech demo." Junpei chimes in.

"...That's beside the point. Now, using the Gamer Driver, we can select the stage we want to play..."

"Wait a sec, lemme..." Junpei and Takeshi activate their Chronicle Gashat as well, slotting in their own Gashats.

Mighty Action X! Juju Burger!

Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty, Mighty Action X! I gotcha! Buuuuurgeeeeeer! Buuuuurgeeeeeer! Juju Burger!

You're my best friend! Gotta catch 'em all! Gururu Monsters! I gotcha! Advent vent vent Final Vent! Mirror Labyrinth Ryukiiiiii!

Junpei has a burger-shaped robot fall on his head and disassemble- shortly before it attaches its parts to him. Takeshi, meanwhile, adjusts a backpack over his back, checks his reddish bodysuit, and motions as if adjusting the visor over his goggles, even if it's just for effect. Junpei gives a quick thumbs up and a spin on his new roller skates, courtesy of the robot hamburger.

"Alright! Kamen Rider Slasher, Action-Burger, level 5! Normally, a game generates powerups when it's activated. Instead, Juju Burger generates toppings I can collect to serve up Juju Burgers that increase the stats of my allies. It's worth noting that a lot of Gashats rely on these little helper robots- like the Burger Gamer you just saw- to transform! Sorry, but you can't wear two Gamers at once."

"And as Kamen Rider Horde Level 3, I can command monsters I capture in quests with Gururu Monsters... and thanks to Mirror Labyrinth Ryuki, give a very nice statboost to any Mirror Monsters I happen to be controlling. Now, as you were saying Rocky?"

"Right. Let's start this simple. Just press this button, and..."

As Rocky pushes the button at his waist, a number of holographic title screens for games spin by as the belt calls out "STAGE SELECT!". As it spins around, he finally reaches out and touches one of them- a darkened fortress lit only by spotlights scanning the outer walls. The fortress stretches high into the distance, and as lightning cracks the sky on the screen, the stage's music starts playing.

BANG BANG SHOOTING!

Rocky picks up the camera as pixels erupt from the screen, and soon the room in which they were having the stream is replaced by a loading bay where soldiers armed with machine guns patrol beneath the glare of floodlights. The three press up against the back of a truck.

"Those of you who've played Bang Bang Shooting will recognize this- it's the leadup to the final stage, storming Revol's fortress and rescuing the President's daughter."

Overhead, an intercom crackles, and a gruff voice addresses the soldiers as they go about their rounds, guns at the ready.

"This is Commander Revol! Armed intruders may have infiltrated our defenses! All soldier units, be prepared to engage if necessary!"

[Duthguy]

Yuuji had to admit the answer made some sense, but he still wondered why Takeshi used the so called sightings since he didn't know that the sightings were connected to Riders. Rather than ask two questions in a row he decided to let someone have a go. Seemingly not wanting to let the event lose any momentum, all developers showed off their respective Gashats, transformations and power ups.
While the burger armor was a bit silly in Yuuiji's opinion, it also did show that they didn't take their game too seriously which wouldn't have worked given the content anyway.