Let's Play: Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand!

In a place not too far from here and now... The End of the World approaches... The Undead appear, breaking the natural cycle of life and death. The evolution of species ceases... and one by one they become extinct.

In the age of darkness, a group of vampires called The Immortals have appeared and turned San Miguel, the City of the Sun, into a land of death. The dark curse referred to as "The Undeadening" has turned all species there into the undead. The man who was known as the strongest vampire hunter has fallen, and the people's hopes have been shattered.

But one day, there was one boy who had left San Miguel. This Solar Boy is the heir of the solar gun "Gun Del Sol" and the last hope for humanity. In his veins flows the blood of the greatest vampire hunter of all time. He heads for Istrakan - the City of Death, to pursue his father's murderer. Can this Solar Boy avenge his father's death with the use of sunlight as his weapon? Can he stop The Undeadening that threatens the lives of all?

To find out, Let's play!



Before we begin, I'll give you a quick run down of what Boktai is like. It's basic gameplay is similar to Metal Gear Solid (not surprising in the least since it was also created by Kojima) with some RPG elements. Boktai's gimmick was the Solar Sensor, a little device inside the clear cartridge that would detect and measure sunlight, and use it within the game. Although it really just detected UV rays, so you couldn't trick it with a light bulbs, forcing you to play it outside. I heard you could trick the sensor with a blacklight, but I've never tried it. Also, I'll be trying to make this playthrough a more authentic experience by basing the sunlight levels on what the weather is like here, and setting the clock accurately. But anyway, onward!

The Solar Boy has reached Istrakan, and is making his way to the lair of the vampire who killed his father when he notices something...



???: Since time immemorial, this dark city has been ruled by a race known as the Immortals. But now, at last... the Sun is rising...



???: The heir to the Solar Gun; Gun Del Sol... The new Vampire Hunter! My name is Otenko, Messenger of the Sun. Together we will bring light back to this world! In the castle ahead is the Vampire Lord.



You said it silent protaganist. It's a little thing, but I really like these little sequences of Django running up the path to the Immortal's lair, and then the way all that information fades in and out. Seeing the time until sunrise/sunset is cool too, heading in there when the sun is going down, and seeing that you only have less than an hour left puts the pressure on and makes it a little intense.



Master Otenko: The Vampire Lord... Leader of the race of Immortal vampires. The wounds your father gave him have not healed. This is our only chance! Even you can do it... if you act now. Listen, Solar Boy. Bring him and his coffin back here. We will purify him with sunlight and this Pile Driver! You need sunlight to start the Pile Driver. See the gauge with the Sun mark in the lower right corner? It shows the level of sunlight striking the Solar Sensor. It's called the Solar Gauge. You can't use the Pile Driver when the sunlight level is zero.

After our magic talking floating sunflower explains the purpose of the Pile Driver, we head on towards the castle,

Master Otenko: Wait!



Master Otenko: This type of Undead serves the Immortals. Boks are weak, but don't let them spot you. Try to avoid confrontation. Hide in shadows or run past when they're not looking. When a Bok spots you, he attacks with Klorofolun, a dark substance. If you get Klorofolun on you, it will start to deplete your Life. Shake that stuff off, as quickly as you can. You can also sterilize it with your gun. OK?

Otenko neglects to mention that Boks are dumb. They're really easy to just slip by, like so:



See? Even that second one wasn't even facing the right way. Upon entering the gates of the castle, Otenko pipes up:

Master Otenko: Solar Boy, let's go over the Solar Gun 'Gun Del Sol' one more time. With your Fighter frame equipped you can fire a Solar Shot. Use the Shot to temporarily stun the Undead. Attacks from behind are the most effective. But if the energy in your Solar Battery (see the Gun Gauge in the lower right corner) runs out, you won't be able to fire your Solar Gun. Recharge by letting sunlight strike the sensor. May the Sun be with you!

Oh, expect to hear "May the Sun be with you!" or variatons of it a lot. Otenko just imparted a very important piece of information. Shooting them in the back can stun the undead, leaving them vulnerable to attack and you can finish them off without being spotted. Kills are actually kind of encouraged, since you get exp for your guns currently equipped lens when you kill an enemy, and there are three levels for each lens.

Now this next section is easy enough to just slip by, but where's the fun in that?



We borrow an old trick from Solid Snake here, you can bang on a wall to create a noise that any nearby creatures will come and investigate. And because Boks are dumb and slow, it's easy to just round 'em up, lead them on a chase and slip right by them. I can hear Yakety Sax playing in my head when I do this. The chest has a Green Apple in it by the way, it restores a small amount of health.

Inside the castle, we come across this panel along the wall, why don't we touch it and see what happens?



Master Otenko: Touch the panel when the mark is flashing to summon me. Don't be afraid to ask for advice. My knowledge might come in handy!

So those function like the panels in Link to the Past that let you communicate with Sahasrahla and Zelda. In the next room, we come across a Solar Station.



Solar energy is automatically stored into your Sun Bank by the sunlight hitting the solar sensor, which you can access at Solar Stations. You can transfer energy to your gun whenever you need to - even at night. Obviously, the number above the Solar Station shows how much energy is left. Honestly, I think I used this only a couple times in my previous playthroughs, and it was only when I was playing at night, grinding to level up my lenses and ran out of energy. There's also a loan system, but we'll get to that later.

We get our first equipment upgrade here in this room. Treasure chests come in an assortment of colors. Red treasure chests store normal Items (Food, etc), and Green holds Gun del Sol Parts. I'll cover the others when we get to them.



Master Otenko: Looks like you got the Knight Solar Gun frame! If you equip it you can use the Solar Spread attack on the Undead.

So let's Get Equipped with Knight frame!



As you can see, the Fighter frame was incapable of inflicting damage and could only stun enemies, now we have some fire power. Why was Solar Boy going vampire hunting with a gun that's not powerful enough to kill even a basic zombie? It's because he's the Kid Hero. I didn't take screenshots of them, but we're currently using a single battery, the Sol lens, and we have no grenades. Red Apples restore a medium amount of health, and Solar Nuts restore solar energy to your gun.

Master Otenko: By the way... If you use the Solar Gun inside a Dungeon, crystal spikes may grow up from the floor. Perhaps you've already seen them? [Top left screen] These are Solar Bamboo Shoots. They're made of hardened solar energy... Three kinds of Spirit Bugs live in Solar Bamboo Shoots:



Master Otenko: Best to run away from Darkness Bugs. But you can attract the other Spirit Bugs by pressing the A Button. Don't forget these Solar Bamboo Shoots, my friend.

Once again, good advice, it's worth the gamble to check out the Solar Bamboo Shoots when you see them if you need health or solar energy. I believe they're easier to see at night, but this could just be my own experience, since I previously played mostly at night, so of course I'd see more when I did all the work at night and only played through an area in sunlight on rare occasions, and to purify Immortals. WE head up the stairs to reach the second floor, where we check out another Otenko Panel:



OK! Geez, I'll touch your damn panel later, no need to glare at me. =(

We easliy slip by this Bok, I didn't even press up against that pillar or move from that posistion at all, and he still walked right by me.



We pass through the balcony to head up the stairs, but not before getting a Life Fruit. What does a Life Fruit do you ask, well...



You get four to boost.. what? What do I get boost of for collecting four of these cute little fruits? Oh well, maybe we'll find out tomorrow.



Master Otenko: This Vampire Lord, the Count of Groundsoaking Blood, was the sworn enemy of your father. But do not be afraid, my young Vampire Hunter. That crimson scarf... holds the spirit of your father. You are not alone!

After climbing those flights of stairs, we're here, ready to take on our first Immortal. But the sun isn't out, and it's time for some rest, so will have to wait until tomorrow.

Yay! This is one of those nifty-looking GBA games I always wanted to play but never did. Now I can game vicariously through Knight!

Plot seems pretty barebones so far, but I assume we get a little more backstory on Hero Kid and his Ruthlessly-Slain Father at some point in the game?

Ahh, one of those rare LP's I will actually follow as I have never even seen this much less played it. I have long wanted to, but the whole "Solar sensor" thing was not for me as I play my portable games on the bus/train to work.

Boktai always made me sad because the Solar Sensor was solely responsible for preventing it from being one of my absolute favorite GBA games.

Lunar Knights did away with the sensor, and also most of what made Boktai great in the first place.

It's like Kojima made the series to spite me as cruelly as possible.

Ah yes, Boktai. A game that sold very few copies in Britain, I'd imagine.

It would be interesting to track people's opinions on this by geographical location.

I've always wondered if it would be possible to emulate Boktai without the solar collection being a concern. Sitting out in the sun where I live might give me skin cancer in like fifteen minutes.

You can use a blacklight or UV lamp instead of the sun, if that's an issue.

I love Boktai.

Love it, love it, love it.

And its solar sensor.

Also, I live in Portland, a place whose weather the Brits, Scots, and Irish routinely suggest "is very much like home", so nuts to your geographical whinings!

When summer rolls around, I think, "Finally, time to kill some vampires." I know this is the complaint a lot of people level against it, but I think it's pretty cool. There's a Boktai season, and it makes sense. The sunlight is stronger and lasts longer during the summer; that makes it the perfect vampire-hunting season! Likewise, there's too much dark in the winter; best used as a time to hole up, defend, maybe make brief excursions to keep the worst of the attacks down.

I don't know if Kojima was intending that sort of real-world connection (I have a feeling he was), but in the same way people go stupid for MGS, I do for Boktai. =p

EDIT:

Great Boktai stuff that has nothing to do with the sensor:

* You can play it how you want. The game really encourages stealthing it, and gives you a bunch of tools for this (tap on walls or use grenades as sound distraction, mushrooms that can silence you or turn you invisible), but you can also load up your gun with an infinite battery and the strongest attack frame and lens and go crazy. When you finish the game it gives you a title, such as Berserker or Bishop (there's a chess naming scheme in there as well) depending on how you went through it that playthrough. Stealth, crazygonuts, or somewhere in between will let you make it through the game, at least on the normal difficulty.

* A pretty large game world with multiple paths through. It's set up a little bit like a board game (I'm sure Knight will shot this later), where the zones act a bit like checkpoints at crossroads and such. Also, each zone has a shortcut that unlocks once you've made it through once.

* Each of the lens types for your gun has some additional effects beside damage. Flame Lens will burn wooden blocks or melt ice blocks, there's a lens that will break the stone blocks, one that can cause plant growth as shortcuts (or instant-kill some enemies), and so on. Depending on what order you get the lenses, or if it's your second playthrough, there are quite a few puzzles you can get through by just blowing the damned blocks up.

* Good atmosphere. The world feels oppressed and beat-down by the Immortals, like you're the last man alive (and you kind of are, at least in the area). It's not a DOOM- or HALO-style attack, but something more desperate and quiet.

I started playing Boktai in 2004 during my lunch breaks at work, until my team (software developers at a small web startup) voted to move our working hours to 2am to 11am. In retrospect, maybe I should have been more wary of their dual purpose in both creating a nocturnal schedule for themselves and preventing me from training properly on my handheld vampire-murdering simulator.

I love that these Let's Play threads seem to be going straight down the list of games that I enjoyed but never had the opportunity to see through to completion.

Yay, Boktai!

I love Boktai. I played through most of it, but I always ended picking it back up in the winter for some reason, and I kind of petered out towards the end and never ended up getting all the way through the last castle (I think I finished 2 of the 4 wings). It's such a great game though, and I'm excited that I'll finally get to see the end.

I started Boktai last summer and have meant to continue my play of it this summer. My biggest issue was finding an area to play with enough sunlight that didn't put a huge amount of glare on the screen.

Anyway, I'll definitely be following this up to where I got and hopefully will be continuing my own game.

There's some more backstory as the game goes on, and you find out about the Ruthlessly-Slain Father in Boktai 2.
I like the real-world connection with it too. When I first played it, I was working the night shift and stocking shelves, so I played it on lunches and breaks, and when I'd get home in the morning I'd finish off the vampire because the sun was out again. It was pretty fun sitting at my computer, doing whatever, then noticing that the sun was coming up, and rushing outside to begin my escape from the dungeon so I could purify the Immortal.
Yep, I played heavy stealth most of the time and made great use of the Luna lens and the Beatmania frame.
I'll be making use of this for audience participation, and was one of the reasons I chose this for my Let's Play.
I love this part of Boktai, different enemies have different weaknesses to your elemental lenses, and knowing what to use and when can make things easier. Having those little shortcuts on the second playthrough is just icing on the cake.
Yep, you are pretty much the last man alive in the area. I don't remember if it's elaborated in game or not, but I like to think of it like the undead appeared, and have been trying to take over the world. The humans resist, and San Miguel is like the center of the resistance, with Istrakan being the vampire capital. When San Miguel falls, it's like the vampires have won, and they're going to take over, but not if Django has anything to (not) say about it. He sets out with his father's gun and scarf to avenge his death and stop the vampire's plans.

Since we're in the heart of enemy territory, it makes sense for there to not really be any people. Combine that with that most humans are probably in hiding now, and you're pretty much alone.

Also, our hero needs a name! Sure, we could go with the default Django, but who knows, It could be something else!



We have 10 letters to work with! The name will be chosen based on the best/most popular suggestion.

Jelly Bean. Name him Jelly Bean.

Oh man, this! Except generally the opposite for me. Be off in some dungeon, and notice the sun is going down. I'm getting less light, and then the game switches to the sunset tint, and everything gets suddenly tense and dramatic in a way no other video game has ever done for me.

Getting that kind of rush on a sunRISE would be pretty interesting! That's like a more classic vampire hunting story, even; you go in at sunset, you finish off the vampire at sunrise.

Anyway, totally stoked for this. Are you using an emulator so you can get screenshots? I assume there's some kind of sensor hack, or are you just going to abuse the sun grenades? ;D (which is a cool mechanic trick in and of itself)

London: When there isn't total natural cloud cover, we pollute ourselves some total unnatural cloud cover!

Do people still refer to London as the Smoke sometimes? I liked that name.

EDIT: Also, that's basically the plot of Lunar Knights, but that game is pretty lame so we shan't digress that far this thread.

The Smoke is a very cool name for it, but sadly we're not that cool anymore. Though we do still call the smoke Smog, so there's that.
But we should really get back to name-choosing and things. Sadly I can only agree with suggested names, as my inspiration and creativity are at all-time lows during the small hours of the morning.

I want to name him Cackleberry, but it's too long

I love this game so much. I really do. It's probably one of my top twenty ever. Godspeed, sir!

Now that it's morning, Solar Boy awakes from his restful sleep on the cold stone floor, ready to take on the Count. The game is also kind enough to provide you an obvious warning before going into a boss battle.



Ha, still in his coffin, you're mine now... Ah crap.



Master Otenko: But he still can't move, it seems. Your gun alone cannot return him to nothingness. You must take the coffin to where the Pile Driver is, outside the castle. Be careful.

The Spread beam kind of flickers, so it's finicky for being screenshoted. It looks like the graphic for it alternates between beam and no beam to get some faux-transparency. Inside the chest we get 5 Speed Nuts, which ups our run speed temporarily.



Hey, look at that, it looks like having sunlight out gives us extra text on some items. You get four to increase your maximum amount of life. These are handy. and adorable.



Let's haul this coffin out of here, but not before stopping for a refill on sunlight from a nearby skylight. Even when in a coffin, Immortals don't go quietly. Periodically, they'll get a glowing red border and begin to shake violently for a little bit. If you don't let go of the coffin in time and get a little bit of distance, you'll get knocked on your ass, like I did. Also, if left alone for too long, the coffin will inch it's way back to it's lair.



I had tried to drag the coffin into hiding before the Bok passed by, but because I got knocked down, he noticed the coffin as it was dragged behind the pillar. So I ran off and came around behind him when he faced the coffin. When an enemy reaches your undeaded coffin, it'll give a little yell and start it's crawl back to it's lair early. You also might be wondering what that blank bubble over the bok's head is. It's a timer for how long he's stunned, it will count up from zero to three dots before he wakes back up. At the panel Otenko wanted us to so desperately come back to, he clues us in on skylights and how we can use them to recharge in dungeons. He also lets us know that most undead are vulnerable to direct sunlight, and if you can lure them under a skylight, they'll take damage.



Making our way back downstairs, there are now some boks in the inside, which are quickly stunned and dispatched. Once again though, I get knocked down by the Count's coffin shaking antics.



Thankfully, the bok didn't seem to notice, but by the time I got up, he had turned to the right, and the previously unseen bok on the left was facing right as well. So rather than risk getting spotted.I made a retreat behind the box to wait for my oppurtunity. But this bok seems to patrol down the hall when he gets around to facing it. Preying on his stupidty, it's a simple wait behind the box before capping him and his buddy in the back. You can also see the Count trying to make a break for it. Heading outside, we encounter a pack of spiders in place of the boks. The black ones drop webs which temporarily imbolize you. They're not much of an issue and are easily cleaned up with a blast of solar spread.



The red spiders spit poison globs at you, which aren't that bad either, but getting stuck in some web makes you an easy target. Spiders also get scared when hit, and will flee from you, but as long as your holding the solar spread down instead of using it in short bursts, you can usually get the second hit in to kill them. We also encounter some ravens here, they die easily, but can be a little annoying with their diving attack.



We finally made it back to the Pile Driver, where Otenko instructs us place the coffin in the coffin shaped hole in the middle. I would have never have thought of that. Once the coffin is secured, these two generators pop up, and Otenko let's us know to use the spread to activate them.

Master Otenko: These Generators have been blessed by Gaea the Motherland, and the Sun's spirit, Sol, with the power to amplify solar energy. The Pile Driver is the only thing we can use to purify Immortals!

We stand on the shining emblem and raise our hand to the sky...



Taiyohhhhhh!!

I've had that tense feeling before at sunset too, and it was right when I bought it too. I woke up early on my day off, and it was already all orangey from sunset. I made my way through the second major dungeon anyway, but it was already nighttime by the time I was taking the coffin outside, so I had to wait aaaaaalllll night long to progress.
Yep, using an emulator with a sensor hack built into the rom. It doesn't like to play nice when VBA's real time clock is activated, so I have to set the clock everytime I play. I adjust the sunlight levels accordingly with what the weather is like here. Like it was clear and sunny when I played before work on the morning of the 13th, but it was also morning, so I set it at 3. Abusing sun grenades and Mr. Rainnot are pretty interesting tricks though, I didn't think to try that at all. I just used the sun grenades sparingly for when I needed that extra boost on a cloudy day.

Anyhoo, we'll take on the Count tomorrow, and hopefully have some more names to choose from/vote for by then!

I never even considered renaming Django in any game of the series. Django is who that kid is. But since you insist, I nominate naming him after another title character from a western. Therefore I submit either of the following, which are also thematically appropriate: Sundance ~or~ Bravestarr.

Technically, Bravestarr was a cartoon character, but I choose him anyway.

That's how I feel as well, I usually rename characters in game after myself given the chance, but I didn't in Boktai. I asked for names hoping to get something funny and that would make for an easy joke later, but maybe I scared people off with Not PANTS. I like the western themes though, but I guess it would help more with naming if I had seen more.

I do know about the Django reference though, was this old spaghetti western, where Django drags a coffin around with him, which you find out has a gatling gun in it. It's pretty awesome. He has a scarf too!

I'm going to have to rent that movie! Also, I think we should keep his name. I don't know why, but it seems really fitting.

Here we are, our first purification battle. These are really the only parts where sunlight is required. There are some puzzles that require sunlight, but I don't remember if they were optional or not.



Otenko explains how these fights work, the generators blast the vampire's spirit with sunlight. The higher your sunlight levels are, the stronger the solar piles shooting from the generator will be.




Sorry, I had to.



The Count:It's hot!

The Immortals will resist, and the solar piles get pushed back, but you strengthen them with the spread to put the heat back on.



This being the tutorial mission and all, the fight is pathetically easy. Aside from the pushback on the solar piles, he doesn't even fight back. But I got distracted talking to my roommate and forgot to pause the game, causing one of the generators to get shut down, but it's easily revived by pumping it full of some solar energy.



The Count's expression changes to shock as he fades to nothingness, and I get my grade for the level.



It's all pretty self explanatory, except Charged Energy, which refers to how much sunlight was collected into your Sun Bank during that level.



The Fool Card will restart an area, and also counts against your end of level grade as a continue, so I never really saw the point of it. In any other game, Otenko's forgetfulness could be explained as a chance to let you name the character, except in Boktai, where you input the name when starting your file and selecting your city. But I'm still taking advantage of it to use as an easy stopping point before deciding what to do about his name, since it's easy to just breeze through Fog Castle, and I'm terribly indecisive sometimes.

I'm kind of busy tomorrow, so there might be an update, but probably not.

Hey guys, I've been working some overtime at work, so progress has been slow. Have some cute instruction booklet art in the mean time!

Awesome. I love it when Konami puts little manga illustrations in the instruction booklet.

Every day spent inside, without killing any vampires, is a day wasted.

I finally have a day off tomorrow, so I'm going to get back to work on it in the morning. I've had the screenshots done, but 12 hour work days just leave me so drained that I don't have the motivation to try to write something.

But anyway, I'm looking for your opinions on the screenshots, should I keep doubling the size of some of them? originally I intended to either blow it up if it was a single shot of something important or neat looking; or piece 4 of them together if it was shots of an action sequence or some dialogue. That way, the overall size would be consistent. But that idea never even made it all the way through the first post, and now I kinda feel like the inconsistency of the image scale that blown up images show is a little off putting. So, how do you guys feel about it?