Re:Initiate Episode 2

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Re:Initiate Episode 2
Re:Initiate Episode 2
Released December 1st, 2018
Preceded by Re:Initiate Episode 1
Followed by Re:Initiate Episode 3
Developer SUNSHADOW

Re:Initiate Episode 2 is a role-playing video game developed by SUNSHADOW for PC and Mac. The game is the second installment in the Re:Initiate series, starting off soon after the events of the first episode. It is technically based on the original 2014 Skype chat logs, but no events in the game happened in those original logs, making it almost entirely an original story featuring the same cast of characters as the first game. Re:Initiate Episode 2 continues the story of siblings Shion and Naomi as they must face a dangerous new threat in the virtual world.

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

The game is a standard turn-based role-playing game, featuring a top-down view of characters and events along with a separate battle screen where the player and enemies take turns attacking each other. Items can be found along the way or purchased using in-game currency to affect the player's status. The game frequently switches perspective between characters, with the three main acts of the game featuring three different player characters, along with several additional non-player characters who join the player's party. There are also hundreds of non-player characters to talk to that make comedic, often fourth wall–breaking comments.

Plot[edit | edit source]

Naomi dreams about finding her brother Shion, who she has been looking for for days now. Suddenly, the dream shifts, and a group of hooded figures threatens her ominously before telling her to wake up. She wakes up screaming, alerting Bunpo, who runs to her side and leads her to the breakfast table after making sure she is okay. Naomi is now a part of Bunpo's guild, and is living in the guild's HQ. At the breakfast table with Goya and Goyo, Bunpo explains to Naomi that they will be looking for Shion again today, after failing to find him in four of the five major parts of the region. Bunpo, Naomi, Goya, and Goyo head south for a town when they run into a huge structure made of ice that was not there before. They deduct that it is some kind of special event, and go inside to find themselves trapped with the gate locked behind them. They realize they need to escape the ice cave to get out, so they gradually make their way through a gruesome path filled with deadly human-like monsters called Ice Fanatics that move several times as fast as the average player. Once they finally reach the end of the cave, there isn't an exit -- instead, dozens of Ice Fanatics transpire out of thin air and surround the group. A portal appears a few seconds later behind them, but only Naomi and the twins are able to get in, leaving Bunpo for dead in the cave. Distraught but knowing Bunpo would've wanted her to keep searching for her brother, Naomi leads the twins into Briar Glen. There, they stop at a restaurant, and Shion walks through the door, finally reunited with his sister. Naomi brings Shion back to the guild HQ, and tells Sinon and Killer about what happened to Bunpo. Now the leader of the guild by default, Killer gives a speech about how Bunpo told him that it mattered to him that the game was won, and if one life had to be lost on the way to that goal, it was fine. Killer then asks Shion to join the guild. Shion is reluctant due to him preferring to go solo, but he agrees to join because of Naomi.

Re:Initiate Episode 2

Bunpo in the infamous ice cave section.

Yoshino gives a rousing speech to a group of hooded figures who look like the ones from Naomi's dream. He tells them that they represent the "top minds" of the world, and that they need to eliminate anyone who doesn't understand the "water's message." He then tells them that he will go outside and kill a player in front of everyone's eyes, and wants them to appear when he is finished. He walks to a group of players who are impressed by one of the players' strengths. Yoshino taunts the man a little before killing him in a quick battle, shocking the crowd forming around him. He gives another speech about how he has "given [them] a taste of things to come" and how there is a "veil over [their] eyes" before leaving. Meanwhile, Bunpo is heavily wounded and alone in the ice cave after having defeated all the Ice Fanatics. He has to make a long and difficult crawl all the way back through the cave, at such a low amount of health that any touch from another Ice Fanatic would result in his death. He finally claws his way out and runs back to the guild's HQ, ready to tell his friends that he is alive after all. Instead, when he approaches the HQ, he sees Shion with the guild -- everyone is smiling and having fun talking with him. This crushes Bunpo, seriously hurt by seeing smiles on the faces of people who think he is dead, and also by the fact that they already "replaced" him. Bunpo runs off, unable to face his guild.

Karuban, Natsumi, and Fukigen'na take a trip to the beach. Karuban goes off to buy some food for the group when, suddenly, three Moist Minotaurs emerge. Karuban slays one of them before Natsumi and Fukigen'na arrive and help him fight, against his wishes. The three of them successfully defeat the minotaurs. At night on the beach, Natsumi and Karuban take a romantic walk across the shore, ending with the two of them kissing for the first time on the "Blanket of Love." A few days later, Naomi, Shion, Killer, and Sinon go on a quest in a forest near Jeruku Village to find a monster and defeat it. Along the way, they encounter Johnathan, who tries to challenge them with seven dragons. The dragons are easily defeated, and the group advances to the final area, where the Wicked Demon appears, the most challenging monster they've ever encountered. After a tough battle, they come out on top. Elsewhere, Yoshino toys with and tortures a girl named Rosa in a dark dungeon, then possibly rapes her as the screen fades to black.

Re:Initiate Episode 2

The guild battles the Wicked Demon.

The whole guild, including Goya and Goyo, goes out to the bar to celebrate the victory over the Wicked Demon. While talking, they hear a scream from outside and go investigate. There is a crowd gathered around a dead body on the street, despite the fact that players cannot die in designated Safe Zones like a town. Suddenly, the hooded figures from Naomi's dream appear in front of the body, telling the crowd it is all a stunt to show them "what lies ahead." They formally introduce themselves as the Men of the Water and say that any player who doesn't comply with them will be killed. The second-in-command member, Chizuru, uncloaks and tells the crowd all about how much Yoshino changed her life before giving the crowd another ominous warning and vanishing with the rest of the group. Shion dismisses them as an insane guild not telling the truth to reassure Naomi, who is scared after remembering them from her dream.

About a month later, the guild is looking for an item in a dark cave. There's a flash and the Men of the Water appear, paralyzing all of the guild members in their place. Yoshino reveals himself and tells Naomi he remembers her from a dream. The guild struggles but is completely unable to move as Yoshino moves around them and starts to kill them one after another while verbally taunting them. When he gets to Naomi, Shion tries desperately to free himself from the paralysis to save her life, but he is unable to do it in time, as Yoshino deals the final blow. Right after, Shion screams in anger, unleashing a powerful sword skill on Yoshino and causing him to die -- but not before laughing at Shion about how his sister is gone forever. The Men of the Water retreat, and Sinon, the only other survivor, runs away. Shion stands alone in the cave and says "Everyone is gone."

Development[edit | edit source]

SUNSHADOW, led by Kyle Layton, got to work on Episode 2 quickly after the release of Episode 1, and since the story had already been plotted out beforehand, the writing and dialogue did not take long. Like with Episode 1, Layton posted consistently to the Initiate subreddit giving status updates about the game and previewing screenshots, but the process was much more closely followed this time around, since Layton and SUNSHADOW were now established names in the community. Layton said that this game and the next installment would be part of a trilogy with the same antagonists and themes, before the series would move in a different direction afterward. Episode 2 was far more advertised than the first installment, with a social media campaign in the month leading up to it revolving around cryptic Men of the Water imagery and clues for the community to solve.

Release[edit | edit source]

Re:Initiate Episode 2 was released for free on December 1st, 2018 for PC and Mac. The site hosting the download crashed within minutes of its release. Several Twitch streamers played the game live at midnight when it came out, making for a unique experience where the whole community found out about what happened in the game in real-time.

Unlike the first installment, the game's initial reception was wildly mixed to negative. The story and writing were again praised, but the ice cave section of the game was near universally despised for its tediousness. People playing the game seemed to all get stuck as Bunpo with low health and no items, unable to get through the cave. A save file was quickly passed around on social media to help people avoid the section. Also, some glitches in the game that made the screen change color or even cause some players to have to restart the game were common. The gameplay issues caused enough negative buzz around the game that all SUNSHADOW social media accounts (along with Layton's personal accounts) went silent, straying far from their usually extremely active states where they would respond to as many people as possible. The community was deeply divided after the game's release, and SUNSHADOW did not return for years.

However, in later years, the game has started to be looked back on kindly. Thanks to several fan edits of the game where glitches are fixed and the ice cave segment is made more bearable, players can try Episode 2 without the plaguing gameplay problems and experience the narrative, which has gotten more and more praise as the years have passed. Episode 2 became viewed as a more ambitious game than the first installment, and although it ultimately didn't succeed everywhere, its captivating story made it an essential game to play. Many members of the community now consider it as much of a classic as Episode 1.