Problem Sleuth: Let's Play- Deja Vu: A Nightmare Comes True

Good day, and welcome to A Nightmare Come True.
At this point, I don't think it's particularly shocking to reveal that I like NES adventure games (even if Princess Tomato did its best to sour me on them). And of them, Shadowgate was easily my favorite. But I already LPed that. And I also LPed its (less good) sequel; The Uninvited. And it would have ended there, but for fact that Kemco/Seika ported a THIRD MacVenture game to the NES.

Well... they actually ported the FIRST MacVenture game third, but whatever.

Anyhow, the game in question is Deja Vu: A Nightmare Come True, which went for a gritty film-noir approach to the genre, as opposed to the fantasy settings of its sequels (or predessessors... or whatever). Well, as 'gritty' as Nintendo censorship policies of the early 1990s would allow, anyway.

Anyhow; same deal as before; I play a little bit, then toss the reins over to YOU! The reader to tell me what to do. I look forward to dying comically for your enjoyment!



For the sake of berevity, I shall omit "A Nightmare Come True" when referring to the game. It's an AWESOME subtitle though. That cannot be overstated.



You notice that your right palm is covered with dried blood, but you neither see nor feel any wounds. You feel a sharp pain on your right forearm. Rolling up the sleeve, you find a tiny puncture on your arm.

"Has a doctor injected me with a medicine?"

Then you realize you can't remember who you are! You have no idea where you are, or why you are here. You have no memory... whatsoever!

You groan and clutch your head. Besides the minor annoyance of the amnesia and possible poisoning, you also feel like you've had 5 kinds of crazy kicked out of you. Luckily you seem to recall having 7 kinds of crazy to begin with, so you still come out ahead. Well, at least to the extent that being a rampant kletomaniac who hears voices in his head can be considered a lucky state to be in.



And speaking of kletomania, thats a FINE leather coat.



And what the hell, a FINE Leather coat goes well with a GUN1, so you steal it as well. You WOULD take the opportunity to pose in front of the mirror with the gun, quoting Dirty Harry (or perhaps Taxi Driver). But you don't, for the simple reason that you are unsure if you've seen Dirty Harry. You have... AMNESIA! Also, there's no mirror. And the setting may predate either movie, but you're unsure about that. It's mostly the AMNESIA, however.



The omniscient narrator doesn't have that problem, however.

Actually, that amnesia thing is going to be kind of annoying. You take stock of your surroundings to see if anything jars your memory.



SUCH a nice coat, I mean, really. There are no words for how nice this coat is. Such is your reverence for the coat that you decide to empty out its pockets, so it may remain as unspoiled as the day you bought it off the rack. Assuming you DID buy it off the rack. You don't know whether or not you did. Because you have... AMNESIA!



Dang, you hit the jackpot! You remove everything from your coat pockets and put them... into... your... coat?



Hey, that wallet might have some kind of ID on it to help you cure your.... AMNESIA!



Of course! The Card has your identity. You can call yourself... Penthouse Siegel. You take everything out of your wallet and... errr... put it back in your wallet?

Well, you've entertained yourself as much as you reasonably can while in a bathroom stall with a terrible brain injury. Time to open the door and step forward into DANGER!



Well, you step into a rather shabby washroom anyway. VERY nice mirror though. Is that mahogany? You better take a closer look.



Oh right, you had forgotten about your Amnesia. It's not surprising that you forgot such a thing, though, for you have... AMNESIA! You're so startled at how quickly you had forgotten, that you quickly run out of the room...



And into a dingy hallway with two possible exits! When faced with a decision such as "Do I go left or do I go right" you opt to do what comes naturally; you curl into a nervous little ball and start sobbing until some unseen voices give you direction in life...

You have to HIT yourself in the head.

That's how you cure... AMNESIA in all the cartoon shows and I see no reason as to why it won't work here.

This looks fun. I say go left; that brown door is ominous.

Well, the throbbing headache has compromised equilibrium, so the only direction we can awkwardly amble is left. Besides, that sparkling sludge water coming out from under the door looks so inviting!

But, we're getting ahead of ourselves! See if .38 slugs can cure a migraine. Maybe getting lost in the mesmerizing dance of flaming toilet paper will bring back fond memories. If not, surely a quick application of flame to your bare skin will provide a sufficient wake-up call. See if a little self-flagellation will help clear those cranial cobwebs.


Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this LP, Octo! Shadowgate is my favorite, too, but Deja Vu has a lot going for it. The writing is actually kind of cool and the music is well done.

Deja Vu is possibly the best of the MacVentures. It's not as obtuse as either of the fantasy games (though there ARE places), which really makes it a lot more fun. I solved it as a kid, but I can't really remember much aside from the overreaching story.

Always turn left. That's my motto.

You have voices in your head and a "gun." I think we've all played Persona 3. You know what to do.

Deja Vu does its best to trick you into unwinnable situations. And I want to see all of them!

Use Card on Self. You must reabsorb your conciousness. Also, use Coin on Self, because whenever I wake up in a strange building I hear disembodied voices telling me to insert coin to continue. Also something about finish him.

I can see a reason - macventure protagonists are usually the product of the union of a sheet of glass and fine china, and shatter on contact with almost anything.

I'm with Nich. Burn the cash.

But...it's "A Nightmare Comes True."

It says it right there.

I'm gonna go against the grain here. Go right. Also, shoot the walls. There might be zombies behind them.

I suggest you turn around, go down the fire escape, and ask the police if they know who you are.

RETRIEVE ARMS from the HOLE IN THE WALL.

Heroes go left. Are you a hero? Well, I suppose you might not be. You might be one of those borderline antiheroic justice-at-any-cost freelance dudes, or something.

But go left anyway.

Wow, this LP popped up quickly. I'm with gudfooht and McClain142. USE GUN on SELF and see if you can jolt your memory by blowing out the part of your brain that forgot stuff.

And then go left. The west door is the best door.

I approve of this LP of the best (?) adventure game on the NES.

Go back in the bathroom and use the gun on the mirror. Existential crisis... solved!

Use gum on gun. Evildoers will be no match for your gumgun! It's non-violent but effective. Then go right.

I say you do this, then go left :P

Whenever I hear the word AMNESIA!? I think of this.




Also, be certain to EXAMINE yourSELF! Make sure your balls are still intact and all that.

Ugh, someone peed on the floor to the left. Go RIGHT instead.

You say the west door has pee, I say the whole area except that spot in front of the west door has pee. That yellow carpet looks unsettling. @.@

This man knows what's up. I say we go west to avoid the pee.

YES! I don't keep up with the upcoming let's plays, so this thread is a pleasant surprise!

All these years I've spent misreading the title...

I prefer my interpretation though. So thats what it is, from now on! The devil take that S!

OctoPrime finally jumped the shark. Oh well, the first six seasons were good.

You knew the truth once, but now you've forgotten...because you have AMNESIA!

Aw man, this is an all time favorite right here!

I hate that people voted before I did, but yeah, USE -> GUN1 -> SELF.

I'm sure people in acadamia and fancy shmance lawyers could make some kind of case if they knew I first learned about suicide before the age of 10 from a video game.

Seriously, hit yourself. Light the coat on fire. Shoot the mirror.

We should put those sunglasses on. If we don't know who we are, then its better that nobody else can tell either. Then go right.