 So we have our backpack the one we packed in the intro so we got a smartphone We got a map of the city. We got a key ring a wallet a laptop This photo of the school friends a water bottle, which is good for if you if you walk and play in the salt Fish and the salt fish which was the password, right? So now we get the information They found a message on the computer Max has disappeared without a trace So now we get more parts of the story some people have contacted the police after Max disappeared The first person is Paul. He was Max's best friend and we've seen him already actually on the photo He was our schoolmate as well The detective tells us that we have to talk to Paul now after this dialogue We get the map again and then we see that there is Paul the guy the friend of Max He's waiting somewhere here We're gonna walk down the Reichenberger Strasse and go to the Montover Strasse and see what's happening. Yeah Story wise we play a character Max's friend who tries to find Max by running through a fictional game world in this case fictionalized Berlin Talking to different characters on one's way Let's have a closer look at the story and plot type that is introduced to us in the intro video of the game The intro video gives us a lean-back story exposition and a quick insight into our ordinary world We are located in a hotel where we receive an email from our friend Max Who is asking us to meet him in his flat? He writes that he needs our help What we can see here on the narrative and dramaturgic level is a very classic inciting incident and a call to adventure as we already know from the hero's journey We soon actively walk to and reach a point of no return at Max's flat While Max is nowhere to be found a police detective is showing us the way while also looking for our friend From the detective who hereby acts as a herald guardian mixture We learn about the characters Paul and Lisa who have called the police and might possibly know something about Max's departure As we decide to search for Max on our own we are crossing the threshold into the special world and by that actively enter what looks like a Classical hero's journey into the secrets of secret city Looking for an object of desire that in this story again is less an object, but a person Max The game mechanics of Secret City resemble those of a classic adventure game Can we talk about something else, please? Only if we have to but if we really must fire away The given dialogue choices closely resemble the ones we know from adventure games as well We choose the right answer to unfold the story further like in Indiana Jones, for example We also have an inventory where we can collect items that we find throughout the game to maybe use Later on we found a mushroom. It looks like this mushroom has been planted in Berlin in the street Selected items are presented to us via augmented reality throughout the game This way we don't follow the given map blindly, but receive in a way Reward by finding the right location here in Berlin and pointing the camera at the right spot We could just grab this little guy Or maybe we could talk to the mushroom, right? Let's talk to it. Oh, it's talking. Oh, it's talking. It's a talking mushroom Yeah, I think that that's good idea and we should we should eat it first and then then we can talk to mushrooms or something like that So Let's just take it right this means even if we physically have to walk through this world and not use a Computer mouse as we would do in Monkey Island for example much of the other mechanics seem familiar Which makes the game relatable to anybody who's not a frequent and experienced location-based gamer Now with you can see we took the mushroom and then we we get a second achievement It's called mushroom hunter and we are Great in picking up mushrooms in the city and this is important for the game It has yeah, it's the mushrooms have a very important take a very important part in the story as it unfolds so it's more like a potion like in a Here's Johnny potion giving way or let's say mushrooms are There's more to the item we see in mushrooms, which is kind of a topic of the game But it's it will come much much later. So at the moment, we're just like Grabbing these little friends and talking to them maybe and get some wisdom from that Actually, this is one of the things which is which are funny when you when you do a location-based game I didn't see this mushroom when I play I put the mushroom here When I when I made the game I was I Took days and weeks to to walk along the the game route But I didn't see the mushroom but the game testers saw the mushroom when when they when the testers played it They said oh, there's a real mushroom there and I was like wow where? That's funny. Yeah, of course There was there was chance storytelling right yeah So we're here At some restaurant and and we found Paul. Oh, we found Paul. Yeah, let's let's see where he is So where's Paul? Where's Paul? Oh? There's Paul. There's Paul. Yeah, just right in the tree. Yeah, okay. He's he's standing there he's waiting for us and He seems to be Telephoning he says that now he doesn't recognize us from school and if you think about the The intro what what what could we tell Paul? He tells us I do not know you or I do know you not and we can choose one answer. Am I right? Mm-hmm. Okay, so what are we going to do? There's been some clue in the in the intro, okay, so we basically have to know The third friend. Yes on the picture. Yes. Do you remember? Oh? Was she Nadine or Claudia? I don't know. Yeah, one of those right margarine. It wasn't no. It was not margarine I'd go for Nadine. You go for Nadine. Okay. Yeah, great Okay So let's just say we it's really urgent Paul. We don't have time to talk about the good old times so he's telling us a bit about the About the what the characters are like their constellation So basically it's kind of like a bit of backstory. Yes We are getting some backstory and after talking to Paul We have we have the second person that we wanted to meet that's the girlfriend and she's she's further up the street Okay, we just met Paul over at the corner right there, and we are now gonna see Lisa which is the girlfriend of our protagonist max who's missing you're going closer to get to know the mystery behind Max's missing case. Yeah, that's our plan. Let's go. Let's go