Chilla’s Art is back at it again as the indie horror mastermind of stalker nightmares with the latest inside the Chilla universe – Parasocial. The world of Chilla’s Art is linked together, with many references to their other indie games from the Chilla’s Coffee (The Closing Shift) Convenience Store or from the livestreams itself (Aka Monto and The Caregiver). This time around however, the scares are through the roof, reaching at your biggest fears of home invasion combined with the pure paranoia of being watched, followed and your privacy completely taken away from you. Parasocial is the Perfect Blue (long live Satoshi Kon) of the video game world and it is one that deserves a lot more attention than it is getting. But for those unsure of what the game is actually telling you through the many manipulations and red herrings that appear on screen, this is Vincent’s explanation of the story and endings in Parasocial.
The Story of Parasocial
Parasocial follows the life of a streamer called Niina. Being a V-Tuber, her identity is incredibly important to her so she hides her face from her viewers and only offers her first name as a means of connecting to her followers. The game begins with Niina streaming Aka Monto (another game by Chilla’s Art, known for its difficulty). Although she cannot beat the game in this stream, she is offered another game to play by her fans whose name in particular is a gigantic walking and talking red flag – ILoveNiina. This account provides Niina with a new game, one that she has never heard of before and in the middle of playing it, viewers highlight that her face is on full broadcast for everyone to see. Shocked, she turns the stream off. Realising that she has indeed been hacked, she orders antivirus, however there is no trace of a virus on her PC.
Niina goes to her only safety net, her friend Asuka. She offers advice in the moment and tells Niina not to go to police without any evidence of possible hacking or stalking. At Chilla’s Coffee, you and a rather perceptive customer spot a hooded man looking very suspicious in the corner of the café. This character would soon become the stalker that claws at your paranoia throughout the game. There are other instances of moments where you feel completely alone, watched and in danger; from the white van that appears parked outside of everywhere you visit, to the hooded man that follows you around your apartment complex, and finally the ex – Rikiya that just cannot find the time to leave you alone even though Niina blocked him not too long ago.
More Chilla’s Art games we think you might like: Chilla’s Art The Karaoke Story and Endings Explained.
Who Can You Trust?
The residents of the town are as usual very strange and nosy, with the Apartment Manager asking you questions about your ex-boyfriend. Is this even the Manager? You received a letter about talking to the Manager if there were any problems shortly before seeing the Manager in person so the timing is rather peculiar. As you continue streaming the games laid out by the hacker, the formula is the same, find the lever, release and lure the woman to the red door to clear the level. Every stream shows a level that features the blinded woman and the patrolling policeman. The choice here is on purpose as it is planting the seed inside Niina’s mind for a later date. But what seed is being planted?
When Rikiya (Niina’s ex) approaches Niina in the convenience store you learn that something is wrong with Asuka. By unlocking his number, he sends you an image of Asuka talking with the hooded man who has been stalking you. Was Asuka behind this all along? What follows is a horrible nightmare of home invasion in the form of one of the horror video games where you need to find the screwdriver and stab the invader in the back to clear the level. This however, results in Asuka herself stabbing you. The nightmare ends and you talk Asuka to give her the chance to clear her name and explain that the hooded man simply stood in front of her and stopped her from moving away. It turns out that this was part of Riyika’s plan to plant evidence of Asuka being part of the stalking and hacking harassment that Niina has endured.
In between all of the madness, Niina goes to the police in the hopes that they can do something about the harassment. But the police offer little help aside from their number in case things escalate as he works close enough to the apartment that he can get there in time to arrest the invader. But what police officer would talk to someone in the park and not in the station itself when filing a police report?
The Climax of the Horror
The following livestream is one that resembles the pure fear of playing Welcome to the Game for the first time. The level you must clear however is taken place directly from your neighborhood where the character walks to your apartment and has to go up to Niina who is livestreaming the game. What’s worse is that this is an actual stream of real life and the stalker is inside your apartment, recording you from around the corner. Turns out, those times where you felt most vulnerable – taking a bath, streaming games staring only at the computer screen, were not moments that Niina took alone. The stalker/hacker had entered your apartment time and time again to record you.
In every stream that Niina did the stalker input messages to creepily highlight that he has been following and watching you. At the store, at the café, in your apartment. Typing messages in chat such as: “You must be glad everyone likes your face”, “I love your face”, I go to Chilla’s Coffee too”, Did you enjoy your bath yesterday?”, and “I want to meet you.”
When you are given the option of who to ask for help, you are given a minute to react fast – either hide and wait it out or grab a weapon to fight back. The stalker counts down from 1 minute and then enters the apartment. You are knocked unconscious and it is revealed that Rikiya and the police officer put an end to the madness by arresting the stalker. But does the story end here?
The Endings of Parasocial – What is the Truth?
The truth is Rikiya is behind the entire thing, all in an attempt to get Niina to go out with him again (extreme right?). Turns out that he had paid a homeless man to stalk Niina in order for her to be so terrified that she would seek help by unlocking Rikiya. He had planted the seed that Asuka was behind the whole thing so that Niina would stop talking to her best friend and instead go to him for help. But the homeless man wasn’t the only one that was a part of Rikiya’s twisted plan. Rikiya also brought in family members, with his brother pretending to be a policeman (hence why he did not take Niina into the station for her report) and his mother acting as the Manager to find out how Niina felt about Rikiya after the breakup.
If you choose to call Asuka instead of the police you actually find Asuka tied up in the neighbor’s bathroom where the stalker used this apartment as a Niina sanctuary. When you make your escape out of the apartment, the Manager and Policeman are waiting for their cue to enter Niina’s apartment and arrest the stalker to paint Rikiya as the hero. By choosing Asuka in the final decision you will get the best ending in the game, resulting in the arrest of Rikiya, his mother, younger brother and collaborator. All of which acting as crucial parts of Rikiya’s story to get back together with Niina.
That was our full explanation of what happened in Chilla’s Art Parasocial, we hope you enjoyed this read. For more on the latest video game releases, be sure to see all GJ coverage found here. Thank you for reading this guide.
Published: Aug 30, 2023 03:34 pm