Nitro Express Let's Play: The Exceptional Vehicle Response Unit Chases Rogue Weapons and a Mayor's Conspiracy Across All 8 Stories

The game opens with a tutorial. As protagonist Yoko, the player runs through training with support from her partner, Tamaki. Partway through, military drones used by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force go haywire in Naitoro City and start rampaging through the streets. The police classify this as a "G (guerrilla/terrorism) incident," and the Exceptional Vehicle Response Unit that Yoko and Tamaki belong to is called in.

At the scene, police squads are returning fire but making no real headway. After arriving, the unit destroys the attacking drones while following Tamaki's advice. The streamer enjoys smashing everything along the way, even Uber drones flying over the city and kei trucks parked on the street, describing it as "satisfying."

A little further on, a boss-class vehicle, the "Type 97 Infantry Fighting Vehicle," appears, kicking off a boss fight with traffic cones flying everywhere. As Tamaki explains over the radio, destroying the unit on top stops the enemy for a set amount of time. The streamer uses this opening to pour in grenades and shotgun fire, wiping out most of its durability, then finishes it off with the assault rifle. This pattern of stopping the enemy and then dealing heavy damage becomes the basic strategy repeated in later boss fights.

News broadcasts between stages reveal the background to the incidents. Since the previous fiscal year, large numbers of military companions made by Tamatomo Heavy Industries have gone missing, and suspicions are growing that they have fallen into the hands of multiple extremist groups. Groups with completely different goals, and even groups opposed to one another, appear to be involved at the same time, and police authorities believe there are accomplices inside Tamatomo Heavy Industries as well as a large-scale terrorism support network behind it all.

Next comes a breaking news report. The Tokyo Bay connecting ferry Arakawa, on a trial run, has been attacked by a group of armed companions, and Mayor Yuriko Sanzen'in, who was on an inspection visit, has been caught up in it. The news notes that the mayor is also CEO of SanzenTech, an affiliate of the Sanzen'in Group, and that the incident came right after the company announced its entry into the companion industry.

Yoko rappels onto the ship and heads off to rescue the 29-year-old mayor, who is also a popular streamer. The streamer describes the mayor's appearance as "the kind of streamer who looks like she could be found on the deep web too."

In this stage, enemies appear from both the bow and stern of the deck. The streamer works to deal with them before the mayor's mood sours completely, and praises the hectic flow of enemies coming from both sides as having "a very nice arcade-game feel." At one point the mayor takes a hit and pounds the table, but the streamer considers it fine since she didn't die. Finally, a crab-shaped boss called the "Mock Turtle" appears and is driven off with anti-tank mines.

With the incident settled for the moment, the streamer clears out a backlog of reports in order to buy new equipment for the battles ahead. Submitting reports earns rewards, and the system has players build up their gear while also taking on side missions and the like. The report-writing scenes include comical touches, with characters shouting things like "Shut uuup!!" and "Don't caaare!!"

The next incident is a companion rampage along the Kanna River. On top of the poor footing, troublesome enemies that deflect bullets appear. As a countermeasure, the streamer brings along a newly acquired flamethrower.

Deep inside the vessel that appears to have been transporting the companions, a dozer-type ringleader, the "DD4 Outrigger-Driven Crane-Mounted Vehicle," lies in wait. As Tamaki explains, the protective plates on its legs are a nuisance, so the streamer stuns the enemy and gets in close to attack. Using the drums that are periodically resupplied, the streamer relies mainly on the flamethrower, which isn't affected by the protective plates. The streamer explains that since there are also protective plates on the rear of the vehicle, you need to be careful not to fire horizontally. In the end, the streamer roasts it with the flamethrower for a while and destroys it.

An emergency call comes in late at night. The streamer grumbles that "on-call work tends to wreck your health and is rough." A crane on a high-rise building has been hijacked, so Yoko hurries to the roof by hopping across the construction scaffolding.

The boss is a spider-shaped machine called "Ashura-kun," with a sequence where it cuts steel beams with a welder. The streamer calls it cute-looking and quite the entertainer of a machine. Once again, the flamethrower comes along. According to the streamer, the game lets you unlock all sorts of equipment besides the flamethrower. However, because the streamer has been slacking off at work, there's nowhere near enough money for the unlocks. Since writing reports every time is also a hassle, the streamer decides to keep using the flamethrower for a while. Attacking with the fully charged flamethrower so that "this time, we're the ones doing the welding," the streamer destroys the boss.

Next is an incident in which a main battle tank is stolen while being transported. Because it's difficult for the Ground Self-Defense Force to authorize engagement, the Exceptional Vehicle Response Unit rushes in once again. The stage is a covered shopping arcade, and considering the enemy's weaponry, the streamer brings anti-tank mines.

Fighting through companions along the way, Yoko finds the tank, the "Type 11 Kai Tank," loaded with live ammunition. Over the radio, the boss is worried about the situation. The streamer speculates that this is because if the incident is judged too much for the police to handle, the Prime Minister will order the Self-Defense Army to deploy, which is expected to cause massive chaos.

The strategy is to first stun the control unit, then use the opening to circle around behind it and plant anti-tank mines. This takes off more than half the enemy's durability. Expecting that at this rate the next round would settle it, the streamer stuns it again, scatters mines, and destroys it.

Here the story takes a major turn. The mastermind behind the series of incidents is revealed to be Mayor Yuriko Sanzen'in. The Exceptional Vehicle Response Unit is lured out with a fake deployment request, and Yoko, arriving at the scene, finds herself in a desperate situation.

Yoko flees into a station on the municipal line and tries to escape on a national railway freight car. Because the city is overflowing with companions, this stage prioritizes escaping over fighting. The streamer boards the freight car after smashing even the vending machines in the station.

Just when it seems there might be a chance to catch a breath on the train, the boss "AH-66 Ballista" shows up, as tradition demands. Here, too, the streamer uses the flamethrower to stun. It looks fearsome, but since it's just a control unit operating the aircraft, it's not much of a threat as long as you can stun it. While it's stunned, the area around the main rotor mast, meaning the top of the aircraft, is the spot to target. The streamer repeatedly "wake-up attacks," re-stunning the control unit with the flamethrower as soon as it comes to, and takes it down quickly.

After the stage, a "Tokyo Eleven" news report airs. It reports that Assistant Inspector Yoko Asahina of the city police's Exceptional Vehicle Response Unit has been confirmed dead in a large-scale terrorist attack by armed companions in Kansei-cho, Ward 4 of Nitro City.

At a press conference, the mayor announces a policy of swiftly creating a larger anti-companion unit within the police, based on the lessons of this incident. The unit is planned to be staffed mainly by personnel seconded from Sanzen'in Group security companies and companion-related firms, with names such as SanzenTech mentioned.

Yoko and the others carry out an operation to infiltrate SanzenTech. The goal is to seize evidence that can be used to bring Yuriko down. The streamer calls the company's security "full of holes."

In a connecting corridor lined with security cameras, Yoko uses an "anti-algorithm deception screening device" to slip past the cameras. On reaching the factory area, the boss, a "Production Line Monitoring Companion," blocks the way.

The streamer once again picks the flamethrower as the sub-weapon, since it's effective at stunning the boss as it runs around. The boss itself is just an alarm device and doesn't attack, so this one is an easy win, according to the streamer. The alarm draws enemies in from the surroundings, but they disappear automatically when the boss is stunned, so there's no need to worry much about them.

From this stage on, the streamer switches the main weapon to a fully automatic shotgun. It's a weapon with a wide spread that has to be used in the right situations, but the streamer explains that since this fight involves sticking close to the boss, it's a boss battle where the shotgun's strengths really come through. After scoring a third knockdown, the streamer roasts the boss a bit more, destroys it, and obtains evidence of Yuriko's corruption.

They take the evidence to the Criminal Investigation Department and await good news, but pressure is applied to the police leadership as well, and the chance to make an arrest is quashed. Nearly out of ways to survive, the group comes up with a plan and storms City Hall. Yoko charges onto the roof alone, and the final battle for the future of Naitoro City begins.

Yuriko is protected by 300,000 kW electromagnetic armor, and attacks have no effect at all. Noticing that the boss's health bar isn't displayed, the streamer "meta-reads" it as a scripted event battle and keeps fighting the endlessly spawning small fry for the time being.

Eventually the external power is cut, and with support from Tamaki and the others, the electromagnetic armor disappears. From here, the real final boss fight begins. According to the streamer, if you wait in front of the machine, the enemy opens its light-band emitter, and you use that opening to pour in all the firepower you have. Once the device retracts, you lure it in front again, and when it opens once more, you finish it off with the flamethrower. With that, Yuriko Sanzen'in is arrested, the streamer wraps up with "a massive flame-up," and the whole affair comes to a close.

Finally, the streamer looks back on the game as a whole. The centerpiece of the praise is the intricate pixel art, which the streamer describes as "almost insanely" detailed. Citing the careful depiction of the firearms, the flashy explosions, and the cityscape of Naitoro City that somehow evokes a sense of melancholy, the streamer says they found great appeal in the game's dedication to retro art.

The streamer also points to the many touches that make you smile. The streamer's conclusion is that it was a game whose presentation, overflowing with a spirit of entertainment, left a strong impression, from its cop-drama-style sequences to radio exchanges reminiscent of MGS (Metal Gear Solid).