START

The main menu screen.

## Plot

START is about the Elsen left alone in the purified Zone 2 named Elne. Spectres continue to appear throughout the zones, and The Batter recruits Elne to join him in his mission to purify 3 new zones with the promise of helping him find the legendary "Safe Zone".

## Characters

### **Main:**

-- **TRIGGER WARNING, AND MAJOR SPOILERS** --

#### Elne

Elne is an Elsen from Zone 2, being the only remaining resident after the purification. He was given a special sword that allows him to control his burnt form, being helpful in battle. Elne is a very nervous individual and gets scared really easily. He only joins The Batter on his mission because he was promised that there is a safer place for him out there.

### The Batter

The Batter is the former puppet of the player (You). He returns to find that spectres have been appearing once again in the purified zones and speculates they're coming from somewhere else. He manages to convince Elne to join him.

The Batter is rather blunt and can be cold towards the people around him. He has no sympathy, not caring what would happen to Daren after defeating the Zone 5 guardian despite Danny's pleas. He only has one goal and that is to finish his mission. He won't let anyone stand in his way.

### Danny

    Danny is a wide-eyed Elsen with a scar on his eye that lived in Zone 3 before its purification and was relocated to Zone 4. He is very loud and excitable when first met, but during his time in Zone 3, he was quiet and didn't talk much. He is very protective of his twin brother, Daren.

Zone 4 faced destruction when the Zone's guardian, Aeya, decided to give it a complete makeover. This ended up killing many Elsen, including Danny's brother. Danny was relocated to Zone 5 temporarily, where he toughened himself up and grew into a new personality that is seen when he is first met in Zone 4's factory.

He is shown to have no patience for insults as he gives two of his friends the permission to beat an Elsen and do whatever they want to that Elsen aside from killing him, because he insulted Daren.

This also shows that Danny seems to not know, or not think of the potential consequences of some of his actions as the stress of being physically assaulted may be enough to turn an Elsen burnt, yet Danny seems to draw a limit at murdering over words.

### Daren

    Daren is a wide-eyed Elsen with a scar going all around his neck that lived in Zone 3 before its purification and was relocated to Zone 4. He is a really quiet and nervous person, usually sticking near his twin brother Danny when possible. He suffers from hallucinations and tends to scare easily.

As stated above, Daren was killed in the destruction of Zone 4. However, once Danny was relocated to Zone 5 for a while, he was brought back to life by the Zone 5's guardian Kapali.

Though the resurrection comes with a price. If Kapali is defeated, Daren will die. Danny explains this to The Batter and Elne, but the Batter brushed it off and engaged in combat with Kapali. Kapali is ultimately defeated and Daren dies as Danny was trying to leave the Zone with him.

### Aeya

Aeya is the Guardian of Zone 4. She comes across as loving and motherly, but behind that façade, she is cruel and cold. She easily manipulates the residents of her Zone, tricking them into a false sense of security. It's possible that she enjoys being in control and tries to keep the Elsen living there from ruining everything for her.

### Kapali

    Kapali is the Guardian of Zone 5. Unlike the previous guardian, Kapali has a tough exterior but is a much caring person deep inside. He rules his zone with an iron fist and acts like a mafia boss. However, he was the one who resurrected Daren after hearing about his death. Despite this, The Batter decides to kill him anyway, still seeing him as impure.

### Zacharie

The merchant encountered throughout the game. He seems to know way more than he lets on, even stating that he desperately wants to tell Elne something important, but keeps it to himself as it will "spoil the game".

### A.D.A.E.M

The "Advanced Data And Energy Manager", also known as ADAEM, is an Elsen AI that takes up residence in Zone 6. It is very friendly and helps Elne's party go through the rest of the zone and leads them to Zone 6's Guardian. He seems oblivious to their plans, however, which seems to go for all helpful NPCs here.

## Gallery

Title screen.Promo art by the anonymous Tumblr user "Talos".A battle sequence featuring Elne, The Batter, Danny and Daren.Zone 4.Zone 5.Zone 6.
## Trivia

* Danny is said to be afraid of bees.
* In older versions of the final game, there is a sprite of Cinnamon from RISE that appears in front of Zone 4's factory. Upon interacting with him, he raises all levels to 50. He was left in by mistake.
* The creator of CSR, M-256, created three original tracks for START such as; Cozy Balloons (Zone 4's theme), Fluttering Dexterous Elegance (Aeya's battle theme), and Desalento e Cholera (Special ending boss theme).
* START was originally going to have an Arena where you fought much tougher versions of the original OFF Guardians. The reward was the item used to get the secret ending. This was left unused and the map still exists unfinished in old versions of the game.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/prosecutorcalv/status/1600345009198620674
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/prosecutorcalv/status/1599140138604711936
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/prosecutorcalv/status/1603478945457790976