History VideoGame / EasternMindTheLostSoulsOfTongNou

''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' is a Japanese PointAndClickGame by [=OutSide=] Director Creator/OsamuSato, first released in 1994 for the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh. An English translation and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] port followed in 1995. It was developed by [=OutSide=] Directors Company and published by Creator/SonyImagesoft.

The game starts out with a guy named Rin discovering that his soul was stolen by the island of Tong-Nou--presumably to eat it--and if he doesn't get it back then he'll "weaken and eventually die in emptiness." Rin decides to go and retrieve his soul, but before he does, his friend Yashiro gives him a temporary soul which will last for forty-nine days. When he gets there it turns out that the island is a giant green human head floating in darkness, and in order to continue your quest, you have to enter the head through one of its orifices. Things [[AcidTripDimension only get stranger]] from there. By the way, it was created by Osamu Sato, who is also responsible for ''VideoGame/LSDDreamEmulator'', which explains [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs much]].

''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' is a Japanese PointAndClickGame by [=OutSide=] Director Creator/OsamuSato, first released in 1994 for the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh. An English translation and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] port followed in 1995.

* {{Nerd}}: Tou appears to be one. He wears big glasses and works on strange computers.

** For the solution to the puzzle, [[spoiler:One of Tou-Gyou's messages mentions the eyeballs were his. However, in the Computer of the Land of Time, you are meant to brute force the Reincarnation names for the name. The 3 characters who need to use the computer are Tou, Kai, and Rin. Tou is required for his quest, Kai to recieve his orders, and Rin to ask for his Fire Magatama. However, not including foreign beings like Rin, only Tou truly needs the computer for the sake of actually doing his quest. You're meant to take it as Tou is the part before "Gyou", which is utilized as the latter part of all the kings. When you input Tou-Gyou into the keyboard on the Computer, you will get a message regarding his name, and a slight appearance of him. You're then meant to link that character with the images, and how he is everywhere, but nowhere, and state Tou-Gyou as the true owner.]]

* ControllableHelplessness: The entirety of your very brief time "playing" as Zen is spent frozen in ice. The only thing you're able to do is look left and right around a nondescript hallway while listening to Zen's thoughts about how boring and depressing living in ice is, until an intruder comes in and immediately kills you.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2009_12_12_eastern_352.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!]]

* LetsPlay: The game is difficult to purchase, but you can head over to Website/YouTube and watch LetsPlay/{{Azuritereaction}} play it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks2PwtTGyig&list=SP3F325D1A3735DCE6&index=0 here.]]
** An alternate, and much more complete, LP done by [=SuccinctAndPunchy=] of Website/SomethingAwful is now available in the LP Archive [[http://lparchive.org/Eastern-Mind/ here.]]

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou''(''東脳'') is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind/Brain''. Therefore, the title is literally ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''

* TheForeignSubtitle: Apparently, the Japanese release of the game is just called Eastern Mind(plus it's kanji title ''東脳''), and the English version tacked on ''The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' to make it sound more enigmatic.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The "fun" tangent the Fang Shing sing is set to the tune of the intro theme.

* AbsurdlyShortLevel: 4 of the 9 lives end barely a minute after they begin, with one of them even ending before it begins.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Gyou, Retsu, Zen, and Jin. The first three's lives have very little interactivity and end in their deaths after about a minute, and Jin is dead ''before his introduction finishes.'']]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Gyou, Retsu, Zen, and Jin. The first three's lives have very little interactivity and end in their deaths, and Jin is dead ''before his introduction finishes.'']]

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou''(''東脑'') is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind/Brain''. Therefore, the title is literally ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''

* TheForeignSubtitle: Apparently, the Japanese release of the game is just called Eastern Mind(plus it's kanji title ''東脑''), and the English version tacked on ''The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' to make it sound more enigmatic.

* TheForeignSubtitle: Apparently, the Japanese release of the game is just called Eastern Mind(plus it's kanji title ''東脑''). The English version tacked on the ''The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' to make it sound more enigmatic.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou''(''东脑'') is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind/Brain''. Therefore, the title is literally ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''

* TheForeignSubtitle: Apparently, the Japanese release of the game is just called Eastern Mind(plus it's kanji title ''东脑''). The English version tacked on the ''The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' to make it sound more enigmatic.

* TheForeignSubtitle: The Japanese release of the game is just called East Mind(plus it's kanji title ''东脑''). The English version tacked on the ''The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou'' to make it sound more enigmatic.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou''(''东脑'') is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind/Brain''. Therefore, the title is basically ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou'' is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind/Brain''. Therefore, the title is basically ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Tong Nou'' is Japanese/Chinese for ''East(ern) Mind''. Therefore, the title is basically ''Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Eastern Mind''