![]() While the restrooms sometimes have effective horror imagery that can justify the visit, otherwise the game seems to have an odd fascination with bathroom matters that is too prevalent to ignore. ![]() In fact, one chapter is entirely based around Satoshi’s quest to help find a restroom for his younger sister who refuses to go elsewhere, her childish insistence on finding one jeopardizing multiple lives. It begins first with a request to find one that becomes downright comedic with its abrupt plainly spoken details and the bathroom continues to feature constantly throughout the plot for odd reasons. While none completely destroy the overall tone, the story does divert to some strange places, especially with the game’s odd interest in the bathroom. The horror elements are all there to make for a strong plot, but it’s one that interrupts itself with strange comedy, odd directions, and structural issues as well. Tense moments and strong atmosphere make Heavenly Host a truly fearful place fitting for a story that travels some dark routes without feeling gratuitous… it’s just a shame the game can’t maintain it throughout. The thinning of the main cast follows story beats rather than being in your direct control, but when you do encounter some of what the game calls Wrong Ends where a character dies when they shouldn’t, it can be hard to tell initially if their fate will stick. It could be said the overall simplified look of the game allows the moments the game whips out its details more impactful, and the game strengthens these moments by making almost anyone seem like they’re at risk of dying. Most victims both dead and undead are children or teenagers who sell their terror well both in expression and in the Japanese-only voice acting, but sound effects are also given special attention so their awful fates are made even more unsettling with plenty of crunchiness and wetness when appropriate. Details about Heavenly Host and its awful history unravel as you explore it and find the awful reminders of its past, and while the game mostly relies on an RPGMaker inspired visual style with character sprites and environments that can’t show much detail, there is plenty of more detailed art that will appear when the game wants to hit you hard with a gruesome image or grisly bit of gore. Split apart by the unusual dimensional anomalies of the school, the cast of nine characters all must contend with the school’s corruptive influence, strange ghostly children, a harrowing man wandering the halls, and other unknown threats as they explore this place that has claimed countless victims before whose bodies still litter the dingy, blood-soaked halls.Ĭorpse Party’s strength definitely comes from the horror story at its core. Joined by their teacher and the younger sister of the game’s male lead Satoshi Mochida, they perform a friendship ritual they found online meant to keep their bonds strong… only for the group to be plunged into an otherworldly dark counterpart to their school known as Heavenly Host. Known simply as Corpse Party in English but carrying the longer title Corpse Party Blood Covered: …Repeated Fear in Japan to indicate its remake status, this game tells the tale of a group of students who meet after school to say farewell to a moving friend. ![]() ![]() After finally seeing the small amount of console-specific additional content and finding it not all that impactful, it did make the worries seem silly in retrospect, but at least I was able to finally experience this cult horror hit. Corpse Party complicated this approach though by having mutually exclusive extra content spread across its many console releases, so since I could never see it all through one game, I eventually bit the bullet and picked the 3DS release. With most games that have multiple versions, you can usually go for one of two approaches: buy the original release to see the way the game was first introduced, or buy the most recent release that will have any enhancements or additional content added in any other special editions released before it. Never have I agonized more over which version of a game to get than I did with Corpse Party. ![]()
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