![]() There’s a way to break the school’s evil spell, but some twist always fouls it up at the last moment. The game professes to be horror, but often it’s only as deadly as a King’s Quest game.Ĭorpse Party has its scary bits, sure, but it’s easier to interpret the game as an exceptionally deadly murder mystery, not survival horror. Death only comes in scripted moments, when you’re caught by a (rare) wandering ghost or have made an incorrect choice. ![]() That Silent Hill/Fatal Frame sense of dread exists here too, but not to the same degree, not even when playing it in the dark with my face inches from the screen. Even when things are at their most dire, there’s always a little too much hope. Were it not for one miserable flashback, she’d be an easy pick for 2011’s best character.īut there’s a reason why the horror genre doesn’t include more Seikos: positive attitudes neuter the tension. Seiko reminds us, even when there are psychic ghosts with bloody scissors, there’s always something to hope for. ![]() “Happy-go-lucky” is not a trait we associate with horror. Seiko is where the cuteness and the anime-spin show their value. She’s charming, unabashed, and responsible for the precious few uplifting moments in a game that is mostly about dead teenagers. On the other hand, the coquettish Seiko steals the spotlight. Oh right, because a game like this needs to sell itself to every niche demographic it possibly can and Yuka’s pathetic caterwauling fits a certain archetype. I don’t profess to know a lot of fourteen-year-old girls, but I’m reasonably certain not one of them in the entire universe has ever complained about having to “go potty.” “If they wanted a girl who both looks and acts like a six year old, why not just make a six year old?” we ask. The youngest cast member, eighth grader Yuka, fills the insufferable “imouto-chan” role. Listening to them ruminate on tales of awful murder while staring at their cutesy portraits is strange, to say the least.Īnd it’s not always good. Though, unlike Higurashi, Corpse Party’s character designs don’t scream full-blown moe, but their enormous eyes and “W-w-w-watashi wa…” stammering cut it close. Both series share a need to inflict violence on impressionable youngsters. The combination of cute and horrible is immediately reminiscent of the Higurashi visual novels and anime. Seven-year-old antagonists with sugar-sweet voices and holes carved into their faces is a weird sort of dichotomy, but if Japanese horror loves anything it’s murderous undead children. You’re hearing strange voices on the wind, you’re reading violent bulletins posted on the walls, and all you can think about is that the ghost of a murdered seven year old could show up at any moment and drag you to an early grave. Instead, horror games ply their trade by making you run away from a scary ghost for five minutes and then spending the next fifty minutes threatening you with fakeout scares. So horror can get away with a little less gameplay, because an entire game where you run away from serial killers would be exhausting. Was it ten minutes ago? Was it half an hour? You don’t know if your assailant will kill you in one hit. Put that same chase in a game and it’s not funny anymore. When watching a Halloween movie you can laugh at the moron who can’t even get away from the snails-paced serial killer. Arguing against “why didn’t they just write a book?” is an uphill battle, but if there’s any genre where story can trump gameplay it’s horror. Unlike visual novels, Corpse Party has you actually walking through the world instead of fading out between text binges, but the core conceit (click through dialogue to progress) is in full effect.Īny game where you read more than you play is a hard sell. Immediate comparisons can be drawn to Sweet Home-the seminal Dragon Quest-styled Survival Horror-but it’s easier to liken it to a visual novel. It’s had some remakes and a couple manga series, but it’s still pretty much about RPG sprites exploring tile-based rooms. They are doomed.Ĭorpse Party started as an RPG Maker project in the mid-90s. A chanting ritual deposits a group of fun loving high school students in a collapsing school created by the psychic suffering of four murdered children. As someone who suffers the odd Bloody Mary nightmare, Corpse Party’s opening scene holds an immediate resonance.
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