Gamer--freakz

Gamespot score:7.5 (Good)

My score:8.0

(+)Pros:-Legitimately scary, -Filled with a variety of greatly diverse people, -Amazing story filled with plenty of scary and mind boggling moments, -Bad ends actually are a good way to explore alternative views to the story, -Great soundtrack that makes you shit your pants at the appropriate moments, -Amazing voice acting that really show the fear of the students.

(-)Cons:-Graphics are pretty lousy, -No way to skip any text or scenes when you restart a chapter.

Gameplay time:5-10 hours

Well I'm only here because Continent of the ninth is currently on maintenance, lol. Corpse party is what we call a true horror game. It doesn't rely on jump scares, and its strong points come from its legitimately fearful plot along with the atmosphere of Heavenly host elementary. Its a game that will make you shit your pants, it will make you lose sleep, and at times you won't even want to play this game during the night. It has been a long time since I got scared by a freaking video game (take it from my cousin, he finished this game in a day because he wanted the suffering to end quickly). If you're up for some scares, this game will definitely scare the shit out of your pants, and while it has its flaws, its one of those games that you have to play for yourself just to experience it.

The story is easily the game's strongest point. It starts off with a bunch of high school kids who decide to stay behind after school hours to gather round and tell ghost stories. Coincidentally, this gathering was made as a "farewell party" to one of the friends in the group, Mayu, because she was about to transfer to another school the next day. As a farewell groups, one of the students decide to perform a ritual with a paper doll, splitting it so each one has a piece. Legends say as long as each one of them keeps the piece of the doll they hold, they will be friends forever! Sounds legit right?! What a good idea! NOW YOU'RE ALL STUCK IN A DIMENSION WITH GHOSTS AND SPIRITS WHO WANT TO KILL YOU! The group of friends are split up, and they're forced to stick in their groups not only to increase their chances of survivability, but also to preserve their freaking sanity. And thus begins the tragic tale of the students as they try desperately to survive the ordeal.

Stranded in the alternate dimension known as Heavenly host elementary, the group of school students are split into different groups, and they are forced to traverse the hallways of this school by themselves, where ghosts and spirits roam about. It may not sound much at all, but it is. The hallways are old and beat up, the floor planks are all ruffled up, there are cracks on the wall, blood splatters everywhere, and dead bodies lying around. Its definitely not an ideal place to be. The atmosphere is there, and the game wants you to feel it. You'll likely feel scared just roaming the hallways of this dreaded school, no matter which character you are playing as. Another thing this game does well is with its characters, and you'll know why soon enough.

The group who are sent to Heavenly host elementary may not be the most interesting of characters, but as they experience the horrors of the school itself, they all break down in their own ways, and very soon as you get to know more about the characters, you WILL grow attached to them. You'll feel their fear, their anxiety, their urge to get the f**k out this hellhole and get back home. And worse things worse, when you grow so attached to these characters, watching them die brutally in a story event or bad end always tears a small bit of your heart away, as you read the text that describes their death in such disgusting detail, be it the stabbing of eyes, gutting of the body or sliced at the throat. Its just disturbing in every extent! Lets not forget the voices, the characters scream in pain as they get tortured to death...and that is not pleasant to hear! Not at all! Now THAT'S how you make people scared.

Being more of a visual novel experience with bits of adventure and puzzle elements thrown in, Corpse party is a horror game that is unique on its own. Running into bad ends is not a rare thing, and while these mostly show your characters dieing in the most disturbing way possible, getting them usually open up some little story bits that you may have read about or missed out in a certain chapters. In more ways than one, getting a bad end doesn't necessarily mean you have to whine and bitch about it. Getting a bad ending gives you a new perspective about that chapter, and you'll probably find out something related to that chapter that you'll never know if you get the proper end for that chapter. This actually gives you a purpose for getting these bad ends.

Other things that make the game all the more scary are the notable soundtrack and the wonderful voice acting. These act hand in hand to make the game a more fun and frightful experience. The regular music for roaming the school hallways are pretty damn well made, mixing some techno/horror music together to make some catchy tunes as you explore the school. But the music takes a turn for the horror side when you enter certain rooms or corners. Sometimes the music even stops completely, and that would pretty much make you freak out. Then you turn to leave that room, but realized that door is locked! You know you're screwed then. The voice acting of the students are also great. Hearing them freak out under pressure or scream in pain as they are hurt really pumps up the horror element in the game, making it all the more believable. 

The flaws aren't exactly small ones, and they do take away from the experience a little bit. For one, the graphics. I don't get how this wasn't mentioned. The graphics look like they came straight out of a GBA game, and it they bothered to make it a little more high res or even go 3D, it would be even MORE scary. The other thing is the disability to skip text or cut scenes. This really hurts the game, because you'll be getting quite a little bit of bad ends, and having to restart an entire chapter really hurts, because you CANNOT skip cut scenes. This is probably the only reason why getting all bad ends can be quite a tiresome task.

If you want a complete horror experience, Corpse party comes to you as a complete package. It is a great game that's only held back by its graphical flaws and the lack of the command to skip scenes. Its scary, drill that into your head, don't expect some kiddy horror. The game will take you about 6-10 hours to complete. 6 hours for the main story alone, a couple hours more for the collection of tags, and another couple more hours for the collection of bad ends PLUS doing all the extra chapters. Its not the longest of games, but it is worth your time if you want some scares. Think you're brave? Give Corpse party a try and see how it goes, you won't regret it.

Beware of little girls, they'll stab your eyes out.