Varzim05
4 reviews liked by Varzim05
⏰ In a rush? Don't worry, I gotchu'! ⏰
What Works:
✅ Charming Presentation: Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition maintains the series' trademark charm, with beautifully rendered environments and a cosy, endearing atmosphere.
✅ Engaging Puzzles: The game features a wide variety of puzzles that remain creative and enjoyable, despite a generally lower difficulty level compared to previous entries.
✅ Artistic Excellence: The game's visual presentation is outstanding on the Nintendo Switch, with London’s corners depicted like sophisticated paintings.
✅ Fun Extras: Players can engage in mini-games, collect hint coins, dress up characters in various outfits, and redecorate Katrielle’s agency, adding layers of fun beyond the main story.
✅ New Content: The Deluxe Edition includes forty new puzzles and additional outfits, providing some fresh content for returning players.
What Doesn't:
❌ Weak Storyline: The narrative, comprising twelve short mysteries, lacks the depth and grand stakes of earlier titles, making the overall story feel less compelling.
❌ Character Development: Main characters Ernest and Sherl suffer from superficial development, limiting their impact and engagement throughout the game.
❌ Limited New Features: Despite being branded as Deluxe, the new content is minimal, offering little incentive for those who have already played the original 2017 release.
❌ Pacing Issues: The shift from a single grand mystery to multiple shorter ones affects the game's pacing, resulting in a less cohesive narrative experience.
❌ Underwhelming Protagonist: Katrielle Layton, while charming, doesn't fully live up to the legacy of her father, Professor Hershel Layton, with her potential often feeling underutilised.
🕵️♀️ A Tepid Response to Layton's Legacy
After twelve years filled with substantial quality titles in the Layton saga, Level-5's latest effort prompts the question, When is the right time to call it quits? Their newest game with an absurdly long title, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition, feels like a tepid response to the question. This is because this release on the Nintendo Switch is a remaster of the 2017 game for the Nintendo 3DS. As such, there’s no substantial new features, and the Deluxe subtitle is accompanied by only forty new puzzles and more outfits for Katrielle and company.
📚 A Shift in Narrative Pacing
In order to present the series in a new light and distance itself from previous instalments, the narrative pacing has undergone a significant change compared to earlier titles. Unlike past iterations, where the story revolved around a grand mystery, this time there are twelve short mysteries to solve, with a much more contained and modest connection to the overall narrative, with all the action taking place within London, foregoing any significant global stakes. Thus, Layton’s Mystery Journey follows Katrielle Layton, daughter of the now-missing Professor Hershel Layton. Along with her assistant Ernest and an amnesiac dog named Sherl, she establishes her own detective agency, where the group embarks on various quirky adventures, similar to a weekly cartoon. These journeys are always filled with the series' characteristic charm but never reach the heights of a title like Unwound Future, which many fans consider to be Level-5's zenith in Layton adventures.
🐶 Character Development Lacking Depth
Despite the very endearing, charming, and cosy aspects of the game, reminiscent of a winter night with a hot chocolate, characters Ernest and Sherl lack any substantial development. For all his qualities as a human being, Ernest remains eternally in love with Kat but is always confined by a barrier of friendship. The same depth applies to Sherl, who is akin to a budget Rex, the police dog doing little more than complaining and making canine puns. Katrielle herself showcases moments where the apple doesn't fall far from the tree but these are criminally superficial and detrimental to her potential as a character.
🎨 Charming Secondary Characters
Adding to the story are several enriching secondary characters, each with their own Londoner personality, filled with the artistic and charismatic touch characteristic of a character in a Layton saga work.
🧩 Gameplay and Puzzles
Another aspect that sets this series apart on Nintendo consoles is its gameplay. The creativity of its puzzles remains at a high level, although this iteration features a lower difficulty compared to previous ones. Level-5 proudly announces Layton’s Mystery Journey as the Layton game with the most puzzles to solve. However, the series is not just about puzzles; exploration and adventure continue to be on par with previous entries. By searching London’s various corners where the action takes place, beautifully reproduced on the Nintendo Switch like sophisticated paintings, players acquire various extras to admire, hint coins to help solve puzzles, and even participate in mini-games or dress up the main characters in different outfits, as well as redecorate Katrielle’s agency.
🎮 A Weak Deluxe Argument
Offering little more than forty new puzzles and different outfits for the main characters, this Deluxe version provides a weak argument for a new purchase. However, those who have never experienced it should prepare for excellent artistic presentation, charming characters, and a more relaxed fun, even if the story never quite matches the heights of the other entries in the series.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 10th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 007
✨ F I N ✨
What Works:
✅ Charming Presentation: Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition maintains the series' trademark charm, with beautifully rendered environments and a cosy, endearing atmosphere.
✅ Engaging Puzzles: The game features a wide variety of puzzles that remain creative and enjoyable, despite a generally lower difficulty level compared to previous entries.
✅ Artistic Excellence: The game's visual presentation is outstanding on the Nintendo Switch, with London’s corners depicted like sophisticated paintings.
✅ Fun Extras: Players can engage in mini-games, collect hint coins, dress up characters in various outfits, and redecorate Katrielle’s agency, adding layers of fun beyond the main story.
✅ New Content: The Deluxe Edition includes forty new puzzles and additional outfits, providing some fresh content for returning players.
What Doesn't:
❌ Weak Storyline: The narrative, comprising twelve short mysteries, lacks the depth and grand stakes of earlier titles, making the overall story feel less compelling.
❌ Character Development: Main characters Ernest and Sherl suffer from superficial development, limiting their impact and engagement throughout the game.
❌ Limited New Features: Despite being branded as Deluxe, the new content is minimal, offering little incentive for those who have already played the original 2017 release.
❌ Pacing Issues: The shift from a single grand mystery to multiple shorter ones affects the game's pacing, resulting in a less cohesive narrative experience.
❌ Underwhelming Protagonist: Katrielle Layton, while charming, doesn't fully live up to the legacy of her father, Professor Hershel Layton, with her potential often feeling underutilised.
🕵️♀️ A Tepid Response to Layton's Legacy
After twelve years filled with substantial quality titles in the Layton saga, Level-5's latest effort prompts the question, When is the right time to call it quits? Their newest game with an absurdly long title, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition, feels like a tepid response to the question. This is because this release on the Nintendo Switch is a remaster of the 2017 game for the Nintendo 3DS. As such, there’s no substantial new features, and the Deluxe subtitle is accompanied by only forty new puzzles and more outfits for Katrielle and company.
📚 A Shift in Narrative Pacing
In order to present the series in a new light and distance itself from previous instalments, the narrative pacing has undergone a significant change compared to earlier titles. Unlike past iterations, where the story revolved around a grand mystery, this time there are twelve short mysteries to solve, with a much more contained and modest connection to the overall narrative, with all the action taking place within London, foregoing any significant global stakes. Thus, Layton’s Mystery Journey follows Katrielle Layton, daughter of the now-missing Professor Hershel Layton. Along with her assistant Ernest and an amnesiac dog named Sherl, she establishes her own detective agency, where the group embarks on various quirky adventures, similar to a weekly cartoon. These journeys are always filled with the series' characteristic charm but never reach the heights of a title like Unwound Future, which many fans consider to be Level-5's zenith in Layton adventures.
🐶 Character Development Lacking Depth
Despite the very endearing, charming, and cosy aspects of the game, reminiscent of a winter night with a hot chocolate, characters Ernest and Sherl lack any substantial development. For all his qualities as a human being, Ernest remains eternally in love with Kat but is always confined by a barrier of friendship. The same depth applies to Sherl, who is akin to a budget Rex, the police dog doing little more than complaining and making canine puns. Katrielle herself showcases moments where the apple doesn't fall far from the tree but these are criminally superficial and detrimental to her potential as a character.
🎨 Charming Secondary Characters
Adding to the story are several enriching secondary characters, each with their own Londoner personality, filled with the artistic and charismatic touch characteristic of a character in a Layton saga work.
🧩 Gameplay and Puzzles
Another aspect that sets this series apart on Nintendo consoles is its gameplay. The creativity of its puzzles remains at a high level, although this iteration features a lower difficulty compared to previous ones. Level-5 proudly announces Layton’s Mystery Journey as the Layton game with the most puzzles to solve. However, the series is not just about puzzles; exploration and adventure continue to be on par with previous entries. By searching London’s various corners where the action takes place, beautifully reproduced on the Nintendo Switch like sophisticated paintings, players acquire various extras to admire, hint coins to help solve puzzles, and even participate in mini-games or dress up the main characters in different outfits, as well as redecorate Katrielle’s agency.
🎮 A Weak Deluxe Argument
Offering little more than forty new puzzles and different outfits for the main characters, this Deluxe version provides a weak argument for a new purchase. However, those who have never experienced it should prepare for excellent artistic presentation, charming characters, and a more relaxed fun, even if the story never quite matches the heights of the other entries in the series.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 10th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 007
✨ F I N ✨
Vampyr
2018
⏰ In a rush? Don't worry, I gotchu'! ⏰
What Works:
✅ Captivating Storyline: Vampyr offers a rich narrative centred around Jonathan Reid, a newly turned vampire, with branching choices that significantly impact the game's outcome.
✅ Deep Character Interaction: Each secondary character has a detailed backstory, motivations, and secrets, enriching the game's world and providing meaningful interactions.
✅ Moral Dilemmas: The game presents engaging moral choices, such as whether to consume a character's life force for power or spare them, affecting the story and game endings.
✅ Immersive Gothic Atmosphere: The game effectively captures a dark, eerie version of post-World War I London, reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Bloodborne.
✅ Unique Gameplay Mechanics: Combines combat, exploration, and character interaction, with a vampiric twist on resource management and abilities.
What Doesn't:
❌ Long Loading Times: Frequent and prolonged loading times disrupt the game's flow, especially at the start and during transitions.
❌ Repetitive Combat: While functional, combat can become monotonous, with noticeable difficulty spikes for players choosing a pacifist path.
❌ Performance Issues: Graphical quality is inconsistent, and performance drops, particularly during combat, detract from the overall experience.
❌ Auto-Save Dependence: The lack of a manual save option can be frustrating, as players must rely solely on the auto-save feature.
❌ Graphical Limitations on Switch: Despite maintaining the atmosphere, the overall graphical quality is lower on the Nintendo Switch, affecting immersion and visual appeal.
🧛♂️ Exploring Vampirism in Video Games
Vampirism has never been deeply explored in the video game industry. Although it has been present in series such as Castlevania, Legacy of Kain, and even Vampire: The Masquerade, rarely has it been fully developed despite the wealth of inspiration available. There’s never been a real desire to romanticise the dilemmas and issues of mystical beings in this medium, opting instead to produce works with more action than narrative. In response to this gap, the team at Dontnod, in collaboration with Saber Interactive (the porting team for The Witcher 3), brings Vampyr to the Nintendo Switch, a year after its debut on other platforms. It’s a title that draws as much from Bram Stoker’s Dracula as it does from Bloodborne in its depiction of a gothic and eerie city of London.
🩸 A Gothic Tale in London
The story follows Jonathan Reid, a decorated doctor and veteran soldier who returns to London after his participation in World War I. After an initial mishap, the titular character quickly confronts a new reality: he’s been transformed into a vampire unknowingly. Confused, and driven by primal instincts, Jonathan commits an atrocity that will haunt him for the rest of his journey. This event triggers the player’s control over the choices, either pacifist or destructive, that the doctor will face throughout the narrative. This strong focus on storyline is no surprise, considering Dontnod is also the studio behind the emotionally gripping Life is Strange. Thus, there are many cleverly written London characters, full of charm thanks to a superb and talented voice cast, along with various snippets of information scattered across the dirty and dark corners of London that reward exploration.
⚔️ Dual Aspects of Gameplay
Just as a vampire deals with the transition from day to night and their incessant thirst for blood, Vampyr forces the player to face the dual aspects of its gameplay: one component of combat similar to Bloodborne or Souls, together with exploration, and another focused on interacting with secondary characters, uncovering their stories, motivations, and secrets. Confrontations are straightforward, though somewhat repetitive. With a health bar, stamina, and blood, each action Reid takes consumes energy, and each special ability used expends blood. This latter mechanic works like a typical magic bar found in other RPGs, but linked to the vampiric context, allowing the main character to bite enemies in combat to replenish it. However, Jonathan Reid is an ingenious individual, not only capable of upgrading his weapons but also crafting his own remedies and potions, offering a temporary advantage when needed.
🌆 The Heart of the Narrative
Yet, the vein that pumps blood the most into the heart of the experience is the narrative. In Vampyr, each secondary character has their own intertwined story, which Dr. Reid can enhance or destroy. Each district of the city has several Londoners, each with their own aspirations, fears, desires, and many other factors that enrich them, along with a specific quality of blood. In other words, the healthier and happier the person, the more experience they will give Jonathan if he decides to consume their life force. However, choosing to give in to Jonathan’s instincts carries various consequences, from ruining the possibility of a desired ending (from a choice of four) to losing side quests unique to each character. For example, the death of a character can incite the subsequent appearance of a boss to fight. Alongside these mechanics are various conversation options, many unlocked by discovering pieces of information scattered throughout the world. It was quite enjoyable, for example, to read a page from a diary and discover a new topic of conversation with a character.
⏳ Bittersweet Challenges
However, amidst all the sweet, there’s some quite bitter blood that even mosquitoes would avoid. At the start of the game and during the character's deaths or access to new areas and buildings, there are long loading times that disrupt the flow of action. While the combat, though functional and simple, has some difficulty spikes for those wanting to follow a more pacifist path. Graphically, the atmosphere is well-preserved, but the quality in other areas leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, the overall smoothness also suffers: during level exploration, there are minor performance drops, with the egregious ones happening in combat. However, at no point in the analysis did this factor lead to any unjust deaths or complete frustration. Nevertheless, it remains a good portable experience, with the only complaint being the inability to manually save progress, leaving the player at the mercy of the “auto-save” feature.
🎮 A Captivating Gothic Experience
Despite interesting but somewhat repetitive combat, subpar performance, and long loading times, Vampyr boasts a very captivating story filled with ramifications that depend on the player's choices to shine, making this experience a worthwhile venture for fans of European gothic mythology.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 9th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 006
✨ F I N ✨
What Works:
✅ Captivating Storyline: Vampyr offers a rich narrative centred around Jonathan Reid, a newly turned vampire, with branching choices that significantly impact the game's outcome.
✅ Deep Character Interaction: Each secondary character has a detailed backstory, motivations, and secrets, enriching the game's world and providing meaningful interactions.
✅ Moral Dilemmas: The game presents engaging moral choices, such as whether to consume a character's life force for power or spare them, affecting the story and game endings.
✅ Immersive Gothic Atmosphere: The game effectively captures a dark, eerie version of post-World War I London, reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Bloodborne.
✅ Unique Gameplay Mechanics: Combines combat, exploration, and character interaction, with a vampiric twist on resource management and abilities.
What Doesn't:
❌ Long Loading Times: Frequent and prolonged loading times disrupt the game's flow, especially at the start and during transitions.
❌ Repetitive Combat: While functional, combat can become monotonous, with noticeable difficulty spikes for players choosing a pacifist path.
❌ Performance Issues: Graphical quality is inconsistent, and performance drops, particularly during combat, detract from the overall experience.
❌ Auto-Save Dependence: The lack of a manual save option can be frustrating, as players must rely solely on the auto-save feature.
❌ Graphical Limitations on Switch: Despite maintaining the atmosphere, the overall graphical quality is lower on the Nintendo Switch, affecting immersion and visual appeal.
🧛♂️ Exploring Vampirism in Video Games
Vampirism has never been deeply explored in the video game industry. Although it has been present in series such as Castlevania, Legacy of Kain, and even Vampire: The Masquerade, rarely has it been fully developed despite the wealth of inspiration available. There’s never been a real desire to romanticise the dilemmas and issues of mystical beings in this medium, opting instead to produce works with more action than narrative. In response to this gap, the team at Dontnod, in collaboration with Saber Interactive (the porting team for The Witcher 3), brings Vampyr to the Nintendo Switch, a year after its debut on other platforms. It’s a title that draws as much from Bram Stoker’s Dracula as it does from Bloodborne in its depiction of a gothic and eerie city of London.
🩸 A Gothic Tale in London
The story follows Jonathan Reid, a decorated doctor and veteran soldier who returns to London after his participation in World War I. After an initial mishap, the titular character quickly confronts a new reality: he’s been transformed into a vampire unknowingly. Confused, and driven by primal instincts, Jonathan commits an atrocity that will haunt him for the rest of his journey. This event triggers the player’s control over the choices, either pacifist or destructive, that the doctor will face throughout the narrative. This strong focus on storyline is no surprise, considering Dontnod is also the studio behind the emotionally gripping Life is Strange. Thus, there are many cleverly written London characters, full of charm thanks to a superb and talented voice cast, along with various snippets of information scattered across the dirty and dark corners of London that reward exploration.
⚔️ Dual Aspects of Gameplay
Just as a vampire deals with the transition from day to night and their incessant thirst for blood, Vampyr forces the player to face the dual aspects of its gameplay: one component of combat similar to Bloodborne or Souls, together with exploration, and another focused on interacting with secondary characters, uncovering their stories, motivations, and secrets. Confrontations are straightforward, though somewhat repetitive. With a health bar, stamina, and blood, each action Reid takes consumes energy, and each special ability used expends blood. This latter mechanic works like a typical magic bar found in other RPGs, but linked to the vampiric context, allowing the main character to bite enemies in combat to replenish it. However, Jonathan Reid is an ingenious individual, not only capable of upgrading his weapons but also crafting his own remedies and potions, offering a temporary advantage when needed.
🌆 The Heart of the Narrative
Yet, the vein that pumps blood the most into the heart of the experience is the narrative. In Vampyr, each secondary character has their own intertwined story, which Dr. Reid can enhance or destroy. Each district of the city has several Londoners, each with their own aspirations, fears, desires, and many other factors that enrich them, along with a specific quality of blood. In other words, the healthier and happier the person, the more experience they will give Jonathan if he decides to consume their life force. However, choosing to give in to Jonathan’s instincts carries various consequences, from ruining the possibility of a desired ending (from a choice of four) to losing side quests unique to each character. For example, the death of a character can incite the subsequent appearance of a boss to fight. Alongside these mechanics are various conversation options, many unlocked by discovering pieces of information scattered throughout the world. It was quite enjoyable, for example, to read a page from a diary and discover a new topic of conversation with a character.
⏳ Bittersweet Challenges
However, amidst all the sweet, there’s some quite bitter blood that even mosquitoes would avoid. At the start of the game and during the character's deaths or access to new areas and buildings, there are long loading times that disrupt the flow of action. While the combat, though functional and simple, has some difficulty spikes for those wanting to follow a more pacifist path. Graphically, the atmosphere is well-preserved, but the quality in other areas leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, the overall smoothness also suffers: during level exploration, there are minor performance drops, with the egregious ones happening in combat. However, at no point in the analysis did this factor lead to any unjust deaths or complete frustration. Nevertheless, it remains a good portable experience, with the only complaint being the inability to manually save progress, leaving the player at the mercy of the “auto-save” feature.
🎮 A Captivating Gothic Experience
Despite interesting but somewhat repetitive combat, subpar performance, and long loading times, Vampyr boasts a very captivating story filled with ramifications that depend on the player's choices to shine, making this experience a worthwhile venture for fans of European gothic mythology.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 9th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 006
✨ F I N ✨
⏰ In a rush? Don't worry, I gotchu'! ⏰
What Works:
✅ Compelling Storyline: Corpse Party: Blood Drive excels with a gripping narrative, filled with unexpected, grim, and exciting moments across ten chapters and seven extra chapters.
✅ Effective Descriptive Writing: Highly descriptive and graphic writing enhances the horror experience, capturing the player's attention and driving the story forward.
✅ Freedom of Exploration: Offers player freedom to explore levels, adding depth and engagement beyond traditional visual novels.
✅ Unique Visual Novel Elements: Combines traditional visual novel features like long descriptive text boxes and alternate endings with RPG and survival elements, providing a unique gameplay experience.
✅ Rich Horror Atmosphere: Despite some visual shortcomings, the macabre artistic direction and the haunted setting of Heavenly Host Elementary effectively contribute to a chilling atmosphere.
What Doesn't:
❌ Confusing Series Entry: Releasing the final part of the Heavenly Host Elementary saga on the Nintendo Switch without the previous titles can confuse new players and disrupt narrative continuity.
❌ Unintuitive Navigation: The labyrinthine school grounds and lack of a map make navigation stressful and frustrating, often leading to aimless running and memorization challenges.
❌ Lacklustre 3D Presentation: The use of chibi style 3D models detracts from the horror elements, making character deaths and some sequences less terrifying and more laughable.
❌ Poor Alternate Endings: Many alternate endings are simplistic and underwhelming, often reduced to a few text boxes or basic 3D graphics against a black background.
❌ Repetitive Gameplay: The game's longevity is padded with repetitive door-to-door searching and key item hunts, which can feel tedious and detract from the overall experience.
🎮 Corpse Party: A Legacy Revived
The Corpse Party series, contrary to popular belief, has been around for years. It started as a solo project in 1996 and has undergone numerous iterations since then. Besides the video game format, it has expanded into various other forms of entertainment, including anime series, manga, and even films that delight the series’ most dedicated fans. However, XSEED made a decision that, at the very least, raises some eyebrows: releasing this title for Nintendo's hybrid console. It's not so much the release itself that's confusing, but rather the fact that this entry is the final and third part of the Heavenly Host Elementary saga, which began with the first Corpse Party. Fortunately, despite this blunder, Blood Drive has done a decent job with the narrative, showcasing small moments solely for context that help to understand some of the important events from the previous two iterations of the saga.
🧩 Blood Drive: Horror Meets Visual Novel
Highlighted as a video game with themes of adventure, horror, and survival, Blood Drive identifies itself as a visual novel different from other offerings in the market. However, the traditional elements of this genre, long descriptive text boxes and alternate endings, are still present. What differentiates Corpse Party from the rest is the freedom given to the player to explore the levels, combined with a light infusion of RPG features (such as managing health points and switching between other characters), along with survival elements, such as the careful collection of crucial items for progress and the conscious use of them. Another aspect marked as a technical improvement but proving to be a downside is the presentation of 3D models and environments. Since the characters are styled in chibi format (a Japanese caricature style that depicts something exaggeratedly small), some sequences, like character deaths, are laughable and woefully not terrifying at all. For a title whose main attraction is horror, this decision takes away much of the chilling atmosphere found in the first game of the series.
🏫 Exploring Heavenly Host Elementary
Anyhow, a large part of the action takes place in the previously mentioned Heavenly Host Elementary, a place haunted and mysterious like other games in the series. However, despite the impressive and macabre artistic direction, navigating the school grounds is stressful and frustrating (for the wrong reasons) due to its labyrinthine nature. It's understood that, due to plot context, the player is supposed to feel lost and desperate, mirroring the characters’ feelings. However, this approach doesn’t always translate into good gameplay. Much of the game's longevity is attributed to incessant running from door to door (often with enemies in between), trying to find something to finally propel the narrative forward. In many instances, for example, after discovering a key item, the game simply relays the message, "somewhere you heard the sound of a door opening" despite said door being several metres away. Given that there is no map or similar solution, Corpse Party: Blood Drive expects the player to memorise the building's layout or draw their own map.
📚 Story-Driven Success
However, what truly matters and saves this title from a worse rating is the story it carries. There are ten chapters filled with unexpected, grim, and exciting moments (plus seven extra chapters!). Just as a good novel compels the reader to turn the page, Blood Drive captures the attention of its players. Combined with highly descriptive and graphic writing of all the experienced situations, the story ends up being the cog that makes all other mechanisms work. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the various alternate endings. Many are just three or four text boxes detailing the events against a black background, while others feature the aforementioned 3D graphics.
📝 Conclusion: Story Over Gameplay
Aside from some poor gameplay and graphical representation decisions, both the story and writing are the lifeblood of Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Without this aspect, the game would hardly be the body and soul of any party.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 5th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 005
✨ F I N ✨
What Works:
✅ Compelling Storyline: Corpse Party: Blood Drive excels with a gripping narrative, filled with unexpected, grim, and exciting moments across ten chapters and seven extra chapters.
✅ Effective Descriptive Writing: Highly descriptive and graphic writing enhances the horror experience, capturing the player's attention and driving the story forward.
✅ Freedom of Exploration: Offers player freedom to explore levels, adding depth and engagement beyond traditional visual novels.
✅ Unique Visual Novel Elements: Combines traditional visual novel features like long descriptive text boxes and alternate endings with RPG and survival elements, providing a unique gameplay experience.
✅ Rich Horror Atmosphere: Despite some visual shortcomings, the macabre artistic direction and the haunted setting of Heavenly Host Elementary effectively contribute to a chilling atmosphere.
What Doesn't:
❌ Confusing Series Entry: Releasing the final part of the Heavenly Host Elementary saga on the Nintendo Switch without the previous titles can confuse new players and disrupt narrative continuity.
❌ Unintuitive Navigation: The labyrinthine school grounds and lack of a map make navigation stressful and frustrating, often leading to aimless running and memorization challenges.
❌ Lacklustre 3D Presentation: The use of chibi style 3D models detracts from the horror elements, making character deaths and some sequences less terrifying and more laughable.
❌ Poor Alternate Endings: Many alternate endings are simplistic and underwhelming, often reduced to a few text boxes or basic 3D graphics against a black background.
❌ Repetitive Gameplay: The game's longevity is padded with repetitive door-to-door searching and key item hunts, which can feel tedious and detract from the overall experience.
🎮 Corpse Party: A Legacy Revived
The Corpse Party series, contrary to popular belief, has been around for years. It started as a solo project in 1996 and has undergone numerous iterations since then. Besides the video game format, it has expanded into various other forms of entertainment, including anime series, manga, and even films that delight the series’ most dedicated fans. However, XSEED made a decision that, at the very least, raises some eyebrows: releasing this title for Nintendo's hybrid console. It's not so much the release itself that's confusing, but rather the fact that this entry is the final and third part of the Heavenly Host Elementary saga, which began with the first Corpse Party. Fortunately, despite this blunder, Blood Drive has done a decent job with the narrative, showcasing small moments solely for context that help to understand some of the important events from the previous two iterations of the saga.
🧩 Blood Drive: Horror Meets Visual Novel
Highlighted as a video game with themes of adventure, horror, and survival, Blood Drive identifies itself as a visual novel different from other offerings in the market. However, the traditional elements of this genre, long descriptive text boxes and alternate endings, are still present. What differentiates Corpse Party from the rest is the freedom given to the player to explore the levels, combined with a light infusion of RPG features (such as managing health points and switching between other characters), along with survival elements, such as the careful collection of crucial items for progress and the conscious use of them. Another aspect marked as a technical improvement but proving to be a downside is the presentation of 3D models and environments. Since the characters are styled in chibi format (a Japanese caricature style that depicts something exaggeratedly small), some sequences, like character deaths, are laughable and woefully not terrifying at all. For a title whose main attraction is horror, this decision takes away much of the chilling atmosphere found in the first game of the series.
🏫 Exploring Heavenly Host Elementary
Anyhow, a large part of the action takes place in the previously mentioned Heavenly Host Elementary, a place haunted and mysterious like other games in the series. However, despite the impressive and macabre artistic direction, navigating the school grounds is stressful and frustrating (for the wrong reasons) due to its labyrinthine nature. It's understood that, due to plot context, the player is supposed to feel lost and desperate, mirroring the characters’ feelings. However, this approach doesn’t always translate into good gameplay. Much of the game's longevity is attributed to incessant running from door to door (often with enemies in between), trying to find something to finally propel the narrative forward. In many instances, for example, after discovering a key item, the game simply relays the message, "somewhere you heard the sound of a door opening" despite said door being several metres away. Given that there is no map or similar solution, Corpse Party: Blood Drive expects the player to memorise the building's layout or draw their own map.
📚 Story-Driven Success
However, what truly matters and saves this title from a worse rating is the story it carries. There are ten chapters filled with unexpected, grim, and exciting moments (plus seven extra chapters!). Just as a good novel compels the reader to turn the page, Blood Drive captures the attention of its players. Combined with highly descriptive and graphic writing of all the experienced situations, the story ends up being the cog that makes all other mechanisms work. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the various alternate endings. Many are just three or four text boxes detailing the events against a black background, while others feature the aforementioned 3D graphics.
📝 Conclusion: Story Over Gameplay
Aside from some poor gameplay and graphical representation decisions, both the story and writing are the lifeblood of Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Without this aspect, the game would hardly be the body and soul of any party.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on November 5th, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 005
✨ F I N ✨
⏰ In a rush? Don't worry, I gotchu'! ⏰
What Works:
✅ Classic RPG Experience: Both Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition deliver authentic RPG experiences rooted in classic Dungeons & Dragons mechanics and lore.
✅ Rich Storytelling in Planescape: Planescape: Torment excels in narrative depth, focusing on a captivating story with the player assuming the role of the immortal "Nameless One."
✅ Combat-Driven Gameplay in Icewind Dale: Icewind Dale offers a robust combat-focused adventure, with solid narrative elements supporting intense battles and strategic play.
✅ Variety of Difficulty Modes: The inclusion of multiple difficulty settings, including Icewind Dale's “Story Mode,” accommodates players of different skill levels and preferences, enhancing accessibility.
✅ Improved Controls for Switch: The option to use analog stick controls and various shortcuts via the ZL and ZR buttons provide a smoother gameplay experience on the Nintendo Switch.
What Doesn't:
❌ Steep Learning Curve: The absence of tutorials and the games' brutal difficulty levels can be daunting for newcomers, requiring substantial patience or prior knowledge of D&D rules.
❌ Outdated Graphics and Interface: Despite graphical improvements, the visual elements and interface remain outdated, potentially detracting from the overall experience, especially on the Switch Lite.
❌ Text Visibility Issues: Text size, even with visibility adjustments in settings, remains insufficient and can cause discomfort, particularly in Planescape: Torment.
❌ Limited Appeal in Portable Mode: The games are not particularly accessible or visually appealing in portable mode on the Switch, limiting their playability on the go.
⏳ The Evolution of the Nintendo Switch
When the Nintendo Switch console was launched, its limited initial catalogue led many fans to label the console as a Zelda machine (due to its flagship launch title). Two years later, the situation has changed drastically, with even twenty-year-old classics being ported to the console. It's a case of how things change, but with this release by the Canadian developers Beamdog, some things remain unchanged despite the passage of time.
⚔️ Classic RPGs: Planescape and Icewind Dale
Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition are RPGs in their purest form, drawing heavily on the mechanics and lore of what was once extremely popular and inspirational: Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). For many fans of the era, the term “role-playing game” was synonymous with “D&D.” However, unlike the release of Baldur’s Gate I and II, which showed a clear progression from the first iteration to the sequel, this release offers a pleasant contrast.
📜 Planescape: Torment – Story First
Both games deliver what you'd expect: main and side quests, abilities to purchase and use, and experience points to accumulate and level up. However, Planescape: Torment places a strong emphasis on storytelling, with combat taking a backseat. Here, the player assumes the role of the “Nameless One,” an immortal being who seemingly cannot die permanently. To enhance a sense of customization, players can choose the attributes in which their hero will excel (such as strength, intelligence, wisdom, etc.) before the adventure begins.
🛡️ Icewind Dale – Combat Focused
Icewind Dale, in stark contrast, begins its odyssey with six adventurers in a tavern. This one’s more combat-focused, with the story taking a secondary position. Although its narrative is solid and enjoyable, the primary focus is clearly set on combat. Nevertheless, due to the auto-pause feature, which activates whenever an enemy enters the characters’ line of sight, both titles resemble BioWare's Dragon Age more than a true turn-based RPG.
🎲 Old-School Challenge
It's important to remember that both offerings are twenty-year-old experiences. While the extensive range of system options includes a control reference guide, the absence of tutorials is notable. This, combined with brutal difficulty and unintuitive gameplay, raises the entry barrier, requiring either a heavy dose of patience to learn from mistakes or substantial knowledge of D&D rules. However, without altering and modernising the experience too much (for better or worse), Beamdog included various difficulty modes for both games, with a particular spotlight on Icewind Dale's “Story Mode.” This mode delivers exactly what it promises, making it almost impossible for the six characters to die, allowing the player to follow the story with minimal hindrance. Even so, despite the appeal of character creation in this game, it is advised that newcomers use the premade team to avoid potential frustration. However, with perseverance and patience, the reward lies in one of the best RPG moulds to date.
🕹️ Switch Experience: Hits and Misses
Regarding the experience on the Switch, particularly on a Switch Lite, the outlook isn't entirely positive. Despite the graphical improvements brought by the Enhanced Edition, the graphical interface and environments remain outdated and unattractive. However, there's now the option to control characters with the analog stick rather than point-and-click (although that option remains). This, along with various shortcuts accessible via the ZL and ZR buttons, ensures a smoother transition from the original platform to the console. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for text, which, despite the option to make it more visible in the system settings, remains insufficient and requires uncomfortable effort, especially in Planescape: Torment.
🔮 A Relic of the Past
Setting aside the fact that they are not particularly accessible or appealing in portable mode on the Switch, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment are true relics of a bygone era. Despite being pioneers in their genre, it's hard to justify their place in 2019. However, patience invested is eventually rewarded with many hours of content and enjoyment, something rare these days.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on October 31st, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 004
✨ F I N ✨
What Works:
✅ Classic RPG Experience: Both Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition deliver authentic RPG experiences rooted in classic Dungeons & Dragons mechanics and lore.
✅ Rich Storytelling in Planescape: Planescape: Torment excels in narrative depth, focusing on a captivating story with the player assuming the role of the immortal "Nameless One."
✅ Combat-Driven Gameplay in Icewind Dale: Icewind Dale offers a robust combat-focused adventure, with solid narrative elements supporting intense battles and strategic play.
✅ Variety of Difficulty Modes: The inclusion of multiple difficulty settings, including Icewind Dale's “Story Mode,” accommodates players of different skill levels and preferences, enhancing accessibility.
✅ Improved Controls for Switch: The option to use analog stick controls and various shortcuts via the ZL and ZR buttons provide a smoother gameplay experience on the Nintendo Switch.
What Doesn't:
❌ Steep Learning Curve: The absence of tutorials and the games' brutal difficulty levels can be daunting for newcomers, requiring substantial patience or prior knowledge of D&D rules.
❌ Outdated Graphics and Interface: Despite graphical improvements, the visual elements and interface remain outdated, potentially detracting from the overall experience, especially on the Switch Lite.
❌ Text Visibility Issues: Text size, even with visibility adjustments in settings, remains insufficient and can cause discomfort, particularly in Planescape: Torment.
❌ Limited Appeal in Portable Mode: The games are not particularly accessible or visually appealing in portable mode on the Switch, limiting their playability on the go.
⏳ The Evolution of the Nintendo Switch
When the Nintendo Switch console was launched, its limited initial catalogue led many fans to label the console as a Zelda machine (due to its flagship launch title). Two years later, the situation has changed drastically, with even twenty-year-old classics being ported to the console. It's a case of how things change, but with this release by the Canadian developers Beamdog, some things remain unchanged despite the passage of time.
⚔️ Classic RPGs: Planescape and Icewind Dale
Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition are RPGs in their purest form, drawing heavily on the mechanics and lore of what was once extremely popular and inspirational: Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). For many fans of the era, the term “role-playing game” was synonymous with “D&D.” However, unlike the release of Baldur’s Gate I and II, which showed a clear progression from the first iteration to the sequel, this release offers a pleasant contrast.
📜 Planescape: Torment – Story First
Both games deliver what you'd expect: main and side quests, abilities to purchase and use, and experience points to accumulate and level up. However, Planescape: Torment places a strong emphasis on storytelling, with combat taking a backseat. Here, the player assumes the role of the “Nameless One,” an immortal being who seemingly cannot die permanently. To enhance a sense of customization, players can choose the attributes in which their hero will excel (such as strength, intelligence, wisdom, etc.) before the adventure begins.
🛡️ Icewind Dale – Combat Focused
Icewind Dale, in stark contrast, begins its odyssey with six adventurers in a tavern. This one’s more combat-focused, with the story taking a secondary position. Although its narrative is solid and enjoyable, the primary focus is clearly set on combat. Nevertheless, due to the auto-pause feature, which activates whenever an enemy enters the characters’ line of sight, both titles resemble BioWare's Dragon Age more than a true turn-based RPG.
🎲 Old-School Challenge
It's important to remember that both offerings are twenty-year-old experiences. While the extensive range of system options includes a control reference guide, the absence of tutorials is notable. This, combined with brutal difficulty and unintuitive gameplay, raises the entry barrier, requiring either a heavy dose of patience to learn from mistakes or substantial knowledge of D&D rules. However, without altering and modernising the experience too much (for better or worse), Beamdog included various difficulty modes for both games, with a particular spotlight on Icewind Dale's “Story Mode.” This mode delivers exactly what it promises, making it almost impossible for the six characters to die, allowing the player to follow the story with minimal hindrance. Even so, despite the appeal of character creation in this game, it is advised that newcomers use the premade team to avoid potential frustration. However, with perseverance and patience, the reward lies in one of the best RPG moulds to date.
🕹️ Switch Experience: Hits and Misses
Regarding the experience on the Switch, particularly on a Switch Lite, the outlook isn't entirely positive. Despite the graphical improvements brought by the Enhanced Edition, the graphical interface and environments remain outdated and unattractive. However, there's now the option to control characters with the analog stick rather than point-and-click (although that option remains). This, along with various shortcuts accessible via the ZL and ZR buttons, ensures a smoother transition from the original platform to the console. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for text, which, despite the option to make it more visible in the system settings, remains insufficient and requires uncomfortable effort, especially in Planescape: Torment.
🔮 A Relic of the Past
Setting aside the fact that they are not particularly accessible or appealing in portable mode on the Switch, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment are true relics of a bygone era. Despite being pioneers in their genre, it's hard to justify their place in 2019. However, patience invested is eventually rewarded with many hours of content and enjoyment, something rare these days.
🌟 M I S C 🌟
◻️ 🌳 Visit my Linktree for more content.
◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on October 31st, 2019.
◻️ 🙋♂️ Explore more reviews written by me.
◻️ 🎮 Discover Nintendo Switch video games I've played.
◻️ 📜 Review Number 004
✨ F I N ✨