Corpse Party Preview
[Updated on 10/12/16 – Release Date Confirmed]:
In the cult hit horror adventure Corpse Party, players take control of a group of Japanese high school students who inadvertently engage in a pagan ritual and find themselves inexplicably transported into a whole other space: an inescapable echo of a long-since demolished school building where a series of gruesome murders once took place. Remastered from the 2011 PSP (PlayStation®Portable) system release, the Nintendo 3DS rendition of Corpse Party will feature redrawn, high-resolution character sprites, newly arranged music tracks in binaural 3D audio, and 3D art stills, as well as four new Extra Chapters exclusive to this version that provide insight into lesser-shown characters and plot elements previously left unexplained.
Corpse Party for Nintendo 3DS will be released physically for the first time in English through a limited ‘Back to School Edition’ priced at $49.99, which will include high-quality miniature figurines of characters Naomi Nakashima and Seiko Shinohara, as well as a soundtrack CD containing nearly 80 minutes of music from the game not previously featured on the ‘Songs of the Dead’ compilation, including three tracks exclusive to this Nintendo 3DS version. In addition to the limited ‘Back to School Edition’ physical release, Corpse Party will also see a digital release on the North American Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS for $29.99. The title will also see a digital-only release on the European Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS for €29.99/£24.99, as well as in Australia for $49.95 AUD.
Originally developed as an independent title by Team GrisGris and published by XSEED Games, Corpse Party will release for Nintendo 3DS in North America on October 25, 2016. The European version will launch on October 26, 2016. This title has been rated “M for Mature” by the ESRB, PEGI 18, USK 18, and R 18+ by the ACB.
[Original Preview]:
Released way back in 2011 for the PSP, Corpse Party is a visual novel exploration game, similar in nature to something like the Ace Attorney series. The difference is this game is much more mature, focusing on horror and death. In that regard, a better comparison might be to 999 or Virtue’s Last Reward.
The beginning of the game centers on a group of students hanging out after hours at their school. They are fooling around and telling ghost stories and one of them has the brilliant idea of creating a mystical piece of jewelry. They agree and soon after the area is rocked with an earthquake, separating many of the group members. It also appears that they are no longer in the school they remember, but instead a haunted shell of a place that was demolished many years prior. Some entity doesn’t want them to escape and will stop at nothing until everyone ends up dead.
The original game was known for its multitude of ways to die. Just like in many choose your own adventure books, the actions you take will often lead to a dire ending. Some found this a bit unfair, as it’s often impossible to know whether the choice you’re making will result in a bad ending until you try that path. Still, many really enjoyed the game and all of its dark and twisted outcomes.
The 3DS will get the limited Back to School edition of Corpse party, which will hit select retailers for $49.99. It will come packed with two high-quality miniature figurines of characters Naomi Nakashima and Seiko Shinohara. A soundtrack CD will also be bundled in containing almost 80 minutes of music from the game, including three tracks exclusive to the 3DS version. If you prefer you will be able to download a digital copy of the game off the 3DS eShop for $29.99. The game will feature redrawn, high-resolution character sprites, newly arranged music tracks, 3D art stills, and four new Extra Chapters exclusive to this version to flesh out some plot points.
This seems like a rather big year for the 3DS with all of the Japanese RPG support, and now this game along with the upcoming Zero Escape 3: Zero Time Dilemma will flesh out the library even more. I’m looking forward to a good scare when this game releases later this summer.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
