Many, many years ago on a different website, I reviewed Corpse Party Book of Shadows for the PSP/Vita. At the time I gave the game an 8.0/10 and stated the following:
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows takes what Corpse Party brought over and doubles it. More gruesome deaths, more characters, a deeper backstory for said characters and Heavenly Host, and new gameplay mechanics are all new to the game. Having the Darkening meter gauge how long characters have until they lose their mind keeps the players on their toes as to their actions when exploring the school and the addition of a first-person view make you feel that you are really in a school full of vengeful school children spirits.
My personal issue is that Book of Shadows seems to be trying to be two games. Having two points of view on the same screen takes me out of the mood of the game. If you braved the screams and cries of high school students being killed in the first Corpse Party, then you will enjoy being scared again with Book of Shadows.
If you would like to see what else I had to say about the game at the time, you can click here. Since then there have been several games from Japanese developers that have been porting their games over to the PC (via Steam) so that a wider audience can experience these games. So what does this have to do with Corpse Party Book of Shadows? This past week XSEED and Marvelous released Book of Shadows on Steam, GOG and Humble Bundle (we’re looking at the Steam version). So what’s new in this tale of death and what changes have been made? let’s take a look.
School’s back in session
HD updated graphics- New to Book of Shadows is an update to graphics. Now in 1080 HD, the cut-scenes with 2D still images of the various characters and the sprite work look way better and sharper than in the PSP version. Now to be fair the game came out right around the height of the Vita’s life span, so most people played it on the Vita’s 5 inch OLED screen, which had a resolution of 960 x 544. And it looked pretty good then. But now with displays that can output up to 4K, Book of Shadows looks even better than before.
Mouse and controller support- Added into Book of Shadows are two new control support option: mouse and controller/gamepad. Since the game uses a first person and plays almost like a point and click adventure, it made sense to add in mouse support. Contoller/gamepad support is there for those who were used to the controller-like setup of the PSP/Vita.
Auto saves added- Auto saving has been added to Book of Shadows. In the original release of the game, you would have to remember to save the game before making major decisions. At times I would forget to manual save due to being invested with what is going on, getting freaked out and eventually dying gruesomely. Now with auto saves, it can make going back to a previous point in the game much easier.
As for my complaints/issues with Book of Shadows they somewhat remain the same. For a quick recap, this is what they were:
- Not for the faint of heart
- Must play first Corpse Party to understand full story
- Trying to be two games in one with the two points of view
What has changed is that in the past few year, gaming has seen a resurgence in horror games. And with so many horror games release, I think we’ve become accustomed to various scares and gore. That’s not to say that the deaths in Book of Shadows are not unnerving and disturbing, horror game lovers will get a kick of the game, its just as I mentioned before, we’ve grown accustom to these types of games. I still feel that the game should have either kept the over the top third person view or go all in with it being in first person. Regardless, now with updated visuals and quality of life add ons, I still highly recommend checking out Corpse Party Book of Shadows. Now all that remains is to wait for the final chapter of Heavenly Host Elementary in Corpse Party: Blood Drive.
