Okay so this is like the 5th, maybe 6th version of the original Corpse Party we’ve got, but it’s definitely one of the biggest leaps forward. As someone that played the PC version a few years back, I wanted to give this one a quick look to see how it compared.
So right off the bat, the graphics. This remaster displayed natively at 1440p on my system and, while maintaining that same 16-bit graphics style, it does so without any stretching or blurring. The pixel art is great and the character assets are crisp – there’s also a bunch of CGs to find that also look good. The actual gameplay does not take up the whole screen, but it is nice to be able to see your inventory and party along the sides instead of just having two black bars.
Another big upgrade came in the form of sound design. The sound and music is now binaural and it really shows during certain scenes. Flies buzzing around, the floor creaking as you move about, the squishy sounds of dead bodies – another very cool upgrade that definitely helps sell the “horror” part to the game.
And then there’s the extra content. You’ve got the main game, the fourteen extra chapters, and two entirely new bonus chapters – one of which introduces two new characters that have their own little story to tell. I honestly could not remember if the PC version I played years ago had this extra stuff, so it was nice to have it all in one package here.
Otherwise, yeah, it’s pretty much the same Corpse Party – not much else to say. Creepy setting, grim, yet interesting storyline, and classic top-down adventure gameplay with its fair share of puzzles. It can be pretty difficult at times trying to figure out what to do (and there are plenty of bad endings), but it’s a fun little indie horror experience regardless – there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the most influential RPGMaker games of all time after all.
The whole thing takes about 10 hours to clear, but there is extra stuff to find that could take you double that time – along with all the extra chapters. If you’ve played it before like I have, then this version may not be worth it outside of the new extra chapters, but if you are new to the Corpse Party series – then this release is absolutely the definitive way to jump into it.
Corpse Party (2021) retails for $20 USD on Steam and is also available on GOG, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.
I was provided a review copy of the game in order to write this review. Read more about how I do my game reviews here.
cublikefoot 