Celebrating All Things Spooky: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

Two years ago we talked about the remake of the first Corpse Party, and now I finally moved on to the next game in the series.

…Which is not Corpse Party 2 or the upcoming Corpse Party II, but rather Corpse Party: Book of Shadows.

The official description for Book of Shadows calls it a “sequel, prequel, midquel, and alternate universe tale all in one.”

It is split into chapters, and each one has a different focus. In some, the characters are thrown back into the first game’s events through some sort of time loop. Others show a character’s backstory or retell the first game’s events from new perspectives. Finally, if you complete every ending (including the numerous bad endings), you unlock a final chapter called Blood Drive that serves as a genuine sequel and sets up future events. That was the most exciting part, although the other chapters were interesting as well.

Unlike the first game, which was more of a top-down adventure game, Book of Shadows is closer to a visual novel with some adventure game elements. You traverse each area by opening your map and selecting an area to walk to. That area then becomes a screen you can investigate point-and-click style. Unfortunately, if you’re trying to see everything, this becomes much more tedious than the first game’s exploration.

Based on what you interact with and choices you make when prompted, there are a number of endings to get in each chapter. Many parts, especially in the bad endings, are downright brutal. It would already be firmly in the horror genre for its themes and creepy moments, but the gruesome fates described in horrific detail cement its place in the genre.

After you complete each chapter, you unlock messages from the voice actors of the characters prominently featured in that chapter. That was a nice touch, and I looked forward to hearing each actor’s thoughts.

While Book of Shadows feels more like a supplementary game to the original, I enjoyed seeing new details and alternate events, and I was especially intrigued by the final chapter’s setup for a sequel. While the chapter title “Blood Drive” would make me assume Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the next game to play, apparently Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko’s Hysteric Birthday Bash comes next and is actually important to the story. I’ll have to pick that one up… and who knows, maybe we’ll talk about it next October!

In short, if you enjoyed Corpse Party and want to see more of its characters and world, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is worth playing despite having some tedious aspects and mostly expanding the story rather than continuing it.