Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Dementium

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with:
Oct 132023
 

Last month, we talked about the announcement of a Dementium: The Ward remaster for the Nintendo Switch.

At the time, I said that as part of this October’s celebration of spooky games, I might play either that or the 3DS version I already had. Well, I decided to play the 3DS version, Dementium Remastered.

My first thought upon starting up Dementium was, “Oh, this game will benefit from having a right stick to control the camera,” since camera controls were otherwise relegated to either the face buttons or the touchscreen on my old 3DS. Nevertheless, I eventually got used to using the stylus to aim.

You also use the stylus to write notes in your notebook, and that’s one of its best features. I loved actually writing down notes about puzzles, lock combinations, etc. in the notebook, so it’s a shame that mechanic is presumably cut from the new remaster. It’s a small touch, but one that makes the game feel a bit more unique.

Combat in Dementium plays like a first-person shooter, with several weapons you obtain along the way. You can’t hold a flashlight and a weapon at the same time, so a considerable amount of tension is added from needing to quickly switch to a weapon when you see an enemy approaching. I found it beneficial to avoid certain enemies, especially since you can only use healing items right when you find them.

Bosses are especially dangerous. Without being able to bring healing items to a boss fight with you, you really need to stay alert. One boss fight was so frustrating it nearly soured my view on the whole game.

Click for Dementium boss spoilers
I’m talking about the wheelchair boss, of course. I looked up a guide, only to find advice that seemingly didn’t work in the 3DS version, and the only other major piece of advice was to look up the code for obtaining the sniper rifle to get it earlier than you should. I finally beat him by adopting a very aggressive approach of shooting him and chasing after him instead of playing it safe, but it was a very frustrating fight.

Dementium is split into chapters, and the chapters are pretty much separate from one another. At first, I assumed I would be revisiting areas often, but that’s not the case. Backtracking is minimal and mostly occurs within the same chapter. You might see a locked box at the start of a chapter, and then spend the chapter finding what you need in order to unlock it, before moving on to a different area for the next chapter.

The backtracking can be somewhat annoying, though, because the map doesn’t mark blocked hallways. It was common for me to follow what looked like a path back to where I wanted to return to, only to find it blocked and need to take a long way around.

This factors into another flaw – the level design is kind of boring. There are a lot of areas where sections are blocked off so there’s only one way to go, and the small number of puzzles means most rooms are either empty or contain only health and/or ammo. The story is minimal and difficult to follow, too.

While this might sound like I’ve done nothing but complain about Dementium all this time, I actually had a decent time with it. The gameplay wasn’t stellar, but it wasn’t bad, either. And the audio design was great; I often could tell what enemies were in a room with me just from the sounds I heard, and could plan accordingly. That aforementioned frustrating boss also had me using audio cues to determine when I should act.

Dementium is the sort of game I found to be just fine. I’m not jumping up and down to recommend it to people, but I still enjoyed playing it. Maybe someday we’ll take a look at its sequel, Dementium II.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Shadows of Rose

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 112023
 

Two years ago, I played Resident Evil Village and generally enjoyed it despite some mixed feelings.

Last year, its story DLC Shadows of Rose came out, and I picked it up… only to forget about it until this year.

But now it’s finally time to talk about Shadows of Rose.

Note: Certain implied spoilers for Resident Evil Village are impossible to avoid while discussing the premise of Shadows of Rose, so keep that in mind if you haven’t finished Village yet.

Shadows of Rose is set 16 years after the events of the main game and follows Rose as she sends her consciousness into the Megamycete in an attempt to rid herself of her powers by finding a Purifying Crystal. This setup for the story allows for a bit more psychological and supernatural horror, although it didn’t lean into it as much as I expect.

For the most part, it feels like a miniature version of Village’s castle and house sections. You explore with a mild amount of backtracking and puzzle-solving, and face enemies both with guns and with Rose’s powers, which you unlock as you progress.

I worried a character with special powers might feel overpowered for a survival horror game, but instead they serve more as a means of stalling enemies to buy yourself some extra time. They also play a role in exploration, which helped the DLC feel a bit more distinct.

Story-wise, Shadows of Rose is fine. It didn’t wow me with anything exceptional, but it was a decent personal story for Rose. The most disappointing thing about the DLC is probably that it takes advantage of its Megamycete concept to just reuse areas from the main game. That makes it feel like a bit of a retread. It would have been much more interesting to see unique places from the Megamycete’s many stored memories. Similarly, it ends with the main game’s epilogue scene instead of adding anything new.

Where the DLC shines the brightest (or darkest), though, is in its scares. Shadows of Rose made me jump a few times, and its take on House Beneviento comes close to the main game’s section in terms of scariness. It might even surpass it. I wanted a scary game for October, and this was a good choice.

I still have concerns that the series could be leaning back toward action-oriented adventures instead of the slower-paced survival horror style that finally made a return, but as far as this DLC goes, I had quite a good, spooky time with Shadows of Rose.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 5

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  10 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 092023
 

Earlier this year, we discussed the third and fourth chapters of the horror visual novel Higurashi When They Cry.

Now, as part of this year’s spooky October, it’s time to talk about Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 5 Meakashi, which is an important turning point since it’s the start of the Answer Arcs.

The previous chapter presented things from a different viewpoint instead of following Keiichi, the protagonist of the first three. Chapter 5 also has a different point-of-view character, this time showing us events through the eyes of Shion.

Chapter 5 covers two periods of time. The first part of the story takes place a year in the past, to show the events leading up to Satoshi’s disappearance. This was an interesting look at events only referenced before.

Click for Higurashi Chapters 3 and 5 spoilers
I also found it unsettling just how closely the events surrounding the murder of Satoko’s aunt parallel the murder of her uncle in Chapter 3. During that part of Chapter 3, Keiichi spent a good deal of time thinking about how it probably happened exactly like this for Satoshi, but it almost seems too close (except, of course, that the aunt stays dead). Coincidence? Like so many other things in this story, I don’t know.

The second part of the story covers events we’re more familiar with, as it follows the same path as Chapter 2. Many parts of Chapter 2 were unclear, and seeing them from a new perspective explains quite a bit.

Not only is it informative, but it’s also quite dark, one of the creepier entries so far. If you’ve played Chapter 2, you’re already familiar with how things spiral out of control… and now here in Chapter 5, you see how it all happened. That’s not to say everything is explained, though. My biggest questions coming out of Chapter 2 still remain.

Click for Higurashi Chapters 2 and 5 spoilers
The timeline surrounding Shion’s death and her stabbing Keiichi is still unclear. It doesn’t address Takano being dead before the scene in the storehouse, either.

More interestingly, this chapter carefully builds up an explanation for how the Sonozaki family could be responsible for the supposed “curse of Oyashiro-sama,” but then tears it down, with Mion swearing that her grandmother only let it be implied that they were responsible for the deaths/disappearances because of the power that suggested.

Rika is very suspicious in this chapter, as she shows up with a syringe that causes the victim to tear out their own throat, like how Tomitake died (and Keiichi in Chapter 1). The game makes an intentional parallel between her footsteps and the extra footstep that someone cursed by Oyashiro-sama hears, too.

Right now, I’m sticking with my theory from Chapter 4 that Rika is trying to avert a bad future and causing multiple timelines as a result, but it still doesn’t explain everything.

Anyway, Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 5 Meakashi had me thoroughly invested, as it shows events from a different point of view and explained some of the confusing events from Chapter 2. It’s also the last one I already had in my backlog, so I’ll need to pick up the remaining three chapters someday soon.

I still have many questions. Where is this going? Will everything be explained? Will the payoff be satisfying after all this buildup? One way or another, our Higurashi journey will continue with Chapter 6.

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