Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Without Escape

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with:
Oct 202023
 

Without Escape is a short point-and-click adventure game in which you wake up during the night after hearing a noise and decide to investigate.

Although you don’t find the source of the noise, you soon learn that something strange is going on.

This is a point-and-click adventure game with static backgrounds. You’ll visit each screen and click things to interact with them. Sometimes you’ll find items, which you’ll then use automatically when you click the right spot.

Some of the puzzles are logical, while others operate on game logic or surreal dream logic, so it sometimes devolves into revisiting locations and clicking everything until you find the right thing. Fortunately, it’s a fairly small setting, so that isn’t as tedious as it would be in a larger game.

(One puzzle also requires you to know a specific chemical symbol, and I didn’t see anything in the game that would provide that knowledge.)

The story… is an excuse to find keys and open doors and enjoy a creepy atmosphere. It’s clear the developers love Silent Hill, as there’s a lot of references to it, but the story is less coherent and just left me scratching my head at the end. There are multiple endings, of which I got the two main ones – the remaining endings appear to involve things like getting a game over in a specific situation and reaching a certain point in the game within a time limit.

Without Escape is a decent game, some mildly spooky fun that takes under an hour to complete. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s the sort of game where I’d be interested in seeing what the developers come up with next if they expand and polish the ideas found here.

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Oct 182023
 

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.

The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Sounds Like a Great Collection!

 Video games  8 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Sep 252023
 

I mentioned it briefly on Friday, but now let’s discuss it in more detail. During Capcom’s TGS showcase, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy received a January 25 release day.

I almost joked about the possibility in my post about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth coming out on January 26, right ahead of Granblue Fantasy Relink and Persona 3 Reload, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth a month later. I almost joked that the Apollo Justice Trilogy’s “early 2024” window would also mean that time frame.

But I didn’t joke about it, because I thought it would be too unlikely. I figured it would be more of an April sort of “early.”

I tuned in to Capcom’s TGS 2023 show not expecting too much and hoping for a release date. Well, not only is the Apollo Justice Trilogy coming out on January 25, but it also looks to be a fantastic collection.

Worried about the DLC cases? They’re included! (Not Asinine Attorney, though; since that wasn’t even in the mobile port, it’s probably lost to time just like The Great Ace Attorney 2’s similar comedy-focused DLC cases.) Wondering if they’d include the Spirit of Justice prologue anime? It’s part of the Art Library! The Orchestra Hall contains 175 tracks! It has the quality-of-life features The Great Ace Attorney got, like dialogue autoplay and Story Mode. And there’s even a new “Animation Studio” feature that lets you choose a background, character, animation, etc. to create your own scene.

It was more exciting than I expected for a trailer about games I’ve already played.

The official website includes details about all of these things and more.

Now, I can’t help it. When I saw that January release date, my thoughts started churning. What if they’re releasing the Apollo Justice Trilogy so early in the year to clear the way for an Ace Attorney 7 announcement later on?

Then I saw someone online suggest that the new illustration unlocked after completing the whole collection could tease Ace Attorney 7. Apparently Capcom did something similar in a Mega Man collection to hint at Mega Man 11. It’s probably not going to be that, but now I can’t let go of the idea. A piece of art unlocked as you beat each game is logical enough, but also an additional one unlocked after you beat all three? That would be a prime spot to include a sequel tease.

So yes, the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is coming out on January 25, right on top of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and I’m now tempted to replay all of them just in case.

Digital preorders have yet to open up despite there being a spot on the website for them, but Play-Asia listed a physical import for $60 while VGP listed it at $70. Since Play-Asia listed Ghost Trick at $60 before lowering it once the official price came out, it’s quite likely that the same thing will happen here, since it appears the physical edition in Japan is going for closer to $45. Right now, we just have to wait and see. (Edit: Play-Asia has now revised the price down to $42, and VGP to $52.)

What do you think about the new features and bonuses revealed for the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy? Do you think there’s a chance it will tease Ace Attorney 7?

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