Corpse Party (2021) Review

Scary games aren’t only for Halloween. They can be “enjoyed” (if you like being scared) at any time of the year. I’ve been checking out Corpse Party, which is a remaster and remake of the original title that was created using RPG Maker back in 1996. The game has been remade a few times over the years, but this version is a port of Corpse Party Blood Covered:... Repeated Fear that was released on the 3DS with some extra characters and chapters added.

Corpse Party is a top-down psychological horror/mystery game. I personally have not played any of the games in the series, but I know there is an anime movie based on it too. I didn’t want to spoil anything for myself so I haven’t checked that out yet, but I guarantee you it will be messed up and disturbing if it’s based on this game.

Corpse Party is creepy from the second you start playing; messages written in red crayon are always alarming! The intro tells the story of Heavenly Host Elementary School. During a storm, one of the teachers was running down the stairs and fell; she died. After that happened, the school was supposed to be shut down. The principal was so distraught, he went up to the roof to his death... Or at least that’s how the story goes. Rumour is that the teacher that fell down the stairs doesn’t realise that she is dead, and students claim she roams the dark hallways of the school. 

We see that Ayumi is telling her classmates a creepy story to scare them. The thing is, she doesn’t realise that story is only the beginning of the incidents that occurred at Heavenly Host; there was a lot of messed-up stuff going on here. It’s the last day attending that school for one of the classmates, so Ayumi —who is into the occult—suggests they do a charm, so they all stay friends forever. As soon as the friendship-strengthening “Sachiko Ever After” charm is completed, an extreme earthquake hits, separating the members of the group and transporting them to the Heavenly Host elementary school. Obviously, they messed up something trying to perform this charm! The school had been demolished years ago and is home to the angry spirits of the young children that were murdered there. The only chance they have to survive is to unearth the brutal details behind the deaths of these young students before they are slain or lose their sanity.

The students in Corpse Party find out from some of the ghosts they meet that not all of them are in the same dimension. They are all at Heavenly Host Elementary, but you all occupy different dimensions. One spirit tells you that when you die there is a chance your spirit could move to a different dimension. Or maybe there's a different way to move between all of them. There is one thing I know for sure and that is that some characters are destined to die- no matter what you do, some just can't be saved.

Corpse Party looks like a classic game you would see on the Super Nintendo. When a character is speaking, animated anime-style drawings are displayed along the sides of the text box. The text is accompanied by Japanese voice-overs. These are done very well and are full of emotion. You really feel the fear being conveyed in these voices, even when you don't understand the language being spoken.

The music in Corpse Party is great. It sounds incredibly creepy and really dials up the tension. When you are being chased by an evil entity, having the right soundtrack really increases your anxiety! I recommend playing with headphones, as the audio was remastered and brings a simulated surround sound experience. Gotta hear all the stabbing sounds and screams surrounding you! 

Corpse Party has five different chapters and three bonus chapters to play if you want more story. The first four chapters only have one correct way to play through them; if you get a Wrong End when you die, you know you screwed up somewhere. It could be that you missed picking up an item you needed, or even something like not reading a newspaper article you needed. So when you come across candles, be sure to create multiple versions of your save file as you will probably need to go back and try that section again. When you get to the fifth chapter, there is more than one ending, so it gets trickier to figure out what you need to do to get one of the better endings.

The story in Corpse Party is really good, and horrific at the same time. Some incredibly nasty things happen to the characters you play as and for the poor children that were brutally murdered in the past. The one thing I really wasn't a fan of was the characters bringing up bowel movements- a lot. It happened so much it would kind of bring me out of the creepy story. I know it's a natural thing but it felt like a bigger focus than it should have been.

Corpse Party is an incredibly creepy and messed up game. It was amazing how many ways all the characters can die. The game creators are quite creative, or extremely twisted. This is a great game if you want an intriguing story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. At times it feels like no matter what you do you are constantly dying and getting a Wrong End. But you just have to think of what areas you didn't explore and if there were any objects you didn't interact with.