Have you ever heard of Corpse Party, a series that began in 1996 built off the RPG Maker engine? I sure haven’t! That is until XSEED provided me with a review code for the latest port of Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Corpse Party: Blood Drive has been around in North America since 2015 on the PlayStation Vita. With this new port for PC and Nintendo Switch, more people will certainly be able to get into the series. The problem is, this is a third part entry into a much longer overarching narrative. Realizing I had no clue what was going on within 5 minutes of booting up, I had to turn the game off and start back at the beginning, and man, what a twisted journey this turned out to be!

Story

Corpse Party: Blood Drive begins two months after the events depicted in Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. Ayumi Shinozaki has finally been released from the hospital after recovering from her wounds caused by the Book of Shadows. Upon returning to school, Ayumi reunites with the other survivors of the Heavenly Host Elementary School incident. All the survivors bear the guilt of those who died and are the only ones that have any memories of them. Treated as if they are crazy, the guilt begins to weigh on Ayumi. As she begins to contemplate taking her own life, a mysterious person lets her know that things can still be reversed if she returns to Heavenly Host Elementary School once more with the Book of Shadows.

Gameplay

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is part visual novel and part survival horror game. It ditches the RPG Maker roots of the original in favor of a new 3D engine to explore the halls of Heavenly Host Elementary. If you haven’t played the first two entries of the series, like myself, you will be lost as to what the heck is going on. Thankfully both previous games were on Steam, so getting caught up on the story wasn’t too difficult. And man, this stuff is dark, but also very intriguing. If you have an interest in Corpse Party: Blood Drive, go back and play the first two story entries! Anyways, Corpse Party: Blood Drive centers on Ayumi and her quest to right the wrongs she has caused. Being part visual novel, there are tons of scenes involving full-screen still-art pieces and text boxes. A few of these scenes will play out in the real-time 3D environment as well. 

Gameplay mostly consists of exploring the environment around you, looking for items and triggering the next story elements. Heavenly Host Elementary is much different in Blood Drive than the earlier Corpse Party entries. It seems far more sinister, with new traps scattered around to deal damage to the player. Fleshy deposits are now ever-present and can either snare you to deal damage or spawn an enemy that will then proceed to relentlessly chase you throughout the school. These Phantoms can only be defeated by using a Talisman item you will find scattered around the rooms of the school. They activate automatically if you are attacked and the Phantom will simply vanish from existence.

Talismans can be fairly rare in certain parts of the game, so escaping Phantoms by other means is usually preferred. You are able to hide in cabinets scattered throughout the school and wait for a Phantom to pass or you can just simply keep running away. You can sprint for a short duration before tiring which makes doing either option a bit easier. If you decide to try and hide in a cabinet, be sure the Phantom isn’t in the same line of sight otherwise they will rip you from it and deal a good amount of damage. Even when you think you have hidden correctly, it doesn’t always seem to work which was a tad frustrating.

Healing up from the damage caused by the environment or Phantoms can be done in two ways. First is by using bandages scattered throughout the school. The second is by visiting a candle, which doubles as a save point, and after using it your HP will be fully restored. Blood Drive does let you swap between party members, so if one is near death you can always swap to another until you can get them healed up. I am a fan of save points that restore health so this made me very happy.

There is another hidden form of vitality in Blood Drive called the Darkening. Basically it works as a meter that fills when investigating things in the school. Once it starts to get full the screen begins to get fuzzy and film grainy. Once the meter reaches max, you will get a game over screen. The only way to heal from this is by switching characters for the remainder of the chapter or by finding a one-time use statue that will reset the meter. I found this to be an interesting mechanic and it soon had me using one character until they were nearly filled and switching out.

Exploring is a major part of the actual gameplay and there is a lot to find. There are inventory items like bandages and batteries for your flashlight but there are also environmental things to examine, like bodies of past victims of Heavenly Host. Speaking of the flashlight, it has an infinite battery option that can be toggled, making needing to find batteries less of a concern. From the looks of it, the PC version is also brighter than the Vita original with the environment being still visible even without the light on. You will also need to solve the occasional puzzle to progress but they aren’t typically hard to do.

Each of the game’s chapters has multiple endings that can playout for the player depending on what they do. Only one of these endings is the true ending of the chapter that must be reached to progress onto the next chapter of the game. Every other ending is considered wrong and typically involves the deaths of characters. They aren’t usually pretty, either, so be prepared for some more dark stuff.

Visuals

If there is one thing I learned from experiencing Corpse Party is that graphics don’t need to be realistic to freak you out. Blood Drive features chibi-style art for gameplay elements, and despite its cutesy nature (in stark contrast to the subject matter) I was on edge every second. I really can’t do horror games… The full-screen stills are done in a nice Anime style and feature some well-drawn art. Again, some of it is freaking nasty, so be prepared!

Audio

Now Audio is the true crowning achievement for Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Voice work is all the original Japanese dub and sounds wonderful. Each inflection and nuanced emotion comes through well, conveying what is happening on screen. The gross effects of bodies thudding or crunching also come across well and I will admit I flinched a time or two. The music is also perfectly moody and somber which was perfect!

Replayability

In total there are ~40 endings for players to discover in Corpse Party: Blood Drive, split between the true endings and wrong endings. After completing a chapter, an EX chapter will also unlock, giving players more to discover. While it takes ~15 hours to beat the game, all this extra stuff to find and see will take many more.

What It Could Have Done Better

One of the most frustrating things to me in Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the cabinet mechanic. Even when you think you have hidden correctly and out of sight, the Phantoms will come right to you and deliver a devastating blow. It doesn’t always happen, but it was often enough to warrant mention. There is also no map system in the game, so be prepared to have good environmental memorization or to draw your own map like it is 1989! I don’t think this is a bad thing personally, but I know many will be frustrated by it which is why I bring it up.

Verdict

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is an insane conclusion to an insane story arc covered in two previous games. If you haven’t played the two previous entries, Blood Drive will be confusing and won’t deliver the same impact. Seriously, playing the first two entries is mandatory and thankfully they are readily available on Steam for cheap. That being said, Blood Drive delivers a chilling experience and a ton of content for the $20 asking price. The game won’t be for everyone considering the very dark nature of the content and the horror aspect. But for fans of this stuff, I can definitely see why the game has a cult following. Despite not being into many horror games myself, the story of Heavenly Host Elementary School has been one of the more interesting things I have experienced in some time and worth checking out!