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Stunning horror? Extra like fantastically uninteresting!
The PlayStation 2 has some of the iconic recreation libraries of all time, together with among the finest survival horror video games ever made: Silent Hill 2 and 3, the Siren collection, Rule of Rose, loads of Resident Evil video games, and naturally, the Deadly Body collection. Sadly, exterior of Resident Evil, just about all of them have fallen by the wayside for one purpose or one other.
Nevertheless, in celebration of the 20 th anniversary of the Deadly Body collection, Koei Tecmo has graced followers in every single place with a Deadly Body PS2 assortment on fashionable platforms — oh wait, sorry, that’s only a part from my listing of hopes and desires. As a substitute, they put out a remaster of the Wii U Deadly Body hardly anybody performed or preferred all that a lot.
Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water (PS5 [reviewed], PS4, Xbox Sequence X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Change, Wii U, PC)Developer: Koei Tecmo Writer: Koei Tecmo Launched: October 27, 2021 (October 22, 2015 for the unique Wii U launch)MSRP: $39.99
Six years on from its preliminary launch, Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water hasn’t aged gracefully as a result of easy reality it simply wasn’t all that scary to start with. Even when it was initially launched, video games like Alien: Isolation (which got here out a yr earlier) when it comes to pure horror made every part in Maiden of Black Water appear trivial by comparability. Outdoors of the incredible setting and spooky ghosts, the ineffectiveness of its horror is because of a horrible story, a forgettable solid of characters, and loads of questionable design selections.
Maiden of Black Water is about on the fictional mountain generally known as Mount Hikami and offers with loads of heavy themes and matters resembling suicide and ritual sacrifice, and is closely impressed by the unsettling real-world location generally known as the “Sea of Timber.” Mix all this with wealthy Japanese folklore, and it’s a terrifying setting that’s wasted (once more) in Maiden of Black Water.
With out diving into too many spoilers, a giant a part of that is as a result of solid of characters being practically simply as lifeless because the ghosts they’re taking photos of. The story is informed throughout roughly fourteen chapters and from three completely different character views who all have the emotional vary of anyone who simply awakened and is being requested twenty questions directly. All through the sport, when it comes to feelings on show, these characters both look confused, barely startled, or half-asleep.
For all of the shit Ethan Winters will get for his one-liners and reactions to issues happening round him within the newest Resident Evil video games, at the least he does react to issues. In the meantime, Yuri from Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water is as I simply described: seemingly impassive with reference to virtually every part happening. (Admittedly, I’m solely choosing on her as a result of regardless of simply rolling the credit on this recreation, I couldn’t inform you the names of the opposite playable characters if my life relied on it — they’re that forgettable.)
For example of what I’m on about: In a single scene proper out of the Ju-on motion pictures, Yuri is taking a shower when immediately the water round her is full of black hair, and Yuri is pulled below. A menacing pale maiden seems in entrance of Yuri, solely inches away from her face as black water begins pouring out of the maiden’s eyes. Yuri then wakes up from what was only a nightmare. We’ve all seen related scenes like this earlier than.
Usually, although, the expressions on the character’s face are certainly one of pure terror, and admittedly, when Yuri wakes up afterward, she at the least seems shaken. However in the intervening time when the maiden is inches from her face with black goo in every single place? She no-sells the maiden’s try at horror and gawks proper again at her with a glance of delicate inconvenience at finest. I burst out laughing afterward on the considered the ghost maiden going again up her spooky mountain, complaining to different ghosts that the dwelling aren’t gullible sufficient for this shit anymore.
I may proceed ranting in regards to the story, its weird pacing, and the way it bends over backward to provide you with excuses for these characters to maintain leaving (after which return up) the haunted suicide mountain. So as an alternative, let’s speak in regards to the different principal explanation why Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water fails at being a scary recreation — its repetitive and straight-up uninteresting gameplay.
On the finish of every chapter, you’re graded on how nicely you probably did with a rank and a bunch of factors to spend on digital camera upgrades or gadgets you should purchase at the beginning of the next chapter. Nevertheless, between that and the very fact you’re robotically given over twenty (20!) therapeutic gadgets at the beginning (together with tons extra you possibly can choose up or purchase), it kills any sense of pressure or problem within the recreation as an entire until you’re chasing after a excessive rating or one thing.
Worse but, Nightmare problem isn’t out there till you’ve crushed the roughly 14-hour-long marketing campaign on regular or simple (the latter of which disables the rating stuff and allows you to “get pleasure from” the story). It’s additionally in that size and horrible pacing the stable photography-based fight with the Digital camera Obscura turns into mind-numbingly uninteresting lengthy earlier than even the midway level.
As soon as once more, you cope with ghoulish spirits by getting them within the body, letting them get dangerously shut, and allotting huge harm with deadly frames. Admittedly, it’s a superb taking pictures system that appeared excellent for the Wii U GamePad. On the DualSense controller with gyro controls, it really works nicely sufficient. It may nonetheless be unwieldy at instances, however fortunately, you can too use analog controls for those who favor that.
Nevertheless, the character motion continues to be painfully sluggish and extremely clunky in tighter inside areas. Humorous sufficient, that’s just about the one semblance of problem the sport has going for it. The fact is that if these characters may transfer at a brisk tempo, it’d make coping with the ghosts much more trivial than it already is. To be efficient at fight, all it’s essential to grasp is your timing with dodges (urgent X proper earlier than an assault) and holding an affordable distance from the ghosts between lining up good pictures. Actually, although, with the quantity of therapeutic gadgets your characters have available, you’ll hardly ever be in any actual hazard in Maiden of Black Water.
I say hardly ever as a result of there are particular moments sprinkled all through the marketing campaign the place you run into the first black water maiden herself (who’s invincible to your digital camera trickery) and can briefly be pursued. She seems to be cool as hell, however these are temporary encounters that simply have you ever working away. They’re additionally considerably trivial, because of your stack of therapeutic gadgets.
It was in these unhealthy bitch maiden appearances, although, the place it felt like my mind was lastly pulled out of autopilot whereas enjoying. Other than that, the setting and environment do all of the heavy lifting right here to take care of your curiosity, which will get ruined by low-cost scares anyway. One instance they re-use a number of instances throughout the entire recreation usually occurs whereas your character is (slowly) choosing up gadgets; a ghost hand could attempt to seize you. It does little or no harm to your character and received previous for me after the primary time.
As for this up to date launch on newer platforms, Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water on PlayStation 5 runs in a local 4K decision, has barely higher water results and shadows, however in any other case seems to be fairly akin to the unique Wii U model.
They’ve additionally eliminated the Samus and Zelda outfits (together with for the Nintendo Change launch), doubtless as a consequence of licensing points. As a substitute, they’ve added newer outfits which are far much less visually attention-grabbing, and I by no means bothered utilizing them.
There’s additionally a photograph mode that permits you to place completely different ghosts within the setting and toggle varied poses for a enjoyable diorama show. I’m certain some of us on the market will love that stuff, nevertheless it solely ever saved my consideration for a couple of minutes at most. Additionally, all of the censorship from the unique western launch continues to be in-tact as nicely, so for those who’re searching for a “attractive outfit” repair, you’ll need to make do with the brand new ones, I assume.
That is all hypothesis on my half, however Deadly Body: Maiden of Black Water comes off like a recreation that had some unimaginable artists with cool concepts for this setting and the Wii U pill, however they couldn’t fairly determine a cohesive story to inform. To make issues worse, I get the impression additionally they didn’t wish to scare away newcomers on a brand new system and toned the scare issue proper down.
Six years later, in that timeframe, Capcom did the other with Resident Evil 7 — which has now offered over 10 million copies, making it some of the in style video games within the franchise. I believe if Koei Tecmo nonetheless has an curiosity in reviving the Deadly Body franchise, they want to return to the drafting board or give newcomers a very good assortment of video games that made this survival horror collection nice within the first place.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
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