The narrative from here on gets a bit sad, unfortunately.
Corpse Party trades off significantly in terms of its level of difficulty, trying to achieve a dramatic effect on players. Those dead-ends mentioned earlier are one thing, but repetitive elements in games need to serve a purpose and be used sparingly. Too many of the encounters in
Corpse Party have the feeling of a trap, which is appropriate for the characters, considering their situation. Should playing a trapped, desperate character bring out the same emotions in the player? How long will a player endure this before giving up and moving to something more rewarding? It likely depends on one's definition of reward. If you're turned on by challenges that feel unbalanced, where the game seems stacked against you, and where you never feel your characters have the upper hand,
Corpse Party is going to knock your socks off. We've enjoyed our share of survival horror games, but we found the experience here too stifling. Perhaps because of a limited save-game feature, and because of lengthy scripted sequences that one is forced to replay in their entirety. The time investment becomes an issue, but there's also the problem with reward. Even in the most glaring crises, we need something that feels like hope. A healing item, a gun with bullets, a companion, however token... anything that helps ease the tension.
Corpse Party does perhaps too good a job of creating a mood of desperation that bleeds over into how it feels to play the game. A good comparison might be
Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which we found grating for the same reasons. Considering the success of
Amnesia, there does appear to be a sub-genre of gamers who prefer handicapped, trial-and-error gameplay over godlike status. If
Corpse Party can find that audience, it will likely succeed.
