Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Reviews
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is, quite frankly, unremarkable. It’s not atrocious enough for me to say that I hated it. I didn’t hate it. If you’re a hardcore fan of visual novels, you might not hate it. However, I certainly wouldn’t recommend that you seek it out.
Even if the game’s visuals don’t appeal to you and you’ve never tackled any other games in the series, it still warrants investigating. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows’ frequently disconcerting and often bloody payoffs, as well as periodical dollops of psychological horror, make it worth tolerating the game’s less engaging moments.
This is a game for Corpse Party fans and nobody else, and that's fine. Building on the world, lore, and characters of the first game, Book of Shadows presents an encyclopaedia of every question you never knew you wanted answering, and will keep you wanting more. This version offering HD graphics and a real point and click interaction, it stands as the best way to experience these tragic tales.
Overall, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is a spooky and unsettling experience, but it’s not without some flaws. There is the occasional line that’s at a significantly lower volume than those before or after, making it hard to hear. The exploration mechanic also becomes quite repetitious over time, especially when events in an episode make it so any room could have something new in it, requiring players to go back and check every room they have access to for anything new.
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows doesn't boast AAA production values and does not try to scare you with realistic graphics, but smart sound design and excellent writing make it one of the most gripping, scary stories to be told on any medium.
The game is fantastic through and through. It is honestly my favorite Corpse Party entry in the franchise and just as easily my favorite in the horror genre as a whole.