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Corpse Party: Blood Drive

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Go back into Heavenly Host for the book that might bring the dead back.

Platforms: PC, Switch
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (73% of 365 reviews); OpenCritic top critic average 55, with 22% of critics recommending it
Length: about 10 hours for the main story, plus about 2 for the Extra Chapters
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or controller (partial controller support on Steam).
Made by: MAGES. Inc. and 5pb. (with Team GrisGris); published by XSEED Games
Released: 2019

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

Get it on Steam GOG Nintendo eShop (Switch)

What frightens Two months after Book of Shadows, class president Ayumi Shinozaki returns to the ruins of Heavenly Host Elementary, the otherworldly school where her friends died. With a flashlight she crosses dark 3D halls smeared with gore, runs from red-eyed shadows, hides in cabinets and disarms traps, while graphic art, text and Japanese voices describe the deaths.
Content: gore, violence against children, torture, sexualised images, strong language, mention of sexual violence.

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the conclusion of the Heavenly Host story arc, a Japanese horror adventure by MAGES. and 5pb., published by XSEED Games. Ayumi Shinozaki returns to the ruins of an otherworldly elementary school to find the Book of Shadows, crossing its gore-smeared halls by flashlight, hiding from pursuers and disarming traps.

About Corpse Party: Blood Drive

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the third game of the Heavenly Host story, made by MAGES. and 5pb. with Team GrisGris and published in English by XSEED Games. OpenCritic lists a first release on PlayStation Vita in 2015; the PC version came to Steam on 10 October 2019, and it is also sold on GOG and the Nintendo Switch eShop. It picks up two months after Corpse Party: Book of Shadows and closes the Heavenly Host arc in 11 story chapters and 8 Extra Chapters, so play the earlier games first.

Some members of Kisaragi Academy's class 2-9 came back from Heavenly Host, a hellish elementary school from another world. The ones who died there are trapped in it, reliving the moment of their deaths, and the living have forgotten they ever existed. Class president Ayumi Shinozaki once tried to use the Book of Shadows to bring them back and only made things worse. When a spirit photograph suggests the lost book lies in the ruins of Heavenly Host, she becomes set on going back. The maker's site says the school has changed: its walls come to life, new areas have formed, and others are hunting the book too.

For the first time in the series the school is in full 3D, seen from above with dynamic lighting, and you carry a flashlight through it as small chibi-style figures. Between voiced scenes with anime portraits you search rooms, run from pursuers, hide in cabinets and disarm traps; the screenshots show red-eyed shadows in corridors coated with gore, a skeleton slumped against a wall and a ghost girl in a mirror. The Darkening system and binaural 3D audio return from Book of Shadows, with Japanese voices and English text.

The store warns of extreme violence shown in full-screen art, text and voice acting, including the mutilation, torture and murder of children, along with fanservice images and strong language. Critics were cool on it: OpenCritic's top critic average is 55, and Nintendo Life gave it 5 out of 10. Steam players are kinder, at 73% positive. Gaming Nexus put the main story at a little over ten hours, with about two more for the Extra Chapters. It suits players who have followed Corpse Party this far and want its ending.

How to play Corpse Party: Blood Drive

Play Corpse Party and Corpse Party: Book of Shadows first; this picks up two months after the second.
Buy it on Steam, GOG or the Nintendo Switch eShop and start the first story chapter.
Explore Heavenly Host from above with your flashlight, searching rooms and reading what you find.
When something pursues you, run or hide in a cabinet until it passes.
Look out for traps and disarm them before they kill you.
After the 11 story chapters, play the 8 Extra Chapters.

Screenshots

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: a chibi schoolgirl holds up a light in a dark corridor smeared with gore as a red-eyed shadow stands behind her

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: a student with a flashlight runs across a broken, gore-covered wooden floor as a red-eyed shadow lurks nearby

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: a schoolgirl with a flashlight in a dark tatami room faces a mirror that shows a pale ghost girl

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: two students in a ruined wooden hallway beside a skeleton, as Inumaru asks if it is real

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: Ayumi clutches her head and cries in a dark tatami room where a body lies on the floor

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: a schoolgirl stands in a wrecked classroom with blood symbols on the wall and gore on the floorboards

Corpse Party: Blood Drive screenshot: Ayumi at a dressing table in a dim red room, her portrait saying "Sis... Give me strength..."

Tips

Play with headphones; many scenes use binaural 3D audio.
Search thoroughly: Gaming Nexus found items it needed tucked into corners of rooms, so sweep each room with the flashlight before you leave.
Chapter four is the longest, by Gaming Nexus's account, so save time for it.
Bad ends are part of the game; Gaming Nexus counts hunting them all as extra hours after the story and Extra Chapters.

Questions

Do I need to play the earlier Corpse Party games first?

Yes. It begins two months after Book of Shadows and concludes the Heavenly Host story, so it assumes you know both earlier games.

How long is Corpse Party: Blood Drive?

Gaming Nexus put the main story at a little more than ten hours, with about two more for the Extra Chapters, and more again if you hunt every bad end.

Is Corpse Party: Blood Drive on Switch?

Yes, it is sold on the Nintendo Switch eShop as well as on Steam and GOG.

Is it in English?

Yes on Steam, GOG and Switch: the text is in English (or Korean), and the voices are Japanese. The iPhone version sold by MAGES. has Japanese text only.

How gory is it?

Very. The store warns of extreme violence in art, text and voice acting, including the mutilation, torture and murder of children.

Can you fight back?

In small ways. The store says you can run, hide in cabinets and disarm traps, and that Heavenly Host gives more options to fight back than before.