Horror visual novels Haunted house Psychological horror

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

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Go back into Heavenly Host and see the deaths you missed, and some you can escape.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (85% of 523 reviews)
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard, mouse or controller; full mouse support for point-and-click searching.
Made by: MAGES. (5pb.); published by XSEED Games
Released: 2018

What frightens An anthology of chapters set in Heavenly Host Elementary, the cursed school of the first Corpse Party, where trapped students meet vengeful child ghosts. You search first-person rooms smeared with blood and scrawled with curses while the Darkening system pushes frightened characters toward gruesome Wrong Ends, told in graphic art, text and binaural Japanese voices.
Content: gore, violence against children, torture, sexualised images, strong language.

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is a Japanese horror visual novel by MAGES. (5pb.), published on PC by XSEED Games. Its chapters revisit the cursed Heavenly Host Elementary before, during and after the first Corpse Party, letting you search its blood-soaked rooms and steer students away from, or into, gruesome deaths.

About Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows came to Steam in October 2018, an HD release of the PSP game developed by MAGES. (formerly 5pb. Games) under the supervision of the series' creators at Team GrisGris and published by XSEED Games. It is also sold on GOG. The store calls it a sequel, prequel, midquel and alternate universe tale all at once, and warns that it spoils the first Corpse Party, so play that first.

Each chapter follows a different student trapped in Heavenly Host Elementary, a school from another world where children were murdered and their ghosts still wait. Some chapters replay events from the first game from another point of view; others ask what would have happened if a student had acted differently, and let you escape a death that happened before, not always to a better end.

Play is first-person and point-and-click: in Search Mode you look around still rooms, click on bodies, notes and doors, and choose what to do, while voiced scenes play out over anime character art. Many key scenes are recorded in binaural 3D audio, so footsteps and whispers seem to come from beside you. The Darkening system tracks each character's fear: as they find horrors the picture distorts and their choices narrow, and following a darkened path ends in one of the game's dozens of Wrong Ends.

The store warns of extreme violence in full-screen art, text and voice acting, including the mutilation, torture and murder of children, as well as fanservice images and strong language. It suits players who finished Corpse Party and want more of its cast and its grim school.

How to play Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

Play the first Corpse Party before this one; the store warns it spoils that game.
Buy it on Steam or GOG and choose a chapter from the menu.
In Search Mode, look around each room and click on objects, bodies and doors to examine them.
Read and listen to the scenes, and choose what your character does when the game asks.
Watch your character's Darkening; reload and try another path when a choice leads to a Wrong End.

Screenshots

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows screenshot: a classroom of rows of desks smeared with blood under purple light

Tips

Wear headphones; many scenes use binaural 3D audio recorded with a dummy-head microphone.
Search every corner of a room before you leave it; clues and exits hide in the dark.
Save often, since a single wrong choice can lead to a Wrong End.
If you have a Corpse Party save on the same PC, import it to unlock extra art and the final chapter sooner.