Review cover Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): October 23, 2019
  • Release Date (JP): May 29, 2013
  • Publisher: XSEED
  • Developer: Team GrisGris
  • Genres: Puzzle, Survival Horror

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

Review Approach:

Imagine starting a game with no prior knowledge as to what is going on in the series. Now imagine the protagonist of the game being completely lost as to what is happening around her. In Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient, that is the same exact situation I found myself on. By playing the series for the first time, I found myself on an adventure of discovery along with Ayame Itou (our protagonist) to find out what events have led up to her current predicament.
Hospitals, horror, and anime girls: That's right, it's time for another Corpse Party game. Strap in for the first piece to a haunting puzzle in the newest localized title, Dead Patient.
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The game begins with Ayame waking up in the middle of a hospital bed, while being strapped down, unable to move. Only to realize as soon as she breaks free that she has no recollection of how she ended up there or who she really is. From here the game drops the player right into its puzzle mechanics. One of its consistent themes is to search your immediate surroundings to find a way to proceed to the next floor or the next room. Here is where it becomes clear that, in order to solve any puzzles, you will have to check your surroundings meticulously. Some of the puzzles are fairly clever while others will make you question why they were even implemented in the first place.

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You're presented with puzzles as soon as the game begins.

From here on out the story takes place front and center. You are stuck in a hospital that is on lockdown with no obvious way out. The people that you run into at first seem to have nothing coherent to say or are out to hurt you. Luckily for Ayame she soon runs into other survivors that are still sane and become part of the story. While the character designs do not particularly stand out, their introductions add a sense of comfort in contrast to the horror of their current predicament. As for the plot itself, without going into any spoilers, is very engaging in itself. The game features multiple endings for Ayame’s chapter. Choices are presented to the player at certain points of the game; what makes these choices fascinating is that not always the obvious moral choices are the correct ones to drive the story forward. Unfortunately for our second protagonist Satoshi, his short chapter is a fairly straightforward 15-minute affair that will leave you wanting for more.

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Satoshi, the game's second protagonist gets roughly 15 minutes of screen time.

Sound design is a particular area where this game truly stands out. Paying close attention to the noises you may hear in your surroundings becomes vital to your character's survival in certain situations. Run for too long and your characters running and gasping noises drowns out any other sounds in the surrounding environment. Light bulbs going out make flickering noises that add a nice touch to the dark environments of the game. Listening to where people’s voices are coming from can give you a sense of which areas to proceed to. A lot of thought went into making the sounds of the environment and it really shows. The game's music in contrast, ranges from adequate to excellent.

The game's graphics are probably one of its weakest selling points. At times the game looks like a high-resolution Nintendo DS title from 2007, though it's not to say that there aren't strong points in its graphical design. Keeping an eye to the shadows of the edge of your screen can help you find where enemies are located and avoid those areas if need be. The cute on-screen design of the characters can seem awkward in contrast to the game's dark subject matter at times. Other things worthy of note is that unfortunately there are graphical glitches in some sections of the screen with this localization. Random Japanese characters can pop up on the top left and right corners of the game during certain dialogue screens.

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Random Japanese characters appear at the top of the screen from time to time.

Enemy design does detract from the experience at times as well. Some enemies are just an annoyance to deal with given how most of the game takes place in narrow corridors. Much is also left to be desired in what could be considered some of the game's boss fights. They are clunky in execution. Fortunately, the game itself plays to its strengths in design to make overlooking these flaws an easy thing to do. Health items are abundant and will never be an issue provided that you don't try to play recklessly, however, I will give a friendly piece of advice that the game probably does not encourage enough: save in many different slots and do it often. It helps with proper game progression and is vital to getting the most out of your experience.

In conclusion, Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient is a decent puzzle game with survival horror elements, with a great story to go with it. The game has flaws in gameplay but they are very forgivable given how the game plays consistently to its strengths. I look forward what the next chapter brings with it. I have never played the prior games before but it sure made me interested in looking them up. I will be impatiently waiting for what the new chapter brings when it's released.

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Engaging Story
  • Great sound design
  • Multiple and blood curling endings really drive home the consequences of your actions
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Extremely short in length
  • Glitches in the localization work
  • Enemy and boss design could be better thought out
  • Second protagonist's story is roughly 15 minutes in length
7
Gameplay
The games puzzle solving mechanics are decent. Dealing with enemies on the other hand can range from dull to outright obnoxious.
7
Presentation
Visuals are not its strong point but with a superb sound design and great storytelling, it will keep you engaged until the end.
8
Lasting Appeal
An interesting story makes it worth a try. It will just be a matter of when future chapters will be released.
7.9
out of 10

Overall

The game features a good story driven experience and the puzzles for the most part are solid. Unfortunately the game will be released in episodes and that makes the experience fairly short. The game playing to its strengths consistently makes the shortcomings forgivable.
Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): October 23, 2019
  • Release Date (JP): May 29, 2013
  • Publisher: XSEED
  • Developer: Team GrisGris
  • Genres: Puzzle, Survival Horror
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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