https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/mary-skelter-2-switch/
But I think it is DL-only for the localized version?
Also, Mary Skelter 2 comes with a remade version of 1. I actually haven't started on 1 yet, but it would probably take me nearly another month, so I wanted to ahead and write about 2 first.
And yes, the story goes 2 to 1, and you unlock 1 once you beat 2.
Hmm,
First.
Well, first, let me say the main reason I bought this game is because my friend suggested it to me.
Second, Compile Hearts doesn't make godly games... but they know their audience and definitely makes satisfying games. Also, they won't randomly suddenly use an Otome game-artist and that crap. That said, the artist for this game is more on the cute side than the sexy side. Still male-oriented, yes.
Third, if playing all Etrian Odyssey games didn't kinda give it away, I like dungeon-crawling games.
So, I think you know I wrote about Moero Chronicles earlier, right?
Let me just get it out of the way that this game clearly reuses the same game engine. Of course, the UI and stuff and specific systems are different. But just saying, really obvious.
But that kinda gives you an idea on how the game basically works. (I'm pretty sure a lot of the controls are the same too).
That said, this is definitely an improvement. While Moero Chronicles was completely fanservice-first, everything else-last, this definitely felt more... inspired?
Dungeon
The dungeons are actually pretty fun to explore. It definitely involves the player more than they would expect from a dungeon-crawling game. For instance, there are real-time gimmicks, where the player has to move quickly or balance on a rope or move fast enough before a switch closes.
Like in this image, the tile this headless statue resides on will cause damage to you if you stay on it too long (he tries to slash at you).
Also, very significant to the story, but until you proceed past a certain part of each dungeon, you will be occasionally chased by the Nightmare. Randomly as you explore the dungeon, the Nightmare will be placed in the dungeon. If you get close enough to them, they will start chasing you and will continue chasing you, even going through doors, until you open a certain amount of distance from them.
While chasing you, you cannot open the menu or even look at the map. If they catch up to you, they will cause damage. If you encounter an enemy while being chased, the Nightmare will actually continue moving and attacking you while you fight the normal enemies. At any time (especially if you get trapped in a dead end), you can enter a battle with the Nightmare. However, they are not defeatable. If you destroy one part of their body, they will become stunned and battle ends. And then since they no longer move, you can get away easily.
By the way, damage from gimmicks and Nightmares can kill you and cause a Game Over.
Also, each character on your team has a special map ability, which are used to go through the dungeons. This is also part of the puzzle-solving in the dungeons, you can say.
A lot of the dungeons have gimmicks that are solved by the girl that most recently joined your team, but the last dungeon really makes you think a bit to get past each floor. And that was pretty fun.
Battle
I would say this part needs the most improvement. Because the difficulty of battles is pretty much summarized:
Can the enemy hurt your entire party with one attack?
No -> Then he is easy.
Yes -> Then he is hard
There isn't that much variety to the attacks. Or at least, that you have to worry about. Because I played on the highest difficulty (obviously), and the above question is the only lasting impression I had of the difficulty.
That said, the same can't be said about your side. You're gonna have to use a lot more to beat the enemies.
Also, the blood system is pretty cool. Under certain conditions, your blood meter fills up, which allows the characters to enter Genocide or Blood Skelter mode. The character powers up during both modes, but Blood Skelter is a berserk mode that you cannot control.
More importantly, the characters' voices change during these two modes, in which they generally get really excited. Even the dead-panned Gretel starts showing emotions in these two modes.
Oh, but they only scream or laugh during Blood Skelter. Fine with me though. I love listening to Gretel's "Kihihi" laugh.
Story
Like I said, this felt inspired enough. As you might be able to tell from the characters' names, this game uses the fairy tales for inspiration. Also, there seems to be a deeper reason to all of this, but as far as Mary Skelter 2 goes, I don't really think that was explained.
Anyways, the general atmosphere is pretty horrific, with dungeons filled with eyeballs and mouths and whatsoever monsters. The playable characters themselves power-up when the enemies' blood is spilled on them. Characters die. And sometimes gruesomely (not depicted visually though).
I mean, this is about a story where the human race has been dominated by monsters. Naturally, it isn't gonna be pretty.
There is a touching mini-game in this game, but as I said before, this artist's characters are more cute than sexy, so I mean, yeah, the game exists. But I don't really do the game more often than I need.
But hey, you get to see the girls in school swimsuits. Always welcome, right?
I don't really want to get into the details, because it kinda gets long and you can probably get a summary off the game's website (Nintendo's, I guess, in this case). But I just wanted to say I ended up fairly invested in the story. And if you become invested in the story, you'll end up really wanting to play 1 after 2. Because... Well, let's say... You won't feel that good otherwise.
Kinda actually... scary
One thing that actually scared me often while playing this game was the screams of the Nightmare. You see, when the Nightmare is placed on the dungeon, they let out a scream to let you know.
And some of those Nightmares have pretty horrific screams.
And don't forget, these screams will just suddenly happen without any visual cue.
Along with the fact you will either have to hide from it (they will leave the dungeon if they do not find you for a certain amount of time) or get chased a bit, the arrival of the Nightmare really sucks.
But there are also a few Nightmares' whose screams are... kinda meh? The deeper ones aren't that scary.
Finally,
Anyways, definitely enjoyed playing the game. I think it took around 70 hours to beat.
And now I have to go play Mary Skelter 1 (Remake).
I'll probably write something about that too once I beat it.
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