So since I teased it yesterday, I bet a lot of you are wondering just what game I am reviewing today. It's simple really. You may already know what it is if you are a fan of pewdiepie's awful scream and plays on Youtube. Or maybe you're a japanese aficianado. Or perhaps you read the title for this blog. Today I review Ikenie no Yoru a.k.a.(Night of Sacrifice)
The Plot follows A group of college students who have decided to take a trip to a place called the Tsukuyomi Ravine, where people used to sacrifice to the gods. There are five main characters in this game, which the game encourages the player to rename with the names of their friends: Black, Blue, Yellow, Pink and Red for simplicity sake here
Black invites the group to the ravine, and his father owns the mansion in which they're staying at. Red is the hot-tempered leader of the group. He starts the whole mess with the statement "Let's test our courage". Blue is kind and has a strong sense of justice. Yellow has a pure heart - she is kind, well raised and nice to people. Pink states her opinions clearly and makes sure everyone hears them. Also, a mysterious young girl comes along the game and she seems to get along with Yellow. An extra character, "You", is playable in the epilogue of the story. You control each of the characters in turn as they explore the mansion.
So, Marvelous Entertainment has you control one of these five teenagers exploring a haunted mansion with no weapons against the ghosts, and instead you must run away to avoid being touched and killed. There are very few mechanics. The player walks forward with one button, and backwards with another. Tapping the buttons allows the player to briefly run. The Wii Remote is used as a flashlight, the Nunchuk is used to make calls/pick up calls from your "cell phone", and the Wii Balance Board is used for movement should you select it. As I mentioned, you are killed if you are touched by a ghost, and have no way of fighting back. Ghosts roam around in close or sparse patterns, and sometimes chase the player in short sequences. You must carefully time your movements to sneak past the ghosts. The game consists of 23 ten-minute segments which means this game is short.
The problem with a lot of this game is that you don't so much play this game as you watch it. If a chase does hapen you'll hammer the B button in a mad dash to where you have to be. It can sometimes be a pain as certain routes are temporarily blocked and you can get stuck. And the repetition is dreadful. You'll explore the same chunks of hallway from one area to the next. The story offers something. The games text messages hint at a complex network of events...though you'll never notice this subtle nuance here.
And now let's talk about the balance board aspect. In certain parts you will attempt to utilize this mechanic before quickly realizing it doesn't work. Thank goodness it's optional, because I hardly could imagine myself torturing myself like this. Once you beat this incredibly short game you can play a Nightmare mode which penalizes you for going too fast or slow. However, the fact that you play it almost exactly the same, but with a sort of gauge of pace....it falls short on replay value.
The problem with this horror game is that it offers very few scares and almost nothing else. There is just too little here. Too little gameplay and too much repetition does not a game make. And at asking prices on ebay or elsewhere going for $50 or more...spare yourself the money.
Review: A Boring Night at Freddie's
Alrighty now what is next?
Sufferin succotash!
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