Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Coming This Winter, Corpse Party Sale Tomorrow

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Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Coming This Winter, Corpse Party Sale Tomorrow

Corpse Party for PSP

Corpse Party on PSP. What more can you say about it? In my previous PlayStation.Blog entries, I’ve likened it to horror classics such as Clock Tower and Fatal Frame. I’ve talked about how it’s one of the creepiest, most effective horror games I’ve ever played, and how its unique visuals, its 3D binaural audio and its storytelling methods help give it an uncomfortable, unforgettable atmosphere. And you, fair players… you agreed with me. You played it late at night with headphones on, just as I suggested, and it kept you awake. It haunted your nightmares and made you jump every time your house creaked or your neighbor’s kids smacked the wall… until you realized, wait a minute, I don’t have any neighbors!

And then you were never heard from again…Presumably because you were too busy getting every wrong end in the game, of course. It’s hard to resist the charm of those horrible, horrible deaths, after all! Call it morbid curiosity if you will, but we all know you, like Morishige, get a certain sadistic thrill out of seeing (or, more often, hearing) these characters you’ve come to know and love get killed, slowly, in the most creatively twisted ways imaginable.

But then, some of you reading this might not have the slightest idea what I’m talking about, because you’ve committed the ultimate sin of never having played Corpse Party. Well, fear not! You can make up for it on the cheap, since Corpse Party will be available on the North American PlayStation Store for $9.99 – half off its regular price! – from tomorrow’s Store update until two updates later on November 6th.

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Coming This Winter, Corpse Party Sale Tomorrow

But wait, there’s more! Not only is Corpse Party cheaper than ever, its sequel Corpse Party: Book of Shadows has officially been announced for digital release on PSP in North America this winter (with a European release planned for sometime shortly thereafter). So you’d best get familiar with the denizens of Heavenly Host Elementary School now, as they’re going to be coming back full-force in a just a few short months!

…Ah, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. I’ve been translating that game for the last couple months, and I have to say, it is one hell of a sequel. It’s divided into eight chapters, each of which tells its own self-contained short story. Some of them help fill in the blanks of what happened during crucial off-camera scenes from the original game. Others go into the back-story of various characters, helping to flesh them out and make their roles in the series mythos a bit clearer. Still others ask “what if?,” presenting an alternate version of events from the first game in which characters who previously died are kept alive and given a fleeting chance to stay that way. And the game’s wonderfully-titled final chapter, “Blood Drive,” serves as a true sequel, focusing on two of the first game’s survivors as they venture somewhere even deadlier than Heavenly Host Elementary School in order to dig up some answers.

Corpse Party Book of Shadows on PSPCorpse Party Book of Shadows on PSP

The whole game is presented in a first-person point-and-click adventure game style, and is much heavier on dialogue- and narrative-driven cutscenes than its predecessor (even venturing into visual novel territory at times). The spooky atmosphere is as thick as ever, though, and the gameplay is aided by fast-forward and message log features, as well as the ability to open the menu and save at absolutely any time (even during cutscenes).

Fans of the first game are virtually guaranteed to love Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, and fans of survival horror and horror fiction in general (especially Japanese horror) who haven’t already given this series a try are strongly encouraged to do so, since it really is among the best at what it does.

Specific information on pricing and release timing will be available in the coming months… and in the meantime, that first Corpse Party is calling your name, quietly and mournfully, in the voice of a child. A dead child. And how can you possibly ignore the voice of a dead child?
How, indeed…

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153 Comments

  • @Jess Thank you for the response! I respect that :)

  • @Jess I think it was the fact that the deaths were happening to innocent kids that got to me. If adults were dying, I likely would have had a similar reaction to what you experienced. The story and atmosphere (graphics + music/sound) was really well done, and it’s a great example of a game that isn’t really fun to play yet still utterly engrossing (there aren’t enough of these games). Time to psych myself up and try it again! :)

    • It does make it a lot harder to bear when they’re kids, but to be fair, slasher flicks have long portrayed high school kids in these roles and kid ghosts are also very common even in Western horror films. I hear ya, though.

      Even so, cheers for pushing on. I believe the story makes it worth it, and in the end I think the satisfaction of ‘surviving’ (or do you?)(mwaha) will make this one of those memorable games for you. :)

      -Jess

  • I’ve recently discovered a few of your games (YS!) and will most definitely be picking CP up tomorrow!

    How many people work at XSEED and how many are split up into “teams” to work on bringing these games over? It interests me also in how you guys go about choosing new games to bring over and which ones can’t make the jump. Thanks again for the time, XSEED always has a fantastic outreach to fans on here.

    • Awesome! Thanks!

      As for XSEED, we currently number…

      President- 1
      VP – 1
      PR Extraordinaire- 1
      Localization Manager- 1 (me!)
      Translator- 1 (Tom!)
      Product Assistant- 1
      Accounting- 2

      As for teams, well, everyone does everything. I edit as well as do submissions and community stuff, etc., and Tom translates/edits, plus we drag in our poor PA to QA and our VP has even jumped in the recording booth before. Basically we spread everyone about like too little butter over too much bread. :D

      To choose games we take our cues from everywhere. Games we think are cool, games our fans think are cool, games we see in Famitsu, etc. Then we evaluate the title and make a decision. Games like Corpse Party are extra special because Tom himself suggested it and pushed for it. He is truly the champion of this series.

      -Jess

  • omg xseed you are making me squeal like a piggy, i always tell everyone how much full of awesomesauce you guys are and this helps prove it

  • I am one of the bigger pansies when it comes to horror games. I won’t watch scary movies /at all/ and I won’t read most Stephen King. But I picked up Corpse Party last year because I wanted to support XSEED — I liked that they were bringing over a niche game to a niche portable in a niche way. Then I started hearing great reviews of the game across the board…

    So I started playing it.

    And I haven’t shut up about the game yet. Sadly, too few of my friends own PSPs, but I’ve put the offer out to them: I will buy you Corpse Party. It’s too fun, too… gruesome… too good of a portable to not pass along. Is it creepy? Oh hell yes. But wandering around Heavenly Host has, thus far, been very, very interesting. I can’t recommend the game enough to anyone. I’m a huge horror pansy and I /love/ the game. I revel in describing how creepy the audio is and the bad ends are.

    Thank you, XSEED, for taking a chance on the original and bringing this one over as well.

    One question: Will the Corpse Party sale be in effect in Australia? (Is the game even available on PSN there?) One of my good friends lives there and is very interested in playing the game, though he hasn’t turned his PSP on in years…

    • I don’t believe any of our games have been released in Australia, and as an M-rated game I don’t think Corpse Party was even allowed back when it first came out. Australia is definitely something we’re looking into, though!

      -Jess

  • Was Blood Drive in the original Japanese release or is it the new thing coming out at Comiket?

    • That is definitely a Tom question. He’s the expert, although there was a lovely rundown by PrinceofXIII (comment #22) that might clear that up!

      -Jess

  • Will the Japanese voices stay in this one as the Japanese voices in the first one did?

  • I have been waiting for a Corpse Party sale since buying a used PSP 4 months ago to replace my original launch PSP that died a week before Corpse party was released.Thank you for reducing the price to $9.99 to ease my burdens during this holiday shopping season.I will hopefully grab book of shadows when it is released as long as this PSP doesn’t decide to stop working as well.

  • I’ve been looking at corpse party for awhile now. At 9.99, I’ll definitely be picking this up tomorrow. Thanks Xseed

  • Def. on my download list tomorrow. Now Jess, what is that odd avatar?

    • Huzzah(!) and my avatar is the Hero from Half-Minute Hero for PSP! One of the first games I worked on. :)

      -Jess

  • LOVED the first corpse party, I will def get the sequel ! Day one for me ^^

  • Corpse Party half off AND Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward tomorrow? Yeah. My vita will be getting quite the work out.

  • Avatar photo

    If you play CP more than VLR, let me know so I can brag to Aksys. ;)

    -Jess

  • Book of Shadows is definitely a Day 1 buy for me. I hope it does well enough for you guys to consider the next game in the series. The first one absolutely blew me away and I’m super glad you gave it a chance.

    • Cheers for the day 1! And if you guys support it like you did the first one and keep spreading the word, then you never know. Bigger audience = bigger chance. :)

      -Jess

  • I really wish this game was for ps3 too. I Really want to play it but I don’t want to buy a psp just to play it since there no other games for psp i would want to play.

    • Whaaaaaaat?! No other PSP games you want to play? Madness! There are tons of amazing PSP games. It has an incredible library (with many of our titles!) and now that it’s an older console you can get it for cheap along with the games. Dive in! Dive in now! And then you’ll be able to play Corpse Party too… :D

      -Jess

  • I played the first game before my PSP decided it was time for it to say goodbye to the world. I didn’t get to finish the game though before that happened. Might try it on again on my Vita, but I am definitely buying the sequel (depending on the price since I just used up all of my “gaming money” buying the Mercenary Edition of Ragnarok Odyssey)…even though the first one scared me enough that, at one point, I played it with Christmas Carols (there’s nothing like going through a horrific death scene listening to “Santa Clause is Coming to Town) blasting in my ears just so I wouldn’t have a heart-attack (I play horror games but I mostly do it if my sister’s around).

    • Aww… Sorry your PSP died and you couldn’t finish. I know that feel (with a different console, though). You should definitely give it another go on the Vita, and I hope you’ll be tempted by Book of Shadows when it does drop (will let everyone know that crucial detail when I can). It’ll be just about that time again too. You can listen to more carols while unsuspecting high schoolers meet gruesome ends…

      And hurray for the Mercenary Edition snag! Thanks so much!

      -Jess

  • OMG. THANK. YOU. XSEED.

    Absolutely LOVED the first game. “Looked childish” but turned out to be one of the most terrifying horror games I have played in ages. More adventure elements in the second game = DAY ONE.

    So happy you guys decided to go for the second one. Again – THANK YOU.

    • Haha. I think a lot of people were deceived by the look and got a big surprise. :) I hope that word of its real nature has spread and more can see past the ‘anime’ style and give it a go. It truly is a game that uses scares effectively and presents a kind of horror many haven’t experienced yet (3D audio for the win!).

      Thanks for giving it a go and for stepping up for our next CP offering. Tell everyone you know that if they want a terrifying game for Halloween, there’s one on sale right now that will scratch that itch. ;)

      -Jess

  • …No words can explain how happy I was to read this. I honestly had tears of joy.. Since the day i picked up and fell in love with Corpse Party.. Only to find out that a sequel(Prequel in some cases) existed.. I actually took the time to pray that this would be released..
    A sincere Thanks from the bottom of whats left of my heart Q_Q You guys are my hero’s.

    R.I.P Seiko.
    Rock on Xseed

    Del~

    • Well, we’re happy to answer your heartfelt request. ^_^ Fans really rallied around this one. We know digital-only isn’t everyone’s favorite, but you guys gave your all and we’re happy to bring you the next one. Keep spreading the word and we’ll try to keep bringing you as many awesome games as we can.

      -Jess

  • I bought Corpse Party on day one last year and I’ll repeat that day one purchase with Book of Shadows. Thank you XSEED!

    P.S. Ys Celceta…

    • You are a scholar and a gentleman, RH. :) Cheers for the continued support.

      -Jess (a.k.a. H.P.)(^_^)

      P.S. Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves…

  • I promised myself I’d buy Corpse Party as soon as it went on sale, so here we go.

    Now I’m actually a little worried about what I’m getting into – I think that trailer for Book of Shadows ranks as the most genuinely disturbing I’ve ever seen for a video game.

    Kudos to you.

  • Always wanted these games but I’m never buying a PSP again. Getting robbed for it multiple times is a real turn off to portable gaming.

    Guess I’ll have to wait till.. Someday, they release these games playable on the PS3 system. Which at the current release date is due between Never and Never , in the 20th Q of Infinity.

    : ( Oh well, hope you guys enjoy it.

  • I just logged in first time ever to say, THANK YOU JESS. Best news I’ve heard in months.

    Marry me? :-)

    • Haha. You’re welcome. Hope you’ll spend many a terrified night with it.

      And I am, however, taken, but Tom is up for grabs. You’ll have to fight a few other posters off for him, though. :)

  • yo to let you guys know the sale is not on the discount page. Whats up with that? I mean its still discounted when you search for it but you guys gatta put your game out there.

  • Damn, Xseed… I can’t express how grateful and happy I am.
    I’m buying this on day one YES or YES!
    I tohught I’d never see Book of Shadows on my PSP. I loved Blood Covered: Repeated Fear… and I hope you can get here 2U and Corpse Party 2.
    Jess, sweetheart, is it true that if this game sells well, you guys may get Corpse Party 2U to America? (It doesn’t matter if it’s a romantic parody)
    Greetings and Thank you so much again for bringing this game!

  • i’m hearing things regarding Book of shadows on PSP only and not Vita, hoping it’s just a rumor. i have both so it matters little, but it’d be nice to play it on my ultra crisp Vita screen…

  • When will Book of Shadow’s official website be up?

  • please Book of Shadows avatars ( =

  • I’ve actually been looking for this game since yesterday… or the day before. my PS Vita’s PS Store doesn’t seem to have it… I’ve updated my PS Vita already, and looked through my settings, but I still don’t see CP: BoS in my store…?

  • I would love a Vita version of this. A LOT of Vita owners I feel may likely be anime fans. Or at least fans of anime whom can afford the Vita lol, which in case is personally an agreeable price compared to what hardware can do. I love my Vita, a mess of games would be amazing! Even minis with trophies or little games like Zenonia on the Vita, THOSE are amazing. The in-game rewards make the limited out-game rewards THAT much more inspiring. Like Borderlands. I’ve been playing it since release, with a number of my friends and not always the same ones but we are ALL DOING THE EXACT SAME THING. That same thing is that we are even replaying through the entire game with duplicate characters because of that Bad-ass rank feature, improving your game, earning trophies on the outside of that is just a double up on rewards. Though a lot of folks see them as pointless, I know plenty of people that just WANT them because the in-game rewards somewhat demand it. HARD TO EXPLAIN for my widdle brain, but bahh! Zenonia is a good example of FUN. And hell, I’d make micro payments while playing the newest version on my console or handheld (preferably Vita) Baaah! I just want more games. I’m insane.

  • I enjoy this game very much, and can not wait for the sequel. Do we have a exact date when the sequel comes out?

  • fantastic game! really freaked me out in some parts.i would say that my favorite part of the story would be the first chapter,and playing all five chapters were so unexpected and frightening,the game is so phychotic and fun, and just cant wait to play book of shadows,maybe ill even get it on vita…just as soon as i get the vita.

  • Fantastic news! (even if I am late to the party) I bought the first one on a whim last Christmas, was scared nearly to death. Everytime I entered a new room I’d close my eyes and then very slowly open them a crack to see if it was safe. lol

    Since finishing, I’ve been eagerly hungering for a localization announcement for Book of Shadows. Thankyou thankyou for making it happen! :)

  • Haven’t seen a price that low since the late 90’s and early 2000’s, wait i was still a kid then :D

  • Disturbed. Scared. Petrified. I haven’t felt this way since I played Amnesia. Which is more or less the last horror game I’ve played since I’m such a scaredy cat when it comes to horror games.

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