Mary Skelter 2 - Switch Review

Mary Skelter: Nightmares was perhaps, or is still perhaps, one of my favorite Dungeon Crawlers of all time. Hosting a cast of Princesses thrown into the roles of Blood Maidens with the ability to combat nightmares, and perhaps find a way out of living dungeon known as The Jail, there was blood, gore, new features to revamp the entire style and a hell of a storyline to boot. Taking things back from the top, forget everything you know about Mary Skelter: Nightmares except for the fact that Mary Skelter 2 is going to be its own wild ride with new twists from the very beginning.

Starting off at about the same point of Little Red Riding Hood busting Jack and Alice out of their cell, things don’t go quite as planned this time around. Switching protagonists for Otsuu and The Little Mermaid, Alice goes into skelter mode and things just go to hell right then and there. Injured beyond actual healing, Jack basically dies in Little Mermaids arms but instead of letting go, he becomes a nightmare himself intent from finding Alice and protecting any of the other Maidens that they come across.

For those not acquainted with the original, Mary Skelter is a party based first person dungeon crawler that uses real time elements in the dungeons to step up the gameplay from simply being puzzle based. Using a party of up to five, each Blood Maiden brings a unique skill that can affect the environment such as cutting down side fences to blowing up cracked walls. Adding one last layer above the rest, Jack acted as a support for the Blood Maidens both in and out of combat.

Having Jack change from being a human to a nightmare makes for quite a few changes in both the gaming mechanics and storytelling. Story wise, Nightmare Jack is a massive hulk of power muscle that unlike the rest of the Jail's nightmares, has mostly retained who he is and will put himself in harm's warm for any Blood Maiden. Being a nightmare now though he can no longer really speak “English” so he instead speaks through Otsuu who seems to have a knack for Nightmare speak.

This change, other than being a big one, works because of how Otsuu decides to comport herself. Acting as Little Mermaid's Prince Charming, and dressing the part, Otsuu acts as the party leader for everyone and the glue that keeps them all together as Jack once did. Working as the Central point however, Otsuu still takes the stage as she also guides Nightmare Jack in combat instead of "you" controlling his supportive actions.

Mechanically, other than being smoother as this is the second time around, the changes in story that I'll only glimpse at will change how your party approaches dungeon crawling in the beginning hours. Not wanting to spoil it as it makes a significant difference, shops and all of your blood modifications will not come in early and it'll make sense as you start to explore The Jail. These options are back however as you can buy decorations for each Maiden's rooms which affects their affection, you can buy healing items, upgrade your gear and unlock skill slots to be used as each maiden learns new abilities as they level up.

Leveling your maidens still grants them class points (CP) which is used to learn and upgrade abilities within their certain class which can be changed sometime down the road after the first major boss fight. Healing abilities, attack spells, and passive buffs can all be learned as well as mixed and matched to give you the edge on your does that only get stronger as you move through the Jail's floors.

One thing that became quite clear very early is that because of the change in story and the time that it takes to unlock all of your facilities, is that Mary Skelter 2 is much harder than Mary Skelter. Well it is unless you utilize all of the new systems to their fullest. Alongside Jack's newest set of abilities in combat, you now have the ability to plant flowers in the dungeon that can blossom into gear. Spraying them with blood will increase the chance of something good but putting them onto fertile tiles will make them even better.

Having this new avenue to obtain gear, and good gear early on, helps level off the sheer power that enemies seem to obtain between floors. Enemies were hard to the point that one or two fights was enough to make me head back and heal once it was an option. Finally getting better gear meant that I could stick around longer but when enemies hit the entire party front or back row for a third of each Maiden’s health? Oh boy it’s not pretty. So with good gear equipped, here is where you really have to start learning to use the new Jack’s abilities.

Nightmare Jack, unlike the original who eventually got a gun to make sharing his blood with the maiden’s easier (yes it does make a return), has the ability to potentially stop enemies in their tracks at the potential cost of losing his mind and becoming Ripper Jack. Jack the Ripper you say? Ripper Jack will tear enemies apart in a berserker rage just as easily as he would to one of your Maidens on the field. So using abilities like the nightmare zone on one or more enemies can affect his state of mind in which you need to make sure that he tries to take a deep breath in order to not outright lose control. Before even using these abilities though, you have another choice to make. Does Otsuu fight or does Jack perform nightmarish abilities?

The battle system is still in place with your party facing off against enemies in a turn based format based off of initiative and speeds. Each character can use their melee weapon, defend, or use special abilities to attack the enemies in front of them. Where things changed is that Jack used to be a supplementary character with the ability to use items, take a hit and possibly get concussed, or use his blood to reduce the chance of a Maiden going into Skelter mode.

Now, with Nightmare Jack, he gets to go at the same time at Otsuu, but only if you want to. This choice allows you to either make two actions with Otsuu, two actions with Nightmare Jack, or one action a piece. The only issue that I have with this new setup is that I feel like the combination of the two, and the power it presents, are slower because of it often allowing other party members, and enemies, the chance to go up twice before their turn wraps back around and then becomes more normally paced. Otherwise? The power behind the Switch, and the size of the screen both handheld and in the cradle made for quite a difference.

Finally there’s the dungeon crawling itself. The real time elements are back. Statues waiting to cleave you in half, tight rope chain link wires to walk across, and I think they are new, it has been a while, swinging ropes to hold onto and jump off of. Amplify this with the constant threat of a Nightmare chasing you down? And it can be stressful as you map your way forward through a maze of locked doors, pitfalls and enemy infested corridors. And it works so damned well. Your map is automatically updated, if you’ve opened a locked door it’ll let you know that you have and the auto-travelling allows you to plot paths through the various floors. The only issue that I don’t think existed in the first, I could be wrong, again it’s been a while, is that if there’s something that could harm your party it’ll flat out stop the movement forward.

As I’ve said up top, I won’t get into the story because right there, more than what the “back of the case says”, it’ll spoil things and that should really be experienced on your own. What I will say though, is that the writing and the voice acting is just as great as the first and the characters and how they interact with one another is simply amazing. This is a Compile Heart and Idea Factory title. There’s dialog, and more than that, there’s a lot of dialog at times making you wonder a bit when the last time you actually moved around was. Is it an issue? No. You’ll be spending so much time searching for ways forward through The Jail that the reprieve of it is always welcomed.

Finally before wrapping it all up, I had been thinking to myself, with Mary Skelter being on the Vita or Steam, when it comes to the consoles / handhelds, the original is now on a legacy system that sadly for as great as it could be, died quietly in the night with little to no fanfare. So wouldn’t it be great to bring it over to the Switch? Apparently Compile Heart and Idea Factory thought the same because Mary Skelter: Nightmares exists within Mary Skelter 2 on the Switch. To access it, you can either finish Mary Skelter 2, or, at launch you can just grab free DLC in order to unlock it if you want to experience it first if you haven’t already. And if you haven’t? You really should!

I was a huge fan of the first and I’m just as much of a fan of the second. Not content to simply recycle the elements that made the first so great, Mary Skelter 2 makes new strides in order to be different enough that it’s not simply more of the same. With both being able to be played essentially side by side? This is the perfect package for any dungeon crawling RPG enthusiast!

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Compile Heart
Publisher(s):
Idea Factory International
Genre(s):
Dungeon Crawler, RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Mary Skelter: Nightmares - PC Review

Coming from the darker side of Compile Heart and Idea Factory, out now for PC, we get a look at one of my new favorite dungeon crawlers, Mary Skelter: Nightmares. Delve into the depths of the living prison “Jail” with Jack, Alice, and the rest of the Blood Maidens as they beat up eldritch abominations, bleed on the walls, and generally struggle with sanity.

At its core, Mary Skelter is a fairly traditional dungeon crawler, its what has been added to that standard formula that really sets it apart from the crowd. Your main character in Mary Skelter is Jack, a boy who was trapped in a cell in the Jail along with Alice, his childhood friend. After being rescued by Red Riding Hood, it’s discovered his blood has the ability to repress the extreme violence that comes with the enhanced abilities from being a Blood Maiden. As you explore through areas, filling in your map, discovering items, and usually getting rather lost, you will get into battles that are turn-based with a visible turn order.

While most characters get the standard options of: attack, skill, defend, escape (and one other interesting option), Jack has the option to guard an ally or to coat an ally in his blood. Jack can usually take a hit or two before he gets stunned. Get stunned too much and he’ll be KO’ed for the battle. By coating allies in his blood, you can reduce the chance of the Blood Maiden entering the berserk Skelter mode, instead of the “overlimit” style Massacre mode, which builds up as you get your enemies blood on you. As the story progresses, Jack can get more abilities, such as a buff with his blood. The Blood Maidens also have the rather unique option of licking the blood off of the other Blood Maidens for healing or buffs, which change depending on the character being licked.

As you may have been able to figure out, there is a focus on blood. Mary Skelter is pretty dark. People die, there’s torture, sad backstories abound. Reflecting the rather dark tone of the game is the major bosses, or the “Nightmares”, as they’re called. The Nightmares function as zone guardians for the Jail, and need to be defeated in order to escape. Fair warning though, they aren’t gonna make things easy for you.

As you begin exploring an area, a Nightmare may actually come to you. Unfortunately, until you find the core keeping it alive, it will be immortal, and you can pretty much only run away, or knock it out temporarily to run away. The Nightmare will start chasing you if you enter too far into its “darkness zone” that you can see around where it’s walking around. As you’re being chased, the Nightmare will have its turn order progressively move forward, and you lose your minimap. Get far enough away and you escape. But guess what? The Nightmares can chase you up and down floors in an area zone. I found that one out the hard way.

As you explore through the zones, you will get more characters to fill out your party roster, which can have up to five people in the front line, excluding Jack, and five as support members. With a class system that’s fairly comprehensive in what each character can do (with five default classes to swap between), your party can be made of who you want, instead of who you NEED, which I love to see (Hameln best grill). Each class offers different available skills, and after unlocking a class, the character can use any skills that have been unlocked, regardless of class.

The only thing is that switching classes requires class change permits, which are awarded every ten levels. Also, you have a limited amount of skill slots, although you can increase the number available with blood crystals, which you also need to swap classes. These crystals are awarded by type depending on the enemies killed in a fight, and will probably be a major stopping block for the more rare crystals. Skills can also be upgraded by spending CP to enhance traits and skills. In addition to the generic class skills, each character also has specific Massacre mode skills, which can be gained by increasing party member affection enough and/or finding an event point in a stage.

As you roam about the Jail, the Jail itself will exhibit tendencies towards certain moods, mainly Hunger, Libido, and Sleep. By performing actions in line with the current mood of the jail, you can increase a level of Jail satisfaction. Upon maxing the satisfaction, you get a roulette that is simultaneously the most helpful and annoying thing I’ve ever seen. In battle, if you meet the requirements, the roulette usually has healing and buffing options, as well as increased rewards. Out of battle you have a chance of getting “Jail growth release”, which basically opens up a part of the Jail if it’s available on that floor.

Cue me and my completionist OCD trying to get the expansion on every floor. 

Problem is, the growth release can pop up even on floors without a releasable section, or if you’ve already released, or not at all. Not to mention that it’s a roulette wheel, so you might miss it. Really annoying late game when every other battle triggers a Hunger Roulette and you need to sit there dealing with a roulette every other fight in a dungeon where the floor size is 100x100 tiles or bigger, but at least that’s mostly the bonus dungeon specifically.

Exploring these sometimes massive floors requires a lot of thought occasionally, as there are various skills unique to each Blood Maiden that allow you to activate switches, get treasure chests from further away than you can see them (Hameln best grill - Editor's Note: I wonder if he likes Hameln...), and allow you to access new areas. I really loved seeing these different abilities and how they were used to get by puzzles and traps, most notably because although you move one square at a time, the traps can be dynamic, requiring actual timing, instead of just “don’t step here”.

With a wide range of interesting and unique characters all based on stories or fairy tales, a really solid battle system and dungeon crawling layout, and some really great soundtrack pieces, there’s a lot to love about Mary Skelter: Nightmares. Seriously, the ending theme after the true ending has to be my favorite credits theme in a game, ever. The game does have a few downsides, such as some balancing issues, as early game is brutal, but I crushed through the later half of the game. Once you have a set-up that works, it REALLY works. Most fights are either crushing the enemies, or getting crushed yourself. Also, the true ending requirements are a bit of a Guide-dang-it moment, which took me way too long to figure out, but at least you can google it, now that the game has been out for a while on Vita.

The bonus dungeon is an exercise in patience mostly, some of the sidequests don’t appear until after you’ve finished with a zone, or are really vague about where to acquire materials, and the Nightmares can be super relentless at times, but overall those are just minor nitpicks. The PC port runs really smoothly, offers an always available controls menu, and the difficulty is changeable at any point, other than in battle or cutscene, of course. The PC port also looks a lot sharper in dungeons, although the rest looks a little evidently resized, but it is a PC port of a Vita game, so I can’t fault that too much.

Mary Skelter also provides you with handy warp points in-dungeon upon reaching certain spots, which is great for not having to walk all the way through a dungeon again. Seriously saved my sanity. There are a massive arrangement of weapon types available to each class as well, meaning you can focus on a specific aspect even within a class, and with the devolution option that takes levels away for stat buffs and additional CP, you can start on some fancy minmaxing adventures.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares is definitely one of my favorite dungeon crawlers, whether it be characters, music, battle system, or tone/theme, I just had so much fun playing it the entire way through. With some seriously messed up looking bosses, handy warp points, and Hameln, Mary Skelter just had so much I enjoyed. I can tell you for certain that I’m eagerly anticipating the sequel that’s been announced, and I hope you’ll enjoy this game as much as I did.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Compile Heart
Publisher(s):
Idea Factory International

Ghostlight LTD

Genre(s):
Dungeon Crawler
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation Vita / TV

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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New Titles from IFI's 3rd Annual Press Event

Lots of upcoming goodies from Idea Factory - let's take a look at these.

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