Imabikisou for PS3 Review - Part 2

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That said, historically the horror genre has successfully crossed this cultural gap with franchises like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Rising, all of which have even seen Western developers working collaboratively, or in whole, on portions of the series. In the case of Imabikisou however, we may never see localized versions in the US due to the lack of any type of combat. This is a shame as I think the game has good things to offer if you keep an open mind.

If you're willing to expand your horizons, you'll find Imabikisou approachable due to it's horror theme. Being scared is pretty universal. There are some cultural differences however, between Japanese horror and other horror stories. This game is squarely a Japanese horror story.

Japanese tend to associate horror with summer heat and moisture, as well as creepy women with long hair and white clothing. The same way we may never tire of slasher movies where some group of teenagers is set upon by some killer with a knife and a mask, Japan may never tire of this horror formula. If you'd like to find out a little more about Japanese horror I recommend Chris' Survival Horror Quest's great article on the subject.

In addition to the subject matter, the linearity of portions of the game and the lack of complicated controls will be a godsend to players whose Japanese is not fluent, as well as causal gamers. This is a game that is really easy to dive into and get immediate returns from. Your Japanese will need to be ok to follow the story. I can probably follow about 30-50% of what is said and I was able to enjoy the scares and much of what the story has to offer.

Speaking of story, it may not win any awards, but if you like horror movies/stories you will really enjoy Imabikisou. There is a lot going on in it and there isn't just one theme to the story, or one kind of horror element. Depending on how you play, the story will go in different directions, some of them more supernatural than others. Many of the choices that effect the outcome happen toward the end of the game, though you will need to play again from the beginning multiple times to get the major endings.

I will admit I only got a couple of the endings you can get on the first play-through. I did not make subsequent play-throughs. However, I enjoyed the game enough to play through it again in the future. There are even downloadable endings and it appears they are not all horror themed. A romance branch may be possible.

I don't think this game will ever get a US localization, but that is all the more reason to import this title and play it on your US or European PlayStation 3. The gameplay may be a turn off for some, but if you are willing to give it a try, you will likely enjoy this fun, horror themed, visual novel experience on your PS3. There is also a WII version for those without a PS3, though I do not know in what ways it may be different from the PS3 version.

Check out my video review including an English subtitled version of the intro movie!

From what I hear the demo has been taken down from the Japanese PSN, but the game can be imported here.

Back to Imabikisou PS3 Review - Part 1.