Mary Skelter 2 Review
Release Date: October 22, 2019
Developer: Idea Factory, Compile Heart
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Price: $39.99
Mary Skelter provided such a unique experience years ago that despite my issues with the way it handled, I couldn't help but respect and commend everything it aimed to achieve, providing an experience combining horror and dungeon crawling elements for a special package influenced by the fairy tales of the past with the likes of Cinderella and Snow White making an appearance in the game - albeit with a much different look, but one that will still themed as such. Mary Skelter found itself in this disowned future where humanity had been taking captive by larger, more ferocious beings. A mixture of nightmarish creatures and the like that roamed the world of Mary Skelter, in which was once known to be cities like Tokyo and Shinjuku became a myth of the past, as the people of today knew nothing but Jail. This literal prison wasn't just in structure, but a being in itself, one that would manifest creatures, breathing and seething alike. As I type this out, I begin to think about Seraph of the End, where the concept of humanity had all but crumbled, leaving only the elite soldiers and vampires to fend for themselves. Mary Skelter has a similar approach, only the powerful heroines of the story are ones we're all too familiar with, continuing with the theme of a time that once was. Red Riding Hood, Alice, and Sleeping Beauty were these immensely powerful warriors known as Blood Maidens, but with their immense skill and power came great sacrifice. Whenever one would transform into their Blood Maiden form, their awakened power can become overwhelming and corrupt them because of the immense dark energy behind it, so they do their best to control it and make sure it's only every unleashed when necessary. Mary Skelter had a ton of fantastic ideas that were slightly marred by a system that simply did not stop growing and growing, leaving you hours into the game still with tutorials learning yet another new feature that began to feel overwhelming or redundant. It suffered from some performance issues, but overall it was a solid package that missed a lot of marks and left me frustrated more than elated. Even so, it had such a great premise that it remained memorable. So how does Mary Skelter 2 play out? Interestingly enough, it is quite literally more of the same, but a lot more polished and realized that helps make it the definitive Mary Skelter experience.
Keep in mind, when I say Mary Skelter 2 is more of the same, the game itself is quite literally just that. I knew something was wrong right away when I found myself in some instances repeating moments from Mary Skelter 1, but it wasn't until I saved Alice all over again when it really hit me that this is just an alternate perspective, but in an odd way a semi-sequel… though it's only for a particular character. In the beginning portion of Mary Skelter, albeit much quicker, you end up saving Alice who has no idea she's a Blood Maiden until she gets help in unlocking her ability to become a much more powerful being. In Mary Skelter 2, you help her escape from Jail, and at first I was thinking "Oh, maybe she just got caught again… that's weird", but the same scenario kicks in in which she has no idea what the other Blood Maidens are talking about when they help her realize what she is, and her close friend, Jack, is as confused as I was when everything began to feel like déjà vu. Here she is, going berserk again as she becomes a Blood Maiden for the first time, and her untapped power that continues to grow the more angry she gets - almost Majin Vegeta-esque - leaves the other Maidens floored as to what to do. These walls they find themselves in, The JAIL, spawn Nightmares that serve as a sort of dungeon boss, but also creatures so powerful that the player will likely die when confronted with one, so to everyone's amazement when Alice begins to mutilate and dismember a Nightmare with an eerie grin, everyone splits. This is similar in the sequence of events that occur, but the difference here being that in the original Mary Skelter, she was able to calm down shortly after and you would commence the dungeon-crawling with her in the party.
There are a few differences in the way Mary Skelter 2 carries itself, so it's not a 1:1 retelling of Mary Skelter 1, but it's certainly a reimagining of sorts. There are moments where you'll have flashbacks and déjà vu much like some of the characters do, but as things begin to unwind, you and the main protagonist of Mary Skelter 2, Otsuu, will have to ask yourself: Why does everything feel so familiar? It's an odd way to tell a story, and to a degree it's interesting if you've played Mary Skelter 1 to see this alternate perspective on things, but the difference is few and far between that I almost wish there was a mode that could skip some of the reworked stuff and get to the point of the alternate stuff instead. Even so, it'd been years since I last played the first on Vita, so playing it on Switch with a much larger screen in handheld mode and seeing the art shine in both docked and portable play was a treat. Story portions aside, Mary Skelter 2 also carries a lot of the same mechanics the first one had, albeit in a much more refined and streamlined manner. Having the ability to turn into a Blood Maiden is still done automatically - though you can have some influence as to when you'll awaken - by killing enemies in battle, and as their blood splatters everywhere you'll come into contact with plenty of it. After a certain amount of Blood Splatter has been acquired, that's when Blood Maidens will awaken and go into Massacre Mode, allowing you to do massive damage on your next turn, usually Critical, with exclusive moves only usable in those forms as well. You can influence the rate at which you can awaken by a multitude of things, such as critical hits, unleashing huge multi-hit combos, and weak points on certain enemies. If you have an ally that you would prefer *not* awaken on a particular turn, you can always Lick some of the blood off and earn perks that way as well, like having enemy attacks lessen for a turn or increasing magic skills. It's an interesting way to balance between passives and buffs when you don't feel the need to go all out just yet, but all this carries over from Mary Skelter 1, so in this regard nothing has really changed other than a more intuitive system and one that feels more useful than before.
A multitude of jobs allow you to make the best team you can that suits your strategy and style, and with tons for each character that consist of various types of healing, damage, defense, and tactical output, you can basically assign what works for you for each character, though every character does have a certain "theme" they have to uphold, so attempting to change a character into a healer when they excel in warrior-type abilities won't be allowed. With each job change - all of which is done at your HQ alongside item management, leveling, and gaining new abilities - comes a beautiful outfit that matches the title's description, and it's one of the strong points of Mary Skelter I enjoyed in the first one as well: the sheer vibrancy of the illustrations it offers. Idea Factory has a certain *look* to their games where you can kind of go "yeah, that's an Idea Factory/Compile Heart game", but Mary Skelter's fusion of fantasy, anime, and horror makes it stand out from the likes of Neptunia, Fairy Fencer, DATE-A-LIVE and the sort where they, to the uninitiated, may or may not suffer from same-face syndrome. Mary Skelter's way of making things colorful in an otherwise dark world is appealing - akin to Danganronpa - as the blood is pink, the dungeons in JAIL are still one-of-a-kind and put it in a league of its own compared to other games within the genre, and all of the heroines are practically fashion icons. It's why no matter how frustrated I do inevitably get with Mary Skelter, I can't help but appreciate it and commend its forward-thinking take on dungeon crawlers, combining horror elements that really set the stage for a compelling journey throughout your playthrough.
Performance on Switch is solid and I rarely had any issues throughout, though on occasion in more detailed dungeons you would see frames drop slightly, though it's not anything detrimental to the gameplay itself as nothing is fast-paced and you're moving one block at a time; it's forgivable as it's still playable and happens sporadically. Resolution is a bit lower than I'd like it to be, however, with noticeable detail in the distance and in battle being blurry and jagged. The illustrations themselves look fantastic in both handheld and docked mode, but environments and the like have a softness that in a lot of cases conflicts with each asset viewable on screen. It still feels like it takes the 544p native resolution of the Vita and upscales it to 720p to accommodate for the extra screen space, and TV mode doesn't look much different, though this is purely observation and without the proper tech to do a pixel count, it's hard to say for sure.
Despite the similarities and Mary Skelter 2 feeling more like a definitive edition with altered content, Mary Skelter as a whole still remains to be one of the most unique dungeon crawlers conceived thanks to its dark story with powerful heroines in a unique world of survival and humanity starting over. Having fairy tale inspired characters like Red Riding Hood, Little Mermaid, Alice and more immediately gives Mary Skelter a sense of familiarity once you start playing it, and it feels like a fan-fiction with an extremely high budget in a "what if" universe that's compelling and fascinating as you drive through a horror dungeon crawler that's as imaginative as it is colorful. Dungeon crawling fans will be happy to know that everything here with practically quench the thirst of those fiending for more, and while it still holds a multitude of mechanics and depth that feel unnecessary and in some cases convoluted, it's a solid package that deserves the attention, especially since it feels more like a refined version of the original Mary Skelter, polishing up on the things that made it unique and appealing, though not touching much upon all the things that made it redundant and borderline frustrating.
PROS:
The art is still unique and stylish as it was in the first one
The "alternate" version of Mary Skelter's story feels a lot more polished, intuitive, and comprehensive compared to its predecessor
The dungeons are one of a kind and still remain some of my favorites I've ever seen with their clever themes and changes from floor to floor.
CONS:
For some, this may not be a con, but there is a LOT of information that goes into Mary Skelter 2, so much so that you may forget certain mechanics, actions, or things to do after a certain time with the game as you focus on other priorities.
Massive dialogue segments in between certain dungeons and even between dungeons with no way to save until you're out of the sequence can be problematic for some
Occasional frame drops and resolution variables can be a hindrance to some
A big thank you to Idea Factory and Compile Heart for providing us a copy of Mary Skelter 2 for the purposes of this review