Death Mark
| Death Mark | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio |
 Experience Inc.
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| Publisher |
Experience Inc Aksys Games
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
June 1, 2017 ( Japan ) October 31, 2018 ( Worldwide) |
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| platform | PlayStation Vita , PlayStation 4 , Nintendo Switch | ||
| genre | Visual novel , survival horror , mystery | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Gamepad | ||
| medium | Download , Blu-Ray , Game Card | ||
| language | Japanese, English | ||
| Age rating |
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Death Mark ( 死印 SHIIN , German about "Death Seal") is a horror - / Mystery - visual novel of the Japanese game developer Experience Inc. , the first on 1 June 2017 the PlayStation Vita in Japan appeared.
On October 31, 2018, the game was released worldwide under the title Death Mark for Vita, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 . At the end of November it was announced that the game would be converted into a graphic novel and manga .
action
In H City , a suburb of the Japanese capital Tokyo , a rumor has recently been circulating that those who bear this stigma will die a cruel death. An unknown middle-aged man therefore visits the property of the therapist Kujyo Saya, who has been dealing with this phenomenon for some time. Once there, the protagonist realizes that Kujyo herself was a painter and died from it in the most terrible way.
In the main hall arrived he greets a mysterious voice: a doll to him as Mary herself - in Japanese Merry - introduces and informs him about the fate of the lady of the house and the curse of the times. According to this, bearers of the cursed mark have a limited amount of time to find out who cursed the person and to resolve that curse. Shortly afterwards there is a knock on the door and other bearers of the mark appear. Together they set out to find the origin of the curse.
Over time, they find out during the investigation that there is a Shinto shrine in the forest of H City and that 50 years ago members of the Shinto religion desecrated statues of the Buddha as a result of a religious war .
Characters
- Protagonist ( 主人公 , protagonist )
- A middle-aged man who is a bearer of the accursed mark. Due to the curse, he is increasingly suffering from amnesia . Together with other painters, he explores different areas in H City to get to the bottom of the secret of the curse.
- Mary ( メ リ イ , Merry )
- A human-sized doll that was brought to life to help the property owner break the curse.
- Moe Watanabe ( 渡 辺 萌 , Watanabe Moe )
- A high school student very interested in the occult who visits the property to learn more about the spirit of Hanahiko .
- Tsukasa Yoshida ( 吉田 つ か さ , Yoshida Tsukasa )
- An older student from a Japanese elementary school . He doesn't believe in supernatural phenomena, but is afraid of the curse of the mark.
- Satoru Mashita ( 真 下 悟 , Mashita Satoru )
- A former detective who does everything in his power to uncover the secret of the curse.
- Christie Arimura ( 有 村 ク リ ス テ ィ , Arimura Christie )
- Earlier news anchor who has undertaken in the forest of H City is taking life .
- Shō Nagashima ( 長 嶋 翔 , Nagashima Shō )
- A young daredevil . He doesn't look scared, but it hides his weak side.
- Suzu Moriyama ( 森 宮 す ず , Moriyama Suzu )
- An elementary school student whose parents divorced. She lives with her over-religious mother and does not know where her father is.
- Eita Taro Nakamatsu ( 中 松 栄 太 , Nakamatsu Eita Taro )
- An otaku . He and Mori know each other through various occult meetings. Together they look for a magical phone booth that should show each person the things they are looking for.
- Ai Kashiwagi ( 柏木 愛 , Kashiwagi Ai )
- A well-known idol in H City . She has a great sense of justice.
- Madoka Hirō ( 広 尾 ま ど か , Hirō Madoka )
- A researcher for a pharmaceutical company. She is mostly calm, but gets emotional when occult topics are raised.
- Shūji Daimon ( 大門 修治 , Daimon Shūji )
- A chief doctor who runs a clinic in H City , but has a bad reputation.
- Towako Yasuoka
- An elderly clairvoyant . Ai Kashiwaga visits her about her painting and learns about the curse. Yasuoka temporarily takes on the role of Mary.
- Banshee Itō
- An elderly homeless man who lives in the H City sewers . He knows the curse of the mark and gives important information about it.
- Saya Kujō ( 九 条 さ や , Kujō Saya )
- A well-known psychotherapist and the landlady of the Kujyo estate. Researched the curse of the mark and died a cruel death as the bearer of the same curse.
Voice actor
| role | Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) |
|---|---|
| Mary Kujō | Rika Tachibana |
| Masamune Kujō | Akibo Shieh |
| Shūji daimon | |
| Daisuke Yamashita | Yoshiaki Kawabata |
| Banshee Itō | |
| Satoru Mashita | |
| Masao Kimura | Daiki Yamashita |
| Tsukasa Yoshida | Yurika Takagi |
| Moe Watanabe | |
| Shō Nagashima | Ryota Nakamura |
| Christie Arimura | Erina Seto |
| Suzu Morimiya | Eri Tomizawa |
| Eita Nakamatsu | Masahiro cheese |
| Towako Yasuoka | |
| Ai Kashiwagi | Yurie Funato |
| Madoka Hirō | Erika Ishitobi |
Gameplay
First and foremost, Death Mark is a visual novel , which means that the main feature is on reading the mono and dialogues of the protagonists. However, Death Mark also has a simple gameplay, which can be divided into three parts: exploration , dialogue and boss fight . In the mansion, the protagonists exchange ideas with each other, while the player is able to examine areas outside the mansion for possible clues. For this, the player uses a flashlight with which he can illuminate various objects and thus collect useful items that can be useful for further action.
The player can choose a partner before each exploration tour. During the explorations, the player is often confronted with situations in which he has to decide on an action, whereby a wrong decision either leads to a weakening of health - called Soul Points in the game - or even to an immediate death of the protagonist. Even in the event of a clash with the ghosts, who serve as the final boss of each chapter, the player can use various items to defeat them. Here you have to use the items found in the game with the information gathered about the ghost in the correct order. Thus two scenarios are possible after each fight: Either you save the spirit, then all protagonists survive, or you destroy it. In this case, the protagonist's partner dies.
publication
A demo version of the game Death Mark was made available on May 18, 2017 in the Japanese PlayStation Vita webshop. In this it was possible to play the entire first chapter of the game in order to be able to familiarize yourself with the gameplay. The full game was officially released in Japan on June 1st of the same year.
A little later, a demo version for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was released and announced that the game would be released for the two consoles with an additional chapter in Japan at the beginning of 2018. Players of the PlayStation Vita version had the opportunity to download the new chapter for free between January 23, 2018 and February 8, 2018. After that, that chapter cost 1,000 yen .
On September 13, 2018, Aksys Games announced that it would release Death Mark worldwide on October 31, 2018 for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. A special pre-order pack included the game in its physical form, a 96-page art book, two peel-off tattoos and the official game soundtrack .
Implementations
| Death Mark | |
|---|---|
| genre | Horror , mystery |
| Graphic novel | |
| author | Hitomi Amamiya |
| publishing company | PHP Institute |
| First publication | February 20, 2019 - ... |
| expenditure | 1+ |
| Manga | |
| country |
Japan
|
| publishing company | Kakkiteki |
| First publication | February 2019 - ... |
| expenditure | 1+ |
On November 24, 2018, game developer Experience Inc. announced that Death Mark would be converted into a graphic novel and manga . The graphic novel, the first volume of which is due to be released by PHP Institute on February 20, 2019 , will tell the background stories of the individual characters, while the manga, which is also due to be released in February, will follow the actions of the game and also scenes that are not in-game are shown represents.
Reviews
| title | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Death Mark |
PS4 85% SWI 83% |
PS4 83% |
As of November 24, 2018, more than 100,000 copies of the game had been sold worldwide.
Aaron wrote in his game review that Death Mark is far from your usual visual novel . The player is already put to the test during the dialogues. Depending on how he interacts with them, they behave differently. The decision section, called Live or Die in the game , is described as a big factor in the game. According to the critic, this is where the player's memory is played. In the boss fight part of the plot, the game tries to act like an RPG .
According to the official British PlayStation magazine , the player has to be prepared for cleverly placed jumpscares . He must survive and determine what makes Death Mark far more similar to Zero Escape than Steins; Gate . All of this, as well as the beautifully terrible cover, the clever dialogues and the creepy music create a visual novel experience that you will not soon forget.
Web links
- Official Homepage (Japanese)
- Shiin in the Visual Novel Database
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Adrian: Death Mark REVIEW. Gamescontrast.de, November 11, 2018, accessed on November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Aaron: Death Mark (Game Review). Honeysanime.com, October 15, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Max Williams: Gameplay and Characters in New Death Mark Details. Ricedigital.co.uk, January 19, 2017, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Laura Dobbins: Demo for Japanese Horror Game, Death Mark to Arrive May 18th. Takesontech.com, May 16, 2017, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Sal Romano: Death Mark PS4 demo now available in Japan. Gematsu , January 17, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Chrystalyn Hodgkins: Aksys Games Releases Death Mark Horror Game on PS4, PS Vita, Switch on October 31. Anime News Network, September 13, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Chrystalyn Hodgkins: Death Mark Game Gets Manga, Novel Adaptations. Anime News Network , November 24, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ^ Death Mark (PS4). GameRankings , accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ^ Death Mark (Nintendo Switch). GameRankings, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ^ Death Mark (PS4). Metacritic , accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ PlayStation Magazin, issue 156, November 14, 2018, p. 86