Once you join, you will never leave...
The Host of Damned Characters:
"Admit it you hate your friends. Eventually you'll kill one another."
Mochida Satoshi: voiced by Shimono Hiro. The hero of the game (if there was only one it would be him.) While he often scares easily from Ayumi's stories, he is very brave and courageous when facing true peril. He has a little sister, Yuka, who he treats like a princess (for lack of a better term.) He gets along with everybody, but there seems to be a certain connection between him and Naomi.
Nakashima Naomi: voiced by Satou Rina. The secondary heroine of the game. Not as brave and courageous as Satoshi when facing peril. Lives alone with her mother. She gets along with everyone, but she is good fiends with Satoshi and Seiko.
Shinozaki Ayumi: voiced by Imai Asami. The main heroine of the game. She gets delighted in telling ghost stories at the expense of others' (typically Satoshi's) reaction. However, when the tables are turned and she is facing real peril she gets scared quite easily. She has an older sister. Despite her "sadistic" pass time, she gets along with everyone just fine.
Kishinuma Yoshiki: voiced by Nakamura Yuichi. More of an anti-hero than an actually secondary hero. Has a sarcastic and cynical personality. His family life is complicated and thus he is living by himself. Is friends with Satoshi and seems to get along fine with everyone else.
Mochida Yuka: voiced by Kitamura Eri. The younger sister of Satoshi. Even though she is fourteen she acts and is treated like she is eleven, perhaps younger still. Has an unhealthy obsession with her older brother.
Shinohara Seiko: voiced by Arai Satomi. What is known by the Japanese as the "genki girl." Which translates as someone (in this case a girl) who is upbeat no matter what the situation is. Her home life is complicated and has her acting as mother to three little siblings. Is really good friends with Naomi.
Susumoto Mayu: voiced by Nanri Yuuka. A member of the drama club. Despite her small size, she has a big heart. Due to her family, she is forced to move away from everyone this year. Her best friend is Morishige, who she affectionately called "Shige."
Morishige Sukataro: voiced by Kakihara Tetsuya. Another member of the drama club. He doesn't really care much for the company of others, with the exception of Mayu. Their relationship is more of that of brother and sister rather than that of lovers.
Shishido Yui: voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki. A new teacher of Kisaragi High, the high school Satoshi and the others attend. While she isn't a perfect teacher, her bubbly personality makes it great for her students to attend class.
Now that the cast has been introduced, it is time to raise the curtain to the hellish world that is Corpse Party.
Almost forty years ago there once stood Heavenly Host Elementary. It was a school that any parent would have been proud to send their child to, but serial kidnappings, and deaths, changed that. Due to the loss of four of its students, the school was forced to shut down and was demolished. Now the site is that of an ordinary high school, its grisly past is nothing more than rumors. Amongst those rumors is one that allows one to visit the halls of Heavenly Host... and, perhaps, never leave...
Present day, Kisaragi High School. We find our cast, in the dark, surrounding a single lit candle. Ayumi is telling a story... one of a teacher whom fell down a flight of stairs... many years ago... when there used to be an elementary school on this very site... and to this day, it is said that she wanders the halls at night... still thinking of them as her own. Just then, a blackout and a knock at the classroom door! Satoshi takes a few steps towards the door, when he hears a voice, "is there anyone still here... go home!" Suddenly the door comes flying open and Satoshi falls over. Here enters Yui sensei to reveal that it was all just a joke. After some berating and a quick picture, Ayumi suggest that they do a charm, known as the Sachiko Ever After Charm, so that they can all be together even after Mayu leaves. It is a rather simple charm, one must gather their friends around a paper doll and chant, in their head, "Sachiko, we envoke thee," for each person present. Finally, each person grabs a hold of the doll and tugs on it with all their might until they have a piece of the doll. They are to keep a hold of the scrape for the charm to work. Just as everyone is about to leave for home, an earthquake occurs causing the floor to fall out from beneath their feet. When Naomi comes to, she finds herself in a destroyed classroom... but completely different from the one that she was in before. Here the chairs and desks are smaller and the building itself it much older with wooden floors and doors. Across the room she finds Seiko, still unconscious. When Seiko wakes up, they both inspect a nearby flyer. What they come to find is that they are in the old Heavenly Host Elementary school building. What little did they know of the horrors they would face...
Corpse Party is a game that everyone will get a chill from. Whether it is its grisly past, the sudden deaths, the psychotic characters, or simply the music (or lack of), you will get scared. The lighting is well done. From dimming to obscure your vision of a room filled with corpses to suddenly lighting up to show you the room. The music... what can I say? Ninety percent of the scare factor comes from the use of music... or the sudden lack of music. I don't know how many times it happens, but the sudden lack of music causes me to freak out a little. Silence, in this case, it not golden... The graphics are pretty well done considering the origins of the game in the first place. The only issue I have is that Kishinuma looks like he is walking with his gut hanging out or like he is some sort of gangster. Sorry to say I have no picture of that. The voice acting is phenomenal. I'm just glad that whoever decided to pick this up and translate it (Xseed I believe) didn't go out of their way to add English voice actors to it. I highly doubt they would have done the same level of voice acting as the Japanese cast did.
"Living friends who are able to retain their sanity and reason... will be your final ray of hope."
I highly recommend this game to anyone that has a PSP. As mentioned above, great voice acting, good music, decent graphics, and a great, albeit scary, story. But be warned... there is something about it that drains me... almost like I'm losing my soul to the game... but that can't happen, right? RIGHT!?
Well, I think I said all that I want to say about Corpse Party. Take solace in the fact you aren't trapped in a living hell.