Review for Dead or School. Game for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 29/08/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/12/2020
Mutant zombies, violence and a pinch of irony in manga sauce: these are the ingredients we used to prepare our review of Dead or School, tested in its versionPlayStation 4. Released in 2018 on PC and last year (for oriental cousins only) on Nintendo Switch, it Nanafushi study packs the European version of his scrolling Hack and Slash, dedicating it to the two home consoles Sony and Nintendo. The perseverance of this small Japanese indie studio is to be rewarded: the project for the realization of Dead or School began in 2016 with a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Despite the action and frantic elements (with a hint of risque) that accompanied the game presentation trailer, the campaign did not take off and closed collecting only 20% of the planned budget. Despite this, thanks also to the help of Marvelous, Studio Nanafushi was able to conceive his creation, declining it on different platforms. The game as a whole is interesting in intentions but in the final rendering leaves something to be desired. This 2D / 3D mix that attempts to simulate a 2,5D-like collides with shots that fail to mask a graphic quality that is too low-res.
Making a video game economically is not easy so it is normal to find defections in the graphics sector. In return, however, Dead or School manages to provide interesting insights with regard to goal, mixing RPG elements with action and hack'n'slash elements.
Hack'n'slash + RPG
Our review of Dead or School, in its PS4 console version, begins with a story: in a dystopian future, Tokyoites are struck by a virus that turns the infected into zombie mutants. The survivors tried in vain to resist for three years before reaching the extreme decision, that of take refuge in the depths of the Japanese metropolis. The history, customs and traditions were gradually fading and the memory of the days that were was being lost.
78 years after that "choice", a girl named Hisako decides to chase a dream: return to the surface, go to school and restore the normality of everyone's life. Strengthened by hard training, she decides to leave for this long and difficult journey that will take her on all major Tokyo subway stations. There will be many nice surprises waiting for you.
Dead or School was born as an interesting experiment of fusion between a video game and a manga. The narrated sequences are an interesting mix between manga and anime where, however, in a short time, what was potentially interesting ends up becoming extremely boring. As this is a scrolling hack'n'slash, we expect continuous and frantic sequences with waves of enemies and frequent checkpoints. The sequences are there, but they are interspersed with boring, and sometimes uninteresting, dialogues between characters progressively erode interest in gambling.
The first rule of a sliding Action Platform, as the good teaches Metal Slug, is to make use of the gameplay as much as possible in order to remain “always on the piece”. To further worsen the situation is the location of the checkpoints which, often and willingly, impose a backtracking that covers a good game session, also proposing the same identical enemies.
The game graphics are not the best even if there is worse around. Honestly, the fusion between the manga-style drawing of the decidedly 2D characters and the background and the scenarios rendered in 3D, a little out of place. Furthermore l'AI of enemy NPCs is very basic and the only difficulty can be encountered with the level bosses, equipped with a longer lifebar than ours: once you understand the pattern of movements, however, they too become normal administration.
The aspect that intrigues the most in Dead or School is the presence of a dynamic RPG, able to adapt and integrate into the video game goal. In the course of our adventure we stumbled upon un loot system which included levels of rarity and with various perks and any. Using the jargon common to us gamers, you can "drop" weapons, mods, money, health and stamina points and ammunition. The mods, the highlight of the game, are attributed to weapons and the perks connected to the mod itself manage to glimpse the concept of build in a completely innovative context. Obviously, character customization has an immediate and tangible reflection on the gameplay. The idea of contaminating the scrolling hack'n'slash genre with RPG elements was certainly a good idea for the guys at Studio Nanafushi.
Complicating simplicity is fun
Videogame literature attributes to the genres hack'n'slash, platform and beat'em up with the characteristic of scrolling, canons of simplicity, accessibility al goal e immediate digestibility of gameplay: imagine a game that you have played in the past and that responds to the genres just mentioned. How long did it take you to figure out where you were and where you were going? What were you supposed to do and who were your nemeses? How did the control system work and possibly understand the NPC pattern? Relatively little.
And this is precisely the key feature of these genres: immediacy. Dead or School decides to complicate these simple mechanics, adding typically RPG elements. The intention of the guys from Studio Nanafushi is interesting even if the final result is not the best. Nonetheless the video game still acquires an innovative dimension and does not end up among the "usual ones already seen".
Elements such as stamina (or if you prefer resistance) that maybe we could find in a Soul's like, complicates the dynamics of the frenetic "run and lead". Our young aspiring student can use the three types of weapons: melee, fire and special. Depending on the characteristics of the weapons, it consumes a variable amount that affects the run and dodge, making them sometimes unusable.
While this isn't noticeable in situations with few enemies to take down, it becomes hellish when the hordes of mutants get intense and frequent. But this complication of simple such dynamics, represents the added value of Dead or School, capable of defeat the monotony factor typical of scrolling hack'n'slash / platform / beat'em up.
Another note of merit for the video game created by Studio Nanafushi is the presence of skill points, obtainable at each new level. These can be spent to upgrade the three types of weapons. And here we can see, therefore, the concept of build: investing the points in one of the three weapons the gameplay suffers and our PG will be "better" at using one weapon rather than another.
This dynamic of the meta fits perfectly with the use of mods that further specialize our young Hisako, sewing them on a build capable of amplifying its offensive and defensive potential.
Studio Nanafushi is certainly to be rewarded for its perseverance and passion shown with its Dead or School. Despite a false start in 2016, he managed to make his work known to the whole world. The video game has many interesting ideas that are not adequately supported by a decidedly not the best graphics sector. Although the camera movements seem to want to accentuate the action side of the game, they end up further highlighting a quality of the back-gen graphics. The choice to mix RPG elements with those of a hack'n'slash was a good move: the video game acquires its own personality and made you forget the nightmare of monotony, very frequent in a sliding action platform. The choice of introducing grueling narrated sequences where the one and only interesting thing are the sweet curves of the female characters risks on more than one occasion, to make poor Hisako go to the morgue and not to school. Try again, you will be luckier.
► Dead or School is an indie scrolling RPG-Beat 'em up game developed by Studio Nanafushi and published by Marvelous for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 29/08/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 31/12/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/12/2020
