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[VGEsoterica]

Dunno how many people on GAF enjoy a good adventure game...or a good adventure game in the horror genre...but if they are anywhere they will be here.

I remember seeing screenshots of Dead of the Brain like over a decade ago...then I found out it was the last official release on the PC Engine in Japan...and I was intrigued. So I picked it up on PC Engine then on PC 98 out of Japan. Problem was...I don't speak Japanese lol. So it was a really fun game to experience VISUALLY...but the story was basically just whatever I imagined it to be.

Recently though the first part (There is a Dead of the Brain 2) got a fan translation...so now the story actually exists...and damn is it a good game! Super gory, great soundtrack and a plot that is a mix of Reanimator and Return of the Living Dead. Which if you've seen those movies you will instantly get the vibe Dead of the Brain is throwing around.

Can't recommend it enough for Halloween and/or adventure game fans

But GAF...what are the best Japanese PC exclusives? Any generation is fine...they just need to be kept in Japan. Because I always get great convos and recommendations here!

 

[Rickyiez]

Dunno how many people on GAF enjoy a good adventure game...or a good adventure game in the horror genre...but if they are anywhere they will be here.

I remember seeing screenshots of Dead of the Brain like over a decade ago...then I found out it was the last official release on the PC Engine in Japan...and I was intrigued. So I picked it up on PC Engine then on PC 98 out of Japan. Problem was...I don't speak Japanese lol. So it was a really fun game to experience VISUALLY...but the story was basically just whatever I imagined it to be.

Recently though the first part (There is a Dead of the Brain 2) got a fan translation...so now the story actually exists...and damn is it a good game! Super gory, great soundtrack and a plot that is a mix of Reanimator and Return of the Living Dead. Which if you've seen those movies you will instantly get the vibe Dead of the Brain is throwing around.

Can't recommend it enough for Halloween and/or adventure game fans

But GAF...what are the best Japanese PC exclusives? Any generation is fine...they just need to be kept in Japan. Because I always get great convos and recommendations here!

Was this the screenshot you seen ?

It was actually this that got me intrigued on this game , posted from another Gaf thread way back then . I went to check out the entire walkthrough on Youtube after that .

 

[VGEsoterica]

Was this the screenshot you seen ?

It was actually this that got me intrigued on this game , posted from another Gaf thread way back then . I went to check out the entire walkthrough on Youtube after that .

it was this one!

 

[VGEsoterica]

The cover art is legit AF too

 

[VGEsoterica]

A small sample of the Fairytale stuff I have. I have never been able to find a copy of Marine Philt to buy sadly so my “Nightmare Collection” remains incomplete. And yes I’ve yet to open that sealed copy of Necronomicon

 

[Spukc]

it was this one!

i want to play this now reminds me of snatcher

 

[SmokedMeat]

Looks interesting. Reminds me of some other crazy horror Game I played on PC but damn if I can’t remember the name.

Edit: World of Horror

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

The cover art is legit AF too

The subtitle and the caption are pure Japan. Amazing.

Japanese computer games are a world apart. There's so many games the west never knew. I've read about some old computer JRPGs and if you think you know what a hard, obscure, obtuse game is, I'm pretty sure many of those would make you change your mind pretty fast, even without the language barrier.

 

[VGEsoterica]

The subtitle and the caption are pure Japan. Amazing.

Japanese computer games are a world apart. There's so many games the west never knew. I've read about some old computer JRPGs and if you think you know what a hard, obscure, obtuse game is, I'm pretty sure many of those would make you change your mind pretty fast, even without the language barrier.

I’ve been collecting obscure Japanese computer stuff for some years now and even I probably know like 5% of what is out there. You wanna talk about low print run games…Japanese pc stuff takes the cake

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Dead of The Brain is pretty cool. I played it about a year back and the story is goofy fun, there's gorgeous art, and some stand-out meme worthy moments. I prefer the style that's a bit more open ended, like JB Harold or Todo Ryunosuke for example, but DotB was a fun ride. I also think Fairytale's Dracula game looks cool, but I haven't played it yet. Of the PC-98 adventure games I've played I think my favorite is Tokyo Twilight Busters. Here's some screens from my playthrough:

Some screens I took from my Tokyo Twilight Busters playthrough:

Isaku was also a really good game, if you can stomach the content, it's about a group of teens who get trapped in an abandoned school building by a psycho janitor named Isaku. Depending on the choices you make and how you solve the puzzles you can avoid capture and sexual assault or not. An 18+ Japanese PC game so you can imagine how some of the scenes go down if you do the wrong thing.

Some other ones I want to play (that I previously mentioned) are Todo Ryunosuke (traditional detective ADV, find clues, question suspects to open new leads etc) and Dracula Hakushaku (horror ADV with some light item-use puzzles, seems a bit more in depth than other FairyTale games but not by too much)

 

[VGEsoterica]

 

[VGEsoterica]

Dead of The Brain is pretty cool. I played it about a year back and the story is goofy fun, there's gorgeous art, and some stand-out meme worthy moments. I prefer the style that's a bit more open ended, like JB Harold or Todo Ryunosuke for example, but DotB was a fun ride. I also think Fairytale's Dracula game looks cool, but I haven't played it yet. Of the PC-98 adventure games I've played I think my favorite is Tokyo Twilight Busters. Here's some screens from my playthrough:


Isaku was also a really good game, if you can stomach the content, it's about a group of teens who get trapped in an abandoned school building by a psycho janitor named Isaku. Depending on the choices you make and how you solve the puzzles you can avoid capture and sexual assault or not. An 18+ Japanese PC game so you can imagine how some of the scenes go down if you do the wrong thing.

Some other ones I want to play (that I previously mentioned) are Todo Ryunosuke (traditional detective ADV, find clues, question suspects to open new leads etc) and Dracula Hakushaku (horror ADV with some light item-use puzzles, seems a bit more in depth than other FairyTale games but not by too much)

Dracula Hakushaku is legit solid. But it’s also got some questionable material too. Mixed bag

 

[coffinbirth]

Not PC exclusive, but it did stay in Japan, and JUST got an English patch for PS1!

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6682/

 

[H4ze]

Looks interesting. Reminds me of some other crazy horror Game I played on PC but damn if I can’t remember the name.

Edit: World of Horror

Neat little game, can recommend

Btt: really cool box art, would like to have it on a shelf, but it's a bit too expensive just for that unfortunately.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Not PC exclusive, but it did stay in Japan, and JUST got an English patch for PS1!

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6682/

Oh nice. Hasn’t heard that

 

[Vampire On Titus]

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Spirit Hunter: NG

First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

 

[RoadHazard]

With a title like "Dead of the Brain" I'm not sure how well translated it is...?

 

[Vampire On Titus]

With a title like "Dead of the Brain" I'm not sure how well translated it is...?

lol the title itself was actually in English for the original Japanese release (as you can see in the screens and boxart), that's just what it is.

 

[RoadHazard]

lol the title itself was actually in English for the original Japanese release (as you can see in the screens and boxart), that's just what it is.

Makes sense, English titles for Japanese games are random nonsense 99% of the time.

 

[old-parts]

The artist who worked on Dead of the Brain also worked on Marine Philt vods part 1 and part 2, not anywhere near as good as brain, drove Macaw45 mad playing it (dude is great for super obscure games).

 

[VGEsoterica]

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark


Spirit Hunter: NG


First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

I haven’t but now I def will

 

[Isa]

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark


Spirit Hunter: NG


First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

Holy Crap!!! Thanks dude, somehow I didn't catch that info about a third game in the series! Man I'm pumped, that art looks great too!

Edit: On Topic, love the thread, great looking classic stuff. The art alone is worth it. Wish I could play them the old way. Love watching reviews on old games, and PC88/98 and X68 stuff is like some hidden treasure trove of classic material. I've played Rusty on an emulator and it was good if not hard lol. Keep up the good vids, and thanks for the recs in the thread guys, gonna check out World of Horror right away.

 

[Rickyiez]

Love it how the games back then used to have such visceral images

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark


Spirit Hunter: NG


First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

Thanks for the recommendation , checking them out on Steam ! The dialog frames looks like its from Persona

 

[VGEsoterica]

Holy Crap!!! Thanks dude, somehow I didn't catch that info about a third game in the series! Man I'm pumped, that art looks great too!

Edit: On Topic, love the thread, great looking classic stuff. The art alone is worth it. Wish I could play them the old way. Love watching reviews on old games, and PC88/98 and X68 stuff is like some hidden treasure trove of classic material. I've played Rusty on an emulator and it was good if not hard lol. Keep up the good vids, and thanks for the recs in the thread guys, gonna check out World of Horror right away.

If you like this style of game and want to try a more sci fi “horror” version play the Zero Escape series. Legit amazing

 

[VGEsoterica]

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark


Spirit Hunter: NG


First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

Normally I wouldn’t admit this kind of shameful gamer moment but I feel like I owe it…

I own Death Mark I was thinking “why does that sound so familiar”…looked at my shelf. There it sits…unplayed

So thanks for the reminder!

 

[Dr.Morris79]

OP, Have you played the Spirit Hunter games? Since you liked Dead of The Brain it's worth checking out as another Horror ADV series. It's not the same kind of Hollywood cinema influenced zombie horror, it's more Japanese style psychological/body horror, but they're some of the best modern games of this kind that you'll find IMO.

(Some gore and grotesque imagery abound)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark


Spirit Hunter: NG


First one has better gameplay, I'd say the 2nd is better overall but both are worth playing. Plus there's a third game coming out (which is actually a direct sequel to Death Mark) and it loks FANTASTIC.

Shinigami: Shibito Magire:

I own these on the Switch, if memory serves didnt the developer make a patch that censored something on one of the games? I swear I heard that it's better to play it unpatched..

I still havent got around to them yet myself.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I own these on the Switch, if memory serves didnt the developer make a patch that censored something on one of the games? I swear I heard that it's better to play it unpatched..

I still havent got around to them yet myself.

Interesting. I wonder what they censored

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Holy Crap!!! Thanks dude, somehow I didn't catch that info about a third game in the series! Man I'm pumped, that art looks great too!

Edit: On Topic, love the thread, great looking classic stuff. The art alone is worth it. Wish I could play them the old way. Love watching reviews on old games, and PC88/98 and X68 stuff is like some hidden treasure trove of classic material. I've played Rusty on an emulator and it was good if not hard lol. Keep up the good vids, and thanks for the recs in the thread guys, gonna check out World of Horror right away.

Yeah, it looks great. The Japanese version is coming out this December and Aksys Games is putting out the localization in 2023, early on I hope. They're adding a lot of cool things to the formula this time around. Experience had wanted to add RPG elements to the ADV genre since the first Spirit Hunter game (aside from Spirit Hunter they primarily make Dungeon Crawler RPGs), but they were basically all cut because of development restraints. This time around they had the resources to implement them, so they've expanded the partner system with a leveling mechanic where which character you choose changes your success rate of different "live or die" choices, as well as how you can exorcise the spirits, etc. There's side scrolling exploration in addition to the first person screens, and the whole presentation just awesome great. I can't wait to play it.

Love it how the games back then used to have such visceral images

Thanks for the recommendation , checking them out on Steam ! The dialog frames looks like its from Persona

NP, I also think that Experience definitely took some influence from Atlus, from Persona and just Shin Megami Tensei in general.

Normally I wouldn’t admit this kind of shameful gamer moment but I feel like I owe it…

I own Death Mark I was thinking “why does that sound so familiar”…looked at my shelf. There it sits…unplayed

So thanks for the reminder!

lol well I'm glad I could remind you. Hopefully you enjoy the game when you get around to it.

 

[Isa]

Interesting. I wonder what they censored

The main piece in Death Mark is in one of the DLC moments iirc, where a female victim is forced to swallow spiders. The setup is claimed to be sexual in nature and thus taboo. I mean I guess it can be seen that way. Meanwhile the west is bombarded with sexuality, notably directed towards children, but a grown paying adult can't see a little titillating terror. Unless I google it. Go figure. Uh oh, look mah, I'm a menace to society.

Spoiler: For those crestfallen souls...

Yeah, it looks great. The Japanese version is coming out this December and Aksys Games is putting out the localization in 2023, early on I hope. They're adding a lot of cool things to the formula this time around. Experience had wanted to add RPG elements to the ADV genre since the first Spirit Hunter game (aside from Spirit Hunter they primarily make Dungeon Crawler RPGs), but they were basically all cut because of development restraints. This time around they had the resources to implement them, so they've expanded the partner system with a leveling mechanic where which character you choose changes your success rate of different "live or die" choices, as well as how you can exorcise the spirits, etc. There's side scrolling exploration in addition to the first person screens, and the whole presentation just awesome great. I can't wait to play it.

That's really cool to hear, I love hearing that devs can be a bit more ambitious. From what little I've seen now looks way improved. I definitely recognize some of the character art and style especially from those Experience titles. Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi has quite a few character avatars to chose from including ones from Stranger of Sword City. I'm just going to have to break down and play Death Mark games even though the censorship put me off. I've heard the physical copies, some say on the Switch are fine if you don't update the game though. Sadly I'm stuck with the PS versions of both. But I've been on a horror kick lately. My girl and I have been watching some classics, and I enjoyed World of Horror, just wish it was finished, but I really want a good VN story. I've got plenty to chose from across every system lol. That partner system sounds really interesting for sure.

BTW I enjoyed your video, lots of good footage. Great art throughout that game.