Name: Divi-Dead (88.73% in 55 votes)
Type: ACT
Platform: WINDOWS
Company: Himeya Soft
Release date: 1998
Reviewed by: Mike
Hey all,
I'm back again, and this time with Cs ware's Divi-Dead.
Quick Summary: Divi-DEAD, by Cs ware, has been ported over into the States by Himeay Soft. Divi-DEAD is a multi-ending adventure game of the horror-suspence type. The story and characters draw you into their nightmare, and it makes you keep playing so you can see the light of the day again.
Storyline: The background story is you play the part of Ranmaru Hibikiya, a very sickly boy who's only recently be released from a very prolonged stay at a hospitol. Your wealthy uncle has offered you enrolment into his school... if you do a favor for him. He asks you keep an eye on the other students, because there have been problems recently, and in the past.
As the game progessess, you are drawn more and more into the nightmarish history that is hidden, and you get to see which of the other characters were attempting to use you, and which were helping you. You also learn about your past, and who you really are. It does live up to the line on its advertisement, "Trust no one... but yourself?"
Thoughts: The game is very well done. It has a well thought out story line and gameplay, an interesting setting, and characters who all have there own hidden adjendas.
I belive the game was released in Japan in 1997, and brought over into the States in 1998. So I used the English version of the game for the dating.
The graphics are top notch. All of them. From the backgrounds (where you can see them in daytime, evening, and nightime), to the events, to the extras that you unlock when you complete the game. They are all very detailed in terms of shading, coloring, and lines. I believe they are in 16-bit true color. Many of the images have a dark tone to them, which adds to the mood of the game.
There are four endings to the game, which is disappointing. Many of the choices you make are simply to progress the plot along, and don't have any direct affect on which ending you receive. It does have the neat affect that the ending though complete, doesn't necessarily answer all the questions possed by the game. You have to get each ending to get the full story. Himeya does offer a walkthrough so you can get all the endings, including the very difficult to get Sachiko ending.
The sounds and music are midi files, and very well done. They augment the current mood of the game; from the happy-go-lucky sounding music for when you're walking around during the school day, to the lulliby music during intamate scenes, to the dramatic music when the ending is about to come. The music is well done. And, Himeya offers the midi files as extras as well (so you can play the music off the CD while working on your desktop). The voice acting is well done.
The translation is... okay. There are times when it seemed very loose about what was going on in the event. Especially when it was an intamate scene between Ranmaru and one of the female characters. So, at times, it seems forced and poorly scripted. Overall, the translation was well done.
The extras are excellent. Divi-Dead comes with 2 wallpaper images, and any image you unlock you can save as a bitmap for personal use. It contains a gallery of the events and backgrounds; and if you click on the background you get to see it during the various times of day. As stated before, you can also play the midi music from the game as well.
I do have some complaints about the game. There are some spots where the voice acting just cuts out, or just isn't there; I still haven't been able to figure out if this was intentional or not. (This is one of the reasons I gave it Voice Acting a lower score). Also, though it was neat to have all the events and backgrounds, it would have been cool if they had included stills of the characters as well, such as the image you get when you are talking to Mami. Lastly, since there are only 4 endings, the replayability of the game isn't as much as other games, like Glo-r-ia or Maid's Story; however, it is a long game, and this partially makes up for it.
All-in-all, a recommendable game.
Story: 9.5
Graphics: 9.5
Translation: 7.5
Sound/Music: 9.0
Voice Acting: 8.0
Extras: 9.0
Replayability: 6.5
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