Disclaimer
I was sent a free copy of Mary Skeleter Finale to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.
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Table of Contents
What is May Skelter Finale?
Mary Skelter Finale is a dungeon crawling RPG out now on Steam, PS4 and the Nintendo Switch. If you like anime and dark fantasy, this might be the game for you.
Hook
Deep within an ancient prison, a group of fairy tale heroes make their daring escape. Surrounded by monsters known as Marchen and madness-inducing monsters, they must fight their way through to freedom. But this will not be easy, and their latest obsticale seems almost impossible. The group finds themselves surrounded by pools of blood and piles of dead bodies. Even more powerful monsters fight back the blood maidens, forcing a retreat that leaves them scattered throughout the tower. They must use their special abilities and any loot they find along the way to get out of this prison. Will they ever know freedom, or are they doomed to become part of the piles of dead bodies?
Gameplay
This game plays like an old school dungeon crawler. The game is split into two parts, exploration and combat. Players will explore the dungeon in a unique first person view, in search of loot and a way out. Random encounters will keep players on their toes as they are forced into traditional turn based combat. Each character and team has unique skills and abilities that they can use to keep enemies at bay, with options for further customization through a unique skill crafting system. You can essentially buy the skills you want each character to have.
What makes this game truly unique is its swapping mechanic. All of the characters have been scattered throughout the tower in teams. Players must switch between each team to progress through the story. This shift in perspective helps give the narrative its complexity, but it also makes the grind feel a bit more tedious. Either way, if you like these old school feeling dungeon crawlers, it might be worth checking out the Mary Skelter series.
Review
I have mixed feelings about this title. On one hand, this game has fantastic art and solid story, but starting at the end left me a little confused. I wish I would have started from the start. The gameplay loop is fine, but it does suffer from being a port of a game from a grindier generation. There are a few noticeable bugs, but I didn’t encounter anything game braking, and the combat feels a bit repetitive. The game is also hard if you try to play it mindlessly. This game demands respect for its mechanics, and the mechanics aren’t always clear. (This might be a skill issue). All in all, I think the game is fine, but start at the beginning.
Aesthetic
What drew me, and I am sure a lot of people, to this game is the art. The character design in this game is peak, especially if you are fan of anime. The world feels a little bare, but I’ll chalk that up to resource restrictions. The game does have a fantastic sound track and even better voice actors to bring this story to life. If you like anime, you’ll enjoy the dark and gritty world and cool anime characters that fill it.
Gameplay
Here is where I can see there being a split. If you like old school dungeon crawlers, the game has enough of a modern flare to be appealing to the modern gamer, but the game feels dated and the grind is a little steep. You really get sense of how grindy this game is when you switch between teams and it feels like you are starting over. I love these kinds of games and found the repetition soothing, but as a busy dad, it felt like I never accomplished enough.
The problem I have with this title is that you can only save at certain points. This is well in good for building tension, but not good when you have to step away for dadly duties. This game was clearly made to be played on a handheld where you can put the device to sleep, and not lose any progress. I had to start my save over a few times (often losing hours of progress) because I never got to the save point in time. I am so glad this game works on the Steam Deck, or else I would still be playing through the prologue.
Does it work on the Steam Deck?
This game is great on the Steam Deck, at least during my testing. The words are a little small, but that could just be a simptom of these old eyes. Otherwise, I was able to perform the core gameplay loop and most importantly, progress through enough of the story to write this review.
Story
The story is fine, but I felt a little lost. The game does a good enough job at being a stand alone adventure, but I felt like I was missing key plot points that would help me care more about the story. Moreover, I didn’t feel as attached as I should be to the characters because I didn’t get to spend enough time with them. While I like the story for the dark and gory fantasy that it is, I am not getting enough of the story to care. Without having read any of the other installments, I can kind of tell that this might be the weakest of the trilogy. That said, I liked the story enough, and will try to go back to the beginning to learn more. If you like dark fantasy anime, this is a solid tittle, but start at the beginning.
Conclusion
If you like visual novels and don’t mind the old school drungeon-crawl grind, Mary Skelter is an interesting series that is worth looking into. You get a world with cool art, solid lore, and interesting gameplay. The biggest determining factor seems to be the grind. If you don’t mind this era of rpg grind, start at the beginning. $40 seems a little too steep for this title because of how dated it feels, but if you’ve been enjoying the story, you get a solid conclusion. Check it out, but start from the beginning. You can pick up your copy on Steam, PS4 and the Nintendo Switch.
If you enjoy these types of old school Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society
Trailer
