The PlayStation Vita has not been a huge success story in terms of sales, especially when compared to its competitor (3DS) and predecessor (PSP), but one thing it does have is a strong lineup of games, especially from developers and publishers who are bringing smaller, more obscure RPGs over from Japan onto the platform. The latest title to follow this trend is Mary Skelter: Nightmares a game that combines cute anime girls with a bloody, ghoulish presentation to deliver one of the best games to land on the PS Vita in recent years. Seriously, if you have a Vita lying around, you need to check this game out.

The story opens with a bit of exposition on the setting. Years ago an entire Japanese city was consumed by an entity known simply as ‘the Jail’ capturing those unlucky enough to survive within its walls for the sole purpose of torturing them to satisfy the Jail’s twisted desires. We are soon introduced t our heroes, the weak but stoic Jack and our heroine Alice. Together, along with the help of a resistance group called the Blood Maidens they manage to escape to a reclaimed sanctuary district where our heroes decide to dedicate themselves to the cause of liberating others from the Jail while uncovering its mysteries.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares has two principal gameplay styles. First and foremost, this is a dungeon crawler RPG, like games in the Etrian Odyssey series. You will explore a 3D dungeon from a first person perspective while you explore for contact points that could lead to survivors, secrets, treasures of just a bit of exposition. Along the way you will also encounter random enemy encounters which turns the game to a traditional turn based RPG with one pretty noticeable difference. The main character Jack can’t actually fight back but instead serves to interrupt and block enemies from directly attacking the Blood Maidens in your party. It’s fun twist on a pretty tried and true genre and one that added a layer of strategy to the combat, not that it needed it as the game offers up tons of different strategies and options for approaching each and every battle allowing you to experiment with different mechanics to your heart’s content. This helped keep the gameplay fresh and engaging throughout your time in Jail.

These mechanics include a different states of being for your Blood Maidens called Massacre Mode and Blood Skelter Mode. In Massacre mode your Blood Maiden does more damage than usual but every hit she takes goes towards a corruption gauge which when filled sends her into Blood Skelter Mode, where you lose control of the character and must purify her. This mechanic basically ensures that you can’t just go all out in battle and must tackle each situation strategically. While exploring the dungeon you will also encounter Nightmares, giant, (almost) invincible enemies that you must escape in real-time or else enter a battle that you will likely come out on the wrong end of. Finally the dungeon itself also has three primal (Hunger, Libido and Sleep) desires that you needs to satisfy in order to earn useful rewards when you head back to town. All of this to say that the game has a lot of mechanics going on at the same time, and after an admittedly difficult learning curve you will learn to not only understand them but look forward to the unexpected events that take place inside of the Jail since it keeps the game moving along at a strong pace, something which many dungeon crawlers don’t have the luxury of saying.

The other half of the gameplay is pretty much a mix of organizing your party/stats/ inventory mixed in with visual novel elements and frankly, this break from the constant and ever-present horror of the Jail was a nice reprieve. The story is extremely well written and exciting and I found myself taking my Vita out of the house for the first time in what seems like forever so I could play the game on the go and know what happened next. While in the Liberated District you will meet NPCs and quest givers that will give you specific tasks to complete once back in Jail and while these never amounted to more than simple fetch-quests it did give you something new to look for while exploring Jail, which like I mentioned before helps keep the game on its toes and feeling fresh.

Typically when these type of games make their way over from Japan a lot of the more ‘risqué’ content is censored for international audiences, well depending on which side of the coin you fall you’ll either be happy or upset to know that Mary Skelter: Nightmares comes with all of its original content included, yes even the controversial ‘purging’ mini-game. Here your Blood Maidens are covered in a dark corruption that must be removed by rubbing your Vita’s touch screen to reveal the naked (but purified) maiden underneath. And while it might be distasteful to some I was happy it was kept included in the game, not because I like awkwardly positioned anime girls (that’s none of your business anyway), but because so much of the game’s presentation, style and setting uses sex as a major theme driving the story and gameplay. From licking the blood of defeated monsters for strength to stimulating the Jail’s ‘Emotion Point’ to satisfy its libido, this is a game whose core relies on it not hiding behind political correctness and for that I’m happy we got the full package, questionable content and all.

Moving on from gameplay, the game’s presentation is overall excellent with just a few minor complaints. The character designs are top-notch, showcasing each and every cast member’s personality through their designs. I am also a big fan of the game’s use of color, with its dark, dingy atmosphere punctuated by sharp pinks and whites, it lends the game and eerie and disturbing look, sort of like how an innocent child might interpret something as dark and disturbing as the Jail. The game’s story, like I mentioned before is also excellent but it’s made even better by the terrific use of atmosphere in the presentation. The game actually feels oppressive and claustrophobic, which for a handheld title is an impressive accomplishment.

Of course it’s not all perfect. The Jail, for all it’s horrors does start feeling pretty repetitive after a while, with the same reused assets lining it’s blood-soaked walls. The game’s soundtrack is another point of contention for me as I really enjoyed it… at first. But then the same tracks started playing over and over… and over and it wasn’t too long before I turned the music volume down in the options menu. As far as voice acting goes, the game isn’t fully voiced but does use actors for key moments in the story. You can also choose to listen to the original Japanese voice acting if you so prefer along with English subtitles.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares will be available at retail for $39.99, which is easily worth the price of admission for this twisted ride (a Limited Edition is also available for $69.99 that includes a poster, novel, art book, cover sleeve and collector’s box). That being said, despite its high quality, this is not a game that will please everyone. For starters, dungeon crawlers are a pretty divisive genre (I’m not the biggest fan myself) and visual novels are definitely niche as well, so mixing both doesn’t give this game tons of mass-market appeal. Add to that its more controversial elements and you have a game that will surely satisfy fans of the genre and style but isn’t likely to convert those on the fence.

Like I said at the beginning of this review, the PS Vita isn’t exactly a system that has been flush with games as of late let alone many good games, but Mary Skelter: Nightmares definitely challenges that notion. The game is one of the best PS Vita games to release in a long time and definitely worth checking out as long as you understand what you are getting into. All in all though, if you are in the market for a fresh, challenging, adventure on the Vita and don’t mind a bit of blood and skin in your games then you owe it yourself to check out Mary Skelter: Nightmares, it just might breath new life into your Vita.

A copy of Mary Skelter: Nightmares was provided to Link-Cable by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares (PSV/PC) 8.7/10 Gameplay - 8.7/10

9.2/10 Content - 9.2/10

9/10 Presentation - 9/10

8.6/10 Value - 8.6/10 8.9/10 Summary - The game is overall a good experience with a few small issues. “if you are in the market for a fresh, challenging, adventure on the Vita and don’t mind a bit of blood and skin in your games then you owe it yourself to check out Mary Skelter: Nightmares, it just might breath new life into your Vita.”