Mary Skelter Finale | PS4 Review

The Mary Skelter series, by Idea Factory International, is a dark fantasy series that places fairytale characters into a hellish living prison known as Jail. A place that consumes everything in it's path, and will not allow it's prisoners to escape their torment. Subjecting them to torture night, and day at the hands of monstrous beasts ... 

In the first game in the series we got to know of mainstay characters and prisoners Jack and Alice as we followed their attempted escape from said Jail. Jack and Alice having been couple of childhood friends that were abducted by the resident monsters known as Marchens, and taken to the Jail in which they were made to do unspeakable things. It is there they were ultimately rescued by the likes of Red Riding Hood, and were told of Alice's unusual powers. It seems Alice was a Blood Maiden, a person who draws powers from the blood of Marchens, and is borne of Marchen descent. While Alice, and other Blood Maidens like her are capable of fighting back against the Jail's minions with those powers they cannot push it too far past their strengthened Massacre Mode, a heightened state of sorts brought on by the blood splatters of Marchens, or they'll go into a transformative Skelter frenzy where they lose their reasoning to madness. Attacking friends as well as foes. 

This is where Jack's role is first made known. It seems that Jack's blood is not your ordinary blood type. It can actually bring a Blood Maiden who has gone into a Skelter transformation back from that awakened state into their normal selves, and through the use of a Mary Gun he does just that. With Alice, Red Riding Hood, Jack, and Red's Dawn Liberation group in tow the lot set out to tackle the enemies at hand and free themselves from the Jail using the knowledge of their powers. Or so they thought ...

As one would expect the first try at escape fails, and through an alternate take on their reality Jack relives the initial game's introductory tale only to nearly die early on, and transform into a Nightmare himself. This is where new characters like Otsuu, and her princess bride, the Little Mermaid, step in. Ultimately changing the course of their attempted escape, and eventually having them heading out with others towards the surface of the real world which the Jail had previously obscured from view. 

Fast forward to the current game that is Mary Skelter Finale, and we find the troupe of Blood Maidens, and saved human prisoners rising upwards towards what they hope is the surface world, and a ways out from their hellish nightmare. Unfortunately for them, awaiting on the other side, is a mountain of freshly dead bodies, a monstrous Jail, and the party guilty of mass murder known only as Massacre Pink. A group of execution device themed girls who are the culprits of the copious carnage. 

Spotting Jack, Alice, Otsuu, and the rest of the crew Massacre Pink wastes no time weeding out their sought after Alice, and attempting to kill the rest. Somehow Hikari intervenes, warps the survivors the hell out of there, and in doing so gives the Blood Maidens and Jack the space they need to gather their bearings as well as resources for the inevitable fight against their newfound adversaries. On the flipside of the tale a loner from the Massacre Pink squad finds herself wisped away as well after her reluctance to participate in the bloodshed that their master, or father tasked them with. Through an alternate location she tries to work her way back to her sisters in arms only to experience an ongoing inner conflict of interest. Whether or not she turns out to be a friend or foe is told through the following story progression. Lastly, a mysterious white-haired man with a Mary Gun and a case of amnesia searches desperately for his missing wife. All parties intertwined in a story where their final confrontation with each other will be a revelation to behold.

Through a series of character driven conversations we find that the group of survivors is scattered here, there, and yonder within the apocalyptic hellscape that seems to be host to an even larger Jail, or Jails. As per usual you'll be guiding parties of mixed and matched characters they rejoin, and team up for the fight at hand within these environmentally different Jails. Tagging along with those returning party members, Pyre, and the mystery white-haired male in what is best described as a conjoined narrative that will eventually meet in the middle. 

Pyre along with a new Mary Gun toting mystery man will open up the path to an end as the Blood Maidens join in the fray. While that main objective isn't so clear cut to begin with, you will find that travel in these hellish new prisons are made easier to navigate via a world map with selectable locations as well as a mini-map with a zoom option that shows items, places, and events of interests. It even has an auto-pilot option to get you to where you are going automatically without having to manually apply movement within the maze-like labyrinths. You simply have to click on a destination, and hit the auto-pilot button, and off you go. Only stopped at the random spawns of enemy encounters which you'll have to deal with or escape from. 

Unlike previous entries in the series you will be witnessing several connected character driven stories involving key characters, with back and forth viewpoints from said characters. All between dungeon outings. Each giving their account, and brief back story of their rise to the surface as well as their involvement in the ongoing plight. As you play you'll find that switching between characters is a must for progress sake within the labyrinthine locations of the new Jails as some characters can only go so far without the others caught up. This is a process of party swapping is known as Zapping, and choosing the Zapping option will effectively bring you to a character select screen consisting of Jack, the other Blood Maidens, Pyre, and the White-Haired Mystery Man. 

While in the various key locations as Jack, the Blood Maidens, Pyre, and the Mystery Man you will find different types of events, and points of interest. Using character specific abilities, and mechanics unique to each party to further these plot points you'll open up access opportunities for others. Of course there are things that center around characters, dungeon crawling, and battles tied to said progression. Each marked by a specific icon that can be easily located on the given mini-map. There's even camps with their respective icons for saving progress. Looting opportunities also exist in the for of hidden treasures. It is very much an old school dungeon crawler by design, and in the first person sense with turn based RPG elements applied. You'll find that under each "Zappable" characters' avatar in the Zapping menu lies a listing of available events, and treasures that can be found. 

When it comes to combat in the Jail dungeon outings it is a turn based affair with the mechanics of the Mary Skelter series returning mostly intact. Jack can reload his Mary Gun after using it to buff or debuff a Blood Maiden. As can the White-Haired Mystery Man. They can do things like restore SP, or remove corruption among other useful assists. Both Jack and the Mystery Man can also act as a protector or apply items to himself or the Blood Maidens in his party. The Blood Maidens, on the other hand, have the option after accumulating enough blood splatters from defeated enemies to enter a boosted state known as Massacre Mode, or choose to alternatively Lick and apply a Soul Blood Skill for restorative effects. This relies fully on the blood splatter gauge. Something that banks on weak point kills, and overkills for accumulation. 

In regards to the Massacre mode state, Blood Maidens will gain stat boosts, and access to different more powerful skills. Something that comes in handy against more formidable foes. It should be noted that access to these benefits only lasts a handful of turns before the Blood Maiden reverts back to a normal state. Blood Maidens in your party can also do base attacks, and use base skills which depend up their SP meter to apply. In regards to equipment you can equip Blood Maidens with weapons, armor, and accessories to add to their RPG stats. Another key mechanic ties into the elemental damage that can be dealt through skills. You'll find some enemies are weaker or more resistant to certain elements. Things like wind, fire, water, earth, etc. Applying these special attacks, and capitalizing on weakness will effectively maximize Massacre mode availability.

In addition to the skill availability you'll also be earning CP points by leveling up which can, in turn, be spent on learning new skills. These skills are dependent upon the character's job type, and offer a variety of offensive, defensive, and restorative skills. Skills can be set for use, and even Blood Skill dungeon abilities can be set in a particular order for ease of use in the dungeons. 

Something else worth minding in the way of Blood Maiden modes is the Skelter Mode. Blood Maiden transformation will definitely require attention as you face battles in the dungeon areas. When any Blood Maidens KO in battle it will cause the blood splatters of others to become corrupt. When fully corrupted they'll transform into a Skelter version of themselves. To counter this you'll either need to sacrifice the corrupted Blood Maiden, Embrace them, use Mary's matches, or Snow White's sleeping pills which will also remove the corruption. If you fail to remove the corruption Skelter transformed Blood Maidens will attack their friends and foes. Causing hefty damage to the party.

Party and character management, which is a crucial part of gameplay, is done via the TRIANGLE menu. A place where pairing, equipment, and skills can be tinkered with. You can actually create new skills, and assign skills as previously mentioned. You can even equip several pieces of stat boosting equipment that includes character specific weapons, gear, and accessories. The staple Library menu also returns giving character profile insight, and an enemy bestiary. Further fleshing out the lore at hand.

Dungeons, which are equally as important in regards to combat and characters are a beast unto themselves. In dungeons you not only face the threat of Marchens, but of Nightmares as well. With Nightmares it becomes a situation of avoidance. If you find yourself in a darkened area of the dungeon, and a Nightmare spawns you'll need to try, and outrun it. Defeating any Marchens you encounter as quickly as possible lest the Nightmare shows up in the battle. Sometimes battling Nightmares outright is a must, and in these situations pressing X while next to their dungeon avatar will trigger that battle. Downing or destroying all parts of a Nightmare will end the battle at hand, and allow you another chance at escape. In battles with Marches the blood splatter effect also carries over onto dungeon walls creating a light source, and removing the Nightmare threat.

Additionally in dungeons are gimmicks, or traps that require timing as well as the use of Blood Abilities to deal with. Each Blood Maiden has a Blood Ability that plays into the dungeons' environmental puzzles. Mary, for example can sneak past five different laser triggers that will, if touched, cause issues such as more Marchen spawns, and damage to the party. Alice, like Mary, also has a Blood Ability that allows her to spawn save points in places that don't have them. Needless to say other Blood maidens come complete with their own useful Blood Abilities. Utilizing them when needed is the key to progress.

Extras ...

One thing that really sets this entry apart from the others besides the settings, new characters, and events is the inclusion of all of the story content from the previous two entries. This includes everything from the prologue of each game to the end chapter. This can be accessed at the main menu, and viewed without any actual gameplay elements. Also new to this entry is the inclusion of a unique romantic visual novel game set in a school that comes as a DLC add-on that will be available upon launch. It's a two part DLC with "Blood High", and "True End" being their differentiating titles. They act as a spin-off to the main game, and plays out as such a visual novel would. 

The Verdict ...

While I do love the dark fairytale lore of Mary Skelter this entry seems oddly organized, and sometimes lost in direction. From lengthy, and obscenely drawn out context heavy conversations the story is delivered in the most outright heavy handed kind of ways. Not easing the player in with a mixture of hands-on gameplay tutorials as per usual, but instead forcing the player to read through dialogue that seemingly overstays it's welcome. Leaving less time for Dungeon crawling. It's like they tried to rehash everything to get people to the current situation only to compound the current situation further with multiple character intros, and conversations. The flow from text to menu to gameplay felt really unnatural, and somewhat disjointed. 

Another thing to note was the absence of a lot of voice-overs, sound, and some missing features like avatar portraits. I was given the head's up that the team has a patch coming out day one to fix a lot of this, but it made it seem like this game was slapped together, and rushed out in a hurry to meet a deadline. There is a lack of that IFI polish that we got to see in the pre-pandemic releases, and it's sad to see. 

With all that said I still found the story interesting enough. I know I say that a lot with my IFI reviews, but the storytelling, however heavy handed it may be, carries the game through. The characters, their situation, and the world they find themselves in is truly unlike anything fans of IFI are used to seeing. It's like Grimm Fairytales on crack. It's dark, and not the cheery happy-go-lucky type of game that IFI's Neptunia series often is. I just wish they had of taken more time to make it flow more naturally, and not make it feel so rushed in context, and delivery, or as confusing as it is. It needed some quality time invested to live up to the original game's fluidity. Even with those negative points I still think fans of the series will want to see it's conclusion. Whether you buy it day one or later is up to you. Do note there is a limited physical addition with the usual IFI perks. I'm not sure if it's sold out yet, but if you're interested you might want to look into it.