Corpse-Party

Part 3

Previously, we spoke to a skeleton, who explained that we're trapped in a closed space created by a vengeful spirit that's pulling victims in at random.

Our current goal is to explore the school and look for a way out.

Now that our bony friend is gone, this class has only got flavor text. We exit through the north doorway.

We exit the class and head the only way we can: south. The damaged paper on the wall is unreadable; it's been shredded with sharp nails.

Continuing south down the hallway, there's...a large spinning pentagram.

Obviously, we investigate it.

Well, we better get movin'.

Y-Yeah...

And now we're in control of Yoshiki and Ayumi's group, back in the classroom where we started. We exit the classroom.

As soon as we step out, the entire school shakes violently, and...

...the floorboards shift completely.

KYAAAAAH!

The hell!!

Now that things have shifted around, we can't head up the south staircase anymore. Luckily, the floorboards also shifted in such a way that we can proceed north instead!

There's an extremely conspicuous pathway that leads to an extremely conspicuous door. Obviously, we cross the path and enter the doorway immediately.

I...have no idea what the purpose of this room is. Most of the rooms in this game were clearly "a classroom" or "the infirmary" or whatever. This is just some bizarrely shaped room that serves no obvious purpose for the school.

Important advice that we'll completely ignore at the first possible opportunity. Obviously if a note says "stay away," the correct response is to seek the room out immediately.

After reading the note, we head up into the other portion of the room.

Satoshi's group was pretty stoic and stationary when they encountered a corpse, but Yoshiki and Ayumi run halfway across the room and look from a distance.

Wh-what the hell is that!?

You think I know!?

L-Ladies first!

What do you mean by that!?

Yoshiki and Ayumi approach the skeleton. Despite his attempts to the contrary, Yoshiki closes in first with Ayumi following behind him.

Does it LOOK like a cat or dog's carcass to you!? Why not keep your dumbass comments to yourself!

Huh? There's something written on the floor...

The message was written by human nails being scratched forcefully into the floor.

We're put back into control. Obviously we immediately go check out that poster.

Music: None

...Well that's not good.

Might as well read the poster while we're here.

Music: Terror

And that's all it says. We go back to the former location of the door.

Why are you asking me!?

T-There're gashes all over the wall...

Was someone trying to claw their way out?

With nothing else to do, we head back to the end of the room and check the poster again.

Are we trapped!?

SHADDAP! I'm thinkin', dammit!

I-If we're trapped, I don't know wha--

Don't worry! No way I'm lettin' us die in this pigsty!!

BUT IT'S HOPELESS! WE ALREADY TRIED EVERYTHING!

All because we had to split up! If everyone else was here, we might be able to do something!

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!?

Are you so unhappy...

So unhappy to be trapped with ME instead of your "precious Satoshi"!?

...!

Y...

Ayumi takes a step back from Yoshiki.

Music: Main Theme

And we're automatically switched back to Satoshi's group. Yoshiki and Ayumi aren't exactly going anywhere anytime soon, after all.

There's a nearby spirit. We can talk to it, but it just informs us that investigating a pentagram will switch us between the two parties. This is a major gameplay mechanic that will persist through the entire game.

Now that we're back in control of Satoshi, we continue exploring down the hallway.

That doesn't look good.

This isn't relevant just yet. It's a hint for a puzzle we'll see a little later.

Never trust a ghost.

And sure enough, every step in the goo we take deals 2 HP of damage to our entire party. If we hit 0 HP, we're booted back to the title screen.

We can't continue in that direction anymore. We turn around and head back up the hall.

Oddly, the shredded paper is now intact.

Another cryptic hint. We ignore it and continue backtracking.

We go all the way down the hall, and back down the stairs to the first floor.

No way...the whole place's wrecked.

So why did we come back here, to this dead end?

To pick up the board we used earlier.

Corpse Party is a 90s adventure game, and it shows in a few ways. Like constantly making you backtrack for various reasons.

After picking up the board, we walk all the way back to this narrow hole and cross it with the board.

And we head down the staircase on the other side. We can't go upstairs because the pit in front of it covers just enough that we can't fit.

And we're back on the first floor, in a new area.

This spirit's just giving us a gameplay hint. Posters and bookcases are liable to have important clues in them, or sometimes they're just flavor text.

We continue down the hall, to the north.

And we find more green bile. The spirit here just warns you that the bile absorbs your life, since it's possible this is the first time you encounter it.

We carefully walk around it and head up the stairs.