Castle of Shikigami III

"Castle "Shoot-a-gami" to you, buster!"

Known as Shikigami No Shiro in Japan. The Castle of Shikigami, in English. Horribly-bad dialogue-peppered-with-insane-difficulty to the gaming world. "That weird shiki-gamey-game" to everybody else.

Only Do-Don-Pachi-Daioujou is a harder shoot 'em up. CS3 is wickedly difficult, but not necessarily unfair. For further explanation of unfair, see notations under "Ninja Gaiden 2-comma-definition of." The third entry in the Shiki series is easily the best, meaning that if you enjoy shmups, you should play this game. Now.

Graphics - 8

Well, not TOO bad- this is the Wii, after all. Bright, effervescent colors are splattered over every level board, along with some impressive background-goings-on. The character portraits are typical anime fare, but... I dunno... "cuter", I guess?

One problem I have is that the graphics are a little TOO colorful, making it hard to see the different types of bullets gunning for your character. Green ones, orange ones, purple ones... With all the bright, visceral explosions and hit-sparks popping and booming all over the place, it's a little hard to keep track of the 5,000,000 or so bullets on screen at any one time. Also, it gets a little too much for the Wii to handle and some slowdown occurs whenever there's a lot going on. This, however, is an unexpected bonus, as it can help you navigate the never-ending bullet maze. Still, unforgivable from a graphical standpoint.

Well, in short, it's a shmup. Name a really, REALLY good looking one that can hold a candle to Bioshock. Graphics aren't terribly important here, nor will they ever become the genre-definining component.

Sound - 7

Shiki 2 has much better sound and music. 3 is relatively uninspired. The in-game music is pretty much a bucket of "uck," and I wonder which lucky bastard on the development team was responsible for pressing the "Demo" button on whatever Casio keyboard they dredged up from 1980-something BC. Sorry if that sounds a mite bitter, but seriously- 2 had MUCH better music.

The sound effects are a little less stock, with characters belting out great catch phrases (Such as Reika shouting "Owieowieowieowie!" when she eats a bullet) that give the game a bit more personality than previous attempts in the series. The explosions belt out pretty regularly, and they sound OK.

Here comes the facet the game is most (in)famous for- the Voice Acting! In all honesty, this one does a lot better job of localization and overall acting. For the uninitiated, CS2 had the all-time worst voice acting of just about any game, ever. Imagine if you will- Native English speakers droning out obviously engrish phrases that sound awkward and stumbling. Gems such as-

"OKAY! You've got two choices. Caught, then beaten.... or beaten, then caught."

"Smells like a man! Sweaty! I like it!"

"You should feel honor to be hunt by me."

And so on. The English language cries in anguish whenever someone doesn't skip a cutscene. Things are much improved in 3, however... which is good and bad, I suppose. Unintentional humor is usually the best!

Gameplay - 8

10 Playable characters! 5 full level boards! A boss fight mode! Practice!

...

Crap we've all seen before!!!

Well, the actual gameplay is what takes the biscuit. Every shmup worth it's salt has a score system that separates the big guns from the cap guns. Or something. CS3 follows its predecessors with a Tension Based scoring system. The closer you are to a bullet or enemy when you kill something, the higher your point value. This, by necessity, makes EVERY character play radically different.

Every character has a normal shot, bomb, and a "Shikigami" attack. The best part is, with little exception, that every character is very different. Kohtaro, the main "Guy," I guess, is quite easy to use. His Shikigami attack automatically seeks out and attacks enemies, letting you fly as close to bullets as possible to maximize your score. Roger Sasuke is a ninja with a floating mine cluster shikigami attack that decimates bosses, but has to be aimed manually.

As usual, a bullet or object has to pass through the exact middle of your character in order for a hit to be counted. This makes for some pretty heart-pumping evasive maneuvers, when you navigate the maze of onscreen bullets. When you get hit, you get an extra bomb, which balances out the loss of life. New to the series is the "Tension Max" system, which uses up one bomb, but gives you x8 tension status no matter how close you are to oncoming enemy fire. This is a boon that can help your score rocket to insane heights.

Boss fights in this game are about the most intense fights I've ever played in a shmup. Every boss has several lifebar segments that represent different attack patterns. Once you drain a particular section of lifebar, the next pattern starts. Pretty spiffy!

There are additional difficulty modes, which are ridiculously unfair, but the main game, as it stands, is pretty solid. 10 playable characters with differing dialogue banter between them and bosses, well... You do the math on all the conversations to see in this game. No, seriously, do it. I suck at math.

Overall - 8

CS3 is a great game for shmup fans. Halo players, WoWers and casual gamers will all give you a look like "What the hell does this have to do with me" when CS3 is mentioned. But if you enjoy the genre, or want a decent entry into the concept, Castle Shikigami 3 will be an enjoyable, if difficult experience into the wonderful world of vertically scrolling shoot-em-ups.

Fumiko- C'Mon, Koh! Let's have sex!
Koh- No, Peg... I mean, Fumiko...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/17/09

Game Release: Castle of Shikigami III (US, 05/13/08)