Hyakki Castle is a 3D real-time dungeon crawler with a twist. The game uses a team splitting feature that allows more freedom in completing the many puzzles that await inside the castle. The game takes place in Japan’s Edo period; this is seen through the artwork and styling of the game.
You start by creating four different party members that will hopefully get you through the castle and to the end. Getting to choose from various races and classes, the game offered a nice amount of customization. I really enjoyed the tiny detail of switching some of the class names based on gender. We see this with the male ninjas and female kunoichi. Something that took away from my enjoyment was the clicking sounds during the various menus.
Loud and off putting, I felt like it took away from the games aesthetics. Happy with my party, I started the game. There was little guidance when first starting. The biggest help was going to the menu and looking at the key bindings. I still had to mess around with the buttons and figure out how to switch teams. Over the next few minutes I found that you could either be team one or team two, or combine the teams to have all four of your party members in one group. The character’s inventory and equipment screen was pleasantly laid out, though the navigation of it felt a tad unnatural. Switching items to different party members and equiping things were tedious at times. Turning felt somewhat awkward at the beginning, though I adjusted much during the game. I greatly enjoyed all of the monsters you encounter while playing which again added to the esthetics. Overall, the Hyakki Castle was enjoyable. Though the controls were a bit clunky, the glimpse into the Japanese culture was enough to hold my interests.
3/5 Stars
