'Death Mark' trailer and trophy list thoughts.

[Eraezr]

 

Art style looks rather decent. I wonder if it will have Pro support.

sees it is from Japan

I hope Sony doesn't censor anything in this one.

 

A lot of the trophies seem to be about X character dies, at a cursory glance. Might be a heavy spoiler-written guide required for this one.

[Terra]

I wonder why the Viita version is missing the Chapter 6 Trophies 

[Aeoniangel]

I've been waiting for this game!^^ I already preordered the limited edition since we don't get lots of horror visual novels getting localized >.> The trophy list might indicate doing multiple playthroughs to trigger certain events and deaths, but in all looks good enough for me.

Edited October 29, 2018 by RinoaBC

[DrHambone]

Looks to be easy - decent completion on the Japanese versions. A horror VN? Sounds fun! I will definitely want to play this. Looks like there will be multiple playthoughs as mentioned before.

[DarkSoleride]

1 hour ago, RinoaBC said:

I've been waiting for this game!^^ I already preordered the limited edition since we don't get lots of horror visual novels getting localized >.> The trophy list might indicate doing multiple playthroughs to trigger certain events and deaths, but in all looks good enough for me.

me too preordered this last week been waiting for ages for a release date! Got the limited edition too from PlayAsia i can't wait to play it long live the Vita! 

[DarkSoleride]

1 hour ago, Rantaro said:

I wonder why the Viita version is missing the Chapter 6 Trophies 

Its possible the Vita has a different ending to the PS4 version due to technological / capacity restraints but won't know until it launches? Or it could have been published by the developers incorrectly. 

 

 

[turniplord]

To answer all your questions.

It was launched with only 5 chapters in Japan and when it came to PS4 they put the 6th chapter in the PS4 version and it came to Vita as DLC - which will most likely be the same here too (paid in Japan - dunno about over here)

The 6th chapter isn't main-game, it's a bonus chapter you only unlock if you get all characters to stay alive throughout your playthrough.

The game requires 2 playthroughs as you get a trophy for each bad ending in an episode as well as the 'normal' ending if you get one bad ending. The good endings also get trophies, unlock the real ending and the bonus chapter. So, you could save and load before each ending and just replay the final chapter if you wish - there is no chapter select upon completion.


Also, I don't know why you're blaming Sony but yes, there are censored images in this release - most likely censored by Aksys during the translations. Throughout the game you'll see things being described with shadows of figures or events on the screen - I looked these up on a Japanese playthrough and the Japanese version actually has images. For example, at one point there is a woman tied up being force-fed a spider as her mouth is being held open by a contraption - in the western version it's just a shadow.

Overall though - really, really good game. Our review of it is out later on today.

Edited October 29, 2018 by turniplord

[turniplord]

My review is now live if anyone fancies a look - it's quite a long one but there are no major spoilers: http://www.gamepitt.co.uk/death-mark-ps4-review/

I also got an update to the Vita query - The Vita version is priced lower and doesn't have the bonus chapter (chapter 6) due to space on the carts - they must be using 1GB carts. But, you can download the DLC from release if you buy it - this brings the price more in-line with the Switch and PS4 versions which have it as standard.

[ShadoFenix]

12 hours ago, turniplord said:

Also, I don't know why you're blaming Sony but yes, there are censored images in this release - most likely censored by Aksys during the translations. Throughout the game you'll see things being described with shadows of figures or events on the screen - I looked these up on a Japanese playthrough and the Japanese version actually has images. For example, at one point there is a woman tied up being force-fed a spider as her mouth is being held open by a contraption - in the western version it's just a shadow.

Overall though - really, really good game. Our review of it is out later on today.

 

Sony has a new censorship policy that has been pissing off a lot of people due to its incredibly disrespectful nature to Japan and their creators. But that's unfortunate to hear this game got infected by that policy too. I wonder if the Switch version got away unscathed..

[turniplord]

4 hours ago, ShadoFenix said:

 

Sony has a new censorship policy that has been pissing off a lot of people due to its incredibly disrespectful nature to Japan and their creators. But that's unfortunate to hear this game got infected by that policy too. I wonder if the Switch version got away unscathed..

Again, this wasn't affected by Sony... Aksys games did the translation and they are the one who implemented any and all censorships within the game. None of the images altered within this game was forced to do so by Sony themselves. And no, the Switch version is identical to the PS4 and Vita versions with the same alterations of the images.

I know Sony has supposedly stepped in on two or three games this year but this isn't one of them...

[Azelais]

I posted the majority of CGs from the Japanese version here:

 

Feel free to look and compare after you’ve played through Death Mark - or before that even, if you don’t mind the mild spoilers. Or if you feel that a look into the ugly face of horror will help to persuade you to give this game a chance.

 

I’ll add the rest later after going back to the game again. For now, a particularly nasty CG from Chapter 2, as well as everything from the Red Riding Hood bonus chapter is missing. 

 

Being a fan of late 90s to early 2000s Asian ‘subtle’ horror, I frequently got so immersed in the game that I forgot to take screenshots often. In fact, if you too appreciate the horror in films such as the fairly famous Japanese film Dark Water or the semi-well known Korean film The Cat (meow), you may, perhaps, feel the same as you read and find your way through Death Mark. 

 

[Katt]

On 30/10/2018 at 2:52 AM, turniplord said:

Again, this wasn't affected by Sony...

This time it was the ESRB who ruined the fun, like you said here:

 

A reform to rating boards would be nice, or... gaming platforms like PS4 and Switch allowing AO rated games. Oh the possibilities ....

[turniplord]

3 hours ago, Katt said:

This time it was the ESRB who ruined the fun, like you said here:

 

A reform to rating boards would be nice, or... gaming platforms like PS4 and Switch allowing AO rated games. Oh the possibilities ....

Yeah, that's me  I own and run GamePitt.co.uk - I got an update from Aksys in regards to the query surrounding the image so I posted out a few updates. 

I was told it was deemed to fail the ESRB rating of an M if it kept the image. Looking at all games that got an AO rating (the one above it) the last one was GTA on the PS2. So I'm guessing you can't publish a console game with an AO rating, hence getting it to pass the M rating. One of the criteria for AO is 'Prolonged scenes of torture and violence'. technically, it's a realistically drawn image of a lady being force-fed a spider over a period of time whilst she screams. So yeah, there are technically 'worse' images, but that one was a no-no with the ESRB guys. 

Like I said though, they managed to keep in the full dialogue and sounds, so you know what's going on, it just couldn't show that one image. I'd rather them do that and publish the game than not do it and risk having the game blocked in certain regions.

16 hours ago, Aze said:

I posted the majority of CGs from the Japanese version here:

 

Feel free to look and compare after you’ve played through Death Mark - or before that even, if you don’t mind the mild spoilers. Or if you feel that a look into the ugly face of horror will help to persuade you to give this game a chance.

 

I’ll add the rest later after going back to the game again. For now, a particularly nasty CG from Chapter 2, as well as everything from the Red Riding Hood bonus chapter is missing. 

 

Being a fan of late 90s to early 2000s Asian ‘subtle’ horror, I frequently got so immersed in the game that I forgot to take screenshots often. In fact, if you too appreciate the horror in films such as the fairly famous Japanese film Dark Water or the semi-well known Korean film The Cat (meow), you may, perhaps, feel the same as you read and find your way through Death Mark. 

 

Yeah, all of those are in the new Aksys version. I've platinumed the game and have the gallery on the PS4 (so bonus chapter included) and the spider eating image is the only one blacked out - all the others are there in all their graphic glory! 

[GlennRhee]

6 hours ago, turniplord said:

One of the criteria for AO is 'Prolonged scenes of torture and violence'. technically, it's a realistically drawn image of a lady being force-fed a spider over a period of time whilst she screams. So yeah, there are technically 'worse' images, but that one was a no-no with the ESRB guys. 

 

It's still very weird that this scene got cut while the scene in GTAV (which is quite literally a prolonged scene of torture that you actively participate in, and not just a still image) got a pass. Censorship is getting out of hand in recent years.

[turniplord]

Official statement I received for our site: 

I added the image but the text is directly from Aksys Games. Don't let one change to allow the game to get published put you off buying the game. If it wasn't changed (on all platforms including the Switch) then we wouldn't have got the game in the west - simple as.

[Guest]

It seems the game got normal and good endings and maybe bad too. Is there a chapter select later to do the normal endings and vise versa or do we got to do a whole new playthru or maybe just utilize save reload?

[Einigkeit]

25 minutes ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

It seems the game got normal and good endings and maybe bad too. Is there a chapter select later to do the normal endings and vise versa or do we got to do a whole new playthru or maybe just utilize save reload?

I don't recall seeing a chapter select option, so I just made a ton of saves. Alternatively, you could see if you could find a spoiler-free guide that would tell you when to save (the one that I used when I got stuck had a lot of needless exposition that spoiled a few things). There aren't very many moments that you'll need to go back to, but it can be hard to tell when it's the optimal time to save.

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, Einigkeit said:

I don't recall seeing a chapter select option, so I just made a ton of saves. Alternatively, you could see if you could find a spoiler-free guide that would tell you when to save (the one that I used when I got stuck had a lot of needless exposition that spoiled a few things). There aren't very many moments that you'll need to go back to, but it can be hard to tell when it's the optimal time to save.

OK thxs. I'll try to save more often. Seems there is a lot of collecting too, it kinda sucks to have to redo a whole section just for normal ending. I think I already boobooed chapter 1 without a save.

[AffectatiousDonk]

13 minutes ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

OK thxs. I'll try to save more often. Seems there is a lot of collecting too, it kinda sucks to have to redo a whole section just for normal ending. I think I already boobooed chapter 1 without a save.

 

Perfect guide here, no spoilers really only collectibles and directions. It is quiet a good story, worth reading. If you are doing dlc there is similar guide in comments off link. You only need one save per chapter to aquire both chapter endings. It is worth looking ahead to see save point as if you foward past it to next scene save option is locked off.

 

http://ps3imports.org/index.html/_/trophyguides/shiindeath-mark-死印-trophy-guide-r553

Edited November 24, 2018 by Cjshai

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Cjshai said:

 

Perfect guide here, no spoilers really only collectibles and directions. It is quiet a good story, worth reading. If you are doing dlc there is similar guide in comments off link. You only need one save per chapter to aquire both chapter endings. It is worth looking ahead to see save point as if you foward past it to next scene save option is locked off.

 

http://ps3imports.org/index.html/_/trophyguides/shiindeath-mark-死印-trophy-guide-r553

Thank you. That surely comes in handy.

[Einigkeit]

2 hours ago, Cjshai said:

 

Perfect guide here, no spoilers really only collectibles and directions. It is quiet a good story, worth reading. If you are doing dlc there is similar guide in comments off link. You only need one save per chapter to aquire both chapter endings. It is worth looking ahead to see save point as if you foward past it to next scene save option is locked off.

 

http://ps3imports.org/index.html/_/trophyguides/shiindeath-mark-死印-trophy-guide-r553

Damn, wish I'd found this one.

[mako-heart]

On 10/29/2018 at 6:57 AM, turniplord said:

For example, at one point there is a woman tied up being force-fed a spider as her mouth is being held open by a contraption - in the western version it's just a shadow.

 

When is this?

[turniplord]

3 hours ago, mako-heart said:

 

When is this?

Been a long time since I’ve played it but I believe it’s during the final chapter, the one which was originally DLC

[mako-heart]

26 minutes ago, turniplord said:

Been a long time since I’ve played it but I believe it’s during the final chapter, the one which was originally DLC

 

That explains why I didn't see it then. ty!