Mary Skelter - Classic dungeon crawling with an unexpected storyline
Mary Skelter: Nightmares (神獄塔 メアリスケルター) is a dungeon crawler RPG developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory. It was released in 2016 and spawned two sequels. I played the original back when it was released on the PS Vita, but I also recently replayed it to prepare myself to play the two sequels.
The story follows Jack and Alice as they escape from a jail cell where they were held hostage by monstrous entities, aided by powerful girls called Blood Maidens. Once out, they begin to understand the situation they are in: the world has been completely invaded by these monstrous entities, and there are only a few people left trying to survive.
At the camp, Jack is revealed to have the ability to control the berserk state of the Blood Maidens. This is an extremely valuable power considering the limited number of Blood Maidens (of which Alice is one) and the fact that once they go berserk, they are literally out of control and will keep fighting until death.
Jack is therefore entrusted to work together with Alice and the other Blood Maidens to gather information and prepare to escape from this accursed tower. At the same time, Jack and Alice start investigating the city because something feels off about the people there, and he is not fully sure about their motives.
Each of the Blood Maidens (including Jack) has a certain quirk known in-game as "Blood Libido", which is derived from the fairy tale the Blood Maiden is based on. This can negatively influence the person, so Jack needs to work on helping them overcome it.
The playable Blood Maidens are:
Alice
A childhood friend of Jack. She is extremely protective of him and is often seen being very aggressive toward the other girls when she thinks he is in danger. Her Blood Libido makes her interested in tea sets and tea parties. It also makes her lose tolerance for illogical actions.
Red Riding Hood
A tomboy who is hot-blooded and is often seen rushing through the Jail to get praise from her adoptive father, Professor Tohjima. Her Blood Libido compels her to wear something over her head, and she is extremely worried about getting her hood damaged.
Cinderella
A beautiful girl who often acts arrogant. She has a very close relationship with Red Riding Hood, to the point that you could consider them sisters. Her Blood Libido makes her obsessive-compulsive regarding cleanliness and beauty. This makes her morale very volatile due to her lack of self-worth.
Thumbelina
Physically small, she is the eldest sister compared to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. She tries hard to look and act like the eldest, but she is really just a tsundere at heart. Her Blood Libido makes her love tiny spaces, where she often hangs out to relax or sulk.
Snow White
The middle sibling of Thumbelina and Sleeping Beauty. She is a kind and gentle girl who tries to treat everyone with care, even though her clumsy nature often makes this backfire. Her Blood Libido makes her uneasy whenever she looks in a mirror and makes her concerned about her physical appearance.
Sleeping Beauty
The youngest sibling of Thumbelina and Snow White. She is the most adult-looking of the three, even if her weird and erratic behavior often confuses other people to no end. Her Blood Libido makes her sleep a lot, even in the most improbable places.
Gretel
A young girl who is cold and rational, appearing to have no emotions. She lacks common sense and empathy even though she reads a lot of books. Her Blood Libido makes her desire candies and sweet things above all else. She even pressures other people to provide more for her.
Rapunzel
The youngest member of the Blood Maidens. She is sort of feral when encountered and has absolutely no common sense. She considers Jack "emergency rations" and is often seen biting him. Her Blood Libido makes her extremely concerned about her hair. Any threat to it can make her cry and lose control.
Hameln
Introduced only very late in the game, she is a brash and loud girl who defines herself as the "Demon King." She seems to be fixated on Alice for unknown reasons. Her Blood Libido makes her obsessive about marching and orderliness. Even seeing a party move in a non-linear order unnerves her.
My favorite character is definitely Gretel because of her cool voice (Atsumi Tanezaki did a great job here) and personality that is prone to cause curious clashes in the cast. Seeing her getting into fight and provoking Alice was always a source of interesting scenes.
The gameplay is a relatively standard dungeon crawler with multiple jobs, and each job has specializations that add extra characteristics to the class. The Blood Maidens can change between these jobs at the base using a "Job Right" material to unlock them. Each job features different artwork for each of the girls.
The game has a Bad, Good, and True Ending. In the newer versions, the True Ending only unlocks after playing and obtaining the True Ending of the second game before going back to the first and obtaining some additional materials available at specific locations. There are also character-specific endings added on top that unlock based on who the first character in your party is.
Mary Skelter: Nightmares is a great game, and I suggest you give it a shot. The story is quite interesting, and the characters are all charming; you will end up loving them. I am honestly looking forward to playing the sequels and seeing how they fit into the timeline of the original game.
