XSEED Games Slitterhead Day 1 Edition - PlayStation 5

This game is everything I hoped for and more--sounds cliche but that's 100% how I feel after getting into Slitterhead I was excited when I heard Toyama Keiichiro and crew was developing a game as the debut title of his Bokeh Studio. The slivers leaked to the public of the game they were developing gave this longtime fan a good hint at what to anticipate. The Forbidden Siren games are my favorite games after the Silent Hill series, and considering Toyama was party to the creation of Silent Hill as well you can imagine my anticipation for the new creation. Keiichiro, Naoko Sato and company created the Gravity Rush games, which I played out of my love for the creative team behind those games. While Gravity Rush, a beautiful and family friendly fantasy game, is not the kind of title I would typically look into, I loved the fast-paced and fun gameplay, and the story, while gentle, was spectacularly imaginative. Naturally I gravitate toward the horror these game artists created with Forbidden Siren and Silent Hill. The bits of Slitterhead that were released made it clear to me that I was to expect a sci-fi / action / horror that had strong flavors of Forbidden Siren, with a heavier emphasis on combat and action. The horror, while prominent, is not as claustrophobic as Forbidden Siren. Those games were so suffocatingly terrifying that honestly I am happy to play a game that is like Forbidden Siren, but where the protagonist/s possess powers that make the monsters less of a threat, the gameplay is more relaxed, more fun, less terrifying but the element of fear is strong enough to highlight the intensity of the exploration, of the combat. I recall days of playing the bonus stage of Forbidden Siren where Kyoya Suda chops down “shibito”, thinking how the bonus game might become a more prominent element in future games…! Likely Toyama and crew had similar thoughts. This is a perfectly rounded sci-fi / action /horror. You could simply and accurately say that Slitterhead is indeed the dream game where the bizarre, outer horror of Forbidden Siren joins forces with the fun, fast gameplay of Gravity Rush, but of course the game is more than just that. I can’t give enough praise to the artistic direction of the Slitterhead’s look and feel, the grittiness of the fictional Hong Kong city(?), a city that fascinates me (in particular as a longtime lover of splattery Hong Kong Category III films, hello Anthony Wong and Herman Yau), portrayed to such great detail. I have always been drawn to fantastic stories taking place in very real environments. Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren were epitomes of what I wanted in a game for location and feel. The contemporary, gritty feel of the setting is matched, populated by people that look real. I am not drawn to manga, games, movies or really anything where characters are all unnaturally beautiful or cute. I am so happy the art direction of Slitterhead went this way to give something satisfying to those of us that want more visceral stories rather than more mainstream cutesy nonsense. Naturally I ordered the “Day One Edition” as you should also. I had not even realized that the one and only Akira Yamaoka had composed the soundtrack, but that is of course a very pleasing surprise to those of us who fell in love with his genius compositions, primarily his Silent Hill soundtracks. I am abiding the warning not to dig into the art book so as not to spoil the narrative of the game! But I’m looking forward to digging into that later. I’ve spoken of the artistic side, and other reviews should give more detailed insight into the crucial element of gameplay, but I’ll give my take. I saw one article calling he combat a “mess” which I completely disagree with. The combat is fast and can feel overwhelming but never to the point of frustration. The unique method of possessing multiple humans and giving them this supernatural strength by turning blood into a variety of gnarly weapons is perfect. I put the game’s settings to easy as I prefer enjoying the story and less of a challenge, so that’s a way you could go if you want a more relaxed play. I have not tried normal or difficult modes. The combat ranges from one-on-one to all out battles. Most recently, the military was battling Slitterheads and the protagonist enters the fray with his human companions, and it was awesome. Beyond battle I would like to address that originally I feared the combat would be the better part of the game at the expense of the exploration and investigation and clever challenges the story will set the protagonist up against. I’m happy to report that I was wrong and the overall gameplay is the absolute perfect cocktail of battle, exploration, dialogue and investigation. The game blessedly goes from intense battle, chases, to reflection, conversations, dream sequences, moments where you can simply relax and take in the breathtaking scenery, then ratcheting up the tension once more as you inevitably, gradually dig deeper into an evil organization that is being manipulated by the most incredible, demonic outer beings you’ve seen in a game or anywhere else. Toyama’s penchant for the convoluted science fiction-based narrative where fluctuating time and crisscrossing alien dimensions, psychic phenomena, telekinesis and the manifestations of evils of the most grotesque and outlandish nature fill this exquisite game to the brim. This is a fantastic experience that will no doubt appeal to lovers of Junji Ito, H.P. Lovecraft, John Carpenter, and of course the aforementioned Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren. It is a mature-rated game with violence aplenty and other, ahem, risky business so don’t play with kids in the room! And of course you don’t even have to be a fan already of those artists and items, if you are new to this kind of experience Slitterhead stands as an outstanding game created by seasoned artists and should be fun to play regardless of your tastes for characters and aesthetic. Be sure to get this game and show support because the audience that craves Slitterhead may be considered “niche”, but we need games like this to enjoy and to inspire us and keep the gaming market alive for stories that are not more of the usual bland, homogenized fun, but something deep, unique, true, frightening and exhilarating!

This game intrigued me from the first trailer. It looked crazy. First of all this game is from the guy who gave us the original Silent Hill game (which I love,) as we as Gravity Rush and Siren Blood Curse. Which are all great, unique games imo. In this game you play as a spirit who has lost most of his memory but does remember that he must hunt and destroy parasitic creatures called Slitterheads. Which can take over humans and can only survive by eating their brains. As the spirit you can jump from human host to himan host and you use their blood as a weapon. Along the way you'll meet humans that you can bond with more fully called rarities. These rarities all have unique abilities that you can improve with skill points gained through play. They also all play differently. For instance the first one you meet Julee attacks with big claws, whilst Alex can use a gun. As the game goes on you'll be required to find rarities hidden in each stage to progress. As you gain rarities you talk to them at a kind of hub area. The game doesn't have a lot of voice acting and reading text is common but I didn't mind it. Here you will get more info that leads to your next mission. I actually really like the graphics in the game. You really feel immersed in this dark, grimy neon soaked world. The human models don't look as great but some of the environments do, particularly the neon signs. The world building and presentation are also top-notch. I also thought the story was quite good and kept me interested. Special mention must be given to the music and sound. It's really quite good and very unique. Having just beat the game I can tell you I had a great time. It might not be for everyone but it's definitely for me! One final note, to get this collector's edition for just 60 bucks is amazing! This is how games should be with art, manual and stickers. Digital games have really taken away a great part of the experience with all the stuff that used to come with game purchases. The bottom line is this game is unique and fun and the fact that it comes with collector's items for 10 bucks less than an average new game is icing on the cake! Support quality indie devs like this they make the industry better!

Amazing game!! Love the story and the creatures were awesome. For me not really a"" horror'" game. Sure gore and disturbing images but thats it.. its more like a thriller murder mystery with a strong dose of sci-fi/creature feature. I really enjoyed it. Some of the cut seans were the main character talked could have been done alot better but thats my only con. I hope to a second game. Language is mild, but heavy on the violents, close to the start of the game there is a bref sex scene with bref female cheat nudity. So just fyi if you have kids. Or a wife that of course walks buy right when their is a nude shot and gets all uppity about it.... lol just how my luck works guys. As for the day one edtion its very nice physical sound track and art book with stickers postet and nice heavy cardboard box to hold it all together

It's a cool concept horror game where you takeover ppls bodies and you won't know if the body is weak or powerful. The gameplay loop is solid for about 4hrs and eventually it gets repetitive and starts to lose steam. The story is unintentionally hilarious.

I bought this on a whim. I bought it because I haven't seen the director work on a horror title since Siren on PS2/PS3. I had extra funds for game purchases. And so I tried it and was pleased with how much charm and design it layers onto experience without being just another big budget open world game. First, the game is artistically striking; lots of nightlight and neon look to it. What it lacks in blazing edge graphics, it makes up with good art direction. The story is almost like a thriller, mixing body horror and action when it comes to gameplay. It will be interesing to see what analysis the fan base will contribute. I noticed many homages to various other mediums The music is fantastic, no wonder. I found out later that the composer of Silent Hill is back and is working on this title. The dreamscapish, dark melody, subtle industrial ambient music is here, and it fits the game without feeling off. Even simpler tracks like menus or behind in the background are hauntingly eirie. At times it reminds me of forbidden Siren back on the PS2. Side note: The more I played the more I noticed the possession method is similar to an old driving game from the PS3/360 era called Driver San Francisco. In that game, you took control of cars; here, you take control of random people who may or may not survive being your pawn. The subject matter here is very grim, and I'm sure many will analyze the various themes it portrays as years go by. Having said that, this game isn't a must-play for most people. Only the most seasoned hardcore horror action aficionados will get any substance out of it. Especially those who like seeing otherworldly creatures constantly slithering on screen. Do note combat can be a bit clumsy, maybe a hold over from it's horror genre roots. In conclusion... It's rare to see such games get a greenlight. It's more common to see such games in the indie market. But at this price, excluding day 1 edition, which is 60, the standard edition for 50 is well worth it. 5/5 stars; its well worth it for horror action fans. 10/10; if you love body horror. For everyone else it's a 7-8/10 good action game, not amazing but not bad, can get repetitive the more you notice the mission structure Day 1 edition review: not much to say. It came in good shape. All the extras are cool bonuses. I'll be using the stickers. The soundtrack is something I won't just listen to online, so now I'll have to hunt down a way to play the CD. A nice gesture is that on the artbook there is a notice warning of spoilers, saying it's best to finish the game before opening. Update: Now there's a demo available at the PS store. You can try the game out before purchasing. Just note, having played it more, the game overall can get repetitive in terms of structure. I feel like it could've trimmed off of the padding. Essentially, you'll revisit locations often just with different characters.

Slitterhead is what I have pined for in modern gaming. An obviously AA title with a unique vision, art style, music, and story. That being said, it is also flawed. First, the great: the game is from the creator of Siren and Gravity Rush, so you know the pedigree already. Firstly, there are elements of Siren here, like the chapters, dialogue, and sightjacking. Where it differs is, this game is about combat and movement. You are a spirit that must embody humans to combat Slitterheads. Here you have your “main characters” in rarities that have upgradable combat and skills and are your anchors while other humans allow you to chip damage and take away the attention of the slitterheads to allow your rarities time to heal and recover. The mechanics are hack and slash meets Souls-like but don’t expect deep combat. It’s much more the previous, thank god, than Souls (yuck). The game allows for tons of fighting styles and even veers in to stealth and puzzle elements as well. The story becomes quite deep as well, making you question elements of gaming, who is in the right or wrong, and also makes you question what could be next every single time you fire up a mission. It really is quite a blast and befitting of a Japanese B-movie adaptation. The monster designs, especially the bosses, are some of the best I’ve seen in ages. Highly creative and strange! Also, an Akira Yamaoka soundtrack with some of my favorite works he’s done (the blabbering and spitting vocals on the mission screen are etched into my frontal lobe now) Then comes the flawed. As mentioned before, the combat is only so deep so it can get somewhat repetitive. I myself have taken a few breaks to get back into the swing so I don’t burn out. This is a case with many hack and slashers though, just know this ain’t Devil May Cry. Next is the graphics and art style. This is a budget game in terms of these elements. I do love the neon-soaked Hong Kong streets but you get about five different levels and replay them over and over. The street citizens replicate and multiply, showing the similar assets over and over as well. It becomes familiar, but it also would’ve been nice to see what a bigger budget could have given them. That being said, each mission is pretty bite-sized and at 27 missions, and plenty of unlockables, costumes, trials, and more you definitely can get your moneys worth. I scored the Day One edition for 50 and am completely satisfied! A bright spot in the unique jank category of games like Wanted: Dead and Gungrave: GORE I highly suggest this game if you enjoy the weird and unique in gaming, or came from a past era where you could score a nice, strange game for twenty bucks on the PS2. Enjoy!

PSN advertised the game and I said it was going to be a good game...so I went on ahead and ordered it. It has been a good game so far. Key game play elements: Stealth; puzzle fights; chasing; investigations You may return to an area(in a different mission) but you aren't going to go through it the same way as you did the first time unless you are replaying it to find the listed items and possible people. Controls: Find it hard to fight with a certain character? You will eventually be rewarded with getting used to how he or she works and the compatible teammates for them. Some characters are powerful as soon as you find them.(you'll find out yourself) Treat the story as if you are going through an anime/manga. There isn't much to be said in the voice acting department. Music is attuned to the location that you are in. For example, you are in a club expect to hear loud music. Overall: The game has a false repetitiveness to it. The only repetitiveness is when you back track to collect items and people for which you'll be given the alert for. If you like horror and/or action games this is for you.

While I'd say Slitterhead is just an above average 6/10 in the gameplay department, it's strange story, unique vibes, and unsettling atmosphere makes for a compelling adventure that managed to keep me hooked until credits roll. Overall impression at time of completion is that this is more like a 7.5/10 game, of which I'd give extra recommendation to those that like odd AA action games and horror settings. Granted, it's far more of your typical character action game than it is a horror game, but I think there's a lot here that'll appeal to the horror crowd. The "Day 1" edition is fantastic as well, and is why I've opted to review this at 5 stars instead of 4. The included physical soundtrack, art book, and stickers are great collector's goodies for a game not even priced above MSRP for the extras. This kind of attention to detail is exactly the kind of thing I want to support from publishers, and hope to encourage others to as well.