HorrorTober 2017 FINALE - Casper (PS1) Quick Review
Here we are, at the end of the 2nd HorrorTober, and again I've saved the "scariest" game for last. Let's end this years journey at Whipstaff Manor with our good old friend Casper.
(see it says haunting...oooooOOOoooOoOO)
The game roughly follows the plot of the same movie : Dr. Harvey and his daughter move into Whipstaff Manor, there's rumor of a treasure in the mansion that the evil Carrigan wants, and the mansion is inhabited by Casper and his Ghostly Trio of uncles who try and scare off anyone who wants anything to do with the mansion. In the game, you play as Casper who sets out to at first befriend Dr. Harvey and his daughter, and then help them locate and assemble the pieces of the Lazarus Machine which is rumored to be able to bring the dead back to life. The majority of gameplay revolves around puzzle solving and navigating your way through Whipstaff Manor while avoiding your evil Uncles.
What's Good?
- Lots of Puzzles. This game is filled to the brim with them. There's pieces of paintings you need to find, levers you need to pull, some rooms can only be entered after you unlock one of Casper's three morph abilities (he can turn into smoke to travel through vents, a ball to bounce through small high openinigs in some walls, and a buzzsaw to cut through pieces of wood boarding up entryways). Literally, it feels like there's puzzles wrapped inside of puzzles stacked on top of even more puzzles. It's beautiful.
- Movie Plot. Casper does an amazing job of maintaining the key plot aspects from the movie, yet presenting the game in a way of going about the same plot that it doesn't kill the game or the movie. Obviously Casper didn't spend 90 minutes of our childhoods floating around his mansion finding pieces of paintings of his uncles. But it maintains enough of the plot and leaves the rest in the hands of gaming liberties, and the end result is really enjoyable.
What's Bad?
- Make Your Own Map.You get screwed over in the absolute worst way. As I mentioned above, the mansion itself is a windy maze of a puzzle. Locked doors, smoke vents, holes to bounce through. And certain locked doors require a specific key matching the color of the door. But, if you want to find your way back to a specific area because you obtained the proper key or puzzle piece, hopefully your memory is near-perfect, or you've been drawing a map for yourself. I'm not even exaggerating about drawing it out for yourself. The game tells you to do so. Behind some paintings in the game you can find hints, and one of them basically tells you "Want a map of Whipstaff Manor? Draw one out for yourself this place is big and confusing!" It wouldn't be so bad if this particular hint was revealed towards the beginning of the game, but you don't find this until you've unlocked the garden maze and by that point you've wandered quite a bit of the mansion.
Is it Worth it?
Despite not giving you an in-game map to help you along the way. Casper is a really great game. You can grab this for less than $10 loose or CIB, and you definitely get your value out of this one. Just...you know...heed my advice and make your own map from the start. Casper's morph abilities don't get much screen time since they're really only used outside of specific situations, and the fights against the Uncles are short, but the puzzles throughout are very rewarding for the level of game this is.
Horror Level
I think we all know the horror level of this game is lower than low. The appearances and frantic-feeling of the Uncle fights might get a panic rise out of anybody's little gamers, but for the older folk this will be a casual walk of a game.
Coming Up : We're out of HorrorTober Round 2 now! Staring now we'll be on to any wide variety of games. One that I would like to work on next is Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker for the Wii U. However, I'll be dialing back a bit on this blog coming up, and I will post within the next few days with more details on why, but it is something I'm very excited to share with everyone!
HG
What's Good?
- Lots of Puzzles. This game is filled to the brim with them. There's pieces of paintings you need to find, levers you need to pull, some rooms can only be entered after you unlock one of Casper's three morph abilities (he can turn into smoke to travel through vents, a ball to bounce through small high openinigs in some walls, and a buzzsaw to cut through pieces of wood boarding up entryways). Literally, it feels like there's puzzles wrapped inside of puzzles stacked on top of even more puzzles. It's beautiful.
- Movie Plot. Casper does an amazing job of maintaining the key plot aspects from the movie, yet presenting the game in a way of going about the same plot that it doesn't kill the game or the movie. Obviously Casper didn't spend 90 minutes of our childhoods floating around his mansion finding pieces of paintings of his uncles. But it maintains enough of the plot and leaves the rest in the hands of gaming liberties, and the end result is really enjoyable.
What's Bad?
- Make Your Own Map.You get screwed over in the absolute worst way. As I mentioned above, the mansion itself is a windy maze of a puzzle. Locked doors, smoke vents, holes to bounce through. And certain locked doors require a specific key matching the color of the door. But, if you want to find your way back to a specific area because you obtained the proper key or puzzle piece, hopefully your memory is near-perfect, or you've been drawing a map for yourself. I'm not even exaggerating about drawing it out for yourself. The game tells you to do so. Behind some paintings in the game you can find hints, and one of them basically tells you "Want a map of Whipstaff Manor? Draw one out for yourself this place is big and confusing!" It wouldn't be so bad if this particular hint was revealed towards the beginning of the game, but you don't find this until you've unlocked the garden maze and by that point you've wandered quite a bit of the mansion.
Is it Worth it?
Despite not giving you an in-game map to help you along the way. Casper is a really great game. You can grab this for less than $10 loose or CIB, and you definitely get your value out of this one. Just...you know...heed my advice and make your own map from the start. Casper's morph abilities don't get much screen time since they're really only used outside of specific situations, and the fights against the Uncles are short, but the puzzles throughout are very rewarding for the level of game this is.
Horror Level
I think we all know the horror level of this game is lower than low. The appearances and frantic-feeling of the Uncle fights might get a panic rise out of anybody's little gamers, but for the older folk this will be a casual walk of a game.
Coming Up : We're out of HorrorTober Round 2 now! Staring now we'll be on to any wide variety of games. One that I would like to work on next is Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker for the Wii U. However, I'll be dialing back a bit on this blog coming up, and I will post within the next few days with more details on why, but it is something I'm very excited to share with everyone!
HG
