Banshee's Last Cry Explained

Kamaitachi no Yoru
Developer:Chunsoft
Platforms:Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, PC, mobile, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam
Genre:Visual novel, adventure
Modes:Single player
Director:Kazuya Asano
Producer:Koichi Nakamura
Composer:Kota Kano
Kojiro Nakashima

, released in English as Banshee's Last Cry, is a visual novel developed and published by Chunsoft for the Super Famicom in 1994. The game is the second sound novel by Chunsoft and brought a myriad of other companies to develop similar games. The term "sound novel" was a registered trademark, but is regarded as a genre.

A remake, Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei, was released for PlayStation Vita in 2017 and ported to Windows in 2018.

Gameplay

The player reads the text on a gamebook.

Plot

The game follows the characters Toru (Max in the English localization) and his girlfriend Mari (Grace in English), who stay at a ski lodge when a snowstorm takes place. One of the fellow lodge guests are killed and the characters are drawn into a murder mystery, while being cut off from contact with the outside world.

Development

The game was revealed alongside a contest for readers to write related storylines. Ten of such stories were published in a book titled . This book was a success. A similar competition started upon the release of Kamaitachi no Yoru 2. It went out of print after many years, but was re-published when the sequel came out.

The story was written by Takemaru Abiko.

Music

Kōjirō Nakashima and Kōta Katō composed the game. The soundtrack gained significant popularity and was reused in television shows about Aum Shinrikyo. Two songs, "Sequence" and "Two People Return Alive" were orchestrated for the fourth volume of Orchestral Game Music Concerts.

Graphics

Background images included the lodge in Hakuba, Nagano.[1] Exceptions are the background for bathrooms and the wine cellar, which were done with miniatures. All characters have silhouettes. Banshee's Last Cry changed the setting (including its graphics) to British Columbia.[2]

Ports

Releases

The game was ported to PlayStation on December 3, 1998 and for Game Boy Advance on June 28, 2002.[3] It was released on SoftBank Mobile on April 1, 2002, and on PC on July 1, 2002. i-mode released it on January 30, 2004. The story had minor changes for the script of Kamaitachi no Yoru × 3 for PlayStation 2. It was later ported to other consoles, and was released on the Virtual Console service in Japan for Wii in 2007 and Wii U in 2013.[4]

Aksys Games released the game in English for iOS entitled Banshee's Last Cry in January 2014.[5] It was translated by Jeremy Blaustein.[6] [7]

Changes

PlayStation version
Game Boy Advance version (comparison with PlayStation version)

Remake

Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei
Developer:5pb.
Publisher:5pb.
Platforms:PlayStation Vita
Microsoft Windows
Released:PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows
Genre:Visual novel, adventure
Modes:Single player
Artist:Alpha

A remake developed and published by 5pb., Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei, was released in Japan for PlayStation Vita in 2017[8] and ported to Windows in 2018. The remake has a new Japanese cast, new art by artist Alpha and an additional scenario written by Ryukishi07.[9]

Related media

Radio drama

A radio drama was released on Compact Disc. The characters appeared in a different storyline with terrorists trying to acquire WMDs somewhere in Nagano. It stars Hikaru Midorikawa and Yumi Tōma.

Television drama

The two-hour drama series was aired by Tokyo Broadcasting System on July 3, 2002.[10] Kamaitachi no Yoru 2 was released on July 18 of the same year, and the first edition of the game contained a bonus DVD of the entire drama. Like the radio drama version, the television is not a rendition of the actual game (the premise is that the fans gathered to shoot a film based on the game, when one of the characters are killed).[10] It was available at Hulu Japan.

Reception

Famitsu scored the Game Boy Advance game 31 out of 40,[11] and for Super Famicom for 30 out of 40.[12]

The game sold 1.25 million units with remakes and ports in April 2002.[13] It sold 750,000 units for Super Famicom[14] and over 400,000 units for PlayStation.[15]

In August 2016, Spike Chunsoft conducted a poll on whether gamers would like to see Kamaitachi No Yoru released via Steam.[16]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 『かまいたちの夜』の舞台となったペンションに宿泊…!あの名シーンを妻と再現してきた【ネタバレ注意】. 22 December 2020. 2 August 2024.
  2. Web site: The X Button - Stale Phantasia. Ciolek. Todd. 29 January 2014. 2 August 2024.
  3. Web site: サウンドノベル:かまいたちの夜Gba .
  4. Web site: Wii Uバーチャルコンソール8月7日配信タイトル ― 『かまいたちの夜』. 31 July 2013. 2 August 2024.
  5. Web site: Aksys Games Releases Kamaitachi no Yoru Visual Novel on iOS . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140329193622/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-24/aksys-games-releases-kamaitachi-no-yoru-visual-novel-on-ios . 29 March 2014 . 6 June 2014.
  6. Web site: Projects. 2 August 2024.
  7. Web site: Blackmore: Adventures in culture clash. 21 February 2014. 2 August 2024.
  8. Web site: 『かまいたちの夜 輪廻彩声』公式サイトが正式オープン. ja. 25 November 2016. 2 August 2024.
  9. Web site: Romano. Sal. 15 November 2016. Kamaitachi no Yoru remake announced for PS Vita [Update]]. 21 April 2023. Gematsu.
  10. Web site: かまいたちの夜|ドラマ・時代劇|Tbsチャンネル - TBS. ja. 2 August 2024.
  11. ゲームボーイアドバンス - かまいたちの夜 ~アドバンス~. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.122. 30 June 2006.
  12. おオススメ!! ソフト カタログ!!: かまいたちの夜. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.335. Pg.115. 12–19 May 1995.
  13. News: チュンソフト、怖さの中の美しさを描く「かまいたちの夜2」。ゲーム業界外のクリエイターが集結. 29 December 2019. Impress Watch. Impress Corporation. 3 April 2002. 1 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191201161244/https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20020403/chun.htm. live.
  14. News: Press Release: 「au one Market」にて Android™搭載スマートフォン対応アプリ. 29 December 2019. Chunsoft. 19 November 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323021326/http://dwango.co.jp/pdf/news/group/2010/101119.pdf. 23 March 2016. live.
  15. News: 業界に一石を投じたジャンル"サウンドノベル"を今一度振り返る. 29 December 2019. ねとらぼ. ITmedia. July 26, 2006. ja. 29 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191229225407/https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0607/26/news062_2.html. live.
  16. Web site: Spike Chunsoft's Polling Twitter Users About Unreleased Games. Lada. Jenni. 2 August 2024. Siliconera. 4 August 2016.