At this point, perhaps some people know that I want to review Japanese games with fan service, I would write a review of Senran Kagura: Estival Versus here on Vizzed if I could, but for now, I'll write a review of this game. Mary Skelter: Nightmares is another game that received an M rating, considering the content and themes presented in the game, it deserves its M rating. This is one of the darkest games that Idea Factory International has published (more details later), there are frequent splatters of pink blood in the game, and also a lot of sexual material, that material includes the dialogue, with phrases such as ''I hate to say this, but... I think my bras are... a bit too big for you.'' and ''Losing oneself to Blood Libido is no different from someone indulging in orgasm.'' I think...that this is starting to sound like a rating summary on the ESRB's website...oh well, let's begin.

Story: The story of Mary Skelter: Nightmares revolves around a scary world full of danger, specifically, the game is centered on a living prison, Jail, that detail alone should be enough to give everyone an idea of how dark this game is. It's so dark and messed up that it's actually a game that scared me...a little. At least the story is great, the main objective throughout the game is to escape of the living prison and get to the surface/outside world, but to do that, Jack and the Blood Maidens have to go into the different sections of the Jail and destroy the cores found in each area, destroying the cores will increase the height of a tower that, with enough height, should be enough to get to the surface. There are multiple playable characters and all of them are named after characters in fairy tales, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, Thumbelina...I love the fact that the characters have those names, and there are many references in the game regarding the characters, Snow White, for example, is afraid of mirrors, she uses poison bombs and one image of those bombs looks like an apple, and...she wears a bra with an apple pattern, I'm just scratching the surface here. I'm a fan of Disney and fairy tales and I love, love the many nods and references in the character designs and everything, the fact that the characters are named after characters in fairy tales is a huge contrast with the dark story. The game goes into detail (a little) about how the characters in the game are tortured by the creatures known as Marchens, which serve as the enemies in the game, overall, the game is very dark and it can be scary, some enemies and images found in the game can be considered a little...disturbing, and keep in mind that when I say that something can be disturbing, I'm never talking about suggestive/sexual content. I wouldn't say that it's the best story of all time, it's a great story but because of personal preferences, it's not my favorite story found in an anime style game, depending on who you are, the prologue and first moments should be enough to make you say ''nope, I won't play this'', I know of someone who didn't played the game because the first moments already tell you that this game is dark, in any case, I really like the story but it's not the most complex story of all time, not to mention that not every major revelation in the game might be a surprise, I didn't saw two twists coming, but that's all, not everything might surprise you, still, it's an entertaining story with great and likeable characters (for the most part), even though the game is perhaps too dark for my taste, being someone who probably prefers games that don't take themselves too seriously and/or aren't very dark.

Graphics: After beating this game, there isn't a single location that I really want to remember, I know that this game is Mary Skelter: Nightmares, and that this game isn't exactly supposed to be pleasant to look at, but still, unlike other games that Idea Factory International has published, this game doesn't look that colorful (of course) and the areas aren't really pleasant to look at, yes, the game looks nice, but it's not the most impressive PS Vita game of all time, and as I said, the game doesn't look colorful or happy, which is another thing that must be mentioned, the lack of use of Yebis 3 might be another factor (MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death uses Yebis 3). It doesn't look horrible, during the dungeons the game looks at least almost as good as MeiQ, which is another way of saying that the game has good graphics, at least. I like the 2D art but it's not my favorite art style, however, the art style is fitting and if the characters don't look like something from a game that doesn't have a serious tone, that's the point...yeah, I can't deny that my lack of appreciation for the graphics is a mix of objective and subjective, it doesn't look like a colorful and happy game and that's the point, and at the same time, the game looks nice without being impressive or beautiful, I definitely prefer Tsunako's art style...but her style wouldn't be fitting for this game...

Sound: Just like the graphics, I like the soundtrack but I don't love it, although the game has an amazing final boss theme, many songs aren't exactly phenomenal, and despite the use of violin, the battle themes aren't the best in my opinion. Perhaps the worst thing about the final boss theme is that it's not exclusive for the final boss, and I think that the final boss theme (Seigi Wo Kazasu Kamigami No Utage) is still my favorite music in the game. Some songs are a little unsettling and atmospheric, which makes sense, again, this is Mary Skelter: Nightmares, and if some songs are a little scary or unpleasant to listen to, it's fitting considering the game, Soko Koko Ni Soko, the music used in the secret dungeon, is definitely the scariest theme in the game, it has a weird and mysterious tone, I can't deny that it doesn't sound that bad, but for me, it's more unpleasant to listen to than anything else. Other themes that are enjoyable to listen to are Otogi Sekai, Soushu Yousei No Mai, SKIP, Metallic Bow Fight, and others. Mary Skelter: Nightmares, like almost every game published by Idea Factory International, has dual audio, and the English voice acting is pretty good, the voice acting is perhaps the main reason why I'm giving this category an 8, the voices are fitting for each character and there is great English voice acting in this game, Alice (in English of course) is voiced by none other than Cristina Valenzuela...awesome.

Addictiveness: This Dungeon Crawler is a little more fun to play than MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death, not only there are many items and rooms to find in the game, the dungeons also have more things to do, with several puzzles to solve and different skills that the characters can (and must) use to progress through the game, the skills involve things like activating a shield to protect your party from taking damage from a trap (fire, for example), using an arrow to hit a switch from a distance, using a bomb to destroy a wall, etc. The battle system is very deep, you can attack with the equipped weapon, the Blood Maidens can defend themselves, and they can also use special skills that require SP, when you use elemental weaknesses to attack enemies and/or kill enemies effectively (overkill) the Blood Maidens will be impregnated with the blood of the enemies and once a specific icon is filled, a Blood Maiden will enter ''Massacre'' mode, during that mode, the stats of the Blood Maidens increase, and they can access powerful skills. If the Blood Splatter icon, related to the Massacre mode is filled but the icon is murky, there is a chance that the Blood Maidens will instead enter ''Blood Skelter'' mode, and in that state, a Blood Maiden will randomly attack both enemies and allies, a Blood Maiden might even attack herself in Blood Skelter mode, when a Blood Maiden is in Blood Skelter, you never, ever have control of her actions. Another feature is the lick mechanic, a Blood Maiden can lick the blood that impregnated another girl, which will activate a ''Blood Soul Skill'', ''Blood Soul Skills'' are skills that offer healing and other bonuses (a specific Blood Soul Skill can greatly reduce magical damage to your party, for example). With all of these mechanics just for the battles, it's clear that you can have a few different approaches for the fights, and to think that I haven't explained every system in the game ( of course I won't do that). The last thing I'll mention is the ''Purge'', that mini-game is one of the reasons why this game has the age ratings that it has in the world, that's for sure, it's not the only factor of course but, whatever...during a purge you have to rub Blood off the bodies of the Blood Maidens, you have a time limit of 30 seconds, during a purge, each Blood Maiden appears wearing a swimsuit and by rubbing the blood, her swimsuit becomes transparent, some body parts also jiggle, and there is suggestive moaning, although doing a purge is completely optional, a Blood Maiden will gain temporary resistance to Corruption and her maximum HP and/or SP will increase, after a successful first purge with a Blood Maiden, you can skip the purge if you so desire, but in my opinion, doing a purge is fun and I don't really want to skip the mini-game if I want to get the temporary bonuses of doing a purge, not only is the mini-game fun, it's also funny and hilarious, I don't know if it's just me, but there is something about rubbing blood off the body of a girl wearing a swimsuit while she moans suggestively or says things like ''not there'' that makes me laugh, it's a fun mini-game, and it's also funny, at least in my opinion. That's not all, you can also do a ''Free Purge'', which is a mode where you can conduct a purge without a time limit, sure, a successful Free Purge won't give you any benefits, but you can make the swimsuit of a Blood Maiden disappear as much as you want in that mode. Overall, it's a fun game, even if there are many games that are even more fun than Mary Skelter: Nightmares.

Depth: I have played this game for more than 125 hours and I still have things to do, certainly, it seems that Mary Skelter: Nightmares is a bigger Dungeon Crawler than MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death, and without any doubt, the game is more or less massive, you have many CG images to unlock, the main story is perhaps longer compared with the story of MeiQ, and there are many, many optional quests to complete...I won't mention the rest, let's just say that this game is big.

Difficulty: The game has 3 difficulty levels, unlike MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death...there are easy battles of course, but I would say that the game is more difficult than anything else. the number for this category is almost a 9, actually, I think that this game can be more difficult than MeiQ, and even if you decide to play on the easiest difficulty unlike me, there is also the fact that on the easiest difficulty the enemies give you less experience, so...it's definitely something that must be mentioned and taken into account, yes, on the hardest difficulty the enemies give you a lot of experience, but, of course, on that difficulty, the enemies should have the highest stats possible...it really doesn't matter which difficulty you choose, this game will make you lose...that difficulty spike with the third boss before the fight with the second Nightmare...bad memories...

Perhaps I can recommend MeiQ more easily if you have never played a Dungeon Crawler before, but I agree that this game is more fun than MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death, I wouldn't say that this is the best game that Idea Factory International has published, personally I prefer Hyperdimension Neptunia U, Cyberdimension Neptunia and MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies...but I say that only because I always prefer combat in real time, if you prefer turn-based combat and/or are a fan of Dungeon Crawlers, I can easily recommend this game...just keep in mind that this game can be very difficult.

I feel like you emphasize on details too much.... like you had to state so many times that there is sexual material in your first paragraph... I'm not trying to criticize you, I liked the review, but also you glorified the fact that there is fan service here... Good review otherwise.

"At this point, perhaps some people know that I want to review Japanese games with fan service, I would write a review of Senran Kagura: Estival Versus here on Vizzed if I could, but for now, I'll write a review of this game. Mary Skelter: Nightmares is another game that received an M rating, considering the content and themes presented in the game, it deserves its M rating. This is one of the darkest games that Idea Factory International has published (more details later), there are frequent splatters of pink blood in the game, and also a lot of sexual material, that material includes the dialogue, with phrases such as ''I hate to say this, but... I think my bras are... a bit too big for you.'' and ''Losing oneself to Blood Libido is no different from someone indulging in orgasm.'' I think...that this is starting to sound like a rating summary on the ESRB's website...oh well, let's begin."