Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess Review (PS4)

They might be nightmare princesses that intrude on the dreams of people and turn them into nightmares, but I had peaceful sleeps thinking about Laegrinna and Valgyrie – they’re pretty.

 

In Deception IV you play as the villains, women who wish to infect dreams and turn them into everlasting nightmares to fuel their own strength and enjoy watching humans falling into elaborate traps that involve bear traps, electrocution, humiliation and a variety of other painful things. The two princesses are at odds as they believe only one of them has the right to be so powerful and, of course, you’ll find yourself rooting for humanity as their dreams are attacked. You can read up on the victims too where you might find yourself pitying them, wanting them to survive or feeling that they deserve it – it’s a nice feature in a game where you’re the villain. Despite this, the game itself can often be hilarious.

 

Everything is portrayed as over the top and humourous, which is essentially the goal of the game – humiliate and inflict pain in the most exaggerated way possible. There’s not much variety in the environment but it encourages you to replay levels to get the best score and to unlock new traps – I wasn’t impressed that it sometimes forced you to do this to continue, though. You now have two campaigns to play through – newcomer Valgyrie’s and returning Laegrinna’s – both of which are lengthy and should see you sink more than a dozen hours into it which is easy to do as pulling off combos becomes rather addictive!

 

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You’ve given a relatively large room to plan your attack which is designed like a square grid, indicating where you can implement your traps and, if available, what direction your victim will be knocked in. Planning is vital if you want to finish off your victim in the most effective way possible, and will also be required if (and when forced) to complete the sub-quests given to you each mission. You can set a bear trap on the floor, have a swinging axe knock your victim forward and into another trap, which can them make them stumble into yet another trap or an environmental hazard – you’ll get as much out of Deception IV as you put in but if you’re looking to put in the bare minimum, then you’re in for a bad time.

 

It’s not quite on par with games that have been developed solely on PS4 but the upgrade has definitely done it justice. The main characters benefit from it the most with NPC’s still looking pretty rough, and whilst the traps are creative and explosive, the environments themselves are bland which is made worse by there not being a whole lot of choice in areas as it is. It’s certainly not Koie Tecmo’s best PS4 port, which I still claim Samurai Warriors 4 to be, but it’s nice to clearly see their efforts and love for the game rather than a quick touch up job. The 2D character portraits are absolutely gorgeous to look at, and the subtitles are large and clear.

 

Not being a very dialogue-heavy title, Deception IV only has Japanese voiceover as an option and as much as I’d have loved an English dub, it wasn’t something I felt was necessary and so I have no problems with its exclusion. I’m having difficulty remembering any of the OST although I can’t remember it being bad, just clearly it isn’t memorable. A lot of work seems to have gone into the sounds of the victims, with loud screams that echo how over the top the entirely of the game is – I’m not a sadist in any way but it’s nice to know that Koie Tecmo didn’t hold back.

 

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I bought Deception IV: Blood Ties on Vita about a year ago and only put the card in once, and then shortly after the PS4 version was announced – as is standard. When that happened I decided to wait for the PS4 version with its new content (mainly the Valgyrie campaign) and to play it with updated graphics and framerate. I’m not disappointed by any means but it’s not a game that I personally will return to often as racking up high points isn’t something that generally appeals to me, especially in a non-competitive environment.

 

I struggle to think of the target market for Deception IV. I guess it’s aimed at those who love creating elaborate traps to further enhance their score – or maybe just sadists. It’s simple on paper but complex to set into action, and it’s one of the more challenging games that I’ve played so far this year. It’s undeniable that Deception IV revels in being incredibly over the top and it’s something I appreciate. I enjoyed my time with Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess and although it won’t end up in my top ten of 2015, it will definitely stand out as a unique game this year.

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