Mary Skelter Finale – the end in my mind

When I went to prison four years ago, I had no idea how this series of games would affect me. Accordingly, how much I like it. And I was not alone. The Nightmares of Mary Skelter (our review here) and its sequels have become unexpectedly very popular even for the Compile Heart studio.

The creators were able to mix in the perfect ratio the post-apocalyptic world, enough character-filled characters, causing an unpleasant feeling of the plot and well-adjusted game mechanics. While it may not seem like it at first glance, all of these ingredients have given the Mary Skelter brand a distinct identity, enough to stand out from other dungeon crawlers. And Mary Skelter Endgame has finally arrived west to show fans what the finale of the trilogy should look like.

• Platform: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch (peer-reviewed version)
• Publication date: October 1, 2021
• Producer: Idea Factory / Compilation Heart
• Distribution: International idea factory
• Genre: dungeon crawler rpg
• Czech location: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 7.3 GB (Switch version)
• Game time: 70 hours
• Availability: 16+
• Sales version: box and digital
• Price: CZK 1,299 (Xzone)

Jack is back!

Although the title of the opening chapter of the review refers to Burton’s brilliant The Stolen Christmas, it also very simply expresses the central plot of Mary Skelter’s Endgame. Here again we have good old Jack, his Blood Maidens and a bunch of secondary characters. They all finally escape from the underground prison and come to the surface. And, like Jack Skellington, even if they achieve their dream goal, there is no reason to celebrate. The new district is as hell as the subway. Maybe even worse, because the area is littered with mountains of human corpses and girls appear killing innocents. These “sisters” call themselves Massacre Pink, and the worst thing about them is that the Blood Maidens are completely helpless against them. Through a confluence of other events, everyone escapes to safety, but the group of survivors splits into smaller units, and of course they end up in the prison towers.

This is where one of the core game mechanics of Finale comes into play. It’s the Zapping system, which sounds great, but it’s the ability to switch teams at any time and progress through the story in a slightly unorthodox way. In addition, some groups move to the same dungeon, to the same tower, while others completely separate themselves and then go through different labyrinths. The advantage of this system is its variability, thanks to which you practically avoid stereotypes. At the same time, unfortunately, it is a little more difficult to get along with individual characters, but only if you have not played the previous parts. Of course, everything is geared towards bringing groups together, but this Zapping mechanic remains workable throughout the game.

But together

Zapping was probably created for several reasons, but the main one is probably the cast of Mary Skelter 2, which was already so powerful that you would have to eliminate it in some way, otherwise it would probably lead to an excess characters to choose from, from which you would form a fireteam of girls. Also, by breaking the survivors into smaller groups, different personalities stand out, as do the relationships between them.

However, a side effect of this division is a significant decrease in the pace of the narrative. Additionally, the full opening to Mary Skelter’s ending is augmented with Jack’s flashbacks of the previous two episodes. If you played them, this is enough to restore memories, for the rest there is a summary of both parts. But get ready to extend the start of the game by about two hours.

The advantage of the Zapping system is variability, and you practically avoid stereotypes.

The general pace of the game is not much different from the previous ones, but it is this division that leads to more frequent dialogues. The story’s focal points fit so easily, especially when it comes to some of the characters’ personal dilemmas. But it doesn’t matter, the girls are just pretty anyway, and switching between groups removes the feeling of fatigue and stereotyping from the environment. In fact, a lot depends on your approach. The dungeons are full of enemies, as well as small puzzles that are usually limited to closed doors and twitching levers. However, do not open some doors yourself. Then the game will force you to go to another group and ask for help here.

How much time you spend with each group is up to you. At least at the beginning of every chapter. In the same way, you have to go through everything that the creators have prepared for you. But if you choose a group that is different from the one that you had logically, you will listen to tutorials, for example, after 10 hours of playing. For fans, this is rather a funny imperfection, but newcomers can get important information relatively late.

Changes no change

But telling a story spread across multiple groups is pretty much the only change, because the Mary Skelter series has always been about dungeon crawling and combat. The finale is no different in this respect. The concept of the default dungeons is very well developed, the roads are mostly straight, but until you know the map, you will run into a bunch of dead ends where chests with important equipment are waiting for you. The puzzles are fairly easy and there is no danger of more complex sours, usually it is enough to switch to another group. The passage through the labyrinths is so nicely balanced, it’s not child’s play, but you won’t sweat much either.

In addition, all Blood Maidens have special events related to their individual characteristics. For example, Little Red Riding Hood can cut wires, Gretel has teleportation bread, Snow White has an explosive apple, and The Little Mermaid can put out flames. Unfortunately, most dungeons work with these abilities, and you can’t do without them.

The other system allows you to use something like shared crates to move items, because one group can find a key that is important to the other group’s progress. But as I said before, the design and mechanics of the dungeons are conceptually interesting, and well developed.

The concept of dungeons is very well thought out by default.

The battles in Mary Skelter’s Endgame use the same combat and quest system. Both are damn addictive from the first part, but mastering all the features and features of the profession system is a bit difficult. Individual features appear gradually, but over time, you can turn an unpopular character into a skilled beater, healer, buffer, or someone else. Girls then do not accept injuries completely at rest during contractions. The more injured they are, the more a special meter fills up for them, after which the girls enter Carnage or Skelter mode. Both are accompanied by semi-crazy behavior, changes in appearance, and an increase in abilities and strength. The second one has the unfortunate effect of girls attacking outside of your orders and making no distinction between friend and foe.

We must help each other

Any characters from the dungeons need somewhere to sleep. Group base camps will open up other classic features of the Mary Skelter series. It’s worth taking the side quests because the commission is literally juicy, and if you take all the optional quests before entering the dungeon, you’ll more or less complete them all after leaving the top floor. This is an easy way to get blood crystals to modify and level up Blood Maiden classes or upgrade existing gear.

There are other special events waiting for you in the group base camps, which will notify you with an exclamation mark. There is also a system of relationships, attachment to the opposite sex or trust in friends. As complex and unnecessary as this system may seem, and it takes very little time to get the most out of it, it has more to do with fun and joy from empowering the characters themselves.

The music and overall soundtrack of Mary Skelter Finale draw the same lines that you could hear in Nightmares. It does not stop even after 20 hours and will play on your nostalgic string. Of course, you’ll also find some new tracks, but honestly, this is one of the best Dungeon Crawler soundtracks I’ve had the pleasure of listening to while playing.

The Mary Skelter Finale is a worthy conclusion to this undoubtedly great series, in which you overcome the seemingly impossible from the very beginning. The gigantic roster has been split into smaller groups, the important Zapping feature has been added, but there aren’t many changes as such. This suits me quite well, because when something works, there is no reason to change something.

And if all this is not enough for you, you can switch to the Mary Skelter Locked Up Love True End bonus in the main menu of the game. This is a humorous visual novel where you will find out the “true truth” and the end.

Thanks to Idea Factory International for their copy of Mary Skelter’s ending.