Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II Review

Review code used, with many thanks to Reef Entertainment.

! Warning: Our general rule is that we review games with an EU rating of 17 and under. Although Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II has a rating of 16+, you must know that if you are not into horror, jump scares or overall gory imagery, you should not read this review. And if you decide to read this review, be aware of one creepy image near the end.

Confronting Evil!

At the start of Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II, we see a man walking through the school gate of the Konoehara Academy. This man is the protagonist of this story, Kazuo Yashiki. He comes from the well-known family Kujou and is their last remaining heir. The Kujou family is blessed/cursed with the ability to be more in touch with spiritual beings than most humans.

A scene from a video game, Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II, depicting a somber school entrance. The image is styled to look like an old photograph with a muted color palette. A character in a trench coat is seen from the back, facing two schoolgirls in uniforms, who appear to be having a conversation. Other students are in the background, with the school's ornate gate and classic brick architecture setting a scene that suggests mystery and intrigue. The atmosphere is eerie, with a sense of foreboding in the air. — Yashiki’s first visit to the Academy

One day, Yashiki gets a call from the newly appointed headmaster of Konoehara Academy, Seizou Konoe. Konoe explains that recently strange notes have been left on the bulletin board, threatening the students at the academy with a lethal fate. The headmaster believes it to be silly pranks that the students have concocted, but the first night that Yashiki investigates, he quickly changes his opinion.

Delving deeper, he finds that a rumour is going around about a girl who is nicknamed “Hanako of the Toilet”. This is revealed to be a former student of the school who committed suicide after ongoing bullying from certain classmates. They quickly find out that the school is a playground for an evil being that haunts some of its students. Yashiki will have to use his wits and experiences from other supernatural beings to find out what is going on at the academy.

The Mark Bearers

For anyone familiar with this series, Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II continues after the games Spirit Hunter: NG and Death Mark. In these games, we are introduced to the Mark Bearers. These are people who have received a mark from a spirit, which includes Yashiki. In the game Death Mark, he meets the various people who also share this mark, and in Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II, some of the surviving Mark Bearers will make their return to aid Yashiki in this new threat.

One of the Mark Bearers who comes in to help you is Moe Watanabe. She is not going to assist you in investigating or exorcising spirits, but she specialises in tech items. For you to get these items from her you will need to find Lost Souls around the school. You can then trade these Lost Souls for helpful items and to level up.

The Suspension Act

Another function that is included in Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II as well is the Suspension Act. Whenever the protagonist finds himself in a critical situation, a Suspension Act will start. In this Suspension Act, you will be given a few choices, and you must make the right ones to “defeat” the evil being. These acts can vary from one to a couple of sections, and you have to get each one right. If you make the wrong choice, you will take a certain amount of damage, and when your health reaches zero, you will die. But it does take a lot of wrong answers to die, which I liked because it didn’t cause me as much stress.

A suspenseful in-game screen displaying the word 'SUCCESS' and 'FAILURE' in a randomized overlay with a prominent '85%' in the center, indicating the completion or success rate of a task within the game. The text is in varying shades of red on a dark background with target-like symbols around. This image likely represents a critical moment or checkpoint in the game, conveying a sense of achievement or progress. — The success rate of a Suspension Act

The Suspension Act is not only limited to Yashiki, but the right acts could also be through your partner or another character. The thing I found strange, though, is that you have the option to switch to another character during the Suspension Act, but this didn’t do anything. You would just get a message saying that you can’t switch at that moment. I don’t really see any use in that interaction.

System and Controls

While at first, I expected Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II to be a visual novel like I often play, I quickly found out that the game actually has a 2D plane where Yashiki can move about. It’s not super complicated as you can use the directional buttons or the left joystick to move back and forth. When you reach a classroom or other area you want to go to; you can look at the indicational arrows on where you can go. A function that I also discovered later on in the game is that you can run by holding down B. And no, for those who think this is a chase-and-run game, it is not. It’s just to get around quicker.

n-game screenshot from 'Spirit Hunter' depicting a dark, atmospheric hallway scene. Two anime-style characters, one with a worried expression and the other looking contemplative, stand in a corridor labeled 'New Building 1F Hallway'. The setting is eerie, with a shadowy foreground and a dimly lit background featuring bulletin boards filled with various notices. — The 2D plane the game uses

Visuals

When looking at the design for Death Mark II, I was really impressed. This shows exactly why Aksys-published games are always worth a try. The CGs (Computer Graphics) have a very realistic look where it is a little creepy. I should also say that most of the CGs were creepy and gruesome, but this is more about the content of the visuals. They have done such a good job at creating a type of suspension in a visual through the use of light, colours and tiny details. Like a sweat drop or having a detailed texture of clothing or sky. Normally, the CGs are the stars of the show in Visual Novels, but even the 2D planes that you can walk in look really good and have a nice style to them.

In this haunting image from a video game, a ghostly figure with a skeletal face, adorned in a flowing red dress with rose embellishments, is playing a piano. The setting is dimly lit and moody, creating an atmosphere of eerie beauty. The figure's expression is obscured, adding to the mysterious and otherworldly aura of the scene. The artwork conveys a sense of melancholy and the supernatural, typical of a horror or suspense-themed game — A broken doll spirit

Overall thoughts

When Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II was suggested to me, I had never heard of or played a horror Visual Novel game. As some may, I know have always played romantic Visual Novels, so this would be a new experience for me. I was curious to see if a horror VN would be something I was into. One thing you should know about me is that I try to avoid horror and scary movies. Especially when I was younger, watching horror movies would always stay with me for a few days.

But when I read about a horror visual novel, I was intrigued and thought I would give it a go. I reasoned that in a game format, I would be able to control the storyline and maybe not be so scared while playing. This did prove to be a good observation on my part because this was one of the first times I enjoyed watching and playing a horror story.

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II shows what Aksys is good at. The game has stunning visuals (even though these visuals are quite gruesome) and has a good world-building part. It’s easy to understand, new functions throughout the game set itself apart from the “normal” Visual Novels.

It took me a little while to get a hang of the game. It was a different visual novel to what I was used to. But the game makers did make it easy to understand the basics of the gameplay. For every new element of Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II, there was an extensive tutorial that explained all the controls and other facts.

A character status screen from a video game, showing a male character named Kazuo Yashiki. The character has a modern, anime style with sharp features and dark hair, wearing a beige jacket over a green shirt. His level is 1 with full health points at 30/30. The status screen indicates attributes such as Strength (11), Intelligence (13), Dexterity (13), and Spiritual Power (12). — The menu with all the useful information you will need

I liked that it had a good balance between reading a story and investigating for clues in the 2D world. Most of the time you are investigating and come across objects that could contain clues about things you might need further on into the game. Even finding certain items can be crucial during a Suspension Act.

Conclusion for Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II

Although I’ve told you how good Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II is, I do want to say that while I loved exploring a new genre in the Visual Novel world, I don’t think that this will become my new favourite genre. Playing the game at night was difficult as my “scared” emotion would be triggered in the dark. If this is something you feel that you can handle, then pick Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II. It’s a great game on many levels.

Final verdict: I Like it a Lot