Product Description

Journey to the magical country of Alcaland and unravel the mystery behind its missing people. As one of ten powerful psychics summoned to solve the incident, are you strong enough to delve into the depths of the Swan Castle and discover the truth, or will you succumb to its nightmare?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7210 in Video Games
• Brand: Aksys
• Published on: 2008-05
• Released on: 2008-05-13
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60" h x 5.44" w x 7.54" l, .36 pounds

Features

• Tension bonus system built on your proximity to the enemy
• 10 memorable characters each with specific weapons and powers
• 55 possible story combinations
• 2 Player co-op mode
• Exclusive console-only dramatic change mode to switch between characters in the middle of a fight

Customer Reviews

Curtain fire fun!
Let's face it, no other category of games has earned more respect and a greater following by hardcore gamers than the shoot-em-up genre. With the lack of vertical and horizontal shooters that are released each year it is a relief that the third Shikigami title finally found its way to console overseas.

In classic arcade-style fashion, the game is played vertically with your goal to literally annihilate everything in sight while dodging enemy fire. I won't go into detail with how the game works because there is a very brief tutorial telling you everything you need to know. No one should have any problem with the controls since anyone can pick this one up and play. You can choose to use the Wii Remote, Classic Controller, or GameCube Controller and all of them are easily interchangeable. The visuals are smooth and colorful with some very neat bullet patterns while the upbeat soundtrack keeps the excitement alive. With different characters and their own storylines and attacks, you will find yourself replaying through the stages more than once.

Although it is a short game, it can still be notoriously tough and intense for some gamers even on normal mode, which especially holds true in the later stages. But whether or not you play it single player or cooperatively with a friend, this game is perfect for those who want to play for around an hour or so, thus making the Wii an excellent choice to port this game to. Shoot-em-up fans and fans of the previous Shikigami games shouldn't be disappointed. With the Wii becoming a dumping ground for more and more shovelware aimed primarily at non-gamers, I feel very fortunate that this game exists even though not many people know about it. It's bullet crazy madness and offers a good challenge. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.

Hilarious story
If you are a fan of bullet hell shoot 'em ups, you'll definately like this game. Even if you're only a mild fan of them, you'll love the hilarious, poorly translated story. There are a total of ten characters, each with their own story. You can play in two player mode and the storylines will interact! There are 55 storylines in all.

Pretty much Touhou-style danmaku with incredibly cheesy storylines.
I play Touhou, so taken that I'm used to impeccably high standards, I didn't expect Castle of Shikigami III to be on the same level. And really, it's not. However, it does have that same feel of good bullet hell mixed with anime-esque characters. The difference here is that the plot of Castle of Shikigami III is to silly self-referencing comedy anime as Touhou is to psychological masterpieces. That said, it is funny. Just TURN OFF THE ENGLISH VOICES. THEY WILL CAUSE YOUR EARS TO BLEED. The game feels a lot more like something you'd play in an arcade, and it makes sense; Castle of Shikigami is in fact an arcade series. There's lots of sub-par 3D renders in the background and stuff like that. The only other problem I have with it is the ridiculously steep learning curve...the first few stages are easy but then it hits a huge wall (literally, with the inclusion of a crazy amount of walls in the third stage) and gets quite frustrating.

Overall, though, if you like danmaku/curtain fire/bullet hell games, and you have a Wii, and you're bored of it because it little to no games you want on it, go buy Castle of Shikigami III. It's definitely worth the price and will give you a good bullet hell fix.

Plus, the comedy's so cheesy it really is entertaining.