Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess

The sight of a beautiful woman is enough to allure any man, but imagine one that can set up a series of sadistic, instant death inducing traps one after the other just to make sure you’re dead.

Yeah well that’s who you’ll be playing in Tecmo Koei’s Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess. A game about entrapment and strategy all at the same time. Huge swinging ceiling axes? You got it! Followed by a panel of wall spikes? Not a problem, it’s all here for you’re sick pleasure.

The Nightmare Princess is essentially a remastering of Deception IV: Blood Ties which released last year on the PS3. It includes updated graphics and a new character to play as with her own story. Valgyrie is a daughter of the devil who is hell bent of reviving all that is evil in the world whilst local armies and witch hunters are set on eliminating her. This opens up opportunities for her to play with them using some sick and twisted manifestations. Her sister Laegrinna is also playable in the original Blood Ties storyline, the only difference is that Valgyrie can kick and stomp her opponents. The story is filled with humour carried forward by supporting cast in the form of Allura, Reina and Millennia who are also witches with some amusing personalities. Think of it as evil power rangers with a better story that although it didn’t grip me, it served its purpose of being an ideal back story for the interesting game play.

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Each stage requires you to use your brain to set up a deadly assault course for your unsuspecting foes. You do this by a single button press which takes you to an overhead view where you can plot to your leisure. Swinging deadly razor sharp ceiling axes, mix with springboards to humiliating traps such as sticking a pumpkin on their heads are all yours to command, more interesting traps unlock as you progress too. It’s hilarious as you see your enemy’s edge forward unaware at what surprises you’ve set up for them then BOOM! Its sickeningly satisfying to see you’re creation come to life although you can mess things up by missing your cue which was meant to activate the next trap.

At the end of each stage your awarded points and you get special awards for completing specific set tasks. It’s a cool premise that keeps you coming back. The visuals aren’t too shabby too. This is the first Deception title to come to PS4 so its forgiven to have a bit lacklustre visuals however it impresses enough. The story is carried forward by anime 2D cut scenes which are nicely drawn and the gameplay parts are third person lure and execute. The witches you play as are as mentioned before, alluring with skimpy outfits which just adds to their sadism but the environments could have done with a bit more touching up and detail. All in all, I was impressed as it’s not the kind of game I’d be attracted to but it managed to keep me playing.

Pros

Interesting gameplay mechanics unleashing your inner sadist.

Humorous plot.

Fun characters.

Plenty of content.

Cool traps.

Cons

Okay visuals.

Lack of English voices.

Summary

The latest Deception title is well worth your time for the change in zombie hunting or all out run and gunning. Setting up traps and perfectly executing a combination is satisfying which is a feeling that will keep you playing. If you’re new to the series, the lengthy tutorial will show you all you need to know. Not a bad title.