Nippon Ichi Software released more information on its upcoming title Shoujo Jigoku no Doku Musume, focusing on the story, characters, and a new trailer that shows off the gameplay. It turns out that the game will play like a mix between a third-person shooter and a Qix-type game where you need to round off areas in order to fill them in. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]
Check out the gameplay trailer below:
Story
When people have troubles on their mind, Delusions are born. These strong feelings and desires come together to form Hells.
Our protagonist is a regular human who somehow manages to stumble into one such Hell. His body is snatched by the Poison Maiden, and he’s forced to share a body with her until he purifies Hell, and can finally return to the real world.
Just how did he manage to wander into Hell, and just who is he? Who’s the Poison Maiden? This is a story about ‘Hell’ that belongs to you.
Gameplay
Every day, the strong feelings the girls face take form as poison marshes in their own version of Hell. By retrieving and purifying the poison, you’ll be able to save the girls in real life. However, there are many Delusional Beings in Hell that wish to obtain the protagonist’s body, and you’ll need to use the poison retrieved from the marshes to shoot at them and get rid of them.
As the protagonist and Poison Maiden share a body, they will take over the body appropriately to perform different duties. When using the protagonist, Poison Maiden will take upon a chibi form and manipulate the protagonist’s arm into an arm cannon that fires out poison shots. When Poison Maiden takes over complete control of the protagonist’s body in order to retrieve poison, his body turns into a full skeleton.
You’ll also get chances to talk to Poison Maiden inside your mind, and how you communicate with her can potentially change how the story plays out.
Characters
Poison Maiden (CV: Manami Numakura)
The Poison Maiden is a Delusional Being which steals the protagonist’s body, making them share the body. Actually, ‘Poison Maiden’ refers to all Delusional Beings who share a body with a living being, so it’s not her real name. She can’t remember her own name. She casually forces the protagonist help her out with purifying Hell, lest she completely takes over his body.
Protagonist
A living human being who somehow stumbled his way into Hell from the real world. He’ss lost his memories of why and how he came here, and decides to help the Poison Maiden out in order to search for a way back. You can choose from a male or female protagonist.
Delusional Beings
Beings that are a physical manifestation of each maiden’s delusions. In order to fulfill their desires, they wander Hell looking for a living being to attack. There are various types, from close quarters types, to ranged types, and even those that will assault you from in hiding in the marshes.
White Poison Girl (CV: Mina Takagawa) & Girl in Funeral Clothes (CV: Yuki Kawakami)
Another Poison Maiden who shares the body with that of a young girl. While they’re troublesome sometimes, they also compete with the protagonist, and sometimes even offer advice and encouragement.
Systems
Retrieving poison
Poison marshes are purified by the Poison Maiden by circling around them and then returning to the start point. When the poison is retrieved, you deal damage to any enemies inside the area, and you may also gain combat bonuses, and weapons and items may appear. However, Poison Maiden will take exponentially increasing damage as long as she’s inside the marsh, so keep an eye on her health.
Shooting Mode
The protagonist’s basic attacks are poison shots, but apart from standard shots, there are also consecutive shots and spreadshots, and more, which you can obtain by purifying marshes.
Stages
Each stage in Shoujo Jigoku no Doku Musume is a different ‘Maiden Hell’ formed by the maidens who created them, and as such look different. By retrieving the poison, you’ll be able to unveil the original look of the Hell, and find out just what led them to unwittingly create it via the appearance and items found inside.
Girl Enamored with a ‘Cursed Black Book’ (Yoshie Nanasaki)
A Hell formed by a maiden who obtained an occult-like book.
Girl with Lewd Delusions (Mizuki Misao)
A Hell created by a young girl who became too enamored with a lewd book. When you clear off the poison, you might see slightly perverted images.
Girl Who Burned Reality Into Ash (Ayumi Mori)
A Hell created by a young girl who wanted to hide bad things that happened at school from her family, and was overcome with guilt and unstable thoughts from “hiding”.
Girl Who Made a Promise but Died (Mahoro Hiiragi)
Hit and Run? High School Student Passes Away
A Hell created by a girl who made a promise with a friend, but died before fulfilling it.
Dearest Wish Radio
There’s a radio program that is hosted sometimes called Dearest Wish Radio, where you’ll be able to hear the voices of the girl while in their Hell. Apart from telling you more about the poison marshes, you’ll be able to hear the girls’ heartfelt cries for help.
Shoujo Jigoku no Doku Musume will come to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on June 25, 2020.
