(18+) REVIEW: Gore Screaming Show


Title	Gore Screaming Show
Developer	Black Cyc
Publisher	JAST USA
Release Date	November 11th, 2022
Genre	Visual Novel
Platform	PC
Age Rating	18+
Official Website

I wasn’t sure if Gore Screaming Show would be something I would want to check out when JAST first announced it at Anime Expo this year. I know some of Black Cyc’s titles can go pretty hard into the Guro and I’m very much not a fan of that, but after hearing high praise about this being one of the best horror visual novels of all time, I decided I had check it out. Let’s see if I will live to regret this decision or if this really was one of the best horror visual novels out there?

Our story begins with a young man named Kyouji returning to his hometown. His parents are going to work in America for a while so they have left him the care of his cousin, Yamiko, until they return. He meets a mysterious young girl on the way to school. She tells him her name is Yuka and to remember it. He feels like he knows this girl from somewhere but cannot place her. Upon arriving, he finds out he is in class with a few of his past friends. This includes three girls: Kazuyagi Akane, Namiki Aoi, and Misono Kiika. He remembers each of his old friends but is having trouble remembering details of his life here previously. Soon he will encounter Yuka again, but this time she is accompanied by a huge figure known as the Gore Screaming Show. This entity seems to be able to bend the very reality around them. Will Kyouji be able to solve the mystery of who Yuka really is? Can he escape this crazy town with the girl he loves? Only time will tell!

I was really taken in by these characters right off the bat. Akane is your childhood friend and a bit tomboyish. Her and Kyouji were pretty close when he was here years ago, and both seem to be burying some deep trauma that happened. Aoi has been through a lot of tragic events. Her family is mostly dead and she doesn’t live in the greatest of conditions. She is close friends with Akane, but doesn’t see herself as an equal in the relationship. Her and Kyouji bond again over musical tastes this time around, but the two shared a diary in the past and it seems Kyouji has completely forgotten this. Kiika has just returned to town as well. She is very keen on rekindling her friendship Kyouji. She is a very beautiful girl who is half British and Japanese. She seems really refined, but looks can be deceiving. Lastly there is the very mysterious Yuka. She claims to know him from the past but he has no memory of her. She gives off a sinister aura, and the even bigger question is who or what is the being that accompanies her, Gore. Well the answer to that will will get right to heart of this story.

Each of the girls’ routes are done just like you would find in a typical dating sim, but if you make the wrong choices things will end very badly. That being said, each girl does have a good ending. I honestly wasn’t expecting that. I figured this one would be all gloom, doom and gore, but that really isn’t the case. Don’t get me wrong, there is some dark stuff here, and the gore is very over the top at times, but through all this mess there is always a sense of hope. As you complete each route it will add new layers onto this psychological mystery, and I really got hooked early on in wanting to know exactly what was happening here. The localization team’s fantastic writing here certainly helped. They gave all the characters a lot of personality, and the graphic descriptions used here really added to the overall feel of the game, even if sometimes you really didn’t want them to.

A truly epic visual novel not only has to have a good story but it needs great artwork as well. Gore Screaming Shows certainly delivers on this front. Ueda Metawo’s work here is some of the best you will find in the genre. From the character designs to the epic CGs, everything here is very well done and nicely detailed. I was very impressed with all of the work found in the H-Scenes and the gruesome Guro ones as well. If you are faint of heart you can turn on some gore filters for both the text and images. I have to have the full experience when I play a visual movel but for those that want something tamer, the option is there.

I can safely say Gore Screaming Show is in fact one of the best horror visual novels I’ve ever read. The characters and story will hook you right from the start and it only gets better the more routes you complete. I went into this expecting just a gorefest, but what I got was a deep story with some fantastic characters that I won’t soon forget. The game is well worth the $34.99 asking price, and it will take around 30 hours to complete all the routes and see the true ending. Anyone looking for a great horror visual novel or just for folks that enjoy a good mystery with some physiological elements this one is for you.