cj_iwakura
Member
Is there any other series with a more sordid history than Shikigami no Shiro? If so, I'd love to know about it!
SnS, aka 'Castle Shikigami', is a trilogy of curtain fire aka danmaku aka bullet hell shmups. The series has been on everything from the PS2 to the Dreamcast to the Gamecube to the Wii to even the 360(not in the US for most of those).
Each game in the trilogy has seen release in the US.
...sort of...
Castle Shikigami / 'Mobile Light Force 2'
The very first game in the series, butchered by XS Games* beyond recognition.
*no relation to XSeed. XS are a completely different company who specialize in budget games.
All the between-stage dialogue, a SnS staple, was removed, as was most of the character art.
If this were 'MLF2', you'd hardly know they had personalities at all.
Sure, the dialogue isn't much, but it's there.
(Tangent:
I've had a project in the works to translate hack this game for months. It's not making progress. Link. Hit me up if you care to help.)
It's a tough game, and not very fair, but it has its charms.
Let's move on to the game that is easily the most infamous, which I bet everyone here's at least heard of.
Castle Shikigami 2
Yes, XS Games localized the sequel, too.
The difference? This time nothing was removed.
IT JUST GOT THE WORST LOCALIZATION OF ALL TIME.
Don't believe it? Hear for yourself.
( Or rather, from a civilized perspective. )
The dialogue is fairly accurate. Alfa System are known for coming up with some nonsensical storylines. It's just that no effort went into making the translations coherent, and these voice actors were probably pulled in from local homeless shelters.
With that out of the way, let's forget about all that. Shikigami 2 is the best of the three.
It has the most fun stages, the best music, and the most creative boss fights.
If you can stomach the horrible(and often hilarious) dialogue, you'll be in for a treat. One of the finest shmups ever made. It even has an art gallery(in the US release!) and multiple EX difficulties.
Last and never least, the best localized of the three, thanks to our friends at Aksys.
Caste Shikigami 3
Sold over 3,000 copies worldwide! I think.
Care of a fantastic localization and some hilarious writing, this one is easily the most fun to play. Shikigami 3 isn't as good as 2, but it is still a solid game, and the final battle is utterly ridiculous.
A sample of the Aksys localization.
(That's her first form.)
Resources
Everything you never knew you wanted to know about Castle Shikigami, C/O yours truly.
Shikigami no Shiro Wiki
(I help maintain it.)
Official Websites
http://www.alfasystem.net/game/shiki3/
http://www.alfasystem.net/game/shiki2/
http://www.alfasystem.net/game/shiki/
So fire up your PS2 and/or Wii and show Shiki some love.
Maybe Alfa will make a fourth game one day, instead of those crappy Phantasy Star Portable games.
(Yes they develop them, and they may or may not be crappy, see Sega for details, I've never played them please don't kill me.)
