Siren Blood Curse

Developer: Sony Entertainment Japan
Publisher: Sony
Released (UK): Dec '07
Released (US): Nov '07

May Contain Spoilers. Siren Blood Curse is the latest instalment of the Forbidden Siren franchise and was released in Europe, Japan (where it was called New Translation rather than Blood Curse) and the US.
The game is a complete remake of the original game but with some adjustments. There is a whole new cast of characters, one reoccurrence and most of the environments have been changed although some have just been tweaked.

The story is based around an American film crew who have come to Hanuda to investigate a local cult and the sacrificial rituals the cult committed thirty years prior.

True to Forbidden Siren form, the story line is a confusing one. I cannot remember if the original had a time line situation but Blood Curse does. The game's time line is back and forth between 1976 and 2007 and times can even join together. The best example is the opening scene...The TV crew are in 2007 but they are witnessing a ritual which took place in 1976 and characters from both time periods can be seen in the same mission. Siren_Hill, a member of the US Playstation forum has done a nice thread on the time line which makes more sense [Here]

The cast in this game are mostly American, except from two from the local area of Handuda Village, Japan.

Howard Wright is travelling across Japan and has found himself stranded in Hanuda after his motorcycle broke down (His blog - http://hw-biker.blog-paradise.com/e/index.html confirms this) but why was he in the deserted village of Hanuda anyway?
We first see him in the opening scene when he stops a religious group half way through performing a ritual. One girl has already been stabbed and he manages to cause a distraction so a second girl can run away.
Howard is the main character in this game and the character we play as the most. His character is of course similar to the role of Kyoya Suda in the original.

Sam Monroe is a College Professor and Folklore expert who is in Hanuda to act as a consultant for a TV show that is being filmed on the rituals that happen there.
His character is based on Tamon Takeuchi from the original game because he is the guy who figures out what has been happening in Hanuda and how to stop it.
Sams part in this game is slightly confusing because there are two versions of him. One is the Sam Monroe who is new to Hanuda and the other is the older Sam, who knows exactly what to do to stop the games events from happening again.

Melissa Gale is a Television presenter who has come to Hanuda to get footage for her show called 'Encounters'. She is the ex-wife of Sam Monroe and was unaware that her ex-husband was going to be the consultant for the show.
Her role is similar to the roles of Reiko Takato and Naoko Mihama from the original game.
She is very protective of her daughter and spends most of the game trying to save her from the wandering shibito walking around. She is eventually sacrifices herself whilst blowing up a maggot shibito in order to save her daughter.

Seigo Saiga is one of the characters local to the area and is one of two of the non-American member of the cast. Seigo is a member of the cult (like Jun Kajiro in the original) and is the guy seen stabbing the girl in the opening scene (notice the white shoes). He is one of the characters stuck in 1976 and relives the time again and again despite killing himself halfway through the game.
He is also a doctor at the local hospital (Shiro Miyata in the original) and always carries a gun (like Akira Shimura in the original).
As a human he is of no threat to anyone, befriending and helping Sam in one mission but as a Shibito, tries to stop Howard from performing his task of finishing off Kaiko, the cults god.

Bella Monroe is the daughter of Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale. She has come to Hanuda with Sam who couldn't find a baby-sitter in time for the trip. She finds herself in the care of Sol after the TV crew were separated. Bella spends most of the game by herself and we first find her hiding in the hospital after Sol promises to come find her.
Bella is the only character who doesn't hold a weapon and cannot attempt to fight the shibitos she comes across. Like Harumi Yomoda in the original game she will cower when too close to a Shibito so stealth is necessary.
She is also similar to Tomoko Maeda who in the original game turned into a Shibito herself.

Amana is also a member of the cult of Hanuda. We first see Amana in one of Howards mission where she finds him recovering from a gunshot wound. She promises to help him escape but they part ways after Amana is flown away by a Shibito.
We play as Amana only once where she tries to recall the memories she lost before the events of the game. Amana's character is similar to Hisako Yao in the original game because she is the one who is trying to bring back Kaiko.
Like Sam, Amana has another version wandering the village [Major Spoiler Here]: Amana is Bella, grown up. This means that Bella joins Sam and Howard as the only characters live through the events of the game.

Sol Jackson is the camera man for 'Encounters' and is a friend of Melissa. An archive item, which shows a film script written by Sol shows that he is in love with his friend and colleague.
Sol dies pretty early on in the game and although his death isn't shown, we can gather he was killed by a Shibito whilst he tried to distract it away from Bella. Sol can be found everywhere as a Shibito, especially if Bella or Melissa are around. His character is similar to the role of Yoriko Anno in the original game seeing that he is in love with one of the more leading characters (Anno took a fancy to Tamon Takeuchi in the original).

Miyako Kajiro (her surname isn't used in BC) is the second of the Japanese characters and is the same Miyako from the original with one difference. She can see in Blood Curse so isn't as clingy as in the first one. You never play as Miyako making her the only non-playable character.
Miyako is the sidekick to Howard for most of the game but is kidnapped by Amana in order to be sacrificed for Kaiko's revival.
The 'Fruit' which is mentioned throughout the game, is Miyako's blood which she gave to Howard after he was shot by Melissa (who had mistaken him for a Shibito).
Even after being sacrificed for Kaiko, she helps Howard to defeat it by showing his whereabouts.

Shibito make an excellent comeback and look better than ever. The same Shibito types are in Blood Curse although a new Shibito has been created for Blood Curse.
You have the regular Shibito which look and act as normal human beings, the Spider Shibito, the Moth Sbibito, the Brain Shibito and the new Maggot Shibito.



Human shibito (above) act just like normal people, carrying on with their daily lives as if they were still alive. They follow a routine just as they do in the original, patrolling the same areas making them easy to predict. They're pretty easy to defeat despite the fact that most of them carry a weapon of some kind. You can just sneak up behind them and impale them with one weapon or another or you can just hide in a closet until they go away.

The Spider Shibito (left) walk on all fours in a yoga, crab-like position which looks quite painful. They are more on guard and will spend time in one spot looking out for any intruders. They can be hard to spot too because they can walk on walls an on ceilings. They do have some limits though because they can't climb ladders and they can't open doors so they're easy to trap. They are quite fast when they see you and can jump on you from quite a distance so watch you're back carefully.

Moth Shibito (below) are Shibito with wings, so they can fly. They hide in bushes and in shadows so they can come out at you from anywhere. They will not hesitate to sweep down and grab you dropping you when high in the air. Some Moth Shbito carry guns so they can shoot you from afar making it harder for you to kill them before they kill you.
In all fairness, they are very seldom around so don't get in your way too much.



The Maggot Shibito is a new form of Shibito to Blood Curse but they aren't common and they sometimes act as a mini boss in the levels where they appear. They are the biggest form of Shibito and look like Maggots but with long arms. They are also in control of the Moth Shibito's meaning that once the Maggot is down, all the Moths go down with it. They're quite vicious and will throw things at you so you really nee to keep your distance and kill them using some kind of trap. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of them.

The Brain Shibito has also returned from the original game but the designers have done massive improvements to their appearance. Each Brain shibito looks different unlike in the first game where they all looked the same. Brain Shibito are your best bet of a scare in this game because they look that disgusting. The Brain Shibitos are much more shy then their maggot counterparts because they run away from you when they see you coming.
There are many Brain Shibito about so I'll go through each one. (I've named them myself because they have no official names - well one does)


Patient Brain (above) - Is seen in the Hospital when playing as Melissa Gale. It a large, black tumour-looking blob that is pushed around in a wheel chair by a Human Shibito nurse. It can't run away like the others because it has no legs but it is protected by the Nurse who will come running at you when she sees you - Knock her down first then you can attack the Brain. Easy isn’t it?

Headless Brain (below) - This Brain is located in the mines when playing as Howard Wright. This has tentacle things coming from its neck where a head would usually be. These tentacles grab onto the ceiling but this brain doesn't move. However, its position changes each time you play the level. This Brain startled me the first time I saw it because it looked violent, in fact it just stays there and lets you whack it to death.


Bee Brain - This is the Brain Shibito at the Shibito Nest when playing as Howard Wright. It looks like a Male Human Shibito but it has a head that is an oversized Bee. This guy is fast and wanders around in the pitch black making him hard to see so you have to trap him (with an animal trap) or cut him off. If you can catch a glimpse of him as the lightning goes off, the effect quite be quite surprising if you run into him unexpectedly.

Yukie (Nurse Brain, right) - Again, it's Howard that comes across this Brain, in the Mines. Yukie plays a small part in the story line because she's close, and I mean very close to Seigo Saigo (think of Mina Onda from the original game). She looks human but has some slug like things draping off of her face and like the Bee Brain, she is very fast and has a huge area to hide in. I remember having a hard time bringing Yukie down - get a sniper gun an you should get her quite easily.


The Sight-Jack has been changed in two ways although one of them is quite the annoyance. The Sight-Jack mode now allows the character to move whilst keeping tabs on a specific Shibito. The screen splits whenever you do this so half of it shows where your character is and the other half shows the view of the Shibito. Good Luck if you have a small TV screen because it's hard to see where you're going when this happens, especially if it's dark.
In the previous games, if a Shibito catch sight of you, the screen would flash re to show you what direction it was coming from. In this game, the screen splits again and will stay, showing you where the Shibito is coming from, until you press R2 to get rid of it. These are very annoying because they are uninvited by the player so they get in the way.

The archive item has returned with 50 items to collect as well as 50 different weapons to find. Some of the archive items are really interesting and give more information and background history of the characters. Sol's ID sheds light to a secret crush on Melissa, A tape can be found with an episode of 'Encounters' on it and Howard's mobile phone has a message on it from a friend. If you bought the game from PSN, there is an option to save some items onto your hard drive. One archive item seems to be an MP3 player and you can download the end music from Siren 1 and Howard’s phone has some pictures on it which can be downloaded. Some of them are quite nice too, if you like Japanese Landscape.

Forbidden Siren always had mixed reactions with the acting, especially the voice over’s, but with an American cast this isn't a problem with Blood Curse. The characters are played by proper actors just as in the first too games although it's not as obvious in this games graphics since it's for a next-gen console with next-gen graphics.
The environments look really good on this game although some areas are too dark to see at times but as a Survival Horror, you would expect it to be dark. The house is especially good, especially when you get into the living room which is very detailed.

The environments have changed in appearance, although some have stayed the same.
You have the Fields (below) where the church is located. The church's location has changed but apart from that, the area looks the same.


The Mines have returned but look completely different to the mines in Forbidden Siren 1 and are maze like in appearance because it has many levels with blocked stairways and elevators.
The house is also here and looks way better than in the original although the layout has stayed exactly the same.
The Hospital has changed, and looks more like it belongs in a Horror Game. It has changed in appearance and has a bit more blood in it as you can see in the picture below.
The shopping area from the original (where the restaurant is) has also changed in appearance and for some reason, is flooded. The picture of the Human Shibito's that is in the Shibito section are seen in this area if you want to know.
The Nest has to be back because it's very important to the story line and it's in much more detail, with items such as fans knocked over and broken plates all over the floors.


The school has gone and the area where Harumi manages to escape in the original game is not here either. Some other areas whose name's I cannot remember have also gone - The level where you had to hear Harumi's message from the tower and the level where you first play as Shiryo Miyato aren't here either.

The problems that the original had have all been erased. Checkpoints are more frequent, the characters are stronger taking more damage and archive items stay in the archive once it's been collected. These problems of course were all dealt with in Forbidden Siren 2 but if you're American, you wouldn't know about them.
The maps are another improvement for the series. You can view the map down from the top by which I mean in a Birdseye view or you can view the map in 3D, which shows each level at the same time. The map also locates where you have to go in order to fulfil your objective which makes the game easier.

Overall the game is fantastic and definitely improves on the original game. For me, the storyline wasn't changed enough to make sense to me so Forbidden Siren 2 has managed to beat it on that respect which means Blood Curse cannot score as highly that. Close but I'll give it...

9.5/10

All pictures have been taken from the Japanese Website which can be found HERE.

Forbidden Siren 2

Developer: SCE Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released (UK): Aug '06
Released (US): N/A

Luckily, Christmas was around the corner when Forbidden Siren 2 came out in Europe or I wouldn't have played this game at all. The original was so hard I thought this one would be just as bad so I got my Mum to buy me it as a Christmas present.

The game takes place on the fictional Yamijima Island, Japan. Years before the events of the game, a Tsunami occurred there killing everyone on the Island making it inhabited. However, various people have found themselves on the island for a variety or reasons (explained later) where suspicious events start to happen.

Like the previous game, Forbidden Siren 2 has a big cast of characters, playable or not. Each character is on Yamijima Island for their own reasons.

Mamoru Itsuki is the main character of the game an is also the guy we start off as. He's a Journalist for an Occult magazine and has come to the Island to find out more about the Tsunami that occurred all those years ago. He takes a boat there along with other characters in the game but the boat is capsized and he finds himself on the coast of the island where he meets Yuri Kishida.

Yuri Kishida is found locked in a small building at Yamijima Harbour. She starts off as nice as a puppy but ends up not to be as she seems. We never play as Yuri and she only appears at the start of the game before we find out who she really is.

Ikuko Kifune is a dockworker who was working on the boat that capsized with Mamoru and Co inside. She has Psychic abilities and can take control of the Shibito's/Yamibito's movements which she uses to eventually save Mamoru from Yuri. She helps Mamoru get rid of our antagonist at the end of the game.

Yorito Nagai is a Private in the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Squad. He finds himself on Yamijima Island along with his supervisors; Takeaki Misawa and Hiroshi Okita after their helicopter lost control and crashed. After finding Okita, Yorito's friend, dead on site he goes along with Misawa to get help.

Takeaki Misawa is a Major in the same force as Yorito but goes crazy throughout the course of the game. He is killed by Yorito after he is seen threatening Ichiko Yagura but comes back as a Yamibito then as a Kou Yamibito who is destroyed by Yorito near the end of the game.

Akiko Kiyota (right) is another of the passengers of the boat Mamoru took to the Island although she is cleverly disguised in a big hat and sunglasses. She's a Psychic who has been "hired" to help Soji Abe with a big problem, explained later. She later starts to receive connections from a recently deceased Shu Mikami and helps get rid of our antagonist by killing herself (explained later). She's one of my favourite characters in the game, although I don't know why.

Shu Mikami is a famous Romance Novelist who was born on Yamijima Island. His mother had died as a child and his father, Ryuhei Mikami, looked after him before he was brutally murdered. Shu was eventually adopted by a family and lived in Tokyo eventually forgetting his childhood. Shu Mikami is blind and can only see by Sight Jacking his dog Tsukasa.

Shigeru Fujita is a police officer who was born on Yamijima Island but moved to mainland Japan with his wife. He comes back to the Island to investigate the rumours that people were living there again. A possessed Ichiko Yagura eventually kills him later in the game.

Ichiko Yagura is a student at Kameishino Prefectural Middle School who had died after being thrown off the Bright Win Ferry during a storm. Her body is taken over by another of our antagonists and we find her on the ferry not knowing what has happened to her. She later goes on to kill Shigeru Fujita before turning on Yorito Nagai.

Soji Abe has been accused of murdering his room mate, Ryuko Tagawa. He goes to Akiko, Ryuko’s psychic to help prove his innocence. He goes to Yamijima Island at Akiko's suggestion, on the boat with Akiko, Mamoru and Shu. I love Soji, he's my favourite character giving a bit of comedy and goofiness to the game. Watch the actor's face...He does a really good job.

Other characters, that aren't playable include:

Kanae, who was found, washed up by a younger Shu Mikami who was out with his father looking for treasure. The Mikami family takes her in because of her resemblance to Shu's mother. The villagers turn against her, calling her a witch because she was afraid of the light and would only come out at night. One night Tsuneo Ohta, the head fisherman gathered the villagers to hunt Kanae down and kill her. His daughter Tomoe Ohta was also a part of the mob but fell onto a tall pole after running away from a Shiryo.

Pictures from the games Japanese homepage:
http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/siren2/siren2_top/index.html

The Shibito's return to Forbidden Siren 2 but they're not alone. You have the problems of three new harmful creatures:
The Shiryo are red blobs that inhabit dead humans in order to create the Shibito. These weren't in the first game and they don't cause you too much trouble. They wander dark places and are afraid of light - they will die when exposed to it. They will bite you if they have the chance but can be beaten with a weapon.
The Yamirei look like slugs wrapped in black cloth. They are also afraid of light and will melt when exposed to your torch. They avoid light so go under lamposts if available to recover from them. They head butt you and are very sneaky, always coming fast from behind.

The Yamibito (below) are the biggest addition so I'll go into further detail:
When a Yamirei comes into contact with a dead body, that body will become a Yamibito. They're like Shibito's except they talk as usual thinking they are still the people they once were E.g. Shigeru Fugita, when a Yamibito can be heard saying phrases such as "I knew there was a reason I hated stake-outs." and "How about letting me cuff you?”
They stay away from light and they will shield their eyes if you approach them from the front making for an easy hit. They take less time to gain consciousness once down but they can be knocked out quite easily. They don't follow any set route like the Shibito do so they are less predictable.

There is also another kind of Yamibito around called the Kou-Yamibito. It is never explained what makes a Yamibito turn into a Kou-Yamibito and not every Yamibito in the game turns into one. Tomoe Ohta, Tsuneo Ohta, Takeaki Misawa, Ryuhei Mikami and Hiroshi Okita all turn into one eventually. The male Kou-Yamibito look like a hand (it's not a hand - just looks like one) walking on their fingertips (like Thing from the Addams Family). In place of where the wrist would be is the body of a usual Yamibito without a head. The head is in the palm of the hand instead. They have a black mist around them that block your sight if you're near them. The female Kou-Yamibito, Tomoe Ohta is in the form of a dog and is the fastest enemy you will encounter. All Kou-Yamibito will be attracted the light so turn yours off to avoid them and they are immune from attacks to the front. You need to shoot them in their back; a couple of shots will do it.

Our major Antagonist in this game is a creature called Mother. She is trapped and needs to open the seven gates in order to be released. She sends out a variety of 'Avatars' who kidnap women in order to use their body's to open these gates. Shu's mother was one as were Kanae, Ryuko Tagawa and Yuri Kishida. All these Avatars take on the appearance of Mother which explains Kanae's resemblance to Shu's mother and Yuri's resemblance to Kanae. It was Yuri who eventually completed the opening of the seven gates by using Mamoru to do the task for her.
Once these gates were open Mother could finally escape and with her, Yamirei would try and possess everyone on the Island.
Another Antagonist in the game is Otoshigo, the leader of the Shiryo and nemesis of Mother. Otoshigo also inhabits the sea and when Ichiko Yagura is thrown overboard the Bright Win Ferry, he takes over her body. I'm not sure why he infested Ichiko's body and what he was planning to do - The plot is very confusing. I don't even think Otoshigo was worth putting in the game to be honest.

Sight Jacking is back and you can use it to find Shibito, Yamibito and sidekick characters if they've gone missing. Some missions within the game force you to use the sight jack especially those involving Shu Mikami in some way. Ikuko Kifune can control the Shibito/Yamibito she sight jacks and Akiko Kiyota can see past memories through sight jacks when she reaches a certain place.

The Archive Items are also back but they're a lot more innovative in this one. It shows videos of events relating to the plot such as the film of Yuri Kishida's body being found on the ferry. ID's belonging to the characters can be found with some extra information such as a letter addressed to Mamoru from his girlfriend and a letter from Yorito's parents regarding his promotion within the force.
Unlike the first game, your archive items will stay in the archive once you've found it. If you die at all, the item will still be there and you don't even have to complete the mission through once you have it.

The weapons are the same...Pokers, Hammers, Crowbars, Pistols, Shotguns etc are all here. Yorito and Takeaki will always have a firearm of some sort with a good supply of ammo because of their link to the Army.

I loved this game very much and it's one of my favourites, below Silent Hill 4 probably. This second instalment has improved on the original a lot and here's why:

1) Hints are given at the beginning of each mission. Some are very vague but some are very useful. You'll get fewer hints as the game goes on but it's still a very nice addition to the game.

2) As already mentioned, archive items stay put once you collect them.

3) Checkpoints are easier to come by in this game. If you die throughout the mission, you won't have to start from the beginning like you did in the first one.

4) The maps are much better also. This time you can actually see where about you are on there. It's much harder to get lost.

5) The acting is so much better in this game than on the previous one. I've already mentioned Soji Abe and the actor that plays him so well but Shigeru Fujita and Akiko Kiyota also do good jobs with their faces. The actors also have a Japanese accent unlike in the first one where the actors had more of a British flare to them.

6) The Link Navigator can be accessed from the very beginning. It looks the same as the navigator from the first game with the characters on the top and the time at the side. Missions are split in two parts like in the previous game that unlocks when certain events happen in a previous mission.

It's unfortunate that this game was never released in the U.S. because it's much better than the first. I've been on American forums who have said how much Blood Curse improved on the series but most of the improvements mentioned were on this game too.
It's never been mentioned why it wasn't released over in the States. It may have been due to poor sales of the original or it may be because of a bad reception but it may be wise of Sony to release the game now after the release of Blood Curse. Maybe they could remake it the way they remade the original but I'd rather they do a whole new instalment.

This game really made the series for me and I have to give it a perfect score:

10/10

Why do you think it was never released in the US?
Is the acting better?
If I've completely missed the plot, please comment?

One's I've Never Finished...Part 2

Forbidden Siren

Developer: SCE Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released (UK): Mar '04
Released (US): Apr '04

I saw this game get a good 9/10 score from the Official Playstation Magazine. I decided to buy it, although it took me some time to find it. It's not well known in the UK unless you are a Survival Horror fan and has only now found itself known after the recent release of Blood Curse on the PS3.
(Note: Because of this reason, I haven't been able to find any good pictures, just various screenshots.)

What's it about?

Forbidden Siren is set in Hanuda Village, Japan where various different characters find themselves. The story is actually very confusing so I've put this excerpt from Wikipedia's article on the game:

"Siren is set in a remote, rural Japanese mountain village named Hanuda, which is characterized as being very traditional and particularly xenophobic. Following a ritual ceremony near midnight, the village teeters wildly between time and space, with an infinite sea of blood-red water in place of the usual surrounding mountains. The crux of the story focuses on the efforts of Hisako Yao, the leader of a strange local religion, to resurrect or re-awaken a being known as Datatsushi through an occult ceremony. The siren of the title is the call of Datatsushi, summoning the residents of Hanuda to immerse them selves in the red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called Shibito. The shibito then go about building a nest to house the corporal form of Datatsushi once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any living humans left in Hanuda. The story is told through the perspectives of ten survivors, some of whom are natives of Hanuda, and is presented out of chronological order over the three days in which the mystery takes place."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Siren

There are four types of Shibito in this and they aren't defeatable meaning they will eventually wake up after being knocked out. They are attracted to noise and light so always walk (never run) when close to them and turn your torch off when around them.
The four types are:

Human Shibito - (Left) These look like Humans as normal, except for the blood coming from their eyes and the black stuff around their mouth.

Spider Shibito - They are called Spider Shibito because of how they walk. Like the Crab Yoga position they walk on all fours, their back towards the floor. At some point you see them creating webs with rope and string.

Moth Shibito - These Shibito have wings like a moth or butterfly. They also carry gun's making it harder to avoid them.

Brain Shibito - (Right with Risa) There are few of these about and they have worm like things hanging from their faces. They control the Spider Shibito so when the Brain is down, the Spiders will fall down also.

Sight Jacking is a concept within the game where the characters can see what the Shibito and other characters can see. This is vital plainly because this game involves more stealth than action. One character in particular wields no weapons whatsoever throughout their part in the game so stealth is absolutely necessary or you'll fail. Some Shibito hold rifles which can get you from far distances so sight Jacking informs you of what the shibito is focused on.
Shibito are very predictable and always use the same route either A to B or in circles. Sight Jacking various Shibitos in the area will make to wise to where they patrol as well as using their sight to find items.

There is a huge cast in this game, some characters being more important than others. Some characters you'll only play as once or twice, some characters you don't play as at all. Here's a list and the reasons they are at Hanuda Village.

Kyoya Suda (left) is our main character in the game and is the hero at the end (apparently). He's come to Hanuda to find out more about the massacre that happened there years ago.

Kei Makino is a Priest of the local religion. I haven't come across him much whilst I've been playing but he's the brother of Shiro Miyata is a doctor at the local hospital.

Risa Onda is is back at her hometown from Tokyo to see her twin sister Mina Onda who is a nurse at the hospital where Shiro works.

Tamon Takeuchi (right with Yoriko)is a teacher who grew up in Hanuda Village and has returned to find out what had happened to his parents who had died when Tamon was a child.

Yoriko Anno is Tamon's student who has come along uninvited. We find that she has a crush on her teacher which is the unofficial reason for coming along. She's quite annoying is this character - I don't like her much.

Hisako Yao is one of our bad guys although she is nice at the beginning of the game. She is a nun of the local religion and she's the reason the events of the game occur, reincarnating the god of their religion.

Miyako Kajiro (left) is the latest girl within the Kajiro family to be sacrificed for the religion. She is goes along with Kyoya for most of the game but she is completely blind which can be a pain for whoever is playing the game.

Reiko Takato is a teacher at the local elementary school whose student is Harumi Yomoda. Reiko spends half of the game protecting Harumi from the Shibito before sacrificing her life in order to save her once again.

Akira Shimura is also a resident of Hanuda and is the oldest character of the game. His Shotgun makes him the easiest character to play as although he is pretty slow. He kills himself to avoid becoming one of the un-dead, failing. He eventually becomes a Shibito.

Naoko Mihama is a model/TV Presenter who is in Hanuda to film the Television series, Occult Japan. Going a little bit crazy she drowns herself in the red water in a bid to keep her youthful looks. She is my personal favourite in this game.

Tomoko Maeda is a middle school student who becomes a Shibito. She dies off screen so we don't know how she died but she was probably killed by another Shibito

Mina, Yoriko and Miyako are the only characters we never play as through the game but all have quite important parts in the plot.

A lot of the time the playable character will have a sidekick with them. These don't attack the Shibito themselves but rely on you to do it. They'll do pretty much what you tell them to such as "Wait","Hide" and "Come Here". Female sidekicks may also need your help in pulling them up high places such as sheds, rocks etc. In some cases, hiding a sidekick in a certain place may encourage them to find items such as keys.

The graphics used in this game are very unique in the fact that the characters are played by actors (I don't just mean the voice). The actor’s faces are imposed onto the character models making them look more realistic. Going to the Menu Page allows you to see the real life actor playing the character.

The areas in the game include The Elementary School, The Maeda House, Lower Arato, Janokubi Valley and the Shibito Nest amongst others and there are some really good props hanging around such as the payphones, drawings (by the children at the school). The clothes the female characters wear are nice too - Risa Onda and Naoko Mihama for example.

In order to find out more about the plot, there are 100 Archive Items to find throughout the game. I love this part of the game because the guys at Sony have been really innovative regarding the kind of items you can get. Videos and Tapes are some of the best you can get but there are also newspaper and magazine articles which can be quite funny. I think these can be really interesting to look at.
The weapons are quite unique too. You have the staples such as the rifle and the pistol but you also have the Poker, Umbrella, Hammer and the crowbar.

Why I never completed it:

This game is extremely hard and that is the only reason I haven't been able to complete it. The game is much harder than most for the following reasons:

1) Where Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Project Zero have healing items to collect; Forbidden Siren has nothing like that. If you get trapped by several Shibito’s you will die, your energy however will go back to normal when you haven't been hit for a while.

2) If your Sidekick dies you will have to start from the top and because they don't attack Shibito they usually do unless you tell them to stay put.

3) Checkpoint is a word Sony Japan doesn't know about in this game. Checkpoints are exceptionally rare meaning that you have to do the whole mission from the start which is obviously a pain when you're near the end of a mission. Checkpoints do occur occasionally but not very often.

4) The game is quite time consuming if you're a magpie gamer like me I.E. You have to collect everything available to you. If you find an archive item then die during the mission, you will have to go and get the archive item again. It takes forever on the harder missions at the end of the game.

5) It is a very confusing storyline on religion which is a subject I personally find boring. To make the game even more confusing, the events of the game are not in chronological order so you're going back and forth but the link navigator will help you out a little. The link navigator is a graph with the character names at the top and the times on the left so you can look back at what mission came first. Unfortunately you won’t get control of it until halfway through the game.

The first time I played this I didn't get as far as the third or fourth mission without getting killed over and over again. I put it aside and just never went back to it...In fact, I sold it without giving it much of a chance - I found it just too hard.
Then Forbidden Siren 2 was due for release and despite the fact I was unsure about getting the second after failing the first, it was Christmas so I got my Mum to buy it for my present. I’m going to talk about Forbidden Siren 2 later but for now I’ll just say this. It impressed me so much I decided to get the original again and give it another go.
The second time I got a little further but I still found it rather hard and for a second time I put it aside. As I’m writing this now, I am attempting it again after the recent Blood Curse has been released although I’m using a walkthrough in order to do it.

Anybody else find the game extremely hard?
Archive Items? A pain or useful?
Who's your favourite character?