Today review is about you-just-activated-my-trap em up game: Deception 3 (1999-2000) on Playstation 1. 3 years ago, I made review about Kagero which is the 2nd game of Deception series. So, what’s with the long span, you may ask? It’s the same old excuse mix of procrastination, immediate change of plan, forgetfulness, etc. But in my defense, I already prepare tons of screenshot for the review last year. So, a slight of attempt has been made. At HG101 discord forum’s game club, July’s agenda is this game. So, I figure this is the perfect time to make the review of it.
Side note: I like to compare this game a lot with Kagero. So, you can bet how many time I say Kagero here.
Much like in Kagero, the title screen here shows protagonist from behind. But with bunch of images of other people, including the protagonist when she was a wee child. As for the main menu. It’s very lackluster. It only consists of New Game and Load Game. No option setting which I considered very important. I guess I’m stuck with New Game then.
In this sub-menu, I get the option setting now. This is less intuitive. Option setting should be in the main menu! This user interface design is quite horrible if you put option not in the main menu. Period. As per usual, I go with Story mode. Trap license is tutorial. It’s pretty neat. But in early level, the tutorial teaches you wrong way to utilize the mega rock. By that I mean it wants you to bait your enemy step by step so you can drop the mega rock on them. That’s unintuitive and stupid because you can get hit by enemy if you do that. Not to mention, that certainly won’t work on enemy with projectile attack. Moreover, there’s quite big chance that enemy will walk pass the falling rock. If you are familiar with the Deception game, you should know how to use Mega Rock properly. If you are not, I will tell you much much later.
WARNING! Do not ever try to finish the Expert mode! It’s super hard and jarring post-endgame feature. I did finish Expert mode for Retroachievement and I don’t want to do it ever again even though I love this game. Most of the levels have super strict time limit or objective. I have to resort to read walkthrough and exploit bug. I really really don’t suggest you to finish this Expert mode. It makes the story mode, baby piece of cake in comparison.
This CG cutscene plays right
away after I enter the name of the protagonist. Default: Reina. It was misty
day at the Silent Hill, 2 little girls run. Suddenly, 4 Men in Black
guys in black cloth surround them and take the big sister. Another guy appears
out of thin air. He’s about to take the little sister who’s still crying over
kidnapped big sister. But suddenly, a heroic lady subdues the captor and breaks
his arm. The guy flees. The little sister is comforted by bit-portly lady.
Apparently, that was Reina’s dream about her childhood memory. She wakes up. She finds herself inside a boat tied along with the old lady and a boy. I do believe the old lady there is the same one who comfort the small girl in the dream.
These prisoners are taken before the king for inspection. King Frederick likes Reina in kind of creepy way, saying he feeling very well upon seeing Reina’s face.
The old lady who Reina refers as mother, speaks objection to the king by saying “You do this (kidnapping) and still call yourself king?”. It goes without saying that the king doesn’t accept that and order the captor named Miguel kills her and the boy this instance. Miguel draws a knife from his ass and immediately stab the old lady in the stomach. Reina shocked by this and immediately falls unconscious. Miguel also kills the boy but it gets censored. The screen fades out and loud stabbing sound can be heard later.
Another flashback appears. This one starts with Reina having 17th birthday. Rosetta, her step mother gives her brooch for the birthday present. Reina is touched with this that she shed tears. Paul the boy teases here. What a little jerk.
Suddenly, Miguel and his cohort barge in to the house. He then knee strikes Rosetta in stomach, backhand punches Paul, and lastly punches Reina in solar plexus. I said Paul deserves that for mocking Reina.
Back to the present. Miguel has disposed the dead Rosetta and Paul to nearest dumpster like what I did in Party Hard. The he carries away the still unconscious Reina. Queen Margareta along with Cecilia hide behind the pillar. The Queen seems eager to have Reina’s brooch.
Then first chapter starts. What a good beginning.
Reina is sent to jail temporarily before get into laborship. Let’s be honest, it’s supposed to be slavery. A mysterious voice speaks to Reina and give her a red jewel that immediately vanishes as she touches it.
The red jewel allows Reina to see and use trap. That’s very instant to get the trap magic. I think Millenia from Kagero requires at least a year or bit less than that to be able to use trap magic. The mysterious voice already put these 3 traps while the jailor just standing on the location of bear trap. This combo is easy. First, activate the bear trap by pressing cross button. Second, activate the arrow slit with square button. Lastly, activate pendulum blade with triangle button. Pendulum blade is the new ceiling trap for this game. Effectively replacing the tedious ceiling gas trap with better and more reliable kind of trap.
The voice tells Reina to set another batch of trap for next victim with circle button. I always think it’s funny if tutorial character tells the player to press the exact button on controller. That’s clearly 4th wall breaking.
Pressing circle button allow you to set trap and also to view your victim’s profile and stats. I like that the game tells you bit of personal data of the victim to tell you that the victims are not just soulless cannon fodder. They’re also human with character and personality. Albeit only in the game. So, this guy Jade is not currently in good mood because his crush is taken by Gordon who’s the jailor that I killed first. Conversely, Gordon is in good mood because he dates the girl. But my execution is swift and fair. They’re all dead with equal. One thing that really surprise me is, I can hear this guy footstep in victim’s data! I mean sure, he’s constantly walking in this information screen but I didn’t expect him to have footstep noise! That’s big attention to detail. Although I can only hear his footstep when I wear headset.
So, here’s the actual trap set menu. It has more instruction on user interface than the previous game. I remember there’s no instruction to tell the player that they can rotate or zoom the room display with shoulder buttons in Kagero although you actually can do these albeit no instruction. Then there’s detailed information on trap that you carry. Back in Kagero, you have to memorize information (such as cooldown/charge and damage power) about the trap from trap information screen and not in chapter/level/stage/whatever you call it. For now, I’m stuck with Mega Rock and Pendulum blade as ceiling trap, Arrow Slit and Push Wall as wall trap, lastly Bear Trap and Blast Bomb as floor trap. Blue icon is the protagonist while red icon is the enemy. If there’s second enemy, it will be represented with yellow icon. Much like in Kagero, there can only be 2 enemies maximum because Reina can get overwhelmed and/or engine limitation.
I set up the same set of traps but with different spot. I set the bear trap at the center of jail. After getting pinned with the bear trap, I shot the guard with arrow slit, and then push him with the pendulum trap into iron maiden. You can’t put blame solely on me to put the hapless yet evil guard into iron maiden. You should also blame the safety standard of this jail. The castle architect/engineer should put bed bunk or at least potty for sanitary business but no. They put iron maiden instead to scare prisoner further. Or maybe it’s what King wants and they can’t refuse. Yeah sure. Blame the evil king not me. :P
After killing the guard, Reina escapes the jail and then meet a boy named Marco who’s the mysterious voice before. Another guard catch up to Reina and Marco but later killed by electrified iron ball which dropped by Marco’s big brother Albert.
Here’s the evaluation screen. I admit this is better than the one in Kagero which only has green marble background. It’s because the statue, you see. It’s kind of made in Renaissance era. Come to think of it, Reina wear something that might be worn by commoner on Renaissance era. So, we move on little bit further from the medieval.
In previous game, Ark is score point but also act as currency for making new trap. In this game, Ark is only score and Dreak is the currency. There’s maximum and minimum cap of Dreak you can get per mission regardless of Ark you gather. To me as veteran player, this Dreak cap prevents me from getting satisfying amount of Dreak even though I manage to amass lots of Ark. It’s more handicap to me, is what I’m trying to say.
Here's the intermission menu. Even though there’s nice background and it takes 65% of the screen for scenery only. I feel like this intermission is worse than in previous game with more comprehensive menu. I mean. Where’s the save/load option here? It hides in option menu. I need to go to option menu then I can save my progress. That’s one extra unnecessary step for saving the game. Also, the options are just text without symbol and such. So boring to look at.
Albert takes the heroine to the factory where she meets the factory owner named Taure. He tells Reina that she’s currently in Alendar far north of Burganfada, her homeland. Apparently, only boat approved by Royal family that allowed to leave Alendar so Reina is stuck in here for unforeseeable future. She’s shocked with this fact and Taure tells her to rest here until calm down. That’s quite nice but it will be more appropriate if you provide her with comfortable sofa or something. So, you tell her to rest in dirty stone floor, not much different than jail. You’re horrible host, Taure.
But Reina is not safe here as these two peasants wants to kill her for bounty reward. Further proof that Taure sucks being host. But if the place is safe, where’s the fun for me? I still use the same set of traps and target the victim right next to entrance door. Simple enough. There’s swinging hook in the center of this room. That yellow light on the right, is button to activate electricity on upper floor. But I don’t get the opportunity to use it because I have limited trap and I remember the result isn’t that satisfying. To activate the button, you can use any trap (preferably arrow) or just simply touch it.
Traps have charge time which
is time for both preparation and cooldown. Generally, it’s good idea to retreat
and put another set of traps after using the previous ones for safety. I mean
you can reuse the same traps you used before and walk back and forth to lure
enemy into perfect spot. But that’s more dangerous in my opinion. Much like in
Kagero, Mega Rock rolls downstairs. This simple yet logical physic is one of
the keys to success in this game. This is how you should use Mega Rock like
pro. Instead of walk backward bit by bit until the enemy is on the right
spot, which is very basic yet stupid way to do it. You should just use stairs
and let Mega Rock rolls down, thus it becomes crude projectile that travels
along the stairs. It moves quite slow. Sometime enemy aware of it and jump
away. But still better and safer to use it this way than directly drop it on
the spot.
I killed the blasted peasants with not much of problem. But on the other side, Taure suddenly dies due to heart attack or sort like that. I like to point out that Marco and Albert have time to bury and make monument for dead Taure. But no such honored treatment for those peasants. They die in attempt to capture me out of their greed so they deserve to not be respected.
Marco takes to Castle of Agony by Albert’s order because he deems the factory is no longer safe place after attacked by 2 peasants. Sound stupid as it is. What even more stupid is the secret base Castle of Agony is already infiltrated by kidnapper’s gang. I can already tell that everyone in this game should learn how to lock their door. Another feature in this game is this synopsis at the start of the chapter. It’s like chapter in 90s Anime, kind of.
So, we fight at foyer which has big stairs. That’s already big clue that I must definitely use Mega Rock here. There’s yellow switch on my right which makes the big stair here losing its steps, changing it into surprise slide for the victim. I think Mega Rock rolls down faster in slide than in stairs.
There’s cliché game rule #5: Chandelier always falls. But in this case, I have to activate the button to make it falls. You can see the yellow button besides the entrance door. I activated it with arrow flies pass the block adjacent to the button. My murder plan for Gina goes like this: slide stair -> Mega Rock -> Spring Floor at the base of stairs -> Chandelier drop.
On to murder the old Wolf. My plan is Bear Trap -> Pillar toppled with Push Wall -> Mega Rock rolls downstair. Before you ask. Yes, I love Mega Rock. It and its variants are the trap with most damaging power even without element property. Mega Rock without modification is already deadly. About the modification, we will talk about it later.
After the place is safe (temporarily), Marco tells me about the trap making with combination of base trap and emblem. I get fire and thunder emblem to imbue trap with related element and add damage a bit.
So now I can make new trap or modify trap from Trap Element menu that just unlocked very recently. The game ditches the Stonehenge to make trap. Instead, it uses these generic ritualistic pillars. SMH.
Next, I have to fight Jeguard and Christina, the boss of kidnapper’s gang. Damn! I miss the bear trap and the pendulum blade. The top and the base of stairs are the bottleneck spot. Generally, you can use trap with range of effect within only single block in those spots. You should also position yourself with the same line as the trap location. Unlike me, I was careless back then. Jeguard’s class is Goliath, muscular men armed with big hammer and has ability to make quake to shake you. It’s like tremor effect in Monster Hunter.
You can see the room devices through trap set menu. Knowing these room devices or -what I like to call it- local traps, can add layer of strategy in you trap plan. Some local traps can only be used once like stained glass or topple-prop (pillar) in this white chamber. You can see the data on these local traps in detail. You can see the damage power, Ark rate, and their property like “Nulls defense” means the damage that the trap inflicted, ignores target’s defense power. Sadly, there’s no charge time data. It could be useful to know.
I readied Mega Rock for Jeguard but it hits Christina instead. I’m fine with that. Christina flees after getting hit by any trap. Her flee is not something that you can prevent no matter what you do. It doesn’t make her AI run away toward exit door. No. It’s just makes her disappeared instantly from the stage. Coward! Soldier_taunts04.wav
That leaves Jeguard alone to kill. Electricity runs along water which also applies in Kagero. Marco tells me to use electrified rock on canal so electricity can run through water. But I use electrified bear trap called “Thunder Claw” instead. Because it has significant shorter charge time and easy to spring which means more accurate on activation. It also electrifies water canal longer than Volt Rock. In other word, Marco is noob and I don’t need to listen to him.
I kill Jeguard but suddenly Reina has heart attack like Taure did. No time for celebration, I suppose.
I get Blast Bomb but it only has 1 block range and not 3 x 3 blocks. That’s not Blast Bomb. It’s Small Bomb from Kagero, dammit! By putting thunder emblem on Blast Bomb, I make Spark Rod! I don’t think Spark Rod should have relation with Blast Bomb. Because Spark Rod is not bomb trap from its look.
The dreak cost is determined by the components: base, emblem, ring, and orb. If you make new trap from the scratch instead of modifying from existing one, it costs more Dreak. Ring is optional modification that I don’t have it yet. Orb is power level. Maximum orb that you can put is 4. Each orb will make the trap stronger in term of damage power, range, or push effect. I think for each adding an orb, a trap will get more damage power by 5.
The cinematic sick doesn’t stop Reina for killing more intruders. By Reina, I mean me. I caught of guard by Silvia because she can jump downstair thus denying Thunder Claw that I set at the base of stairs. Engineer_negativevocalization03.wav
There you go. I can hit her with Mega Rock. The arrow slit at the base of stairs can aim higher that straight angle. I don’t think arrow slit in Kagero can do that. It only has side aim correction if target is in long range. That arrow slit aim correction also applied in this game.
I killed Silvia and Resphena but they got Marco! Mysterious female over there, named Cecillia escapes. That leaves the one who killed Marco, Ares and a hunter named Raditz. I don’t like Marco that much. But I guess I will avenge Marco’s death because he freed Reina from Jail so I owe him. Who am I kidding? I want to murder them because I love to kill these villains.
Especially, when I can utilize this statue called Punisher, that drop its execution axe when I step on this switch. Your victim must be dropped in this certain spot. You can utilize spring floor with careful luring. Or in my murder plan, I pin the victim using thunder claw than push it into execution spot using Pendulum blade. Since Raditz here armed with crossbow, luring him in short distance becomes very tricky. Because why he wants to approach you very close when he can fire arrow at you from some distance.
Finishing the chapter 5, rewards me with impact emblem. So, I can make the ol reliable Buzzsaw by combining arrow slit with impact emblem! Back in Kagero, I get Buzzsaw earliest as possible at chapter 10. That’s 5 chapters faster. However, you need 3 orb or more to make the Buzzsaw works as intended which is making enemy pushed to the end of projectile’s travel. If you only use 1 or 2 orbs in the Buzzsaw, it only makes enemy knocked back by 2 – 3 blocks. That sounds not bad but the thing is there’s a bug where enemy will move slightly to the right when they get knocked back which makes the follow up trap inaccurate. So, either you go with 3 or 4 orbs on Buzzsaw or don’t bother at all.
Funny that the synopsis says Marco is struck down by a sword. Because I remember too well that Ares is unarmed fighter. Nevertheless, another batch of intruders are coming. Please, come on in. I dare you all.
I manage to push Osborne, the sorcerer with Blast Floor (which is spring floor with added fire element). I drop Mega Rock on him then I step into this switch to activate Holy Volt so an electric current run though that canal. Ooops! He’s immune to electricity. I should read his biodata. But no matter. Once he gets up, I will hit him with Buzzsaw. I need to use it anyway.
Those intruders are led by this noble named Sirado. I threw him at fireplace and he get the cinematic escape while saying that he refuses to die here. That’s super dumb willpower because that’s not how it works in real life. You can’t just say I refuse to die and survive -like for example- dozen of shotgun shells to the chest. Just no way!
Moreover, Sirado only need to take a small break and he turns fine. He’s supposed to need serious medical treatment after what I have done to him. Sirado unintentionally rest at castle where Albert currently is. The dialogue happens. Sirado is still loyal to the evil Alendar King. While Albert opposes him and even go far to accuse him that he’s about to spark war with Burganfada. Sirado yells Albert’s name and say that he pretends never heard what Albert said because he respects Gershwin who’s presumably Albert’s father.
Then Marco died because of fever and not wound caused by sword. Reina tried to search for any medicine in this Castle of Agony and the Factory, to no avail. This is why it’s important to have first aid kit on your home or workplace, reader.
No moment to shed tears too long for Marco because another batch of intruders arrive. This Liza is cheater! Her boomerang can hit me even though I’m behind this wall.
Judeka here is dark mage that can and will cast blindness spell on me if I’m in her line of sight. The magic makes my sight dark and I can’t see enemies. Not even in trap set menu or map screen. But I can see little bit through switches and traps that I set. There’s also a room with open ceiling that provides some light when I get this blind status again.
I defeat all the intruders. But Reina decides to go outside because she’s still sad over dead Marco. There he meets Miguel armed with mini cannon! He shoots at Reina but miss and destroy the Castle of Agony to pieces! I was about to comment that Reina foolishly go outside that makes her vulnerable but she dodges Miguel's cannon shot. But she get thrown into cliffsideby the explosion caused by Miguel's stray shot. Then she falls. Marco certainly dead there buried with explosion and what remains of Castle of Agony. What happen to Reina next? Can she avenge her step family by killing Miguel? Find out on next part!
But you know well enough that I’m quite expert at this game so you already know that Miguel is as good as dead.
