Overblood

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Overblood is a 1997 Sci-Fi Survival Horror/Adventure game for the original PlayStation. It was developed by the Japanese company Riverhillsoft and published by EA. It was one of the many games made in the wake of the success of the first Resident Evil.

The game begins as the protagonist wakes from cryostasis with amnesia. After saving himself from the life-threatening cold of the room by wearing a small vest he calls a jacket, he learns learns from a computer terminal that his name is Raz Karcy and that he was never supposed to wake up. With the aid of the robot Pipo, he begins exploring the mysterious complex in which he is trapped, discovering the aftermath of an earthquake and the unfortunate results of a Super Soldier project. Things get complicated when he discovers he is infected with the mutation-causing ARNA Virus and that someone wants to make sure he never escapes...

It is notably more puzzle oriented than other Survival Horror games, having less than ten enemy encounters over the course of the entire game, counting the boss. It was also commended for its use of companions whom you could control at will for puzzles.

While it was at the time considered rather average, it is now incredibly entertaining: the laughably illogical puzzles are just barely passable, the animations for everything from jumping to just standing still are ridiculous, and its otherwise interesting but forgettable plot is chock full of Narm.

In the sequel Overblood 2, The Hero is Arcano Brandi who traveled to East Edge in 2115 to become a "Junk Blader" After the End as Earth is a boiling furnace, and the only reason people have survived is due to the constant cooling devices. He tries to save an old man at an airport from being robbed, but does get a valuable object that involves saving the earth. He then goes on a paid mission to fight the Government. It was released only in Japan and Europe, and contained a Game Breaking Bug that made it impossible to finish. It also had a lot of similarities to another game.

If you actually looked up this forgotten game, its likely because you watched the Super Replay of it on Gameinformer.com.

Tropes used in Overblood include:
  • Amnesiac Hero: He remembers nothing.
  • And Then John Was a Zombie: Raz becomes one... but in an unusual fashion, he gets cured in under five minutes.
  • Big Word Shout/Skyward Scream: Pipoooooooo!
  • Body Horror: The result of the Viral Transformation entry below.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Pipo's chip. Seems extremely pointless to take it? Yes, but Pipo is at the very end uploaded onto Zeus (the giant computer) who lets Milly and Raz out of the base that is about to explode.
  • Cloning Blues: The main character Raz Karcy is actually a clone of the real Raz Karcy, a Mad Scientist whose wife died. Milly, your companion for most of the game, is actually a clone of the original Milly, the original Karcy's wife. The original Raz Karcy wants clone Milly to love him, but she loves clone Raz.
  • Cute Machines: Pipo.
  • Dress-Coded for Your Convenience: The good guys wear vests that are too small for them. The evil guys don't.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: The first game took place entirely inside one.
  • The Faceless: The mysterious man who helps the heroes along and the scientists in the discovered video.
  • Genetic Memory: Milly remembers all of her original's memories because original-Raz wanted her to love him again.
  • Good Morning, Crono
  • Gosh Darn It to Heck: It feels like the script was deliberately kept rated G for whatever market appeal they were going for.
  • Guide Dang It: There is nothing that indicates what objects can be interacted with. Many items are not even visible in the game, you just have to interact with one of several identical environmental objects to find the item needed. Crouching and interacting with an object has a different effect than interacting with it standing up, to the point where while standing up you will get "There's nothing here", and while crouching, you will find a crucial item. Completion requires you either check every single thing, from desks to boxes to walls, twice, or you use a guide.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Dear Pipo.
  • Laser Blade: The laser knife.
  • Let's Play: The previously mentioned Gameinformer Super Replay of the entire game, found here.
  • Mad Scientist
  • Magic Antidote: Once the Viral Transformation mention below is in full effect, Milly takes Raz to get treated and completely reverses the virus. This essentially wastes the subplot, since there was a decent amount of build up, but is never mentioned again after that event.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Milly (the one who joins the party) was cloned to replace the original's death and be the wife to the husband, original Raz (the villain).
  • Robot Buddy: Pipo. We'll never forget you.
  • Say My Name: "Pipoooooooooo!" and later "Milllllllllly!".
  • Self-Destruct Mechanism
  • Super Soldier: This has been Lystra's original aim, creating clone soldiers who carry the ARNA virus that gives them higher sensory perception. This is why the zombies are very strong. Obviously, it backfires until the original Raz shows how to do it... and then you have to fight him.
  • Tap on the Head: Raz gets knocked out in a single punch from Original Raz compared to the other times he's been punched by zombies.
  • This Cannot Be!: Raz says this upon learning that he's a clone.
  • Time Limit Boss: The final boss must be beaten in five hundred seconds and still escape.
  • Unskippable Cutscene: Throughout. Particularly frustrating during the aforementioned Time Limit Boss.
  • Viral Transformation: Happens to the clone Raz. That is to say, the main character.
  • You All Look Familiar: The zombies all have the exact same model. More obvious than in other games because the only thing they wear is a solid-colored jumpsuit, normally blue but later Palette Swapped to green.

The sequel provides examples of:

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