Game publisher Fakku is dipping into the epitome of cult gaming, announcing that as part of acquiring the publishing rights Japanese PC game developer FairyTale’s catalogue, they will be releasing the cult horror adventure title Dead of the Brain to Steam. Originally released on NEC’s PC-98 computer, the game will launch on October 30. And even before that, players will get a taste of the game via the Steam Next Fest demo, releasing on October 19.
Dead of the Brain was originally released in March 1992, and was eventually ported to the PC-Engine (though both titles stayed in Japan). The game was the first horror title for FairyTale, which up until that point had been doing adult-oriented titles.
Conceived as a tribute to American splatter films of the 1980s, the game’s story borrows from Re-Animator, amongst others. The player takes on the role of Cole, whose friend Doctor Cooger has created a serum to bring people back from the dead. As you might expect, Cole soon finds himself in the midst of a zombie outbreak.
The game is your typical point-and-click adventure title, where you’ll have to use commands like Look, Use, and Get to explore the game’s environments, search for key information, and progress the story. Dead of the Brain is noteworthy for its gory sequences, as well as the equivalent of today’s quick time events. During these QTEs, players must quickly react by clicking in specific areas in order to avoid the deaths of certain characters (or yourself).
For this re-release, in addition to the fully translated text, the game’s pixel art has been “faithfully” upscaled, and the game itself includes optional quality-of-life improvements such as hover hints and hit boxes.