White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

For the 2015 game and remake game, see White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (2015 video game).
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Developer(s) Sonnori
Publisher(s) Wizard Soft(KOR)
4AM Entertainment(UK)[1]
Director(s) Lee Eun-Seok
Producer(s) Seo Gwan-hi
Writer(s) Lee Jeong-seol
Composer(s) Hwang Byung-ki
Engine Wangreal Engine
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
  • KOR: September 5, 2001-09-5
  • UK: February 13, 2004-02-13 (Cancelled)
Genre(s) First Person
Survival horror
Adventure
Multiplayer
Mode(s) Single player

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School known as (Hangul: 화이트데이: 학교라는 이름의 미궁 ; RR: hwaiteudei: hakgyoraneun ireumui migung) in Korea, is a survival-horror game developed and published by Korean game development studio, Sonnori in 2001. The game was remade in 2015 by ROI Games, directed and produced by the former CEO of Sonnori; Lee Won Sool.

Plot

Yeondu High School's construction led to the unbalanced feng shui around the area. It is said that the area used to be a perfect natural landscape before it was built. During the Korean War, the school was a Korean hospital. Many visitors and builders died during the construction of the building that had awakened the power (Qi) of the imbalance of feng shui and the ghosts from the hospital's past, so a geomancer was brought in to construct 5 amulets representing the 5 elements (Wu Xing). He then equally spread them around the school to balance feng shui and resist the spirits, preventing them from interfering with the living. However, it also locked in all spirits inside the school, preventing them from going to the afterlife. This was kept a secret from that day onwards. One spirit, the "Master of the Labyrinth" could not stand being unable to escape the Schools hold and sought a way to escape it, eventually using the body of Na-yeong in 1997, threatening that she could never leave her.

One day, in 1998, a lab fire broke out in the Home Economics room, resulting in the death of Seong-ah. Seong-ah was a very close friend of Na-yeong (So-yeong's older sister) and died because of her asthma. This upset Na-yeong and she started resisting the master of the labyrinth. Seong-ah became trapped in the School because of the amulets power and could not pass on.

The music teacher, Ji-won, had discovered the school's past and began to study it and deeply believed that he could resurrect the dead using the power of feng shui in the area. One day, Seong-ah's mother Eun-mi visited and asked for the resurrection of her daughter with Ji-won deciding to help her out so he can prove that his theory was right. To revive the dead, three people were needed:

  1. A person who calls the dead (Seong-ah's mother, Choi Eun-mi)
  2. A person who can break the seals using the amulets (one who sees ghosts - the music teacher, Ji-won)
  3. A sacrifice (Na-yeong).

They successfully called Na-yeong to the school at night, but somehow, the ritual went wrong because of the master of the labyrinth interfering and stopping Na-yeong being sacrificed. The seals also had to be broken one by one, with some seals having to remain unbroken while the land regains its strength, otherwise, the spirits will go to the afterlife if all of them are broken. Seong-ah was only partially revived, with her Qi being input wrong and the master taking advantage of this to gain an empty body/vessel to possess. Her mother went crazy (as was warned could happen when you try to revive the dead) and the music teacher, stricken with grief, killed himself. Shortly after, Na-yeong tried to resist the master of the labyrinths possession and in return was forced to hang herself. The master moved onto the now partially revived Seong-ah and possessed her for the next three years as an empty vessel, posing as a normal student. The possession is explained in one of the notes in the game.

...After more days of research, I theorized about this. I found a possible way to resurrect people from the dead. Let me explain, if you were to find a source of Qi (energy) somewhere in the school coming from the afterlife, and that Qi belonged to the person you're trying to resurrect, if you were to reverse the Qi emanated from the cycle of the dead persons life, you could effectively put the Qi from the afterlife back into its dead body. I desperately wanted to further investigate this, but I had to acknowledge the risks. What if the wrong source of Qi from the afterlife were to go into the wrong dead body? If that were to happen, then the dead body would become possessed. And what if a source of Qi from the afterlife was so strong, it could do this on its own? This school has more threats than I thought. Some sort of resurrection ritual would be incredibly dangerous, I do not want to risk it.

Gameplay

White Day is a first person survival horror with numerous adventure game elements and a plot background based on the ancient Chinese religious studies of Taosim (mainly Wu Xing, Feng Shui and Qi). The game has multiple difficulty modes that you can choose from, with hard and real difficulties only unlock later.

The game has a unique terrifying atmosphere.

The game has its own Heads Up Display There is a heartbeat icon showing the health condition, a compass which you acquire early in the game and a square showing the current equipped item. There are no weapons in White Day, you assume the role of Lee Hui-min, a typical high school boy student cooperating with Han So-yeong, Seol Ji-hyeon and Kim Seong-ah; who are also trapped in the school with you, you have to go through the school and ultimately escape unharmed by the numerous threats that want you dead.

Diolog Tree: Conversation Choices. Seong-ah talking to Hui-min.

The game uses a multiple choice based conversational system, which is rather known as Conversation Tree or Dialog tree, a common feature in adventure games. The dialog choices you make when interacting with the NPCs affect the story progression and the ending you get. There are 8 different endings you can get, each determining which girl you end up escaping with (or dying with, depending on the girl). When a Janitor finds you, he will blow his whistle and proceed to chase you wherever you go until you outrun him or lose him by hiding. If he catches up to you, he will repeatedly hit you with his bat until you are dead. The Janitor finds you much easier if you make loud noises (running, opening doors etc..) and whether you are hiding in the dark or light won't affect how easily you can be discovered as he wields a flashlight in his left hand at all times.

Falling from a height, walking into ghosts or taking damage from other hazards will cause the screen to flash red and increase the rate of your heartbeat, which is heard in-game. Running for too long will make you tired and also increase the rate of your heartbeat.

A Lunch Box

Health items such as Soyabean Milk,Lunch Boxes and Coffee Cans can recover your stamina and health and can be obtained by inserting 500 won Coins in Vending Machines placed in hallways and rooms around the school. The game also has several equipable items that assist you through your journey such as the Matches, the Lighter or the Flashlight. Through exploring the school the player will find many documents, some relating to the school, the people in it, the construction of it and backstories to the ghosts you encounter.

Features

References

  1. ↑ Justin Calvert (2003 nyeon 11 wol 17 il). "WhiteDay confirmed for UK". Game Spot. Also confirmed on October 2, 2007.
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