From Software is the kind of company
that doesn't necessarily have a style, but rather, a wide range of
styles. One minute, they can make an RPG; the next, they can make a
mecha game; and later on, they'll even make card games with swords.
This is From Software after a horror game binge - Kuon, a game that
has a great atmosphere but some serious flaws. You could probably use
that as an accurate descriptor for a lot of survival horror games,
but Kuon is a rather interesting case. That's mainly because it goes
way overboard with what survival horror games fuck up, almost to the
point of parody, and it shows people everything wrong with those
games and then some. This is especially disheartening to somebody who
lives in the PAL region – we just came from Resident Evil 4 about a
year prior to this game's release, and where Resident Evil 4 has some
semblance of horror, Kuon twists it and kills your entire family with
it.
Kuon takes place in Japan during the
Heian period (794-1185), which could be a rather interesting feature
as not a whole lot of the games, if any, took place here. It was a
rather important time for Japanese culture, especially since the
first ever novel was written during this period. So what do they do
with this? Well, initially like Resident Evil 2, it starts with you
playing as one character and then playing as another, with their
campaigns taking place at the same time as the other's. In this case,
you play as Utsuki, who is looking for her father, the elder priest
Doman. He was investigating a manor full of demons and... never came
back, meaning that Utsuki and her older sister, Kureha, have to find
him. The other character you play as is Sakuya, a disciple of Doman.
Her job is to cleanse the manor of all the demons. Throughout both
campaigns, you'll learn more about the demons and why they are in
this manor, and in traditional survival horror fashion, it's
convoluted. The fear of not knowing is ever so present as even though
you'll learn more about your surroundings, it never sits quite right,
meaning that you're learning about concepts and not entire story
threads. While that's typically a bad thing, it works in a horror
setting because the feat of not knowing is the greatest of all. Just
when you think you're done, BAM, there's a third campaign that'll tie
most of it together in a way that has everything making sense. Sadly,
if we're being technical about it all, it's a decidedly average
story. It relies on being disturbing as not much else is really all
that interesting. The characters and the writing didn't do much
outside of existing for the sake of an increasingly disturbing and
convoluted story. Really. I just stayed for how much more disturbing
it can get and I know you will too.
I hope you like tank controls, because
Kuon uses them. I also hope you like pre-rendered camera angles,
because Kuon loves to use them. I really hope you like the
combination of tank controls and pre-rendered camera angles... that
way, you might actually enjoy yourself. Now, you can also run, but it
isn't advised... like, at all. Your light source won't show shit,
bumping into objects (which is fairly easy given that we're using
tank controls) may cause a ghost to appear, and if you bump into a
Tempest, you'll get fucked up as your health will drain during those
moments. Oh, and running will eventually land you into a state of
vertigo, which will make you move like shit. So yeah, get used to
doing a lot of walking, because that's all you can do without risking
being on the receiving end of an anal raping, prison style.
Typically, survival horror games
present you with a level that needs to be explored, and a bunch of
keys that need to be found. Kuon does this and it's probably the most
competent thing it does. Doesn't mean it's good because watching shit
petrify sounds more enthralling than this, plus there's the whole “no
running in the halls” thing going on, but at least the design of
the mansion itself works. There's still the matter of finding sets of
items in order to open up doors and solve puzzles, though these
kimonos seem to have bottomless pockets as you can carry shitloads of
items with you. Navigating is straightforward enough, at least. That
much, I can positively say about it.
Kuon suffers from the same thing a lot
of games of its ilk do - clunky combat. Both of our girls have access
to a two-hit combo attack with their knives or fans, but it feels
like they attack a tad too slowly and their second attack tends to
miss. That, and combat really boils down to "I hit you, you hit
me and the winner goes on their merry way". There isn't a whole
lot to it that's engaging or exciting... or even scary, unless demons
jumping up to dry hump your face is your idea of scary. You'll also
have access to spell cards that you'll find throughout the game.
These range from fire and ice attacks to summoning creatures to do
your bidding, and although they're a bit slower to fire off, they're
a lot more powerful than your knife attacks. The idea is that certain
spells work best on certain demons, but experimentation isn't
actively encouraged. The cards aren't infinite, and there aren't a
lot to be found, so like any survival horror game, conservation is
the name of the game. Save the big stuff for more urgent moments,
like bosses or stronger demons. It doesn't save the combat from being
clunky though. Ooh, and before I forget... you can't avoid combat. No
fancy maneuvers around the enemies are available – they block your
way and you have to fight them. Yeah, wasn't survival horror about
surviving, not just fighting? Guess not!
It's a total shame, because Kuon has
some spectacular graphics and excellent sound design. It certainly
shows that it takes place in the Heian period as the manor and the
clothes worn by our human characters certainly look like they're from
that era. Not only that, but the demons look either somewhat
derranged or pretty damn crazy. They're the kind of thing you'd want
to fight in a survival horror game, especially nowadays in a market
full of zombies. The atmosphere is not only authentic, but also
intense. There are some dull grays and browns... on top of vibrant
shades of blood red. It's like “damn, this manor got trashed
something fierce”, and all it does is entice you into exploring
more of it, which is exactly what a good survival horror game does.
For an added bonus, the cutscenes look great. The animations are
fluid and the amount of detail put into everything is damn fine by
PS2 standards. An interesting detail is that there aren't many facial
animations, which looks baffling until you start thinking “at
least it doesn't look like some Jet Li shitfest when I switch to the
English soundtrack”.
Speaking of which, the sound design is
just as sweet. There isn't much music, but what little there is, is
actually enough to give you the chills. That, or get you pumped up
for a shitty boss fight, it just depends on what you're doing. Other
than that, you'll be hearing footsteps and sudden loud noises,
resulting in the calm before jump scares. But then there are some
ominous noises in the distance, and it becomes a matter of whether
something jumps out a little while later... or a lot later. It's not
the best in the world, but it's the perfect shiner for Akira
Yamaoka's soundboard. The voice acting, regardless of language, is
pretty good, though the Japanese voice acting is superior. I don't
know, it just sounds much more authentic, given the period and
whatnot. The English voice acting is just if you don't want to read
subtitles, and all you're missing is the authenticity... which is
actually this game's second biggest strength... wow...
Really, my problem with Kuon is its
interpration of survival. In Resident Evil, for instance, you're
surviving against the odds. You have one bullet left, no herbs or
first aid sprays and a bunch of zombies to take down. Do you use your
pitiful knife to slowly take them down or try to outmaneuver them?
That's the kind of situation any good survival horror game puts you
in. Kuon, on the other hand, takes that situation and covers the
floor with glass while you're tied to a device that's ready to rip
out your spine at any moment. That's not survival horror; it's more
like “fuck you and then some”. The big middle finger to survival
horror. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to play a game that
doesn't make me feel like the controller is covered with acid and
spikes with the TV blaring out subliminal messages telling me to
convert the heathens.
3/10 (Bad)
No comments:
Post a Comment