2) Kuon (PS2)
I've been a survival horror fan since I first played a game in the genre and a rabid FROM fan ever since I played King's Field IV on the PS2. (What an incredible game! Please make another, in first person, alongside Soulesbornekiroring please!) So it was only natural that I'd be drawn to Kuon, FROM's frightful offering of that generation. I bought it years ago, and it sat sealed forever until the prices got so ridiculous that I couldn't justify opening it, and so I sold it for a ridiculous amount a while back. But I knew I would have to play this sooner or later, if only to satisfy my curiosity of the marriage of one of (if not the) my favorite developers with one of my favorite genres. And so in 2023, I sorted myself out and emulated it. (Yay PC! You can play literally *everything*.) And I must say it was virtually flawless in my experience on PCSX2.
The horror genre, when well crafted, and regardless of medium, has so much potential for emotional investment. As Lovecraft noted, ‘the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown’. It's very natural to become engrossed in fearful things due to the very nature of survival and and how those primal urges have rooted that awareness within us. We have had to be, as a consequence of this game of survival, ever-vigilant against threats both perceived and imagined, and when the right notes are struck within a creative format focusing on this essence, therein resides the potential to be utterly spellbound. And so, this genre is forever in my rotation of experiences within various formats, seeking that heightened sense of presence that comes in a particular flavor when in the face of danger - if only within the imagination, the ultimate domain of all experience.
One advantage Kuon immediately has over some examples of this genre is the fact that it is already rooted (for a non-native) in the unfamiliar - within Japanese history and culture. There's just an exotic mysticism to foreign horror, being so far removed from typical Western experience, and even more so when we delve into the ancient past. And the symbols and iconography add this subtle layer of horror and strangeness just by virtue of being different from Western themes. You're in a horror setting as well as in an unfamiliar environment, horrors aside, and that really serves to unsettle in a unique way as you not only come to grips with the obvious and universally understood terrors, but also attempt to integrate the culture-shock aspect of wide-ranging and fundamental differences from your own personal norms. (Part of what I really loved about Fatal Frame as well.) And Kuon uses this aspect to natural and powerful effect. Things take place in Fujiwara manor, a wealthy private estate that has become overrun with demons and various monstrosities. The plot is unraveled from the viewpoint of three separate protagonists that the player experiences as three distinct “phases” - the yin phase, the yang phase, and finally the “kuon” phase. Even so many years after release, I'm leery of divulging much of the narrative, a tale that I found engaging throughout. But in brief, Kuon is an interesting and chilling narrative of the search for power and immortality (nothing new under the sun), the dark side of familial relationships along with some corresponding dark arts and twisted mysticism centering on betrayal, death and resurrection, astrology, silkworms and the legendary and mysterious mulberry tree. There are bits of narrative shared throughout the three unique perspectives that gradually culminates in the revelation of the roots of the horrors, and they are sprinkled about at an effective pace, leaving the player ever more curious until the climax. At the risk of being slightly spoilery, I will say that I love the idea of intelligences that surpass our own understanding despite our general dismissal of their capabilities. If you enjoy existential horror that brings the loss of humanity to the fore, both physically and psychologically, you'll likely be pleased here. Shivers! Narrative aside, the mood was excellent. Think creepy chanting children (twins), spooky bells, moaning and the like. It's safe to say that if you're fond of the genre, the mood and tale are worth experiencing.
In terms of visuals, I found the artwork to be typical of FROM with evocative historical structures from the region and era, along with an attractive collection of natural-world assets. The characters were well-animated (and attired) both in and out of cut scenes. And the voice work offered the selection of either English (the default) or Japanese voice. I will say, that despite knowing better, I gave the English voice a chance (even knowing I would switch it) out of morbid curiosity. Knowing the history of voice work, both in the genre and the medium of video games in general, I was not disappointed. (it was very bad, lol.) But the Japanese voice work fared much better, if perhaps only because of my lack of familiarity with the language and all its subtleties and intonations. But I was beyond grateful that there was at least the option to play with setting-authentic voice.
In terms of practical interaction with Kuon, combat with enemies is handled via a combination of physical weapons - a variety for each character - and spell cards which serve as a type of magic in the game. These spell cards come in two varieties and in many forms. There are cards that fire projectiles or damage the demons in some other manor, as well as cards that summon “familiars” of various types that come to your aid to help fend off attacks on your behalf. The cards were interesting and the weapon combat functional, if a bit clunky - not atypical to the genre. Another interesting aspect is the fact that you can become more vulnerable as well as attracting more demons when your heart-rate gets too high from fright, injury or running. (I believe the game called this ‘Vertigo’.) While in this state, the screen becomes blurry and the use of cards is taken away, leaving you with only your weapon. This condition can be alleviated through the use of healing items, or if a safe space can be found, each character can meditate (with a button assigned to this activity) in order to restore equilibrium. I did like the fact that this aspect encouraged slower movement and a slow-burn type of tension which helped to root you and your avatar in a state of cautious fear in your ponderous and careful movements. Overall, however, the combat (on normal - ‘Insomnia’, I think) was very easy. I did die a few times, but it was only due to a stubborn refusal to use healing items even though I had plenty, lol. But I think it would have been more fun had I known how easy it would be and would have played on the hardest difficulty instead, in retrospect. There are also limited options to save a la the ink ribbons in Resident Evil. You can perform a cleansing ritual with a vessel at designated waterways. Granted, emulation can render that aspect moot, and you're provided more than enough vessels so that it shouldn't be an issue, but if you play it straight, it is possible to lose progress to an unforeseen death, making retreading your steps necessary.
In the way of negatives, there are a handful - mostly minor, but I always like to acknowledge ways in which games could have improved. One silly thing that is a problem in so many games, especially of the era, is artificial boundaries that make no sense. There were a few instances where movement was blocked in a direction by some simple scattered, moveable and low-laying debris / objects. I mean, the character could have *easily* stepped over the junk on the floor, but nope, too hard, lmao. Come on devs, at least make an attempt at believability. The camera angle could occasionally be problematic, as is usually the case with fixed-angles. There were a few moments where the perspective would change and rather than allowing the direction you *were* pushing to continue your movement in a forward facing manner relative to the character, it would instantly transition movement relative to the new perspective, flipping you back around the other way. That sort of thing is poor design and annoying. To be clear, it wasn't often, but there were some examples. Puzzles were also a bit hit and miss. One puzzle where you flipped tiles to arrange them in a manner where they were all highlighted seemed kind of complicated at first, and to be fair, you could easily paint yourself into a corner if you didn't recognize what it was doing. But once you realized the pattern, it was stupidly easy. Another of the puzzles in the beginning seemed impossible upon first encountering it (which it actually was at the time to be fair, lol), but after gaining access to more in-game hints/documents it wasn't nearly as inscrutable as it first seemed. In this puzzle, you had to move an arrow within a movable 3-ring board into the proper position and then, like a combination lock, rotate the other aspects until all things were properly aligned. The biggest problem was the use of Japanese characters, which are naturally more difficult to recognize and remember for those unfamiliar, but this was compounded by the lower resolution of the puzzle/console in general, making clear identification of the Japanese characters a bigger challenge than it would have otherwise been. To be fair, it was a fun puzzle that required the acquisition of a few documents and then implementing those hints to solve, but it could have been better with a higher fidelity presentation of the image containing the characters. And there were only a handful of real puzzles, which was a bit disappointing, and only the one that held some intrigue and a bit of resistance. To be clear, it's unlikely you'd need a guide for Kuon unless you just got really stuck on one of those two. I was never tempted to consult one, but I could see it being possible in a couple of instances, depending on your patience and observation. But just a little attention makes them really easy, in retrospect. There are a few other minor puzzles that hardly merit the term, and are really just busy work of collecting x and moving it to y - stuff like that. There were also a handful typos / translation errors that dulled a tiny bit of the shine on an otherwise very polished game. They weren't abundant, but stuff like that can and does diminish the sheen a bit. And typical of much of FROM's work, no attempt was made at lip-syncing or movement / motion capture. It honestly didn't bother me, and I'm used to it with FROM, but that's not to say it wouldn't have been nice to see for some added realism and immersion. Additionally, within two of the three phases, there is some significant repetition between characters. Despite simply covering much of the same ground, there are also some identical story beats and scenes. And though it makes sense narratively in retrospect, and while I appreciate the aspect of having essentially 3 campaigns to explore, it did make things feel just a bit punitive and bloated rather than expansive and varied, even if there ultimately was plenty of differing content when all was said and done. I think it could have been pared down just a bit to avoid some of the repetition. Finally, the most egregious annoyance was the fact that there were *way* too many loading transitions. There were numerous instances where you might load into a new area and depending upon your next move, might encounter yet another loading screen mere steps from your position. The graphics were good relative to the hardware, but this felt like poor optimization and design, and was certainly my biggest complaint, even if it didn't mute the overall enjoyment too much.
But even with those gripes, most of them being pretty minor, I absolutely loved Kuon. Not only was it an excellent horror game, it was an excellent horror experience regardless of format. I wouldn't put it alongside Silent Hill - my personal favorite series in the genre, but make no mistake, it's outstanding in its own right and deserves to be played by anyone interested in survival horror. And it certainly deserves a larger audience than it ever received upon release. It's just a damn good game and fairly lengthy for the genre. In my natural tendency to play things slowly, I clocked in at a little over 14 hours, and I'm grateful to have finally played it so many years after the fact. 5/5