From Software clearly drew inspiration from Silent Hill and Resident Evil when creating Kuon. It is a survival horror game that may be played in any order and is narrated from the perspectives of two characters. Sakuya and Utsuki are members of a cult that looks after two mysterious mulberry trees in their little village. The most powerful magical beings are sent to investigate when demons attack the Lord’s Manor.
Early on in the game, the plot is a complete mystery, but as you move forward, you learn more about this fascinating microculture and how things ended up going catastrophically wrong through a variety of scrolls and writings. A wonderful fit for a horror game, Kuon is a horror game set in the Heian period of Japan.
It is brilliantly recreated with clothing, architecture, and a focus on Japanese folklore, which is neglected in video games. Gamers and collectors are both familiar with this game. As one of the most valuable and scarce titles for the PS2, it can be difficult to locate a copy of the game for a fair price.
While we were fortunate enough to review, most individuals would have to shell out a sizable chunk of money to obtain a copy of this elusive item. Kuon is no exception to the rule that a game’s value on the secondary market does not necessarily reflect how great it is.
In fact, before we even started the game, we had heard from a few sources that Kuon was a poor game with mixed to horrible reviews. We made the decision to give the game a try after reading so many negative reviews, and we were pleasantly pleased by how much we enjoyed it.
When you first join Kuon, you’re put right into the middle of things. Bodies are everywhere, and demons have already taken over the mansion, which acts as the game’s first big location; it’s as gloomy as hell, and it’s terrifying. Quick tutorials explain the basics as you become used to the controls, and an intuitive cutscene demonstrates how the game’s adversaries (gakis) respond to sound.
While avoiding opponents is an option, you will frequently find yourself trapped in small hallways throughout the game. Fortunately, our heroines can defend themselves with modest melee weapons and spells conjured up using throwaway magical cards hidden throughout the area. However, these abilities may only be utilized beyond a specific health threshold, and sprinting through one of the many “Tempest” areas in the game, which flash up and warp the screen, might cause you to become disoriented and helpless.
The game has three different scenarios. The scenarios of Utsuki and Sakuya are played separately yet concurrently, and the two characters cross paths multiple times. The third scenario, which takes place after the incidents of the first two, revolves around Abe no Seimei, a master exorcist. In many games, completing one character’s tale and declaring the game complete seems satisfying, but Kuon makes it feel as if you need to complete all three situations in order to properly complete the game, and it is definitely essential to experience the full story.
From an above third-person static perspective, the characters are made visible. During gameplay, the characters wander the estate; the default pace is a slow walk, with the ability to run, but this increases the risk of drawing adversaries. The protagonists must explore the estate to solve riddles and locate important artifacts in order to advance in the game. Flashing spots of light are used to display items in surroundings. Certain doors within the estate grounds are shut from the start of the game and need a specific item to open.
Characters can be banned from using these goods. In fact, the game won’t even show you the credits unless you’ve finished all three situations, rather inviting you to begin the next one after the previous one is ended. The horror components itself are excellent, with a good mix of gore and supernatural themes such as ghosts and demons rooted in traditional Japanese folk stories.
Some of these elements are directly copied, such as the Silent Hill trope of caging you in a room as it becomes progressively warped and contorted with gore, but From Software also delivers generous helpings of what it’s become known for, such as uniquely designed bosses and adversaries that tie in with some sort of profound lore.
Though the game is gloomy and foggy, the character models and scenery are beautifully produced for the PS2, though not nearly up to the standards of Silent Hill 2, which was released three years previously and is still stunningly beautiful to this day.
On overall, the game looks decent, with faithful re-creations of period garb for the actors and some well-detailed indoor sections in the mansion and neighboring shrine, with all of this mostly cloaked in darkness that your lantern barely penetrates. Blood is one of the main graphical effects, as it’s splattered on the walls, spread on the ground, and tracked across numerous areas.
In fact, if you ever get stuck, checking for new blood tracks that reveal a corpse has recently been pulled, bleeding, across the ground is an excellent method to activate a new chapter of the plot. If you stick to the trail, you’ll have a good time.The vivid hue, as well as the unhealthy stench surrounding some of your enemies, beautifully offsets the typical darkness of the locations.
Kuon’s presentation, including the UI menus and the uncanny usage of traditional Japanese instrumentation for music and sound effects, is just fantastic! Bloody footprints left after walking over blood pools, as well as more subtle aesthetic effects. Kuon’s cutscenes are also a highlight; despite being brief, you rarely know what to expect when interacting with some of the game’s more intense characters in the rare quasi-friendly meetings. It was a relief to discover that conversation can be heard in either English or Japanese, with the latter being the natural choice…after all, this isn’t a comic game.
Though you can play either of Kuon’s main chapters first, and the two stories seem to run concurrently, it makes more sense to start with Utsuki. Sakuya’s fan weapon has a weird animation on its second swing that moves her back ever so slightly, and she is likely the weaker of the two, holding a little knife and basic magic. This frequently puts you out of range of adversaries and leaves you vulnerable to assault; it’s inconvenient, but Sakuya has far more potent spells.
It’s a little frustrating to learn that some of the identical scares and puzzle pieces are employed at the start of the second chapter, regardless of which sequence they’re played in. Kuon’s puzzles are relatively conventional survival horror fare, consisting of locating items that open doors or lead to new locations. You’re basically playing the same house beginning area, but in a new order.
However, the paths soon diverge, with different foes and bosses. The exploring elements function as expected. You must scour the surroundings for various keys and other artifacts that will be utilized to open doors and provide other methods of advancement. The game’s puzzles are entertaining but not extremely difficult to solve, and some can even be solved through trial and error.
The majority of the time, journal entries will reveal hints or solutions as to where crucial things may be found and where they should be used, as well as puzzle answers. These clues will often be underlined in bright yellow lettering in the journal entries to make things even easy for the gamer. While some users have expressed a desire for the puzzle solutions to be a little more difficult to decipher, it is commendable that they are not unduly convoluted or obscure to the point of necessitating a tutorial.
Kuon’s audio quality is fairly satisfactory at best. Musical compositions are usually only utilized to accompany boss fights, hence the music is very sparse. The music has a decidedly traditional Japanese flavor to it, and while it isn’t horrible, it isn’t particularly memorable. The lack of music, on the other hand, definitely works in the game’s favor, as exploring the frightening environments in silence is sometimes more unsettling than even a suitably ominous soundtrack. The game’s voice acting is also mediocre. It isn’t the best or worst thing we’ve ever heard, but it does the job.
Your character’s stress has a role in this as well. Negative energies are concentrated in some regions, and when your delicate psychic mediums come into contact with one of these unseen areas (called tempests), they’ll usually see a vision and panic out. When you’re running, the effect is even more pronounced, and it can cause you to lose stamina. Your gamepad will quiver with a pulse at best, and your character will have to recoup some health at worst.
Fortunately, you can meditate at the push of a button while standing in one area, which helps to both calm your character and recover your health. Similar effects can occur in combat if you take too many hits; the screen will blur and you will lose the ability to play cards.
Fortunately, you’ll come across a lot of healing items throughout the game that will swiftly cure the terrible status, or you may simply meditate once the battle is over. To counteract any monotony, From Software paid significant attention to the details in the way backtracking works. Walking back through an area and noticing very minute changes in the surroundings, from as small as a fallen piece of furniture to grisly blood trails, is spine-chilling and leaves the player with a feeling of unease.
A huge surprise awaits those who complete both chapters to their thrilling conclusion, elevating the plot structure of the game above simply borrowing from Resident Evil, and with the entire experience taken into account, Kuon is cemented as an amazingly smart survival horror that received far less focus than it deserved. It has a few drawbacks, such as attacks missing their mark a little too often and the game’s repetitive starting part, but they aren’t enough to detract from the player’s immersion in one of the best horror adventures on the PS2.