Heian Japan was a time of mysticism and magic. During this period, Utsuki and her sister Kureha leave the relative safety of their Kyoto shrine to search for their father, an Onmyoji (exorcist) summoned to a local manor under the auspice of a noble who believes his home to be cursed. Turns out it's more infested with zombies and creepy children than it is simply cursed. Very quickly Utsuki's sister falls under the spell of two wicked twins who sing a harpy's song. So, Utsuki must now solemnly wander around the blood-soaked halls and gardens of this rich facade searching for her father, sister, and truth. This is just one of three major components to Kuon. From the beginning, the game also allows players to take control of Sakuya, a protege of Doman the Onmyoji. Only after Sakuya and Utsuki's quests are complete can we then experience the story as seen by Doman himself. That's three ways to play, for the mathematically challenge. Today we'll focus on Utsuki, even though all three quests offer similar gameplay experiences.
Aiding the frail Utsuki in her journey is magic. She may not be the most agile heroine around (even a few carefully placed sticks can bar her path and things like bushels of grass are impassable obstructions), but she can summon a mean wolf if need be. Just a few hours into the game and we've already been able to call forth vicious spiders, a big white wolf, and a few flaming arrows. We've thus far only been able to use these magical weapons to overcome a couple of different enemies. Some are skulking Golem-like creatures with ill-tempers and shrill voices. They take a few hits and can be finished off by plunging a dagger into their chests once they succumb to cumulative knife and fire arrow wounds. The other enemies appear to be wraiths of some kind, and aren't particularly fond of the old fire arrows.
Combat involves assigning a weapon or magical spell (be it a summons or ballistic attack) to either the triangle or square button. Melee attacks are straightforward, non-combination based maneuvers. Projectile attacks are just what they sound like. Finally, summoning a creature doesn't take any direct player involvement, which is to say the little spiders and big wolves act on their own.
Given that we've played for a moderate amount of time and have only thus far encountered a couple of enemies and a few spells, it's pretty clear that Kuon isn't all about action. Rather, the game focuses on traditionally spooky survival horror exploration, the mandatory fetch quest, and the eventual placement of wooden discs into the obligatory wooden disc carrying statue that opens a big locked door.
Utsuki's first leg of her journey involves perilously wandering about a nearly pitch black garden environment. Her small lantern that simulates the level of illumination found on your average fat firefly is especially handy, for without it, we'd just be stumbling around in the dark. Still, she must very slowly and very cautiously explore the environment in atypical Resident Evil fashion -- careful never to overlook the occasional item or difficult to spot side path. While it's not possible to fall to certain death or run headlong into a spinning blade, the game's environments are riddled with enemies better avoided than confronted, and plumes of negative energy that disorient Utsuki.
This is the main twist of Kuon. Like Eternal Darkness, a certain level of fright will incapacitate the protagonist, alter perception, and even lead to death. Regaining one's bearing is simple enough, however, as Utsuki can stand still and meditate until the screen stops being all wonky.
After wandering through the garden, we came upon the manner itself, which, like all good haunted places, comes equipped with an abundance of locked doors, blocked paths, and stuck corpses. A few characters can be encountered along the way, but this early into the title it's hard to decipher their relevance, so we must be content with fearfully milling about, finding items for later use, and chopping down zombies.
It's the locales and character models that will do it for most gamers. Like Silent Hill, Kuon features a perpetually creepy atmosphere that hints death could loom around any bend. Since the camera angles are all preset and pan and tilt to track the player throughout the adventure, there's a real sense of being out of control -- helpless. Given that Utsuki isn't the champion fighter some of our heroes from other survival horror games were, the darkness, creepy singing children, preset camera angles, and marked loneliness should all come together to deliver an experience that's horrifyingly satisfying come this October.
If Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, and Eternal Darkness are games of your fancy, you'll definitely want to look out for Kuon. We've assembled some new screenshots and movies in our media page below, but if you'd like all of the latest updates to be emailed to you as they happen, please add the game to your watched list.
