WARNING: Given that this game is based off a famous horror writer's works, this preview will have some disturbing imagery and a good amount of blood. Reader discretion is advised.
Good news, everyone! I'm back in action! The floorwork is done, we've moved back in, and we'll be getting everything organized over the next few days. But I also have a different kind of good news. That demo I mentioned a couple articles ago finally released! As a result, I can show you the world. The World of Horror! (Or the Kyofu no Sekai, either one.)
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| (You'll really need to click the pictures to see the finer text in these ones. Sorry about that.) |
Some of you out there might have heard about a Japanese author by the name of Junji Ito. He's a writer of horror manga that taught us such important lessons as "I second They Might Be Giants when they say the spiraling shape will drive you insane," "That apologetic guy is a Satanist and trying to melt your brain. Kill him," (Warning: Gory) and "My fiancee has two cats. No really, that's it." We here in the West have names such as H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, both authors whose works have inspired countless works across multiple media platforms, but we haven't got many inspired by Eastern horror masters. This game seeks to change that, combining the Eastern-style horrors of Junji Ito and the visual aesthetic of an old computer.
The overall story is that of many cosmic horror stories. It's 198X, the Old Ones are awakening, and it's up to you (and any victims allies you find along the way) to stop them. The intro cinematic pulls no punches by informing you that humanity stands no chance against the horrors, but it also tells you that you just might be able to delay the inevitable. This demo has three demo missions that throw you into the middle of the action and have you explore a different story/case. The overarching goal is to complete the story/case given and obtain either of the two endings before dying, dooming the world through taking too long, or winding up in a padded cell shrieking about the demons in your inner ear canal. I'll go through each one in brief and cover the game mechanics a bit in each one.
Spine-Chilling Story of School Scissors
Starring: Kouji Tagawa, Class Photographer
Before I start, I should mention that each demo story has you picking which Old One will be influencing the game. The current main choices are Ath-Yolazsth, The Towering Eye (spells that cost Reason raise Doom instead) and Gozoo, The Thing Forsaken by God (resting increases Doom penealty.) If you're not playing the first hotfix onward, a glitch will result in you getting stuck (ha ha) with the Spider God, who prevents running from battles, no matter what you choose. You can also choose to mix and match a pentagram style, candles, and ritual object to summon from a list of dormant gods who each have an unknown effect (assuming they have effects in this early demo build.) As a fun fact, Uzumaki itself was a possible choice in earlier builds (it's effect was to take away 1 Reason when you acquire a trinket,) but was removed along with other more overt Junji Ito references to avoid copyright problems.
Anyway, this case is a pretty linear ones as far as the demo goes. The story involves students from Kouji's school disappearing, all rumored to have been killed by a woman wielding a pair of scissors ( it's not Clock Tower 3, if you were worried about that.) Naturally, a friend of Kouji has been doing most of the work in trying to stop this via a ritual instead of calling the police, a more rational, yet utterly futile course of action in these types of stories. Of course, he also happens to disappear, Kouji is left with the notebook, and he decides to finish what his friend started. "What's the worst thing that could happen?" the game asks. My first guess would be "death," but knowing these types of stories, I'm probably being too lenient on what could actually happen.
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| Time to explore...and hopefully not die, go insane, or worse. |
The gameplay itself involves exploring various locations, hoping to find clues to solve the eldritch going-ons in the case. In this case, we can only explore the school, but it's also possible to check your storage, which contains the Friend's Diary, try to perform the ritual (a horrible idea without any of the required materials, but that should be no surprise,) and check some lockers to get a baseball bat for some offensive assistance. On the right side of the screen, you can see Kouji's stats (Strength, Dexterity, Perception, Knowledge, Charisma, and Funds,) which are mostly used for checks in non-combat situations. You also have Stamina to the left of Kouji and Reason to the right, which both act as health bars and sometimes magic bars (moreso for Reason; casting spells requires alien thought, which never ends well for us humans.) If either hits 0, humanity is doomed. The buttons below Kouji, from left to right, let you see your items (currently active in the above screenshot,) view your spells, check your status (allies and injuries/curses,) check the full message log or level up, examine the Old One's effect and check the Doom counter (100% is game over, but that's ludicrously unlikely in this scenario, and configure the options (language, resolution, and color.) While talking about the buttons, I should also mention that the game sometimes fills that empty spot in the middle with a black button that heals 1 Reason if you click it. It's probably the nicest of the jumpscares or imagery that pops up sometimes.
Exploring the school doesn't seem to show much at first. Just a jumpscare, an ominous open bathroom stall (inhabited by a ghost,) and...
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| Interesting Fact: A class photographer + an unknown sea creature's formaldehyde fetus + someone watching a movie with Minions (and unironically enjoying it, the maniac) = voluntary manslaughter. |
A black screen with ominous music and a description of looming horror...
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| A single bottle of horror on the desk, a single bottle of horror... |
...and we're thrust into the heart of war! With...this thing.
Combat in this game functions basically like an RPG. Not counting using allies or spells by going into the bottom-right buttons, you can examine the enemy, use a unique ability, run away, or try to fight it. Mousing over the eye button gives some flavor text and tells you what special abilities they have (this freaky jar monster has none.) The unique ability is always the same for every character in the demo: take two free hits, but reduce the foe's power by one. I'm not 100% sure about the mechanics, but attacking has you roll a die, add up some bonuses if you have them, and hope you roll higher than your opponent's power. Success means the enemy loses health, while failure means you suffer the effect of their attack (in this case, each attack deals -2 Reason, even though it's apparent it attacks by making you hit yourself.) Killing it gets some experience (although leveling up, like losing from too much Doom, is very difficult to do in the demo) and sometimes an item. In this case, it drops a lump of flesh, which can heal some Stamina if you don't mind some adverse side effects from grafting an eldritch horror's skin onto you, you crazy fool!
After finding the blessed chalk, the main reason the school budget is so tight, Kouji draws the eldritch sigil on the chalkboard. You can (and should) redraw parts of it since Kouji just draws it blindly, ignoring the example given in the diary (assuming you have it.) A bit more exploring reveals the holy candles (seriously, all this blessed stuff has to be a big drain on the school's budget,) everything is set up, and-
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| *BANG BANG BANG* *BANG BANG BANG* |
and we're once again thrust into combat! It's at this point that I should mention how I really like how the art style comes out. It brings out the unnerving nature of the people who've embraced the madness, and the monsters look greatly grotesque...
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| ...especially when they've taken some damage, like Scissor Woman here. She is definitely NOT beautiful, to answer her pre-battle question. At least not anymore. |
Defeating her triggers the ending, and caps off this linear slice of the demo.
Featuring: Kirie Saito, Transfer Student
The second case seems to resemble the older demos in how the game progresses, and is probably one of the most open-ended of the three cases. It's also one of the only ones in this demo based off of a real-life urban legend! It starts out with Kirie at home and letting you mess around with a few options before moving on to your next case by selecting it from a corkboard of papers linked to one paper. I assume this will be part of the overarcing gameplay in the full version.
The actual case involves a new dare that involves waiting in a unused bathroom's stall to meet a spirit known as Aka Manto. If you know how the tale goes, it should come to no surprise that someone dies from it. The school's director bans the dare, but the students want to do it more, because as Tide Pods show, telling someone "You'll ****ing DIE!" is sometimes not enough to dissuade them from doing something incredibly stupid.
In this case, before you go exploring, you're given a decision based on how far into the case you're in. Both of your possible choices has possible consequences, but you only see how it went after you've explored in the location that moves the story along. Speaking of locations, there are four locations this time (school, downtown, the hospital, and home.) As well as being places to explore for random encounters (except for home,) each location also offers some services that can be used for a price. You can relax at home to heal Stamina and Reason but raise Doom, you can go to the hospital and pay Funds to heal Injuries, you can go to school to recruit and chat with classmates (which is required for the best ending) at the cost of Doom, check the school library to learn spells at the cost of Reason, or you can go Downtown, raise Doom a bit, and do some shopping at Shiba Mart! How did it get its name you ask?
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| Sadly, you can't spend Funds to restore Reason by cuddling the good dog. Also, the shop music has barking noises at the end. An oasis of cuteness and pure good in this horrifying tale. |
In the end, you enter the stall, meet Aka Manto, and fight him. The ending here depends on if you knew and made the right choice when he asks you his question (Although the right answer is supposed to be silence. Saying anything other than "red" or "blue" gets you dragged to Hell, and "yellow" gets you a non-lethal swirlie. See, kids who ignored my content warning? THAT is why you flush after going to the bathroom. So Aka Manto's swirlies don't become extremely disgusting)
Far-Out Fable of A Fear Festival
Lead Role: Mizuki Hamasaki, Aspiring Teen Idol
The last case is pretty similar to the first one in being somewhat linear, but it has a bit more exploration to it than the first one. In this one Mizuki's aunt brings her and her friends to a secluded village for a festival they hold every 27 years. While it does seem weird, the festival is every 27 years, not some big and round number like 100, so it's probably fine. Surprise, it turns out that there's something odd about the place, and you have to find out what's going on before something terrible happens. Y'know, like using you as a live sacrifice for some eldritch horror. No pressure.
This case is also pretty linear, but since it takes place in a big area, we get a nice bird's eye view of the place, and you choose locations based on how far the story has progressed over your several days there. It's also got a bit of the Crimson Cape mechanics in there, where you can choose to enjoy the festival to do some side activities, such as shopping. But how do you improve on a shop where the clerk is a friendly Shiba Inu?
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| Dress them up in festival clothing, of course! Such a festive doggo! |
Since this one is a bit of a mix between the first two cases, there's not much new to say. Although I also have to give props for an enemy that nicely shows off how enemies in the game show the damage they take. The Aspiring Model is a lady who is trying way too hard to get good looks. At first she looks normal if you ignore the knife she's brandishing at you, but successfully hit her once and...
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| BWAAGH! Sorry about your face, [female celebrity you hate the most]! |
The current demo for Kyofu no Sekai really seems to be shaping up to be a neat indie horror game. The graphics really capture that Junji Ito feel and the mechanics seem to be shaping up into something interesting. The only question I had was to how the overarching gameplay will go. Having three different ways to explore the world in three separate cases made it a bit difficult to get an idea as to how things will go down. The game doesn't have an official release date yet, but I'll be sure to note it in the future when I find out.
IMPORTANT SECRET: You can boop the shopkeeper's nose, and they enjoy it very much!
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