Developer/Publisher: From Software
Platforms: PS2

From Software developed Kuon with clear influences from both Silent Hill & Resident Evil. It's a survival horror game told from two characters’ perspectives which can be played through in either order. Sakuya & Utsuki are part of a small village community & a cult which watch over two mulberry trees with mysterious powers. When demons invade the Lord’s Manor, those most magically gifted are tasked with investigating. In the early hours of the game the plot remains a complete enigma but as you progress, through various scrolls & writings you learn all about this intriguing micro-culture & how things have gone horribly awry. Kuon is set in the Heian period of Japan & it is recreated gorgeously with clothing, architecture & a focus on Japanese folklore that is severely underutilised in gaming & is a perfect match for a horror game.

Once you start Kuon you are thrown straight in the thick of it. Bodies are everywhere, demons have already taken over the entire mansion which serves as the first main area of the game, it's dark as hel & it's bloody scary. Quick tutorials explain the basics as you get to grips with the controls as well as an intuitive little cutscene showing you that the game's enemies (gakis) react to sound. Avoiding enemies is a viable option but often you will be cornered in tight corridors throughout the game. Luckily our heroines can defend themselves with small melee weapons & spells they conjure through the use of expendable magical cards found scattered around. Beware though, these spells can only be used above a certain health threshold & running through one of the many spots the game calls “Tempest” which flash up & distort the screen, can disorient you & leave you defenseless.

This combination of noise based stealth & jump scares as a game mechanic is From Software's clever way of creating a perfectly tense atmosphere in Kuon from start to finish. Because by running anywhere, even when you think there are no enemies around, you are putting yourself at risk of an ambush & a quick death. So you creep through, always anticipating what's around the next corner & if a gaki does spot you, you have to weigh up the risks of trying to run past them or fighting it out. Your melee weapon is very slow & clumsy but your more powerful magic is limited, so one thing is for certain, Kuon is excellent at making the player feel under threat at all times.

The horror elements themselves are on point too with a nice mix of straight up gore & supernatural elements like ghosts & demons inspired by traditional Japanese folk tales. Some of these elements are straight up copied like the Silent Hill trope of trapping you in a room while it becomes increasingly warped & mangled with gore, but then From Software also delivers generous helpings of what it's become known for with uniquely designed bosses & enemies that tie in with some sort of deeper lore. Though the game is extremely dark & foggy, character models & environments look gorgeously rendered for the PS2, though not quite up to the standards of Silent Hill 2 which came out 3 years prior & yet is still shockingly beautiful to this day.

Having said that, Kuon’s presentation such as the UI menus & eerie use of traditional Japanese instruments for music & sound effects absolutely kicks arse! Along with more subtle visual stuff like bloody footprints left after walking through blood puddles. Kuon’s cutscenes are a particular highlight too, though they are short, you never quite know what to expect when speaking to some of the intense characters in the few quasi-friendly encounters this game holds. It was a blessing to learn that dialogue can be heard in either English or Japanese, Japanese being the obvious choice...this isn’t meant to be a comedy game after all.

Though you can play either of Kuon’s main chapters first & the two stories run parallel to each other, (or so it seems) it makes a little more sense to play as Utsuki first. She is presumably the weakest of the two, wielding a small knife & basic magic, though one flaw of Kuon is that Sakuya’s fan weapon has an odd animation on its second swing that moves her back ever so slightly. This will often move you out of range of enemies & leave you open to attack, it feels very awkward but on the other hand Sakuya has access to much more powerful magic.  At the beginning of the second chapter, whichever order they might be played in, it’s a bit disappointing to find that some of the exact same scares & puzzle elements are used. The puzzles in Kuon being a pretty standard survival horror system of finding items that unlock doors or new areas. You are essentially playing the exact same starting area, the mansion, but in a different order. The paths soon diverge though & feature some differing enemies & bosses.

From Software did pay close attention to detail with the way backtracking works to offset any tedium that might hold. It’s spine chilling to walk back through an area & notice very subtle changes in the environment from as small as a fallen piece of furniture to gory blood trails leaving the player again with a feeling of dread. The sound design compliments this perfectly. The entire game is covered in a dense horror soundscape but there are more specific sound markers spread throughout the game, mainly to signify that an enemy is near. These can usually even be heard before you enter a room so you can easily gauge if you are walking into danger if you pay close attention to the sound.

For those that complete both chapters to their gripping ends, a huge surprise awaits akin to Tenchu 2 & Wrath of Heaven, coincidentally the latter of which was published by From Software. This surprise elevates the plot structure of the game above simply borrowing from Resident Evil & with the whole experience taken on board, Kuon is solidified as an incredibly intelligent survival horror that got nowhere near the attention it deserved. It has a few flaws such as the attacks missing their mark a little too often, & the repeated beginning section of the game but they are far from enough to break the player’s immersion in one of the greatest horror experiences on the PS2.

Pros:

• An atmosphere that could be cut with a Tantō.

• Unique gameplay ideas for the survival horror genre.

• Heian setting is recreated gorgeously.

Cons:

• Clunky, confusing controls & combat.

• Crazy difficulty spikes that encourage cheesing.