A western yen for Japanese horror

After years on the mainstream margins it seems Hollywood has finally embraced the spooky goings-on in movies like Ring, Dark Water and The Grudge.

Hideo Nakata, who directed the original Ring movies, reckons there is an important cultural difference between Western and Japanese horror.

Whereas the west is fixated on the fundamental conflict between good and evil, he says horror in the east concentrates on a more personal reason for the creeps.

In Japan, the spirits of people who die violently are believed to be unable to rest until they have avenged their passing.

This idea has been a fundamental part of Japanese ghost stories since the 17th century when the tale of Tokaido Yotsuya, a poisoned wife who returns as a vengeful spirit, first became popular with story-tellers.

So it's no wonder Kuon the video game has more than its share of spooks and spectres.

Kuon takes place in an old Japanese mansion when strange creatures roam the earth. The appearance of ghosts and mutants is usually preceded by the haunting sound of a children's song.

Unsurprisingly, the Lord believes that his family pile is haunted. He summons Doman, a former imperial exorcist who has been banished due to his somewhat unorthodox methods.

Kuon is split into three phases: the Yin phase (the phase of shadow), the Yang phase (the phase of light) and the Kuon phase. When the game begins only the first two are accessible. When you complete them then the Kuon phase opens up.

Each one tells the story from the perspective of different characters: Doman's children in the yin phase, Sakuya, Doman's exorcist disciple, in the yang phase and you can probably guess the Kuon phase.

Interestingly, the game offers a choice of either 2D or 3D control. I couldn't get my head around the 3D method (my character seemed to walk round in circles if I tried to turn around) so I opted for the simpler 2D control set.

There are also three difficulty levels (daydream, insomnia and nightmare mode). A fourth difficulty level - the aptly-named insanity mode - is opened up when the game is completed.

Beginners will find the daydream mode challenging but not impossible. Horror lovers familiar with Silent Hill and Resident Evil would be better off going straight to insomnia or nightmare mode unless they fancy breezing through the action without breaking into a (cold) sweat.

Although your character wields a weapon the best way to stop a spectre is to use a spell. You collect your spells by finding cards liberally scattered around each level.

And some of the powers they unlock are pretty cool. I especially liked the spell that sees zombie-like arms emerge from the ground to pull a monster back down to hell - very impressive.

When ghosts attack the soundtrack screeches loud enough to make you jump. This "horror horn" effect works the first couple of times (it's the gaming equivalent of Carrie's hand emerging from the grave or Jason Voorhees leaping from Crystal Lake) but it gets a bit tedious after half-a-dozen blasts or so.

Your character can also become disorientated - and so will you.

The graphics start to swim and the picture sways in a vaguely nauseating way. Not pleasant.

Still it's creepy, jump-out-of-your seat scary in parts and engrossing enough to make you want to finish. Kuon looks guaranteed to become another Japanese horror hit.

Published: 16/05/2006