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In the new horror action game Kuon, players need creep through feudal Japan equipped with spells and a lantern. The game focuses on a dark atmosphere and unsettling characters to keep players at unease. Kuon does come off creepy in its presentation, but it’s spell and puzzle gameplay are pretty basic. Players can choose one of two characters at start, Utsuki and Sakuya. In the Utsuki storyline, she travels with her sister to a castle to search for their father. When they arrive her sister is charmed by a mysterious song that transforms her into a demon. With Sakuya, she needs to prove her worth to the evil exorcist Doman by investigating the town’s presence of demons.
In order to fight demons players use spells, weapons, or summons. Players will come across new spells and summons to use throughout the game that vary in power. Spells include fiery arrows and ice shards, while summon cards bring out beasts that fight on your behalf, like a wolf, or a puppet doll that attacks with her head. Up to two spells/summons can be equipped at one time, and if one isn’t equipped players can hack away with a traditional, but not as effective weapon. Enemies range from zombie like ghouls to evil sheep/human things. They can attack quickly and the characters don’t have much of an option but to fire spells, run, then try again. Players will probably find the combat to be a bit simplistic though the range of spells is high it’s similar to playing an action RPG on a PC where players keep tapping a button to unleash fireballs until the enemy dies. Besides casting spells the main gameplay in Kuon is searching and figuring out puzzles. The puzzles involve the traditional pick up and use format. There are seals to be broken with certain magic spells, items used to break walls, and spikes used to kill off creepy demon kids. The puzzles involve backtracking in a large castle and underground area. The atmosphere in Kuon is great with visuals at 60 frames per second coupled with creepy sound effects. Production value is high with disturbing cinemas, and imagery. The game is dark, usually too dark with only a lantern that lights around the player. So a lot of times players will be bumping into areas and sifting through locations in the dark. There is a brightness setting, but even at its full setting isn’t enough. Kuon has an interesting storyline, three playable character plots, and great atmosphere, but players may find the combat to be lacking in an otherwise traditional survival horror game.
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