Yeah, screw the loft.
You might have seen the trailer for Ju-On a while back. It’s a first-person Wii game based off the series of movies of the same name and supervised by the director of those films, Takashi Shimizu. Apparently the entire Western world mistook the developer’s logo as the name of the game, so you might have seen this title bouncing around news sites under the name “FEEL” (in fact, the name of the game is 恐怖体感 呪怨, kyoufu taikan juon, which is something like “fear sensation Ju-On”; the developer is a company called Feelplus). Anyway, it’s a first-person Wii game where you use the Wiimote to explore scary areas with a flashlight. Word on the street is that XSEED is bringing the game Stateside this year.
I’ve played the first episode and a bit of the second so far, so I thought I’d weigh in with some initial impressions. The game is well done, but it’s also exceedingly simple. You move around through the environment by pointing the Wiimote (on screen, a flashlight) in the direction you want to go and holding down the B trigger. This method of movement actually works really well; it’s so smooth that I thought the game was on rails at first. The side effect of this system, I guess, is that you move really slowly. There doesn’t seem to be a run button. Anyway, you move through the environment collecting items–particularly keys and flashlight batteries. If you run out of flashlight batteries it’s game over, but (at least in the first episode) they appear to be pretty plentiful. As you progress through the environment
Ghost kid on opposite side of window: check.
What’s really intriguing about this game is that I think that it’s designed to be played with friends. It’s a one-player game, but a second player can cause similar pop-out events to occur by pushing buttons on the second controller. To me this sounds like an attempt to recreate the feeling of watching a horror film with friends–especially for teens–and trying not to get freaked out. This is really interesting; I love the idea that the basic horror premise might actually be improved if you were to play with somebody along for the ride next to you. The complaints from review sites like Famitsu are that the game is very short (5 hours, they say), but if the purpose of the design is that it can be played in a sitting or two with friends, that length actually makes a lot of sense. Perhaps this is the way in which Shimizu has influenced the development of this game: it’s clearly designed not to be played alone, even though it’s a single-player game. I haven’t seen that before.
The other thing that strikes me about this game is that it’s very close to being a more modern incarnation of Hell Night. Not that it’s nearly as good as Hell Night; it misses the beat when it comes to sound, I think, and since avoiding death is fairly easy there’s very little of the pressure that Hell Night applies. But the system, the way that the game works and is played, is very similar. If nothing else this game could serve as a reference for how a more competent game might get started; the game mechanics seem solid and slightly wasted on this particular game.
As usual, I should note that I’ve only just started Ju-On and my impressions are subject to change. Stay tuned for a full review.
so basically is it just echo night, but.. ju-on? if you catch my drift =P
I was honestly afraid that the game would have you set on one track, and that you could only move the flashlight around. The description you provide of it makes it sound a bit more interesting.
The length doesn’t sound too bad for a game like this; just long enough to possibly leave an impression. Xseed is giving it a budget release in the US for $30, which sounds about right.
also, faDeDz, I don’t think so. Echo Night was entirely free roaming (as in, you could move your character in any direction at any time) and was heavily focused on character interaction and puzzles, as opposed to just wandering around and getting spooked out.
So, can the ghosts actually hurt you or is running out of flashlight juice you only way you can lose?
Also, what’s the story like so far (if there is one)?
Thanks
Every once and a while the ghosts will go into a sort of quck time event mode where you have to shake the wiimote in a certain direction. I haven’t failed any of these yet but the result is probably game over.
Technically this is the case in Ju-On as well, though you move very slowly (even slower than in Echo Night), and there’s no run button, and the environments are much smaller and more claustrophobic than Echo Night.
I was gonna ask that but Hal got there first, what’s about the story? Are we still stuck with the usual already-known-by-heart Ju-On plot-line?
Also, how challenging are the local puzzles?
Also, how challenging are the local puzzles?
The story in the first episode is “I was walking my dog and then he freaked out and I followed him into this abandoned construction site.” That is to say, very little story so far.
There are no local puzzles, other than finding stuff and figuring out where to go next. So far (again, only the first hour of experience talking here) they are trivially easy.
I’m on chapter 4 and game is more freaky now 🙂 I agree with Chris description, Ju-on is Hellnight with quick ti bla bla… Gameplay is very simple cos you just have to walk and find the keys to go further, but I like it 🙂 Music and sounds are creepy (very similar to Hellnight and …Iru! and that’s good), graphic are really nice (weird like Siren 2 but with higher resolution and details). Oh when you replay a level cos you died or you just want to unlock everything, change the order of your actions and spooky cut scenes will change 🙂
http://www.frightening.de
I got a japanese Wii, so I am thinking about importing the game. The only question for me is: Is it possible to play the game without beeing able to read japanese?
I dont think Ju-On will be translated in englisch and released in Europe or in the USA.
http://www.frightening.de
Oops, sorry for the double post but I overlooked the comment of Endaso. Looking forward importing the US-Version in September 🙂
I dont think Ju-On will be translated in englisch and released in Europe or in the USA.
even subtitles would be awesome =) I usually prefer anime etc with japanese audio as opposed to it being changed to english, although I cant recall ever seeing this in a game. =(
faDeDz, I have played one game that did that, and that was the first Sonic Adventure. You had to go through some menus to get it, though. Wait, I think Guilty Gear XX did too.
I think if the puzzles are not like Parasite Eve 2 or Silent Hill we will be able to play it just fine.
I played Bio Hazard 3 and Fatal Frame 2 on japanese language before.And if you are having language problem after buying the game , maybe you can ask Chris for some help in the forum or read some walkthrough.
I played Bio Hazard 3 and Fatal Frame 2 on japanese language before.And if you are having language problem after buying the game , maybe you can ask Chris for some help in the forum or read some walkthrough.
and I believe there might even be some walkthroughs on Youtube already.
I enjoying playing survivor horror myself, but it’s pretty fun to watch one of my friends to play. She’s easily scared (she jumps even when the camera angle changes), loves horror (specially Resident Evil) and it’s easy to tickle her (just one finger is enough to have her laughing over the floor), and she hardly gets lost, so it’s amusing when she starts playing one horror game. It’s usually takes one weekend, but it’s really fun. I can’t wait to get her playing JU-ON (even if she said she’s NOT going to play, she ALWAYS says that)