undertale but good

From what I can work out, Gaijin Charenji 1: Kiss or Kill was originally an Xbox One release, but is now available on Steam for PC. It's the only game on Steam from indie developers, overGame Studio.

Now, my Japanese is pretty rusty, but I think the title could reasonably be taken to mean something like "challenge for foreigners". The in-game credits say that the game was originally conceived for the Sega Dreamcast by the father of one of the developers. After his father passed away this developer continued it and released it 20 years later to honour his father.

The game is basically a twin-stick shooter / dodge-bullet game, with obvious influence from a whole lot of classics: Pac Man, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and so on. But it's presented in such a way that, for the first quarter of an hour or so at least, I couldn't even work out what I was doing.

I have no idea if there's a story. As I played it seemed to make less and less sense and I gave up trying to understand it. I dodged bullets, I murdered parents telling me to protect their children, and I moved through mazes that had been installed with giant spinning discs of death.

When starting a new game, one can choose between a kisser and a killer, but really the decision seems to make little difference; the background music changes depending on your choice, and one shoots hearts while the other shoots bullets, but ultimately the gameplay is very similar, regardless.

After completing the "kill" path, I'm no closer to understanding the game than I was when I started. Perhaps I should play it again and "kiss" things instead?

I've gathered from the few Japanese TV shows that I've watched that many are presented with garish flashing colours, scrolling text in various sizes and positions and at various speeds, and other somewhat intense attention-grabbing mechanisms. I recall turning on the TV in a hotel room in Tokyo twenty-odd years ago and being overwhelmed by the sights and sounds, though perhaps if I'd understood more than the tiniest fraction of the language it might have been less overwhelming.

Gaijin Charenji reminds me of that Japanese TV.

It's presented in garishly bright blocks of colours; with frantic, loud music throughout; scrolling or flashing text that distracts the eye; and is an experience in consuming overlapping media. If your attention wanders then you'll definitely miss something that the game is doing -- like showing you how to kiss or kill. *sigh*

I sometimes had trouble moving in a straight line (please don't laugh too much at my video) due to using analogue sticks with the game's very responsive controls, but at other times they saved my bacon; overall they're probably a good thing.

Pros:
+ Overwhelmingly crazy
+ Very responsive controls

Cons:
- Graphical corruption at resolutions higher than 1080p: red bar occluding top portion of screen
- Very responsive controls
- No way to exit from in game
- Short, but also repetitive

I don't know. Sometimes it's so difficult to boil down a review into a yes or no. If it were half the price I'd be happy to recommend it, but it just seems a bit expensive for what's on offer. It's an interesting experience, yes, but for the same money you can get games that are much more endearing, and actually fun to play.

If its weirdness grabs you then pick it up, but maybe wait for a sale.


https://youtu.be/aakt3zKHFQA

my fav genre of fiction is japanese things with titles that you have to read out in a racist accent to properly pronounce

D-D-D-DAMN

kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill kiss or kill

The best ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game I've ever played.

This is Hong Kong 97 of the 21st century. Trippy, absurd, yet so charming, sexy, stylish. WIPE OUT all 1.2 billion of various enemies, or KISS them. The choice is yours?

An interesting compilation of small shooting/dodging challenges all wrapped together with some surreal visuals and a pretty loose story. Great for a quick play through. Only took about an hour and a half, but those memories we made will last at least another four.

anime titties

art