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Koudelka (review)

© Chuck Bednar

The year is 1898. The place is Wales. A strange woman named Koudelka Iasant -- a medium with the uncanny ability to hear the voices of spirits -- is called to a haunted monastery. There, she meets a womanizer named Edward Plunkett and a holier-than-thou priest by the name of James O'Flaherty. As they travel together, they uncover a series of gruesome murders, and begrudgingly they agree to work together to solve the twisted mystery of the monastery.

This is the story behind Koudelka, a horror RPG created for the Sony PlayStation by a group of former Squaresoft employees called Sacnoth. The usual setting and the eerie mood of the plot truly make this a unique entry into the RPG genre. And with its fine story, Koudelka would have been truly marvelous had it been a book or a motion picture.

As it stands, though, it is a lousy video game, full of good intentions but marred by poor execution.

First, the game's few good points. The CG cutscenes are some of the finest I've ever seen, rivaling Final Fantasy VIII and IX and The Legend of Dragoon in quality. And there's the plot, as mentioned above, which is truly one of the most interesting and inspired RPG plots to come along in many years. Not to mention the game's uniquely devised multi-ending system, which may just be my favorite feature in the game.

Without giving away any plot spoilers, what this truly wonderful innovation does is allow you to see a game ending without even defeating (and in one case, without even getting to) the final boss. Which makes sense, since win or lose the adventure come to an end for the characters, and you get to see their fate regardless of the climactic battle's outcome.

Despite the few good features in the game, Koudelka just has too many flaws to be truly enjoyable.

First off is the poor execution of the game's Resident Evil-style horror elements. The in-game graphics are far too dark, meaning that finding items and solving puzzles is a serious strain on the eyes. In addition, while the game is filled with deep psychological horror, the gut-reaction scared of other horror games just doesn’t work well with random encounters. Were items easier to find and enemies visible on screen before combat, the mood of the game would have been far more effective.

Combat is another major flaw in the game. It just isn't fun. Koudelka uses an odd variation on traditional strategy RPG battle engines -- one that is loaded with serious flaws. The annoying load time between battles, for starters. Then there's the sleep-inducing combat music, and the fact that you can't sneak up behind your enemies, which just about eliminates nearly all of the strategy aspect in combat. Throw in unbalanced enemy difficulty levels and limited-use weapons, and you have a serious exercise in boredom and frustration.