This year we’re putting together a list of 31 Retro Horror games. Games that have come from dead console generations, back to haunt us. Sadly, not all of these games will be available for you to play due to the complicated nature of video game preservation. However, we’re going to note if it’s possible to play them on modern hardware. We’re going to be covering games from the Seventh Generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) and earlier. So basically anything before 2006.
Day 29
Koudelka
While horror and RPG go hand in hand in fantasy settings, you will rarely see an RPG in a pure horror setting. Ironically, one of the very first survival horror prototypes, Sweet Home blended RPG and horror. While Sweet Home is famously the inspiration for Resident Evil, there is another, more obscure horror x RPG game that led to a series of JRPG games. If you’re a fan of the Shadow Hearts series, I’m sure you’ve heard of Koudelka.
Koudelka was released in 1999 for PlayStation and developed by a Square Enix subsidiary. It is somewhat unique in that it incorporates turn of the 18th century Gothic horror with JRPG elements and turn-based combat. It’s one of those games that doesn’t get much attention these days, but it should because it has a solid place in video game history. Besides it genre hybridization, it was also one of the first games to use motion capture technology for its cutscenes–something that was mostly limited to feature film productions.
The biggest shame of Koudelka is that its relatively rare. If you want to play it you have to find an original copy, and they are expensive because of the booming retro game market. Koudelka was never released again in any form. The state of video game preservation is the real horror. But at least we can remember these titles before they’re completely forgotten.
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