Kodoku Chronicles kickstarter

[Darklord Rooke]

I have problems with this kickstarter (a lack of information, for example) but I thought it sufficiently interesting to bring to everyone's attention. Kodoku Chronicles is planned as a sidestory to Kodoku, which is an upcoming indie horror game on the PSVita and PS4. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1347225956/kodoku-chronicles

 

The following is copied directly from the kickstarter page.

 

 

Kodoku Chronicles is a Horror Visual Novel with a combat system based on strategy. It takes place in a universe which mixes Japanese folklore and the legends of H.P Lovecraft.

 

Kodoku Chronicles is a Visual Novel focusing on the arrival of the characters in Kodoku Island.In this island,the main protagonist will encounter a hostile environment full of dangerous and insane locals.

 

We would love see you getting close to the characters, not because they are strong, dangerous or even sexy for some of them, but because they have weaknesses or obsessions making them terribly human.

 

 

Progress and Status

 

The game is currently in a prototyping phase, and we have a basic version already running on several platforms. Our objective is to progress on the game itself, and to create better tools to help our content creators to add more elements and create the game content itself.

[Clephas]

mmm... it is pretty obvious to me that they lack a sense of style when it comes to creating horror that feels personal.  One problem is that first pic... dead-fish eyes only work if there is some kind of contrast to give them flavor.  That first pic made me think 'third-rate jukujo SM nukige', lol.  The one below made me think 'this guy has seen too many American horror movies'.  The third just made me think, 'Just as I thought, SM with an emphasis on the S', despite the dialog underneath.  There is a definite sense of style to this... the big problem is, it isn't attractive to me.  He's trying to shock me and all he is managing to do is make me want to click on another vndb link to find a more interesting VN. 

 

Edit:  Didn't mean to be an ass about it... but I grew up with cheap American horror movies and grew to hate them by the age of fifteen...  Lovecraftian horror is better, but it seems at first glance like this guy doesn't understand why it is better.  First, the mythos makes sense, in its own insane little way...  Second, it utilizes humanity's fear of the unknown by making that unknown so unbelievable through using completely alien forms and truly out of this world imagery that you can't help but fall into a state of suspended disbelief.  To be blunt... the fact that this guy went for sex appeal on the first pic tells me he is barking up the wrong tree. 

[OriginalRen]

mmm... it is pretty obvious to me that they lack a sense of style when it comes to creating horror that feels personal.  One problem is that first pic... dead-fish eyes only work if there is some kind of contrast to give them flavor.  That first pic made me think 'third-rate jukujo SM nukige', lol.  The one below made me think 'this guy has seen too many American horror movies'.  The third just made me think, 'Just as I thought, SM with an emphasis on the S', despite the dialog underneath.  There is a definite sense of style to this... the big problem is, it isn't attractive to me.  He's trying to shock me and all he is managing to do is make me want to click on another vndb link to find a more interesting VN. 

 

Edit:  Didn't mean to be an ass about it... but I grew up with cheap American horror movies and grew to hate them by the age of fifteen...  Lovecraftian horror is better, but it seems at first glance like this guy doesn't understand why it is better.  First, the mythos makes sense, in its own insane little way...  Second, it utilizes humanity's fear of the unknown by making that unknown so unbelievable through using completely alien forms and truly out of this world imagery that you can't help but fall into a state of suspended disbelief.  To be blunt... the fact that this guy went for sex appeal on the first pic tells me he is barking up the wrong tree. 

[Clephas]

That wasn't what I was saying... I was saying that making it the first image you see on the Kickstarter page tells me that he was thinking the wrong way.  It is quite fine to make sex appeals (including gruesome ones).  To be blunt, sex sells.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that he was aiming for a mainstream audience rather than the potential (Lovecraftian) fanbase, which strikes me as a bad sign for the game as a whole.  When a Kickstarter makes such a fundamental mistake, you can't help but think the game itself might be less than adequate from a Lovecraft fanboy's perspective. 

 

Edit: By definition, Kickstarters like this are aiming for a specific base... and as such, rather than widening the appeal to the mainstream, they are more likely to succeed by narrowing the appeal to potential fanboys.  It seemed like a seriously half-assed effort to me. 

 

Edit2:  Yeah, attacking this game from a marketing point of view might be weird.  However, generally speaking, how someone presents/advertises their game tells you a lot about what they intend to do with it... to be frank, it looks cheap and corny. 

 

Edit3:  I'm going to shut up now, lol.

[krill]

the problem with adapting lovecraftian horror is that  the ideas behind it that make it horrific are the cosmic scale, the unknowable qualities of the subject matter, and the fact that its a non humanity eccentric setting. Lovecrafts mythos is that the universe doesn't care about humanity in any way at all. we are small insignificant specks without purpose or importance. these entities aren't killing and subjugating humanity because we are special they do it because we are there and they can. 

 

its fine to try and combine real world mythology with the Lovecraft mythos, after all he did so himself on a regular basis. the problem comes when trying to make it adhere to human ideology and morality. the mythos simply doesn't concern itself with these things. these entities are unknowable, the only motives they have are ones the characters assign to them. look at the dreams in the witch house, the music of eric zahn, pikmans model and at the mountains of madness for examples. 

[Vokoca]

I love horror, but I'm not so sure about this based on what I saw of it so far. The setting sounds generic and the combat system is rather worrying - but I'll definitely keep an eye on this one, it could still turn out surprisingly well.

[Undying]

If the story is something like Eternal Darkness was than it might be good, either way I liked the art. 

[netravelr]

It looked interesting, but I'm not exactly sure what it's going for per say for the final product. It's a tad too gory for my taste, but I wish them luck; we need more Lovecraftian influences in the world. :-P

[Clephas]

If the story is something like Eternal Darkness was than it might be good, either way I liked the art. 

I don't think that anything like Eternal Darkness will be made again.  It was a unique phenomenon.  Anyone who tried to imitate it would only fall flat, lol.

[Undying]

I don't think that anything like Eternal Darkness will be made again.  It was a unique phenomenon.  Anyone who tried to imitate it would only fall flat, lol.

To bad, it was awesome game.