my first point of reference for this game, like prolly everyone else's, is to pinpoint the similarities to it being a glow-up of rail shooters found in arcades. for about a third or so of the game, it definitely feels that way. yet, it still felt disingenuous; right from the very get-go, it defies a proper description because of how it has its hands in as many places as possible; some may call that a fatal flaw for smth that has a severe case of adhd, i say it's a goddamn masterpiece not solely thanks to it, but that for as complicated as killer7's plot and battles gets, it settles itself into its own comfy routine, using the same game mechanics as leverage for the banal form of evil and indifference its world plays as
the killer7 themselves are almost mythic in their creation, an idea of gameplay so insane that it works itself into being a downright ingenious form of a shooter; everything directly said or implied about the personas is stepping into a tightrope the player has to walk: tread too safely and you get lost in the design, tread too wildly and you get too careless in the design. for as easy as it is to shit on repetitive gameplay, the concept alone is still appealing and everlasting from just how much it exchanges invested time and muscle / mind memory to each other back and forth. it's cliched to say but each member really does bring their flair to an already high-concept game, and it's very excited to let you indulge in setting you up for preparation itself
but it feels all too futile as well. its evil and indifference found in the story isn't just routine, but robotic, directly being a pawn in cover-up after cover-up and conspiracy after conspiracy, and meant to navigate the murky waters outside. every abitrarily-seeming route is drenched in post-wwii anxiety and post 9/11 paranoia from japan and the u.s. in the game, and at certain peaks, especially when you get characters talking directly to you, so much of post-ironic humor and storytelling driving it forward know too well of it going only so far as it allows itself to always right before shit hits the fan. killer7 is practically banking on the player to not only accept its bullshit at face-value, but actually get you to recognize it as a meaningful farce of what is literally dissociated identity from the call of duty
it's a blessing that smth like this was released right in the sweet spot of the 2000s; video games, along with media in general, delved straight into using the war on terror as a means to retool people's own confusion into a spectacle for entertainment; no one, much less the governments in power, actually knew how to handle their own egos that came with fighting the stereotyped evils of the world made from their own bloodstained and dirt-soaked hands. yet, out of many woodworks, there also came plenty of media that took the absurdity of war as a way to both joke around and rampage angrily at our mistakes. killer7 wasn't made to be an ultimate answer or commentary on the era, since it knows most ppl then and now were looking for a good time for whatever special bullshit gave them their own solo parties at the edge of the world, but it sure as succeeds in all its glorious and bittersweet bullshit
the killer7 themselves are almost mythic in their creation, an idea of gameplay so insane that it works itself into being a downright ingenious form of a shooter; everything directly said or implied about the personas is stepping into a tightrope the player has to walk: tread too safely and you get lost in the design, tread too wildly and you get too careless in the design. for as easy as it is to shit on repetitive gameplay, the concept alone is still appealing and everlasting from just how much it exchanges invested time and muscle / mind memory to each other back and forth. it's cliched to say but each member really does bring their flair to an already high-concept game, and it's very excited to let you indulge in setting you up for preparation itself
but it feels all too futile as well. its evil and indifference found in the story isn't just routine, but robotic, directly being a pawn in cover-up after cover-up and conspiracy after conspiracy, and meant to navigate the murky waters outside. every abitrarily-seeming route is drenched in post-wwii anxiety and post 9/11 paranoia from japan and the u.s. in the game, and at certain peaks, especially when you get characters talking directly to you, so much of post-ironic humor and storytelling driving it forward know too well of it going only so far as it allows itself to always right before shit hits the fan. killer7 is practically banking on the player to not only accept its bullshit at face-value, but actually get you to recognize it as a meaningful farce of what is literally dissociated identity from the call of duty
it's a blessing that smth like this was released right in the sweet spot of the 2000s; video games, along with media in general, delved straight into using the war on terror as a means to retool people's own confusion into a spectacle for entertainment; no one, much less the governments in power, actually knew how to handle their own egos that came with fighting the stereotyped evils of the world made from their own bloodstained and dirt-soaked hands. yet, out of many woodworks, there also came plenty of media that took the absurdity of war as a way to both joke around and rampage angrily at our mistakes. killer7 wasn't made to be an ultimate answer or commentary on the era, since it knows most ppl then and now were looking for a good time for whatever special bullshit gave them their own solo parties at the edge of the world, but it sure as succeeds in all its glorious and bittersweet bullshit