As someone who adores Suda51, Grasshopper Manufacture, and the Kill the Past games, I was nervous to take my first steps into the so called "Dark Era" of GHM games. My first look into this time for the company is Killer Is Dead, a game that tries its hardest to be a KTP game, despite publisher interference at every turn.
Killer is Dead is presented in a very art-house style. The story, to a lot of people, will not make sense from an ordinary narrative point of view. However, figuratively and metaphorically, there's a lot going on here. I view the story of KiD as one where our protagonist ISN'T able to fully kill his past, with it overcoming him in the end. Its honestly a great story and is presented beautifully throughout the game. Though the pacing could have been ironed out a bit better. There is also the issue of sexualizing the female characters to the nth degree. This is an issue that plagues pretty much the whole game, as all female characters are sexualized in one way or another. Sexual themes can be interesting in a story, but the themes here are just immature and sexual for the sake of the male gaze.
The art style has also aged extremely well. If you are going to play this game, I highly recommend looking up how to get it to run at 60 FPS and up the resolution. The game is still visually great. Music also is very well done here. I especially liked all of the different ways the game presents Symphony No. 9.
The combat was actually pretty good, for the most part. Its simple, but I can't deny that I had a good amount of fun with most combat scenarios. The game has a decent progression system, especially how you upgrade your health and blood. While the combat and upgrade systems aren't as in depth as something like DMC or Bayonetta, its still entertaining enough to get you through each level and side mission.
What REALLY brings this game down is the publisher interference that clearly plagues this title. You can tell what parts of the game matched Suda/GHM's vision (that being the deeper themes and artistic moments) and what the publisher really pushed for (the hypertextualization of women and the infamous gigilo minigames). The game is filled with these missions, and they are actually required if you're wanting to get all of the sub weapons in the game. It is simply grotesque and perverted just to try and sell the game to more people. Clearly that didn't work out the way they planned.
Killer is Dead was both surprising and disappointing. I am flipping back-and-forth a lot between a 6 and 7, so don't be surprised if you see this rating change a bit in the next few days of this posting. But while I loved the combat and enjoyed the theming of the story, there was a lot here that detracted from my experience. Still, a 6 or 7 out of 10 game from GHM is still more interesting than a game with the same rating from another company. There is really nothing like a GHM game, whether Suda is directly at the helm or not.
Killer is Dead is presented in a very art-house style. The story, to a lot of people, will not make sense from an ordinary narrative point of view. However, figuratively and metaphorically, there's a lot going on here. I view the story of KiD as one where our protagonist ISN'T able to fully kill his past, with it overcoming him in the end. Its honestly a great story and is presented beautifully throughout the game. Though the pacing could have been ironed out a bit better. There is also the issue of sexualizing the female characters to the nth degree. This is an issue that plagues pretty much the whole game, as all female characters are sexualized in one way or another. Sexual themes can be interesting in a story, but the themes here are just immature and sexual for the sake of the male gaze.
The art style has also aged extremely well. If you are going to play this game, I highly recommend looking up how to get it to run at 60 FPS and up the resolution. The game is still visually great. Music also is very well done here. I especially liked all of the different ways the game presents Symphony No. 9.
The combat was actually pretty good, for the most part. Its simple, but I can't deny that I had a good amount of fun with most combat scenarios. The game has a decent progression system, especially how you upgrade your health and blood. While the combat and upgrade systems aren't as in depth as something like DMC or Bayonetta, its still entertaining enough to get you through each level and side mission.
What REALLY brings this game down is the publisher interference that clearly plagues this title. You can tell what parts of the game matched Suda/GHM's vision (that being the deeper themes and artistic moments) and what the publisher really pushed for (the hypertextualization of women and the infamous gigilo minigames). The game is filled with these missions, and they are actually required if you're wanting to get all of the sub weapons in the game. It is simply grotesque and perverted just to try and sell the game to more people. Clearly that didn't work out the way they planned.
Killer is Dead was both surprising and disappointing. I am flipping back-and-forth a lot between a 6 and 7, so don't be surprised if you see this rating change a bit in the next few days of this posting. But while I loved the combat and enjoyed the theming of the story, there was a lot here that detracted from my experience. Still, a 6 or 7 out of 10 game from GHM is still more interesting than a game with the same rating from another company. There is really nothing like a GHM game, whether Suda is directly at the helm or not.