I really want to mention how each Smith was killed ironically by Emir Kevin who is a master at stealth and disguise, was seen through his bellhop disguise by Emir and was killed. Con who's blind but had sensitive hearing was unable to notice Emir sneaking in to kill him. Masque was killed with his mask off, which being seen without your mask on is considered shameful in the lucha libre world. Kaede who reveals things hidden was killed while hiding in a wardrobe. Coyote who's the most athletic was outmaneuvered by Emir And Dan who's The Hellion and the badass of the group, hesitated in shooting Emir which is the one thing you should never do as an assassin Emir outdoes every Smith, making him a suitable replacement for the Smith Syndicate
Kaede is also the most selfless one, slitting her own wrists in order to open paths, and yet when she sees Emir, she runs and hides instead of trying to warn anyone.
Killer7. A game that only gets more complex and layered on repeated playthroughs. Suda51 really channels the best of David Lynch, Takashi Miike, and Alejandro Jodorowsky in K7, but does his own thing. I only hope we get a directors cut, as the story was going to WAY more long, spanning literal centuries and would’ve followed Harman from his birth until his final showdown with Kun Lan. And of course, Masafumi Takada’s brilliant score. One of the few games where the music elevates the game’s atmosphere. Also, the voice acting doesn’t get enough praise. One thing which has been consistent with Suda’s games is the tight and strong vocal performances by his characters. Killer7 is no exception. Everyone is doing a triple A effort of constantly giving life to these characters. I always wonder if Suda, like Kojima, has a lot of input on the actors that do the English dub.
I was thinking the same, not just voice acting, translation from japanese always looks very rough -specially at that time- and often the phrasing of one third of the script just sounds...weird...but in Suda's games characters speak fluent Tarantino wich feels like 4 steps ahead his competition. I wonder how he does it.
I love how stylish the game is, not in the sense of doing cool actions like DMC, but how it's framed. The atmosphere of places like Harman's Room, the shift to 3rd person whenever you reload, the intro before every mission where you line up a lazer with the boss, the death cutscene when your character dies, and each character's little quips in the TV and when getting a critical hit. It still holds up for a playthrough, even if it's only a single one due to it's extreme linearity and simple gameplay.
Fun fact Kevin being silent is actually not a reference. He was originally more fleshed out, being the only gay member according to supplementary material and he originally had a British accent you can dig up in the files. When downsizing I guess they figured it would make him more interesting if he literally made no noise if he was going to have the least presence so they wrote that his voice would awaken the ancient gods if he ever spoke. Patented suda weirdness but it doesn’t have a reference for once which is interesting. Shout outs to suda making a shirtless guy named Kevin interesting with a single word meanwhile volition didn’t even come close.
With Suda saying how Killer7 is actually a 3rd of what he wanted to write, I really hope we someday get that Director's Cut he teased us about Guess I'll wait for the Flower Sun and Rain remaster while we wait for more news
Playing this game made me rethink the entire way I interpret media in general. This is an important, milestone game. Never forget Killer7, it doesn't deserve to be lost to time.
My favorite Smith was Kevin. His knives are so damn good when it comes to hitting weakspots. The blood you get by playing as him is insane. No other Smith can hit weakspots as reliably as Kevin.
Thank you for covering this game. I've never had a game where I outwardly explored all the lore I possibly can. Suda51 really makes worlds feel real & surreal at the same time. (And never forget the punishing rangers, the Handsome Men!)
Believe it or not, Suda was asked about Kevin Smith and if he was a Silent Bob reference and it turns out he never heard of Clerks until then. Kevin is, however, gay
I remember being in a Blockbuster back in the day and I saw a young kid who was probably about 9 with his mum and he wanted to rent Killer7 and she glanced at it and allowed him to get it. I wonder what his reaction was to it.
I got to meet Suda and his amazing interpreter at PAX East last week and the respect and interest he had in my respect and interest brought me to tears.
I’ve been obsessed with this game for a while now, but I only just finished it for the first time a couple weeks back. I pray that a Director’s Cut somehow sees the light of day especially for how long the story was initially intended to be. There’ll never be anything quite like this game, never again
I believe Suda said in an interview that he wanted to make a "complete" edition with a different heavily extended story, but I doubt he would be given the funding to do it sadly
Ah the kill the past series. Moonlight syndrome, the silver case, the flower sun and rain, killer7, no more heroes. Also suda51 extra samurai champloo sidetracked and blood+ one night kiss.
If you liked killer 7, please go and play the rest of suda’s “kill the past” series. Starts with the visual novels “the silver case” and then goes all over the place but if you look into this series it’ll put K7 in a whole different context
We need to bring back cel shading in new games nowadays. Cel shading will make your game look timeless compared to games that try way to hard making look realistic. An art style and atmosphere will always be better than let's make the most realistic look characters and scenery.
I beat Killer 7 & it was a breathe of fresh air. Its basically its own genre. Its like an action packed comic book mixed with 80's Manga anime the way its framed.
Yep, I can definitely see this game as the precursor to No More Heroes. Also, whenever I hear Greg Eagles' voice in anything I just immediately think of Grim from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
Fun Fact; Suda 51 originally had Killer 7, No More Heroes and another game be part of an unofficial trilogy, before the commercial successes of the games. NMH got a second game, and Killer7 got an unnofficial sequel in Killer is Dead. Also, NMH and Killer7 reference each other. The ghost Travis in Killer7 is Travis Touchdown and the canon ending for NMH has a character that looks like and sounds like Garcian/Emir kill Travis on the toilet.
Something tells me that the dialogue exchange between Dan and Curtis, becomes surprisingly more relevant to the world at large than ever. Especially with what a lot of "sick, old men" are doing in this sociopolitical climate of ours.
At that time my brother was 13 years old, and we went to the game store to get him a game as a birthday present. He didn't know which game to pick and I suggested killer 7. He find it every challenging at the time but it became one of his favorites.
Yet another one of Capcom's hidden gem with tons of potential. I believe this is the game that Shinji Mikami worked on while he was also directing RE4 (and yes, the magnum in the game was so aptly named to promote Killer7's release). I think this game is just another testament of how turbulent Capcom's history was, with the 2000s being their most inventive, as they come up with all these new games, each with their own distinct styles. Yet sadly not all of them got the attention that they deserve.
Played this in 2006 and found it weirdly profound. So for around 7 years I did graphic design for bands under the brand name Heavens Smile; (intentional semi colon to seem cooler than i was). Proud of that time with HS; but not sure I think the game is as profound now if much at all.
I love this game for what it made me do with it's content. There's so many ways you can combine aspects of this story and the cut story into spiraling theories.
Art house game, but, underrated, unappreciated game for it's time, seems now it's finally got a cult following, still makes me wonder how the hell this classic game even got a pc port.
I remember picking this game out, meanwhile my twin picked out Resident Evil 4. We didn't know anything about games, and we managed to pick out 2 of the best games for the system and had so much fun (after getting over how scary the games were lol)
I love this game so much and really do want to create a texture pack for this game. Some textures are so low red that it's kinda distracting. Unfortunately most textures are in a file that I'm not sure how to extract from. But if anyone knows how, please let me know. I also made a control scheme on steam to have it so that you can have gyro aiming with a switch, ps4 and ps5 controller with a character select wheel
It's a rare gem which intelligently succeeds in oozing atmosphere that will forever remain etched in your memory. It's quite otherworldly, like an obscure surreal nightmare. Claustrophobic in it's execution as if it's in the mind of a madman.
this game is the greatest game ever made. it's my favorite game of all time. it does politics RIGHT. it shows how it can be done right. theres no in your face bullshit. every character is memorable.
So to piggy back off what you said about the movement, i do believe there is some DNA of tank controls present (the slower delibrate movements, increased tension via lack of control, camera angels, slow but relentless creatures, etc.). Truly it's a strange and unique amalgam of old school survival horror, RPG, action game,VN, and unique stylings that i don't think ever could of worked without such a focused vision. I'm not sure anything has tried to emulate Killer 7 becuase Killer 7 is kind of already an amalgamation of emulated influences with a super unique and polished presentation.
I've been a passionate gamer since the og Game Boy, but I have lost interest in gaming more and more as of late. I mostly stick to indie games and Nintendo nowadays. Imho, gaming has become too creatively sterile, which is why I like games like Killer 7. Not because they are flawless, but because the feel unconventional and interesting. If Killer 7 was made today, it would probably be another generic OTS RE4 clone.
You're absolutely right, just mechanically K7 is a friggin ONRAILS action adventure with invisible enemies. No one would take the risk, controls and pov are standarized, literally every game plays the same. And that's just talking mechanics.
Thanks so much for talking about this game, it is such a unique, progressive work of art in the medium, and far too few people have played it, and most people, sadly to me, think that MGS2 is the height of postmodern art in games, unaware of just how ambitious and amazing Killer 7 is, how much vastly more serious it is than any of Suda 51's other well-known games, etc. So thank you for talking about it : D I actually think the puzzles are the way they are in order to not interrupt the flow and pace of the game. They are meant to be a little spice to the overall gameplay, but not to be something the player is ever staring at frowning for 10+ minutes, you know? I think it would be a worse game if it had more involved puzzles... unless I am misunderstanding what kind of puzzles you are suggesting.
While I do like your video I disagree with you sentiment about the hotel. I think it is effective that we as players have to go through the hotel twice because as we established Garcian is like the main character. And he goes to the hotel twice once as emir and once as Garcian. At least for me despite not actually killing the other smiths, going to the hotel twice made me feel as if I was in the shoes of Garcian.
It's probably the most convoluted story I've ever seen too. The logic leaps and bizarre story turns just had my jaw dropping constantly, and not in a good way... >__>
the game has severeal thematic nods to his previous games at that time (or just straight up cameos), so playing games like the silver case could help somewhat
Yeah the main reason Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake is that Dragami Games is making it. They are former Kadokawa devs who own the LC IP. Capcom owns the Killer7 IP and they seem to have no interest in doing anything with it considering that they didn’t even port it to Steam as that was NISA, so no new remakes or ports doesn’t surprise me. Grasshopper also doesn’t own No More Heroes as that’s owned by Marvelous and Let It Die is Gung-ho. The only Grasshopper IPs they own are Silver Case, Flower Sun and Rain, 25th Ward, Shadows of the Damned, and Killer Is Dead. That’s actually why they said they have a 10 year plan to create 3 new IPs that they can own since the 2 things that put them on the map (Killer7 & NMH), and their best selling game (Lollipop), among others they can’t do anything with.
bought this on steam deck the other week, its not clear on which region its based on. Back in the day the Japanese version was censored (gore and a sex scene) whereas the US version on the ps2 and gamecube remained uncut
I played most of the game but I havent finished it,should I watch the video to fuel my fire to play it again or should I finish the game first and then come back?
I recommend finishing it. I had a hard time finishing the game with a controller, I find the PC controls a lot more intuitive and so finished the game multiple times on PC.
No, Killer7 was released a few months after RE4. There is a Gun that references Killer7 because both games were inp roduction at the same time and Shinji Mikami was working on both. That Gun is not the only reference to Killer7 in RE4 btw, the Regeneradores are very clearly Heaven Smiles, in both appearence and mechanics, there is also the Mob + Chicago Typewriter Dress & Weapon which mirrors the unlockable Harman Smith personality once you beat the agme once and play in Killer8 mode.
@@CerealKiller that’s cool I didn’t think about the rengenadores bearing resemblance to the smiles or the harman smith reference with the suit thanks for bringing those up!
Nice review. Always interesting to hear others' thoughts on this game. No More Heroes was my introduction to Grasshopper and still one of my other favorites, but Killer7 is only second (coincidentally) to Wind Waker for me. Supplementary material can be fun, but that's just it, it's supplementary. Not meant to be taken into account with the final product. At least, that's the way in which I view it. A little odd, there are sort of exceptions within series like Drakegnard/Nier having so many different books and stage plays and tie ins with other games now it's a bit hard to keep track, but at least most of the games still stand well enough on their own. But so far as I'm concerned, the content in Hand in Killer7 might be interesting, but is not canon considering they likely knew they would not be able to get everything into the game in time and fit the story they had finished accordingly. With that in mind, I believe most of the game can be boiled down to Emir and his inner turmoil, and what exactly is actually "real" within the story itself is a bit murky by design. The stuff said in the forbidden room, especially about the young man who killed his mother, I think may at least be close to what actually happened at least, and served as a catalyst to him murdering the Smith syndicate. Having felt guilt for his actions, he took his own life up on the roof of the hotel, that much is clear, but where some say Harman took him in, I don't think it's necessarily that cut and dry; I think it's entirely just as possible that the events from then on are the content of a dying dream. I suppose that's a bit more cliched an idea, now more than when I first thought it up many years ago, but I still think it fits just as well as something akin to the narrative of Silent Hill 2 or others in the same vein. There are so many details, both little and possibly meaningless, to kind of so bold that it might just be me misinterpreting things, but stuff like both Samantha and Harman acting wildly differently within natural and artificial light, the forbidden room literally locking away past memories as well as Harman and Kun Lan being a bit more friendly than they let on, Iwazaru being a sort of wolf in sheeps clothing, even things like the Cloudman cutscenes implying(at least to me) that Garcian is the one specifically talking to these people what with undertones of racism going on - I'm not one to typically go overboard on that kind of thing like much of twitter is these days, but I feel at least that was intentional. So much of the other characters don't get any focus, as you say, and I think that is because this is really all in Garcian's mind. The politics and violence between these two countries, all the different ways in which the Heaven Smile are supposedly made but especially from organ harvesting from children, I think it all represents Emir's own upbringing and trying to come to terms with what he has done and that the truth of the matter is not so black and white as he would like to believe. Breaking my own sort of rule here, but having played Silver Case since, I don't think it's all too dissimilar from the shelter kids and Kamui Uehara as far as the theming goes. I guess regardless of whether anything "actually happened" doesn't really matter so much either way, so long as that point is made clear. Now, I'm not so sure what to make of the connection with the NMH universe, what with the Killer7 introduction added on to Travis Strikes Again. I recall reading in an interview that explains that some of these connections may be within that universe, but not necessarily the other way around, if that makes any sense. But I could be remembering wrong. Even so, that kind of makes sense to me at least. Better to let things stay vague and as free as possible, because that's what I really don't like about having to adhere to these supplementary materials as if they're some bible or guidebook to these games. Things should be allowed to remain fluid if the creator wants them to.
The hand in killer 7 cut content idea is actually a misconception. All of the dates within the book match up with themselves but not with the game at all and I think that’s purposeful, as it a) represents the secrecy of government issues where no one really knows what happens at what time (information is a theme in the game) and as a character says in game, it almost feels as if time is warped or at least shifted dramatically at some point.
I tried playing Killer7 on steam with KBaM and man it was not fun lmao, the controls were so awkward. Might give it a 2nd shot if it supports controller.
It definitely takes a bit of time and playing around to get used to I personally don't think it's meant to feel "smooth" to give players an anxious feeling when having to deal with enemies like tank controls in survival horror games, but once you get a hang of the controls its pretty enjoyable. PC controls definitely make it easier while console controls really rely on the lock-on button
Ahh the infamous Capcom 5 I was on the old GameSpot system wars forums when they got announced they were gonna kill the Xbox then right after the Capcom 5 there was the Nintendo big 4 Mario sunshine star fox zelda wind water and metroid prime star fox and Mario were huge flops that was the first time xbox fans got to fight back and roast Nintendo fans it was brutal for an entire week of course back then flop and AAA had completely different definitions and reviews were trusted especially GameSpot who was the harshest reviewers out
I don't know anyone who actually hated this game. The people who would have hated it never actually played it, so they didn't hate it in reality. The ones who did play it loved it. So idk if it's fair to say "People loved it or hated it."
I would love to hear your thoughts on Bloodborne if you ever get around to it because like Killer7 it's a special game both in it's gameplay and story.
I suspect the international release was part of why puzzles were reigned in a bit. Anything too nuanced can suffer badly in translation from one language or culture to another.
I loved the villians, they were quite creepy and unnerving. I liked the idea behind all the different Smith's/assassin's. I personally didn't like the actual gameplay or story execution though, one of those things where the ingredients were all great, but the stew tastes strange...
I really want to mention how each Smith was killed ironically by Emir
Kevin who is a master at stealth and disguise, was seen through his bellhop disguise by Emir and was killed.
Con who's blind but had sensitive hearing was unable to notice Emir sneaking in to kill him.
Masque was killed with his mask off, which being seen without your mask on is considered shameful in the lucha libre world.
Kaede who reveals things hidden was killed while hiding in a wardrobe.
Coyote who's the most athletic was outmaneuvered by Emir
And Dan who's The Hellion and the badass of the group, hesitated in shooting Emir which is the one thing you should never do as an assassin
Emir outdoes every Smith, making him a suitable replacement for the Smith Syndicate
Kaede is also the most selfless one, slitting her own wrists in order to open paths, and yet when she sees Emir, she runs and hides instead of trying to warn anyone.
I think Kevin was the one we heard in the cassette tapes. He was silenced by Emir. Therefore his first kill.
Killer7. A game that only gets more complex and layered on repeated playthroughs. Suda51 really channels the best of David Lynch, Takashi Miike, and Alejandro Jodorowsky in K7, but does his own thing. I only hope we get a directors cut, as the story was going to WAY more long, spanning literal centuries and would’ve followed Harman from his birth until his final showdown with Kun Lan. And of course, Masafumi Takada’s brilliant score. One of the few games where the music elevates the game’s atmosphere. Also, the voice acting doesn’t get enough praise. One thing which has been consistent with Suda’s games is the tight and strong vocal performances by his characters. Killer7 is no exception. Everyone is doing a triple A effort of constantly giving life to these characters. I always wonder if Suda, like Kojima, has a lot of input on the actors that do the English dub.
I'm honestly not sure theres ever been a game i personally wanted to be turned into a series more than Killer 7.
I was thinking the same, not just voice acting, translation from japanese always looks very rough -specially at that time- and often the phrasing of one third of the script just sounds...weird...but in Suda's games characters speak fluent Tarantino wich feels like 4 steps ahead his competition. I wonder how he does it.
I'm not sure Suda even speaks english, I've never seen him without a translator in interviews.
If I recall correctly Suda doesn't have Japanese VA in his games, I'm pretty sure the games have English VA even in Japan.
The real Killer 7 is the friends we murdered on the way.
I'm always glad to see more recognizition for the masterpiece that is killer7.
I love how stylish the game is, not in the sense of doing cool actions like DMC, but how it's framed. The atmosphere of places like Harman's Room, the shift to 3rd person whenever you reload, the intro before every mission where you line up a lazer with the boss, the death cutscene when your character dies, and each character's little quips in the TV and when getting a critical hit. It still holds up for a playthrough, even if it's only a single one due to it's extreme linearity and simple gameplay.
My favorite thing about this game is the lead up to the bosses. Shuffling up those stairs while Rave On begins blasting...
So memorable.
I love this game. I sharpie'd TEXAS BRONCO onto a yellow shirt and went to a convention and no one knew what it was. Good times, man.
Well are you from Texas? Nobody would wear that shirt unless they are from Texas silly.
Fun fact Kevin being silent is actually not a reference. He was originally more fleshed out, being the only gay member according to supplementary material and he originally had a British accent you can dig up in the files. When downsizing I guess they figured it would make him more interesting if he literally made no noise if he was going to have the least presence so they wrote that his voice would awaken the ancient gods if he ever spoke. Patented suda weirdness but it doesn’t have a reference for once which is interesting. Shout outs to suda making a shirtless guy named Kevin interesting with a single word meanwhile volition didn’t even come close.
do you have a link or reference to back the kevin being gay? i would absolutely love it and would love kevin a lot more.
"I'm not a monster, it's only a mask."
Mask de smith best boy
With Suda saying how Killer7 is actually a 3rd of what he wanted to write, I really hope we someday get that Director's Cut he teased us about
Guess I'll wait for the Flower Sun and Rain remaster while we wait for more news
Playing this game made me rethink the entire way I interpret media in general. This is an important, milestone game. Never forget Killer7, it doesn't deserve to be lost to time.
Suda's games stick out so much due to their unique artstyle and stories. He's like a Japanese Quinton Tarantino for video games imo.
Tarantino mixed with David Lynch.
My favorite Smith was Kevin. His knives are so damn good when it comes to hitting weakspots. The blood you get by playing as him is insane. No other Smith can hit weakspots as reliably as Kevin.
Thanks so much for making such an amazing review for this timeless masterpiece!
Cheers! Thank you for your patronage!
Thank you for covering this game. I've never had a game where I outwardly explored all the lore I possibly can. Suda51 really makes worlds feel real & surreal at the same time. (And never forget the punishing rangers, the Handsome Men!)
Believe it or not, Suda was asked about Kevin Smith and if he was a Silent Bob reference and it turns out he never heard of Clerks until then.
Kevin is, however, gay
just your friendly reminder that suda wants to do a fully finished version of killer7, so go get that pc port if you can ;)
I remember being in a Blockbuster back in the day and I saw a young kid who was probably about 9 with his mum and he wanted to rent Killer7 and she glanced at it and allowed him to get it. I wonder what his reaction was to it.
really curious now
I got to meet Suda and his amazing interpreter at PAX East last week and the respect and interest he had in my respect and interest brought me to tears.
Dan's huge anime sideburns in those cutscenes are amazing.
Killer7 was a wild game to play around the age of 14. So much of it has stuck with me. Fantastic interactive experience.
Literally impossible to not bob your head when "rave on" comes on
I’ve been obsessed with this game for a while now, but I only just finished it for the first time a couple weeks back. I pray that a Director’s Cut somehow sees the light of day especially for how long the story was initially intended to be. There’ll never be anything quite like this game, never again
I believe Suda said in an interview that he wanted to make a "complete" edition with a different heavily extended story, but I doubt he would be given the funding to do it sadly
Neat connection to The SIlver Case: at the moment shown in your video at 30:03, the melody plays the Kusabi theme from The Silver Case
Ah the kill the past series. Moonlight syndrome, the silver case, the flower sun and rain, killer7, no more heroes.
Also suda51 extra samurai champloo sidetracked and blood+ one night kiss.
Isn't the 25th ward also a part of the kill the last series?
If you liked killer 7, please go and play the rest of suda’s “kill the past” series. Starts with the visual novels “the silver case” and then goes all over the place but if you look into this series it’ll put K7 in a whole different context
I'm not sure Killer 7 is part of the kill the past series.
@@Nov-5062 oh it is. K7 characters show up repeatedly throughout the entire series.
@@Nov-5062 there's a lot of reoccurring themes in the Kill the Past series that appear in Killer7
the whole series is amazing
"And by the way...women are all the same!!" **blows brains out**
This fucking game 🤣🤣🤣
We need to bring back cel shading in new games nowadays. Cel shading will make your game look timeless compared to games that try way to hard making look realistic. An art style and atmosphere will always be better than let's make the most realistic look characters and scenery.
May the Lord smile...and the Devil have mercy
I beat Killer 7 & it was a breathe of fresh air. Its basically its own genre. Its like an action packed comic book mixed with 80's Manga anime the way its framed.
This is genuinely one of the greatest games of all time, great review
Yep, I can definitely see this game as the precursor to No More Heroes.
Also, whenever I hear Greg Eagles' voice in anything I just immediately think of Grim from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
I know him as stillman from mgs2 (if I'm recalling correctly)
@@aznracerboi1 yep! And the Darpa Chief in the first game
Fun Fact; Suda 51 originally had Killer 7, No More Heroes and another game be part of an unofficial trilogy, before the commercial successes of the games. NMH got a second game, and Killer7 got an unnofficial sequel in Killer is Dead.
Also, NMH and Killer7 reference each other. The ghost Travis in Killer7 is Travis Touchdown and the canon ending for NMH has a character that looks like and sounds like Garcian/Emir kill Travis on the toilet.
“This Stacy they love, she’s an illusion.”
I mean in the context of the story she’s a virtual star
Like Hatsune Miku
I want a sequel that adds 6 more characters and have it called Killer13
Something tells me that the dialogue exchange between Dan and Curtis, becomes surprisingly more relevant to the world at large than ever.
Especially with what a lot of "sick, old men" are doing in this sociopolitical climate of ours.
At that time my brother was 13 years old, and we went to the game store to get him a game as a birthday present. He didn't know which game to pick and I suggested killer 7. He find it every challenging at the time but it became one of his favorites.
I hope to see more people get into K7 because of the gun with the same name in the RE4 remake.
Even as a dumb kid, I was in love with this game.
I've been debating picking up the Steam release for the last few days. Nice timing on this upload.
Yet another one of Capcom's hidden gem with tons of potential. I believe this is the game that Shinji Mikami worked on while he was also directing RE4 (and yes, the magnum in the game was so aptly named to promote Killer7's release). I think this game is just another testament of how turbulent Capcom's history was, with the 2000s being their most inventive, as they come up with all these new games, each with their own distinct styles. Yet sadly not all of them got the attention that they deserve.
It's a shame Capcom didn't port it over on ps4
In Resident Evil 4, Leon can unlock Dan's gun, and even does Dan's pose while holding it.
Played this in 2006 and found it weirdly profound. So for around 7 years I did graphic design for bands under the brand name Heavens Smile; (intentional semi colon to seem cooler than i was).
Proud of that time with HS; but not sure I think the game is as profound now if much at all.
One of the most important games in my life. It's informed so many of my tastes. Thank you so much for a video on it!
Lmao "The Republic Party", thats just funny.
I love this game for what it made me do with it's content. There's so many ways you can combine aspects of this story and the cut story into spiraling theories.
So happy to see you cover this game, I love this game so much and I hope more people can get into Grasshopper’s games
Art house game, but, underrated, unappreciated game for it's time, seems now it's finally got a cult following, still makes me wonder how the hell this classic game even got a pc port.
17:15 Intruder from the mandela catolgue invades killer 7.
I remember picking this game out, meanwhile my twin picked out Resident Evil 4.
We didn't know anything about games, and we managed to pick out 2 of the best games for the system and had so much fun (after getting over how scary the games were lol)
@codplayer-xz3mpBoth games were part of the Capcom 5 Killer 7 Resi 4 Pn03 Vietiful How and one game was cancelled
one is ZOMBIEZZ GRAAHHH and the other is POLITICAL TERRORIST GOD MADE ZOMBIESZZ!!!! AGGHHH!!!!
I love this game so much and really do want to create a texture pack for this game. Some textures are so low red that it's kinda distracting. Unfortunately most textures are in a file that I'm not sure how to extract from. But if anyone knows how, please let me know.
I also made a control scheme on steam to have it so that you can have gyro aiming with a switch, ps4 and ps5 controller with a character select wheel
Rave on is such a fucking bop
Of the Capcom five, I have heard of four, remember three, interested in two, and not surprised only one was truly successful
It's a rare gem which intelligently succeeds in oozing atmosphere that will forever remain etched in your memory. It's quite otherworldly, like an obscure surreal nightmare. Claustrophobic in it's execution as if it's in the mind of a madman.
Claustrophobic is a perfect discriptor of the moment to moment gameplay.
this game is the greatest game ever made. it's my favorite game of all time. it does politics RIGHT. it shows how it can be done right. theres no in your face bullshit. every character is memorable.
this game was a notable memory from my last summer. i really loved the game and if it wasnt for its sad ending, i would have played it more and more!
To this day I've never played anything like k7. Love it.
most stylish game of all time
So to piggy back off what you said about the movement, i do believe there is some DNA of tank controls present (the slower delibrate movements, increased tension via lack of control, camera angels, slow but relentless creatures, etc.). Truly it's a strange and unique amalgam of old school survival horror, RPG, action game,VN, and unique stylings that i don't think ever could of worked without such a focused vision. I'm not sure anything has tried to emulate Killer 7 becuase Killer 7 is kind of already an amalgamation of emulated influences with a super unique and polished presentation.
Doesn't literally work with tank controls?
@@SoftBoiledArt it's similar but i probably wouldn't call it tank controls, i can certaintly see the arguement for it though.
I've been a passionate gamer since the og Game Boy, but I have lost interest in gaming more and more as of late. I mostly stick to indie games and Nintendo nowadays. Imho, gaming has become too creatively sterile, which is why I like games like Killer 7. Not because they are flawless, but because the feel unconventional and interesting. If Killer 7 was made today, it would probably be another generic OTS RE4 clone.
You're absolutely right, just mechanically K7 is a friggin ONRAILS action adventure with invisible enemies. No one would take the risk, controls and pov are standarized, literally every game plays the same.
And that's just talking mechanics.
Suda51 is my role model
You should check out Shadows of the Damned, a really underrated Suda game
I don't know man, it flopped for a reason imo.
Thanks so much for talking about this game, it is such a unique, progressive work of art in the medium, and far too few people have played it, and most people, sadly to me, think that MGS2 is the height of postmodern art in games, unaware of just how ambitious and amazing Killer 7 is, how much vastly more serious it is than any of Suda 51's other well-known games, etc. So thank you for talking about it : D
I actually think the puzzles are the way they are in order to not interrupt the flow and pace of the game. They are meant to be a little spice to the overall gameplay, but not to be something the player is ever staring at frowning for 10+ minutes, you know? I think it would be a worse game if it had more involved puzzles... unless I am misunderstanding what kind of puzzles you are suggesting.
I still sit and listen to the ost for encounter 2 while I work
Neon White seem very inspired by this
While I do like your video I disagree with you sentiment about the hotel.
I think it is effective that we as players have to go through the hotel twice because as we established Garcian is like the main character. And he goes to the hotel twice once as emir and once as Garcian. At least for me despite not actually killing the other smiths, going to the hotel twice made me feel as if I was in the shoes of Garcian.
Would love to see swery, suda 51, and the guy who did neir make a game. It would be a trip.
The silver case didnt have many puzzles either.
Its basically a slightly more interactive visual novel
It's probably the most convoluted story I've ever seen too.
The logic leaps and bizarre story turns just had my jaw dropping constantly, and not in a good way... >__>
@@planescaped In what way? The Silver Case is a top ten game for me so I'm just curious what you didn't like about the story.
whats the song at 7:40
the game has severeal thematic nods to his previous games at that time (or just straight up cameos), so playing games like the silver case could help somewhat
Yeah the main reason Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake is that Dragami Games is making it. They are former Kadokawa devs who own the LC IP. Capcom owns the Killer7 IP and they seem to have no interest in doing anything with it considering that they didn’t even port it to Steam as that was NISA, so no new remakes or ports doesn’t surprise me.
Grasshopper also doesn’t own No More Heroes as that’s owned by Marvelous and Let It Die is Gung-ho. The only Grasshopper IPs they own are Silver Case, Flower Sun and Rain, 25th Ward, Shadows of the Damned, and Killer Is Dead.
That’s actually why they said they have a 10 year plan to create 3 new IPs that they can own since the 2 things that put them on the map (Killer7 & NMH), and their best selling game (Lollipop), among others they can’t do anything with.
Man, I love Killed7. I think I was 15 or 16 when I first played it on PS2 and it was probably the most unique game I had experienced at the time.
Valid.
God damn. Go tell your old teachers, mother, old friends, future children in a note.
You’re valid.
The pseudo japanese grandpa of Cruelty Squad.
bought this on steam deck the other week, its not clear on which region its based on. Back in the day the Japanese version was censored (gore and a sex scene) whereas the US version on the ps2 and gamecube remained uncut
Dont forget windmill...(music) .....this game blew me away....even on ps2....it was a mind fuck....a sociopaths delight
Y’a know what some great games to review are? Little nightmares 1 & 2!
Agreed 2 is incredible!
Isn't that a horror game on ps1?
@@thegamingprozone1941 I think you might’ve mixed up Nightmare Creatures 1 and 2 on the PS1 with Little Nightmares 1 and 2 which is on modern consoles
@@TheOldYoungOne ohhhh ok my bad lol
I absolutely love this game, can’t believe the re-release didn’t hit any consoles
first time hearing about this.. looks utterly insane.
gonna go dive deep, now. thanks!
It has "memorized" fans... Be wary people, this game remembers us all.
Suda51 is one hell of a game developer
Oh yeah suda51 yoko taro who did drakengard/nier then kodaka who did danganronpa
@@Hikaru0kamiki not to mention no more heroes
The track Multiple Personality and the Riddler Theme from The Batman use the same sample. Be cool if this game influenced the movie some.
Well that’s one way to start a video
I played most of the game but I havent finished it,should I watch the video to fuel my fire to play it again or should I finish the game first and then come back?
I recommend finishing it. I had a hard time finishing the game with a controller, I find the PC controls a lot more intuitive and so finished the game multiple times on PC.
@@Nov-5062 Yes I played it on pc but started to not play so much in the Cloudman chapter
Who is the voice actor in the prelude I’ve heard that voice so many times I just don’t know who it is
Cam Clark does the voice for Andrei Ulmayda. You might recognize him as Master Miller/Liquid Snake in MGS1, but he's been in a lot of stuff.
@@MrDrCthulhu yeah the voice is iconic
Speaking of killer 7 there’s a gun in resident evil 4 called the killer 7 which might mean re4 came out shortly after killer 7!
No, Killer7 was released a few months after RE4. There is a Gun that references Killer7 because both games were inp roduction at the same time and Shinji Mikami was working on both. That Gun is not the only reference to Killer7 in RE4 btw, the Regeneradores are very clearly Heaven Smiles, in both appearence and mechanics, there is also the Mob + Chicago Typewriter Dress & Weapon which mirrors the unlockable Harman Smith personality once you beat the agme once and play in Killer8 mode.
@@CerealKiller that’s cool I didn’t think about the rengenadores bearing resemblance to the smiles or the harman smith reference with the suit thanks for bringing those up!
13:40
13:49
Yup, those are what I'd call Danganronpas.
My whole 1st playthrough of the game I was completely sucked in with a sense a wonder I have felt since I was a kid or teen. I was 30
Nice review. Always interesting to hear others' thoughts on this game. No More Heroes was my introduction to Grasshopper and still one of my other favorites, but Killer7 is only second (coincidentally) to Wind Waker for me.
Supplementary material can be fun, but that's just it, it's supplementary. Not meant to be taken into account with the final product. At least, that's the way in which I view it. A little odd, there are sort of exceptions within series like Drakegnard/Nier having so many different books and stage plays and tie ins with other games now it's a bit hard to keep track, but at least most of the games still stand well enough on their own. But so far as I'm concerned, the content in Hand in Killer7 might be interesting, but is not canon considering they likely knew they would not be able to get everything into the game in time and fit the story they had finished accordingly.
With that in mind, I believe most of the game can be boiled down to Emir and his inner turmoil, and what exactly is actually "real" within the story itself is a bit murky by design. The stuff said in the forbidden room, especially about the young man who killed his mother, I think may at least be close to what actually happened at least, and served as a catalyst to him murdering the Smith syndicate. Having felt guilt for his actions, he took his own life up on the roof of the hotel, that much is clear, but where some say Harman took him in, I don't think it's necessarily that cut and dry; I think it's entirely just as possible that the events from then on are the content of a dying dream. I suppose that's a bit more cliched an idea, now more than when I first thought it up many years ago, but I still think it fits just as well as something akin to the narrative of Silent Hill 2 or others in the same vein.
There are so many details, both little and possibly meaningless, to kind of so bold that it might just be me misinterpreting things, but stuff like both Samantha and Harman acting wildly differently within natural and artificial light, the forbidden room literally locking away past memories as well as Harman and Kun Lan being a bit more friendly than they let on, Iwazaru being a sort of wolf in sheeps clothing, even things like the Cloudman cutscenes implying(at least to me) that Garcian is the one specifically talking to these people what with undertones of racism going on - I'm not one to typically go overboard on that kind of thing like much of twitter is these days, but I feel at least that was intentional. So much of the other characters don't get any focus, as you say, and I think that is because this is really all in Garcian's mind. The politics and violence between these two countries, all the different ways in which the Heaven Smile are supposedly made but especially from organ harvesting from children, I think it all represents Emir's own upbringing and trying to come to terms with what he has done and that the truth of the matter is not so black and white as he would like to believe. Breaking my own sort of rule here, but having played Silver Case since, I don't think it's all too dissimilar from the shelter kids and Kamui Uehara as far as the theming goes. I guess regardless of whether anything "actually happened" doesn't really matter so much either way, so long as that point is made clear.
Now, I'm not so sure what to make of the connection with the NMH universe, what with the Killer7 introduction added on to Travis Strikes Again. I recall reading in an interview that explains that some of these connections may be within that universe, but not necessarily the other way around, if that makes any sense. But I could be remembering wrong. Even so, that kind of makes sense to me at least. Better to let things stay vague and as free as possible, because that's what I really don't like about having to adhere to these supplementary materials as if they're some bible or guidebook to these games. Things should be allowed to remain fluid if the creator wants them to.
Dude write an essay why don't ya?
@@MegaMar14 why leave a comment if you’re not gonna put any thought into it? Worthless
The hand in killer 7 cut content idea is actually a misconception. All of the dates within the book match up with themselves but not with the game at all and I think that’s purposeful, as it a) represents the secrecy of government issues where no one really knows what happens at what time (information is a theme in the game) and as a character says in game, it almost feels as if time is warped or at least shifted dramatically at some point.
I tried playing Killer7 on steam with KBaM and man it was not fun lmao, the controls were so awkward. Might give it a 2nd shot if it supports controller.
It definitely takes a bit of time and playing around to get used to
I personally don't think it's meant to feel "smooth" to give players an anxious feeling when having to deal with enemies like tank controls in survival horror games, but once you get a hang of the controls its pretty enjoyable.
PC controls definitely make it easier while console controls really rely on the lock-on button
It does indeed support a controller. Mouse aiming works better though.
1st! For once in my life. Absolutely adore killer 7……and this channel
One of my favorite games of all time. A flawed masterpiece.
*Killer Is Dead and No More Heroes 3 are in my top 5 of best linear games all time* 👌
Ahh the infamous Capcom 5 I was on the old GameSpot system wars forums when they got announced they were gonna kill the Xbox then right after the Capcom 5 there was the Nintendo big 4 Mario sunshine star fox zelda wind water and metroid prime star fox and Mario were huge flops that was the first time xbox fans got to fight back and roast Nintendo fans it was brutal for an entire week of course back then flop and AAA had completely different definitions and reviews were trusted especially GameSpot who was the harshest reviewers out
I don't know anyone who actually hated this game. The people who would have hated it never actually played it, so they didn't hate it in reality. The ones who did play it loved it. So idk if it's fair to say "People loved it or hated it."
I would love to hear your thoughts on Bloodborne if you ever get around to it because like Killer7 it's a special game both in it's gameplay and story.
I suspect the international release was part of why puzzles were reigned in a bit. Anything too nuanced can suffer badly in translation from one language or culture to another.
The Silver Case's puzzles were also really basic. It's a Suda thing.
Just beat this game this year, what a trip.
I played through all difficulties in Killer7 back in the day. I loved it so much.
What a wonderful game.
I loved the villians, they were quite creepy and unnerving.
I liked the idea behind all the different Smith's/assassin's.
I personally didn't like the actual gameplay or story execution though, one of those things where the ingredients were all great, but the stew tastes strange...
i fucking love this game and its unique complexity