Koudelka
Encyclopedia
is a role-playing game
developed by Sacnoth
for the Sony PlayStation. The game was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan
, June 29, 2000, in North America
and September 29, 2000, in Europe
.
, Wales
, the game follows the mysterious occurrences surrounding Nemeton Monastery and the three protagonists who, by chance, are forced to investigate its dark history.
After a series of troubling visions, Koudelka Iasant, a young gypsy girl with supernatural powers, arrives at the Monastery. There she is met by Edward Plunkett, an adventurer, and Father James O'Flaherty, a bishop.
The plot is that a long time ago, an old man was a captain of a ship named 'The Mary Alice' that went down in a terrible accident involving fire. The old man was blamed and received bad treatment before he went into a sad retirement (it is hinted that the fire was actually caused by the cook on the ship). He and his wife, still wealthy from the ship's earnings, purchased an old monastery in Aberystwyth. The old man and his wife (named Ogden and Bessy) became friends with a certain woman named Ellaine. She believed that the boat accident wasn't Ogden's fault. Welcoming of her sympathy and understanding Ellaine and Ogden became very close. Ellaine was married to an alchemist named Patrick. Ellaine had picked Patrick over James (the 3rd character the player finds) as a husband. Patrick had promised James that he would protect Ellaine, but one day, something bad happened. Ellaine was killed by burglars that broke into her house. In their devastation at her death, Ogden and Patrick looked for mystical ways of bringing her back. After much research, Patrick found an ancient text that could bring the dead back to life.
The spell required that several fresh bodies were fed to a cauldron over time. Ogden and Patrick began with prostitutes and thieves but then began to go to nearby towns and abduct innocent people, murdering them horribly at the monastery.
After donating over two hundred bodies to the cauldron, the spell took effect. But, unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. Ellaine's body was resurrected, but not her soul. She was a monster, a beast with the image of an angel. On top of that, all the innocent people who had been sacrificed were awake as well. They came in many forms: ghosts, spirits, monsters, zombies, beasts, etc. What happens in the time between here and the start of the game is unknown. Koudelka is summoned there by the spirit of Ellaine. Edward is there because he heard rumours and came to investigate and James (who is unaware of Ellaine's death at the beginning) was sent there by his coven.
, best known for composing the music to Seiken Densetsu 2 and Seiken Densetsu 3
while working at Square
, established Sacnoth
in 1997 with funding from SNK
. Unhappy with what he considered as the disjointed, juvenile, and stagnant nature of most RPGs, Kikuta had intended to take the genre in a whole new direction.
Internal quarrels within Sacnoth had led to a compromised product. Kikuta had wanted to develop an action-based battle system, citing Resident Evil
as a source of inspiration. However, his employees were adamant about releasing something closer to the kind of games that Square had been making.
The game was fully voice-acted, and starred Vivianna Bateman as Koudelka, Michael Bradbury as Edward, and Scott Larson as James. The game also featured several FMV
cutscene
s.
sidestory, written and illustrated by Yuji Iwahara
, was published in Kadokawa Shoten
's Monthly Ace Next. There are a few differences between the game and the manga. In the first volume, Koudelka's hair was long, before it was cut by the Asian man, making it look short, as similar to the game. And at Joshua's homeland, it is said that Dr. Hans told that name Koudelka Yasant, which is different from Iasant, Koudelka's original surname. Said to be 20 years old with dark brown hair.
The fifteen chapters were collected in three volumes
:
gave the game a score of 6.0 out of 10, praising the cutscenes, but criticizing the combat sections and calling Kikuta's music "a disaster". Although GameSpot
's review of Koudelka yielded similar sentiments on the game's cutscenes and combat, as well as a score of 6.7 out of 10, it praised the soundtrack as being "simply amazing".
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
developed by Sacnoth
Sacnoth
Sacnoth was a small Japanese based video games developer.Sacnoth’s high profile games include Koudelka for the PlayStation, the three Shadow Hearts games for the PlayStation 2, and Faselei! for the Neo Geo Pocket Color...
for the Sony PlayStation. The game was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, June 29, 2000, in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and September 29, 2000, in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Gameplay
The style of the game is a composition of survival horror games and tactical RPGs with a grid-based system for combat.Plot
Set in 1898 in AberystwythAberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the game follows the mysterious occurrences surrounding Nemeton Monastery and the three protagonists who, by chance, are forced to investigate its dark history.
After a series of troubling visions, Koudelka Iasant, a young gypsy girl with supernatural powers, arrives at the Monastery. There she is met by Edward Plunkett, an adventurer, and Father James O'Flaherty, a bishop.
The plot is that a long time ago, an old man was a captain of a ship named 'The Mary Alice' that went down in a terrible accident involving fire. The old man was blamed and received bad treatment before he went into a sad retirement (it is hinted that the fire was actually caused by the cook on the ship). He and his wife, still wealthy from the ship's earnings, purchased an old monastery in Aberystwyth. The old man and his wife (named Ogden and Bessy) became friends with a certain woman named Ellaine. She believed that the boat accident wasn't Ogden's fault. Welcoming of her sympathy and understanding Ellaine and Ogden became very close. Ellaine was married to an alchemist named Patrick. Ellaine had picked Patrick over James (the 3rd character the player finds) as a husband. Patrick had promised James that he would protect Ellaine, but one day, something bad happened. Ellaine was killed by burglars that broke into her house. In their devastation at her death, Ogden and Patrick looked for mystical ways of bringing her back. After much research, Patrick found an ancient text that could bring the dead back to life.
The spell required that several fresh bodies were fed to a cauldron over time. Ogden and Patrick began with prostitutes and thieves but then began to go to nearby towns and abduct innocent people, murdering them horribly at the monastery.
After donating over two hundred bodies to the cauldron, the spell took effect. But, unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. Ellaine's body was resurrected, but not her soul. She was a monster, a beast with the image of an angel. On top of that, all the innocent people who had been sacrificed were awake as well. They came in many forms: ghosts, spirits, monsters, zombies, beasts, etc. What happens in the time between here and the start of the game is unknown. Koudelka is summoned there by the spirit of Ellaine. Edward is there because he heard rumours and came to investigate and James (who is unaware of Ellaine's death at the beginning) was sent there by his coven.
Development
Hiroki KikutaHiroki Kikuta
is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the...
, best known for composing the music to Seiken Densetsu 2 and Seiken Densetsu 3
Seiken Densetsu 3
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for Nintendo's Super Famicom as a part of the Mana series.The game features three lengthy main plotlines, six different characters, each with their own storylines, and a wide range of classes to choose from, which provides each...
while working at Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
, established Sacnoth
Sacnoth
Sacnoth was a small Japanese based video games developer.Sacnoth’s high profile games include Koudelka for the PlayStation, the three Shadow Hearts games for the PlayStation 2, and Faselei! for the Neo Geo Pocket Color...
in 1997 with funding from SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
. Unhappy with what he considered as the disjointed, juvenile, and stagnant nature of most RPGs, Kikuta had intended to take the genre in a whole new direction.
Internal quarrels within Sacnoth had led to a compromised product. Kikuta had wanted to develop an action-based battle system, citing Resident Evil
Resident Evil (video game)
Resident Evil, known as in Japan, is a survival horror video game by Capcom. The first installment in the Resident Evil series, it was originally released in 1996 for the PlayStation and was subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn and PC. In 2002, a remake of the game was released for the Nintendo...
as a source of inspiration. However, his employees were adamant about releasing something closer to the kind of games that Square had been making.
The game was fully voice-acted, and starred Vivianna Bateman as Koudelka, Michael Bradbury as Edward, and Scott Larson as James. The game also featured several FMV
FMV
FMV may refer to:*Full motion video, Video sequences in computer games and video games*Fair market value, an estimate of the market value of a property*For Maximum Value , Kroger supermarket's store brand...
cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s.
Manga
A mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
sidestory, written and illustrated by Yuji Iwahara
Yuji Iwahara
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from art school he joined Hudson Soft as a graphic artist. He made his manga debut in 1994 in Afternoon with a story for which he won the fall Afternoon Four Seasons Award, a prize he received three more times over the next two years...
, was published in Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
's Monthly Ace Next. There are a few differences between the game and the manga. In the first volume, Koudelka's hair was long, before it was cut by the Asian man, making it look short, as similar to the game. And at Joshua's homeland, it is said that Dr. Hans told that name Koudelka Yasant, which is different from Iasant, Koudelka's original surname. Said to be 20 years old with dark brown hair.
The fifteen chapters were collected in three volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
:
- ISBN 978-4047133044 (Released on November 1999)
- ISBN 978-4047133389 (Released on May 2000)
- ISBN 978-4047133617 (Released on September 2000)
Reception
Dutch magazine Power UnlimitedPower Unlimited
Power Unlimited is a Dutch multi-format computer and video games magazine. It is the biggest gaming magazine in the Benelux. The first issue was released in June 1993.-History:...
gave the game a score of 6.0 out of 10, praising the cutscenes, but criticizing the combat sections and calling Kikuta's music "a disaster". Although GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's review of Koudelka yielded similar sentiments on the game's cutscenes and combat, as well as a score of 6.7 out of 10, it praised the soundtrack as being "simply amazing".