Despite it's flaws, Koudelka is a great game for hardcore RPG fans looking to expand thier horizons.
A game related to the Shadow Hearts series? I had to find it! So i did, I went to the place all gamers go in search of rare games: Ebay.
The first thing you'll notice when you start playing Koudelka is the graphics. My lord, they make games like Final Fantasy VII look ugly! Seriously, the FMV scenes are actually better than in the first Shadow Hearts game, and Koudelka is for the PSX!
The in game graphics are dark--as is the entire game and theme--and they are a little grainy. The character models are blocky...but no where near the way very old PSX game graphics were, so in retrospect..they are very good. The monster models are actually rather varied and detailed, compareable to the SH monsters. All in all, this game is simply beautiful...which is why it is four disks long.
So who/what is Koudelka exactly? Well Koudelka is the name of our protagonist, a young 'witch' with the power to speak with the dead. One spirit in particular leads her to a place known as Nemeton Monestary, a once holy place now tainted with the blood of heretics and a truly grisly past.
There are three playable characters, Edward, Koudelka, and James. The three aren't the best of friends and fight often, which leads to some interesting conversations and story archs. Even though the game is rather restrictive in where you go and what you do, it remains interesting in it's story and characters.
Battle takes place on a field and is played in a style stolen from tactics games. The three characters and the enemies, all move in a turn based fashion. You can move across the field to attack, escape, or vary an attack or spell. The position of your characters is quite important because spells and long-range weapons deal less damage the farther way you are from your target, and melee attacks can usually only be done when you are one space in front of the target.
I liked the mix of tactics and traditional RPG elements. The weapon system however is a bit sketchy. Weapons break after numerous uses, and while I didn't run out of weapons in my play through...i'm sure it is quite possible for a player to end up fighting bare handed...or resorting to magic.
Your stats can become unbalanced, making some characters super-man and others limp celery. All in all, however, the battle system is fine...even entertainging.
In essence, each part of the game require you to explore Nemeton, engage in a conversation with the party...and then finally fight a boss and save. The game is not very forgiving in the sense that if you don't win a boss battle, you don't get to save there...you die. All that exploring, puzzle solving, leveling up...can be totally destroyed unless you are frequent with your saves at past boss-areas.
The game's sound is actually rather good. This is one of the few PSX games to actually have spoken dialouge...and it isn't that bad really. It's no FF game, but the voice actors aren't annoying and they suit the characters well. There isn't alot of music or SFX, but what little there is of the two is well done and fitting for the tone of the game.
I really enjoyed Koudelka because it game me insight into the SH universe, but remained it's own very unique game. The story has alot of elements that intrigued me--religion being a very important theme--and the graphics are just amazing for any PSX game.
Despite it's flaws, Koudelka is a great game for hardcore RPG fans looking to expand thier horizons. It not only supplies the player with alot of dark elements not present in many games, but it does so with style and beauty.