I have the Cube version heading my way for sometime next week... I can't wait, personally

I should have the cube version in a week or two hopefully.

Looking at the vids and the hyperbole coming from Saurian, this has to be superb.

I could just watch it all day it just oozes class.

I shall have it next week also! I forgot it was coming out so soon, and completely forgot to order it

I'm not convinced yet. It's great that poeple get enthused by games and stuff, but I haven't seen anything in the gameplay that's made me want it so far. I suppose it'd because I don't quite understand what you're meant to do (the videos don't explain the timing, or how much freedom you have).

Graphically it looks ok, but I've ben baffled all along by people thinking it looks amazing. Just looks like a fairly average cel shaded game to me

Anyway, impressions as soon as you get chance, people. I'd like it to do something different. In the meantime, i'm still hanging on for Chibi Robo for my next slice of the pie called 'unusual' ^^

______

♫ I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Neither physical or otherwise,
If things come alive

Style, Mr Treble. That's what people are getting so enthused by! I haven't played this yet, but from the vids I've seem it looks very stylish indeed.

Fair enough, but it doesn't look very stylish to me. Not my....uh...style, if you get what I mean. It doesn't outstyle JSR/JSRF, in my opinion. Not from vids, anyway. Still, hopefully the gameplay's good, because Cappers have been on a roll of late

______

♫ I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Neither physical or otherwise,
If things come alive

I've been playing obsessively since last Tuesday and have loved every minute of it. I dont understand how people can say it's not stylish, that's your loss - it's absolutely stunning; the number of times I've just stopped the character in a room just to look at it are too countless to mention. If they want to induce tension they do so perfectly, it's got comedy in there too and they've managed to do so many different things with the battle system to keep things varied. Normal mode gives you an auto lock-on for finding hitpoints but hard mode removes this and hides the hitpoints in really awkward places ramping the difficulty up loads!

The story is totally insane, it's riveting yet the more you see and the more you discover about The Smiths the more you're like - W T F !?!?!?!?! X_X - when you find out what's behind that door you'll regret you ever asked! XD

I love it to bits -

I'd really like to see it moving, like, on my TV (not on a video). I don't want to judge it on some little clip run in 400*300 box ^^
The enthusiasm for the game is great, but i'm still not sure.....I found the lack of direct control in P.N.0.3 a bit boring ultimately, would you comare the two games at all? Not that i'm assuming they're the same, but having limited control during combat and/or movement?
:: shrug ::
I dunno, I can't get my head around how the game plays. Orta/Rez? P.N.0.3? Snatcher's shooting sections? Help >_<

______

♫ I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Neither physical or otherwise,
If things come alive

You've got totally the wrong idea - it's nothing like PN03.

Rather than thinking of it as limited movement etc - why not think of it as a very free text adventure? Cos that's what it is - it's exactly like one of those old text or graphic adventures from way back but presented totally visually in a really striking style.

The combat system is amazing I found, and being able to switch into and out of it seamlessly gives me more movement and evasion freedom than all the Resident Evil games bar number 4.

Like PN03 this is going to be one seriously misunderstood game - not that I give a fuck what people think anyway, I LOVE both games.

Hmm, I quite like text adventures (Color Me Sadd) so this sounds intriguing. One thing you can't really tell from any video is timing. How can you tell when a CPU attack is about to connect?

______

♫ I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Neither physical or otherwise,
If things come alive

How come you don't like PN03 Treb? Aside from the slightly elongated progression in the game. (Takes too long to build up your suits imo) it's a very tight and efficient barrel-o-fun.

The room by room style reminds me a bit of oldskool flipscreen games (Cybernoid) which is all good Jerry.

The more freedom of movement, the better. Anything where you can perform masses of movement and acrobatics. Hence why i'm a big fan of 2D fighters, Gun Valkyrie, NiGHTS, ZOE, Metal Gear, Devil May Cry etc. etc.

Anything that limits your movement during combat, I don't like. P.N.0.3 felt restrictive to me in that way.

______

♫ I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Neither physical or otherwise,
If things come alive

I'm looking forward to this for the reasons Saurian mentioned.

The point and click adventure is dead, but this seems like a reinvention of its main ideas. A souped up arcade format whereby the story is the driving force, and the mechanics are there to formulate a rhythm by which it can flow through.

And no... that doesn't mean I'm talking about those dreaded 'interactive movies', Dragon's Lair style.

More or less, I think Killer 7's ideas are both simple and fresh. The whole method of control is both stripped down, unexpected and different for this day and age, as are its fusion of shooting, puzzling and exploration. That's why the game interests me...

It has a minimalist aesthetic, a minimalist gameplay structure, but at the same time, features a narrative with characters that are terribly complex and hard to understand. There are contrasts, contradictions and shades with Killer 7 that make it unlike anything else out there... and because of that, I find the game deeply fascinates me.

We need more titles like this.

Righty-o, I'm beginning to get into the Japanese version of this - finally.

Once you are used to the game system (movement, targetting, power ups, map hints) it is actually quite playable in Japanese. You lose some story background, but all the main cut scenes are fully in English, so following the main story is no problem.

As for puzzles, the map basically tells you what needs doing and where, which has been fine for me so far.

The PS2 version is piss poor compared to the Cube version. Cut scenes are pre-rendered on the PS2, but rendered on the fly on the Cube (save the animated sections). Loading and save times are also appalling on PS2, and some sections suffer horrible slowdown.

So... is it any good? I say: yes. The first person shooting is basic, but enjoyable mainly down to panic and enemy variations.

The puzzle mechanics are standard RE fare, but the whole story and presentation is off-kilter enough for them to be interesting.

The main innovation is in the presention, and the touches of twisted humour throughout. The visual style is also incredibly impressive.

Some of the 'adult' themes do jar a little, it seems that sex, violence and swearing are in there mainly for the sake of it. But... fair enough, it's generally uncharted territory for a video game (or at least one with a solid story), and doesn't feel out of place with the style of the game.

I'm only up to the third chapter at the moment though, not really sure where the story is heading.

I'll have more thoughts once I get further into it.

Anyone else on this one?

I have this now, but it's still sealed, waiting for me to get my action replay off the kid next door who is rinsing Viewtiful Joe a hundred times over it seems. >_<

All I can say at the moment is that the box looks rather bland

Good to hear some more positive impressions though, might try this tonight if the missus will let me surrender the TV. She actually sat through an episode of Macross last night, so I don't want to push my luck too hard.

That looks rockin' - is that yours?

Sure is, only found out it existed couple of weeks ago and then Emir guided me to:

http://www.otaku.com/cgi-bin/productlist.asp?catsearch=&sdsearch=killer+7&x=23&y=12

There is a translation that's well worth checking out too - will hunt for the link. Such a lush book though :jawdrop:

That looks fab cheers for the heads up!

Glad to see you picked it up so fast.

It is indeed one lush book. I love those little cartoon Heaven Smiles.
I think my fave pic in the book is the painting of Curtis. He's one cool mofo.

Did you pick up the soundtrack too? Defo one of my favourite albums of last year.

Speaking of K7 merch. I picked this baby up the other week along with a few remaining comics and have now completed my K7 collection (minus teh US poster).

Will post up some pics of the lot later (I gotta scan a lot of it for that K7 site) But for now, enjoy:

Oooh Eeee!!! You got the red resin Dan Smith Figure!? That must have set you back a pretty penny...

Get posting your Killer7 collection, manz need to see what good shit is out there

Gonna get the Killer7 soundtrack next from that site - was my first time using Paypal so only ordered the book to see how I got on with it. Need a Mask De Smith figure though - they been dragging their feet on that for ages now.

About 80 notes with shipping. (0_0)

You hero!

It does look feckin great, despite the notes

That all looks lush!

Have you seen this site? - apologies if it's posted before;

http://www.killer7.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/killer7.htm

________________________________

"You're not Alexander!!!" -

t(-_-t) ~ MR.SMITH comes sick with it! Think Emir is gonna be chucking some Pics of his Collection up on there soon..?

You seen his Myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/topdrunkee

Yeah that's the site I'm gonna scan some things for. Just stuff that's not on there like the DVD that came with early JPN pre-orders, a couple of guide books 'n' stuff.

If I had the right gear and a knowledge to use it, I'd get some audio files up on there, since the dude's never played the JPN copy and witnessed the crazy vocoder voices.

Haha. That Myspace page killed my computer. (+_+)

Which versions of the Game itself do you have?

I've got both JPN PS2 and Cube, with promo DVDs (I think...), as well as the US Cube version.

Not quite sure why I ended up with that lot, I think the Cube one got lost on the post, so I suckered the PS2 version, then once I'd finished that I fancied playing though an English language copy

I've got all regions for the GC, and just the JPN ver. for the PS2 since it has a different cover. I'm not fond of the PS2 ver. though, it's my JPN/US GC copies that get all the loving.

I picked up the PAL copy with intentions of gettin' one of those Tees that came with the game through Pre-orders at GAME. But the losers didn't have any in when I picked up my copy. Boo.

Ok. Here's some stuff. I didn't bother scanning the comics 'cause I'm lazy.
Comics & books:



Some stuff from Hand in Killer7:



Dan Smith figure:


JPN Strategy guides:



CD Soundtrack & DVD's:




(JPN Pre-order dvd)


(Hong Kong bootleg - of low quality)

This took me frickin' AGES so I didn't bother with the games (I'm sure everyone knows what they look like) and there's a few bits missing that I couldn't find (US Strat. guide and an alternate ver. of Comic #3) but that's about it. Can't wait for Heroes.(^_^)

Gah. Just realised I forgot to get pics of the K7 card pack that came with Gamestop pre-orders.

Oh, and the reason the Biohazard 4 DVD is in there is 'cause it contains a nice little K7 trailer.

Amazing collection Emir, must hunt down the Strategy Guide - got the soundtrack winging its way to me right now. Looking forward to putting on a certain housey track and running up and down the stairs!

That is very impressive :jawdrop:

I buy Killer 7 today for €7! After VJ I will clock this too.

_____________________________

"And I'm Barry Hercules, Doc"

Cheers bud. (^_~)

You picked up quite a few of the comics didn't you? I've heard that it's been cancelled, and so wont go beyond issue #6 apparently. Same goes for the figures (Mask etc.) I think they were canned a couple of months back. Shame really.

Yeah heard it had been cancelled too but nevermind because...

RAVE ON!

Just got the Killer7 Soundtrack CD and it has to be said that Masafumi Takada is the shit! Chucking it all on my iPod now for the journey home.

Love the little picture of Dan Smith tucked away behind the CDs too. Too much style for one game...

http://www.grasshopper.co.jp/en/index.html

Title: The Silver Case

Release date: 1999.10.07
Playstation

In 1999, the 24 Districts. A series of mysterious and bizarre murders happened. Detectives of the High-degree Murder Division(HMD) in the 24 Districts Police Department investigated the case and pinned down one profile of the　well-known murderer. Camui Uehara who assassinated many key government figures one right after the other several years ago. However, wasn’t he shot to death by Kusabi who is a veteran detective of the HMD ? Did the deadly murderer arise ? Or…. !? The detectives of the HMD are tracking the murderer vanished into the 24 Districts.

This adventure game presents its images by the unique expression method named “Film Window” while the story proceeds by reading texts. All necessary information and images for the story’s procedure or presentation such as 3D CG, live-action images, 2D illustrations, motion graphics, typography, texts, and etc. are constantly changed and displayed in the Film Window that is automatically opened and closed in right location and size. And they are stylishly designed.

The plot is separated into 2 scenarios that are “Transmitter” (written by Goichi Suda) and “Placebo” (written by Masahi Ooka and Sako Kato). In the “Transmitter”, the detectives of the HMD trail the murderer, and in the “Placebo”, a freelance writer investigates the affair.

Directed by Goichi Suda. His distinctive world-view, characters with vivid personalities, sophisticated dialogue, and unconventional and unexpected storylines, are radiating the game’s ashy powerful attraction.
Character designing and 2D illustrations are done by Takashi Miyamoto. Character’s presence stands out and his in-depth situation representation are emphasizing the world-view of this article.
Masafumi Takada’s music successfully presents silence and dirtiness of the 24 Districts.
The city called the 24 Districts and its administrative structure, the HMD’s formation, conspiracy that brought Camui Uehara, the characters who show exquisite ways of life, and the deeply-intertwined human relationships…. All these elements blend together into player’s mind and plant deep impressions.

Title: Flower, Sun & Rain

Release date: 2001.05.02
Playstation 2

Sumio Mondo is a man making a living as an assassin. He showed up to a hotel “F.S.R.” on Lospas Island where is a southern island resort. “This Island is targeted by terrorists.” “Please detect a time bomb planted on an plane departing from the airport of this Island” It sounded like a risky but easy task. However…
On the way to the airport, Sumio encountered other hotel guests and island residents requesting Sumio to find their own something. Are they trying to keep Sumio away from the airport? While Sumio was tossed up and down by them, the airplane with the bomb took off and exploded and crashed over the Island….
Next morning, however, something weird happened on Sumio. He had not even headed to the airport yet. Then, the airplane explosion and crash had not happened yet, either. Sumio wondered what happened to him yesterday and headed to the airport. Again, other people who seek something appear…. One day after another, Sumio can’t reach the airport. Will Sumio ever be able to get to the airport ? Misgivings are coming up to Sumio’s mind. “This Island is repeating the same day on and on ?”

Player controls Sumio Mondo, the “assassin”, to seek the people’s something on and on. Sumio uses a suitcase-shaped versatile instrument named “Katherine” to solve the mysteries about the people’s something. Sumio can crack any secret code by using Katherine with a “Dial” for inputting number and a plug compatible to any specifications around the world. Player will discover some hints from words of people and a tour guide book of Lospas Island and input right numbers to crack the codes and find the people’s something. Luxurious atmosphere of the southern island resort and the hotel, waves of unexpected mysteries, and witty but poisonous characters’ lines are characteristic.

This game consists of 18 scenarios. In the last half of the game, a part of its storyline links up with “The Silver Case” and it brought more interests. For BGM through the game, we adopted ambient arranged classics of Bach, Debussy, Gershwin, Satie, and etc. and they are high in quality that could be used in a lounge in an existing hotel.
The lyric of its theme song “F.S.R.-For You-“ of the promotional video(PV) clip on the game disc is written by Goichi Suda who is the director of this game. In the PV, Mia Murano who is a female actor is performing in real-life film as Toriko, the female lead in the game.
The tour guide book players use to solve the mysteries in the game is actually published as “’Flower, Sun, and Rain’ Official Fan Book + Guide Book” by Sony Magazines Inc.

Anybody played either of these?

http://www.killer7.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/hotelfsrguest.htm

This brer looks very familiar...

Been trying to hunt down a copy of The Silver Case for a while now (pretty hard to find), and I just haven't bothered with FSR yet.

Topdrunkee over at the K7 site recently acquired The Silver Case himself, and I think he's currently breaking it down ready to put up interpretations on the site. He mentioned something about rewriting most of the stuff for FSR since playing TSC 'cause he's seeing some of the stuff in a whole new light. I'm not too knowledgable on the whole connection myself, but the games do indeed sound interesting.

http://www.killer7.com

Had to buss this on you guys!