Koudelka - PlayStation

Love playing this game.

If you are looking for a game in the vien of the Parasite Eve series, then look no further Koudelka is a horror rpg with the right amout of atmosphere, and action to keep any gamer involved You will controller 3 characters, Koudelka(young woman), Edward(young man) and James(older priest) as they try to uncover the mystery of an old monastary, and the horrors that lie within A must have for any fan of Horror or RPG games

I'm glad I bought Koudelka and gave it a try. I am a big fan of Final Fantasy games and was curious to try an RPG with a horror/survival twist to it. Because it is a Play Station game from around the year 2000, despite having 4 CD's included, it is not a long game. I played it through to the end in about 23-24 hours of game time. The game takes place in a large haunted monastery/castle in 1898. Through the game, you experience every part of every creepy room, secret passageway, and dungeon of the monastery. You fight lots of undead and weird monsters (some are pretty "out-there", like animated furnature that attacks you), solve a few puzzles, and overcome some challenges, as you would expect with an RPG. One reason Koudelka will be a memorable experience to me was just the feeling of trying to survive a jarring, creepy scenario while not knowing what was coming next. While it has monsters, boss monsters, and character leveling-up like you would expect, it also has some unexpected challenges like weapons breaking on you in the middle of combat and spell effects and combat elements that vary with range and location on a combat grid. You raise proficiency with each individual weapon type, but you can't be sure what weapons you will have as the game progresses. I thought it was successful in keeping the player on his toes and a little uncomfortable not knowing what was around the next corner, which added to the horror effect. The characters and plot are fantastic. I loved the edginess of the characters, who were thrown together in the horror setting and have some basic disagreements, but learn to work together to improve their chances of not dying. There were several scenes and a great ending that will always be memorable. Each of the three characters was interesting and more complex than you would expect, especially for such a short game. The graphics are a little blocky, as you would expect from this era. Also, the combat is slower than more recent, modern RPGs. Combat is turn-based, and the PS computer (I played mine on an old PS2, not sure if that affects time) does some churning between each turn/action, so beware the slowness of the combat if that would be a deal-breaker for you. I liked the weapons, spells, and leveling up. I found the relative challenge of fights varied a bit, with my characters somewhat over-leveled at points in the middle, but a nice challenging uptick in difficulty towards the end. If you might be frustrated by a slow turn-based combat system from the year 2000, you might want to avoid this one. But if you want to try an RPG that is creepy because of a great plot, setting, and characters as opposed to constant gore or cheap shocks, you should seek out a copy of Koudelka and give it a try. I got a used copy on Amazon, but it wasn't cheap - I guess the game is harder to find now, being out of print for a while. I really like the game overall and plan to try the Shadow Hearts series next, which I believe is a continuation of the theme started with Koudelka.

Product arrived sooner than expected (a pleasant surprise) and in great condition. Everything promised was delivered. Would definitely buy from them again. Very happy with my purchase.

Great game. Some reviews complain of the battle system- I personally love it. It's like an entry-level Final Fantasy Tactics battle wise, but the game is like a beautiful, obscure survival horror. It really is a gorgeous game, i love the characters and settings, and the story is good. Creepy environments, unique pre-cursor to the (equally high-quality) Shadow Hearts series.

Koudelka was a game that I really wanted to love. I picked it up during my old game store raids as a kid, during the golden era of RPGs (1994-2001). Koudelka sat shining on a shelf at my locally-owned video game store. As a unique blend of role playing elements set to a gothic timeline, I was immediately hooked. When I got home and popped the disc in, I was so ready to dive into this unique world. Unfortunately, I never truly had the chance. The graphics were only decent for the time, with even lesser-known titles showing much more polish. The music was very disappointing, especially given Hiroki Kikuta's wonderful tunes in the Mana series. What really ruined the experience for me was the battle system. It was jagged, slow, and quite bland - the polar opposite of Sacnoth Games' intentions. As a person who bought and beat almost all of the role-playing games of the PSX era, this one stands out as a true let-down. Out of my 21 RPGs for the original Playstation, this is the only one I did not beat. It stands among my otherwise proud collection, a sad sign of good intentions scarred by poor execution.