Koudelka

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Koudelka
Developer(s)	Sacnoth
Publisher(s)	SNK Infogrames
Designer(s)	Hiroki Kikuta
Release date(s)	JPN December 16, 1999 NA June 29, 2000 PAL September 29, 2000
Genre(s)	Console RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M ELSPA: 15+ USK: 12
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Media	4 CD-ROMs

This article is about the PlayStation console game. For the Czech photographer, see Josef Koudelka

Koudelka is a console role-playing game for the PlayStation. It is the first game in the series that would become Shadow Hearts.

Hiroki Kikuta, most known for composing the music to Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu III (also known as Secret of Mana II) while working at Squaresoft, created Sacnoth in 1997 with funding from the video game company 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. Koudelka was to be his magnum opus, the game that would show the world just how far RPGs could go.^{[citation needed]}

A manga by the same name was produced and released only in Japan, though some fans have worked on producing translations. The manga serves as a sidestory to the game and requires little or no knowledge of the game's events to understand.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Sequels 2 Gameplay 3 Reaction 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Plot

The initial plot of the game centered around 3 investigators coming to Nemeton Monastery in Wales in the year 1899: Koudelka Iasant, a young girl with supernatural powers arrives at the Monastery after recieving troubling visions. She quickly runs into Edward Plunkett, an adventurer and Father James O'Flaherty, a priest, who are also investigating the Monastery for various reasons. It is likely that Edward Plunkett in the game is modeled after the historical Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany. The monastery was used as a prison in the 1700s, and more recently as the site of dark rituals.

[edit] Sequels

Shadow Hearts takes place at least 12 years after Koudelka ^[1], and the plot features Koudelka herself, her son, Roger Bacon and the Emigre Document (henceforth called the Emigre Manuscript). Bacon and the Manuscript would also appear in Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Shadow Hearts: From the New World. Covenant also includes a dungeon set in the ruins of Nemeton Monestery.

[edit] Gameplay

The style of the game was a composition of survival horror games such as Resident Evil, and tactical RPGs with a grid-based system for combat. The game was fully voice-acted, and starred Vivianna Bateman as Koudelka, Michael Bradbury as Edward, and Scott Larson as Father O'Flaherty. The game also featured several FMV cutscenes which were critically lauded as being high in quality, and were part of the reason for the game's four-disc length, despite its rather short playing length.

[edit] Reaction

Koudelka received poor critical reviews and little word of mouth. It was also released near the end of the original PlayStation's lifecycle, with more interest being shown in upcoming Playstation 2 and Dreamcast games at the time. Additionally, it was soon revealed that 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.

Most people agreed that the game showed some promise, but had serious flaws, particularly in the combat system. Kikuta resigned after the financial failure of the game, disheartened by the political friction within Sacnoth. Aruze Entertainment eventually took control of Sacnoth after SNK folded.

[edit] See also

• Shadow Hearts

[edit] External links

• Koudelka at MobyGames
• Kouldelka at Shadow Hearts Net
• Koudelka Manga Scanlations

[edit] References