- 6 months ago
A retrospective on Suda51's game Killer7.
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00I don't know how, but Killer7 is somehow one of my favorite games I've ever played.
00:11There's so much to it that I don't understand and find confusing,
00:15but it remains one of the best experiences in gaming I've had in a while.
00:19It's truly a breath of fresh air as per usual on Suda51's part.
00:24It doesn't give one single shit about what a game should be, for better or worse.
00:28For those who can put up with the sheer insanity of it all,
00:31we'll be rewarded with one of the best games the 6th generation has to offer.
00:58Target number one has a very deceptively normal intro cutscene
01:06where you might be fooled into thinking you're playing a game about assassins
01:10until you walk in the building and you're greeted with evil Jimmy Neutron
01:15transforming into some kind of monster.
01:17You don't want to go any further.
01:20It's dangerous.
01:22My friends are all dead.
01:24They were all murdered.
01:26By people that look like this.
01:30I have been chosen.
01:32This is the Heaven Smile, which will be our main enemy throughout the game.
01:44I really like the designs for these guys.
01:46They have a pretty simple look,
01:48but I've always had a soft spot for the faceless hordes of enemies.
01:51They also laugh at you when they walk towards you,
01:54which makes them feel even creepier.
01:56Now, I know this might be a hot take,
02:00but, uh, this game is, uh, really weird.
02:03It's so weird to the point that I have to wonder
02:06how many people quit on the first chapter alone.
02:09Oh my god, what is that?
02:12Oh my god!
02:14What is that?
02:16The game is certainly strange now,
02:18but I have to wonder how people reacted back in 2005.
02:22There isn't a single thing about this game that's normal.
02:25From the gameplay to the story or the presentation.
02:29That's one of the big things that keeps people coming back, though.
02:32There literally isn't anything else like it.
02:35It's pretty light in terms of story in this area,
02:38which leaves the player focused on getting familiar
02:41with the world and gameplay of Killer7.
02:44The gameplay is about as bare bones as it gets here.
02:48It's an on-rails shooter where you have some occasional puzzles.
02:52I actually find it very fun despite its simplicity.
02:56You, of course, have the seven smiths to play around with,
02:59which all come with different weapons and personalities.
03:02My favorite smiths to play with are Khan and Coyote.
03:06They both make for speedy and reliable options.
03:10Khan also has some of the best quips in the game.
03:12He has such a way with words.
03:20There's not really much to talk about in the first chapter,
03:23as it's fairly simple and straightforward.
03:25I did mention puzzles a while back,
03:28and like most of the puzzles in the game,
03:30they are pathetically easy.
03:32The first one is literally just lighting a candle in order from 1 to 5.
03:37It's really embarrassing to think that the first time I played this that I needed a guide.
03:41Some of them can be cryptic,
03:43especially if you haven't become acquainted with the smith abilities.
03:47Like one of the puzzles later on in the chapter
03:49requires Kaede to slit her own wrist to access the area.
03:52The boss fight in this chapter is also something of note that I can't quite comprehend.
03:59For some reason, we're fighting someone's rejected DeviantArt OC and running around in circles.
04:05Fun fact, this boss fight is actually a reference to the manga Devilman.
04:10There's a demon that Devilman fights early on called Jinmin,
04:13which has a bunch of faces on its back.
04:16The boss fights in this game are kind of, um, indescribable.
04:21I wouldn't call them bad, but like everything else in this game,
04:25they are very unorthodox.
04:27This is probably the closest thing we get to a traditional boss fight,
04:31where you damage it about three or four times and that's it.
04:34What really cements this chapter as one of my favorites is the ending cutscene,
04:39where we get an interaction between Harmon Smith and the villain Kun Lan.
04:44These two really bring a lot to the table in Killer7.
04:47It's always a joy when either of them are on the screen.
04:50Part of that is in thanks to the voice actors Dwight Schultz and Joe Lala,
04:55the voice of Kun Lan, who has unfortunately passed away.
04:59I am very sad about that because he would have made a terrific Joker if he ever got the role.
05:05It's really strange how great the voice actors are in this niche little game.
05:09In this interaction, we get the iconic Kun Lan line here,
05:13and I'm sure people who haven't even played the game are familiar with it too.
05:17There are so many great memeable lines in this game.
05:21If you haven't fallen in love with Killer7 up to this point,
05:24this cutscene should do the trick.
05:26Hello folks, if you're enjoying this video,
05:42it would be a great help if you considered becoming a channel member.
05:47Tier 1 only starts at 99 cents,
05:49and you'll be able to get a couple perks like getting early access to my regular videos.
06:02Chapter 2 is split up into two separate parts,
06:06and I'm not sure why, but I don't really love either of them.
06:10I think it has to do with the setting,
06:12or maybe it's just bad memories from dying a lot in this chapter.
06:16That kind of...
06:16Back up, back up, back, back, back.
06:18Oh my lord, I was not expecting that.
06:23It is very important from a story standpoint,
06:26because this is where we get insight into the game's politics.
06:30Although this game is often seen as goofy and nonsensical,
06:34if you really dig into the politics and background of the game,
06:38you start to see how grim it really is.
06:40The politics of the game are fairly complex,
06:44and it's dropped into an already pretty confusing plot.
06:48It's obviously a commentary on Japanese and American relations,
06:53but I'm going to save the deep dive into politics for the later end of the video.
06:57The first part of this chapter is a far cry from Angel.
07:01Structurally, it might appear more open with some branching paths,
07:05but it's about as linear as Final Fantasy XIII.
07:09I'm starting to see some touches of Shinji Mikami's influence over here,
07:13because in each chapter it involves going through
07:16this weird and empty industrial landscape with a bunch of doors.
07:21The architecture makes no sense like the Resident Evil games.
07:25It doesn't even connect with any of the levels either.
07:28It literally is just out of nowhere.
07:32There's also this annoying puzzle before the final boss
07:35that I cannot stand in this segment.
07:38Thankfully, Harmon's interaction with Fukushima is very good,
07:42and we get one of the best lines from Harmon at the end.
07:46The boss fight here isn't really a boss,
07:49it's more of a shootout with the secretary.
07:51I mean, this lady must be packing serious amounts of blood on her,
07:55because I shot her 134 times before she went down.
07:59I've always liked the second part of this chapter a bit more,
08:22because it feels like there's more variety in this section.
08:26It opens up with one of the most baffling cutscenes in the game
08:30that features one of the worst Japanese accents I've ever heard in my life.
08:34But we'll end up in smoke once again,
08:38by the hand of the same country they first put us here.
08:43Hey, I can't blame Matsuoka for shooting either of them
08:46because of that awful accent.
08:49This chapter has some seriously weird puzzles
08:52that revolve around some type of games.
08:54I'd assume it's symbolic of the ongoing political events
08:58or games that the nations are playing with each other.
09:02The area itself is straightforward with you climbing onto each floor of the building.
09:07You do a similar thing later on in the final chapter,
09:10which is disappointing that it has the same kind of structure.
09:14A good thing about this chapter, though,
09:16is it does balance out its simplicity
09:18by allowing for the player to test out other types of smith abilities.
09:22I think almost all the smiths in here have some use,
09:27including Kevin, who apparently can turn invisible.
09:30There's another baffling scene in this chapter
09:33where we see a pair of Japanese and Americans against each other in a game of Mahjong.
09:37I personally can't make heads or tails of this scene,
09:41but it highlights the antagonistic relationship between the U.S. and Japan.
09:46Now, the boss fight at the end of this chapter is absolute nonsense.
09:51I don't know if I would have been able to figure the solution out
09:53without watching somebody else do it the first time.
09:56You have to shoot the tie of one of the politicians,
09:59and then the other guy tries to adjust the tie,
10:02and you have to shoot his brains.
10:04And this happens while they shoot brain missiles at you,
10:07and then you have to shoot the other guy's brain.
10:10It's complete nonsense.
10:12It also ends with a cutscene
10:14where I feel like it rings pretty true today
10:16with Mills commenting on people's apathy to political strife.
10:21What's sad is that we've gotten used to this.
10:24I mean, our senses.
10:26That's pathetic.
10:27That doesn't necessarily mean that we're not human.
10:32Okay, now you're not helping.
10:33Ah, chapter three.
10:56At this point, we've encountered all sorts of wacky characters,
11:00but none of them come close to the great Andre Almeida,
11:04who instantly solidifies himself as the best character in gaming.
11:08Oh my god!
11:09I can't hold back!
11:10Oh!
11:11Oh!
11:11God!
11:12Oh!
11:12I'm coming!
11:13Oh!
11:14Oh!
11:14Yee-ha!
11:16Woo!
11:16Well, I guess I better prepare for the mission.
11:20Let's go see how Harman's doing.
11:23Ah.
11:24Ah.
11:24Ah.
11:25Ah.
11:25Ah.
11:25Ah.
11:25Now, despite what I've shown you, this is a really fun chapter, and I think it's a lot
11:35of people's favorites, too.
11:37There's a lot of good scenes, like Garcian's flawless logic as always.
11:40T-shirt.
11:41Nobody wears a t-shirt that says Texas Bronco, except in Texas.
11:47And this area is pretty fun to explore.
11:50The cutscenes are also animated in a different style than we've seen thus far.
11:55I'm not sure who the studio is behind this animation, but it's awesome.
12:00I like how each chapter has its own set of animations, and makes it feel distinct from
12:04one another.
12:06The presentation of this game is a huge reason as to why people love it.
12:10I suppose I should also bring up the remnant psyches of this game.
12:15They are apparitions that give us ample hints and items.
12:19Some of them also give you information on the story.
12:23I usually skip most of these, though, as they do get kind of grating to listen to after a
12:28while.
12:29They are entertaining the first couple of times, but they speak in a very repetitive way,
12:34like Iwazuru or Susie.
12:36Travis is the one I usually bother with the least.
12:40Especially in this chapter.
12:42This chapter is nice and spacious, so you have plenty of room to walk around in and try
12:48out your smiths.
12:49One thing that does suck about this game is you don't have very much balance with the
12:55usage of each smith.
12:56I rarely see people using Kayede or Kevin for their oddities, and Mask is even worse because
13:03he can't even collect blood.
13:05I spent most of this chapter as Khan because of how fast he could move through the longer
13:10stretches of areas.
13:11It's such a quirky level that it's hard not to love.
13:14It even ends on a heartbreaking cutscene.
13:18Rip Almeida, you were taken too soon.
13:20Walk down the path of life.
13:24Don't succumb to weakness.
13:27Take the big risks.
13:31Rest assured, Master Almeida, I will watch over this town.
13:37Our way of life stands eternal.
13:40May peace rest with our great Almeida, our Messiah.
13:45The name's Andre Almeida.
14:03Encounter is another banger of a chapter thanks to how despicable our target is.
14:09I've already covered about how much of a piece of shit he is in a previous video, but man,
14:14he never fails to make me pay attention when he's on screen.
14:18Alistair Duncan delivers a sinister performance here, and if you're not familiar with him,
14:24he's also voiced Senator Armstrong.
14:27He's got quite a bit of range and it's impressive.
14:30This chapter is once again split into two parts, and out of all the targets to receive two parts,
14:36I'm glad Curtis gets his.
14:38He's a stark reminder of the bleak underbelly in the world of Killer7.
14:42I really like how deceptive these chapters are with seemingly innocent aspects to them.
14:49In the first part, it's an amusement park that's anything but amusing.
14:53I need to talk about some of the heaven smiles that are starting to show up in this chapter.
14:58We get several new types of smiles thrown at us, as long with recurring ones, and it gets a little annoying.
15:04The pace feels like it grinds to a halt at times when I have to stop and switch out the right smith to kill a heaven smile.
15:12This amusement park is disorienting.
15:17It feels like that one scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Willy starts going insane.
15:23I think the most memorable thing in this chapter that happens is our introduction to the character Ayame Blackburn,
15:30which, of course, is Blackburn's adopted daughter.
15:34She's a complete and utter enigma in this game.
15:38I've asked other people in this community why she's dressed the way she is, and the answer always comes up blank.
15:45Hopefully, she's dressed that way due to her own volition, as opposed to Curtis's.
15:50Her first fight is not so bad, as long as you use mask.
15:54But her second fight is something that we'll be getting to shortly.
15:57I'll see you next time.
16:27Part 2 is so awesome.
16:52I love the environment with it being not one, but two mansions.
16:57This piece of shit really has made it out in life, just like a lot of assholes in real life.
17:03This soundtrack here is also pretty pleasant and smooth.
17:07It's a nice contrast to Blackburn's true nature.
17:10This section always feels like it flies by for me, even though I did die here a lot on my second playthrough.
17:17The majority of it came through the second fight with Ayame.
17:21This is probably the hardest boss fight in the game.
17:25It feels like towards the end, it's a complete crapshoot to whether you hit her or not.
17:30Curtis's boss fight isn't really hard, but it mentally screws with you with its usage of sounds and visual cues from the pigeon.
17:38It feels far more intense and fitting than any standard shootout boss fight would.
17:44His interactions with Dan here are gold.
17:46There's a lot of history between these two that hasn't been shown in the final game due to being cut.
17:53If you want to check that out, see my video on my second channel.
17:57The way this chapter ends is also so harrowing to see Curtis's victims hanging on the wall.
18:02It makes it feel like our victory over him is completely hollow.
18:06This is seriously dark stuff for a game.
18:08I mean, how many games would even dare to approach such a risque subject like human trafficking?
18:17Life. Wonderful indeed.
18:36Alter Ego is considered to be the filler chapter, but it's still pretty enjoyable.
18:44Man, does this chapter make me want to kill her seven anime.
18:47I mean, look at how cool these cutscenes are.
18:50Thankfully, this chapter is a lot lighter in subject matter than Encounter was.
18:56It revolves around a group of comic book heroes called the Handsome Men
19:00that end up being real and carrying out assassinations.
19:04This chapter feels eerily reminiscent of the Billy Bat manga by Naoki Urasawa.
19:10It feels disconnected from the rest of the story, but it's got plenty of things to make up for it.
19:15The Dominican Republic was one of my least favorite places to explore
19:19when I played this game the first time, but it's really grown on me.
19:23It starts off on a bad foot with this maze-like section,
19:27but eventually opens itself up as the level progresses.
19:30The cathedral part is pretty cool, and it has a ton of heaven smiles to cut through.
19:36The area itself reminds me of The Blob,
19:39especially because you end up collecting a bunch of color palettes from Iwazuru.
19:44It feels like a fever dream, not helped by the bizarre plot.
19:47To top it off, we finally meet the creator of the Handsome Men comic named Trevor Pearl Harbor.
19:53I guess the last names Hiroshima and Nagasaki were taken.
19:58There's something really funny about all this stuff that was cut from the game,
20:02and then we get this silly chapter about Power Ranger knockoffs.
20:06I guess you could say that this chapter technically is split into two parts
20:10because you do head back to your trailer,
20:13but the boss fight is basically nothing.
20:15It's rigged so you can't really lose to my knowledge.
20:19Might I add the theme song for this is an absolute banger.
20:24Masafumi Tadaka is really brilliant in this game
20:27as he shifts through multiple genres with ease.
20:30The ending of this chapter is so abrupt
20:33and makes me feel dissatisfied every time.
20:35Maybe it would have been cool if they did expand upon the part
20:38and let us explore New York more in depth.
20:41I got a feeling that something got left out during this part.
20:44It also feels really strange that this is the chapter before the final one.
21:14So in case Killer7 didn't seem extremely complicated enough,
21:43Smile really puts the cherry on top.
21:47Our visit to the Union Hotel is pretty simple,
21:50and I don't really feel like there's too much of note here.
21:53I do like the design of this place with it having different colors on each floor.
21:58I'm afraid our time is out.
22:00Good day.
22:00Now the second part of this chapter has a lot of juicy tidbits in it.
22:21It's honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire game
22:25outside of some small problems.
22:27The school in this segment really scares me.
22:31It feels like one of those dreams where you're alone in school and nobody's there.
22:35On top of that, we get these tapes from Holbert,
22:38who reports on his investigation throughout the school.
22:41It creates a really eerie atmosphere.
22:43I suppose this is classified as a horror game by some people,
22:48and it does have a fair amount of disturbing content,
22:51but this is the closest thing I've come to by being scared the whole game.
22:55The pace of this level really comes to a screeching halt by the end.
23:00Luckily, we get one of the best cutscenes in this game with our target, Benjamin Keen.
23:05By the way, his wiki entry is pretty funny.
23:08The rest of this level is a complete slog, though,
23:11as it's just putting in password after password.
23:14The terminal segment at the end is just awful.
23:18I wish they allowed you to use your keyboard on this part for the PC port.
23:22I don't know why they didn't think of that.
23:24Before we wrap everything up in a bow, we revisit the Union Hotel.
23:29This time, we get flashbacks of all the murders of the Smith Syndicate.
23:33Some of these are downright brutal.
23:37Literally, what is wrong with you, Garcian?
23:40Or, I guess I could say, Amir, now that the truth is out there.
23:45The story is once again given a deeper layer of complexity
23:48that will probably just have people confused.
23:52I mean, most people that have gotten to this point
23:55were probably just shrugging everything off.
23:57Or, at least that's what I was doing the first time I played it.
24:00I would strongly recommend multiple playthroughs of this game
24:04and some videos on YouTube to help you understand it a bit better.
24:08There is a sliver of a chapter left by the name of Lion
24:12where we once again get to play as Amir,
24:14and this time he has shiny green eyes.
24:17I'd assume this is just an artistic representation
24:20that he's fundamentally changed as a person.
24:24Like, he's in awakened state now and he knows the truth.
24:28There really isn't much to this segment
24:30outside of the ending that you get to choose.
24:33It doesn't really feel like a win, either one you choose.
24:35It's not only revealed that Kun Lan was a Waziru the whole time,
24:41but he and Harmon are revived the next 100 years,
24:45making the entire ending of this feel even more hollow.
24:48Now, I would like to attempt to discuss the politics of Killer7.
24:53There's a lot of this game I don't understand,
24:56maybe even most of it,
24:58but I have a personal interpretation of the political commentary.
25:02The politics of Killer7 seems to be very grim.
25:08One of the most interesting conversations in this game
25:10is with Harmon and Fukushima.
25:13Toru says that politics are filled with actors and stages.
25:18They only pretend to be politicians.
25:21Throughout this game, we also see this as well,
25:24where many characters are putting on some type of front.
25:28For example, Almeida City,
25:29and Curtis Blackburn to some extent.
25:32Although he's a deplorable scumbag,
25:35if you look around his pristine and lavish mansion,
25:38it would seem like it's opposite to his nature.
25:41Of course, you have the school,
25:42which is a front for the elections of the country.
25:45I mean, even our main character, Garcian,
25:47is not what he seems.
25:49It's a deep dive into the overall nature of politics,
25:52and maybe even the human condition itself.
25:55It might just be that people and politics are inherently deceitful,
25:59like it's a part of our nature.
26:02It almost seems that it's ended that way
26:04with the revival of Kun Lan and Harmon.
26:07There's a cycle of violence and corruption that's innate.
26:11Kun Lan and Harmon are symbolic of this never-ending struggle of power and dominance.
26:16In the world of politics,
26:18it is often more important to look a certain way than act a certain way.
26:23They might publicly state they want something or believe in something,
26:27only to contradict that in a myriad of ways.
26:30At the beginning of chapter 2,
26:32the narrator talks about several ways the world had changed,
26:36but in reality, it's just more of the same.
26:39Kun Lan and Harmon, I think, are aware of this more than anyone else.
26:44That's why they treat political landscapes like a game.
26:48Kun Lan says it best when he says,
26:50the world doesn't change, all it does is turn.
26:55Killer7, for as much as I don't understand it,
26:58I always find myself coming back to it.
27:01It's a puzzle that only grows more complicated as you solve it.
27:05Each discovery I find only brings more questions.
27:09It's certainly an experience that will never be replicated.
27:12It might not be for everybody,
27:15but it's certainly a game for me.
27:18It's hard to argue that the gaming industry would be less interesting
27:21without figureheads like Suda and his team working on these games.
27:26For that, I thank them,
27:27and I also thank you, viewer, for your time.
27:30Until next time.
27:31.
27:45.
27:48.
27:51.
27:51.
Comments