It is here. The video all ten of us who played Koudelka have been waiting for.

@UltimateDrDoom

Жыл бұрын

Excuse me. 20 of us.

@sabbacca2289

Жыл бұрын

@@UltimateDrDoom 21

Жыл бұрын

@@sabbacca2289 22. And played Shadow Hearts too.

@MrFIRESEAL117

Жыл бұрын

Waiting for the Echo night video, where about maybe five of us have played.

@larsulrick235

Жыл бұрын

30 of us, Koudelka and Shadow Hearts are masterpieces. Can't wait to play Penny Blood.

The idea of "horror you can touch" was really nailed 100%. When I think back about my experience with Koudelka, it's always the atmosphere I remember. The sounds and visuals somehow managed to get my other senses working; I could feel the chilly, humid autumn air of the courtyard, smell the dusty old wooden floors and corpses-filled prison cells... It's weird to put into text, but it was a very sensory game. The cutscenes also felt exactly like watching a real play. The talent of the voice actors, the motion capture,... The drinking scene with Koudelka and Edward by the fireplace near the end of the game was amazing. And this perfect blend of mythology and real-life history and events worked so, SO well. The world-building was rock-solid, so incredibly compelling, mysterious and chilling at the same time. A true masterpiece. And the heroine, Koudelka is one of my favorite video game characters of all time.

Koudelka and Parasite Eve are incredibly underrated horror games.

@billyholmes3

Жыл бұрын

I do prefer pe 2 man the cgi of her taking the show just amazed me how the watter beaded un her skin it was so jaw dropping, not sexual in the least just amazing art

@Fionalah

Жыл бұрын

@@billyholmes3 Both of these were amazing games. Us gals didn't get so many kickass heroines back then, they mean so much to me back in the PS1 era.

@billyholmes3

Жыл бұрын

@@Fionalah the puzzle was so brutal in pe2

@QuebecHardwood

Жыл бұрын

@@billyholmes3 played both.

@SplodeyJesus

Жыл бұрын

Its a shame they only made two parasite eve games

THE GAME WAS FULLY ACTED THIS WHOLE TIME???! This is an amazing doc btw🤯

I like how people-focused these documentaries are. Looking forward to many more!

@ChristopherSadlowski

Жыл бұрын

It's easy for us to forget, in all the talk about graphics, story, gameplay, etc, that it's people behind all this stuff we love. I appreciate that this refocusing of people is happening in the video game sphere. It can help start the process of weeding out some of the abuse that's rampant in the industry. Because we have to take care of the people who do this work; without them we will all get nothing.

@Viper-py4pg

Жыл бұрын

I agree I want to see more :3

Koudelka was a gem, I often come back to it every now and then, shadow hearts is good too, but Koudelka feels more special..

Shadow Hearts and its sequel are my favorite games of all time to this day, it broke my heart we never had the Director's Cut of the latter game. I still remember spending hours researching and doing theories on the lore, having so much fun with Koudelka despite my gripes with it (like the encounter rate) and loving every second of it. Each disc flies by every time I play it, many of the songs I still keep listening to this day . The "Live" version of Waterfall is a jam. I'm a little surprised you didn't mention the Koudelka manga tho, in which our heroine encounters Jack the Ripper.

Wow! Someone actually made an in depth video about Koudelka. It's a shame more people haven't played this game.

@VladAngelOfDarkness

Жыл бұрын

I want to play this game but it's impossible to get offline.

@doublezeta2025

Жыл бұрын

@@VladAngelOfDarkness It emulates really well if your into that sort of thing.

@kjhansonkjhanson6643

Жыл бұрын

there have been several youtubers who have done this

Love Koudelka, but I never thought much about its development. I never knew how connected the people behind this game were, nor how much work they put into research, development, and technological development! Fascinating stuff! Thank you!

Never heard of this game or channel but by far the most in-depth research ive seen from a youtuber.I was blown away from the lack of research you did.Very good! Subbed

@charmygreen665

Жыл бұрын

I'm sure it just autocorrected or something, but the "lack of research" means there wasnt any research done, contradicts your first statement saying its well researched. Just doesnt make sense when you read it

This is so interesting and in depth. Great job! Koudelka is one of my favorite jrpgs ever and I rarely hear anyone mention it. I remember popping the disc in and being floored at the gorgeous CG (and music), and lots of it. Also the VO at the time was stunningly well done. With natural funny dialogue that sounded like real people talking. Mix that with the very different gothic aesthetic and mix of ghost/demon-ish horror and I was so damn hooked. I was always sad it didn't "officially" continue. But Shadow Hearts was a fantastic spin off. I am glad were getting at least a new spiritual successor.

My favorite thing about Kodelka was the monster design. I love that one that is a pair of legs with sharp bloody broken glass inside they hips. Some day I'm gonna make a statue of that one to decorate my garden.

@deideisayskatsu

Жыл бұрын

The monster designs are amazing! I used to have nightmares from the dude with three heads hanging upside down...then again, I was probably 10 when I saw that.

@unknownuser494

Жыл бұрын

My favorite were that puppets looking thing.

@cristianpallares7565

Жыл бұрын

Love all the monsters in the game ❤

@curiouscat428

Жыл бұрын

Is it just me or the monsters in koudelka is as creepy as Silent Hill frranchise, and perhaps creepier. Only I could stand them as they didn't chase me down halls, streets, etc? Instead I had chance to contemplate them while it's my turn to hit them. I remember wondering how a particular monster got to be that way, one is the one that's your favorite. Then again, I didn't play a lot of horror games because I'm nervy.

Tyvm for the video! Great documentation and research behind it (it's truly insane and much appreciated

Good video. Koudelka is criminally underrated. I found it on accident one weekend when I was a kid, just going to the video store. Rented it and loved it.

I love Koudelka a lot. I played through it so many times, it became a tradition. I love this video. I learned quite a bit about the game that I had no idea about. None of this surprised me, though. The atmosphere in Koudelka is so abstractly original, there is nothing like it. I'm probably one of maybe 100 people in the world that feels this way.

What a thorough and well delivered documentary. I started watching this because I wanted to see if there was any relation to one of my favorite photographers, Josef Koudelka. And it turns out, there was! As an aside to this, it bears mentioning that Josef's early work consisted of solitarily traveling the Czechoslovakian and Romanian countryside on a shoestring budget, photographically documenting the Romani people.

A Koudelka fan here! I would love to have the opportunity to play it again now that I am old and bored of big and lengthy sagas focused on gore content. I still use Koudelka´s OST in my RPG table game sessions with my friends.

Whenever anyone ever asks for a survival horror game, I always suggest Koudelka (though it’s horror rpg). I missed this on it’s release, picking it up second hand in 2001. Always wanted a true follow up.

Man, I remember this game fondly. The way it struck shimmers down my spine along with Parasite Eve, Fatal, Frame, RE/ Biohazard, Dino Crisis, SIlent Hill and many Horror Genre games I loved playing in the past and some till now.

I downloaded Koudelka on the steam deck and I immediately fell in love with it because of the battle theme! I was like wow this is actually a jam. Very happy to discover this gem and for Kikuta Hiroki's awesome vision!

I enjoyed Shadow Hearts so much that I always kept a lookout for a copy of Koudelka. It took me a few years to find one, but ever since, I've played it once a year. One of my very favourite games. Thanks for all your effort with this!

Thank you for this video, I always loved Koudelka since I first played it years ago. The fact that Kikuta was inspired by Umberto Eco's In The Name of the Rose is very important to me, since Eco was born in the city I grew up and live in. I didn't know many things before this video, such as some people involved with Koudelka also worked in my favorite game of all time, Final Fantasy X. Again, loved the research for this video. What a great and underrated channel you have. I hope more people get to see your videos.

I LOVE how this profile piece sounds like an official NHK Japan documentary. It is so pleasant and educational. TGM, you would do amazing there!

Man. This video was long overdue. I've played all 4 games and would live to play them again. A seriously underrated group of games.

It's so cool to learn how much care was put into crafting this games atmosphere, it explains why I have never forgotten about this experience. Very well done video, easy subscribe!

I fell in love with Koudelka earlier this year when I was in a bit of a rough patch. But the world and characters drew me in and really struck a chord with me at that moment. So seeing more people discuss it and go in depth on the origins on what quickly became one of my favorite games of all time is so good. Fantasic video all around and I learned a whole mess of new info.

the only drawback of this game was it doesnt has subtitle in cutscenes and cant pause in between, other than these, it is just a masterpiece even today

I remember acquiring an original copy of this game back in the day just because of how beautiful Koudelka is, I played it for a couple of times then gave up after failing to continue because I was trying to play it as if it was a resident evil or silent hill, then I replayed it several years later adapting to the rpg gameplay and was able to complete it. I still have all 4 CDs around, probably would replay it soon then play all the shadow hearts since I love the saga.

I bounced off this game the first time I tried playing it, but this video has inspired me to give it another chance, great work!

I only learned of Koudelka when a friend started speedrunning it. Then I decided to speedrun it too. Incredible game!

This is the first video I've found by this channel, kinda bums me out because it is so fantastic that it is making me rethink my upcoming Halloween review of Koudelka haha. This is fantastic, subbed for sure and I can't wait to look through your back catalogue!

God I adore this game. Lost my MIND when I played Shadow Hearts afterward.

@Chizuru94

Жыл бұрын

Hope in a good way :D

I started playing via an emulator after watching Ragnarox’s video essay on it. But learning all of the historical elements around it is so fascinating. Thank you Gaming Muse for contributing to so much more of my enjoyment of the game!

I have learned a lot about the production of one of my favorite games of all time today, thank you :)

This is a legit documentary, 47 mins, impressive work. Ive known Koudelka since early 2000's and I've forgotten that I wanted to play it.

You have been just KILLIN’ IT lately!!! Thank you for all your hard work!

I've been aware of this game for 20 years, tried not spoiling myself on it incase I ever get the grit to play it myself. This video was so perfect for that, and in general is unique to the long-form game essays on KZread. Thank you :)

yeaaaaaah!!!! thank you for delivering to the small limited group of us, lol, can’t wait to listen to this later tonight with my insomnia!

what a beautiful voice! reminds me of Lenneth's VA from Valkyrie Profile. Love Kouldelka (with all the flaws) and this video had so much info I never got to knew, thank you for this work of art!

I consider myself a big horror game buff but I'm ashamed to say I've never heard of this. I'll have to check it out!

This is on my list of "unknown -obscure" RPGs that I highly suggest to all RPG fans. Arcana on the SNES is also on that list.

I played this game so much that my original discs stopped loading and I had to buy a new copy. Much love for this game.

I absolutely love these documentaries, I always listen to them when I'm doing empty brain work!

this was extremely well produced, very nicely done

Thank you so much for making this video. This is exactly the sort of content I was looking for earlier today. Love to watch development histories of video games. I hope you’ll make a video on The Alliance Alive, that game made a strong impression on me.

Man I remember reading the reviews on Koudelka on the gamepro and playstation magazines, I still have those issues, I would spend hours looking at the CG images and concept art, I liked Koudelka's design! I finally bought it for a friend's playstation and I remember feeling so weird hearing actual voice actors in a video game and English isn't my mother tongue so I had trouble following the dialogue as it had no subtitles iirc, I was much more used to reading text from the FF games, but it was a game I didn't play much of due to it being on a friend's console, but I very much remember to this day! I did get to play all Shadow Hearts games though on my very own PS2, with shadow hearts Covenant being my favorite. Thank you for this!

I gotta admit, I've never even heard of pennyblood, but I do have really fond memories of Shadow Hearts and Koudelka. Both are great and unique games, but especially Koudelka has a special place in my heart, it's one of my all time favs. I still have the original at home, but sadly not much time to play anymore... I'm a game developer myself now btw, it's funny how things go sometimes :D

So delighted about this documentary, thanks a bunch!

Fantastic video. Made me play it again after all these years. Always loved this game, my mind was blown playing Shadow Hearts when you met Koudelka, realising it was a sequel.

I played Koudelka after playing Shadow Hearts, which I had bought for 12 bucks in the wrapper at a GameStop because they couldn’t sell it in 5 weeks. Koudelka is freaking phenomenal! I love it and ShadowHearts 1 and 2 (not a fan of 3 sadly).

I really love how in-depth you went into the career history of the creators. I don't know if that's the norm to these kinds of videos but it's new to me and very enjoyable. Had a very "late 90's documentary" style to me.

Truly outstanding work. I was fortunate to have picked up Koudelka for cheap back in the day and loved it, though I'll echo the sentiments expressed that it is at times a dissonant experience. Nevertheless, both it and Shadow Hearts are phenomenal, and had I the heart for physical collecting anymore, I would hunt them all down again in a heartbeat.

I remember as a child the monster designs scared me more than RE.... Well most of them... The chairs & tables were like... Lol.

Hearing all the love for Wales and the effort to capture its essence makes me so happy 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Amazing, thank you! I’d love to see Koudelka in the Parisian catacombs, sounds incredible! If only…

Thank you for sharing your love of this game

Thank you so much for all this work. I'm a hardcore Shadow Heart's fan and I appreciate it a lot ♥️

Thank you so much @thegamingmuse! Shadow Hearts series is one of my favorite video game I have ever play!

This is how I found out about an attempt at a spiritual successor to Shadow Hearts and I couldn’t be happier about it

@gotinogaden

Жыл бұрын

The other way round - SH is a sequel to Koudelka, and it directly references her and the events in the first game.

@deideisayskatsu

Жыл бұрын

@@gotinogaden I think they were talking about PennyBlood being a sequel to ShadowHearts. It's mentioned at trhe start of the video.

@WritingWomen

Жыл бұрын

@@gotinogaden I am aware. I was referencing the information about a spiritual successor to SH that was said in the video.

Yo, Koudelka?! Gamingmuse on a roll pumping out amazing documentaries

Great video as usual, unreal that her design was realized on my birthday, that's wild!

Thanks for covering this, I always saw the CD case of Koudelka on my friend's PS1 game rack but never even saw or played it.

I tried playing Koudelka about 2 years ago, I got to the end of the first disc and loved it, I was so excited to see the rest of the game... but then I realized that I had no idea how playing multi-disc games on emulators works (I understood none of the tutorials I saw), so because of that I never got to finish it

@LobselErik

Жыл бұрын

I don't know how it'd go with other emulators but epsxe should have an easy "change disc" option available close to its options to run games, not sure if this helps

@yehuda8589

Жыл бұрын

@@LobselErik maybe next time I should try epsxe since I do really want to finish koudelka

@wildonionchase3934

Жыл бұрын

Make an m3u file in Notepad, you can look that up pretty easily, it’s how I got it to work on Retroarch

@yoshi314

Жыл бұрын

@@yehuda8589 i really recommend Duckstation over epsxe. it's much more recent and compatible.

@residentevilclone

Жыл бұрын

Ah shit. This is one of those $300-400 games isn’t it?

I actually quite liked this game - sadly, it was stolen in a mass storage closet theft, and it's just way too expensive to replace.. Really wanted to give it another go now that my TV no longer has a brightness problem.

It’s very eerie that this video was posted today after I had just discovered this game for the first time. Fittingly spooky haha. I’ve been playing parasite eve and learning about old ps1 games lately. I feel very compelled to play this game. Looks like something right up my alley. This game is all I can think about right now and it looks incredible. I hope somehow this game can come back in a remastered and accessible form in someway so more people can discover it like I did today. Although, it probably won’t happen. Thank you for the awesome video!

Жыл бұрын

Game is a little of a niche, but if you manage to stick up with it and the traditional RPG combat doesn't bother you, yes, it's a pretty unique game, nothing quite like it. If you like Six gen Survival horror games, you've just come to one of the best places around. Muse's channel it's superb. so Enjoy your stay :)

@ChristopherSadlowski

Жыл бұрын

Man, Parasite Eve is such an unsung masterpiece. By today's standards the graphics are ugly, the story is sparse, and the controls are clunky, but at the time it was great! The body horror was really well implemented too. It's a shame the sequel never came to the West. It wasn't a money maker back when it was released, and it probably wouldn't be now if I'm being honest, but I'd still love to see a Final Fantasy VII Remake style Parasite Eve. I think if done right it could slot comfortably into the zeitgeist of horror video games.

@AsherBunnyman

Жыл бұрын

@@ChristopherSadlowski After The 3rd Birthday was allowed to be a thing, literally no other series needs a full reboot quite as much as Parasite Eve.

@Viper-py4pg

Жыл бұрын

Same here! I first heard of it a few days ago and only recently watching reviews/opinions on Parasite Eve type/era horror. The algorithm is so unsettling. I haven't even searched these up just adding videos the queue as they pass by o:

@TaffTheWanderer

Жыл бұрын

It is hard, Make no mistake. That difficulty mostly comes from the breakable weapons, and the utter weirdness of the systems. But then… if you stick with it… you’ll fall right in love with it. I promise you. Good luck!

What a piece of journalism. Well done. Subbed.

I was too young to really understand and appreciate it but I remember trying to play this as much as I could. I think I got stuck somewhere and finally gave up.

Another amazing video, you rule !

Great work. Well written and informative

thanks for your work and passion :3

This documentary is on professional level.

Knew i had to play this when i got the recommendation to me, being a sucker for old obscure PS1 games. As a whole, pretty good game! Atmosphere, Music, Story, Characters, all top notch. The monster designs were very creative. Voice acting and motion capture work is also IMO definitely one of THE best in the entire PS1's catalogue. Highly impressive in that aspect. There are of course some things that's holding it back from being a GREAT game. The random encounters & combat are definitely the game's weak points. And i don't really mind turn-based tactical rpg mechanics, the problem is it was a half-baked effort. Battles drag on too long, the enemies have no names, and you don't even get a skill where you can identify their HP or weak points. (At least heal damages zombies in this game, tried doing that in shadow hearts and it healed the zombies, like wtf? xD) Still, the good points outweighs the bad. I know the game director had conflicts with the dev team behind their grid-based battle system. I always wonder how it would've turned out had they stuck to his vision for the unique combat system he had in mind. Makes me think of Vagrant Story's real-time battle system, would've been something to see!

This has been on my radar for quite a while now.... gonna play it soon!

I remember playing this. I walked into a room, with a doll. That triggered a battle, and I could do nothing to hurt the spirits that came out of the doll. Never touched it again.

@svenbernhagen6320

Жыл бұрын

You needed to ecape that battle

@riteousrighthand6144

Жыл бұрын

@@svenbernhagen6320 prob. I guess I didn't see a flee option.

This is an amazing video!

Oh nice, didn't expect to see a video of this. I played Shadow Hearts 2 and 3 and have watched an LP of Shadow Hearts 1 and Koudelka. Great games, hope those kickstarter games do well since I will buy them once out.

Koudelka Remains the best ps1 horror game, with actual good voice acting. I am disappointed with how the sequels chose to be more "light hearted"

@LobselErik

Жыл бұрын

Yeah it's unfortunate they didn't stick as much with the horror as the series went on, especially with the new mechanics of Sanity Points and the graveyard in the protagonist's dream/soul, which are already cool but could be even cooler if surrounded by a more grounded & serious tone like Koudelka's. The game would probably be funnier too if it did that, something about the balance of seriousness and humor in Koudelka was just very on point and favored both aspects really well imo

@noneofyourbiz5973

Жыл бұрын

Totally agree. The character development of the cast was superb and they had a maturity about them. The sequels lost this and went for a more cheesy and "tropish" vibe the characters. If Koudelka had a remake with Shadow Hearts battle mechanics, it would elevate the game to even greater heights.

Such underrated games. They deserve to be brought to modern consoles.

Well done, thank you.

Great work on the documentary.

i'm one of the 12 people who played koudelka back in the day and remember it very fondly (and still own it!), great to see a documentary piece about it

Watching later, saved. Yes more of this. Truly underated series.

I love the tone of your voice btw, it reminds me of that of Autopsy HBO. I wouldn't have thought of anyone better to narrate this video. Happy Halloween.

I unfortunately did not pick this game up back in the day as a kid.. I saw the ads for it everywhere but never gave it a try. Not until just recently two years ago, I downloaded it for a handheld PSX rom, I thought the game held up and was really well put together. The story and the characters were the most interesting as the battle system felt tedious and a chore to do.. Unfortunately, I stopped after the first disc since I couldn't figure out how to load the 2nd disc on my handheld rom. I ended up giving my handheld to my best friend which was loaded with classic PSX games Parasite Eve, Koudelka, the Resident Evil 2.0 game, Galerians etc. This game is special and thanks for the well put together video, this was very inspiring to watch!

I am subscribing to you for knowing about this gem of a game. You have awesome taste.

I for one enjoyed Koudelka immensely

I became interested after so many cosplays. Her character just looked unique and regal.

Just watched this the day after i bought a copy of Koudelka in my home country of Wales it cost me £38 but it is 99% perfect as if it just had the plastic removed to prove it was genuine to sell to the game shop. It smells like a brand new game not a scatch on any of the 4 cds not even a crease on the game manual. I cant wait to eventually get around the playing it.

I actually have the review copy of this game that was given out to magazines for the ps1. I remember playing this. Such a marvelous experience.

@thegamingmuse

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome! It doesn't look like that copy is available online, have you considered dropping the files anywhere?

@PS4sos21

Жыл бұрын

@@thegamingmuse I don't have the means to do that or even the know how.

I really wish they would bring this games back The physical copies or stupid expensive and only going to get more expensive but I was in the Kickstarter for Penny Blood and I mentioned Shadow Hearts HD collection and they pretty much said there that the chances of it happening were practically low because of the license holders and I could only think that this game is in the same situation

Completed it for the last back in December. It's the definition of a "flawed masterpiece". While the gargoyle is optional, the last few random encounters on the way to the final boss are not, and they are increasingly frustrating. The atmosphere and voice acting are all top notch, and given the flexibility of the experience system, you can finish it in several different ways.

Just finished the game today and loved it! Kikuta won my heart forever with the Secret of Mana soundtrack, and I had to seek out Koudelka when I learned about it. So happy to learn about his continued love for it.

Excellent video. Deeply interesting and well researched for an underrated game.

@shadowheartswikia479

Жыл бұрын

If I may ask, where did you get the source images for the storyboards? It'd be a facinating thing to add to the wiki (sorry, got my wiki head on lol)

@thegamingmuse

Жыл бұрын

They're from Kikuta's twitter! twitter.com/Hiroki_Kikuta/status/1185154903108440064 twitter.com/Hiroki_Kikuta/status/1185152481824837634 Other resources included the japanese guides, I've scanned one of them to archive dot org but I havent finished the other. Eventually I'll finish organizing the sources and post them somewhere more accessible.

@shadowheartswikia479

Жыл бұрын

@@thegamingmuse Thank you so much! The image parts of the guidebooks I've already scanned and uploaded to the wiki ages ago, so feel free to use any of them if they're of use for future videos. But any additional documents and sources, especially considering the sheer depth you've gone into are most helpful - if you should ever do the rest of the SH series and you need some scans message me, as I've got them close at hand (they're all up on the wikia, although I'm slowly working my way through the interviews.)

You completely broke it. :) You are the best.

This is a great documentary.

As I love the Shadow hearts games, this is a must play for me it seems really interesting.

Will be awesome videos about Shadow Hearts. A love their monsters.

My favourites game. Thank you so much for this

I played Koudelka when it came out, and I just hope they fix that poor horse's knees when they re release the game

Is there a release of koudelka with subtitles? I remember having a hard time following the dialogue back then