killer7


Feb 6, 2020

The first time I played killer7, I played through half of the first level and dropped it. An aggressive
wall of complete nonsense and cryptic tutorialization that makes it harder to tell what you're
supposed to do (saying "Watch out for Barefoot, Kaede!" makes me think that Kaede is not
Barefoot, Iwazaru) combined with awkward, inaccurate shooting mechanics and braindead
puzzling made me reach the second or third save point and put it down for months.

The second time I played killer7, I had zero interest on every level but aesthetics for the first half
of the game or so - the wall of nonsense was still there, and there was so little sane dialogue and
characterization to keep me interested, but the absolutely incredible eye for visuals and direction
that suda51 has was enough.

When I first beat it, I was immediately disappointed - the final level felt odd, the final scene
tacked-on, the level beforehand ending on a twist that seemed obvious.

And yet, this is one of the best video games I've ever played in my life. Replaying it with an idea
of what to look out for, almost everything felt new again - being able to interpret what was
happening and use this information to further my understanding of the game's events made me
appreciate its narrative on a level that I haven't seen in another game. A Gematsu interview with
Masafumi Taka said this about the soundscape:

For Killer7, I actively asked the programmer to implement the game audio, so as I
played the game I made lots of adjustments. All of the sounds that I didn't want in the
game were all omitted. I only kept the sounds that I thought were vital.

This exacting eye, this supremely controlled experience, underscores every aspect of this game
from top to bottom. As an artistic experience, virtually every part of it ties into a cohesive whole
after contemplation. The experience is akin to looking at a Jackson Pollock painting, but the
image resolves itself into the Mona Lisa's after looking at it with a fresh pair of eyes.


If you can't tell already, this shit is incredible. Not quite a must-play on account of how niche it is,
but it's definitely a must-try. It's been on my mind ever since I finished it, and it's only really
appreciating in quality. It's one of the only Suda games I can give an actual numeric score for,
and it's a pretty fucking high one.