is an adventure game developed by Softedge and published by Yano Electric. It was released for Japan in 1993, and then in North America, for the Macintosh in 1994 and then for the PC in 1995.
It is a game where the player, from a first-person perspective, explores the ancient city of Heian-kyō (Present-day Kyoto) during 10th–11th century Japan. The game lacks a clear goal, but is instead nonlinear and emphasizes open exploration, giving players the freedom to explore the city and discover many pathways, buildings, situations, stories and secrets. The game deals with historical, horror, religious and educational themes, and features karma and reincarnation gameplay mechanics. Released on CD-ROM, the dialogues in the game are fully voiced in Japanese, with English subtitles in the localized North American version.
Game Gallery
Reception
Upon release in North America, the game received wide critical acclaim. However, it was not a commercial success in North America, attracting only a devoted cult following, partly because of its limited production run making it difficult to find and partly because of its slow-paced gameplay. Later in 2010, he mentioned it in a column on whether video games can be art. After previously arguing that video games are categorically not art, he stated, "In my actual experience, I have played Cosmology of Kyoto, which I enormously enjoyed, and Myst, for which I lacked the patience." Cosmology of Kyoto is the only video game that Ebert is known to have reviewed and enjoyed.
In issue 218 (June 1995) of Dragon magazine, it was reviewed by game designer David "Zeb" Cook in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. He described it as "a unique gaming experience" that is part "game, part history lesson, and part software toy," recommending it to players "looking for an adventure game unlike any they've ever seen" as "Cosmology of Kyoto is unlike anything else out there", noting how it departed from other adventure games, such as its lack of a clear goal other than being killed "over and over and over again" and how "you're just an ordinary person" with no special abilities. He described it as "frustrating, flawed, and fascinating", criticizing the slow pace, "limited" interaction, and slow CD-ROM loading times, yet found it "appealing", stating "the wonder of the setting and its approach outweighs these irritations" as there "are too many fascinating things to discover, from haunted houses to backgammon-playing demons" and the reincarnation mechanic gives the game "a certain freedom", enough that the player "could even use it as a resource for" their "own role-playing game" campaign. According to Cook, "Ultimately, Cosmology of Kyoto is best viewed as less a game and more a software toy, one of those things you plug in and fiddle with. Once you forget about winning and indulge your curiosity, the CD-ROM's strength truly shines."
At the AUUG Conference in September 1995, Cosmology of Kyoto was described as "extremely interesting and groundbreaking", for "many aspects" such as the way it presents and cross-references its fragmented narratives in a non-linear way, the Buddhist themes, the way it draws from "the art and literature of Kyoto at about 1000 AD, the simple elegance of the screen design, and the beauty of the water-colour images used throughout."
Retrospective reception
Retrospectively, the game has also been critically well received. In 2008, video game journalist Jenn Frank retroactively compared it to contemporary survival horror games. She noted Cosmology of Kyoto lacks a "real plot or goal" but considered an "unfairness" to be characteristic of horror with "encounters with ghosts and demons" that are "often random, sudden, inescapable". She concluded it to be an "extremely eerie" and "Memorably frightening game." In 2011, Ryan McSwain of Hardcore Gaming 101 states that it "attempts to be many things", including "a game, an educational tool, and a work of art", concluding that "it manages to be all of these and more." After Ebert mentioned the game on his blog in 2010, Chris Person reviewed the game on Kotaku in 2012, where he described it as an "edu-horror" and "one of the most disturbing" games he had ever played, depicting themes such as poverty, sickness, suffering, and cruelty (such as a scene where a child is beheaded by a nobleman, and scenes depicting torture in hell), and praises the game for the way it expresses its Buddhist themes. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro mentioned Cosmology of Kyoto as one of his favorite games, along with Gadget: Invention, Travel, & Adventure, Asteroids and Galaga.
See also
- Shin Onigashima (1987)
- Otogirisō (1992)
- Kamaitachi no Yoru (1994)