The Story of Kamikuishiki Village
The Story of Kamikuishiki Village | |
---|---|
Aum Shinrikyo's compound | |
Developer(s) | HappySoft Ltd.[1][2] |
Publisher(s) | Aum Soft[1][2] |
Programmer(s) | Takeshi Kanai, Kouichi Karasawa[1] |
Platform(s) | PC-98 |
Release | June 29, 1995[1] |
Genre(s) | Strategy, Visual novel |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Story of Kamikuishiki Village (上九一色村物語, Kamikuishiki-mura Monogatari) is a
Kamikuishiki Village uses
Gameplay
The player takes the role of Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, and manages the cult's operations, collecting resources and indoctrinating new members, with the end goal of carrying out the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.[2][3] The Story of Kamikuishiki Village has two endings; the player wins the game by carrying out the sarin gas attack, and if the player loses, armageddon ends the world.[1][2][3]
Time in Kamikuishiki Village passes by the player performing actions; the game begins on October 1, 1989 and is heavily time-based.[3] In addendum to input from the player, there are events that take place on certain dates; this lines up with real events related to Aum Shinrikyo; for instance, on November 4, 1989, the Sakamoto family murders are committed, and on June 27, 1994 the Matsumoto sarin gas attack occurs, regardless of the player's input.[3] Kamikuishiki Village's inputs include training Asahara's 'abilities', missionary work, investing, soliciting money from followers, and resting.[3]
History
The Story of Kamikuishiki Village has been speculated to have been created by the
Hightower stated in regards to Kamikuishiki Village's cult imagery that “Some of it really is footage from cult propaganda, but what's important to keep in mind is that after the [sarin] attack, TV news showed thousands of hours of Aum coverage and even the cult's internal propaganda was picked through bit by bit,” furthermore stating that “If you look at the opening to the game, it's all mostly the shit people like the original ‘Aumers’ and kids at the time were mocking,” and that "there were a few very absurd things about Aum... that stood out to the public.”[1] Furthermore, an advertisement for Kamikuishiki Village in Game Urara Vol. 4 explicitly states that "We have absolutely NO relation with Aum Shinrikyo. We hate them."[1][2] Notable members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult are vulgarly mocked in Kamikuishiki Village's advertisement, such as its describing to the player's role in the game as Shoko Asahara as "[selling] off your own saliva, blood, cum and such to stupid believers".[2]
The Story of Kamikuishiki Village was released on June 29, 1995, and was sold via underground magazines, such as Game Urara, a magazine known for shock images, software piracy, and pornography.[1][2][6] Vice contacted three pseudonymous individuals who collect, research, and translate obscure Japanese video games; 'Senn', 'togemet2', and 'Metalik'.[1] According to them, The Story of Kamikuishiki Village is a homebrew interactive visual novel doujin game from the 1990s Japanese underground software scene.[1] The Story of Kamikuishiki Village's advertisement in Game Urara Vol. 4 refers to it as a "fun work of art straight from the bowels of hell", and compares the game to Romance of the Three Kingdoms III.[2]
HappySoft, The Story of Kamikuishiki Village's developer, is known for low-budget satirical games, and is primarily known for another controversial title, Hong Kong 97, which has been regarded as 'one of the worst games ever made' and notably contains an image of a real human corpse as its game over screen.[1] In response to an inquiry by Vice, Yoshihisa 'Kowloon' Kurosawa, stated that he didn't work on the game, but that it "was made by two of my friends while we were still in high school," and due to Aum's increasing political relevance and the cult running political candidates in elections, "The experience shook us, so those two ended up creating [The Story of Kamikuishiki Village] and I also made a game about Aum on my own.”[1] Kamikuishiki Village was created by Takeshi Kanai and Kouichi Karasawa; Kurosawa described the two as 'talented programmers', and stated that "I think they used a lot of new and innovative techniques to create it"; Kouichi Karasawa later worked for Konami.[1]
Kamikuishiki Village was sold solely through mail order, and cost ¥14500 yen in 1995; it was originally going to be sold at Comiket, but one of the programmers decided against it.[2] Kamikuishiki Village spans twelve 3+1⁄2" floppy disks; the game may not be run off the disks directly, and must be installed to a hard drive.[2] Kamikuishiki Village uses footage from the anime Chouetsu Sekai, and the game's soundtrack consists of music sung by Shoko Asahara.
Reception
Possibly due to The Story of Kamikuishiki Village's subject matter, price, and underground release, the game is not known to have been reviewed in any gaming magazines.[1] However, Kamikuishiki Village has seen modern relevance in the form of online speculation that the game was created by Aum Shinrikyo.[1] Kamikuishiki Village has received interest in the niche of 'eerie' video games, primarily due to the game's reference of real events and real deaths, and the use of real-life footage.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Gault, Matthew (November 12, 2019). "The True, Secret History of the Creepiest Cult Game Ever Made". Vice. Vice Media.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "The Story of Kamikuishiki Village Magazine Advertisement". Game Urara. Vol. 4. Core Magazine. 1995. pp. 190–191.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The Story of Kamikuishiki Village (June 29, 1995). HappySoft Ltd. Aum Soft.
- ^ Brownlee, John (June 19, 2007). "Murderous Japanese Cult Produces Cheery Anime About Their Leader". Wired. Condé Nast.
- ^ Cyriaque, Lamar (September 6, 2011). "The anime propaganda films of a Japanese death cult". Gizmodo. G/O Media.
- ^ Senn (December 30, 2019). "Game Urara – Japan's Filthiest Underground Gaming Magazine [NSFW]". Gaming Alexandria.