High Dynamic Range Lying

Ever since playing Killer7 on the Gamecube, and later hearing about the impending release of Grasshopper’s latest title No More Heroes, the HDRL crew has been on a nonstop Suda 51 kick. From The Silver Case to Michigan, we have been scouring Japanese game stores for titles to feature on the blog. While there are so many great old games to write about in Hidden Gems, Suda directed and not, we cannot forget about criminally overlooked Flower, Sun, and Rain.

As we return to the world of FSR for another installment of Hidden Gems, we find that our intrepid hero stumbles upon some serious weirdness. Unlike Killer7, which prided itself on being knee deep in oddity and objectionable material, Flower, Sun, and Rain does an excellent job of creating a seemingly normal and sunny paradise for the player to immerse themselves in. Before long, the game sideswipes the player and drops them in a world of psychological strangeness, with hilarious sexual innuendo abound.

Continue reading ‘Hidden Gems: 花と太陽と雨と (Flower, Sun, and Rain) Part 2′

Most Gamecube owners remember the fabled Capcom 5 project that 3rd party publisher Capcom started to bolster the sagging Gamecube lineup. Viewtiful Joe, Dead Phoenix, Resident Evil 4, PN03, and Suda 51’s Killer 7 were the five games that made up the project. Killer 7 in particular, the last game in the project, was a surprisingly unique, compelling, yet violently divisive game. Some loved the game’s crazy art style, strange gameplay and complex story, while others hated it more than was humanly possible.

The game earned its own set of fans and fanatics, and made a name for Suda and his team for Grasshopper, that has carried over and helped hype their next game, No More Heroes.

Continue reading ‘Hidden Gems: 花と太陽と雨と (Flower, Sun, and Rain) Part 1′