Kuon

THE BAD:
The combat is clunky, the voice acting isn't that wonderful, and the game is a little short.

SUMMARY:
If you like survival horror, you will most likely appreciate this game. The atmosphere is very similar to Fatal Frame in that you creep around a "haunted" manor, in the dark, mostly by yourself. There are three phases, and the length the first time through is generally agreed to be 13-15 hours with all three together.

One thing I particularly liked about this game was that the health bar is not constantly up. While that sometimes made it difficult to tell how close to death your character is, it did have the effect of making the experience more immersive.

Combat is extremely clunky, though. That can be overcome to a degree by getting the timing down. Push a button and take note of how long it takes for the character to do that action.

The clunky combat and poor voice acting were the major flaws to this game. The length may or may not be a factor, since the replay value is middle of the road. Lack of major unlockables may be something to consider; however, a fun but simple mini-game can be unlocked by playing through the first two phases and finding the pieces to the game.

I'm not sure if this is fully worth the $50 to everyone. I found it worth the price, and it's getting to be a rare game, so if you really want a good addition to a survival horror collection, it's best to pay full price and grab it while you still can.

Final notes: In my mind, it's not quite as good (gameplay) as Fatal Frame, but the storyline and fear factor rival some of the best games out there.