Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Before Shadow Hearts, there was Koudelka.
Join your fellow Boulder Punchers in supporting the channel!
• PATREON: patreon.com/boulderpunch
• One-time donations: ko-fi.com/boulderpunch
DISCORD: discord.gg/2AfRXbM2hg
Koudelka is a venture into the world of combining elements of survival horror with the JRPG. Simlar to what games like Parasite Eve did around this timeframe.
On the gameplay front, Koudelka is alright. It was a compromised result, where the game's director wanted a more survival horror direction, while the other staff wanted something more like a traditional JRPG. While it has some interesting ideas to its combat system, it's a bit undercooked. It's not Koudelka's greatest strength.
That comes from its narrative. Koudelka has one of the better stories I've come across in a game. A historical fiction backdrop, Koudelka has what I'd call a mature story. Not as a result of violence and blood - although there are plenty - but how it tackles its themes. With three strangers brought together to this location on this fateful night.
Koudelka dives into themes of religious faith, life, death, love. It does so in a way that you don't see many other games do. Add that in with how these dialogue scenes are shot like a play, and some of the best voice acting you'll ever hear, and you end up with a slam dunk of a narrative. One that helps make up for some of Koudelka's shortcomings on the gameplay front.
• 00:00 - Prelude
• 02:01 - Koudelka Intro
• 06:01 - Gameplay of Koudelka
• 19:18 - Music of Koudelka
• 23:12 - Gameplay Continued
• 23:59 - Narrative of Koudelka
• 34:46 - Story (Spoilers)
• 01:12:21 - The follow-up Manga
• 01:14:00 - In Conclusion
• The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian
• Clock Tower 3
• Final Fantasy X: youtube.com/watch?v=4-z-mjzSrV4
• Parasite Eve
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - youtube.com/watch?v=5KmQ4UHlgTk
• Seiken Densetsu 3: youtube.com/watch?v=pMzPLmd7O_k
• Shadow of the Colossus: youtube.com/watch?v=dbUsuIr28SA
• Tormented Souls: youtube.com/watch?v=7SC7c5bUERw
#boulderpunch #koudelka #survivalhorror
Before Shadow Hearts, there was Koudelka.
Join your fellow Boulder Punchers in supporting the channel!
• PATREON: patreon.com/boulderpunch
• One-time donations: ko-fi.com/boulderpunch
DISCORD: discord.gg/2AfRXbM2hg
Koudelka is a venture into the world of combining elements of survival horror with the JRPG. Simlar to what games like Parasite Eve did around this timeframe.
On the gameplay front, Koudelka is alright. It was a compromised result, where the game's director wanted a more survival horror direction, while the other staff wanted something more like a traditional JRPG. While it has some interesting ideas to its combat system, it's a bit undercooked. It's not Koudelka's greatest strength.
That comes from its narrative. Koudelka has one of the better stories I've come across in a game. A historical fiction backdrop, Koudelka has what I'd call a mature story. Not as a result of violence and blood - although there are plenty - but how it tackles its themes. With three strangers brought together to this location on this fateful night.
Koudelka dives into themes of religious faith, life, death, love. It does so in a way that you don't see many other games do. Add that in with how these dialogue scenes are shot like a play, and some of the best voice acting you'll ever hear, and you end up with a slam dunk of a narrative. One that helps make up for some of Koudelka's shortcomings on the gameplay front.
• 00:00 - Prelude
• 02:01 - Koudelka Intro
• 06:01 - Gameplay of Koudelka
• 19:18 - Music of Koudelka
• 23:12 - Gameplay Continued
• 23:59 - Narrative of Koudelka
• 34:46 - Story (Spoilers)
• 01:12:21 - The follow-up Manga
• 01:14:00 - In Conclusion
• The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian
• Clock Tower 3
• Final Fantasy X: youtube.com/watch?v=4-z-mjzSrV4
• Parasite Eve
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - youtube.com/watch?v=5KmQ4UHlgTk
• Seiken Densetsu 3: youtube.com/watch?v=pMzPLmd7O_k
• Shadow of the Colossus: youtube.com/watch?v=dbUsuIr28SA
• Tormented Souls: youtube.com/watch?v=7SC7c5bUERw
#boulderpunch #koudelka #survivalhorror
