[h1] Αποκαλυψις (Apokalypsis). [/h1]
That Greek noun is where we get the term [i] Apocalypse [/i]. And when you hear either that or its adjective form what comes to mind? Perhaps the zombie apocalypse and/or post-apocalyptic genres of fiction which may also include some or all of the following:
[list]
[*]death and destruction caused by war so numerous like never before;
[*]scorched earth and burning skies;
[*]natural disasters way more severe than any other time in history;
[*]mutant organisms created from and/or for the catastrophe;
[*]great famine with fresh and clean water also scarce;
[*]cults and/or radical individuals rising in fame promising deliverance through them, claiming to be the way, the truth, and having the light thus conquering those who are ignorant, stupid, desperate, etc.; And finally
[*]the end of the world as we know it?
[/list]
Well if some of those you thought, then I partially agree with you. The real question is, did it at all come across your mind that there was anything apocalyptic about KAMUI? So what is to be said about that word in what it actually means associated with the list above?
Apokalypsis can be translated into unveiling, disclosure, or revelation. That last is the English title of the final subdivision (“book”) of the Bible where it gets its title from. When the layman throws out that term referring to a time like that above, it is likely they might not know anything of Revelation and be instead referring to something eschatological [Εσχατος (Eschatos: last, extreme) and -λογια (-logia: the study of)] in an uninformed, sensational way with unrealistic expectation of survival. This other term is referring to the following events leading to the end of days which Revelation certainly has a lot to say about but it is more universal in that it can also refer to the eschaton according to other religions.
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At first I was planning too do an all-in-one analysis of this game to be posted on Reviews. Here I would have given an interpretation of KAMUI’s theology along with the cross referencing of other works of fiction besides RayForce (1994) which is getting some mention by others. But because of the character limit and suspicion of Rules and Guidelines, the analysis will have to be moved to [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/283820/discussions/] Discussions [/url] and possibly continued elsewhere in the future. All that I say regarding this games analysis will be highly focused on Christianity’s sacred text. [b] For now I can only give a brief mention of the primary work of fiction that influenced KAMUI. [/b]
Although there are other works of fiction that also can be found in KAMUI its actual main influence is from another Apocalyptic work of fiction being [spoiler] [i] Neon Genesis Evangelion [/i] (1995) and its finale movie, [i] The End of Evangelion [/i] (1997). The legacy of Evangelion has left such a mark on the industry though not in the way its director Hideaki Anno wished for. [/spoiler] Thanks to his work, more Japanese fiction in the form of manga, video games, and other anime took much influence, many in a disgruntling way. This I can very much agree with however there are certainly few exceptions KAMUI being one of them. Along with the other works, their theologies adapted into KAMUI will also be examined which may sound like focus is diverted to them but in the end it will make sense.
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[b] Forced to shorten what I had wrote down [/b] Here I will be saying what I could about KAMUI trying to make it sound mostly like an actual review [u] except I have included terms that will be seen again in the analysis so when needed, refer to here. [/u]
Two KAMUIs are playable, the one according to the story which I will refer to as “Panaffil” and the Mass Production Model encountered in the latter half of the game, unlocked by completing the game in all three difficulties, and which I will refer to as the “MP”. Three weapons are equipped on both, each with notable differences.
First is the standard, unlimited, full automatic firing, only upgradable weapon done by collecting green POWER UPs and downgradable by losing a life. MP’s shoots more rapidly but remains firing only vertical where as Panaffil’s eventually produces diagonals but is still concentrated straight.
The second is that which everyone who is familiar with RayForce probably made the first comparison with KAMUI to and which I will refer to as “FIRE”. Both games have two planes of attack, the top being where you always are as well as where your first and KAMUI’s third weapon hit. Then there is the lower plane where this homing weapon goes. The three most significant differences of RayForce’s lower plane attack is that you have to place the reticle on your intended target and you start off with a quantity of five with a maximum of eight by collecting laser power ups. KAMUI’s version produces a large reticle on the entire screen followed by a small one on each chosen target when discharged, selection depends on where player is positioned, and depending on how much charged it is will determine how many bolts discharge at once multiplying the score you receive from destroyed targets. The issue I have with this though is the amount of points that FIRE gets compared to the others has a huge difference. How the two differ is that Panaffil’s multipliers maximum is X16 and MP’s is X12.
And finally the third weapon which is not present in RayForce and is officially called Lightning Katana assuming that name refers only to the one Panaffil has. Both I will refer to as “SWORD”. Like the other entries of the trilogy, there are methods for guarding most enemy attacks and this is KAMUI’s. But as you play you would realize SWORD’s use is more offense emphasized for Panaffil and defense for MP, both with a lightning splash effect similar to FIRE but on the upper plane when using SWORD against some enemy attacks that can be guarded.
Both FIRE and SWORD have limited use measured in the LIGHTNING bar on the bottom left of the screen. This bar has two measurements moving contrary to each other. From the left and colored green is the charge level of FIRE which empties upon use, constantly recharges, and that recharge can be sped up by preparing to launch FIRE but can not be canceled forcing it to be in your next attack. Opposite is red colored heat level of SWORD which cools down from max heat faster than FIRE fully recharges slowly. Both of these move against each other meaning if FIRE’s charge level is full but you use only SWORD the bar from right to left will turn red depleting FIRE’s charge making the player have to think economically or use both simultaneously.
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There are unlimited continues with SCORE reset. You are given three lives with different amounts of SHIELDs. Panaffil X4, MP X2. Both can be maxed to X8 although I have never attained this because there is an imbalance of POWER Ups than SHIELDs where if you exceed the former you get a trivial 10k points. When losing a SHIELD it is easy to spot with Panaffil but hard to with MP. RayForce implied that it is a one player game but is two, at first I thought it was wrong to make KAMUI only one with how I applied Revelation but turns out I was in error unable to explain here.
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Although it is not a complete foundation, I hope that this was sufficient in getting this game to be viewed in another way. As for continuing a stand alone review, I will probably not make extension for what I couldn’t say because the real interest should be on what I have to say in relation to the aforementioned above. I had wished to finish all of it before this Autumn but couldn’t due to the complexity of the subjects along with the difficulty of composing. For now I have to start with this but it shouldn’t be too long when I post about the games parts one by one so stay tuned because they will eventually come but for now
[h1] Happy Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) 2024. [/h1]
