I’ve decided to split this argument up in three different posts. The first will be my thoughts on Ju-On, with Calling coming up next, and then which I think is superior and why. This is not only for editing purposes, but I’m busy whilst wrapping up the last two months I have in Japan.
You might find it pointless of me to even argue over this. However, considering that these are my more popular gameplay videos and I keep getting asked this (despite that if you actually watch the videos you’d know my answer) which game do I prefer: Ju-On or Calling? My answer might be surprising to some, but it’s the other way around that surprises me. Oh, and this is a long one. I have a lot to say and I’m gonna say it. Also a quick spoiler warning for both games.
I’ll first start with my thoughts on Ju-On as that is the one I played first. Shortly after I got to Japan, I bought myself a Wii. I was planning to play the Fatal Frame game that was released and cancelled for overseas release and anything else I found interesting. I stumbled upon a copy whilst just browsing in a video game store. I went home, set up my Flip camera (‘cuz I’m poor), and played the game. The Fatal Frame game will be discussed in another post. The game was made as part of the 10 year anniversary for the Ju-On franchise, along with the Kuroi Shoujo and Shiroi Roujo.
I’ll start by saying that I love the Ju-On franchise. It is my favorite film franchise and I have enjoyed every single film. Yes, I love The Grudge 3 and Kuroi Shoujo (Girl in Black) and Shiroi Roujo (Old Woman in White). I’ve read the comics (I hate Meimu’s art though. There are better horror artists out there *cough cough* Junji Ito) and even the novel. They are something fun to me and capitalize on one of Japan’s famous villains, the Onryo. Onryo are essentially a vengeful ghost (often female, if not always) that takes their pent up rage out on the living. Whether said living has anything to do with the Onryo’s anger of course varies from story to story.
The Grudge franchise is that old Japanese villain brought to the modern era. Vengeful ghosts are similar to our own werewolves and vampires. It’s just something that goes along with horror in the East. The onryo probably does need a short break from being a common horror villain along with the vampire. However, our new ghostly stalker doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon.
You play each member of a family who happens to be under Kayako’s Grudge. You try to avoid the many encounters with her and Toshio and hope you can reach safety. If you are already well aware of the Ju-On franchise, you can already guess that your character won’t be saved. That can be a downside to some players. “What’s the point in playing if fate is decided for me anyways?” The original title is Terror Experience: Ju-On. It’s really about the experience of the game. Sure, that’s weak, but the title says Ju-On as well. And I would not consider it Ju-On if it didn’t stay true to what the movies have already established on how the Grudge works. And there was also no need to do some investigation on Kayako this time as the films did a good job of that as well. How the “investigations” work is mainly through collecting key items on each level that will ultimately unlock the final level, the Saeki house. I’ll be honest, there isn’t much of a story here, but it’s a video game. How many classic video games are there where there is little to or no story? I’m not saying Ju-On will be a classic, but just a little thought that story is not essential to a good game. Sure, it can make a game an amazing game, but not always. Sometimes, a game would be better if you just removed the story (i.e. Mirror’s Edge). This is a game where the story is not at all essential and I don’t consider it a must-be here.
Now to where you will really disagree with me. I’ve gotten into some arguments about this with others, but I have to just chalk up to my own experience. The controls are not that terrible. No, I’m dead serious!!! You can watch the video and you will see that the camera will spin and sometimes get stuck, but this didn’t happen that often and when it did, it wasn’t bothersome to me. When I first booted up the game, the controls were god awful, I couldn’t make it to the first battery. However, I just adjusted my sensor bar settings to the highest sensitivity, it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on.
On the issue about your character not moving fast: Is it really that bothersome? You move just about as fast as a character in Fatal Frame does without hitting the run button. It’s part of the atmosphere. Your character is too frightened to pursue whilst running. And if they did give you a run button, each level would be like 20 seconds long. It’s just something to make the game go longer. I never had a problem with the speed of my character. It was not that slow.
The graphics are somewhat of a mixed bag. Kayako and Toshio look rather bad, I must admit. Toshio looks way out of place and Kayako seems to look decent enough for her character sometimes, but awkward way too often. I don’t really blame the Wii on this. It may not be the best piece of hardware out there, but I know it is much more capable of better character animations. Nothing proves this more than that the environments in the game are actually well made. Every day items look like they should look. The environment is so well-done it just shows how shoddy the design in the two people we see that much more obvious. If the developers spent a bit more time in polishing Kayako’s and Toshio’s look the game, it would sell more in drawing the player in.
I did genuinely find the scares scary. While many people do find them rather cheap and “non-scary”, I of course disagree. What a horror game ultimately comes down to is what the player considers scary. There are people that don’t find ghosts scary and there are people that are terrified of zombies. Some people are jumpier and much more easily startled than others. I genuinely have always found Kayako scary. I have had nightmares of her staring me down. Seriously. So part of why I was scared playing the game was because I do find her a more frightening villain than one like Jason. Kayako just scares me and that translated well in the game.
As you can obviously tell, I did enjoy Ju-On. I was honestly surprise when it was not as well received in the US and Europe. I played the game before it was released there and I had a ton of fun. It was one of the best recent horror games I had played in awhile. This game was meant for fans of the Ju-On franchise and I consider myself a huge fan, I was pleased with the game. My fear was that they would go a different way with playing the game (like defeating Kayako) and was extremely pleased when they didn’t. Though, Takeo ghost would have been awesome. So for hardcore Ju-On fans, I recommend you at least give it a look. Do not let the negative press dissuade you, a good time can be found here.
So, that’s how I feel about Ju-On the video game. Next post will be focusing on Calling. Boy won’t that be fun.
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