Back to the Suda

I'm a huge fan of Suda51's self-described punk-rock approach to game design--partially because I'm a sucker for such a bold, ridiculously idealistic declaration, partially because there's no flavor crazier than western culture filtered through Japan--but I don't always love the games that result from it. I respect the uncompromisingly bizarre dream-logic behind Killer7, but the stifling gameplay kept me from experiencing as much of it as I would've liked. No More Heroes was significantly more accessible on all fronts, but it was still grueling enough that the game stares at me shamefully from the shelf after having only made my way to #8 on the United Assassins Association list. I think there's some merit to the way both of these games are deliberately punishing, but as much as I enjoy the other weird stuff he cooks up, I just wish his games were more playable.

Take, for example, the recent Foreign Video Game Unlawful Assembly 2K8 event held by Grasshopper Manufacture. 1up covered the event, and the very idea of listening to Suda wax bizarre about western games with a masked character named Mask de UH, the guy who made Kirby, and the guy who made Doshin the Giant is bizarre enough that it sounds like it was pulled from one of his own games. The whole article is worth a read if you're interested in either Suda's shenanigans or the perspective of some significant Japanese designers on western-style games, though the only real news to come from the event is that The Silver Case, an original PlayStation game that he was involved in, will be coming to the PlayStation Network. Released only in Japan, The Silver Case is a high-style murder mystery that, as far as I can tell, is even more obfuscatory than Suda's more recent work.

No detail was given as to when or in what regions The Silver Case will drop, or whether this has any impact on the DS version of The Silver Case that Suda discussed at GDC last year. As someone who is only really familiar with the man's last two games, I know I'm certainly curious about his earlier work, even if I'm fairly certain I won't finish it.