It's definitely one of the more unique games I've played. But putting aside the novelty, its a very mixed bag.

Gameplay wise, it actually worked surprisingly well. Once you get past a pretty awkward learning curve at the very start, the rest of the game is pretty enjoyable to get through. Things never get too overwhelming so as to strain the limitations of the control scheme but still keeps things interesting with the constant addition of new enemy types and strange map layouts. While I would hardly call any of the gameplay great, it was far better than what I was expecting when I first started playing.

The story is where things start getting harder to evaluate. Like Suda51's other work, Killer7 is not told in a very straightforward way. Characters talk with strange mannerisms and bring up stuff that barely seems related to whats actually happening. And when the events themselves are already so weird and indecipherable, adding that extra layer of obfuscation can make the story feel like a fever dream at times. Even after reading the wiki and watching several videos analyzing the story, I'm still quite confused on a lot of the details. And, especially difficult when it comes to reviewing this game, it really doesn't help that a lot of the lore and story comes from supplemental material so even the stuff that is interesting might not be attributable to the contents of the game itself.

I'd probably give Killer7 a tentative recommendation. Its a pretty short game, clocking in at just over 13 hours for me, so you're not gonna be sinking too much time into it. And while it may have some rough points, the game's unique character really helps keep those issues from ever taking center stage. So give it a shot. Get through the first level at least to see whether you care to keep going.

When I first played Killer7, I was turned off. The gameplay felt like something out of a different dimension (quite frankly, it still does), I didn't understand the story, and it was a bit spooky, at a time when I wasn't really used to horror. I just wanted a cool stylish action game, and this wasn't it. And yet, after I dropped it, it kept nagging at me to pick it back up. Eventually, after No More Heroes proved a more comfortable entrance into Suda51's head, I did, and it ended up becoming my favorite game ever. I genuinely cannot predict what my approach to not just videogames but all media could be had I not played Killer7.

Let's get the boring stuff out of the way. In terms of presentation, Killer7 looks amazing even today. It's dark, it's stylish, and it fits itself like a glove. Music and sound design are great. Gameplay's very weird, but eventually slides into a fun if simplistic loop. The PC port is the best way to play it, just keep in mind that button prompts don't change depending on how you're actually playing it, which is weird but ultimately easy to get used to.

What truly makes Killer7 a game unlike any other is its narrative, style and atmosphere, though. It's deep, inscrutable, dark, prescient, funny, depressing and so many more adjectives I could throw at it, but nothing can really do Killer7 justice other than playing it. There are so many ways to read its story, and so many ways it can gel with one depending on the sort of person they are, that it would almost be unfair to push mine on someone who hasn't yet played it.

Killer7 is probably the first major game people knew from Suda pre NMH
Of course it being written by Suda the story is insane, amazing and introspective
But you can tell there were cuts made due to how most of the Killer7 get shafted in terms of character and cutscene
The gameplay was one thing I was a bit worried about but the on rails type shooting works so much better than you'd think it would. With each member bringing something really special to the mix, none feel boring to play as while also being able to fall into personal preference
I really liked most of the smiles but there were a few being a bit too erratic and feeling unavoidable at times.
I will say I feel the game has highs and lows and feeling very easy to just get lost in routine and feel less engaged in the game due to certain circumstances.
Overall I did really enjoy the game even if it never really got over the high of the first two parts until the end
Also fucking hell play on PC don't play on console this game is made for mouse and keyboard holy shit

my first point of reference for this game, like prolly everyone else's, is to pinpoint the similarities to it being a glow-up of rail shooters found in arcades. for about a third or so of the game, it definitely feels that way. yet, it still felt disingenuous; right from the very get-go, it defies a proper description because of how it has its hands in as many places as possible; some may call that a fatal flaw for smth that has a severe case of adhd, i say it's a goddamn masterpiece not solely thanks to it, but that for as complicated as killer7's plot and battles gets, it settles itself into its own comfy routine, using the same game mechanics as leverage for the banal form of evil and indifference its world plays as

the killer7 themselves are almost mythic in their creation, an idea of gameplay so insane that it works itself into being a downright ingenious form of a shooter; everything directly said or implied about the personas is stepping into a tightrope the player has to walk: tread too safely and you get lost in the design, tread too wildly and you get too careless in the design. for as easy as it is to shit on repetitive gameplay, the concept alone is still appealing and everlasting from just how much it exchanges invested time and muscle / mind memory to each other back and forth. it's cliched to say but each member really does bring their flair to an already high-concept game, and it's very excited to let you indulge in setting you up for preparation itself

but it feels all too futile as well. its evil and indifference found in the story isn't just routine, but robotic, directly being a pawn in cover-up after cover-up and conspiracy after conspiracy, and meant to navigate the murky waters outside. every abitrarily-seeming route is drenched in post-wwii anxiety and post 9/11 paranoia from japan and the u.s. in the game, and at certain peaks, especially when you get characters talking directly to you, so much of post-ironic humor and storytelling driving it forward know too well of it going only so far as it allows itself to always right before shit hits the fan. killer7 is practically banking on the player to not only accept its bullshit at face-value, but actually get you to recognize it as a meaningful farce of what is literally dissociated identity from the call of duty

it's a blessing that smth like this was released right in the sweet spot of the 2000s; video games, along with media in general, delved straight into using the war on terror as a means to retool people's own confusion into a spectacle for entertainment; no one, much less the governments in power, actually knew how to handle their own egos that came with fighting the stereotyped evils of the world made from their own bloodstained and dirt-soaked hands. yet, out of many woodworks, there also came plenty of media that took the absurdity of war as a way to both joke around and rampage angrily at our mistakes. killer7 wasn't made to be an ultimate answer or commentary on the era, since it knows most ppl then and now were looking for a good time for whatever special bullshit gave them their own solo parties at the edge of the world, but it sure as succeeds in all its glorious and bittersweet bullshit