A side scrolling action adventure mood piece about a hitman in the 1970s. The developer's previous game The friends of Ringo Ishikawa dealt with Japanese Yankii culture and a lead with friends and events to interact with and at times and still at a point where there could have been a chance for his future to lead him in a different direction than the gang brawls he is drawn into as his friends begin to abandon that lifestyle through misfortune or wanting something better. The protagonist here begins as a man who has nothing and no longer cares for anything except for the time when he is doing a job that briefly pulls him away from the meaninglessness of his life. In between jobs you spend your time wandering through a lonely city with the only abilities being to take out and light a cigarette, put on sunglasses, wander the town, visit a lover who is never shown spoken to or doing anything to change the music or atmosphere presented, or to buy a drink, cigarettes, a new coat, and sleeping pills. There are no friends to interact with, books to read, new fighting moves to learn, or teachers attempting to make you work towards a different life for yourself all you have is the wait until your next job, just lying on your bed staring at the ceiling watching the smoke come out of the cigarette until there is nothing left of it.
Each job begins with you and your target, seemingly someone in a position of power, before you raise your gun and shoot them then work your way to the exit of the areas or to your escape vehicle. In your paths are never-ending waves of enemies coming from both sides. You maintain your slow movement pace but can rapidly shift your aim in front, behind, or on both sides of you as you continue to push your way forward as the action becomes a slower moving John Woo film. You can walk forward while firing your gun or guns at a slower rate, hold up to remain still but fire your guns much faster, or crouch down to prioritize enemies that are currently aiming at you. You start with a pistol and when you need more ammo your only way to get more is to break the arm of a nearby enemy before taking their gun, doing this can get you a pistol, a second pistol, or a shotgun that can hit multiple enemies at once. Some enemies will rush towards you being the ones you want to leave alive to disarm while others will draw their pistol or shotgun sooner and will remain station to aim or slowly walk towards you while aiming, enemies with rifles that try to aim and shoot shortly after appearing at each end of the screen are also frequent threats. There is no health bar or indicator of remaining ammo and while every shot you fire will kill an enemy that may or may not be true for them.
When a job ends it's back to a life of nothing. Only brief conversations with the man who gives you your assignments over time revealing that they both consider that they aren't living life how they thought would or ever want to, that there is nothing but the work, and what they will do once there are no more jobs left to take.
The developer keeps a somber atmosphere outside of the moments of actions while also giving a well detailed city environment and an excellent and mood fitting music. When fighting starts it is a simple but fun and fast and while your movements are limited there is a variety of ways that you maneuver your gun and arms while aiming that reminds of a variety of action film shootouts.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCFVVd0MRWc&ab_channel=Legolas_Katarn
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1740050010077831666
Each job begins with you and your target, seemingly someone in a position of power, before you raise your gun and shoot them then work your way to the exit of the areas or to your escape vehicle. In your paths are never-ending waves of enemies coming from both sides. You maintain your slow movement pace but can rapidly shift your aim in front, behind, or on both sides of you as you continue to push your way forward as the action becomes a slower moving John Woo film. You can walk forward while firing your gun or guns at a slower rate, hold up to remain still but fire your guns much faster, or crouch down to prioritize enemies that are currently aiming at you. You start with a pistol and when you need more ammo your only way to get more is to break the arm of a nearby enemy before taking their gun, doing this can get you a pistol, a second pistol, or a shotgun that can hit multiple enemies at once. Some enemies will rush towards you being the ones you want to leave alive to disarm while others will draw their pistol or shotgun sooner and will remain station to aim or slowly walk towards you while aiming, enemies with rifles that try to aim and shoot shortly after appearing at each end of the screen are also frequent threats. There is no health bar or indicator of remaining ammo and while every shot you fire will kill an enemy that may or may not be true for them.
When a job ends it's back to a life of nothing. Only brief conversations with the man who gives you your assignments over time revealing that they both consider that they aren't living life how they thought would or ever want to, that there is nothing but the work, and what they will do once there are no more jobs left to take.
The developer keeps a somber atmosphere outside of the moments of actions while also giving a well detailed city environment and an excellent and mood fitting music. When fighting starts it is a simple but fun and fast and while your movements are limited there is a variety of ways that you maneuver your gun and arms while aiming that reminds of a variety of action film shootouts.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCFVVd0MRWc&ab_channel=Legolas_Katarn
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1740050010077831666