There are a lot of Japan-only PS1 games that could probably compete, especially a handful from Human, but I decided to look into that game because of course and the Japanese Wikipedia page makes it sound like a Deception clone, kinda sorta? My translation of the premise below:
In Akudaikan, players take the role of an eponymous akudaikan[basically a Japanese term for a corrupt lord of a fiefdom] as they face off against heroic characters [from famous historical fiction plays] such as Toyama no Kin-san and Mito Komon.
Using the money earned through bribes from corrupt merchants, players can do things such as lay down traps and hire bodyguards in an attempt to get back against the good guys. As bodyguards and the akudaikan himself have a hard time warding off their enemies with just weapons, trap laying is an important facet of gameplay, as each trap has unique properties that must be considered and can also be used to trigger combos. Akudaikan is as such often considered to be akin to Tecmo's Deception series.
In-between each stage, Kihee Senbonmatsu appears in live-action cutscenes as the akudaikan himself, which in turn give off the impression that the series is meant to be a parody of period theater. However, there are a lot of inconsistencies between the characters that appear, the items that they use, and the time period that they're ostensibly inhabiting; likewise, the period-appropriate signage that appears serves little more purpose than to help establish the overall tone and worldview of the series. Additionally, Senbonmatsu himself actually has qualifications to work as an architect, making the architecture forgery scandal that occurred after the game's release a humorous footnote in the context of the game in and of itself.
Andy Yamamoto was a planner and producer for the game. His prominent involvement in development as an American garnered him some notoriety during the game's heyday.
There's a little more about random production notes, but that's the major stuff. Now I kinda just wanna try this series out for myself since it all seems to be the right sort of insanity I can go for. So, thanks for that, OP!
In exchange, here's an intro from one of those Human games I mentioned earlier. It's more funny if you know about enka as a music genre and dekotora as a Japanese car subculture, but I'm sure it has its appeal on its own merits without that knowledge:
Log in to comment