Cosmology of Kyoto was created around 1993/94 by Softedge Inc. and published by Yano Electric. It is an adventure game or story that allows you to interact. The player, from a first person perspective, explores the ancient Kyoto city in Japan. Entering the town and interacting with its inhabitants as an American or Japanese. The path through the current life and many reincarnations to come, is determined by the players actions.
The game is controlled by clicking certain areas and text options when appropriate. There is also the element of typing sentences when necessary.
You are born in the beginning as a male traveller. An ordinary human faced with different opportunities. Death is almost destiny. In fact, during play you will die after being attacked by sharp-toothed demons and tormented souls that are incredibly realistic.
One absolutely fantastic thing about this game is the possibility of reincarnation. Once you manage to escape hell and are reborn you must take the clothes from your last body to continue. As you progress, you discover abilities and items to protect you from certain death but be prepared to meet the worst of all kinds. A few of the things you may come across include a dog eating a corpse, a monk leading a prayer meeting, kids playing ball in the streets, a maiden who speaks obscenity
and many more characters that are real-life. You could enter a Paradise or Hell.
The voices in the game are very intimidating. Sometimes taunting, teasing or sexy. They speak the ancient tongue of Japanese accompanied by English subtitle. Another great thing about this game is that it includes a database of over 400 screens of photos and text that give background information for the time and place where you are in the game. It’s like walking through history. Kyoto comes alive right before your very eyes, with all the gory details and images that its inhabitants truly faced or believed, making this game a cultural adventure that deals with philosophy, religion, legend and myth. Believe it or not, these traditions, and beliefs are still relevant even to this day. I recommend this game for anyone looking for an escape into a realistically ancient time set in the 10th and 11th centuries AD.
