Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard Of Darkness (Japan)

Year: 1995
Platform: PlayStation
Genre: Text adventure
Rating: *

Unbelievable. This is easily the worst video game I have ever seen (well, maybe next to "Coconuts"...). Based on the superb live action horror movie "Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard Of Darkness" (1995), I had high hopes for this title. I have a fair collection of Japanese video games and I've always been able to figure them out, more or less. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with this game, which is a freakin' text adventure! Can you believe that?!? A text adventure game on the PlayStation?!? Who would have ever imagined that? I was hoping for an FMV "point and click" experience like "The X-Files" (1999), but instead this is simply a bunch of text scrolling over still images taken from the movie. Boring... After reading a ridiculous amount of text (in Japanese), you're given a set of options as to what action to take, which sends you down another branch of text. (remember those "choose your own ending" books in elementary school?) Not being able to read Japanese makes the "game" utterly impossible to play, and the complete lack of any audio/visual stimulation makes it utterly impossible to enjoy. What a pathetic waste of time, money, and effort.