Sonokuni

Sonokuni has quite the interesting backstory, not only with the game being born from the pandemic but also from the game developers too. Don Yasa Crew were a Japanese hip-hop group up until the lockdowns of 2020, where they were struggling to release their music and their gigs were cancelled. So they swung their attention to game development, forming a studio, and started work on what would become Sonokuni. With no history in game development, they learnt as they went, and here five years later, their debut game is now ready to be unleashed onto the general public. 

Sonokuni caught my attention back at EGX 2024, where I had the chance to play the demo. It left a lasting impression on me, thanks to its brash visuals and engaging gameplay. With its clear Hotline Miami influences, Don Yasa Crew has created something that will not only challenge your senses but also your playing skills, and for some it’ll be too much for both reasons. 

The story that threads through the game is also told in a brash way. It took me some time for the plot to sink in thanks to its broken-up style of storytelling, but once it clicked, I realised it was trying to tell a story filled with true life meaning and highlight an issue that I haven’t come across personally in a video game. Sonokuni refers to a village steeped in culture and beliefs that have dated back centuries. The tribe has followed these strictly, but a neighbouring village with a completely different culture is threatening Sonokuni’s way of life by spreading their beliefs onto the people of the village. One villager, Takeru, strongly believes that they should hold onto their culture and not let these new ideologies spread, while the chief believes that to evolve, they must embrace these new ways. 

What follows is Takeru not only fighting against her chief but dealing with this issue in the only way she knows how—to fight and murder the inhabitants of this neighbouring village to protect the tribe of Sonokuni. This is achieved by travelling to the opposing village, moving from room to room, and dealing with anyone that so happens to be in her way. Takeru is equipped with a shield and a spinning sword attack and the ability to slow down time, and this is where the main hook of the game comes in. 

As you see, you can’t just go storming into a room and dispose of everyone in one messy slaughter; you have to approach combat with a more puzzle-orientated mindset. Enemies are laid out in each room in a specific way to make you strategise on when to shield, when to parry, when to attack, and to watch your positioning. Just like the rest of the game, the combat is harsh and in places unforgiving; each enemy has a particular attack, and if you are not paying complete attention, you will die. And it’s one hit and done here, sending you back to the start of that particular room, but thankfully not to the beginning of the stage. The combat also craves patience, as there were many instances where I died over and over and over… and over. There were moments I nearly quit the game completely, hoping that surely playing half the game was enough to review it. But I persisted, and it was an excellent feeling when I did finally manage to chain my moves in a way to succeed and move on. 

I was conflicted throughout my playthrough though, as although wanting these hits of greatness, the effort to achieve it was too much at times. But the game kept pulling me back in by evoking that “one more go” feeling, and that’s what ultimately got me through. Well, dropping the difficulty down to easy might have helped too. Criminally, there are no accessibility options available, which did take me by surprise, considering how challenging the combat can become and the fact that I really wanted to turn on invincibility at certain painstaking moments of the game.

It’s not just the combat that ended up being challenging, though, as the visuals also became troublesome in places. For the most part, the bright neon-styled pixel graphics were a delight and work extremely well for this style of game. There’s some moments where I did stop to appreciate the work that had been done, especially in some specific areas. It follows that Hotline Miami influence on its sleeve and does a pretty great job. My problem came down to some decisions of textures and patterns that didn’t quite blend well together or were included in the wrong sections. For example, one boss involves you walking around in a circular motion, and the floor has been made of what looks like corrugated cardboard, which, as I was circling, gave off this effect that my eyes did not enjoy. Thankfully, these issues were few and far between, as mostly I ended up just loving this side of the game. 

Unfortunately, one area I didn’t enjoy was the game music. Unsurprisingly, Don Yasa Crew took on this entirely, so you’ll find a Japanese hip-hop sound throughout. Just like the rest of the game, it’s a jolting, harsh style of hip hop that, if you, like me, are not into the genre, will just not gel with. I found myself on many occasions turning down the music just so I couldn’t hear it, and my sanity did thank me for it. I also am not sure it was a good fit for the game in general, with the hip hop not really relating to the setting at all, with a more traditional upbeat soundtrack probably being a better direction to go down. I do appreciate that Don Yasa Crew did put together some good hip-hop style music, but with this being such an acquired taste, it sadly will put many people off from playing the game.

But if this all sounds good to you, then you’ll be pleased to hear that once completed, a couple more options open up, including a speedrun mode and a hotline difficulty, which basically sends you to the start of the stage if you die instead of the room, just like in the game the difficulty is named after. I’ll be honest, I didn’t explore these options, as I don’t think my brain could have taken it, but it was good to see more options open up for those that will thrive on this type of action.