Korean video games

[Jeckidy]

You know, Koreans don't really have a big hold on the console market like the Japanese do. The rift between them in history and politics made them reluctant to welcome Japanese products into their homes. They were more reliant on PC for gaming than consoles. However, some original games do exist from South Korea which are worth mentioning.

Korean is the only other language besides Japanese that I ever really studied in-depth, being a fan of Korean entertainment like Music, Movies, etc. and some other things. It was of interest for me to do some research on the history of it, though I'm not going to even dare call it comprehensive.

Sonnori was one Korean developer who could be compared to SquareSoft. Though not the first Korean RPG (that may be Dream Walker on Apple II) their debut title Astonishia Story circa 1993 was somewhat comparable to Shining Force, but much simpler. The graphics looked more on par with NES titles when it debuted on DOS, but it was considered groundbreaking in the world of Korean gaming, and was a best-seller. Sonnori had a fairly large catalogue, and released several other titles for PC after Astonishia's success. They also compiled many of their earlier works into a box set called "The Romance of Package". White Day is a 3D survival horror title compared sometimes to Clocktower. Steel Empire is very much influenced by Metal Saga/Metal Max, and Arcturus screams "Grandia" all over it. It's amazing to me that they tend to be influenced the most by games which had no Korean localizations. Darkside Story is another early offering they did which is a cross between an RPG and Streets of Rage.

I must also mention that Astonishia Story, the first, has been remade multiple times, all in more detailed 2D, but first localized in the west in 2005. This is also among my 'best of the worst' list, for games that were unfairly panned by English reviewers. I honestly feel that it has some very subtle but distinct charms that set it apart from typical JRPGs while still retaining some of its formula. I also disagree that the translation was abysmal as hardcoregaming101 reported, though it did have some obvious typos here and there.

Sonnori, who later became Ironnos/SK Telecom, later did a game entitled Astonishia Story 2, retitled "Crimson Gem Saga" in the US and Europe because it really had nothing to do with the original besides a few minor references and the fact that it had the same developer. Nonetheless, playing through CGS right now, it is certainly one of the best Korean original RPGs to be localized. Very well done. The localization and voices are, thanks to Atlus, not as bad as some JRPG jobs are. What I've noticed is that since Koreans are more expressive and fluid about their feelings and language like we are, translations tend not to feel as stilted or awkward like Japanese.

Lastly, there are some games on Nintendo DS exclusive to Korea called Mabeob Cheonjamun. This is part of an ongoing edutainment series in Korea to teach Korean kids how to understand hanja, or Korean kanji. It is a great example of edutainment done right and great for people who want to delve deeper into the language, specifically how kanji/hanja is still used and relates to the history of Korean language and literature. Basically it's an RPG where the player practices and learns hanja to progress and battle enemies.

Let me know what you guys have to say about your experiences or questions regarding Korean games.

[Flygon]

I've wasted over 12 years of my life on Ragnarok Online.

The game's still popular, too. Granted, much smaller. I miss the servers of 5,000+ Australians.