Sweet Home (that was the original title, written Suito Homu in katakana) is both a game and a movie, released at the same time; there is some chicken-and-eggs discussion going on among the fans that is as amusing as it is pointless, for it is quite obvious that it was a joint enterprise, probably the only one of its kind as yet.
While Sweet Home uses the basic elements of console RPGs, it uses them differently and can be described more accurately as a survival horror game, the first one ever. Death, for example, is permanent, the five characters have each their own inventory and can be joined in groups of maximal three. You can always jump between characters, even if they are in different rooms.
What is so remarkable about Sweet Home is that it was probably the only RPG on the NES that tried to, and succeeded in, creating and atmosphere. The graphics of most of the others are so generic that you might wonder if there is maybe a collection of tiles and sprites stored in the ROM of the Famicom that they all use. Sweet Home actually had textured tiles, though what really creates the atmosphere is the eerie music.
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Kazuo is something like the leader of the party, the producer of the documentation. A typical sarariman in his midlife crisis, a widower with a daughter coming of age, the movie shows him undecided and easily discouraged. In the game, however, he has the highest hitpoints. His item is a lighter, which he can use to burn ropes that block the way, and against skulls and worms. |
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Taguchi is the cameraman. Since the default names could not be longer than five letters, he was remained Taro in the translation. Though graphics and logic clearly indicate that he operates a video camera, the sound effect when he uses it is the shutter of a photo camera. When he takes a picture of the frescoes, the hints become visible, and he can use his camera against ghosts, wraiths, and bats. |
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Emi is Kazuo's daughter. She is the strongest female character, with her key she can open most of the doors in the game. |
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Asuka is, in the movie, the reporter. Headstrong and bossy, she declares that this is her documentation at one point. The game somewhat disingenuously turns her into a maid. With her vacuum she can remove broken glass that blocks the way, and clean frescoes so Taguchi can photograph them. |
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Akiko is a nurse, and the weakest character. She can heal the others with her medical kit. |
