A new survival horror great
If you don't mind poor production values, can appreciate completely bizzare/surreal story and characters, and loved the PS1 era of survival horror games, you will enjoy this game immensely.
Red Seeds Profile is pretty much everything you've heard about it. There are very noticeable technical errors throughout the entire game, and honestly, it doesn't take away from it a bit. The game feels like a breath of fresh air that the video game industry hasn't produced in years. The game pays homage to various survival horror games, most obviously to Silent Hill. The characters are truly interesting, the main protagonist especially. I was really surprised to see a character like this in a game. The story is very absorbing, absurd, deranged, nonsensical, but most of all, entertaining. The soundtrack caught me off guard as well, it's quite pleasing. There are a lot of nice guitar tunes to listen to. There is actually a bunch to do in this game, lots of side quests and collectables. The game is also quite long, and will definitely have you playing for over 20 hours if you complete the story. Do yourself a favor: get this game and don't look back.
Some info for PS3 gamers (I have the HK version):
-The game has 100% English voice acting.
-There is Japanese text throughout, but everything is very easy to navigate. Menus are mostly in English, and that is most important. Most interface related things are in English as well.
-Non-Japanese literate players will have the most trouble with: reading side quest info, reading the map, reading dialogue without voice acting (uncommon, all story scenes have voice acting), using the radio to quick travel, reading information regarding solving puzzles, reading information regarding inventory items. These problems can be easily worked out by using an FAQ.
-The game comes with a fold-out pamphlet detailing the controls/other mechanics in English.
-Overall, the game still delivers everything it needs to for you to enjoy it to the fullest. Not being able to read Japanese shouldn't pose any big problems.
-It's the exact same game as "Deadly Premonition", "Red Seeds Profile" is the original name of the game.
