Sweet Home

It's always weird to see the genesis of an idea. Resident Evil is considered one of the fathers of survival horror along with Alone in the Dark. However, experts kept saying that the true originator of the idea was an 8-bit Japanese game called Sweet Home. After playing it, I definitely see the origin of several elements in Capcom's more famous game and how much refinement was needed.

The story revolves around a team of investigators. They entered the secluded mansion of a famous painter who, it turns out, is dead. The ghost of the painter traps the team inside. They have to escape, and the answers lie in the artist's work. It's a rather sophisticated story for 1989; even Final Fantasy's story was trite compared to Sweet Home. I just wish there was more personality in the members of the investigative team that serve as the protagonists. They hardly speak except to partner up or ask for help. Aside from their tools, I can hardly tell Kazuo from Asuka.

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The game plays like a standard turn-based RPG. The five protagonists can be teamed up any way you wish, and, with few exceptions, any character can use any weapon against the various ghosts, skeletons, and killer dolls. However, all of the characters have to be used as each one carries a unique tool required to solve puzzles and proceed. Emi can unlock doors, Taro takes pictures (required to get certain clues), Asuka is the healer, Akiko can vacuum junk out of the way, and Kazuo has his trusty lighter. Unfortunately, the interface can be a little cumbersome. The menu system requires plenty of screw-ups before figuring out how to party up or pick up items. There's little in the way of direction. I found myself running around in circles for a while before stumbling on the way to move forward. Fortunately, the battles are very easy to handle. In fact, they can be too easy.

The visuals are decent for third gen. Characters are clearly defined, and the monsters are actually very well-drawn if standard-looking. The wisps actually look fantastic for the time. Effects could be better, however. Using the candle in a darkened room only lights up a box around your team; the effect looks very lame. The music is rather poor. The standard tune is very grindy. It actually gave me a headache after a while. Play this game on mute.

Sweet Home serves as both a great introduction to many of the elements that Capcom would put in Resident Evil six years later and one of the better RPGs to come out of the third gen. Were it not for the limited story and clumsy interface, I would put this on the same pedestal as the original Phantasy Star and Faxanadu. Even so, it's worth checking out just to see the true beginning of survival horror.