Kurokishi no Kamen
is a video game developed by HummingBirdSoft and published by Matsushita for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The game was released exclusively in Japan in 1994 as part of the Ghost Hunter dungeon crawler series, which also includes Laplace no Ma and Paracelsus no Maken from the same developer.
Plot and gameplay
Kurokishi no Kamen is set in 1930's London in the abandoned Guilford Mansion. Thirty years prior to the start of the game, the mansion owner's wife, child, and three friends were brutally murdered in a kind of ritual. The case was closed when the owner hung himself. However, rumors of strange, supernatural occurrences surrounding the structure persisted to the present day and four ghost hunters go to investigate. They are the mystic Kenichiro Kusakabe, the detective Alex Quinn, the journalist Morgan Dylan, and the scientist Vincent Hoffman. The player uses this group to explore the mansion in a first-person perspective. Tank controls allow for movement in four directions while a cursor allows for interactions with objects and the scenery.The game features role-playing elements that are more simplified than its predecessors in the Ghost Hunter series. It features no character creation or customization as characters have fixed stats, equipment, and special abilities throughout its length. Encounters with malevolent spirits play out in a turn-based format. In battles, the player can choose from a number of commands including physical attacks, defending, using items, and escaping. Some commands are exclusive to certain characters. Although a powerful melee user, Kenichiro is the only character with mental power and the only one capable of psychic spells. Vincent is a weak melee attacker but is the only character who can use spirit machines to harm enemies.