Ohenro-San: Hosshin no Dojo JPN GC (mini featurette)
As so few people have ever heard of it, i though you all might like to see what it's about.
Boxed set with game & Inro kun (pedometer)
The rather rare 3 button walking controller
This is one of the most obscure & weirdest & wonderful gamecube games you can get. Its like a virtual holiday in japan (^_^)
Its a simulation game based on the Ohenro pilgrimage, a 1,400 kilometer journey around the 88 temples of Shikoku region of japan. Due to the disk size only 23 of the temples on the route are represented in the GC version. As you visit each temple you are meant to offer prayers & collect a special seal that goes in your ohenro journal each one is unique to each temple. Its sort of a souviner of your visit.
You might be wondering just how the game works if you have ever seen any screenshots (probably less than 3 people on here hehe) Sadly is not like a densha de go kind of game with pure FMV, instead its a series of still photographs which zoom in & slowly fade to the next one as you walk. The scenery you pass is the old side of japan with breathtakingly beautiful views, as you slowly pass through the countryside you will see so many sights then theres the amazing scenery of inside the temples.
You navigate the temples with a selection of menus, you can also bring up a map in case you miss anything. There are a few things to do in each temple you visit. Firstly you will have to find the priest who stamps your book with the temple seal, without this you cant progress to the next temple. You can also take part in prayers if you find the altars. During praying the screen turns black & buddist prayers appear which you are meant to chant along with. Hehe its too bizarre but if you can read kana its do-able, if you dont want to chant you can just listen to the monks chanting.
This is an example of one of the temple seals that you collect for your journal, each one is a calligraphy work of art & no 2 are ever the same.
Also in each temple there are prayer slips & candles to find, you have to visit all areas to find them.
The game makers spared no expense when they made the game. It has its own 2 special controllers.
To play the game properly you use the 3 button walking controller & the idea is to use the 2 big buttons to walk on the spot (crazy eh)
The second controller is the pedometer that you clip on as your walking so it can count how many real steps you take, it has a little gamecube joypad plug on the bottom so you can connect it to port 4 of your gamecube. When you connect it lets you upload the milage you have walked into your journal.
Here are some pics from the game, apologies in advance for the poor shots but rear projection tv's & cameras dont mix.
These are the screens you see on the journey between temples, the meter in the top right is the amount of step left to do.
These are the kind of things you see when you get to a temple.
This temple has a golden budda statue, every temple has somthing different to see.
Reply With Quote
