First, let me pre-face that by saying that it's one of the few games where I'm sorry that print is currently unavailable. However, PDFs are being sold by Le 7ème Cercle.
You only need the core Kuro PDF to play, and the review only touches upon it (except where necessary). There's also a campaign, Kuro: Makkura...which I'm not going to comment on in this post...and a supplement called Kuro: Tensei which introduces the more high-powered options for character development.
By default, Tensei is meant to be played after you played all of Makkura (you reach the state of being able to use those options at the end of the final adventure). We never got to this point, though, when I was running the campaign (it went on hold due to RL crisis, and then we started another, because games are like planes...lack of momentum leads them to fall all over the place).
OK, let me get to the nitty-gritty.
System
The system is skill-based d6 dicepool where you total all dice, add your skill and beat the TN (and dice explode). Nothing out of the ordinary.
There are twists, three of them in fact:
1. When you roll a 4, it counts as 0, because Japanese superstitions.
2. Also, the skills are separated into "skill trees", where you can have a Skill Area Close Combat of 3, and a Specialisation of, say, Ashihara-Ryu Karate-do at 9, Melee Weapons 4, and Improvised Weapons 6. If you ever have to resort to wrestling, though, you'd have to do it with your Brawling skill, which you're lacking...so all you get is the 3 from Skill Area.
3. Finally, on some levels of Specialisation, you can add a "gimmiku" (gimmick) to the skill - but never to the Skill Area, even if you raise it to become high enough that it would qualify. It's possible, and very sweet, to have more than one gimmiku on a single skill (which happens when you hit 11 in the skill, so it'd be bad news for the opposition even without the two gimmikus - after all, you are adding 11 to your result). Oh, and BTW, if you raise the Skill Area after getting a Specialisation, it does nothing for the Specialisations!
The gimmikus are, I believe, a great idea. They result in things like "add 2 more to your roll, on top of your skill", "add 4 to your Result if you succeed" (for example, that's a straight add to combat damage, because you always add your Result), "roll another die" (so, like having a higher attribute for this skill), "re-roll a die, and as a bonus, if you roll a 4, it's a 4, not a 0" (IIRC, this is the only one that you can't pick twice, but I might be wrong), and the like.
There's more gimmikus in the expansion Kuro: Tensei, but those tend to interact with Ki-powered actions, and powering actions with Ki is not an option for starting characters. The characters in Kuro: Tensei are meant to be something you reach later...though of course, they mention you could easily begin with it. I didn't begin this way, and wouldn't really recommend it, though.
Why? Simple. The more power you have, the less you pay attention to the setting (no, don't tell me it's not true - it is). And the characters are going to need some time getting used to it...
As a funny detail, in close combat, you can attack cautiously but holding back and dealing less Damage but upping your defence, and then you roll Reflex for the attack; you can fight normally, and roll Agility, or you can take risks, lowering your defence but dealing more damage, and then you roll the attack with Strength. In practice, this means that big brawlers are easier to hit, but if they ever hit back, beware! OTOH, after they swing, you can beat them to the punch...so the combat can be a lot like in some of the better darker manga out there. (I'm actually thinking about Shamo, here).
Damage is HP, but the hits represent actual damage. Losing many hits at once deals Wounds, which lowers your capabilities and can basically put you out of the fight. Totally unexpected, I know! And of course, you can die from multiple hits, with or without wounds.
(I've houseruled that to go "only hits that deal a Wound can knock you out, unless that takes you below the death threshold - then you must roll every turn to avoid collapsing, and only have limited time, determined by the GM, until you actually expire". Of course, the catch is that it applies to the opponents, too!)
Enough about system, buy it and read it if you want all of it...
Besides, it's the setting where the game really shines! Well, once you move past the "historical" part - you'll see, if you ever read it.
OK, I get it, they needed a justification why Japan was again subjected to nuclear strike (which never reached its soil, though) and then was cut off from the world. But still...seriously?
That's unimportant.
It's the description of the society in 2046 New Tokyo...sorry, Shin Edo, which is the same thing in a different language...that really shines.
Androids replacing humans as servants, bodyguards, drivers, maids...you can guess some other uses, too, and you'd be right.
Government-mandated eugenics, where the nation might be dwindling in numbers, but procreating requires getting a certificate. The rich and powerful, of course, can get replacement bodies in order to live forever...oh, and even dating/marrying outside of your social class is probably out of bounds. It's on your documents now.
Computers tracking you everywhere via constant retinal scans, cameras and sniffer devices (which also track whether you're carrying weapons and/or explosives). Your eyes give your presence to everyone, so that you can be subjected to targetted holo-ads. You thought pop-ups are boring on the net? Try walking around in the better parts of Shin Edo!
If you haven't got it that "alienation from the other insignificant people" is the name of the game, you're not paying attention.
But don't worry, that's only until the supernatural notices you. You don't want that. If it happens, you just want things to return to normal. It's when you realize what Japanese horror is about...assuming the GM is any good, I mean.
As the authors point out, in Hollywood horror, it's about either escaping and returning to a normal life, or killing the monster.
Japanese horror is about setting things back to normal, not necessarily by violence - and let me add that escaping, if at all possible, might mean that you can never lead a normal life again. Pacifying the monster is preferred. And for bloodthirsty players, keep in mind that the Japanese ghosts are often the victims of a crime, not the perpetrator returning to do it again and again like in some Hollywood movies I'm not going to name.
So yes, Japanese horror reflects the saying that "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down". Alienation, cosmic insgnificance, and being noticed is a BAD thing...
Welcome to the shiny neon lights of 2046 Shin Edo! Any blackouts are due purely to the international blockade, and not at all to the incompetence or graft among the bureaucratic elite!
We swear by our ratings that it's true!
Oh, and there's an adventure to get you started. However, it's meant to introduce the campaign in Makkura (literally being an intro to it), and I promised not to touch upon the campaign.
Overall:
Style 5/5 (or 4/5 if you think it's too colorful for the content).
Mechanics 5/5...with Expertise!
Setting 5/5
GMing advice: 3/5 (and that's mostly for the "genre advice")
Adventure: N/A
Oh, and there's an adventure to get you started. However, it's meant to introduce the campaign in Makkura (literally being an intro to it), and I promised not to touch upon the campaign.
Overall:
Style 5/5 (or 4/5 if you think it's too colorful for the content).
Mechanics 5/5...with Expertise!
Setting 5/5
GMing advice: 3/5 (and that's mostly for the "genre advice")
Adventure: N/A
