SONOKUNI is a Japanese mythology-inspired biopunk game from the hip-hop group DON YASA CREW. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying

SONOKUNI Review Overview

What is SONOKUNI?

SONOKUNI is an action video game developed by Japanese hip-hop collective DON YASA CREW and published by Kakehashi Games. The game was released on March 24, 2025 for PC via Steam, followed by a Nintendo Switch release on March 31, 2025.

The game is set in a biopunk landscape inspired by Japanese mythology, where players assume the role of Takeru, a lone assassin. Takeru’s mission involves infiltrating a surreal superpower nation enhanced by biotechnology. The game explores themes of extreme violence and moral ambiguity, as Takeru strives to defend her people.

SONOKUNI features fast-paced, top-down 2D action gameplay. Players engage in close-quarters combat against genetically mutated foes, utilizing attacks, parries, and time-manipulation abilities to overcome challenges. A single hit results in death, so precision and strategy is a must. The game is distinguished by its integration of a hip-hop soundtrack and neon-infused visuals, reflecting the developers’ musical background.

SONOKUNI features:
　⚫︎　Soundtrack Created by Hip-Hop Crew and Game Developer, DON YASA CREW
　⚫︎　Blends Futuristic Biopunk Aesthetics With Japanese Mythology
　⚫︎　Speedrun Mode
　⚫︎　Action-Packed and Fast-Paced Gameplay

Steam			Nintendo
$14.99			Coming Soon

SONOKUNI Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Japanese Hip-Hop Soundtrack is Fire! High-Octane Gameplay Compelling World-Building	Distracting Visuals During Combat Bosses Are Fairly Simple Difficulty Can Feel Artificial At Times

SONOKUNI Overall Score - 80/100

I went into SONOKUNI with zero expectations and was completely caught off guard by how much I enjoyed it. The narrative has a surprising depth to it, and its gameplay presents a challenge that makes you grit your teeth. But, oddly enough, even when you fail, there’s this urge to jump right back in. Sure, there are plenty of things that the game could improve upon, but what’s present is compelling enough for anyone masochistic enough to enjoy its difficulty.

SONOKUNI Story - 8/10

SONOKUNI presents a moral dilemma that is rarely shown in biopunk games; it explores the conflict between preserving culture and embracing progress. As Takeru battles not only external foes but also internal tensions within her society, the game tackles its with nuance—though at times, it presents them too directly for my taste.

SONOKUNI Gameplay - 8/10

SONOKUNI’s minimalist controls belie its high-octane, chaotic gameplay—so relentless and demanding that it’s impossible to put down, even as your character dies over and over (and over) again. The bosses loom as massive obstacles, but, really, they feel surprisingly simplified compared to regular encounters. That’s not to say they aren’t tough; you’ll still need sharp reflexes and a keen mind to take them down.

SONOKUNI Visuals - 7/10

SONOKUNI’s pixelated art is gorgeous, and the backgrounds of Wanokuni and Sonokuni are bursting with imagination. I often found myself pausing the game just to take it all in. However, the visual presentation can sometimes work against the gameplay—when the screen gets too chaotic, it becomes overwhelming and hard to parse.

SONOKUNI Audio - 9/10

DON YASA CREW brings their hip-hop expertise to SONOKUNI to deliver a soundtrack as visceral and unrelenting as the onslaught of enemies flooding the screen. It may not be for everyone, but I love how its aggressive beats and relentless rhythm match the game's intensity—raw, bold, and unapologetically fierce.

SONOKUNI Value for Money - 8/10

SONOKUNI may be on the shorter side for its price—my playthrough clocked in at less than 10 hours—but this brevity is intentional. Your time with the game is shaped by your skill, perseverance, and curiosity, as you can stray from the beaten path to take on extra foes. And once you’ve conquered it, you can dive back in with the Speedrun Mode, where you can see just how far your skills can take you.

SONOKUNI Review: The Soul Endures What The Body Cannot

The term "Punk" has long outgrown its roots in music, evolving into a creative suffix that defines entire aesthetic movements. Cyberpunk, for instance, envisioned neon-lit dystopias where technology swallowed humanity. Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Frostpunk, and even Cloudpunk follow suit, each carrying a distinct visual identity but sharing still a deeper thread—a certain level of rebellion seeping out from the fabrics of their worlds.

Biopunk carries that same DNA. It’s often considered a branch of cyberpunk, but instead of focusing on the fusion of man and machine, it explores the mutability of flesh—genetic tampering, grotesque mutations, and the terrifying potential of biotechnology. Games like Prototype and High on Life somehow toy with these themes, but few fully embrace its body-horror potential like Parasite Eve and Resident Evil. Even fewer explore biotech’s deeper implications the way Cyberpunk 2077 does for transhumanism or Blade Runner does for artificial life.

SONOKUNI, however, flirts with biopunk horror then dives headfirst into its writhing, fleshy depths. It paints a world where biotechnology is both miracle and menace, a force that reshapes bodies, minds, and entire societies. And in doing so, it reminds us that the most terrifying future is not one ruled by cold steel and circuits, but by the collision of flesh and progress, ideals and abominations.

The Divide Between Two Extremes

The game unfolds in a far-off future where biotechnology has reshaped society in ways that blur the boundaries of identity. Nowhere is this transformation more extreme than in Wanokuni, a city where people have willingly surrendered their individuality to merge into collective masses of grotesque forms. To them, this is evolution—a step forward into a future unshackled by human frailty.

But across the divide lies Sonokuni, a land that clings fiercely to its humanity, believing that progress should not come at the expense of their traditions. They reject the bio-augmented path of Wanokuni, upholding their culture with a conviction that borders on defiance. Yet, within Sonokuni, perspectives differ. Some, like Ogu, the chief of Sonokuni, and Hayato, the brother of our protagonist, see the appeal of Wanokuni’s enhancements—the promise of transcending their mortality in a world where death is all too familiar. They question whether resisting change is wisdom or mere stubbornness.

Then there’s Takeru. Unlike her brother, she doesn’t wrestle with doubt, but outright rejects Wanokuni’s vision. To her, these bio-altered beings are aberrations, hollow shells of what once was human. And so, under the cover of darkness, she becomes an assassin, slipping into enemy territory to cut down those she sees as monstrosities. In her eyes, she is waging war to the very soul of humanity.

At its core, Sonokuni tells a deceptively simple story—one of tradition clashing with progress, of humanity caught between preservation of the soul or of the body. Its two cities stand as stark opposites.

On one side, Sonokuni clings desperately to its traditions, determined to preserve its people and culture at any cost. Even as famine tightens its grip and time erodes their way of life, they refuse to yield. Their suffering, in their eyes, is a price worth paying for identity and survival.

On the other, Wanokuni embraces modernity, offering a future that promises prosperity but at the cost of individuality. It does not strip its people of their humanity—something both Takeru and the player come to realize by talking to its citizens—but it demands conformity, a dissolution of cultural uniqueness in the name of progress. To Takeru, this is an unacceptable sacrifice. She denounces Wanokuni’s ideology, seeing it as not just immoral but an existential threat to everything she holds dear.

The game presents no easy answers, and I admire it for that. These topics are rarely black and white, especially when lives are on the line. Though the story unfolds largely from Takery’s perspective, it does not present her as infallible. Her convictions, unwavering as they may be, lead her down a dangerous path. In her mind, the eradication of Wanokuni’s citizens is necessary. A grim, binary solution: them or us. This, she believes, is the only way forward, and this belief is what makes her dangerous.

No Rest for the Weary

And Takeru is an absolute menace on the battlefield, despite the game’s minimalist control scheme. Instead of utilizing a full spread of buttons on a standard controller, it keeps things tight and focused. Movement is mapped to the left thumbstick, while just three primary buttons dictate combat. On an Xbox controller, X unleashes a circular kick with a solid range, and this doubles as both an attack and a means to parry certain projectiles. The A button generates a force field that halts incoming fire, and the right shoulder button slows time to a near standstill to give Takeru a fleeting edge.

And you’ll need that time-slowing ability—desperately. The game lulls you in with an easy tutorial, teaching you the controls and enemy patterns at a comfortable pace. Then, before you realize it, everything spirals into sheer madness. The screen floods with enemies—more than five types at once, each demanding a different reaction. Sidestep. Parry. Deflect. Attack. Rush. All at once! The action doesn’t let up. It doesn’t breathe. It never stops. Even outside an enemy-filled room, the tension lingers, because the second you step forward, the carnage begins again.

The difficulty curve jumps off the cliff right off the bat. The moment the game reveals its true colors, it makes no apologies: it’s brutal, it’s seemingly unfair, and it wants you to suffer. Everything moves at speeds too difficult to predict, and one hit means instant death.

Yet, for all its ruthlessness, SONOKUNI never truly punishes failure. There’s no game-over screen. No setback. No punishment. The moment you fall, you’re revived just outside the room where you died, free to charge back in again, and again, and again. There are no limits to the amount of times you can retry; just raw perseverance. And in that, the game earns its respect. It’s a gauntlet, but one that trusts you to rise to the occasion.

Boss Fights Favor Patterns Over Reflexes

In stark contrast to this, SONOKUNI’s boss fights are surprisingly manageable. That’s not to say they’re easy—I still racked up my fair share of deaths—but they mostly boil down to two things: pattern recognition and trial and error.

At first glance, these battles explode into full-blown bullet hell spectacles that force you to weave through absurdly tight gaps in a storm of projectiles or massive attacks. The initial panic is real, but once you grasp their attack cycles, the challenge starts to lose its bite.

Most bosses follow a predictable formula: identify the pattern, execute the correct maneuvers, repeat three times, and victory is yours. Compared to the adaptability and split-second reflexes required for standard encounters, these fights feel far more scripted. TThis may be due to the game’s minimalist control scheme—when combat is built around just two core actions, there’s only so much room for complex boss mechanics. As a result, many encounters feel as though success is less about thinking and acting on your feet and more about rehearsing the right sequence.

A Feast for the Eyes and Ears

These encounters, though, are uniquely designed and ooze with personality. Even when the challenge isn’t as intense, they still manage to feel exciting, thanks to the game’s audiovisual presentation.

It’s an unrelenting onslaught of the senses. Every infiltration into Wanokuni feels like slipping into a neon-soaked fever dream—one where grotesque sights, both living and otherwise, lurk in every corner, stitched together in stunning pixel art.

But the heartbeat of this biotechnologically-enhanced city pulses through its soundtrack. The beats are raw, aggressive, and dripping with attitude, amplified by the game’s rebellious energy. It’s almost unsurprising, given that the developers, DON YASA CREW, are an actual hip-hop collective. What began as a passion project during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a game whose soundtrack pulses in sync with the gameplay.

When the Visuals Betray You

As stunning as SONOKUNI’s pixelated art is, there’s a certain irony in its beauty: sometimes, it’s a bit too much for its own good. The visuals can become overwhelming, especially when enemies obscure each other’s attacks. It’s maddening to die to an attack you never even saw coming—an invisible hit that you can’t quite make sense of. The chaos is glorious in its own right, and I appreciate how the game rewards precision, but there’s a fine line between challenge and frustration.

Take the green blood of your enemies, for instance. When they die, they spurt green blood, initially a minor distraction in a room full of foes. But after you’ve taken down several, it becomes a serious hindrance—their blood camouflages enemy attack patterns, which makes it nearly impossible to track incoming strikes without slowing down time. Turning off the gore option doesn’t solve the issue; it only removes the blood that splatters from Takeru’s fallen body. The gore adds to the visceral tone the game is going for, but it also makes identifying dangers more difficult than it should be.

And then, there are the moments when you’re sure your attack connected—you saw it hit, and yet the enemy remains unscathed. These small moments are critical, especially when the game demands lightning-fast reflexes. When you can’t see attacks coming, or when your own attacks don’t land as expected, you’re forced to repeat rooms you know you should have conquered.

SONOKUNI may be designed to be intentionally unfair, and sure, I can dance to a difficult game—I’ve played Fear and Hunger before. It could also very well be a "git gud" moment, but the problem is that the game’s visuals often feel like they’re betraying the player, when this shouldn’t really be the case.

Is SONOKUNI Worth It?

Yes, As Long As Your Soul Endures—

My playthrough of SONOKUNI lasted less than 10 hours, though I imagine more skilled players could finish it even faster—especially with the added challenge of the game’s Speedrun mode, which adds an extra layer of challenge for those seeking to test their limits. As for me, I plan to give it a shot… at least until my own frustrations get the better of me, and I inevitably succumb to the game’s relentless barrage of enemies.

There’s something deeply satisfying about SONOKUNI that keeps you coming back for more despite its difficulty. It’s a game that thrives on the sheer madness of too many things happening on the screen at the same time, but it also rewards precision and quick thinking with a rush of adrenaline that feels hard to replicate. The way its pixelated world pulses with life, the frenetic energy of its battles, and the thumping beats that drive you forward—each element is a cog in a machine that doesn’t ask you to take a break. There’s beauty in its madness, a strange harmony that emerges when you lean into the storm rather than fighting against it.

It’s impressive, though, to think that SONOKUNI is the debut game from DON YASA CREW, a hip-hop group who turned their passion into an unapologetic game. It’s clear, too, that this won’t be their last foray into game development. They’re already working on their next project, RODB: Rhythm of the Deck Builder, and if the soundtrack is anywhere near as good as SONOKUNI’s, you can count me in.

Steam			Nintendo
$14.99			Coming Soon

SONOKUNI FAQ

What are SONOKUNI’s System Requirements?

You may also like...

	Yasha Legends of the Demon Blade Review [Demo] | Hack, Slash, Exorcise!
	Rogue: Genesia Review | A Chaotic Hypnotic Time Sink
	Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Review | We’re No Longer Stuck on a Different Planet!
	Tails of Iron 2 Review | Gritty, Challenging, Rewarding

SONOKUNI Product Information

Title	SONOKUNI
Release Date	March 24, 2025 (PC) March 31, 2025 (Nintendo Switch)
Developer	DON YASA CREW
Publisher	Kakehashi Games
Supported Platforms	PC (via Steam) Nintendo Switch
Genre	Action
Number of Players	Single-Player (1)
ESRB Rating	TBA
Official Website	SONOKUNI Website

L A R Opalec

Lloyd grew up bonding with his big brother over video games. While RPGs like Disco Elysium and Final Fantasy IX hold a special place in his heart, he's always up to try new genres.