Le Parkour!

So, I finally got around to cranking out a few videos representing myself and my friends doing the fine art of le parkour. Freerunning. Jumping on stuff. Whatever it is that you want to call it! Check em out.

The Summer Fling series.

Part 1: Cool Summer

Part 2: Flipside

And while we're at it, here be a link to the official StuffMax channel, on le U-TOOB.

Clicky!

Keep an eye out for part three. It be on it's way.

Yep.

DmC demo thoughts.

I am a long time, big time Devil May Cry fan. Played through and loved 1 and 4, could care less about 2, positively worship 3.

I've been primarily against this game from moment one, but as more was released, at the very least, I became open to seeing what was on the plate before spitting on it and sending it back.

Now I've tried the appetizer. A.K.A the demo, for those not following the analogy. Here's what I thought.

Looking at it from a gameplay perspective:

The game plays like a pretty solid action game, though the holding of the triggers to switch between styles is annoying, and the shoulder mounted roll buttons feel unnatural. The lack of dedicated lock on button is also sorely missed. Despite my annoyances, the combat is still strong enough to stand on it's own as an action title. The platforming is nice, though nothing to scream home about. The sections where the world tries to kill you have no sense of urgency, though. At no point did I feel I had to hurry to avoid dying. This held true in combat as well. Even on the harder difficulties, the demo holds little challenge, and enemies move like trained circus animals, making them ridiculously easy to avoid and toy with. The new Dante of DmC doesn't move as slowly as I thought he would, but still feels a bit slower than the games of old, which is slightly disappointing.

As a successor to the Devil May Cry franchise, however, the gameplay feels somewhat... lacking. Now, I understand that this is but a demo, so at some point I'll have to get hands on the full moveset before I let this be set in stone for me, but between the (currently) small movelist, slower paced combat, easier enemies and an overall feeling of a lack of gameplay fluidity, the game doesn't seem to be holding up. This goes double if your natural instinct is to try and play as if this was DMC (capital M for differentiation) and not this newer, but unfortunately not better edition. The playstyles simply don't mesh beyond triangle to slash and square to shoot.

And from an aesthetic/overall feel standpoint:

The game doesn't much remind me of a DMC game, but whatever feel the game is trying to achieve that isn't a DMC game, it's doing well. Everything about the in game world seems well thought out and planned to match the overall grungy, dirty feel of the game, which is good. The menus and little touches to the HUD and score meter portrayed as smudges and splashes are somewhat nice, alongside the sickly color scheme of the whole game. The game has moments of extremely minor slowdown during shifts in viewpoint during a cutscene, which, while not a huge issue, is somewhat marring.

New Dante himself feels like a cocky little snot, but he also seems somewhat insecure, as if he's trying hard to be this extra tough guy, since he doesn't know what the hell he is, which I imagine was the intention, if this is in fact an origin and coming of age story. It's not my favorite portrayal of that character type, and I definitely don't like it as a portrayal of Dante, but that's more due to enjoying Dante circa 3 and 4 so much. His old school unabashed cheesiness went over better with me than this new false confidence tough guy.

I sincerely dislike the way the demons are portrayed, however. Visually, they are a stunning, grotesque sight, which is totally cool. But they speak as if simple, crude humans. Now I don't mind the simple, or the crude. It's the human that I mind. I would assume there are demon language versions of the insults slung back and forth between the boss character and Dante, but instead, she resorts to simple human swearwords. I think that would have been much cooler if Ninja Theory had created a demon vernacular with demon swear words to be used in an equally crude fashion instead, separating the rock bottom demons from the top rank, cool as a cucumber demon lords.

I also really just don't like the battle music.

 I do, however, hope they expand significantly on the back story, or at the very least, the story is paced far better than it is in the demo. Because the whole thing seems like an aimless mess that's attempting to be a sharp and gritty analogy for the world we live in. And failing in most senses, coming across more as snooty and overbearing. Anvilicious, even.

And that's pretty unfortunate, considering the overall idea of the reboot is to try and establish it as a serious work of art as opposed to a cheesy fun video game.

The most unfortunate part of the whole thing is that it's attempting to carry the Devil May Cry name without any of the Devil May Cry soul. That really brings the whole shebang down for me.

All in all, I doubt very highly I'll be purchasing this alternate Devil may Cry. If someone were to pick it up for me, I'd probably give it a go, but I don't believe it's worth my money.

(That was the most unbiased version of this demo review I could give. My inner fanboy screams with tightly bridled hatred and longing for vengeance against the fiends who have ruined my beloved series... But that's not important at the moment.)

Yep.

Mission... Complete!

And so Stuffimus Maximus presents it's first Anime/Animated Music Video!

Finally!

A 20th Anniversary Tribute to the Blue Blur. Pretty damn late, but better late than never.

Enjoy.

(In case you missed it, the "Finally!" was the link. Just "saiyan".)

Finally! (Tribulation's End)

And so, as of 2 days ago, I have finally defeated the wall of evil stopping my attempt to complete this damn AMV. I am pleased beyond belief. Soon enough, it shall be on the U-TOOB, and I will be able to end this thing once and for all.

Update to come once the upload is complete.

...Hate. (The continued Trials and Tribulations of the AMV)

For quite some time now, I've been diligently hoping that at some point, the AMV I've been working on would be recovered from the hard drive of evil that threatened it's very existence. Apparently, I was hoping for too much. Apparently, rather than attempting to recover the hard drive, the poor thing was, I shit you not, shot to pieces like a skeet disc.

The sorrow is infinite.

That may well have been my single greatest AMV work of all time, and now it is lost forever. Even if I were to remake it, which I eventually will, I sincerely doubt I can catch the same intense spirit I caught before. I am saddened beyond belief by the idea of this.

FUCK.

That aside, to hell with Midtown Comics. There's a sale for 25% off of apparel, and the two shirts I want most at the moment, they only have in 2XL. I don't fit a fucking 2XL. Every other fucking shirt, they want to have in my size (a large, for those curious) but I can't get a damn Spider-Man shirt?!

I traveled to 3 different Midtown Comics locations, and not a single damn one of them has it unless it's 2XL?!

Kingdom Come Superman logo shirt, I can understand being hard to find, but Spider-Man?! Are you serious?!?

Fuck you, Midtown Comics.

Review Shi!

As in Shi, the japanese number four. I think I'm going to count my reviews in a different language for as long as I can. Or until I get bored...

Anywho!

Today's review iiiiiiis:

The clash of the decade! Well... One of 'em anyway...

Street Fighter X Tekken!

Yes indeed, a long awaited clash of fighting game titans, Street Fighter X Tekken is a multiplatform fighting game. It's one of a pair; this one is helmed by Capcom, while the opposing game, Tekken X Street Fighter, will be brought about by Namco. Much like the last game I reviewed, this game is a monstrous collaborative effort. But, the question is, does this fighter pack any punch? Let's find out.

Now. Before I go on to this review, I feel I must point towards the Fighting Game Guidelines! Because there are, in fact, some changes to the review style for games of this genre, and I just want to be sure anyone reading is up to date, and isn't wondering "What the hell? Where's the rest of the review?!"

It's all good.

Reviews, away!

Presentation

A fight I never thought I would see happen...

Street Fighter X Tekken seems to boast a watercolor/lava/blood influenced art style, which, combined with it's music pacing, serves to present a pulse pounding, exciting experience once the game gets going. When you first turn on the game, the opening cinematic you're treated with is a combination of all of the CG trailers, but cut together very well to mesh with the music. At times, however, the shading style gets to be something of an eyesore.

The game's story is presented via text assisted pictures, much like the prologues and epilogues in the Tekken series. While this is great for keeping things short and sweet, there aren't enough bits and pieces of exposition in other aspects of the game to really provide any depth.

When fighting, flashing lights and zoom in camera angles keep fights intense, and the music picks up in  speed as rounds progress, really helping the immersion and hype in the fight.

The game modes are fairly standard for a current gen fighter, with arcade, versus, trial and online. I miss the days of survival mode and time attack, and whatever extra modes there were, but they are a thing of the past. However, the game does kick things up with two four player options; regular tag mode with four players, and Scramble mode, which allows four players to get in on the action at the same time in team against team all out brawl. While not the best competitive option, the mode provides hours of fun as the most intense matches break out.

Personally, I'm most impressed by how well the Tekken characters translate to the Street Fighter art style, fighting right in side by side with the Street Fighter cast while still maintaining the distinct and diverse Tekken flair.

In all, the package comes together quite nicely.

8.0/10: The game's presentation has a few flaws, but as a whole, it's quite bueno, doing an excellent job of wanting to keep you fighting.

Graphics

Definitely in yo' face.

Graphically, the game is very fluid, with strikes, blasts and super attacks all accompanied by various spark and trail effects, making all of the fights as visually exciting as they are fun. Characters are expressive, and move in a very distinctive style, one cultivated over various iterations of Street Fighter IV. That in mind, however, if you've played any of the games in that series, then understand that the graphics aren't much more impressive than that. It's sort of like they took a new coat of paint to those older graphics.

7.0/10: On it's own merits, the graphics for the game are very nice, with rarely a stutter or drop in framerate. But the graphics have not progressed significantly since Street Fighter IV, and for anyone looking, it shows.

Sound

Thst's gonna sting!

All of the hits, thuds and slams come across in true Capcom form in this game, with yells of "Hadouken" and "Shoryuken" ringing out clear as a bell. The voice work is pretty damn good, and the ability to individually choose each character's vocal language is a nice bonus, though one quickly becoming a Capcom standard.

The music in this game, however, is nothing particularly notable; there are only a few standout tracks, and while they're nice to hear and helpful for the game's atmosphere, I've heard much better work from Capcom, and the lack of memorable music as something of a disappointment.

6.5/10: The game's sound effects are top notch as is expected, but the musical selection is sincerely wanting.

Controls

Light Punch!

Street Fighter x Tekken plays with a basic 6 button configuration; three punch buttons, three kick buttons, with a light, medium and heavy variant for each. The game primarily runs on the concept of "Cross Gameplay", or the art of abusing switching and using your teammate. Characters are capable of switching on the fly, or by use of a "Launcher" attack, that sends your opponent into the air, and tags in the teammate.

There are also techniques for switching in your teammate in the middle of using an attack to extend your combo. Huge damage is dealt when you use the "Cross Assault", which sics both teammates on an opponent at once in real time, or the "Cross Art", which is the SFxT variant of a Super or Ultra combo, a cinematic where both teammates thrash on the opponent for a bit using some of their strongest attacks.

Throw in some cool new string techniques such as one button quick combos, and the dial-a-combo Cross Rush (performed by stringing low, medium and high attacks together, then hitting high one more time to link into a Launcher), and you have a pretty solid and fun experience.

The game plays solidly and smoothly, with buttons reading accurately, and translating to the screen smoothly. Good stuff.

10/10: Honestly, there really isn't any issue with the controls. The game controls smoothly and intuitively, and between the tutorial and trial modes, the game provides a pretty easy transitional opening to the more advanced techniques of the game.

Fun Factor

And so it comes down to it, the part which stands most important. The whole reason the game is played. the fun factor.

Shoryuken!

 Street Fighter x Tekken is great fun, especially if you have a good group of friends to play with, or a hankering for some online beatdowns. Unfortunately, the game can get stale pretty fast if you're not hard into fighting games, but if you're a throwdown aficionado,  then this game can definitely entertain you for hours on end.

And I re-iterate.

7.5/10: A great romp for anyone into fighting games, but can get stale fast, especially if you played Street Fighter IV FAR too often...


And now... To the score! Wait... First, I direct you to the top of the post just in case you need to review the Fighting Game Guidelines just one last time. NOW THE SCORE!

THE VERDICT!

Street Fighter X Tekken scores a 

39.0

A HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTER!

Applauso.

A solidly enjoyable slugfest thoroughly being hindered and railed on by bad press for Capcom (entirely deserved on their part. Fuck Capcom.) due to their DLC practices, I would recommend this game in a heartbeat. Just because Capcom as a whole is one collective asshole doesn't mean thatg the game sucks. It should be judged on it's own merit. But don't expect me to listen to these reasonable words when DmC: Devil may Cry comes out. Fuck that game, Fuck Ninja Theory, and Fuck Capcom.

But not Ryu and Ken. They're cool. At all times.

'Till next time!

On Bats, Ubermensch and Relate-ability.

So, I was sitting down a few minutes ago, browsing over IGN's Top 100 Superheroes list of 2011, and upon reaching the end, decided to browse the comments section. Wherein which I discovered an interesting trend. Quite a few people leaving comments on the article expressed distaste with Superman, the #1 superhero, and firmly believed he should have placed behind the #2, Batman. And that's not simply something I've seen on that article. It occurs to me that I've heard this opinion numerous times over the years.

As far as I could tell, the only reasons were either A. Batman is more relate-able, or B. Superman is Overpowered and Boring. Capitalized for my amusement.

So, I just wanted to bring up a few counterarguments to what appears to be the general opinion.

On the first point: I'm not sure about most people, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a millionaire, nay, billionaire playboy by day and an unstoppable beacon of fear to all villains by night, who learned every martial arts style ever, continuously works out and so am capable of benching at least 1000 pounds for multiple repetitions as my regular workout, had both of my parents gunned down in my face, psychologically scarring me forever and driving me to utilize my vast fortune in the pursuit of ending evil, in possession of incalculable levels of insanity and paranoia, which has driven me to design a system that can literally keep an eye on every being on the face of the planet, and a fond father figure to various young people who I've trained into a similarly unstoppable evil thrashing force with similar psychological issues, who never loses to any being unless it's to further a future victory, despite a rather vast majority of them being considerably more powerful than me.

A moment for a deep breath.

Ok.

And if it's less those issues, and more the trials Batman must deal with, Superman deals with just as many emotional and moral issues. How well would YOU manage to retain a mind for the path of righteousness when you have the ability to single-handedly change the entire societal system of the planet, simply by virtue of no one can possibly match you in strength? Not the best example of relate-able, but still an issue.

For another set of examples, Superman experiences love in it's various forms (Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Ma and Pa Kent, Kara Zor-El), hate (Darkseid, Lex Luthor), sorrow (The deaths of various people over his long tenure as Superman, his whole characterization in Kingdom Come), happiness in simple things (Ma Kent's Apple Pie. Capitalized for TRUTH.) and all of the other trials, tribulations, ups and downs of life that most of us do. And in a far more human, healthy and relate-able fashion than the Goddamned Batman. In fact, quite a few of Superman's stories are about the fact that he identifies as the totally relate-able farm boy Clark Kent far more than he does as the untouchable, iconic Superman.

As for Point B. Overpowered? Have you ever heard of The Utility Belt?  

Alright then.

Fighting Game Review Guidelines

Okay, so for fighting game reviews, I've realized that there are a few factors that I feel simply aren't necessary to the overall score, and would be better off mentioned in passing. But I also realized that if I was to remove one or two score sections, it would seriously throw off my score totals. So, in order to accomodate games of different genres, I've decided I'll come up with separate score guidelines for the specific genres.

In the case of fighting games, I'll be using a five category system scoring up to a total of 50 points in order to determine the overall quality of the game.

The categories will be Presentation, Graphics, Sound, Controls and Fun Factor.

The score rankings will be as follows.

• 0-10: A Sissy Fighter - A fighting game that holds no weight, not even worth catching for free on basic tv.
• 11-20: A Featherweight Fighter - While not at all good, a Featherweight can at least offer a punch or two. Good for children and goat food.
• 21-30: A Middleweight Fighter - The average by which fighting games will be measured, a Middleweight will be worth playing with friends, even if it's not the cream of the crop.
• 31-40: A Heavyweight Fighter - While a Middleweight is the average, a Heavyweight is the baseline which all fighting games should at least try to aspire to. Worth investing time in getting skilled in.
• 41-49: A Champion Fighter - Now this is a fighting game! Playable at any level from casual to competitive, and worth every second of effort put into it,  champion fighter delivers constant knockouts! Forget pay-per-view, you've got to own this one!
• 50: The Strongest Under the Heavens - Much like the perfect game, the Strongest Under the Heavens is a legend of which most can only catch glimpses of the dream. Perfectly balanced, well rounded in cast, beautiful and blood pumping in soundtrack and perfection in it's existence, to play this game is to understand nirvana. It is to know where the answer lies.

Yep. So there you go.

Review Tres!

What's that you say? I'm a lazy bastard?! Well, I suppose that's true enough. But hey! The third review is, at the very least, finally here! Not that it's been widely anticipated or anything, but still! Carrying right along, the subject of today's review iiiiiiiis:

Wrath is an understatement...

ASURA'S WRATH!

Asura's wrath is a multiplatform action/adventure (among other things) game produced by CAPCOM (No introduction necessary) and developed by CyberConnect2 (.hack, Naruto Ultimate Ninja series, ) Directed by Seiji Shimoda, and produced by Kazuhiro Tsuchiya. A collaborative effort of damn near epic proportions, Asura's Wrath is an attempt to bind together the best parts of dramatic anime and over the top video game action. The question is: did it succeed?

To the review!

First Impressions

From the moment the very first trailer concluded, there was absolutely nothing that could extinguish the almost sun-like intensity my desire for this game had taken on. Looking like a fusion of the most hot blooded of hot blooded anime, asian mythology and absolutely ridiculous action, There was nothing NOT to like. Then I experienced the demo, first at the New York Comic-Con 2011, then again when it was released on the playstation network, and nothing had changed. My hype simply roared on, growing in intensity until the game's release date by which point, I was a living damn supernova of "GIMME THE DAMN GAME!"

He understands how I felt.

Upon turning the game on, you're instantly treated to brief previews of what's to come on the start screen/opening menu, almost like the background of a DVD as it waits for you to begin playing. The screen is accompanied by a haunting yet energy filled track simply urging you to get into the action.

And when you do...

It's so hard to write this review in the fashion I usually would, as I don't want to ruin ANYTHING about the game, but alas, some sacrifices must be made so that my opinion makes sense.

The game opens with shots of the collaboration project's logo, then gives you a brief series of subtitles explaining a quick history leading up to the start point of the game. Then, with the absolutely beautiful "In Your Belief" playing in the background, you're given your first view of Asura, who briefly stands on the prow of one giant starship in a positively massive fleet of space battleships, pensively staring at the planet below before a prompt on the screen, at your discretion, causes him to leap off, diving into the ridiculously huge legion of Gohma (Mutant creatures who I'll get more into later) standing between him and the planet. 

You are then given full control of Asura as he descends towards Gaea, energetically fighting through the horde of enemies as the game seamlessly transitions between on-rails shooter style gameplay and excellently handled quick time events, giving you an expansive, yet somehow bare minimum idea of what you're in store for. 

This picture does it absolutely no justice...

Enemies are named, Allies are introduced, many, MANY things are punched, kicked, slashed, thrown, blasted and exploded, meteor sized creatures are used as bludgeons to destroy even larger creatures, and a continent sized beast with an impurity level stated to be immeasurable rises from the planet to ruin everyone's day...

And the prologue hasn't even ended yet...

10/10: I will not lie. This game's introductory sequence blew me away, then dragged me back, and demanded I continue playing without any remote hint that there was another option. The game's looks stunning from moment one, and the choice of opening level gameplay style, setting and execution in combination with the stellar soundtrack ensured that I would keep playing.

Overall Presentation

One of Asura's Wrath's more sci-fi influenced locations.

Okay, so prior to myself playing this, the game I held all other games to as far as presentation went was Okami. 

Asura's Wrath is currently fighting a very strong war to take it's place.

Asura's Wrath presents itself as a well crafted game full of nothing but fusions. A combination of Anime and Video Game. Rampant mythology and intriguing science fiction. A wild ride of Beat 'Em Up/On Rail Shooter/Interactive Media Experience/Moving, epic tale told through the Video Game medium/Over the Top, Out of your Mind ridiculous action roller coaster, and it all rolls up into one, and it melds together wonderfully.

The game also boasts impressive graphics which easily support the emotion filled cutscenes, as well as a stellar, and I mean absolutely beautiful soundtrack which plays along at all of the right parts of the game, creating spectacular atmosphere. The voice acting of the game is also excellently done, if quite over the top, and sometimes more intense than necessary.

Everything in the game draws heavily from Buddhist/Hindu religion and mythology, from the various symbols that decorate the menus and characters to the haunting chanting found in many of the game's tracks, though the game also manages to sneak Wild West, Samurai, Mech Anime, and damn near everything else in as an inspiration.

As you play the game, it becomes quite obvious that it's like playing a deeply interactive episodic anime, with opening credits, ending credits at the end of the "Parts" that the game is separated into, much like seasons of an anime, and even bumpers at the mid chapter point as if the show were cutting to commercial. There are even scenes/previews from the next episode at the end of each chapter following the "To Be Continued" screens.

To increase the immersion, there are also interludes in between episodes one can read to expand on the universe without having to go out of ones way, a very nice series of touches that tend to have easter eggs such as guest appearances from Sagat of Street Fighter or Amaterasu from Okami hidden within.

Granted, there are a few shortcomings. The game is unfortunately short, (At least until the extra cheaply priced DLC comes into play) and the story, while... For lack of a better term, brain-meltingly-awesome, is fairly simplistic, and asks for quite a bit as far as suspension of disbelief goes if you go in ill prepared. It's also plagued by a battle system that at times can grow stagnate, making it hard to get into if you go into it looking for a pure action game. But considering Asura's Wrath presents itself as exactly what it is, and is quite proud of it, I find it hard to complain.

9.0/10: An intense experience of a game, with faults not strong enough to kill the experience by any means, but definitely noticeable. But the strengths are so... Well, strong, that it's hard to complain.

Accessibility

Asura's Wrath is easy to pick up, from a gameplay standpoint thanks to a helpful HUD guide during the Prologue, followed by a well rounded tutorial a bit later on, which is also helpfully skippable for those who've already made inroads into understanding the combat, or who simply want to learn the hard way.

Learning the hard way.

From a storyline standpoint, it's also easy to get into, unless over the top action isn't your thing. But regardless of taste, Asura's Wrath doesn't force you to work to understand it, nor do you need to fight to finish it. At no point while playing the game did I feel like I was trudging through to just get the game over with; Asura's Wrath does an excellent job of being open to it's audience, and being enjoyable the whole way.

It's also fairly easy, but for gamers who prefer a more hardcore challenge, there are definitely ways to make that happen, such as using the Mortal Gauge (An exercise in frustration at times.) But I'll touch more on that later.

Also learning the hard way

8.0/10: While I can understand while it doesn't appeal to all audiences, Asura's Wrath certainly doesn't make it hard to get into or finish should you choose to give it a chance.

Graphics

Deity fight on the moon. Epic? Yes. Anywhere near top of the scale? HA!

Asura's Wrath boasts a slightly cell shaded style a fair bit less obvious than CyberConnect2 usually uses. It suits the game perfectly, rendering vast and interesting environments, wonderfully designed characters who move with vigor and energy in a way few video game characters do, both in and out of cutscene. the decision to cel-shade the game, and simultaneously have the entire game be presented using the in game graphics engine makes one truly feel like they are immersed; there are no jarring shifts in quality of movement or quality of appearance to jar one out of their in game trance.

That giant dude in the background? That's him in his smaller form.

The game spares nothing when it comes to visual effects, be it a giant, planet sized Buddha-like deity threatening to erase an entire country (and Asura) from existence by poking it (most specifically, him) rather vigorously with his colossal, godly, country sized, fire covered finger (Sounds silly, looks fucking awesome) or a battle between gods culminating in a meteoric descent from the moon, one god impaling the other on a giant sword that literally pierces through the entire planet of Gaea, causing a geyser of lava to erupt from the far side of the planet, the game's visual aspirations never fail to impress while continually topping one another on the  "DID THAT REALLY JUST FUCKING HAPPEN?!" scale.

I'd provide a visual example here, but FUCK THAT. Play the game.

On the downside, It's not the most graphically powerful game, with some textures rendering mid cutscene, and occasional slowdown during combat, But the game fanatically makes up for it by attempting to provide every bit of enjoyable eye candy that it can with what it can do.

In total, Asura's Wrath is absolute decadence for the eyes.

8.5/10: While not the most graphically powerful game I've ever seen, Asura's Wrath does practically everything it can with what it has. There are occasional slowdown issues, and rendering will get a bit wonky at times. Fortunately, not often, and not for long.

Sound

The soundwork in Asura's Wrath is, in my opinion, some of the best in this generation. The soundtrack is amazing, swelling, falling and surging in all of the right places, accompanying all of the moments in the game that it should wonderfully. From the various versions game's main theme, "In Your Belief" (regular, ethnic arrange, piano solo, and of course, the reprise) to the series of Wild West inspired leitmotifs of the rival character "Oprhan Wolf Legend (-Wind-, -Fang-, and -Bonds-) I find it extremely hard to stop raving about it. 

Many of the tracks in the game incorporate pieces of other tracks played earlier on at just the right moments It combines beautifully with both the sound effects and the superbly fitting voice acting, both in Japanese and English. From Asura's rage filled roars and gruff threats (surprisingly performed by Liam O' Brien), to the mentor character, Augus' hearty and brash laughter to the rival character Yasha's subdued but soulful statements, everyone's voice stands firmly apart from one another, and fits their character rather absolutely.

Tracking back to the sound effects, every punch, blast, thwack, slash and slap sounds heavy, strong and full of impact, truly conveying the feeling of beating enemies down with all of your wrath. Bells and chimes constantly accompany actions and significant moments, providing a uniquely anachronistic feel to the whole game that fits especially well, considering the sci-fi/mythology juxtaposition that the game is presented with.

The only issue I can honestly find with the soundwork in the game is that at times, the voice acting can be a bit cheesy, but depending on your taste, that may not even be an issue for you.

9.5/10: A magnificent composition of sounds, both memorable, and wonderful on the ears. The soundwork is hands down one of my favorite things about the game.

Controls/Gameplay

Perhaps one of Asura's Wrath's shakiest points, Asura's Wrath attempts to take on the task of combining multiple genre gameplay styles into one enjoyable ride without everything crashing into each other, and making a complete mess. For the most part, it achieves it's goal, switching between On Rails Shooter, Action/Beat 'Em Up, and Interactive Drama/Anime with little fuss. The problem however, lies in the fact that by combining all three, a bit of each seems to have been sacrificed, particularly in the action/beat 'em up area.

There really aren't enough of you guys...

The on rail section is controlled with the left thumbstick to move and automatically place a lock on reticule over target, the square/x button to shoot, the x/a button to control aerial dodging, and the triangle/y button to fire lock-on blasts at anything with a reticule on it. These parts tend to be fun, if slightly repetitive.

These feet are comin' for you!

The weaker points come at the beat 'em up sections. Players use the left thumbstick to control Asura, square/x fires projectiles, x/a jumps, circle/b is Asura's single light melee attack combo, and triangle/y controls Asura's heavy, crowd clearing attack. The heavy attack will cause Asura to overheat, and a small circular gauge will appear in the middle of the screen. Until it depletes, you can't use the heavy attack again. Occasionally, variety is provided when an enemy uses an attack you can counter by pressing a button corresponding to a prompt on screen which will appear shortly before an attack connects, resulting in an intense counterattack. There are also special attacks that you can use on grounded enemies as long as a triangle/y icon is above them, but, like the heavy attacks, these cause Asura to overheat and you must wait for him to cool down again.

At this point, shit gets particularly real.

 During both of these sections, the goal is to fill up a "Burst" gauge, as opposed to depleting a specific enemy's health, before Asura's Health depletes. The Burst gauge represents the current amount of rage Asura is feeling, and when full, pressing R2/RT will usually cause Asura to begin thrashing the remaining enemies, and progress the game. Usually via the third gameplay style.

When the game switches to interactive anime mode, prompts appear on the screen corresponding with the movements of the characters. These quick time events, unlike in most games, won't kill you, but failing them can cause you to miss chunks of the cutscene, and will seriously detract from your score at the end of each episode. Moments of intense impact during these scenes are handled using the "Synchronic Impact" system, which, unlike a usual QTE, requires a timed press of the triangle/y button, in a similar vein to rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution or Rock Band. A prompt will appear on screen with a circle shrinking around it, and you must press the button as soon as the outer circle meets the rim of the prompt. Pressing the button too early or too late will decrease your overall score.

Giant turtles are not safe from the wrath

What makes the gameplay work together is the pacing of each; You'll spend much of the game usually switching between two of the three gameplay styles per episode, and the cutscenes act as a perfect set up for whichever style you'll be playing, keeping things from getting too stale. All the same, at times, the beat 'em up section of the game still stagnates, and it does occasionally seem like there's a bit of an over reliance on the QTE's to make up for it.

Of interest is the game's choice to switch midway to it's secondary protagonist, Asura's rival, Yasha. His style of gameplay, while not fundamentally different, visually differs enough to create a refreshing change of
pace.

And yes. Yasha is, in fact, the fucking man.

7.5/10: The game's on rail shooting and QTEs are the strong points of the gameplay, and while the beat 'em up section isn't anything groundbreaking, the collaboration of the three creates a solid, fun gameplay style. The game would sincerely benefit from at the very least, an expanded moveset, perhaps combat upgrades as the game progresses, or even a purchaseable upgrade system using some sort if in game currency. (excess wrath? I dunno...)

Difficulty

Asura's Wrath is not a difficult game on the standard difficulty, and it provides some challenge on hard. But one of the game's unlockables, the Mortal Gauge, is a change to Asura's health meter that severely increases the amount of damage he takes from enemies. While playing with the mortal gauge on hard, it's not uncommon to be killed in a single hit, which creates a much greater challenge. In the end it becomes up to the player.

Better learn to dodge, bro!

5.0/10: The game is fairly average as far as difficulty goes, unless you choose to use the difficulty altering modifiers.

Replayability

Some. Asura's Wrath has 3 difficulties to play on, with rankings ranging from D to S for each stage. Playing through the game a few times will unlock various "Gauges" that modify Asura's in game statistics, from the aforementioned Mortal gauge, to the Thermoregulator gauge, which decreases the amount of time Asura must spend in his overheated state. There's also some secret stuff to unlock if you get 7 or more S ranks across a playthrough of the game...

5.0/10: While not the most spectacular tour de force of inclination to replay the game, it's worth beating at least twice. (Or many more times if you're like me...)

Story

Left to Right: Wyzen (Violence), Asura (Wrath), Augus (Greed) and Yasha (Melancholy)

Asura's Wrath tells the story of Asura, a demigod of rather impressive power who is one of Eight Guardian Generals (representing Pride, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Melancholy, Violence, Vanity and Wrath) of the planet Gaea, who answer to the Shikoku Trastrium, the governing force of civilian demigods who rule over the planet. The Guardian Generals exist to defend Gaea's citizens from the impure Gohma, mutant beasts of horrendous strength who threaten the existence of all of mankind.

Aiding in this war against the Gohma is the Mantra Priestess, Asura's daughter Mithra, who can summon and manipulate the demigods' source of power, Mantra, formed from the emotional content of mortals, summoned through prayer. This energy can be used to increase the strength of the demigods in order to combat the Gohma.

What a magnificent bastard that Deus is.

After a particularly fierce battle wherein which the Generals were forced to use their ultimate weapon, the Brahmastra and only managed to temporarily subdue the Gohma leader, Gohma Vlitra, the commander of the Eight Guardian Generals, Deus, enacted a coup d'etat, killing the emperor of the Shikoku Trastrium, and framing Asura for it. As a result, Asura and his wife were killed, and his daughter was kidnapped, to be used as an engine to harvest mantra.

Jump 12,000 years into the future: Asura has crawled his way back out of Naraka (Gaean limbo) in order to exact revenge. His wrath is burning brighter than ever, and there is no god who can help those who have taken everything from him.

It is on, it is fucking on!

Asura's Wrath's story progresses from there, told in an episodic anime format that thoroughly fits it's over the top action style. The story is a fairly simple one of vengeance, familial love, and raging against those who believe themselves higher. Asura is not a particularly deep, intellectual hero. No, his preferred method of conversation is fist to face for anyone in the way of his wrath, and said wrath is quite justified.

For a story so simple, however, it is very well told, with an excellent presentation, creating an easy sympathy for Asura's plight, and making it very easy to want to root for him to win. As the game progresses, you see glimpses of his life pre-betrayal, which provide much needed insight into Asura's character, and these, combined with his interactions with other characters in the game save Asura from being generic revenge-bent badass #782.

There ain't enough room in this 'verse for the both of 'em.

The somewhat simultaneously told story of Asura's rival and brother-in-law, Yasha, as he struggles with the weight on his conscience from his rather deplorable acts as one of the Seven Deities (the name the remaining Guardian Generals now go by) is just as interesting, and watching the two clash in the same vein as other anime rivals such as Goku and Vegeta of Dragonball Z, Kazuma and Ryuho of S-Cry-Ed, and Naruto and Sasuke of Naruto/Naruto: Shippuden is just as exciting and fun to watch/play as watching them evolve as characters.

Honestly, it impresses me that they could develop the characters so well in such a short time, as the game is quite short, barely lasting longer than 6 hours. But even that is remedied with the downloadable content chapters, which, while only adding about another hour and a half of pure story time, create a magnificently satisfying end, a rarity in gaming as a whole, at least for me.

9.0/10: A simple story told in excellent fashion, presented in a cinematic and wonderful fashion, and with one of the best endings I've ever had the joy of playing through.

Fun Factor

And so we arrive at the cornerstone of the review, the reason we play games at all. The fun factor. And my god, if I can say anything about this game, it's that it was an unadulterated, unstoppable, absolute blast to play through. I put the game in my PS3, and didn't stop playing until it was over, then fanatically downloaded every bit of DLC on the day it was released  (Don't even get me started on the lost episode DLC... I'd rather not tear my hair out, and damnit all of the DLC is so awesome that I'll be bald if I play it too much...), and also earned the platinum trophy. I have every intention of beating the game quite a few more times, memorizing the lines, and even dressing as Asura for the NY Comic-Con this year (provided I have the muscles for it by that point...). I mean... Just... BFHBJKSBHIVFB jnnklandjobf.... Grargh. Such an awesome game.

10/10: I don't even have words for how much fun I had with this game. And am still having... Grargh.

And so, It's score time. No further adieu.

THE VERDICT

ASURA'S WRATH SCORES AN

81.5

AN EXCELLENT GAME 

 *Much Applause!*

A total blast that gripped me from moment one, Asura's Wrath has it's faults, but it's strengths overshadow them in a major way. If I could score the game higher without completely stomping on my objectiveness, then believe me, I would, in a heartbeat.

But yeah. That's it. Hopefully the next post won't take so long.

A facebook page!

Stuffimus Maximus now has a facebook page! Well, to be honest, it's had one for quite a while now... But now I'm doing something with it! Anyway, if one happens to be on facebook, and perhaps wants to follow if this company starved blog ever gets fed a post or two, you can check ze facebook page!

Ze aforementioned page!

Exciting!

A top 10 list! Finally!

A quickie, really, simply because it was on my mind, and I wanted to update this poor undernourished blog with something during my attempts to regain my lost AMV. And so here we go.

StuffMax's "Top 10 Sequels I would throw my money at."

Number 10

• Star Wars Battlefront III (Simply to see where they would go with it.)

Number 9

• Bloody Roar 5 (Because I'm tired of the same old, same old as far as the fighting game genre, and turning into were-animals is fun.)

Number 8

•  Prince of Persia (2008 Reboot) 2 (Because you can't simply end a game on a cliffhanger like that, and the DLC doesn't provide an ending that I'm satisfied with.)

Number 7

•   Bayonetta 2 (Refer to Star Wars Battlefront 3)

Number 6

• Asura's Wrath 2 (Asura's Wrath is one of my favorite games currently out, and damn it all, I believe the game deserves a better chance at success. A sequel with a more in depth combat system, and perhaps a longer story may be just the things it needs.)

Number 5

• Final Fantasy VII-2 ('Nuff said.)

Number 4

•  Devil May Cry 5 (Because there are quite a few unanswered questions between DMC 2 and 4, and I'm not at all content with the edgy reboot decision.)

Number 3

•  .hack//G.U Vol. IV (Sheer fanboyism. The G.U story is finished, but I love that world so much that I would simply love to jump back into it.)

Number 2

•  Legacy of Kain: Whatever the hell comes after Defiance (Much like Prince of Persia, Defiance ended on a strong cliffhanger. I want to know how the story ends, damnit!)

Number 1

• Sonic Adventure 3 (Sonic Adventure 2 stands as my favorite game of all time, and as much as I've enjoyed some of Sonic's recent outings -Generations, Colors, the Daytime stages in Unleashed- there's still a bitter taste left in my mouth knowing that Sonic '06 is the last game in the series to have used the Adventure engine. The Adventure series deserves a better swan song, and if Sega were to announce an Adventure sequel, my wallet would shoot through their office window with stupendous force. I'm talking meteoric, almost catastrophic force, here.)

So yeah. That's it for now. Hopefully, I can have another review up soon.

WHYYYY?! (The trials and tribulations of the AMV.)

So my intent was to be able to post a new AMV on my U-toob channel in order to create some diversity on this here blog. The problem with this plan is that I have a distinct need to use computers that are not in fact my own to do absolutely anything computer related.

Mostly because my computer is a smouldering pile of uselessness.

And so is my laptop.

But moving on!

Utilizing my brother from another mother's laptop, I crafted an AMV of magnificent quality! One that tingled my pride in spectacular ways! I only had about the last 8 seconds to fill, and I would be home free. So, I figured I could take a break, then finish it later. The bro took his laptop home for a while, and I was under the assumption that all would be well when it was all over.

Depressingly enough, his laptop has become virus ridden, and now won't boot up.

Fuck.

Ah well. 'Tis a minor delay. With any luck, we can recover the data, and carry on as if nothing happened.


I hope.

AMV coming soon.

In the stretch of time between karate chopping my writers block repeatedly so I can get on writing the next review, I've started work on a new AMV. Hopefully, I can have it up soon. That would be nice.

Yep.

A recommendation!

So from time time, I've decided it would be cool to show some videos that I think are cool, and/or my friends have made and posted. This is a case of the latter. My bro, MrSquallKennedy, a U-TOOB! AMV artist, has created a Leon Scott Kennedy tribute that I love, in honor of many things, including his 5 year AMV creating anniversary, and Leon's inclusion in Resident Evil 6. So check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUKKu5vHuTI&feature=g-u-u&context=G21772eeFUAAAAAAADAA

Yep.

Review the Second!

And Stuffimus Maximus makes it's way to it's second review, which will be...

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron!

(Wow! That's a mouthful...)

El Shaddai is a multiplatform (PS3, 360) Action/Adventure game developed by UTV Ignition Entertainment, headed by spectacular game director Sawaki Takeyasu (Devil May Cry) as well as Masato Kimura (Okami, Viewtiful Joe). With that kind of line up, I'm expecting an unforgettable experience, as Devil May Cry is one of my favorite action game series' of all time, and I hold Okami as out and out one of the greatest games ever created.

Let's see how it measured up. On to the review!

First Impressions

Having experienced the demo first, I was already excited to give El Shaddai a whirl. The game seems positively beautiful from an artistic standpoint, and the combat was nice and fluid in the demo, if a tad simple. When the game begins, prior to pressing start, you're treated to a small cutscene that gives you an idea of the game's quirky nature via a swift character introduction, followed by a beautiful presentation of the title of the game. Upon actually starting the game, you're given a brief idea of the story, then thrown straight into your first fight, no instruction or anything of the sort. It was a bit off-putting, but the entire presentation was done in such an interesting fashion that I definitely wanted more.

(9.0/10: While different, the game struck with it's art style, fluid movement, and wonderful sound. It promised a rather beautiful and deep experience.)

Overall Presentation

Trippy, eh?

My god, if there's one thing El Shaddai does well, it's presentation. From it's streamlined menus to the constantly changing landscapes, from the cliffs of heaven to the depths of hell, from a passionate, celebrating city to a radically different tron inspired thrill ride, El Shaddai never fails to provide an interesting image, be it a grand sweeping world, or a simple fading watercolor background. It's soundtrack matches it's visual display magnificently, with sound effects you would imagine attributing to heavenly machinations, and an excellent musical score.

However, the game's presentation isn't entirely perfect. It's good points in the long run fail to help tell it's nigh incomprehensible story beyond some basics, and the voice acting is subpar at best.

(8.0/10: The game looks and sounds beautiful, but it's plagued by a "strange and hard to follow" at best story, and other tidbits.)

Let's get more in depth.

Accessibility

While El Shaddai does throw you into your very first fray entirely unprepared, the game is relatively easy to pick up and beat your way through. You don't need a Harcore Gamer's Degree in Action Game Destruction to make it through this game by any stretch. Truly, the only issues the game has as far as access are story based. I like to think myself as an outside-the-box thinking person, with a fairly artistic and broad imagination, but... DAT STORY! While the story issues are the only ones, they are huge ones in my opinion. If the game I'm playing is based around the single player experience, then the inability to immerse myself in the game's world is an issue for me. And on further thought, the... Different art direction may be off putting for those looking for a more "cool" or "badass" experience.

(6.0/10: While the game is easy to pick up and play, it's somewhat hard to get into, considering the oddities of the art direction and, again, the extremely questionable presentation of the storyline.)

Graphics

...Preeeety.

Graphically, El Shaddai slides from excellent to masterpiece quality, with vigorous use of watercolor-styled and inspired imagery, vibrant and well placed colors, and gorgeous accompanying effects, be they the sparks flashing across a blade mid-purification, trails from blistering attacks, the pulse of the protagonist's steps as he makes his way across a glowing glass floor, or the subtle effects in the air that let you know you're in a windy area, or perhaps a zone filled with sorrow and sin. However, it is an eccentric looking game, and these things can cause a person to want to not give the game a second glance.

But it really is pretty though...

While the look may not necessarily appeal to some people, as a whole, the game looks beautiful. I never encountered a bit of slowdown during battles, and due to the constantly changing look of the levels, I never felt that the look of the game grew stagnate.

Yep. Definitely pretty.

Even at it's most simplistic, El Shaddai manages to provide an interesting graphical force. Definitely one of the game's shining points. If I were to say something bad about the game's look, it's that the characters themselves aren't necessarily the most graphically impressive bunch. They seem to play a strong second fiddle to the environments and special effects.

Other strong points include the game's combat animations which are fluid, and quite a treat for the eyes. Enoch (The protagonist, who could have done with some earlier introducing...) moves in a satisfyingly flashy fashion, blade whirling, feet flying, blasts careening all done with the game's deceptively simple combat system.

(8.5/10: The game looks beautiful and inspired, with some extra cool combat moments, and some rather impressive action sequences in cutscenes, but the art style may be a tad too different for some.)

Sound

Much like it is visually gripping, El Shaddai boasts a rather impressive sound selection, with particularly excellent boss battle pieces. The music fits the game excellently, but, and perhaps this is just a problem I have, very few tracks solidly leap out from the others. It's an overall excellent soundtrack, but as far as memorable pieces go, there are only a few. But again, that's probably just me.

The vocal work is nothing particularly amazing, though the nonchalant voice of Lucifel, the game's narrator, stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. I suppose my biggest gripe was I didn't feel any particularly gripping emotion coming from any of the characters. At least, not vocally.

Sounds effects are used wonderfully, with shatters accompanying Enoch's armor breaking as he takes damage, or the unearthly sound of energy strumming vibrantly as Enoch purifies whatever he has equipped at the moment.

All in all an excellent audio experience.

(8.0/10: While there isn't much to say for the voice acting, a beautiful, if not very memorable score accompanied by excellent sound effect work make for a pleasant time on one's ears.)

Controls

In a slightly bold twist, El Shaddai abandons the idea of a gigantic customizable combat system in favor of a very simple one. Light attacks are controlled with square, harder attacks with triangle, and more rhythmic combos can be produced with delaying button input to change the combo. There aren't any further combos to unlock, and very very few upgrades, and the biggest possibility of depth in the combat system lies in switching between the three weapons that Enoch can gain access to by stealing them from other enemies. In order to really speed up combat, it's vital to know which weapon beats which enemy, especially since whichever weapon you steal overwrites the last weapon you had, so it's necessary to plan out which enemies to defeat first.

The weapons Enoch gains access to are the "Arch", Enoch's most commonly seen, and all purpose fast and flashy close range weapon, shaped like a bow that functions like some sort of sword/staff hybrid, the "Gale", what appear to be a flock of paper airplanes that Enoch controls as his long range weapon, and the "Veil:" A combination of a shield, and giant-ass holy gauntlets, the Veil is slow but hella powerful, relying on powerful charged hits to break opponents, and grind them into a fine powder.

Another thing one needs to know about the weapons is that the more you use them, the more they're "corrupted" by the enemies you face, and the weaker they get. In order to keep them at optimum efficiency, you must remember to purify with L1/LB to restore them to full power. The same button is used to steal a weapon from a stunned enemy, an efficient tactic for making fights easier to get through.

Enoch's health is not handled via use of a bar or meter, but is rather viewed by the state of his armor; the less armor Enoch has left, the closer to death he is. If he is struck when beaten down to his jeans (yes, jeans.), Enoch's health will be completely defeated, and he will fall. When you fall, it's not necessarily the end, however. You can rapidly press the face buttons to force Enoch to get back up with some of his armor regenerated, though this becomes harder and harder the more you fall.

Progression through the levels is handled through 3-D and 2-D platforming, and is usually fun enough, but can be complicated by an odd shadow placement/timing of the shadow's arrival, causing more than a few falls over a misjudged jump.

All in all, it's a stable system, but it can get stale fairly easily if you're expecting more.

(6.5/10: The game plays well enough, but aside from the weapon stealing and the revival method, don't bring much by way of breaking ground to the table.)

Difficulty

The game is not hard at all on the default normal difficulty, though I suspect the challenge was not at all the intent for this game, so much as it was the presentation and the idea of the game itself. All the same, Lucifel is correct when he says "You can beat the game in 7 hours, if you really try" in a fourth wall breaking moment near the very beginning of the game. And any idea of a challenge the game may have is erased by the ability to simply mash buttons when you fall in combat to raise up and continue fighting.

(3.0/10: The game isn't very difficult at all, and honestly, I believe the game would have seriously benefited from a few challenging boss battles, at the very least.)

Replayability

There are about 5-6 difficulties to beat it on, with various unlockables like artwork, and alternate costumes becoming available to you for collecting various hidden items throughout the levels, meeting all of the wandering wisemen, and obtaining the highest possible ranking for every level on the various difficulties. So there's at least a decent amount of reason to give it another go if you enjoyed the game.

(5.5/10: While there isn't a huge amount of endgame content, there's at least enough to justify a second playthrough.)

Story

And here, quite unfortunately, is where El Shaddai falls apart for me. The tale of El Shaddai (loosely based on the "Book of Enoch") is about a human named Enoch, a priest/scribe who is sent to travel the world to find, defeat and imprison 7 fallen angels who have descended to earth in order to sample it's pleasures, to prevent the archangels' plan to eradicate all life on the face of the planet with a giant flood to start humankind anew. It's a tale that (quite literally) spans hundreds, even thousands of years. In game! Sounds like groundwork for an epic tale, yeah?

This is Enoch.

Mmmm.... Not so much.

El Shaddai, in it's attempt to be an artistic masterpiece, only ends up coming across as half eccentric, half hot bloody mess of convoluted exposition presented in a watercolor shell of crud. Or maybe I simply don't have a palette refined enough to appreciate El Shaddai for the work of art that it is.

Whatever the case, for a story with the potential that it's base has, El Shaddai's story presentation is terrible. It's only through the occasional breaks in chapter where Lucifel brings everything up to speed that I gain any real understanding of the story. Which is a problem, because if I can't immerse myself in the game's story (which, as an artistic game, I believe it should be somewhat reliant on) then for what reason should I pay it any mind at all?

The cutscenes are extremely vague, and don't offer much information towards any of the character's motives, or development, or even relevant relationships. And while there are nice little quirks on the side, such as Lucifel saving your progress by making reports to God on his cell phone, the little sense he makes isn't enough to make the story coherent. Collecting shards of "Ishtar's Bones" will also reveal more of the story, but this requires you to go find the aforementioned shards in a possibly game ending maze known as "The Darkness". There's a hidden portal to The Darkness in each level, and a shard of Ishtar's Bones is hidden in each one. But that will only then reveal these story pieces in a menu, or in the gallery. 

The story should not require this much work to discern.

(2.5/10: An awesome base, but terrible storytelling, and a lackluster actual story bring El Shaddai down kind of hard...)

Fun Factor

And so we come to the score of grand importance. The Fun Factor. And most unfortunately, while everything in El Shaddai is nice to look at, and listen to, the game itself, is not terribly fun. I mean, don't get me wrong, It's fun for the first few levels, but the inexplicably bad story, coupled with the eventual staleness of the combat system, mean that by the time I had completed the game, I was more than happy to put it in it's box, and never look it's way again. The game does have moments, however, that are a blast. Boss battles are suitably enjoyable, if a bit repetitive, and the absolutely out of nowhere TRON inspired level was so much fun that if I were to pick up the game again, it would be solely to play that level. But in the end, it's just not enough.

(3.0/10: The game is probably great fun for one who doesn't care about the story, or depth of combat style, but it's not enough for me. And even the game's best moments can't change that.)

And so, we move on to the score. In case you don't know, here's a link to the score guidelines, just so you're aware of where my opinion lies after you read the final score: http://stuffimusmaximus.blogspot.com/2012/01/score-guidelines.html

THE VERDICT

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron scores a

60.0

A GOOD GAME!

*applause*

While I certainly enjoyed El Shaddai as a whole, the game's over-reliance on beauty in simplicity, coupled with DAT ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE STORY! bring the game down too hard. Which is unfortunate, as El Shaddai had the potential to be positively amazing. It could most certainly have benefited from more emotional content in the voice acting, a slightly deeper, more fleshed out combat system, and it definitely could have done with a far better presentation for the story.

But yep. That's that. Hope you enjoyed it. Should have another review coming sometime soon.