Spazzzh20

User Score
8.3

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 7.5

Whenever Cyberconnet2 tries something new I can't help but wounder what goodies they have in store for us. Their games while not the most critically acclaimed manage to be distinct enough in their own right to warrant checking out.

From the Niche games that they've created such as silent bomber and tail concerto, to the unexpectedly popular .hack franchise. To the mother of all anime license the Naruto series Cyberconnet 2 has always tried to outshine the competition while at the same time playing it safe. None of the games that they've developed ever tried to do anything that was truly revolutionary, so most of the time any new ideas took a backseat to what was expected in a game from that genre. Now with Asura's Wrath CC2 is hoping to see just how much they can do different while still keeping the game within the genre that we all know as "action"

The game wastes no time thrusting the player into the shoes of Asura a Demigod tasked with protecting the world from an evil infestation that causes gigantic tentacles to rise from the earths very core and unleash a savage fury to which even the gods have a hard time contemplating, as the impurity level of all the creatures is shown on screen the source of all of it is one with a level that is to high to measure. I even found myself yelling at the screen "It's over 9000" an on rails shooter segment quickly turns into a button masher. I use all of my divine strength to diminish the evil that ravenges the earth. With the evil sealed away in the center of the earth once again it is a time for celebration. But like any anti hero Asura soon finds his quest for peace transforming into a quest for revenge, as your wife gets murdered and your daughter is kidnapped. To make matters worse Asura is framed for conspiracy and is then sent on a 12000 year quest to rid the world of evil and clear his name. The gameplay and story go hand and hand in this quest for redemption and revenge. Anime fans will feel write at home with this story especially when Asura is cast downwards from heaven and forced to climb a seemingly endless tower that will no doubt remind Dragon Ball Z fans of Kami's tower the place from which he watches over the earth .

As intriguing as the story may be the gameplay is far from being your standard button masher. Yes you primarily rely on one button to attack your foes while occasionally waiting for a QTE to occur on screen to counter an enemies attack. However the way in which you traverse each battle as well as the different opponents that you face off against offer a unique blend of challenge, that depending on how skilled you are can either be a cake walk or a pain in the ass. While at first glance it may may just look like another god of war or devil may cry clone in actuality it has more in common with games like Mike Tyson's punch out.

Now I know that that's probably one of the last games that anyone would think of referencing when playing Asura's wrath, but when you grind it down to it's core, and you think about what made Punch out on the nes so great you might see the similarities. The greatest innovation of punch out was that it wasn't just a sports tittle, it was more centered around the rhythm/timing genre in which you had to memorize every enemies set of moves until you were good enough to create a pattern that worked out best for you.

In Asura's wrath you pretty much do the exact same thing, you have to memorize every enemies unique attack pattern so that you could develop one of your own and think of a strategy to successfully dispatch incoming threats in a way as quick and effectively as possible to get a higher rating at the end of each stage or " episode".

The most prominent difference between this game and every other hack and slasho button masho on the market is that you don't win levels by killing enemies, instead you have a bar on top of the screen that tells you your "Rage" level defeating enough enemies, or countering enough attacks via quick time events are the two primary ways to build up your rage meter, even getting hit will slightly increase your rage meter as somewhat of a consolation. Once your meter has been filled up all the way the word "BURST" will appear on your screen indicating that you are to perform a series of quick time events to progress to the next area, this unnatural means of progression may turn off die hard action game fans, bit like I stated this isn't so much an action game as a Timing/Rhythm oriented game.

Another great aspect that should not be overlooked is the games art style mixing together the canvas like art style of prince of Persia with sketch models via Valkiria Chronicles and well placed lighting effects you get an incredibly unique art style that looks like all the characters are made out of woodcarvings, yet are flexible enough as to avoid looking to much like a cardboard cutout during cutscenes.

Roughly two thirds of a way into the game your perspective will be switched over to another protagonist named Yasha who's move-set is very similar to Asura's except slightly more fast paced. Though this also serves as a way to introduce new equally fast and ambitious foes at you so the slight tweak in gameplay is gradually appreciated as your new characters powers are a perfect match for your new foes. I also loved his theme whenever Yasha appears a spaghetti western style theme begins to play and it fits his personality just perfectly. The rebel without a cause in this game who's true intentions are unknown until the ending climax is a great way of changing up the pace, though only ever so slightly it shows that the development team at least had enough common sense not to have you playing as the same obnoxious four armed hero throughout the roughly 8-10 hours that you will be playing this game. being able to view the story from different perspectives is a great way to avoid making the antagonists seem one dimensional, and top all of this off with an unlock able ending that sets the stage for further dlc you have a great story that aims for the sky and doesn't know when to give up.

At the end of the day Asura's wrath can come across as a variety of things. And while I definitely can't recommend it to everyone the sheer scope of events that take place here are defiantly evident that a game doesn't need to follow the rule book as so many action games before it in order to be good. It's a unique game loaded with potential that will make you feel like a total bad ass. 8.3/10