Asura’s Wrath caught everyone’s attention back at E3 2011 when Capcom showed a glimpse of what the game was all about. The huge boss battles combined with over the top combat made it really stand out. Developed by the team that brought us .hack and Naruto games on consoles, Asura’s Wrath introduces us a new way to play a game that is heavily based on anime cutscenes. However, are these elements enough to sell the Asura’s Wrath or does it need more content to justify your purchase?
Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs oin our Asura’s Wrath review.
HOT
An Interactive Anime
Asura’s Wrath is unique due to the type of gameplay it offers. Instead of CyberConnect2 giving us a gameplay that is similar to the games they usually developed like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm or .hack games, they brought us an interactive anime where all you have to do is watch the story unfolds and do minimal playing. In majority of the game’s content, Asura’s Wrath is heavy on cutscenes and at some point for each episode, you will be involved in a series of Quick Time Events (QTE) and a short one on one battle with the boss. Spanning through eighteen episodes, each of the episodes are packed with action and suspense. If you’re a fan of the animes like Dragon Ball Z, you will find some of the intense scenes in the game spectacular and it will keep you on your seat until you finish the game/anime.
For an interactive game like Asura’s Wrath, it’s important to have a story to get us playing and watching non-stop. With a well crafted story, Asura’s Wrath plot will keep you at the edge of your seat from the beginning through the end. Inspired by the story of the Asian Mythology, Asura’s Wrath takes place in a world where the demigods that rules the land is trying to eliminate the Ghoma, a foul and impure beasts that’s been terrorizing the planet. As Asura, one of the demigods that watches the land, subdued the Ghoma temporarily and the celebration commences in the Karma Fortress, he was blamed for the assassination of the Emperor and faced a tragic death of his wife, thus exiling him back to Gaea with no powers whatsoever. With only revenge is in his mind, Asura sets off of a journey to find out who’s behind the Emperor’s assassination and discover the story behind Asura’s wrath.
Impressive Production Values
As soon as the game starts, you’ll notice right away the high production values of the game. The presentation of Asura’s Wrath is laid out exactly as what an anime should be where there is a commercial break splash page that appears, and a preview of the next episode at the end. For the most part, you’ll really feel that you’re watching more than playing and if you just love animes, you’ll be stunned as to how CyberConnect2 executed all of this.
The visuals, the soundtrack and the voice work are some of the things to praise about. Usually, games with English dub suck but in Asura’s Wrath, they are done exceptionally well. However, if you wish to listen to the original voice acting, a Japanese track is available in the options menu. As for the visuals, it looks stunning especially the characters that you get to meet in the game such as how well the developers designed the demigods. Expect to see bosses that can take up the whole screen of the TV and other enemies such as a gorilla, elephant and more. With all of these things combined with a great soundtrack that builds up the mood and excitement when watching, the end product is a great cinematography that Asura’s Wrath surely delivers.
Asura in Asura’s Wrath is an insane character. With his hot headed personality, you’ll mostly see him in his grumpy mood. When he’s grumpy, all sorts of things happens to him such as six arms appears from his body or he can carry a demigod that is the same size of the planet. Hell, even without his hands, he can fight and win it. That is how Asura is portrayed in the game but you’ll know why he’s like that when you finish the story. Without the impressive visuals and the voice work, the presentation of Asura’s Wrath will be abysmal.
NOT
Weak Gameplay
The gameplay is one of the things that lacks in Asura’s Wrath. Aside from enjoying yourself in watching the story of the game unfolds, you’ll perform a series of quick time events where you have to press a series of button in order for action to take place. Most of the time, quick time events are disregarded at some parts of the episode as no matter if you’re pressing the right sequence, it will still have the same outcome. You can just sit down there and do nothing if all you want to do is watch it.
In addition to quick time events, there are things that you need to do in order to advance through the next episode. Almost in every episode the game has, you’ll engage in a series of one on one battles with the boss. When engaged into a group of enemies or a boss, the gameplay turns into an action game like Ninja Gaiden or God of War where you can press a series of buttons to do combos. While that might sound something refreshing in Asura’s Wrath, you’ll notice after a couple of fights that it gets dull as in order to win the battle, all you need to do is fill up the Burst bar and the story will continue. The bosses in the game doesn’t have an HP bar or anything; simply keep on attacking until you can do a Burst bar and perform another QTE.
Renting It is Recommended
Assuming that it takes you 20 minutes to finish each episode and there are seventeen of them, you’ll most likely finish the game in less than six hours. However, if you’re playing under normal difficulty, you can expect to finish the game even at four to five hours. Asura’s Wrath is a short game and for the price it carries, it’s somewhat expensive as you can finish watching through the story in one sitting, thus renting it will be best choice you can do if you want to save money. Especially with no extras that gets unlocked after finishing the game, it would be not worth it to play through the story again.
VERDICT
In almost six hours that I’ve spent in playing Asura’s Wrath, it was an enjoyable ride from the beginning to end. Everything about the game is phenomenal including its story and high production values. Before spending $60 into this game, make sure you know what you’re getting into as Asura’s Wrath is an interactive anime with minimal gameplay that can be finished in one sitting. Asura’s Wrath is a good game but for what it’s worth, but I only recommend it as a rental due to the lack of replay value. However, if you have money to purchase this game at its full retail price, go right ahead. You won’t be disappointed.
[Editor’s Note: Asura’s Wrath was reviewed on the Xbox 360 hardware. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]