Heavenly Sword
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:40 pm
Time for another game review from me since I am on a kick of getting new games for once.
I rented this title as soon as it was available and it arrived last night. There are two primary characters: Nariko, and Kai. Nariko is the main character, with the heavenly sword and the Crazy red hair. Kai is the younger girl with the half painted face. Both interestingly enough seem to share an equal part in the story. For those that played the Demo, you already have played with Nariko and the sword and gotten a taste of what you can do. Kai however was not in the demo but there has been alot of buzz about her ranged attacks and the Aftertouch ability.
So I started playing last night and the game drops you into the action Very Very quickly, and then slows down for a bit of story telling. The Story in this game is Flipping Fantastic. I have not played a Console game outside the Final Fantasy series that has immersed me this quickly and deeply into the plot. I doubt it was more then 10 minutes in before I was fully engrossed in the plot of the game. This of course does slightly give me a bit of anxiety due tot he fact it is known this game is rather short, because I am going to be disappointed when it ends. The game appears from the Demo and from the outset to be a straight forward button masher. However that would be where you quickly find out you are wrong. The game is far deeper then a button masher, and I found myself shocked and impressed at this. While I appreciate a good masher from time to time, I also like to use my brain and think through a game.
You first get introduced to this concept when Kai comes into the story, Kai as is known uses ranged attacks in conjunction with the Aftertouch ability. For those unfamiliar with this, think Bullet mode from Deus EX, except you can control the projectile. Basically a Fancy Slow mo, where you use the motion capture of the 6 axis to guide the projectile. IT IS NOT EASY, however that said, you Must master this skill or you are going to find later parts of the game exceedingly difficult. Alot of people were griping about the controls in Lair being sluggish, I of course said they were not. Heavenly Sword reinforces my stance that the controls are not sluggish; they are actually just extremely precise. You need to make small movements, because if you make drastic ones you are going to have an exceedingly difficult time controlling.
The Art style of the game really is a sight to behold. Everything feels alive in the game, and there are tons of small details that just make it feel like you are a part of the game. Ranging from the fantastic backdrops, that are rich in detail, to the interaction of objects ranging from a piece of fruit on the table, to the bodies of your slain that you can pickup and throw around. Battle is really the most impressive part of the art of the game because there are times where you are in a room with tables and chairs and such, and Everything just gets smashed to bits. Of course nothing disappears; you just start kicking around bits of things and throwing things. It really makes the battles seem that much more immersive when you know you are going to just wreck the place.
The musical score and Voice acting as well really is impressive. The music definitely sets the mood of the area you are in. The voice acting has been done well, and for the most part has been synced with the mouth animations quit well. There have only been a couple of gripes from me about voices, they were trivial however in the light of the bigger picture. A couple of the characters seemed a little lax as far as their design, but most of the characters are done extremely well.
Gripes:
Nariko's hair...I mean Serious WTH? That is some crazy bad hair, and honestly considering what the PS3 is capable of almost sad in its implementation. Hair across the board in this game was done rather badly, which is a shame considering how good it looks in the Screen Renders.
Duration, This game is short...Very short. You will spend anywhere from 5 to 7 hours on it depending on how fast you master Kai and how much time you spend playing in slow mo. This really is the true tragedy of this game, as it is such a fantastic game that to be cut off so quickly is saddening. This is why I have to declare this a Rental title, because spending $60 on this would be a sheer waste unless you feel like paying for all the nifty artwork. Granted this is one of the Best rental titles pretty much ever, but I digress 7 hours of gameplay just does not justify $60.
Some of the combat counters in the game do not work a large percentage of the time. This is the only point of frustration I have with the game as far as its actual game play. There are certain moves that certain bosses have that you Cannot dodge, you have to Counter them. However half the time I use the counter I get hit anyhow. While none of these moves are particularly damaging, they are rather irritating.
All in all if you want to use the 10 Scale, I give this game an easy 8.5 out of 10. It would have been a 9.5 had it been longer. If you own a PS3 you owe it to yourself to Rent this title. This is hands down one of the best console games I have played in years.
I rented this title as soon as it was available and it arrived last night. There are two primary characters: Nariko, and Kai. Nariko is the main character, with the heavenly sword and the Crazy red hair. Kai is the younger girl with the half painted face. Both interestingly enough seem to share an equal part in the story. For those that played the Demo, you already have played with Nariko and the sword and gotten a taste of what you can do. Kai however was not in the demo but there has been alot of buzz about her ranged attacks and the Aftertouch ability.
So I started playing last night and the game drops you into the action Very Very quickly, and then slows down for a bit of story telling. The Story in this game is Flipping Fantastic. I have not played a Console game outside the Final Fantasy series that has immersed me this quickly and deeply into the plot. I doubt it was more then 10 minutes in before I was fully engrossed in the plot of the game. This of course does slightly give me a bit of anxiety due tot he fact it is known this game is rather short, because I am going to be disappointed when it ends. The game appears from the Demo and from the outset to be a straight forward button masher. However that would be where you quickly find out you are wrong. The game is far deeper then a button masher, and I found myself shocked and impressed at this. While I appreciate a good masher from time to time, I also like to use my brain and think through a game.
You first get introduced to this concept when Kai comes into the story, Kai as is known uses ranged attacks in conjunction with the Aftertouch ability. For those unfamiliar with this, think Bullet mode from Deus EX, except you can control the projectile. Basically a Fancy Slow mo, where you use the motion capture of the 6 axis to guide the projectile. IT IS NOT EASY, however that said, you Must master this skill or you are going to find later parts of the game exceedingly difficult. Alot of people were griping about the controls in Lair being sluggish, I of course said they were not. Heavenly Sword reinforces my stance that the controls are not sluggish; they are actually just extremely precise. You need to make small movements, because if you make drastic ones you are going to have an exceedingly difficult time controlling.
The Art style of the game really is a sight to behold. Everything feels alive in the game, and there are tons of small details that just make it feel like you are a part of the game. Ranging from the fantastic backdrops, that are rich in detail, to the interaction of objects ranging from a piece of fruit on the table, to the bodies of your slain that you can pickup and throw around. Battle is really the most impressive part of the art of the game because there are times where you are in a room with tables and chairs and such, and Everything just gets smashed to bits. Of course nothing disappears; you just start kicking around bits of things and throwing things. It really makes the battles seem that much more immersive when you know you are going to just wreck the place.
The musical score and Voice acting as well really is impressive. The music definitely sets the mood of the area you are in. The voice acting has been done well, and for the most part has been synced with the mouth animations quit well. There have only been a couple of gripes from me about voices, they were trivial however in the light of the bigger picture. A couple of the characters seemed a little lax as far as their design, but most of the characters are done extremely well.
Gripes:
Nariko's hair...I mean Serious WTH? That is some crazy bad hair, and honestly considering what the PS3 is capable of almost sad in its implementation. Hair across the board in this game was done rather badly, which is a shame considering how good it looks in the Screen Renders.
Duration, This game is short...Very short. You will spend anywhere from 5 to 7 hours on it depending on how fast you master Kai and how much time you spend playing in slow mo. This really is the true tragedy of this game, as it is such a fantastic game that to be cut off so quickly is saddening. This is why I have to declare this a Rental title, because spending $60 on this would be a sheer waste unless you feel like paying for all the nifty artwork. Granted this is one of the Best rental titles pretty much ever, but I digress 7 hours of gameplay just does not justify $60.
Some of the combat counters in the game do not work a large percentage of the time. This is the only point of frustration I have with the game as far as its actual game play. There are certain moves that certain bosses have that you Cannot dodge, you have to Counter them. However half the time I use the counter I get hit anyhow. While none of these moves are particularly damaging, they are rather irritating.
All in all if you want to use the 10 Scale, I give this game an easy 8.5 out of 10. It would have been a 9.5 had it been longer. If you own a PS3 you owe it to yourself to Rent this title. This is hands down one of the best console games I have played in years.