Genji: Days of The Blade
Giant Crabs! Massive Damage! Oh My!
Posted December 21, 2006
To say that the majority of PS3 launch titles were underwhelming would be putting things a little lightly. Save for a couple titles, the entire launch was filled with ports of games that had been out for some time on other consoles, and in the majority of cases no noticeable improvements were made to the titles. Genji: Day of the Blade is one of the exclusive launch titles that launched the PS3 and welcomed in the new generation of gaming, because Sony said so. But really, does this title usher in the latest and greatest in what gaming has to offer? Is it truly a step beyond the previous Genji titles, or even other Onimusha titles which it resembles; and more than that does it showcase the PlayStation 3 and build up all of it's glory?
Any gamer who's either read or watched anything about E3 2006 knows the running joke about this title, and in a statement to both of you readers I will refrain from making the comment directly. But rest assured, the content of the joke is more than present in this title along with a slew of other laugh worthy material.
Genji: Day of the Blade takes place in a variation of feudal Japan, where armies are imbued with a power of unimaginable origins. As the player you gain control of four separate fighters, each with unique weapons and style of fighting. The main character, Yoshitsune starts out with a pair of swords which offer style and speed, Benkei is an oversized brute who swings a large club while lumbering through the levels; Gozen Shizuka is a priestess who uses fan-type weapons that are attached to chains to allow both long range and close combat; the fourth and final character is an incarnation of the God of War who has assumed the body of a past rival of Yoshitsune and Benkei.
The inconceivable power that the baddies control comes in the form of Mashogane which, bear with me, is somehow inserted into the physical bodies of the enemies via a gem of sorts if one of the many cut scenes is to be believed. To counter this evil power, the heroes are imbued with Amahagane, which allows the heroes to enter a heightened state of awareness and eliminate a large group of enemies in a very nicely styled Simon type mini-game. But to be blunt, North American gamers are not going to be enamored with the story of Genji and its trip to the Netherworld, it’s the graphics and audio that are going to impress; because it sure isn’t going to be the gameplay.
Genji oddly straddles the line of being a decent game but is so marred by quirks that it quickly falls into the realm of the bargain bin title. While the game is quite pretty to look at with very fluid animations for each of the four main characters and even for the hoards of Heishi armies that you’ll face, it suffers from one of the worst cameras that I’ve had the displeasure of having to deal with, couple that with a feeble excuse for an in game map system and you have a recipe for a frustrating game experience.
The camera is so atrocious that at times you will be fighting characters that you can’t even see onscreen. The worst part is that when you move to get a better vantage point, the angle changes and you likely end up swapping cameras multiple again before you can settle to a specific angle. Quite often you’ll end up getting so frustrated that you are repeatedly clobbered as you try to get a perfect view of the enemy to actually advance through the game. As hinted to, the in game map that sits in the corner of your screen actually was more of a hindrance to my advancement through the game than a help. I would be happily plodding through seemingly endless hoards of antlered army generals in one direction then sneak a peek at the map only to realize that the direction I thought I was heading is actually not the way I was heading. The pause menu also includes a map which helps highlight your goals but it too was near useless. Next generation gaming at its best? I don’t think so.
Controlling the characters was a real mixed bag and drastically changed depending on which character you controlled, and also with which weapon you may have real-time swapped to. Yoshitsune was by far the most thoroughly tested and balances character; his animations were extremely smooth and regardless of which weapon set you used, he was a solid choice to slice through the massive armies. Benkei was far too large and slow for much use other than the requisite “puzzles” where you needed him to smash through a barrier of some sort, and even Lord Buson the God of War is tricky to control. His staff swinging animations tended to drag a little too long opening up holes in his defense. Sure as you upgrade the skills and weapons he became very useful but honestly swapping away from Yoshitsune was a last resort reserved for when he was too low on energy.
As mentioned the biggest hunks of redemption that Genji:Day of the Blade has going for it is that it’s actually a quite pretty game to look at, and the music really fits amazingly well with the game. As mentioned the animations are really smooth for each character, regardless of how ludicrous or slow they are, it still looks very nice. The environments when moved out of the narrow hallways and courtyards can be massive with battles taking place in the backgrounds, while scripted they look fantastic.
While playing through the title some may be turned off by the classical Japanese music that plays throughout, but I found this to be a huge plus to the title. Rather than set the game to some electronica or other completely unsuitable music Sony choose to take a more authentic approach, fitting in quite nicely with the outlandish giant crabs that plagued Japan in the twelfth century. Even the English voice work was quite well done during cut scenes; I didn’t find myself cringing every time someone spoke which says a lot given the history that video games and poor acting bring to the table.
However the overwhelming feeling that his game gave me was a poor one, and once again it feels like the SIXAXIS controls were a last minute addition to the game. They are used to dodge attacks, and only for that purpose – the kicker here is that it’s much easier to use the right analog stick for the same reason. Plagued by horribly poor camera control and a real lack of caring or even wanting to use three out of the four characters in the game are scars on this title. No amount of button mashing combat or pseudo-quick time events could save the game from the hole that was primed for it due to its flaws. Given the light launch title selection you might find yourself wanting something to play, if you are in a dire situation and absolutely need to play this title, rent it. Otherwise you may want to skip it altogether.
Any gamer who's either read or watched anything about E3 2006 knows the running joke about this title, and in a statement to both of you readers I will refrain from making the comment directly. But rest assured, the content of the joke is more than present in this title along with a slew of other laugh worthy material.
Genji: Day of the Blade takes place in a variation of feudal Japan, where armies are imbued with a power of unimaginable origins. As the player you gain control of four separate fighters, each with unique weapons and style of fighting. The main character, Yoshitsune starts out with a pair of swords which offer style and speed, Benkei is an oversized brute who swings a large club while lumbering through the levels; Gozen Shizuka is a priestess who uses fan-type weapons that are attached to chains to allow both long range and close combat; the fourth and final character is an incarnation of the God of War who has assumed the body of a past rival of Yoshitsune and Benkei.
The inconceivable power that the baddies control comes in the form of Mashogane which, bear with me, is somehow inserted into the physical bodies of the enemies via a gem of sorts if one of the many cut scenes is to be believed. To counter this evil power, the heroes are imbued with Amahagane, which allows the heroes to enter a heightened state of awareness and eliminate a large group of enemies in a very nicely styled Simon type mini-game. But to be blunt, North American gamers are not going to be enamored with the story of Genji and its trip to the Netherworld, it’s the graphics and audio that are going to impress; because it sure isn’t going to be the gameplay.
Genji oddly straddles the line of being a decent game but is so marred by quirks that it quickly falls into the realm of the bargain bin title. While the game is quite pretty to look at with very fluid animations for each of the four main characters and even for the hoards of Heishi armies that you’ll face, it suffers from one of the worst cameras that I’ve had the displeasure of having to deal with, couple that with a feeble excuse for an in game map system and you have a recipe for a frustrating game experience.
The camera is so atrocious that at times you will be fighting characters that you can’t even see onscreen. The worst part is that when you move to get a better vantage point, the angle changes and you likely end up swapping cameras multiple again before you can settle to a specific angle. Quite often you’ll end up getting so frustrated that you are repeatedly clobbered as you try to get a perfect view of the enemy to actually advance through the game. As hinted to, the in game map that sits in the corner of your screen actually was more of a hindrance to my advancement through the game than a help. I would be happily plodding through seemingly endless hoards of antlered army generals in one direction then sneak a peek at the map only to realize that the direction I thought I was heading is actually not the way I was heading. The pause menu also includes a map which helps highlight your goals but it too was near useless. Next generation gaming at its best? I don’t think so.
Controlling the characters was a real mixed bag and drastically changed depending on which character you controlled, and also with which weapon you may have real-time swapped to. Yoshitsune was by far the most thoroughly tested and balances character; his animations were extremely smooth and regardless of which weapon set you used, he was a solid choice to slice through the massive armies. Benkei was far too large and slow for much use other than the requisite “puzzles” where you needed him to smash through a barrier of some sort, and even Lord Buson the God of War is tricky to control. His staff swinging animations tended to drag a little too long opening up holes in his defense. Sure as you upgrade the skills and weapons he became very useful but honestly swapping away from Yoshitsune was a last resort reserved for when he was too low on energy.
As mentioned the biggest hunks of redemption that Genji:Day of the Blade has going for it is that it’s actually a quite pretty game to look at, and the music really fits amazingly well with the game. As mentioned the animations are really smooth for each character, regardless of how ludicrous or slow they are, it still looks very nice. The environments when moved out of the narrow hallways and courtyards can be massive with battles taking place in the backgrounds, while scripted they look fantastic.
While playing through the title some may be turned off by the classical Japanese music that plays throughout, but I found this to be a huge plus to the title. Rather than set the game to some electronica or other completely unsuitable music Sony choose to take a more authentic approach, fitting in quite nicely with the outlandish giant crabs that plagued Japan in the twelfth century. Even the English voice work was quite well done during cut scenes; I didn’t find myself cringing every time someone spoke which says a lot given the history that video games and poor acting bring to the table.
However the overwhelming feeling that his game gave me was a poor one, and once again it feels like the SIXAXIS controls were a last minute addition to the game. They are used to dodge attacks, and only for that purpose – the kicker here is that it’s much easier to use the right analog stick for the same reason. Plagued by horribly poor camera control and a real lack of caring or even wanting to use three out of the four characters in the game are scars on this title. No amount of button mashing combat or pseudo-quick time events could save the game from the hole that was primed for it due to its flaws. Given the light launch title selection you might find yourself wanting something to play, if you are in a dire situation and absolutely need to play this title, rent it. Otherwise you may want to skip it altogether.