After playing the demo of Capcom’s “Asura’s Wrath,” I found myself taken aback. I never would have thought that a game such as “Asura’s Wrath” could compete with the same farcical game play that is seen in Sega’s “Bayonetta.” If you haven’t played the demo, I highly encourage you to do so. Some of the scenes in “Asura’s Wrath” will have even the most jaded gamers raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
Our acrimonious hero, Asura, has hit the trifecta: betrayed by his seven demigod comrades; banished and cast down from Heaven for a whopping 12,000 years; and to top it off, his daughter has been kidnapped. Now, with a long-stewing thirst for vengeance, Asura has awakened — and he wants some payback.
The storytelling elements behind “Asura’s Wrath” are infused with a plethora of anime elements: the classic, brief intermissions that most anime have; the standard pitch-black screen with “to be continued” in both English and Japanese in the corner; and finally, the end-of-episode synopsis of the upcoming episode.
Combat is fluid and simple. The O/B button performs Asura’s basic melee attacks. Holding the circle buttons commands Asura to do a dash attack.
The square/X button is used for long-range fighting. Holding square will allow Asura to shoot a volley of never-ending blasts from his hands. You can move the crosshairs with the L-pad, as well.
Pressing the triangle/Y button executes a heavy attack. Using this technique, however, will put Asura in overheat mode, which is indicated with a small circle that can be seen over the rage-infused Asura. Overheating doesn’t lower any of Asura’s stats, but you cannot perform another heavy attack until the aforementioned indicator — that rotates counterclockwise — has disappeared. When approaching a downed enemy, hitting triangle will initiate a special attack that, like the heavy attack, will overheat Asura.
Mashing the X/A button functions as the jump command. Pressing circle after X will command Asura to perform a dive bomb attack. The X/A button serves as the recovery button. By pressing X after Asura takes damage, you reduce the damage and avoid tumbling along the demigod-battered landscape.
Counterattacking is simple. An on-screen prompt will show you the corresponding button to press in order to initiate the counterattack.
The R1 button is evasion. However, you will not use this very often because a guy who can lift a tree-sized finger that has him pinned down does not need to evade anything. L1 is used to lock on to enemies; moving the R-pad is used to toggle locked-on enemies.
Inflicting and receiving damage increases the Unlimited Gauge located near Asura’s health bar. Once full, pressing L2 will activate Asura’s Unlimited Mode, which gives him a strength increase and a temporary immunity to overheating. The Burst Gauge fills up as Asura inflicts damage to enemies. Pressing R2 will initiate a devastating attack from the six-armed protagonist.
The controls are easy. Throughout the game, you are told what to press and when. Cinematic sequences are the real meat of the game and this element is what makes “Asura’s Wrath” repetitive at times.
During the over-the-top cinematic sequences that trigger you to raise a hand at your television in a “this is way too much” fashion, you must keep your controller near you. There will be scenes in “Asura’s Wrath” that will prompt you to perform a series of on-screen actions during combat scenes to increase the Synchronic Rate (that you will be graded on) with Asura.
The result screen shown at the end of every episode will show how well or poorly you performed during the episode, how fast you completed the stage, the total battle points — calculated by the number of times you used heavy attacks — and finally the Synchronic Rate. Also shown at the end of the episode are the extras you’ve unlocked, such as concept art, movies, trophies, gauges and bumpers. Gauges can be switched with other gauges that you’ve unlocked while playing the main story. For example, unlocking and switching to the defender gauge can decrease the damage you take from enemies.
The option to replay previously completed episodes on other difficulty levels adds to the replay value of “Asura’s Wrath.” From the main menu, players are able to select and play any episode they desire upon completion. From here, players can replay the episode, or look at the results for the selected episode.
Solid voice-acting, simple controls and electrifying graphics aside, the game is only six hours long. This rightfully makes gamers finicky about picking up the game in the first place. After all, it’s a $60 title. Gamers need more than six hours of game play for a pricetag that hefty. However, if you like ridiculous, relentless, over-the-top action, “Asura’s Wrath” is definitely worth it and will prompt you to ask yourself, “What can top that?”
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