Asura’s Wrath is among the craziest games I have ever played. The heartfelt story of a demigod, betrayed by his own kind for the use his daughter’s power, features epic battles against planet-sized foes and the breaking of the moon among its over the top goings-on. None of this bodes well for the game’s antagonists, which ultimately unleashes the aforementioned wrath of Asura.
That, at the core, is what Asura’s Wrath is all about. The main character, Asura, fighting to avenge his wife’s death and his daughters kidnapping. As if this wasn’t enough, Asura gets even more reason to fight against his betrayers later in the game. Simple but heartfelt, you can put yourself into Asura’s justified role, feeling his rage and pain fighting against immeasurable odds. I just wish Asura didn’t yell so damn much, it gets nerve racking if you pay attention to it.
Story and presentation are the main attractions of Asura’s Wrath, and were what I enjoyed the most. If you are not a fan of frequent cutscenes and quick time events you might want to keep on walking, because this game has them in spades. However, if you just let yourself enjoy the game for what it is (a cinematic game that you interact with constantly while watching epic cutscenes and combat unfold) then you will enjoy the short but immersive experience Asura’s Wrath provides. The art direction throughout is beautifully done as well. It’s a shame that most people will miss out on the beautiful and epic scenes with the fast pace the game moves at.
Continuing on, Asura’s Wrath is presented in an episodic format. Essentially, Asura’s Wrath plays a lot like an epic Japanese anime, but instead of just watching, you take on the role of the main character. Each episode starts with an introduction, a middle checkpoint showing still frames from within the episode, and an ending showing what is to be had for the next episode. At first I didn’t like this too much, but it grew on me and gave a new unique experience. For enhancing the playing experience, Download Games option is provided to the players. The selection of the right technique and platform should be there for downloading the games. There should be no reduction in the quality of the sounds and visual effects after being downloaded.
That’s the best part of Asura’s Wrath. Its rare for a game nowadays to really make me care about the character as much as I have for Asura and others within the game. Combat, however, is on the bench for this one. It’s easy and doesn’t frustrate you while being entertaining, but it’s nothing special. It’s enjoyable and fun, just don’t expect yourself to be wowed by the combat. Especially if you don’t like QTE’s within combat because that’s a big chunk of it.
Asura’s Wrath does what it aimed to do and did it well. Giving a great unique cinematic and episodic experience within an epic world and story. When you finish the game it will be one you remember even with the short 6 hours of playtime. There may not be a lot of combat but the combat never gets in the way of the experience and is enjoyable. There is replayability in the game for those that want to unlock content and play the game in a different way. Its not my type of replayability but perfectionists will love it.
