Genji has the potential to be amazing, except for the horrid replay value, shallow gameplay, and lack of English voices.
Gameplay
I was hoping for a little more depth in the battle system. Basically, you just keep smashing square over and over again with an occasional triangle button thrown in. It baffles me how two of the shoulder buttons aren’t even used. There are two players to choose from with different abilities and attributes but most of the weapons look very similar and do not make much of a difference other than they get stronger as the game progresses. Boss battles are actually pretty fun, though, and a few can be a little difficult, although you won’t be stuck for more than a few tries on anything. The best part of the gameplay is the Kamui mode, which slows down time and flashes the square icon to tell you when to unleash a devastating hit. You can combine Kamui to slow time down even more, making it easier for you to time the attacks. It will always be the square button so that makes it a little easier. Medicine and power-ups are available, which make the game even easier, since you get plenty of money. One final problem here is that when the fixed camera changes position, sometimes you are left running straight into a wall because it does not adjust to the way you were going previously.
Graphics
Genji looks incredible, and I stress that word. If they had only put this much work into the rest of the game, it would be perfect. Anyway, the environments are amazing, with snow-covered villages, detailed Japanese houses, as well as a beautiful-looking palace. The characters look great as well with nice, animated faces and smooth movements. I was amazed with the quality of graphics in the game as it’s some of the best out there right now. I just wish there would have been a greater variety in the areas you explored, as there weren't vvery many.
Sound
Well, it’s not too fun reading through the entire story of a game, and I hope I never have to do it again. I wish the developers would have dubbed English voices over, even if it wouldn’t have matched the facial expressions. I understand that it’s a game based on the Japanese culture, but Americans play a lot of games, too. Like I said, it seems as if this game wasn’t really meant to do well. The Japanese musical pieces are nice and slightly varied, and the sound effects aren’t half bad. The Japanese chatter is annoying as all hell, but at least they provided subtitles, I guess.
Value
The value is a joke here. I really take my time with games and try and see everything, and I completed the game in about seven and a half hours. Sure you can switch characters, but once you’ve tried all three of their moves it doesn’t really stay interesting. There is really no reason to play through the story again except for the harder difficulty level, and the so-called “extras” they give you are just all the movies and lines from the game. What a joke, like I really want to look at those after I finish the game. Genji is really not worth your money, unless you love samurai games.
Tilt
The story here was fairly decent, and would have been more engrossing had I not had to read what was going on constantly. It may have been cliché, with an evil guy trying to take over the country and a little, unimportant man trying to stop him, but I sort of liked it all the same. To be honest, though, I was pretty disappointed with Genji because it could have been amazing, if the developers spent more time on it. That’s why I’m glad they’re making a sequel in the coming years. My final word is to rent it for a few days so that you can beat it and enjoy it, but please don’t buy this game.