I really like the concept of this game, the lore behind it. The gameplay is exceptional, its fast paced, it was great for the time it came out, setting standards for other games by making the gameplay and controls innovative.
The problem comes at this very point: the game difficulty and the poor options the game gives to handle the matter.
This game is recommended for HARDCORE gamers only...Why? Because of its steep learning curve to master the timings, and the brutal game difficulty.
Having this good story along with a charismatic main character and an atmospheric lore to suit up the mood sounds like a very enjoyable ride...but it is not, its faulty and broken in a way you will want to toss your console through the window at how ridiculously hard this game is, you'll most likely end up focusing more on little useless details about timing hitting enemies and avoiding getting hit, that the story, visuals, the background and general ambience of the game will completely fall into second plane...Yes, the hardcore gameplay will diminish the overall enjoyment and fun you could have experienced, fun factor falls apart since 1 single enemy or boss will make you run through the same stage A LOT of times making the gameplay repetitive, forcing you to memorize every single enemy movement so you can advance through. Sometimes even gameplay (specially against bosses, but happens against normal enemies too) becomes clumsy, the character will either move-attack on the wrong way or will stand still taking huge amounts of damage instead of avoiding hits. Going back to the main menu or check point after death requires you to go through several menus making the experience even less enjoyable (there’s an archaic feel about it) it really feels like you are wasting your time of fun.
Its ok to have tricky boss battles but these ones feel cheap for all the mentioned above. Is there a solution for the game difficulty? Yes there is…the easy mode, but this too is spoiled and unbalanced making the game WAY too easy, but not just that, it also make the control commands almost totally automatic, ripping off the main attraction of the game...cool control mechanics and gameplay...so it makes no sense playing on the easy mode since youll be skipping the main attraction, and there’s no way to switch back to normal mode once you choose it.
Games are meant to be enjoyed and be fun, they must not drag you into a senseless repetitive button mashing, memorizing every single enemy movement detail, reaching high frustration levels, because, even if you do repeat and memorize every single detail, a bad camera movement can mess everything up, or even maybe luck just isn’t on your side (luck factor is also involved) …yeah it is broken and its a shame.