Revisit GENJI - one of the best AND worst - after playing Ninja Gaiden & Heavenly Sword, it still deserves a play.
There is finally a decent of walkthough on gamefaqs - you will want to keep that handy to blast through repetitive maps and pathetically cliched puzzles as fast as possible.
One of the worst aspects is the weird and agonizing placement of save points. You might fight for an hour and then be hit with a triple boss battle before you get a save point - one mistake and you have to slog though an hour. Man, this is the pits, and why game designers think this is a good thing I will never know. I do have things to do, and I may have to quit and save. So just read ahead on the FAQ so you know if you need to set aside two hours.
So why bother? The combat is graceful and explosive all at once, with lots of variety. You have four very different characters to use, each with five weapons that greatly alters their combat style. You can have a lot of fun just whacking enemies using each character and mixing up weapons. By the way, there is a little costume change download for the group on playstation network that I really liked much better than the default clothes.
I also found if you use your power-ups to strengthen the girl and the 4th, least favorite, guy (whatever their names are...!) you can get better use out of them than you may think. The girl is especial fun, very quick, and powerful if you use the "stuff a bomb in your shirt" move (which I didn't realize was there for a long time).
There are a couple save points after some big battles that let you go back to prior areas and fight to your hearts content.
It is really a shame - this could have been a top notch game, and it's all the more heartbreaking that the game designers placed so many obstacles to just enjoying what it does best. If the designers can get their heads out their you-know-what's... I would love to see a sequel done correctly. All it would need is:
- more save points -absolutely a must have
- no backtracking allowed - ever. Shorten the story, add more replayables
- ease up the lame platforming (let it be OK to be sloppy)
This game also needs some replay/challenge aspects badly:
- allow a replay of every boss battle. Why Not?
- nothing wrong with a two player arena fight mode
- enemy arenas
- coop enemy arena would be do-able and very cool
The arena/replay aspect is needed because it will let players enjoy the combat system without slogging through the story.
In the meantime - get yourself a used copy of Genji-DOB, keep the FAQ handy, and remember to keep lots of save points so you can try some of the cooler battles with all your characters and weapons. I accidentally overwrote my save point just before the cool tiger-ish boss (a reprise from the first Genji on PS2) and I am slogging (and I mean slogging!) through the netherword chambers to get that save point back! I still enjoy loading up certain spots and doing some of the hard hitting, yet oh-so artistic, combat moves.
FROM MY FIRST REVIEW:
Game designers take heed:
THE DEADLY SIN OF GAME DESIGN - STOP PRETENDING GAME DEFECTS ADD TO THE "CHALLENGE"!!!
You know what I am talking about! When a game has a crappy camera you have to either (a) FIX IT! or (b) Downplay it's importance in the game play.
That means having OFF CAMERA archers isn't cool - it's lame. That means hiding the amagane...whatever thingies and making them invisible and above the view of the camera is pathetic. That means when you need to make some "precision" (read it as "badly designed") jump to a ledge it SHOULD NOT be at the point the camera switches perspectives! Wow thats a big joke.
Believe me I understand the limitations. This game reminds me of the dungeon crawlers that have the "close up" view (I forgot which series have it..sorry.. but there are a few) but the idea is you can zoom in and get a nice close up of the character and action - but 90% of the time you need to see that wide overview. "Genji - Days..." locks you in on the close up and then pits you against 10 enemies minimum so you NEED a wider view, but you cant get it. The ultimate insult is when you jump your head gets cut from the view. Thats just a disgrace. Er...Nice resolution in the feet though...
There are so many issues with this game, it jsut needs a whole rethinking of a lot of aspects. A lot of it has been covered in other reviews, but the designers deserve to get a spanking here and come back with a better game experience. I'll add one last thought - I DO NOT need to fight 10 people at once every single blasted encounter. I would LOVE it to face a lone dude here and there so I can take a breath and try different attack combos without getting blind-sided by some off screen jerkl. MIX IT UP!! Give me some lone guards to ambush!! (How about an ambush move!!) Give me a semi-boss ALONE or maybe with ONE sidekick. Just mix things up and stop with the endless streams of regenerating monsters. This brings us to....
DEADLY SIN 2: YOU CAN'T COVER UP WEAK GAME PLAY BY CONSTANTLY SENDING IN ENDLESS HORDES OF NASTIES!!
In general - things should not respawn unless there is a specific reason. Maybe one or two areas in the entire game. Otherwise each encounter should be well balanced, well DESIGNED. That's your job, game designer!!
There more stuff, but those two rules need to be out there... as far as this game, I almost hesitate to even recommend renting it, but maybe it won't hurt if you want to check out the weapons on the different characters. I bought it because I wanted to see some cool PS3 worthy graphics, and I'm not really too happy about that decision - and I was warned, so it's my own fault. And if you like KOTO music you might turn the sound way down while playing - so you will STILL like it after this game...