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Here’s a brand new feature that I’ll be running on the site, in partnership with Capcom. It won’t be that often, though, since this will cover genres other than survival horror. So every now and then you’ll see this feature crop up, in which I’ll be talking about different titles from the publisher– ultimately leading up to me recommending the the title in question, or not. These won’t be as meaty as our regular horror reviews, and they won’t have a score attached to the end, but I find this to be a nice way to offer readers opinions on games from other genres. So, on to Asura’s Wrath.
When I first played Asura’s Wrath it was the demo that became available on Xbox Live. I did have some knowledge of the game, and was quite tempted to play the title at NY Comic-Con last year in its highly populated booth. But, of course, I ended up going straight to the Resident Evil titles. Needless to say, I missed out! Here I am, having now completed this monster of a game, and I can safely say it’s one of the year’s best. But that doesn’t mean it’s a game for everyone, though…
We here at Rely on Horror all enjoyed Heavy Rain. It was a story-heavy title that relied more on simple actions and character interactions rather than full-on showcases of bullet hell. It was interactive story-telling at its finest and it truly impressed us. Why am I talking about Heavy Rain? Well, Asura’s Wrath is a similar title….but not entirely.
Most of the time in Asura’s Wrath you’ll only be performing QTEs, with some moments interspersed where you’ll actually be moving around and beating the holy hell out of people with a sense of rage that’ll be enough to make Kratos seem like a small child. This rage translates to some awesome set-piece moments with gigantic boss battles, the aforementioned brutal brawls with hordes of enemies, and even some shooting segments which at times may seem a bit overwhelming with all the bullets coming at you. And that’s really what this game boils down to: Rage. A rage brought about by a tragic act of betrayal.
Asura is a former God that was betrayed by his fellow Godly comrades. He fell from grace and also saw his wife slain before his very eyes. His daughter was taken captive due to her extraordinary powers, able to bring in a massive amount of energy needed to take on the game’s main enemies, the Gohma. So, yeah, Asura’s pissed off. And in an episodic, anime-inspired story– that’s part mythology and part sci-fi–that spans centuries as players follow Asura as he attempts to rise again and get his revenge, things get really, really crazy. And sometimes even planet-size crazy too!
The game really did grab my attention all the way through to its (true) ending. I won’t say anything, but it looks like Asura is here to stay as a brand new member of the Capcom family! Surprisingly, the story truly was gripping and brought out different emotions from me as I followed Asura on his path of vengeance– a story made to look like an anime brought to interactive life.
Combat could’ve been a bit better, though– specifically the brawling sections. The boss battles were all out of this world but when it came to fighting regular enemies, things got a little repetitive, especially since Asura doesn’t really have an expansive set of combos like his demon friend Dante does. But still, this game is all about its engaging story, and you will feel compelled to play for long stretches of time to see what happens next.
Some people may hate the abundance of QTEs and scarcity of complete freedom over actions, but Asura’s Wrath is a game that should definitely be checked out. In a market filled with sequels and loads of shooters, it’s always refreshing to see something unique like this. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it deserves your attention. Here’s hoping this becomes a great franchise for Capcom.
