Just finished it, ask ahead.

#1 Edited by Hermine (36 posts) -

So i just beat Red Steel 2 and i figured that some of you might want to know a thing or two about this game so ask ahead.
It took me 11 hours to beat on "ninja" the hardest difficulty setting of the game. The "sword intensity" I turned it down a bit because in the long run it was hurting my arm, that setting translates to how hard you have to swing the wii remote in order for the game to differentiate if you are doing a weak or a strong strike.

It is a odd game that some people will enjoy more then others but it definitely does not live up to the hype it is getting. The combat mechanic is fine and work well but you have to keep in mind that this in not "one to one" so if the character gets hit down you'll have to wait until he stands up before slashing again. I'm sure a lot of people will get disillusioned and disappointed by this. 
Graphics are pretty good and the style is well defined. The environments get mixed up throughout the game and there are some sections that have quite an impressive atmosphere, mainly the "abandoned" town that you land in after the first section of the game that takes place in the big city that is shown in most of the trailers. 
Now there are two things that really bring this game down in my opinion. The first one is how easy the game is even on "ninja mode". Enemies just don't block attacks and pounding the living hell out of them is a pretty sound tactic throughout 90 percent of the game. There are some more interesting enemies to fight in the very last section of the game but even they are not all that hard to take down really. 
That being said the thing that really kicks the initial potential of the game in the groin is the story. It is bland, quite uninspired, the characters are quite forgettable, well not the Asian girl who speaks with an Texan accent simply because she is an asian girl who speaks with an Texan accent which I still can not wrap my mind around. After beating the game I was scratching my head asking myself "wait was that the motivation of the villain... really?"
So if anyone wants to know something more in depth ask ahead.
#2 Posted by TheHBK (5458 posts) -

This game came out? The fuck!?

#3 Posted by roscoe (145 posts) -
@TheHBK said:
" This game came out? The fuck!? "

#4 Edited by Hermine (36 posts) -
@TheHBK: Not quite, it should be on shelves in a week or so but it is already in stock in I assume in most stores.
#5 Posted by Yukoei (1878 posts) -

How is it with motion plus?

#6 Edited by Hermine (36 posts) -
 @Yukoei said:
" How is it with motion plus? "

It is mechanicly sound and responsive but you don't get the feel that you are in full control because you will have to wait for the animation is done before attacking. So if you get hit by an enemy and then swing your sword while you are still in the stun animation nothing will happen for example which can be quite confusing at times. Every sword strike also takes a certain amount of time to perform so if you are going to waggle it around like a madman (which you could do in wii sport resort's fighting section) you won't see a direct reflection of what you are doing. It is not a limitation of the Wii Motion Plus but clearly a gamplay design decision I'm sure a lot of developers will have trouble with now that the motion control wars have begun.

@Linkyshinks said:
" I was always concerned about the (brain-dead) AI I've seen in all the footage to date, it looks odd and instantly noticeable when NPC's just stand around doing nothing while your facing off with another opponent, then imediately become active once you take out that opponent. It's lame. MadWorld had it also. You don't see it in quality made action games, in those your getting stabbed in the back constantly to the point you have to plan attacks - choose your path of attack wisely and evade constantly in almost rhythmic fashion. This game on the flipside looks like a hack n slash in 3D. What's it like from a physical perspective, is it as demanding as it looks ? The story was always dubious, the very concept of the game made sure of that. The story was always going to be a mish-mash of mess in my eyes Ugh, the Paris team, they're a bunch of clueless stoners, they cooked up this nonsense, but I would lay all the blame on the lead designer, the guy with long hair who looks like a wizard, he's solely to blame for leading them astray. When I saw that video of the lead talking about how he came up with the concept for Red Steel 2, I thought to myself this guy is such an idiot, he's ruined two fucking Wii games now, somebody should sack his arse fast, and give his team drugs counselling. Hopefully someone we see sense. I've said it many times now, Red Steel should have gone to the Ubisoft Shanghai team from the very start, they're an excellent team who were more than capable (Splinter Cell), thing is, Wii projects don't get the best resources, they get the worst - in this case that meant the Paris team. "
I suppose that the footage shown was at the lower difficulty levels because i've been ganged up a lot and a to of enemies have attempted to back stab me. However when an enemy is about to back stab you an icon pops up prompting you to use Z to log on to him but you can also do horizontal swing + Z to trigger a special finishing move killing that enemy in one hit even if he was full heath. That moves actually makes the game a lot easier since you can get rid of the somewhat tougher foes really fast.

There is some strategy in the fights though since the way you finish your opponents you get multipliers on how you kill your opponents. If you kill them by simply slashing at them you get a 1x multiplier. When fighting an enemy at some point there will appear an icon above their head showing an motion which if you perform that will kill them instantly even if they have half of their health left, you get a x2 multiplier for that. If when there an enemy is ready to be "finished" and you perform an a special attack that uses that motion then you get a 3x multiplier. The multipliers are really important because with the money you get from fighting you buy your upgrades. A+forwards slash to get the lower tier enemy ready for an finisher and then the double A+ downward attacks will be your friend in the first third of the game.

On a physical perspective it is pretty intense, you can make it less demanding (or more if you are insane) by switching it in the option menu but even then you should not play thing game for extended sessions. I played the first couple of hours on the normal intensity level and my arm hurt for 2 days afterwards.

The story is more of an mess then you can even imagine. It is like someone came up with it when they were high ask fuck when watching a movie when looking swing around an "authentic" katana bought from ebay. I think that they might have gone for "lets make it as terrible as possible" because the voice acting is pretty ridiculous.

#7 Edited by spiceninja (3055 posts) -

Is there anything to do once you beat the game? Any new modes to unlock or something? Also, do you think its worth the price?

#8 Edited by Hermine (36 posts) -

 There is a challenge mode that gradually unlocks as you get further in the game. I'm not entirely sure what they are since I only played a bit of those but they appear to be condensed action parts of the game. There are about 10-15 challenges i believe. I don't think you get anything else for beating the game, well a sore arm maybe the day after ^^

As it being worth the full price release price I don't know, I did not find it to be an all that fulfilling game and you can probably rent it for a week, beat it and be done with it. Myself i have absolutely no desire to go back to it especially since i beat it on the hardest difficulty setting already. 

edit: Ha Giant Bomb sure does not like Opera

#9 Posted by Meowayne (6084 posts) -

Have you played it, Linky? The AI is no issue at all. It is not like you describe; everyone is always attacking you.

#10 Posted by Sarnecki (690 posts) -

Looks kind of like...

#11 Posted by amir90 (2153 posts) -

I kinda want to buy it, but damn, I don't want to pay for motion pluss, I never had a problem with wii remote sensitivity.

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