Sunday, September 26, 2010

Genji: Dawn of the Samurai




I have finally finished this game! Huzzah!

I bought this one from GameStop’s used game section for only a couple of dollars two years ago. It was one of four games and, while I was very excited at the time and started every game I obtained that day, my game play eventually slowed down and drifted on to other games that I borrowed from friends and family. So, after finished Jak and Daxter, I moved on to Genji and picked that back up.

This Japanese game follows the story of Minamoto Yoshitsune, a great Samurai of his clan. He is tasked with the quest of defeating the Taira clan, thereby avenging his father, and obtaining the lost Amahagane, which give their owners special powers. He does this with the help of a fellow warrior named Benkei and a few stragglers who oppose the tyranny of the Taira clan.

This is a third person, hack and slash type game, which is my favourite type of game. It follows the usual stereotype for this kind of game where Yoshitsune is quick and agile and Benkei is slower and stronger. I tend to stick with Yoshitsune through story game play, but the different locations have different rewards for playing each character, so Benkei didn’t get left behind in the leveling. Also, some levels required playing both characters for the story, so that was also nice.

All in all, this was a fun game. The story wasn’t especially interesting, but it was compelling enough to keep on playing the game and overcoming the new challenges, and while the leveling up could be tedious, some of the map locations adapted to what level you were so you weren’t beating the same baddies you were cutting down twelve levels before.

This is definitely a game I’d recommend if you want to break out your old PS2 for some fun. You can find this game for cheap, like I did, and have a great time with it. The graphics hold up well, the bosses are challenging enough to be difficult but still be beatable, and it’s easy to pick up after not playing it for a while. The only thing that might turn some people away is that the game is in Japanese with English subtitles, but it’s something I barely noticed when playing.

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