share you experience and opinion of Genji

[darkblu]

i accidentally came across the game's site and i must say was impressed; i took the time to go through all the footage and other materials they had there. so correct me if the impression i got there were false, as i'm very much inclined to go out and get that game, together with a pstwo to play it on.

first, the game mechanics - it reminds me of soul calibur*. only with lush battle scenes where the rich combos deliver that oh-so satisfying carnage.

second, the presentation. beautiful. the environments, the characters. and i'm still wondering if those cinematics are actualy done in-engine. on one hand they take some typical real-time shortcuts, on the other, the look was astonishing (at least on those minimalistic res videos).

third, the story seems to be of my favourite japanese samurai genre type.

so if those of you who actualy have hands-on experience with the game care to comment, please, you're most welcome. go ahead and help a man with his temptation.


* for those who don't know that's arguably the best weapons-based fighter released up to date.

 

[Silkworm]

I would say that the control and combat system in Genji is more along the lines of Onimusha 3 than the Soul Calibur series. There are only two attack buttons, a light and heavy attack. Combos are limited, you can only use the heavy attack to end a chain of light attacks. For most of the game, using combos serves only to charge up the special meter so you can use the "bullet time" (called "Kamui" in this game) mode to dispatch enemies in quick succession.

Activating Kamui makes all on-screen enemies step back and then either come at you one by one or all at once. You're prompted to press the attack button just before the enemies' attacks connect, and rewarded with instant kills if you pull of the timing correctly. The timing gets progressively harder as you encounter later enemy types. At higher levels you'll find yourself anticipating/memorising the enemy attack animation frames instead of relying on the on-screen prompt to pull off the attack.

Pulling off a successful "kamui" on waves of enemies is pretty satisfying at first, but it might get old after a while. Using "kamui" on bosses usually rewards you with item drops which let you make more powerful items at the blacksmith in town.

The story mode is pretty short, a first run through would take around 10 hours or less, including deaths and retries. There's a "new game+" option after completion, which unlocks a bunch of "challenge" levels and new items to collect. Collecting all the weapons, armours and accessories in the games rewards you with uber weapons for each of the two playable characters.

The background scenery in the game varies from lush forest scenes to boring dungeons and castles. I like the way they rendered the trees and grass in the game, although on closer inspection it looks like they're using plain old billboard bitmaps. They're also using a really neat water effect/hack which they put to good use in a waterfall/river scene.

Cutscenes are definitely pre-rendered CG and not in-engine. The in-engine character models and texture work look to be on par with FFX.

 

[London Geezer]

Cutscenes are definitely pre-rendered CG and not in-engine. The in-engine character models and texture work look to be on par with FFX.

Which ones? There were 3 versions of the same characters in FFX. The highest detail one was for "some realtime cutscenes", the middle one was for the rest of the cutscenes and the lowest detail was for battles and in-game time. Oh and well there was also the CGI versions but that's another thing.

 

[Silkworm]

Which ones? There were 3 versions of the same characters in FFX. The highest detail one was for "some realtime cutscenes", the middle one was for the rest of the cutscenes and the lowest detail was for battles and in-game time. Oh and well there was also the CGI versions but that's another thing.

Middle and lowest detail. Frankly, I haven't the critical eye for details as some of you guys here, and most PS2 games released since FFX seem to remind me of that game in some way or another.

 

[London Geezer]

Middle and lowest detail. Frankly, I haven't the critical eye for details as some of you guys here, and most PS2 games released since FFX seem to remind me of that game in some way or another.

Well the mid-low detail models in FFX were pretty crappy. I'm sure Genji fares a bit better...

 

[darkblu]

thanks, Silkworm. apparently i saw what i wanted to see in this game's ad material. i'll have to do some hands-on to decide whether that's my type of game. time to go bug my friends with ps2s : )

 

[-NakedZ-]

I would also say that the control and combat system in Genji is very similar to Onimusha 3. But I little toned down, IMO, just like many other things in the game. Kamui, as Silkworm already explained, slow down time for easier counterattack. Which I think was too easy at most time. Heck, even I think the regular counterattack is kinda easy. I prefer the counters in Onimushas. Chain kamui, as I like to call it, gets old pretty fast (I wish there was a way to skip the cutscene after every chain kamui).

The story? I'm not sure why, but I just didn't get into it as much I could've. Perhaps because the direction and the flow of the gameplay didn't match the story progression very well. And I didn't care for the villains as well. And the ending wasn't satisfying because beating the last boss (which I thought was kinda lame) wasn't.

The lush forest and Thai inspired level is quite nice, but outside those, it's on par (or maybe a little higher) with Bujingai. Going from one area to the other gets annoying as well. You exit that particular area to view the map, which you'll pick an area to go to. It's not that bad unless you're like me who just needs to pick up most, if not all, items/weapons in the game. Because remember that there are two playable character, and each have their "can and can't" on each area (could be a strong door or box that the smaller character can't open, or a higher platform the bigger guy can't reach). Going back and forth is not fun simply because fighting the same enemies through the same area gets old. Many enemy are slow and fair. And sometimes doesn't deserve the "I" in AI. And the design (with a few exception) is uninspiring.

Most cutscenes is pre-rendered. But don't expect Onimushas or FFXs level CG. I wouldn't be surprise if next-gen console would be able to run some of it in real time.

The game feels like a downgraded Onimusha 3. I haven't played an action adventure game in awhile since finishing GOW, so despite all the flaws, I still kinda enjoyed the game. May not be a good idea playing through it right after playing through Onimusha 3 though, as it would be easier to notice the negatives. It's short, and chances is you won't play through it again immediately, so it may not be worth the $40 price tag, but worth the rent.

This is Game Republic's first effort. And I expect many improvements from Yoshiki Okamoto and the team.

.Z

 

[darkblu]

thanks, NakedZ. well, given that i haven't played onimusha, maybe because not a single onimusha has appealed to my taste for the genre so far, i can safely say i would not get that 'downgraded version of' feeling.

but here's a 'vs' question for you: which battle system feels more sophisticated - GOW's or Genji's?

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Well, if by sophisticated you mean depth... definately God of War. Genji's about as deep as Onimusha 3, and as others have said it's just a whole lot like Onimusha 3... just, for lack of a better phrase, much more elegant. If you're someone who has to have a deep combat system stick to DMC3, NG, GoW, and Shinobi. If you can stand something a lot more generic go for Onimusha or Genji (I'd suggest Genji) or the Castlevania... basically anything else.

 

[darkblu]

thanks!

*me takes note*