Now then, I will admit, it's been a few months since I played this game, and right off the bat I'll tell you I didn't find it to be all that brilliant.
X-Blades however isn't bad though either, if you can get used to it, and for it's developers first outing, it's pretty ok.
I picked this up in a bargain bin, I'm always on the lookout for something new to play, and despite Ayumi's arse hanging out on the front cover, I gave it a shot... It's a poor mans Devil May Cry, but it does have some nice redeeming features if you can get into the game and enjoy it.
It's scoring time
Graphics 5
There isn't really much to say about this game in terms of graphical quality, it's jaggy and rough and looks like an upscaled PS2 game, and the devs even cell-shaded it to hide their work.
The game uses anime style characters to tell it's story, which is fine (and cute in it's own right) but I find that a game of this nature would have been better suited to a more realistic setting.
The world is over-saturated with colour and looks quite cartoonish, which is where it's simplistic charm comes from, but it's honestly not my bag (baby)
I do like the colour pallet though, despite what I've just said. A lot of games are gritty and dirty and filled with browns, greys and reds... This isn't it's extremely vibrant. Something that I would welcome if they had toned it down bit... Less is more.
Gameplay 5
Another bland scoring. And much deserved.
This is pretty much because it's dull and repetitive.
You walk into an area with your scantily clad heroine and hack, magic blast and shoot all the enemies, pick up the collectables and move on to the next area.
There is some platforming to be done and a couple of trap puzzles but they are minimal.
The boss fights also really take the piss, every time you attack you shave off a bit of their health bar... There is one fight I vividly remember at the start where it took me over 30 minutes to defeat the bloody thing.
I know there are other games that have exhaustive battles (DMC4, Bayonetta etc) but they break it up into stages making it less repetitive than it actually is.
And the control system in this game is just piss poor, do you have any idea how long it took me to semi-master the diving roll? something that should be easily accessible as a manoeuvre? Quite a while, lets put it that way.
There are many people who enjoyed this... But I found it to be quite bland overall
Sound 7
Now the sound in this game is quite good!
The voice acting is above average and lines are delivered (from Ayumi anyway) with lots of sarcastic wit. Something which every demon-hunter/adventurer should have.
The dialogue from the other characters is also delivered with a lot of enthusiasm and oomph, so it doesn't make you cringe when you listen to it... Like some low budget games tend to do.
The enemies all screech and growl quite wonderfully and the sfx such as blades slicing, guns firing, pots shattering etc all sound like they should (to a point, they sound weak at times)
As for the ambient noise, well there isn't much of it (that I can remember) but the BGM (background music for those who don't know) is a motivational and upbeat gothic techno/rock mix, it really fits the game quite well.
Story 5
I really can't remember much about this, but from what I recall Ayumi has a map and is searching for... Something, over the course of her adventure she unleashes something big, bad and evil and her body becomes cursed... Or something, and in the end only she can stop it.
It's standard fare for a game really, but the fact I can't really recall it means it never really stood out to me, there was nothing overall special about it.
Overall 5
There isn't much to this game that hasn't already been done, and done better at that.
If you're looking for a cheap bit of hack and slash fun, then by all means, give this a shot, it does get quite in-depth with the upgrades if you're into that kind of thing, but to me, I found the game tried too hard and was lacking as a result, repetitive enemies and stages, bland level design, awful combat mechanics.
honestly, this game is mediocre at best, I'd say it was worth playing through maybe once, but there's nothing here to have you coming back for another go.
