Launch Station: Asura's Wrath

With all the popular names coming out in this packed first quarter of 2012, there are a few games with little to no name recognition that are also fighting for the money of us gamer's.  The two big console releases this Tuesday are at the top of that list, Capcom and CyberConnect2's Asura's Wrath and EA and Starbreeze's Syndicate.  This week's editions of Launch Station will preview these two underdogs.  Today, we will take a look at Asura's Wrath, tomorrow Syndicate.

Asura's Wrath follows Asura as he seeks revenge on the "Seven Deities", who framed Asura with the crime of killing the Emperor and also killed Asura's wife and kidnapped his daughter.  Asura's Wrath is broken up into 18 chapters that run just like an episode from a Japanese anime complete with a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger to conclude each chapter.  The focus of Asura's Wrath is its cinematic story, which means the gameplay is just as cinematic and varied.  One moment, Asura may be fighting multiple enemies in an beat 'em up like segment, the next Asura may be shooting down enemy forces in a shoot 'em up segment, the next he may be performing quick time events to dodge enemy attacks.  The varied gameplay will give you and your controller one crazy workout.

After my time with the demo, I am personally looking forward to Asura's Wrath.  The signature Japanese-style of insanity oozes out of the pores of Asura's Wrath that it is hard not to love.  The one thing I am worried about is the 18 chapters that may last close to 20 minutes each may not be enough to justify the full 60 dollar price.  Gamers want to feel they are getting the most for their money when they are spending 60 dollars for a brand new game and might look past all the great stuff about Asura's Wrath if the game's length feels too short for them.  In this packed market, I could honestly see Asura's Wrath turning out to be a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem that most gamers sadly overlook.

Demo Impressions: Asura's Wrath

During my last edition of the tentative Demo Impressions, I said I wanted you guys to come up with a better name for this recurring article as my creative juices cannot think of a cool title.  So far I have received two really good suggestions, but I would like to hear some more before I make a final decision.  If you want to give me a suggestion, comment on my demo impressions on Final Fantasy XIII-2 from this past Tuesday.  While on the PSN store to download the Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo, I saw a demo for Capcom and CyberConnect2's upcoming action game, Asura's Wrath.  I have read a few previews and had been mildly interested in trying this unique game so I downloaded it as well.

The demo for Asura's Wrath offers two chapters of the game for you to enjoy.  These chapters play out much like episodes from an anime series complete with "To Be Continued" cliffhanger to end each chapter.  The two chapters you get to play in this demo are two big boss battles with the two of the Gods who betrayed Asura at the beginning of the game.  These two boss battles demonstrate a lot of the mechanics that govern this game.  The one impression that stood clear in my mind throughout the whole time I was playing Asura's Wrath was this game is absolutely insane!  That and my figures were pretty sore after repeatedly mashing on the face buttons of the PS3 controller.  This game will certainly cause you to break one or two controllers in the process of playing.  I honestly cannot put what I witnessed playing the Asura's Wrath into words because you will have to see it to believe this level of insanity.  From fighting your former master on the face of the moon to almost getting crushed by planet-sized figure, the action is so insane that you just have to either watch gameplay footage or play it yourself to truly understand how crazy this game is.  While Asura's Wrath is crazy, it is the most fun with a demo I had in a long time.  The bit-sized five to ten minute chapters are packed with loads of action like other beat-em ups and some great use of quick-time events to keep the player engaged.  I hope in that there are plenty of chapters in the final product as if all the chapters are five to ten minutes, Asura's Wrath will be a very short game especially for 60 dollars.  This demo did its job perfectly as it  Asura's Wrath on my radar for games to look out for in early 2012.  If you can, make sure you can try to demo for Asura's Wrath.  You will definitely love the craziness this exudes.  Just don't mash on those buttons too hard.  It would be sad if you were to break your controller.