Genji review

But make no mistake: Genji is a game plagued with problems. The sort of which serve to create the impression of a dumbed-down button-masher.

However Genji has one unique feature up its sleeve: it’s the sort of game that makes you feel really damn cool while you play it. For all its problems – of which there are many – it’s hard not to play sometimes with a huge grin on your face.

The only way it could make you feel any cooler would be if the two leads jumped out of the screen and high-fived you every time you laid the smackdown on your enemies. Sadly that isn’t going to happen so we’ll just settle for really damn cool.

Sword-Time

The reason the game makes you feel so damn cool rests entirely with Kamui. These ancient stones grant the characters the ability to slow down time for short periods, allowing the player to intuit attacks. Seconds before an enemy (or enemies) attack the square button appears and you have to time the press immaculately.

Prematurely pressing the button will cancel your opportunity to kill the enemy and leave you vulnerable to enemy attacks. Sure, Kamui is nothing but Game Republic’s excuse to get a little bullet time into Genji, and in theory it sounds like it makes the game much easier, but it’s exceptionally well-realised.

Also, the hunt for Amahagane stones – which influence Kamui - ties into the game’s plot.

You play Yoshitsune, a young – though not entirely vivacious – samurai warrior intent on taking down the evil Heishi clan. These Heishi’s have ceased the land of Heiankyo through use of their own Amahagane, and you (and later Benkei, a fat monk who becomes a second playable character) vow to put an end to that.

The Land That Time Forgot

In case you couldn’t tell, Genji is not a realistic game. This is further justified by the way enemies present themselves to Yoshitsune and Benkei. It’s also one of the areas Genji loses credibility because it feels so old. Yes, we’re talking randomly spawned enemies here.

Rather than pre-loading the dozen or so different enemies and having them stand and wait (which would have been so much better) you’ll find yourself running through desolate areas only for invisible walls to appear, trapping you as enemies appear through clouds of smoke.

Furthermore, the level design is crude at best. Graphically it never ceases to please the eyes – and features a 60HZ mode for those who can use it – but the perjorative rests with the fact they are broken up. The environments are fully-3D, rather than Onimusha’s static pre-rendered backgrounds.

But the game doesn’t benefit from a 3D camera because the levels are broken into relatively small sections. And most of these are populated by several enemies that respawn every time you revisit them - which leads to another problem.

Level To The Max

Genji functions on an experience aesthetic. For every enemy you kill you gain experience points that allow Yoshitsune and Benkei to level up each time. But given the nature of the re-spawning enemies dedicated players could spend the first couple hours re-visiting the same location, killing the same respawning enemies and comfortably levelling up.

To test this theory I spent the first hour revisiting the exact same section of a level and fought the same enemies over and over. I reached Level 8 in no time at all. I could have gone a lot further but I felt I was exploiting one of the games biggest weaknesses.

I’m sure there will be some players who won’t mind doing that, however I must attest that Genji isn’t a terribly hard endeavour. If I’m being honest I only really died once in the entire game – and even then I had the ability to come straight back to life thanks to a pickup I collected.

While the fights are elegantly orchestrated through the use of Kamui, you can pretty much waste enemies by using the standard button attacks too. Sure it’s a lot harder, and nowhere near as cool as taking out several enemies in one coup de grace thanks to Kamui, but its certainly achievable.

What’s Up Tiger Lilly?

Did I have any other problems with Genji? Sure, the English voice acting is atrocious – especially the delivery from the actor portraying Yoshitsune. However Game Republic gives players the option to experience Genji with full Japanese voice overs. I recommend this whole-heartedly.

It makes the experience that little bit more immersive – and any downfalls the Japanese voice acting may meet are naturally hidden by the fact most gamers here probably won’t understand the language to pick up on them. Besides, the fact there is such an audio option is worth merit.

So that’s Genji: a game fraught with problems but recommendable nonetheless. When a game makes you smile this much it ‘s easy to forgive it its misgivings. And when the smile is as big as the one on my face, even more so. Now… high five!