Genji: Days of the Blade

7.0
Good

Gameplay	7.5	"Genji returns with a solid and playable sequel. "
Graphics	6.5
Sound	8.0
Value	7.5

By Emily Buxton

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Based on the PS2 game Genji: Dawn of the Samurai, Genji: Days of the Blade continues the story of the epic and brutal battle between the Genji and Heishi Clans in feudal Japan.

During a long beginning cut scene, players are introduced to the main character Lord Yoshitsune and his small group of loyal companions. After defeating the leader of the evil Heishi army in the previous game, Yoshitsune watched the land flourish for three years in a fragile state of peace. When the scattered Heishi clan begins to savagely destroy sacred temples and villages once again, Yoshitsune has no choice but to regroup the Genji army and fight off the rapidly growing forces.

If you’ve just thrown yourself into the Genji games, you might find that despite the lengthy introduction, you’ve still got no real idea of what’s going on, who the main characters are, and why everyone keeps talking about precious Amahagane crystals. Days of the Blade makes a token effort to bring new players up to speed, but it is clearly written for fans of the first game. The good news is that small tutorial boxes still pop up here and there, so any confusion regarding the storyline won’t adversely affect your gameplay.

Shortly into the adventure, you’ll find yourself with four playable characters, each with their own unique weapons and combat abilities. In almost every area of the game, you’re able to swap between the characters at will, giving you the chance to put each character’s special skills to good use. Advantageously, the health and Kamui power status of each character is independent, effectively giving you four lives to play around with in battle.

Similar in style to the famed Matrix “bullet time”, Kamui power lets you slow down time in order to deliver a series of lethal attacks by pressing certain button combinations in a small space of time. The technique will be familiar for anybody who has played a number of games including Fahrenheit, as a similar attack mechanism was used. Get the combination right and you’ll be surrounded by fallen enemies. Mess it up, and you’ll be left standing in the middle of a very angry, very much alive pack of enemies. Unfortunately for newcomers to the series, using your ‘Kamui’ power isn’t explained well, and for the most part you’ll be following short snippets of instruction that occasionally pop up on the screen. (As opposed to the first Genji, where Kamui was explained at length by a large and world-wise talking rock.) Don’t let the lack of explanation deter you from using your Kamui though, as you’ll struggle to progress through the game without mastering this technique.

Although the game boasts some impressive-looking cut scenes, you can’t help but feel that the power of the PS3 engine is being wasted on this title. The in-game graphics don’t look a whole lot better than some of the higher-end PS2 games. The environments are lush and technically very well designed, giving the game a slightly surreal quality at times, but the overall lack of detail and polish gamers have been lead to expect from a PS3 game does detract from the experience.

The so called “next-gen” graphics may be underwhelming, but the PS3 makes easy work of the loading times, giving the game a more seamless feel than the first Genji title. The improved flow goes a long way towards smoothing out the unusual style of having a right analog stick that controls character movement rather than the camera angle. The result is that you spend a good deal of time running into walls or off cliffs as the camera angle unexpectedly flips around and you find that suddenly you don’t want to be pressing ‘up’ with quite as much gusto. However jarring this feature may seem at first, it is surprisingly easy to adjust to by simply tapping the analog stick with smaller, softer movements. (Naturally, it is still vital to stick your tongue out of the corner of your mouth and lean annoyingly into the person sitting next to you.)

With around 15 to 20 hours of solid gameplay, this sequel faces up to the biggest problem its predecessor had – an incredibly small amount of playable content. There may not be any multiplayer or online features in Genji: Days of the Blade, but this time around, you’re not likely to feel cheated if you’ve paid a little over $100 for this game. Of course, the game being exclusive to the PS3 has the advantage of bearing an incredibly small price tag when compared against the price of the console you’ll need to play it on.

Genji: Days of the Blade can’t compete with the bigger, flashier PS3 titles but players who enjoyed the first game will almost certainly enjoy what they find here. If a PS3 is still beyond your reach however, pick up a copy of the short but sweet PS2 title Genji: Dawn of the Samurai.

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