Genji Days of the Blade: Visually Astonishing, But Lacking in Gamplay
Written: Apr 06 '07 (Updated Apr 07 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Well designed characters and weapons, gorgeous graphics.
Cons: Limited movement area, map not fully open for adventure, repetitive combat.
The Bottom Line: Fans of the previous title should give this a try. First time players should try to ignore the the attraction of the graphics because the gameplay tends to become dull.
billy159401's Full Review: Genji: Days of the Blade™ for PlayStation 3
Genji: Days of the Blade is the sequel to the Playstation 2 title Genji: Dawn of the Samurai. Designed for the Playstation 3, Genji: Days of the Blade presents truly magnificent graphics and visuals, but ultimately fails in the gameplay department. Without correcting previous gameplay problems, the developers pushed out Genji: Days of the Blade – making it feel incomplete and hardly satisfying.
Genji: Days of the Blade is a role-playing/action & adventure game set in Feudal Japan.
Storyline
It has been three years since Yoshisune Minamoto, and the warrior-monk, Benkei Musashibo, defeated the Heishi clan and their leaders in a dispute over the ownership of divine jewels that bring their owners godlike powers, known as Hinaishi. Since that victory, peace had come temporarily to Japan.
However, Yoshisune's older brother and leader of the Genji clan, Yoritomo Minamoto, have tracked the remaining members of the Heishi clan. However, it appears that new, ungodly creatures have arrived within the Heishi ranks and their force is becoming a threat once again, even without the possession of the Hinaishi.
It is up to Yoshisune once again to save all of Japan!
Gameplay
Players will have four characters to choose from, each with their own unique abilities and skills. The main character is Yoshisune, who is a dual-sword warrior with high speed attacks. Benkei is a monk warrior who wields a club and has slower attack speeds. Shizuka, a female warrior, uses blades. The last character is Buson, who is the last boss from Dawn of the Samurai. Every character is powerful is used with skill.
Days of the Blade introduces a new system in which characters may be switched out at any moment. Players may swap out characters by using the D-pad. Since every character has unique abilities, it is sometimes necessary to switch characters in order to defeat certain bosses. Also Days of the Blade presents the idea of combination moves performed by several characters and weapons. This is a very interesting idea for a role playing game that features constant combat.
Speaking of weapons, there are tons of weapons available throughout the game. Weapons may be unlocked by conquering certain areas and progressing through the campaign. Every weapon contains lots of detail, which is surprising for role playing games. Weapons can also be switched in real-time, which means that players can swap weapons while fighting. This added to the experience of combat because it creates so many possibilities during the fighting that it’s all the more satisfying when the right combination is finally found. All weapons can be upgraded by collecting Amahagane or Mashogane crystals, which can also be used to power up characters.
Combat is, in essence, the core of Genji: Days of the Blade. There is very little adventuring for the player to do. Conquering one map leads to another map that needs to be conquered. Each map is full of armored enemies that deserve a beating. However, after eliminating enemies map after map, the combat becomes quite dull and repetitive, even though the characters and weapons do spice things up a bit. But even those aspects tire out after playing for a while.
Genji: Days of the Blade does offer a cool mode called Kamui. The Kamui mode makes players quite powerful – killing several foes without a scratch is possible. Of course, players will have to complete a button sequence first. Certain enemies can use the Kamui mode as well, which I learned after getting my character got chopped up suddenly out of nowhere.
For the most part, the AI is quite repetitive. Normal enemies will attempt the same moves over and over. The only different combat sequences are shown by the bosses. Often, they will require combinations and tactics to defeat.
I found the maps and environment to be quite small. Players are stuck fighting in a small invisible box and narrow corridors. Although the view that the camera presents shows a vast land waiting to be explored, players will not be able to go out on their own. This limited scope of movement was quite annoying. Progressing through the campaign was reduced to simply slashing my way from map to the next, without any choice in the matter.
Graphics
The graphics are simply astonishing. Beautifully rendered, Genji: Days of the Blade takes full advantage of Playstation 3’s processing power. There is a ton of eye candy and visual effects that will make you drool. Genji: Days of the Blade was definitely well designed graphics wise.
Sound
The music is genuinely Japanese. The music added to the gaming experience – I was able to immerse myself in the world of Feudal Japan. The audio is a big treat for the ears.
Controls
The controls are intuitive and simple enough to learn. The included game manual does a good job of explaining the controls. Controls are fully customizable to suit players’ needs. The learning curve for the default controls should be less than fifteen minutes, a short period of time.
Final Thoughts
Genji: Days of the Blade is visually appealing and definitely Playstation 3 worthy when it comes to graphics. However, its overall gameplay tends to become quite redundant, even though the characters and weapons are well designed. The movement area becomes quite cramped and hinders the overall gaming experience, when players are fighting pretty much the same foes map after map.
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