Fist of the North Star Kens Rage Review

Hokuto Shitken

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage was a great game, at least if you liked the Dynasty Warriors serial and had an affection for the punch-happy manga upon which it was based. Kenshiro's post-apocalyptic wanderings worked remarkably well with the brawling, i-confronting-all gameplay Koei is famous for.

Koei is also famous for masses of sequels, and a follow-up was inevitable. Fist of the North Star: Ken'south Rage two snuck out quietly compared to its predecessor, and unfortunately, in that location seems to be a reason for it.

The reason being, of course, that it's a paltry shadow of the original title in terms of visuals, quality, and … pretty much everything.

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (PlayStation Network, Wii U eShop, Xbox 360 [reviewed] )
Developer: Tecmo Koei Games
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Released: February five, 2013 (PSN, 360) / Feb 7, 2013 (eShop)
MSRP: $59.99

As with Dynasty Warriors, Ken'south Rage ii chooses to re-tell the same story information technology told in the last game, simply quite dissimilar the Three Kingdoms period upon which Dynasty Warriors is based, there are only so many means y'all can "reimagine" Fist of the N Star. Characters have singled-out attacks, predetermined personalities, and looks — there'southward nil up for interpretation every bit there is in the historically inspired games. This becomes crushingly clear in one case yous start playing the main story way, Legend, and realize it's almost exactly the aforementioned game as final time.

When Warriors games get a sequel, it typically gives all its characters a complete overhaul, with new looks and movesets to justify a fresh purchase. Not so in Ken's Rage 2, where any artful alterations are minimal at best, and playable characters boast the exact same moves they had in the last game. None of the existing content seems to have been updated at all, and in some areas, even announced stripped down and inferior.

This is most noticeable in the boss fights. Many of the boss encounters from Ken'due south Rage are regurgitated hither, but with features seemingly removed. The fight with Jagi is a particularly outstanding example, removing the parts of the battle where he repeatedly cheats with bombs backside a fence. Equally a outcome, famous fights between Kenshiro and his many adversaries are less visually interesting and require less thought to beat. Battles at present rely heavily on repeatedly spamming signature moves and mashing the dodge button, which farther exposes an issue left unimproved from Ken's Rage — cheap fights confronting enemies that can block you mid-combo, aren't physically affected by your blows, and power through them to hit you with their own unblockable moves.

For the most part, Ken's Rage 2 is like a degraded cassette record — a consummate copy of an original recording, but noticeably worse in every respect. At that place'southward no English voice interim this time around, with Tecmo Koei continuing its commitment to cut costs in the sound department. Cutscenes are more often than not told through still images created from graphic symbol models frozen in identify, considering the game couldn't even spring for some practiced artwork. This thrifty move is compounded by ugly graphics throughout, total of standoff detection issues and jaggy shadows excessively sprinkled over character faces, making everybody look like their skin is made of gauze.

Every bit noted, gameplay remains largely identical to the previous outing. Players punch their way through mobs of enemies before taking out stronger and more than durable leaders, edifice up a ability meter to perform diverse signature moves made famous in the manga. Dream Fashion allows players to apply supporting characters and villains and once once again provides more tactical battles by dotting bases to capture effectually the map. A grading organisation provides low-cal challenges throughout each level, requiring a certain number or enemies to be defeated or NPCs to be protected in a fourth dimension limit to gain greater rewards.

Even basic levels seem to exist of lower quality than the offset game. Gone are the more interesting environments and setpieces, replaced by an countless stream of corridors with predictable, arena-style clearings. Despite boasting more chapters, there's less multifariousness overall, even by the formulaic standards of Warriors-manner game, then the game feels similar a irksome slog. Oh, and naturally many of the environment details seem to have been copied and pasted over from the first installment.

Ken'due south Rage ii is not entirely identical, of course. New playable characters are included, though many of them, similar Juda, were already bosses in the last game and so didn't require much effort at all to brand playable. As noted, Legend Style boasts more chapters detailing parts of the manga people care less well-nigh, simply thanks to the unimaginative and supremely repetitive nature of levels, they simply piece of work toward exhausting the histrion. There'southward likewise online cooperative play — a pleasantly received feature but one nobody seems to really be using. At the time of writing, nobody'southward been constitute online.

This fist-flavored sequel isn't unplayable, and there's still a measure of satisfaction to be had from punching enemies over and over again. I also take to acknowledge that the new playable "Thug" character is hilarious, boasting a range of ridiculous attacks and even able to detach and throw his mohawk like a deadly ranged buzzsaw. Dream Mode, while equally poorly presented in the cutscene section as Legend Style, at to the lowest degree boasts far better written original stories for the side characters, making for some sympathetic and intriguing takes on Fist of the North Star'south many fighters.

All the same, at that place'due south no escaping the upshot of this beingness a shameful followup to a genuinely great brawler. I similar Koei, but I'm the first to admit it can cut corners wherever it feels able to get away with doing and so — and even for that particular studio, this is a notably substandard endeavor. Uglier, more wearisome, as stale as week-old French bread, Fist of the North Star: Ken'due south Rage two is best ignored by fans of both Dynasty Warriors and Hokotu no Ken alike.

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Source: https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-fist-of-the-north-star-kens-rage-2/

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