Asura's Wrath Review

By Kevin Mitchell Posted on May 31, 2012

Anime fans rejoice as Asura’s Wrath blends Japanese anime into an interactive game that has you watching more than actually playing. With its comic book styled anime filler,Asura’s Wrath is a very unique and pleasurable game while it lasts – just don’t expect to get more than six hours out of the title.

As the game plays out, you control a demigod named Asura whose power is fueled by his anger, and boy is he angry. Once a member of the eight generals charged with the protection the planet Gaea, Asura is betrayed by the other gods when his family is killed; he even gets killed by the commander of the group, Deus, and sent to the depth of Nariko. Fueled by his rage, Asura rises from the depth to challenge the new seven deities after 12,000 years of being in the underworld. Gaea is no ordinary world, as it is being plagued by the Gohma and in charge of them is a massive creature that is essentially the heart of the planet.

It’s hard to label Asura’s Wrath as an action game. Instead it is more like an interactive anime with action sequences included. The game is presented as an anime series with 18 episodes (including one more for the true ending). The episodes themselves only last 20 minutes or so, but you will be playing maybe only a quarter of that time. It plays out like an interactive story with mini sections and plenty of quick time events. You can’t fail the events, but doing poorly will affect your ranking at the end. The action in the game is pretty standard with heavy and light attacks with combos thrown into the mix. The fun truly begins when you power up your burst attack. Once activated you will go in a fury state where anything is possible. Activating this burst mode will start a quick time event and you will truly see just how far the rage built up inside Asura will go.

There is a quick break during the episodes, as if it’s returning from commercial, after which it will back track a little to really give that “returning from commercial” feel. At the end of each episode they also play a sneak peek of what is going to happen in the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z…sorry got off track.

Asura’s Wrath is a six hour journey that plays out like a Japanese anime or manga series. Once beaten, I don’t see any reason to replay the title, but keeping you progressing is the story and to see what happens when burst mode is activated. When I say that anything is possible, I truly mean it. Have you ever been fighting on the Moon to only be launched to Earth by an ever-extending sword? Well I have and I will tell you the fights in this game are sublime. There are multiple difficulties, but to unlock the “true” ending to the game you have to get a certain amount of “S” ranks, so if you are struggling you may want switch to a lower difficulty.

Simply Put

Is a six hour game worthy of the full price of admission? Usually I would say it isn’t, especially due to the lack of multiplayer, but the game is such an unique experience I would recommend that anyone that is an action game fan or anime fan to play this one. If Capcom was fishing for box quotes, I would say “Asura’s Wrath is one hell of a ride.”

Note: Asura's Wrath was reviewed on PlayStation 3. A digital copy of the game was purchased by SelectButton.
Asura's Wrath 7.5

Anime fans rejoice as Asura’s Wrath blends Japanese anime into an interactive game that has you watching more than actually playing. With its comic book styled anime filler,Asura’s Wrath is a very unique and pleasurable game while it lasts – just don’t expect to get more than six hours out of the title.

As the game plays out, you control a demigod named Asura whose power is fueled by his anger, and boy is he angry. Once a member of the eight generals charged with the protection the planet Gaea, Asura is betrayed by the other gods when his family is killed; he even gets killed by the commander of the group, Deus, and sent to the depth of Nariko. Fueled by his rage, Asura rises from the depth to challenge the new seven deities after 12,000 years of being in the underworld. Gaea is no ordinary world, as it is being plagued by the Gohma and in charge of them is a massive creature that is essentially the heart of the planet.

It’s hard to label Asura’s Wrath as an action game. Instead it is more like an interactive anime with action sequences included. The game is presented as an anime series with 18 episodes (including one more for the true ending). The episodes themselves only last 20 minutes or so, but you will be playing maybe only a quarter of that time. It plays out like an interactive story with mini sections and plenty of quick time events. You can’t fail the events, but doing poorly will affect your ranking at the end. The action in the game is pretty standard with heavy and light attacks with combos thrown into the mix. The fun truly begins when you power up your burst attack. Once activated you will go in a fury state where anything is possible. Activating this burst mode will start a quick time event and you will truly see just how far the rage built up inside Asura will go.

There is a quick break during the episodes, as if it’s returning from commercial, after which it will back track a little to really give that “returning from commercial” feel. At the end of each episode they also play a sneak peek of what is going to happen in the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z…sorry got off track.

Asura’s Wrath is a six hour journey that plays out like a Japanese anime or manga series. Once beaten, I don’t see any reason to replay the title, but keeping you progressing is the story and to see what happens when burst mode is activated. When I say that anything is possible, I truly mean it. Have you ever been fighting on the Moon to only be launched to Earth by an ever-extending sword? Well I have and I will tell you the fights in this game are sublime. There are multiple difficulties, but to unlock the “true” ending to the game you have to get a certain amount of “S” ranks, so if you are struggling you may want switch to a lower difficulty.

Simply Put

Is a six hour game worthy of the full price of admission? Usually I would say it isn’t, especially due to the lack of multiplayer, but the game is such an unique experience I would recommend that anyone that is an action game fan or anime fan to play this one. If Capcom was fishing for box quotes, I would say “Asura’s Wrath is one hell of a ride.”


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