Dear Journal,

Today I got so angry that I grew extra arms so I could punch people six times as fast.

Asura’s Wrath is a game that falls into that sort of middle range in terms of success and popularity. People know of it, they’ve heard it exist, but try to find a gamer friend who has played it let alone owns it. Slightly less hard is to find one that is aware of what the game is. I guess that’s where I come in though right?

Asura (pronounced “Ah-sur-ah”) is one of the elite generals that leads an army of space ship driving demi-god creatures that have decided to take Gaea (Earth) under their protection. In doing so they fight Gohma, a mysterious demonic force that looks kind of like lava and typically takes the form of various animals. After an epic battle that is used as the opening level of the game, Deus (best described as head of the generals) betrays Asura and well, he kills him. Sorta.

Asura goes all Super Fajita with rage and deliciousness.

This is where the bulk of the game starts off, with Asura being resurrected from the ashes and causing all sorts of trouble for the generals who have since rebranded themselves as deities. You see, in betraying Asura, Deus kills Asura’s wife (this upsets him, but…) and kidnaps his daughter, also known as The Priestess for his own agenda (this really pisses off Asura).  The result is a series of contest and general ass whooping as Asura attempts to gain revenge and free his daughter told in a highly cinematic way.

The Buddha teaches enlightenment, Asura teaches fist-to-the-facenment

Ultimately, Asura’s Wrath is an interactive anime. While the game does have button mashing levels where you fight hordes of enemies and the occasional boss battle or chase scene; the overwhelming bulk of the game consist of quick time events. In some ways you could compare it to Jurassic Park the video game really. Even the levels in the game are broken up into short episodes, as in like TV episodes, each with their own credits and “previously on…” introduction.  The game throws in just enough fighting and actions scenes though to keep this from getting to boring though.

Staring/yelling contest, go! I’m winning! I’m winning!

Realistically how one feels about Asura’s Wrath will depend entirely on whether or not they can enjoy a good anime. If the answer to that is no, then move on because this game is as campy and overwhelmingly Japanese as most any anime you’ve seen before; right down to the bad lip syncing. And yelling, so much yelling. Though don’t let the first level fool you; if I had stopped then I would of hated the game but it got much better after that.

Asura’s Wrath is different, in a good way. It is a game where expectations need to be set though. Knowing what you are getting is the key to enjoying it once you have it with this one.
Tomorrow I fight the Sith as a Jedi, destroy cities as a Rancor and… dance to Bruno Mars as Han Solo?  Yep, all that and more in Star Wars Kinect!

Final Rating: 7/10

CBR Break Down:
Console Played On: Xbox 360
Time to completion: ~ 6.5 hours
Gamer Score Earned: 380/1195
Price Bought at: $12
Current Price: $13.88 (Amazon)
Recommend Purchase Price: $15 and under works for Asura as there is little replay value unless you really, really enjoy it.
Why you should buy it: You like anime.
Why you shouldn’t buy it: You don’t like anime. Duh.

Check out all the Backlog Quest II journal entries!