by OL » Sun Sep 25, 2016 11:28 am
Been playing through Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2. Finally.
I've been meaning to play it for such a long time, but I think I needed to wait a good long while, since back in the day I played the hell out of the first game then watched the full 100+ episode anime straight through. I wouldn't say I was necessarily burnt out, but Ken's Rage 2 does re-tread much of the same ground found in the first game (and the anime of course), so I just needed to wait awhile.
Definitely helped, since I'd actually forgotten certain bits of the story, making it feel a little fresher. Finished the complete Raoh saga (basically the first 22 "levels"), and now it's moved on to the Celestial Emperor and New World arcs, which is the stuff that wasn't adapted in the first game at all.
Having a fuck-ton of fun. It really does feel like something made for established fans though; the actual gameplay sections are pretty sparse, with the story scenes arguably taking up the most time overall. Objectively, it's actually kind of weak as a "game," but as a stylish, interactive re-telling of the anime/manga, it's pretty fucking rad. So a non-fan might not see the appeal of it, and I'd totally understand that. But as a fan, I'm finding tons to fall in love with. Soooooo many playable characters, and with a few omissions and alterations, the majority of the story has been really lovingly recreated with a ton of passion by the devs. I remember initially being a bit disappointed that so much of the story was being told through comic-style still panels, with the actual cutscenes only appearing here and there, but I totally understand why they did this now. There's just so much story contained in here that animating every single bit of it would have been insane.
And after the main story is over, there's still the "Dream Mode" which has a ton of side-stories for every single playable character, taking place on Dynasty Warriors-style battlegrounds where you have to capture bases and all that. So there's still a lot of content to hit up, even beyond the expansive story.
Friggin' fun times.