Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was the perfect title to remind me what I like about video games, which I sorely needed after ME2. I started playing it for the fast-paced intense action, but turns out it wasn't the only thing it's got in store.

If I had to name the game of Revengeance, it would be "putting in a little extra effort", "doing just a bit more than necessary" or "slightly exceeding expectations". The game is a slasher, a brawler, a 3D beat-em-up with complex set of moves used to wear down and eventually kill small amounts of strong opponents. If it was just that, I couldn't tell you how it fares against other titles in the genre because I'm no specialist - I found it more interesting than God of War and Dante's Inferno, but no idea how I'd compare it to Devil May Cries or Baynotta. But there's just so much more.

For starters, one of the game's first signature features was the blade mode. After the player activates it, they can slice the sword at every possible angle, slicing up objects in front of them accordingly. For example, in the demo mission (and the first non-prologue mission), player lands on a beach. Next to them there's a palm tree. They can cut it in however fashion they want, into tens of pieces if they so wish, and every piece will be affected by players movement and gravity accordingly. Player can also cut down the stairs they're supposed to climb, at which point they would be forced to use game's second feature - ninja run. It's basically Assassin's Creed's wallrun on steroids, you hold down a button, choose a direction, and Raiden will climb walls, jump over obstacles and slide into gaps. As you progress into the level, you have an opportunity to sneak up on your enemies and silently kill them. There's no "silent walking" button, no vision cone indicators, just an instant kill on enemies unaware of you and some familiar tools for Metal Gear fans, such as cardboard boxes which enemies will ignore as long as you're not moving and holographic magazines which grab their attention. And while we're on that topic, there's a Arkham-esque detective vision which helps you detect enemies and collectible equipment such as grenades and rocket launchers. The levels, while appearing very straight-forward on first glance, can be explored to find some hidden elements. The game is just jam-packed with borderline-unnecesary features. And it's not lacking in genre's traditional elements either - a servicable combo system with several weapons to choose from, higher difficulty levels, scoring system and multiple challenges seem like something that would occupy completionists and genre enthusiasts for a long time.

In line with that, the games' two DLCs might reuse levels, suggesting limited budget and attempts to cut costs, but at the same time they give you two playable characters with much different set of moves and unique enemies. And while I'm gushing over all this, let me tell you that I just love the game's tone, atmosphere and aesthetic. It's just such a beautiful contrast of some characters not taking themselves seriously whatsoever, other's taking themselves way too seriously, and game direction shifting between the two constantly. The game shows Raiden as a lovable doofus who thinks he's cooler than he is gets made fun of because of it, but at the same time gets due respect for his abilities. And the rest of the cast threads somewhere between "I'm way above all these subhumans" moustache-twirlers and "Nothing matters so I might as well be a warmonger" edgelords. But then there are monologues about characters' philosophies on life and it almost feels like the game challenges you to not take them seriously. "What's that? You thought these characters are silly caricatures? Well then you should have no trouble explaining why what they say here is simplistic and immature? Go on, I'll wait." And in next scene Raiden, totally deadpan, says he has a good costume to blend in some South American country, and it turns out he just put on a poncho and sombrero, barely covering his metal, cyborg body. On that note, I loved how unique the games pacing feels. The story moves like a rollercoaster from the start, and then it just keeps getting faster, with brief detours that are almost stressful because of the pressing goal on player's hand. And then there's the games soundtrack filled with energetic nu-metal/metalcore which seems universally loved by all people, no matter what type of music they are into. And the fact is, it just fits what's going on the screen just so perfectly, and somehow doesn't get boring or frustrating no matter how many times you have to repeat a particular bossfight.

Now just let me get back to the core combat system for a quick moment. One of the main characteristics is the lack of dodges or blocking, meaning the only defensive tools the player has are manually running away from attacks and parrying. Parrying is done by holding the analog towards your opponent and pressing the light attack. This has wide buffer window, meaning you can input a parry as soon as the opponent's windup begins and Raiden will stay in parrying stance until the attack lands and deflect it whenever that happens. But it's also virtually instant so you can do it pretty much right before the move would hit you. Additionally, there's a small window during which player can execute a perfect parry which will not only block the damage, but also lead into a counterattack which will immediately destroy almost any opponent. So, what does all that mean? Essentially, one of the safest methods of playing the game is to just constantly hold your analog stick towards the opponent and keep using your light attack. This is what fighting game players call an "option select", essentially meaning that you do an input and depending on situation, a game will interpret it in a different way. If your opponent is in idle state, a light attack will come out, damaging them. But if they start an attack, then your parry will come out. So essentially you will never get damaged and will keep on doing damage to your opponent. However, you will waste a lot of time standing in the parry stance because you'll activate it as soon as the enemy attack starts, and it can take seconds for them to finally finish the windup and land. Also you will never use more damaging and wider-reaching heavy attacks, nor any moves that would require you to stop holding the analog towards your opponent. Which means the fights will go on longer, and that brings certain risks such as your opponent moving before attacking forcing you to re-aim your analog, other enemies attacking you from a different angle, receiving projectile damage which you can only block while running, or even being hit with an unparriable attack. So all in all, the parry being done this way mostly means that the player gets some leniency, but doesn't necessarily make the game easy alone.

However, the game does have a traditional dodge, with invulnerability state and all that, and it even deals damage as Raiden swings his sword while dashing in target direction. It just happens to be an ability that player must choose to unlock, and could theoretically beat the game without. Let's just say I've only discovered this ability during final boss fight, but it felt impossible to beat without it. In fact in the game's first DLC, the playable character gets that dodge from the start and as he fights the same boss as well, it seems like the fight is intentionally designed around that.

With all that said, I loved this game. The pace, intensity and tone are all designed to bring out a mix of that pure, arcade "FUN" and anime-hollywood-esque epicness. It's very accessible but not at cost of making it simple, easy or boring. It's one I can honestly recommend to every gamer for one reason or another.