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Stiltzkin's Blood Will Tell (PS2)
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| [March 4, 2008 04:41:09 AM]
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Gameplay 2:
What I found frustrating about this game was that there was little else to do beside engaging in battles. Usually I wouldn't mind that, but I was just really unhappy with how lacklustering the game was. When I took control of Dororo for the second time, I was suppose to explore two floors of a house to look for items that would help Hyakki prove that a village's "protector" was actually a demon. The rooms that I had to explore were very scarce. The only items that I found were the ones essential to the storyline and power-ups after I defeated the occasional skeleton here and there. There wasn't much else to do in regards to exploring. The game didn't seem to want the player to be able to explore this fictional world, which in my opinion completely defeats the purpose of video games. If a player isn't encouraged to explore and learn about the gameworld than how is that person suppose to connect to the game?
I understand that as a third person action game, Blood Will Tell isn't suppose to be as time consuming and indepth as an RPG, but there are other games of the same genre such as The Legend of Zelda that I felt did a much better job with player and game interactivity.
I will admit that I may have spoken too soon when I said that the bosses weren't difficult. The last two that I have fought have been harder. I actually haven't beaten the newest one yet, she keeps killing me with her crazy lightening and wind attacks. It's odd because in all the boss battles I haven't been able to heal myself. Hyakki doesn't have access to heal himself and there aren't any healing items to pick up during the boss battles. It makes fighting rather difficult, if not annoying.
It's a shame because this game includes some of my favorite things: samurai, fighting, guns and swords violence, and demons....yet I don't really like it. I'm not sure if I'll actually finish playing this game. I probably will, if only to spite those damn demons, but it definitely won't be on the top of my To-Do List, if I even had such a list.
Design:
The idea of a limbs containing an arsenal of weapons is brilliant and amazing, but the execution of the game as a whole left me wanting. There were some design elements that I really liked such as Dororo's participation in battles. I also enjoyed how even if his health gauge ran out, he would automatically be revived as long as Hyakki was still alive. That enabled me to concentrate on my own health and not have to worry about protecting the A.I.
The game also had a nifty map in the top right corner of the screen that marked my destination and where I was on the map. It prevented me from getting lost, which I came to appreciate as I was navigating through a dumpy village with a swarm of monsters behind me and low health.
But despite that this game had something major working against it: the level design. Of course the game world is expected to look drab since demons are terrorizing villages, but still, this was just sad. From what I have played so far, the levels looked like they weren't a top priority. How I navigated through the levels was really basic. What's even more is that their physical appearance was lacking. The environment seemed empty and desolate, but not in a way that would help the story. It just came off as a half-hearted attempt at recreating ancient Japan. Maybe things get better later in the game, but somehow I doubt that.
****disclaimer: so GameLog says that I gave this game a rating of 5 stars out of 5.....yeah, it's lying. I don't, more like a 1 or 2.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 4th, 2008 at 04:44:31.
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| [March 4, 2008 01:48:49 AM]
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Summary:
Blood Will Tell is a a action platform game where the player controls Hyakkimaru, a samurai who has had 48 of his body parts stolen by demons (the Fiends). Hyakkimaru has a mad arsenal of weapons built into his body such as: swords built into his arms along with a gun and a cannon in his kneecap. He uses his skills and weapons to defeat the Fiends and in the process reclaim his lost body parts.
Gameplay Entry 1:
Alright, call me naive but I actually expected more from this game. Now I remember why it has been in storage for a couple years and not in my PS2. After loading my previous save from 3 years ago?--I realized that I forgot all the controls for the game and what my short term goal was. Luckily this game isn't very deep and complicated. I found that after my first run-in with a swarm of enemies I was able to pick up which buttons did what.
Hyakkimaru has some pretty flashy moves in battle, like whipping out his sword arms and spinning in circles to do massive damage to mutliple enemies, but some of his weapons are difficult to use. His arm-gun (one of his arms can double as a gun, you shoot bullets from his elbow. It looks cool) doesn't auto-lock onto enemies and sometimes the aim is really off. His kneecap cannon is my favorite weapon of his simply because it is the most ridiculous thing that someone can think of. It does heavy damage, but unfortunately it takes too long to use. By the time Hyakkimaru bends his knee and I aim for a demon, it's already on me, poking me with its sharp claws and teeth.
The battles come at the player in waves, which kept me occupied and entertained for a while. Eventually, though the battles became repetitive and happened too often. The boss battles weren't too difficult. They looked pretty intimidating, but since this game is an third person action game all I had to do was what one does in every boss battle for this genre: run in circles and when the boss has finished his attack move, slash & hack, and repeat.
An interesting aspect of this game is Dororo. This little sidekick is mostly an A.I but becomes a playable character at certain points in the game. So far I've only controlled him when puzzles are involved, he's not used much as a fighter. During battle though as Hyakki, the player can issue commands to Dororo. You can tell him to fight, stay close, collect items, or search for items. I found this to be a useful feature of the game, especially since the player can only access the Item Inventory through Dororo's menu.
So far I'm slightly disappointed with the game. The idea behind it is very appealing: having a samurai with built in weapons fight demons, but so far the game fails at keeping me excited and interested in finishing it.
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Stiltzkin's Blood Will Tell (PS2)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 3 March, 2008
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This is the only GameLog for Blood Will Tell. |
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