Currently playing Asura’s Wrath for the PS3. So far, it’s one of the best animes I’ve ever played.
My biggest gripe is the game’s strange hands-off policy, though. More often than not, I’m surprised when the game prompts any interaction on my part. Asura’s Wrath seems to get along just fine without me, perfectly emulating an anime episode. Then, as if remembering I was still there, it pities me with a short quick-time sequence before going back to being an anime.
Style doesn’t really always add up to substance. But when you have cosmic levels of style pouring out of every inch of your game, you’ve bought yourself some leeway. Asura’s six-armed quest for revenge is engaging, brutal camp that balances over-the-top action with tasteful presentation; CyberConnect2 hit their goal when they set out to make an interactive anime, and if you have the stomach for it and the patience required when you’re benched during lengthy cutscenes, Asura still manages to be one seriously badass trip and one of the more interesting gaming experiments this year.